History - A New 'Hobby'

"Perserverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages."

~ General George Washington



I've just finished reading 1776 and it got me to thinking about how moving to Canada has really made me more interested in history. I think what really got me started was when I had to take two courses in order to get my permanent teaching certificate here in BC. The two courses were basic, 100 level courses in Candian geography and in Canadian history. Now, there were other teachers in the courses who were from other provinces here in Canada and they were bored out of their gourds because they had heard most of this stuff before. Me, I loved it. I didn't know any of this stuff and I really enjoyed learning about the history of Canada. I especially was interested in how Canadian and American history intertwine with each other. You can't really have one without the other and, you really couldn't ask for better neighbors. (Despite that softwood thing. For the record, though, cough up the money US - you owe Canada a bundle.....but I digress)

I really enjoyed reading A Short History Of Canada by Desmond Morton. Then I couldn't resist Canadian History for Dummies by Will Ferguson. I loved that the US tried to invade Canada at least 4 times in the early years. Lincoln actually contemplated fighting the Civil War on two fronts - and Canada's birth year, 1867 is not coincidentally located closely to the end of the Civil War....

Which makes me think of 1776, which prompted a question from my wife: "What's that about?"
I looked at her blankly: "Well, 1776...." I'm thinking it should be obvious. She basically replied with "Fine, don't tell me then..." I did very nicely explain the significance of the year.

Now, 1776 was not a year of triumph. It was a year of hardship and defeat for the American forces. It's amazing (and this is what intrigues me most about reading history) how just a little more effort from one of the sides in a different direction could have changed the course of history. How close the battle was. As an American, I tend to associate 1776 with the year (singular) of the Revolutionary War, but it was just the beginning. The Treaty of Paris ending the war was signed in 1783 - a little more than 6 years later.

That quote above is significant, McCullough indicates, because that was kind of George Washington's theme throughout the war:

"Again and again, in letters to Congress and to his officers, and in his general orders, he had called for perserverance - for 'perserverance and spirit,' for 'patience and perserverance' for 'unremitting courage and perserverance.' " (p. 293)

I have read elsewhere, perhaps in McCullough's book, John Adams, that somewhere along the way Washington realized he did not actually have to win battles to win the war. He had to keep fighting until they couldn't afford to fight any more. He knew that eventually, the British had to realize it wasn't worth it. So perhaps it was perserverance, and not brilliance strategies that one this war. There's a lesson in there somewhere...