Do any Americans take the Revolutionary War seriously?

[Anonymous]

Or is it just a marketing thing in cities like Boston and Philly? And an educational thing for school kids?

It seems that it only attracts the super far-right Americans these days.

I mean, many of the Founding Fathers owned slaves, and didn't like black people or Native Americans.

At least John Paul Jones (a Scottish sea captain) and Lafayette (a French general) got credit for contributing, and both hated slavery.

[Flatmanlewis]

Yes. Of course we do. The optic of history is NOT strictly viewed from a modern perspective and through the lens of slavery and slavery alone.


There is NO nation in history which is free of regrettable chapters of its history or multi-layered leaders & founders which had human flaws intertwined with whatever great deeds they did as well.


As a devoted student of history I see both sides of history. For all of Americas historical flaws in regards to being the end user of a horrific program of human slavery I offer this: The United States government went to war to end slavery. Tens of thousands of white (and black) Americans killed and died on our own soil to smother the evil of slavery. It is regrettable that slavery wasn’t ended sooner but the truth is remarkably complex and looming large among them was that the Federal government was not a powerful, single, all-controlling force which could compel its will, then. It can’t always even do so today! Modern Americans have very little idea how impotent the US government was in the days between 1776 and the mid 1800s. Many devoted patriots were dead set against ANY kind of United States military or standing army. Military units were formed along State lines and not many Americans were strongly invested in the idea of sending their fathers and sons to other states to die for a cause they didn’t feel personally involved in. Life was short, hard, and brutal back then and a man as a head of the family was not a luxury, as some modern feminists may lead us to believe, but a matter of survival in a new and rugged nation. Risking the head of your house or son was a unbelievably dangerous risk with little reward. Moral causes were not luxuries most people could afford back then in rural America.


Every time I hear people offer that we had some founding fathers who did own slaves I often ask which founding fathers that were vocal opponents to slavery they admired the most. Usually it’s a blank stare before some uninformed talking-point response.


America should be ashamed of slavery but it should be equally proud of the majority of the country which fought to destroy a rebellious minority of states which wished to preserve a great evil. Our founding fathers were not perfect but there is no human that is - particularly when stripped of the idea that life was anything then like it is now.

[gorydetails]

It means a lot to the "far-right" as you call them because they're the ones that believe in the greatness of the American Experiment. It's the leftists who hate America and all it stands for. The whining about slavery is just that.

[Daniela1982]

If it wasn't for the Revolutionary War we would still be part of Britain. In those days rule by the British was hated by all under their rule, as they were brutal and run by the rich autocracies while the poor groveled for their porridge and grog. Funny, after all that and then we became their allies. If it had not been for the United States, half of Europe would be speaking German and the other half Russian. They were down for the count when the US entered the war.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely! The Revolutionary War is a big deal in American history. We celebrate Independence Day with fireworks and barbecues for a reason! Many towns have historical sites and museums dedicated to the war. Of course, some folks might not be history buffs, but it's a foundational story for the US.

[exitseven]

It is our history. The people that fought the Revolutionary War were real Patriots. They put everything they owned on the line to give birth to our nation. Liberals have to make it less than it was buy saying they all owned slaves. Get over it.

[OtterMan68]

They should. The US established the first democratic republic (Anceint rome might have been a Republic, but it was not very democratic), and it was the first time the English were defeated since the Norman invasion!

[strateguy632]

at the time slavery was not immoral. now it is immoral.

[Rangers]

I do, because that's when our founding fathers threw off the yoke of British oppression

[jahaims]

Most Americans do not know about history

[BarryLiverstone]

Yes, it was a serious event in history