We spent Saturday and Sunday in and around Boston, following
the path of the revolutionary war (USA’s uafhængighedskrig). Very interesting.
There can be many opinions about when the United States was born.
The majority
will say July 4th1776 with the declaration of independence (uafhængighedserklæringen).
If that was the birth, then I believe that what happened in Boston the years up
to that was the conception (undfangelsen).
Boston has marked a so-called Freedom Trail with red bricks
in the street (2,5 miles/4 km) covering all the important places and people connected with the
years leading up to the uprising against British soldiers.
We followed the trail and learned lot.
It is important to remember that the people in Boston were also British, so
this was actually a form
of civil disobedience, that eventually lead to British people shooting at British
people. A civil war (borgerkrig).
Saturday we took some guided tours, where very good
guides (rangers from the National Park Service) told some details about
the Bostonians getting more and more upset about the way the British King and
the parliament in London treated them. Eventually it culminated with the Boston
Massacre, where 5 people were killed in the streets (Even then the media liked
to exaggerate: calling it a massacre) and the Destruction of the Tea (December 16th 1773) (later, much later, to be known as the Boston Tea Party).
History is exciting and it has to be simplified, but there are so many details
that don’t make it to all the history books. We learned a few of those, and
began to understand that not one or two, but may things over a period of 5 years,
lead up to this. Had not one thing, like the Boston Tea Party, triggered the rebellion,
something else probably would have.
To the Americans: (the Danes will have to look it up) I hate
to ruin your childhood teachings about your heroes. Yes, Paul Revere played an
important role in this, but not a bigger role than many, many others. And he
only completed half of his mission that night, since he got caught by British
soldiers between Lexington and Concord and was set free, without his horse, the
next morning. Sorry!!
Like I said, so many details don’t make it to the simplified versions of
history.
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Old North Church
"One if by land, two if by sea" |
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| Paul Revere |
'
Sunday we went to Lexington and Concord (20 miles/ 30 km west of Boston) where the first battles between the British soldiers and the rebels/colonists took place on April 19th 1775.
(Some would say Bunker Hill on June 17th 1775 was the first battle, but then again history is not an exact science)
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The Bunker Hill Monument
Battle fought June 17, 1775 |
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| The battle of Lexington/Concord |
The Minutemen of Massachusetts were among the first colonists to organize
themselves as an “army” and train as such, but they were just ordinary people
getting to a point where they were willing to sacrifice their lives for the
freedom the British was taking away.
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Minute Man Monument at
Old North Bridge, Concord |
So, two days around Boston gave us some of the
details leading to the first battles in a war that lasted till 1783. There is a
lot more to learn about that down the road.
Written by JJ
