Have you heard the story of Paul Revere riding through the night, the lanterns and calling "The British are Coming!" Well, it's partially accurate. He did ride and warn our troops and hid that hid our guns and he did see the lights in the lantern but he didn't say those words but he said and did a lot more than in the story I knew. Link: http://www.earlyamerica.com/paul_revere.htm He was a silversmith who did an engraving after the Boston Massacre that rallied people together to fight the British rule and bullying. I went to Boston by train from Salem, Mass and went to Paul Revere's house that's still standing. He is a big hero in Boston as is Sam Adams for their bravery & actions. I'd only seen him on a bottle of beer. I didn't know a lot of this history until I got out here and started going to these places, reading, taking tours and asking questions. Boston is home of the Freedom Trail as it was an important city for our independence from British Rule. There are many neat things to see here like the USS Constitution Link: http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/visitor/uss-constitution.html which is the oldest active warship at over 200 years old in our Navy. Once a year she still sails to prove it..."Old Ironsides" with her rows of heavy cannons that fire 24 lb cannon balls that take NINE men/women to load and fire and kick back 6 feet when the do. We crawled all over the massive ship, she's beautiful.
Back in the American Revolution it was a city that had seven generations of people who were born in America, not England, and had never known a government interfering in their lives other than being taxed on everything from England. England didn't help people move here to America, they came to flee the King and persecution for heir religions and ways of life. They built independent colonies where businesses and families thrived and cities were constructed and then England wanted to start to rule things here. The King even said that nothing could be built here out of wood planks larger than 24 inches across because that was "king's wood" and used for his stuff and building his ships so we were to send it to him because he cut down all his trees long ago and never planted any in England. The people of Boston and other colonies said NO. People from other settlements came here to gather and discuss our becoming a free nation at Fanuiel Hall (link: http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/visitor/faneuil-hall.html)since 1742 and it was our favorite place to visit in Boston. They had town meetings where everyone was heard and had a voice in their governing and all that was threatened. People like Sam Adams were leaders in involving people and gathering groups to "start the brushfire of ideas" that would spread through all the colonies and unite us as a "ragtag army" to fight hard & dirty and beat the British even though they were older, more organized and trained and outnumbered us. We outwitted them, out-spied them and outlasted them. It's like survivor for independence. I'd like to see people get as passionate, involved and active in our government process today. I hear a lot of people complaining but no one seems to really do much about it. Voting is important but so is educating yourself and others about how our nation was formed and on what ideas and find a common ground to work together on to fix the issues families like ours face with losing our home and the lack of jobs for people. It's a scary time and I wish we had a confident leader people would support like Theodore Roosevelt Link: http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/biotr.htm who spoke honorably and encouraged everyone to do their part and pitch in. I admire him very much. People can find faults with every leader but I admire them for their bravery to go out in front of people and try things even if they don't get it right all the time. Adults tell us kids to keep trying all the times we mess up but it seems like everyone is giving up on government and history and only caring about their cell phones, video games and money. People also really just like to complain about everything. Hearing about all the rebellious early Americans taking up their guns and not putting up with the British bullying is cool. Read about history for stories as exciting as Captain Jack Sparrow's... like Paul Revere's and George Washington. They faced down a large army and won freedom for us all, not treasures for themselves. Don't forget them on Veteran's Day or Armed Forces Day or Thanksgiving!
Jack (Mom's helped me remember it all there was a lot)
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