Order and Chaos The book April Morning by Howard Fast is a story about the Revolutionary War and how it can change a person. Adam and the Nation are orderly until the war breaks out into chaos then returns to an orderly everyday life. Eventually they both realize that life known to them will never be the same as before. Adam’s life in the beginning was very orderly and had daily chores that needed to be done. “Draw you mother’s evening water” (Fast 3) is a good example of how his life was dictated by Moses, his father. His father ordered Adam that he has to do these chores without question and sometimes Adam was not happy about how Moses ruled over him. He thought since he was tall enough and almost old enough that he was a man. The Cooper family welcomed newcomer and guests into their home. “There was five in our family but the table was set for six” (Fast 11). The Coopers did this at every …show more content…
Adam went home to find that his family thought he was dead like Moses. “Do I look dead?” (Fast 170) He said when Levi ran to him crying. The family would have a hard time going on if they lost Moses and Adam. When Adam went to bed, he said “farewell to childhood” (Fast 201). He went to bed and then he had to accept that Moses was gone. Adam had become a man in under 24 hours. The battle took its toll on more than just the Cooper family, “Everyone wanted a crumb of comfort” (Fast 163). Many people did not want to fight with the British. After the battle, many returned home to find the British pushed back into Boston. The people who fought in the war some came home to dead friends and a changed life. After the battle “things had to be done” (Fast 201). America had to continue its fight for independence after the battle. Many thought with British would be driven out and it would be over. The nation had to put together a basic fighting force to battle with the best in the
The first section of the book, named The Siege, holds the first chapters. The title of the section relates to McCullough’s descriptions of the events that happened on the Atlantic and at the Siege of Boston. The beginning of the book takes places actually in October of 1775 with Royal Majesty George III and his ride to the Palace of Westminster. He was on a ride to speak to a joint session of Parliament. King George announces that the American colonies to be in a state of rebellion. The King asks that both the House of Lords and the House of Commons support this decision. The House of Lords were session debating until midnight and finally accepting the King’s assertion. On the other hand, the House of Commons were in session well after 4 o’clock in the morning before they agreed with the King. The conditions previous to and during the Siege of Boston is described in great detail. McCullough revealed that, “In the General Evening Post, one solider portrayed the scene in Boston as nothing but melancholy, disease, and death.” (8)
Howard goes on to share that the story needs to be told from the standpoint of people from the war that’s not told in schoolbooks, “But to tell the story of the American Revolution, not from the standpoint of the schoolbooks, but from the standpoint of war as a complex
The setting of this book was especially essential to the plot. The story takes place in Southern Illinois during the American Civil War, from April of 1861 to April of 1865, hence the title Across Five Aprils. These Illinoisans were a scattered group of people basically made up of women, men, and children who moved there from the south. This created a lot of controversy when the Confederate states secede from the Union. Because of their upbringing many families had fathers fighting sons and brother’s fighting brothers. The hostility in the towns in Illinois made even the best of friends become the worst of enemies.
It was important that we won this battle so that we wouldn’t be walked all over as a country. Even though we had already passed the Treaty of Paris, the British were not acknowledging our rights as a country; and Europe, as a whole, didn’t have much respect for us either. After this win we started earning the respect we deserved as a united nation. The fact that the British were “violating American rights would not go unchallenged or unpunished.”(6). The battle and fight between the Patriots and the British army was on.
In 1776, David McCullough gives a vivid portrayal of the Continental Army from October 1775 through January 1777, with sharp focus on the leadership of America’s greatest hero, George Washington. McCullough’s thesis is that had not the right man (George Washington) been leading the Continental Army in 1776, the American Revolution would have resulted in a vastly different outcome. He supports his argument with a critical analysis of Washington’s leadership during the period from the Siege of Boston, through the disastrous defense of New York City, the desperate yet, well ordered retreat through New Jersey against overwhelming odds, and concludes with the inspiring victories of Trenton and Princeton. By keeping his army intact and persevering through 1776, Washington demonstrated to the British Army that the Continental Army was not simply a gang of rabble, but a viable fighting force. Additionally, Mr. McCullough supports his premise that the key to the survival of the American Revolution was not in the defense of Boston, New York City, or any other vital terrain, but rather the survival of the Continental Army itself. A masterful piece of history, 1776 is not a dry retelling of the Revolutionary War, but a compelling character study of George Washington, as well as his key lieutenants, and his British adversaries, the most powerful Army in the 18th Century world. When I read this book, I went from a casual understanding of the hero George Washington to a more specific understanding of why Washington was quite literally the exact right man at the exact right place and time to enable the birth of the United States.
The British army woke up the next morning and was amazed to see how much hard work took place that night by the American army. Since the British army was surrounded they had no other option but to surrender, and vacate the city.... ... middle of paper ... ... But he always learned from his mistakes.
The ending of this battle is tragic and enlightening as well, the great idea of sneak attacks at dawn by the Confederates and the righteous timings of reinforcement by the Union, brought this story to my attention. Gathering this information brought me believe that this is a movie, a novel, but this was actual real life. Losing lives in a battle like this one bring only one thing to mind, that each side was fierce on fighting for what they believe in. No other battles before this have had this much bloodshed in less than a day, the planning done by Grant and Johnston was phenomenal. The steady mind of Johnston and the brave hearts that were under Grant is what brought this battle to what is today’s history. Working on this essay has been excellent in my learning process and I hope to be doing another one soon.
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we alter and lose our freedoms, it will destroy ourselves,” said Abraham Lincoln. The novel Killer Angels as told by Michael Shaara, examines the three day Battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of several key people of the battle. The book looks at the battle and how each person viewed the events of the three day battle. General Robert E. Lee was a good general, but during this particular battle, he did not make the best of decisions, which led to the Confederate troops losing the war. The loss was a result of Lee’s own poor physical and emotional health, the welfare and conditions for the soldiers who fought for him as well as the weather that they were faced with and the conflict between
The American Revolution: the war for our independence. This revolution opened the door to our liberty, freedom, and basically what America is now. Most Americans have heard the stories of famous battles, important people (George Washington for instance), and everything in between. However, this was only for our side of the American Revolution and a small fraction of people have been told of Britain’s campaign of the revolution. The only thing people have been told was the Britain lost the war. What of Britain’s triumphs, strategies, and everything that happened in the span of a few years? Not many people know it, but the British struck a major blow against the Patriots in the last few years of the war. Even though the United States won the American Revolution, Britain struck a major blow against the colonists when the British successfully and brutally took the town of Charleston, South Carolina.
This was only just the beginning of what is turning out to be a long and tough road. It seemed like fights and protests were breaking out all of the time. If it wasn’t about the lack of freedom that they had because they couldn’t make decisions for themselves, then it was about the new laws that were being made. One particular that angered them was the act that imposed a tax on anything that was printed. From what I heard many of the colonists felt as if they shouldn’t have to pay extra money on something just because the British needed more money. Not only that but they had no choice in the matter because Parliament overruled any decision that Americans made. It was on a weekly trip into town with Mrs. Smith to pick up some groceries and supplies
The soldiers were guilty of man slaughter and punished. This made Americans realize British cruelty and making colonist want to separate from Great Britain ever more.
After we established precisely what we were fighting for, complete independence from England was our unyielding goal. Ultimately, against all odds, the Americans defeated the British in a victorious surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781. It is unquestionable that the war gained us political independence, for without it we would still be governed by England. As Carl Becker stated, the Revolution helped us conquer the problem of “home rule”, but now we faced the question of “who should rule at home”. Accordingly, Congress appointed a committee t...
In contrast, the Adam and Eve creation described in Chapter Two of Genesis appears quite different. Adam was created first, from the dust of the earth as well as G-d blowing into his nostrils. Furthermore, unlike Adam’s creation in Chapter One which included Man’s Purpose as active verbs, the Adam in Chapter Two’s mission in life includes only passive verbs, such as “keep, guard, protect”; these are verbs of submission. Moreover, as stated earlier, Adam was cre...
...e gun, it seemed, the greater the owner‘s pride in it.” (McCullough 33) The Continental army certainly did not look like an army yet these people were brought together in this fight for freedom and prevailed even winning the support of Americans who had no hope the British would be defeated.” Merchant Erving had sided with the Loyalists primarily because he thought the rebellion would fail. But the success of Washington‘s army at Boston had changed his mind as it had for many” (McCullough 108). The reader must comprehend the power of this accomplishment for the rag-tag army. “Especially for those who had been with Washington and who knew what a close call it was at the beginning-how often circumstance, storms, contrary winds, the oddities or strengths of individual character had made the difference- the outcome seemed little short of a miracle.” (McCullough 294).
Wars affect a country one way another, either for best or for the worst. The outcome of the war can change a country and the citizens of the country. The American Revolutionary was a war where the affect was tremendous. The American Revolution began in 1775 till 1783. The American Revolution is also known as the United States War of Independence. As soon as people left England to come to United States there was smell of revolution in the air. The revolutionary war was a way for the United States to make a statement and move forward as a country that wasn’t underneath the British rule. John Adams, the second prime minister of the United States explains how the American Revolution began when he says, “The Revolution was affected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people” . Adam basically means that everyone was thinking about the revolution and in their minds they were already there, wanting to break free from the British rule. Once everyone was against England the people were ready for war. The American Revolution started for many reasons, some of the few are; social, economic, and political changes. These changes provided America to be an independent country with its own government. The increase in strict laws and violent events made many Americans angry and that’s why the revolution began. The French and Indian war, taxes without representation, as well as the first continental congress. These are just some of the reasons that Americans wanted the revolution; there are many more causes that can be justified for this major event. Americans did not want to be ruled by the British who were thousands of miles away from them, they wanted to have control of their country and have their own laws....