“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” Oscar Wilde

"A man who does not think for himself does not think at all." Oscar Wilde

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Rewriting History



It has often been said history is written by the winners. Perhaps, this is a fair assessment but there is a simple fact: History is History. It is something that has happened and has subsequently been documented. Whether we agree about the reasons things happened or like the outcome, history is based on fact. In the case of our nation, it has contributed to who we are today.

  In July 1777 General Burgoyne’s 8,000-man British army, which included German soldiers and American Indians, marched down the Hudson River Valley with the goal of splitting the states and isolating New England. Slowed by the dense forests and its long supply line, the army finally crossed the river in mid-September, won a costly victory against the Americans in the battle of Freeman’s Farm.

Now, 240 years later, we still remember this costly defeat of  the Continental Army. Yet, there was no movement to erase its past. Instead,161 years later the United States Congress authorized the creation of Saratoga National Historic Park in Stillwater, New York.

Now, today people are still dying as a result of our Civil War, The war between the states.

Statues of men of honor, integrity and loyalty are being defaced, destroyed or removed. For what purpose? Because they are now considered racists? Robert E, Lee, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, chose to stand with the loyalty to his state of birth. According to all accounts a heart-wrenching decision.

Now, statutes reminding us of the role he played in the history of our country are thought by some to be vile. Yet, Thomas Jefferson's likenesses and exploits continue to be honored. But he was a slave owner too and is said to have fathered children with Sally Hemings one of his slaves at Monticello.

I recently read a brief article written by Miss A. Dunovant, whom I believe is a descendant of John Dunovant of Chester, South Carolina, a veteran of the Mexican-American War and held the temporary rank of brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

Miss Dunovant writes in a piece entitled "Rebels": There is a common saying 'Washington was a rebel, and we are rebels too." She goes on to delineate the differences between those two wars but the similarities are striking. (See footnote below)

We will always have differences of opinion. This is a hallmark of freedom. Our freedoms have been forged in differences and the moral freedom to embrace them. Some may say it is the right to agree to disagree. We must never lose sight of that. However, no matter the strength of each individuals' belief it must be expressed peacefully. And those beliefs must not be forced upon another that is not the freedom so many have died fighting for and protecting.

*Footnote - The text of "Rebels" can be found at this link:  https://books.google.com/books?id=Qhx3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=revolutionary+war+monuments&source=bl&ots=UTEfkX0hHr&sig=c8ft2pUm_s0ShQfaxv9Vz80PqqU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLpYjlv9zVAhUGJCYKHTH2DfA4KBDoAQg-MAQ#v=onepage&q=revolutionary%20war%20monuments&f=false).

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