Patriot Myths

Public consensus, similar to politics, varies greatly when it comes to American history, especially as it pertains to the classroom. Views about the content and historical interpretation included in history texts have reached a heightened polarization in recent years. This can be seen in the vast differences between the diatribes of Howard Zinn’s, A People’s History of the United States, and Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen’s, A Patriot’s History of the United States. While both books, prescribed by this introductory course into American History, cover many of the same topics, they clearly paint different pictures. I feel that any text seeking to represent a responsible survey of a

The Return of Martin Guerre, written by Natalie Zemon Davis, is the tale of a court case that takes place in sixteenth century France. Martin Guerre is a peasant who deserted his wife and family for many years. While Martin Guerre is gone, a man named Arnaud du Tilh arrives at Martin’s village and claims to be Martin Guerre. Bertrande, who is Guerre’s wife, Guerre’s sisters, and many of the villagers, accepts the imposter. After almost three years of being happily married, Bertrande takes the fraud to court under pressure of Pierre Guerre, her stepfather and Guerre’s brother. Arnaud du Tilh is almost declared innocent, but the real Martin Guerre appears in the courthouse. Throughout this tale, many factors of the peasant life are

The movie, The Patriot, is the story of a South Carolina plantation owner, Benjamin Martin, who leads a local militia against British troops in the South during the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. Martin, who is a widower with six children and a veteran of the French and Indian War, wants nothing to do with the war until a brutal British Colonel, William Tavington, kills one of his sons and takes his eldest son, a member of the Continental Army, prisoner. Martin, who’s character is loosely based on Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, uses guerrilla warfare to cut British supply lines and attack outposts in an attempt to slow General

Ben quickly concludes the poorly trained and ill-experienced Colonials cannot hope to beat the British in set piece battles - shooting at each other in open field, as was the custom of warfare at the time - because the British are too well trained and well armed. Continental Army Colonel Harry Burwell having fought alongside Ben in the French and Indian War, asks Martin to organize a militia designed to keep British General Cornwallis in the south until the French navy arrives with 10,000 soldiers as re-enforcements. French Officer Jean Villeneuve is present to help train the militia having witnessed his wife and daughters burned alive by the British army while aboard a ship.

Movies are made to be sold and not history to be perfectly told. If movies include a complete history, it wouldn't be known as a movie anymore. However, it would be called a documentary, which most people get fed up of. So interpretations, exaggerations and idealistic scenes are added to the movie to make it more interesting for the audience. "The Patriot" is a similar film made during the modern day time about a time period in which none of the experienced the real revolution. Politically, socially, and culturally, "The Patriot" attempts to give a sense of the scope of aspects involved in the American Revolution. Despite succeeding in this regard, it still lacks details that reveal the true complexity of the mixed sentiments present in

1. Throughout the story suspense is aroused and maintained excellently. This is achieved by the character the author creates. Mr. Martin is characterized as a neat and cautious man, who never took a smoke or a drink in his life. Our suspense is aroused when the author states that it has been “a week to the day since Mr. Martin had decided to rub out Mrs. Ulgine Barrows”. This arouses our suspense because we are told Mr. Martin is planning to murder this woman. The suspense is maintained with Mr. Martin’s thoughts. We as an audience are given his thoughts through the use of the 3rd person omniscient point of view. His thoughts are mostly on the issue on his dislike of Mrs. Barrows. Because of this, he

The story starts off with King George III being shown as more lower class than of royalty. King George eventually has suspicions that the American colonies will try to rise and rebel against him, so in return he begins to gather troops on both land and sea to defend England’s honor. Their blunt distrust of the colonies was a bad choice on their part which spurred conflict towards war. Discussions

Martin Guerre takes place in 16th century southern France, in a village called Artigat where the Guerre family is highly respected and is one of the leading families. Davis takes the story first of when the Basque Guerre’s arrive in Artigat and their quick assent in the village society. Davis explains that Martin’s father, Sanxi, arranged a political marriage with another high end family, the De Rols. The marriage occurred when Martin was just fourteen and Bertrande was ten. Davis does point out that even in the 16th century that was young. Davis shows the reader what life was probably like. She moves through their lives of Martin running away, his return twelve years later, and finally the imposer 's trial and execution.

Martin's army however overcomes much adversity, and plays a large part in the Continental effort. They later join up with the main Continental Army, and along with the long awaited arrival of the French, force Cornwallis and the British to surrender at Yorktown. Benjamin also gets his revenge by killing Tavington in the battle. This spells victory for the Americans and personal victory for Benjamin Martin. After the white flag is raised Martin returns to his family to rebuild his house and his life.

Being subjected to public humilation in front of massive crowds with harsh punishments, the loyalists found themselves in a tough predicament between the radicals and their independence from Britian while the loyalists thought differently. Most of the loyalists found their properties vandalized, looted and burned by angry mobs of men. There was no doubt that the patriots of the thirteen colonies controlled the public discourse. There was bound to be a revolt against the British by the patriots because they didn’t agree against the policies imposed by the British parliament. The patriots of “The New World” have a much more logical reasoning than the loyalists because they felt that the British parliament was in

Larry Schweikart believes despite the excessive racism, sexism, and bigotry throughout the history of the United States, when the story is told “fairly,” all that can be taken away is a sense of awe at the obstacles overcome, the blood split, and the nation built. Although corruption can be seen over the course of time, the freedom of the nation overcame all else and created a bright light of a society in a world of dark oppression. Schweikart emphasizes the idea that history is often taught from a single, biased perspective, clouding the true image of the American nation as it progressed over time. He also emphasizes the ideals of character, tied to liberty, tied to property, and how they were all necessary for success. More generally, Schweikart believes that throughout the history of the United States, it has proven time and time again to be a nation based on the principles of freedom and justice, exemplified through its actions in every aspect, such as the liberation of people’s and bringing them to a higher state of living, and the sharing of power with those who had none, no matter where they came from, or who they were. “All men are created equal”; the United states is the “last, best hope” of earth; and America “is great because it is good” all extend Schweikart’s basic ideals that the United States’ history, when viewed with the basic ideal of “the ends justify the means,” creates a story

While many historians might argue that the American Revolution was not so revolutionary in its nature, there is no denying the lasting effects that it has had not only on the continent, but the world. Through an analysis of documents from this period and the social, political, and economic changes that occurred in the colonies, it is clear that the colonial governmental system was radically changed during this time period. The political ideas that emerged from this revolution have shaped modern democratic governments for years, coupled with the advancement of other Enlightenment ideals.

In the mid-14th century, the name Martin Guerre became quite popular amongst Artigat households. This man of two faces, who is known for his disappearance, didn't always have a life of secrecy. Mr. Guerre’s life grew its own shadows, becoming something rather unexpected. Natalie Zemon Davis dived into the shadows of Martin's life in the book The Return of Martin Guerre. Davis used written accounts and summaries of the Martin Guerre trial to create the book. Through these accounts she was able to write about why Martin left, why an impostor took his place, and the circumstances that brought about someone’s untimely death.

Alexander Hamilton had immigrated to America and made a bigger influence than most natural born founding fathers. Hamilton joined the patriot army at a young age, and was quickly noticed by George Washington as a natural leader. Eventually, Washington chose Hamilton for his cabinet as the first United States Secretary of the Treasury. As Secretary of the Treasury, he devised a five part plan to replenish the economy and remove debt from Britain. By being Washington’s right hand man, Hamilton influenced America’s government and economy into methods that are still used in present day government. Through his documents, such as The Federalist Papers, Hamilton portrayed his passion for a unified country. His writings led to the ratification of the Constitution. Coming from his federalist perspective, Hamilton agreed that a centralized government with a national bank and notions for a manufacturing powerhouse would be beneficial for the country. He also saw that America should be mercantile, or very involved with world trade, especially with Britain. Unlike his counterpart, Thomas Jefferson, who believed otherwise. This caused altercations between the two. Along with his strong affirmations and opinions, Hamilton’s role in the early republic played a big part in colonial history.

This sends Dr. Martin over the edge because he does not have any support from his family or professionals and he attempts to kill Bob, this comes to another severe breakage of ethnical boundaries.