Jake Sherman Group 3 (Very Late)

Division. The one theme that links the three readings together. In Skemp we see the division between William and Benjamin. In the "Concise History" reading we see the division between the colonies and the British Empire. In Henretta we get a lot of questions asking about this division, forcing us to wonder "why" and "how" it could have played out differently. It is important to note that history does indeed repeat itself in more than one form. If we look at the religious ideas that fueled the division of the colonies from each other, the British Empire, and the Native Americans and then subsequently look at the religious ideas that are fueling the division in our world today, we can see many similarities.

After finishing the Skemp reading I thought back to a book I had to read for my fourth grade or third grade class. My Brother Sam is Dead. Although this story was extremely dramatized and doesn't follow the EXACT scale of division that Benjamin and William had, it does give us a parallel to work off of. Families all over the colonies were being torn apart over this clash in political, economic, social, religious, and philosophical ideas. And we can see the same happening in the same continent, in the same country over two centuries later.

When looking at the "Concise History" reading, we draw a few other conclusions on how division based on the above ideas has formed our country, and learn how to use this information to understand how it is STILL forming our country. When the first two colonies declared independence a chain reaction throughout all the colonies took place. Those who had not been politically active in this dispute before, found themselves being presented with an ultimatum. I am of course also referring to the rest of the world after the French signed a treaty with the patriots after the battle of Saratoga. They must become politically active as a loyalist or a patriot. This is easily paralleled with a State of the Union address in 2001 by president George W. Bush in which an ultimatum was given to the world much in the same way it had happened in 1776 and 1777.


In what other ways can we parallel political divides in the American Revolution to our political divides today?

Emma Ewert Group 3

In chapter 6 of America a Concise History, I think one of the most important parts is The French Alliance. At the time, France was the most powerful European nation, so they had a lot to offer the Americans. As it says on page 178, "The alliance brought the Americans money, troops, and supplies and changed the conflict from a colonial rebellion to an international war." In my opinion, forming an alliance with France was a necessary move for the Americans to win the war. Would we have won the war if it had not been for the French?
Something else that I noticed in the Henretta reading was on page 183. This page is full of questions about events that happened. It is interesting to think about all of these "what if" questions and their answers. There are always going to be questions about what if someone had done this or that. But what if one the answers to these questions were different, such as, "Why had Howe not ruthlessly pursued Washington's army in 1776?" Would one of these minor things have changed the outcome of the war at all?
In the Skemp reading for this week, one sentence can sum up what is happening. On page 126 it says, "King and country, father and son, were about to go their separate ways." In the reading this week that is exactly what happened. Ben and Will started to drift more and more apart. Both were stubborn men who stuck to their beliefs, unwilling to back down. The same is true for the King and country; ultimately they had to part. What would have happened though, if either Will or Ben had given in and done what the other had wanted?

Ryan Sipple Group 3

In this weeks Skemp readings you can start to see how Benjamin and William start to go their serparate ways. Benjamin starts to share his harsh feelings for the empire with William, though these thoughts concern William, he could not see him and Benjamin going their serparate ways. Benjamin became greatly angered after he was removed from his post office position, two days later he wrote a letter to William revealing his pain, and asking William to resign his position as governor. Benjamin reminded William that he had no chance of promotion, and that the position was poorly funded. My question is, is Benjamin simply overreacting, or is this a desperate attempt to convince William to side with the patriots?

In chapter 6 of America a concise history, we read about how the colonies declared independence which lead to the Revolutionary war. In the first two years of the war the British army dominated the Continental army, George Washington and his men retreated time after time. In 1777 the battle of Saratoga proved to be the turing point for the war, following this victory the French signed a treaty with America, and unlitimately helped defeat the British in Yorktown in 1781. My question is, do you believe the Continental army would have eventually defeated the British without help from the French?