Blog #4: Revolution Article

Five Things I Learned 

1. Franklin and Washington worked to build up their reputations. They realized they could manipulate the way they were remembered. They made sure to make themselves look like heroes in memoirs and Washington even treated his former aide-de-camp exceptionally well in hopes that he would write a  biography that made him up to be incredible. I knew that the Founding Fathers wanted good reputations but I never knew that Washington and Franklin went to great lengths to make sure they were remembered as heroes.

2. There is less emphasis placed upon the brutality of the War of Independence because it was sandwiched between the American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention. Paintings and speeches often didn't stress how much suffering occurred like they did during the Civil War. This causes people to believe that the War of Independence was not nearly as bad as the Civil War.

3. The victors in battle took the clothes and supplies of the losers. The Americans were so lacking in supplies many didn't have clothes so when a battle was won they took the clothes of the British and left them to freeze in the harsh weather.This helped the Americans survive the cold and the British did the same when they won a battle.

4. The civilians were greatly hurt by the war. Towns were invaded and destroyed, disease from the battlefields came into the towns and people got sick and died, and costal raids left warehouses and shipyards wrecked. In addition, Indian attacks happened and individual homes were raided and destroyed.

5. The Loyalists faced extreme suffering in the hands of the rebels. After the war, more than 100,000 Loyalists were exiled. When Loyalists were captured during the war such as at King's Mountain and Hillsborough, they were led into captivity and often murdered.