Nathaniel Philbrick, author of Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution, successfully enables his readers to grasp the significance behind Boston and its neighboring cities during the rise of the Revolutionary War. Most Americans have a vague understanding of why events like the Battle of Bunker Hill are relevant and how this particular campaign played a pinnacle role in leading up to the Revolutionary War, but Philbrick does a service to Americans by beautifully illustrating these events from cover to cover. Not only is each occasion intimately detailed, but Philbrick records these instances in a precise and memorable rhythm. Although at times his novel might appear exhausting with vivid imagery, Philbrick’s thesis remains clear: In the …show more content…
Instead of giving his audience a play-by-play of historical accounts, he chooses to introduce leaders that were involved in the events that led up to war. Philbrick grants his readers a new perspective of who these rebellious patriots were in a way that is almost refining. Not only does Philbrick honor the legacy each man left behind, but he includes a comprehensive analysis of their unique character qualities. For example, Philbrick introduces Dr. Joseph Warren, who "had the wisdom to guide and the power to charm (68)", and yet also "had a history of running through vast sums of money (89)". Philbrick identifies Dr. Joseph Warren as "the martyr of Bunker Hill," and although he could have taken the opportunity to centralize Warren's existence around the battle itself, he chose to accurately and intentionally convey Warren's notable leadership and genuine patriotism to his …show more content…
In the text, Philbrick's selection of primary sources serve to develop his thesis into multiple authentic and surreal accounts of differing perspectives between loyalists and patriots. In his focus on primary sources, Philbrick knits together firsthand accounts from various Bostonian residents such as John Adams and John Andrews with events leading up to the war. For the most part, reading each journal and firsthand documentary is refreshing, but there are various points when Philbrick's reliance upon certain accounts prove to be unnecessary and exhaustive. He references to countless sources, and while most were significant, many appeared to have miniscule relevance to the main takeaway. For instances, Philbrick purposed John Andrew's narrative to aid readers in understanding the context of everything taking place in Boston during the 1700's, but most of the information referring to Andrew's personal accounts and the British's evacuation appears
Eric Tu Mr. Carter JAGS AP US History 11 July 2014 AP US History Book Critique 1. Brief Overview Joseph J Ellis’s book, Revolutionary Summer, is both a nonfiction political tale of how the thirteen colonies all agreed to separate from the British Empire and a brief military narrative of the battles on Long Island and Manhattan. This book focuses much on the non-military aspects of the conflict between the Continental Army and British Army such as the various events of the summer and fall of 1776. Important figures included in Revolutionary Summer are, delegate John Adams, John Dickinson, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, General George Washington, British Officers William and Richard Howe.
Francis Marion Francis Marion was a American Revolutionary war general, known simply as the ‘Swamp Fox’, and he helped dislodge the British occupation of the South, and he was one of the most important figures in keeping the Revolution alive, at least in the South. I will refer to him as ‘Marion’ or ‘Swamp Fox’ for the duration of the essay. Civilian Life Marion was born in modern day, Berkeley County, South Carolina, in 1732. He married Mary Esther Videau, when he was 54, after the war was over.
Revere segregates the Bostonians and British soldiers on opposing sides to illustrate the oppressed and the oppressor. Viewers constantly dart their eyes between the British and the Bostonians to analyze their contrasting characteristics. Revere excludes all Bostonians’ violence towards the British soldiers to stir up sympathy towards the Bostonians. Observers can see everything clearly to satisfy Revere’s desire of degrading the British reputation. The sharp buildings depict the exact location where the massacre took place.
A soldier by the name of Joseph Plumb Martin used his experience during the Revolutionary War to inform the public about the hardships of a common soldier. He did this by giving one of the most accurate accounts of the campaigns in the Revolutionary army. Martin’s story began in the Northeast, specifically in New York. He dealt with starvation, fatigue, and lack of clothes. Martin overcame these obstacles and returned to the army after his first term of service expired.
The American Revolution was a war fought on home ground throughout the colonies that gave burdens to colonist. This war brought scarcity and danger into the lives of every American living in New England, and throughout the book Revolutionary Mothers Carol Berkin, the author, shows us that women, of all ethnicities, cultures, and classes were called upon to play more of a part in the war than just the housewives. Berkin travels back in time for this book to the Revolutionary War and explores diverse roles of these revolutionary women. What everyone else saw was how the women managed different parts of their husband’s jobs while they were out battling on the home front. Some of the women took it a step farther to become nurses and cooks in the
“I never spent a thought about numbers; the Americans were invincible in my opinion. If anything affected me, it was a stronger desire to see them.” Continental Army soldier, Joseph Plum Martin shares his experience of the Revolutionary War through his book, Ordinary Courage. The bravery, courage, and patriotism expressed throughout the novel shows off Martin’s immense strength and perseverance. The soldiers fought through the trials of starvation, disease, lack of supplies, and vicious battles against the British troops.
The book gives the reader a vivid picture of the American Revolution and get a feel as to what it was like during the 1700s. While reading the book I could see a clear picture of what was happening as if I was actually there. I feel author Christopher is giving the readers a unique twist on the history of the American Revolution. In the book author Christopher doesn’t favor the Americans when telling the story of the war. Instead, he writes the book using the perspective of the British.
Thesis: To many people in the colonies prior to the Revolutionary War, Concord was just a little town on the outskirts of Boston. Little did they know, that men from all different backgrounds and skills in the city came together to train regularly as minute men. Robert Gross researched many different things, such as deeds, tax lists, and wills. He did this to give us a look at what the minutemen’s lives were like before the start of the revolutionary war, and how they prepared for it.
In the book A People 's Army: Massachusetts Soldiers and Society in the Seven Years ' War, Anderson tries to capture the war through the lives of the provincial soldier. In order to do that Anderson presents a large amount of primary sources from that time, including letters, books, diaries, memoirs, and other documents. He uses these sources to illustrate the lives of the colonial soldiers and detail the conditions and day to day activities they had. In addition, show the effects the war on the men’s personal lives, as well as, the local economies. As for A Rabble in Arms: Massachusetts Towns and Militiamen during King Philip’s War, Zelner looks at much different sources to gauge recruitment of militiamen.
There is more to the story of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans than the time before the First Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims’ struggles did not cease to exist when they came together with the local Pokanoket tribe and feasted on that autumn day. The relationship between the Pilgrims and the natives did not run smoothly forever and there is not an explanation taught to why the peace suddenly disappeared. Philbrick’s thesis revolves around the fact that although American history is taught in schools, there is a focus solely on the time of that first Thanksgiving and there is a gap until the American Revolution. This gap, according to Philbrick, is an important one, with King Philip’s war showing that there was a large piece of information missing
Do you ever contemplate about what it would be like to be in combat in the Civil War because if so readers can get a good outlook of what it would be like to fight on the union side in both of these books The Red Badge of Courage and the Soldier’s Heart. In this essay one will be contrasting the two stories mentioned earlier. As well in this essay one will be comparing these two very informational and exciting stories about the civil war and the characters as well as how ironically the two characters have very many resemblances. While reading this essay one comprehends the two stories similarities and differences, also the reader will acquire knowledge about how the main characters in both of the stories have very similar points of view. There are very few differences between the stories Red Badge of Courage and Soldier’s Heart here are a few just to show how little they have in differences.
Gordon S. Wood, “the preeminent historian of the Revolution”, is a well known American historian who has received several awards such as the Pulitzer and Bancroft Prize for his historical books. In his book, The American Revolution: A History, he breaks down the key events based on his experiences and knowledge on the Revolutionary period. Wood was born in Concord, Massachusetts on November 27,1933. Wood teaches at many liberal renowned universities such as Brown, Cambridge, Northwestern , and Harvard. Now being eighty one years old, he recently retired from Brown University and lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
Jill Lepore used quotes and images from English colonists and portraits to show how colonists wrote about their experiences during King Philip’s War and how the narrative of the war has changed throughout the centuries. It also sets how colonists will narrate wars for future centuries. She spoked about how their writings of the war had a consequence of temporally silencing the Native Americans version on the war and how people have forgotten or even have any knowledge of the war. She uses a Boston merchant, Nathaniel Saltonstall account tilted “A true but brief account of our losses since this cruel and mischievous war begun” written in July 1676 year after the war had begun. He lists towns such as Narragansett, Warwick, Seekonk and Springfield
Having Courage in War Some of the major events that have shaped this country were wars. Throughout time there have been many wars, some were major wars and some were smaller. No matter the size of the war, or who was involved, there was always one thing in common: courage.
When looking at John Trumbull’s patriotic and sad painting, The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker’s Hill, June 17, 1775, the contrasting colors instantly leap out and attract the eye. General Warren’s white clothing pops out of the dull and dark ground and provides an excellent comparison for the foreground and background. On the upper right corner of the painting, an incoming cloud of dark smoke seems to foreshadow the eventual defeat of the Trumbull’s protagonists, the patriotic Americans. These fighters have on white uniforms; this symbolizes the painter’s beliefs of their innocence and righteousness. The blue flag held up by the Americans is another use of symbolic colors.