Fourth of July - America's Independence Day!
Do you know Uncle Sam is already 229 years of age? US gained its indendence on 4th July 1776 after a bloody revolution (which was called the America's War of Independence). Apparently, the American Revolution inspired the French Revolution in 1789. The peasants had a very hard winter and things became worse in the summer. The peasants felt that their King and Queen, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, were not compassionate to the people. The rich became richer and the poor became poorer. Thus the poor peasants decided to have an uprising and guillotined all their rich masters.
There are many things you can learn from wars. Things like the tyranny of man, the discrimination of other races and religions, the fight for equality of the poor. The wars involving the Chinese dynasties were for struggle and upsurping of power. The American Revolution started as the Americans hated King George III of England for his incompetence, and wanted a "free and independent" America, not just a colony of the British. The talks started with the Boston Tea Party, where the founding fathers dumped all the English tea into the sea rather than to pay taxes on the tea. The American Civil War a hundred years later started with the abolition of slavery of black Americans. The southern states refused to comply and seceded from the United States to form their own Confederate states. The infamous World War II started with the repression of the Jews, the tyranny of Adolf Hitler and the fight for power by Mussolini. And what about the Gulf War in more modern times? It all started with Saddam Hussein wanting to annex the oil-filled lands of Kuwait.
Is war really necessary? Do people enjoy killing other people off? The damage done and expenses incurred during a war is definitely far greater than starting a war in the first place. Instead of waging war on each other, the country's time and money would be better well spent to focus on the conditions and situations that need to be improved in the country itself.
Perhaps one of these days, I should try writing a historical romance or fiction novel based on one of the war eras. I can try to base the story during the American Civil War, or the Hundred Years War between England and France in the thirteenth century (incidentally Joan of Arc wrestled the French cities back from the hands of the English.) Or maybe I can write a historical biography based on remarkable people, like Alexander the Great, or King Arthur with his Knights of the Round Table. It will be something like Margaret George's "The Autobiography of Henry VIII", "Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles", and "Memoris of Cleopatra". Afterall, what is the use of majoring in English and History if I do not put to use? On the other hand, I wonder how good my books can sell if I ever do get down to writing them.
Do you know Uncle Sam is already 229 years of age? US gained its indendence on 4th July 1776 after a bloody revolution (which was called the America's War of Independence). Apparently, the American Revolution inspired the French Revolution in 1789. The peasants had a very hard winter and things became worse in the summer. The peasants felt that their King and Queen, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, were not compassionate to the people. The rich became richer and the poor became poorer. Thus the poor peasants decided to have an uprising and guillotined all their rich masters.
There are many things you can learn from wars. Things like the tyranny of man, the discrimination of other races and religions, the fight for equality of the poor. The wars involving the Chinese dynasties were for struggle and upsurping of power. The American Revolution started as the Americans hated King George III of England for his incompetence, and wanted a "free and independent" America, not just a colony of the British. The talks started with the Boston Tea Party, where the founding fathers dumped all the English tea into the sea rather than to pay taxes on the tea. The American Civil War a hundred years later started with the abolition of slavery of black Americans. The southern states refused to comply and seceded from the United States to form their own Confederate states. The infamous World War II started with the repression of the Jews, the tyranny of Adolf Hitler and the fight for power by Mussolini. And what about the Gulf War in more modern times? It all started with Saddam Hussein wanting to annex the oil-filled lands of Kuwait.
Is war really necessary? Do people enjoy killing other people off? The damage done and expenses incurred during a war is definitely far greater than starting a war in the first place. Instead of waging war on each other, the country's time and money would be better well spent to focus on the conditions and situations that need to be improved in the country itself.
Perhaps one of these days, I should try writing a historical romance or fiction novel based on one of the war eras. I can try to base the story during the American Civil War, or the Hundred Years War between England and France in the thirteenth century (incidentally Joan of Arc wrestled the French cities back from the hands of the English.) Or maybe I can write a historical biography based on remarkable people, like Alexander the Great, or King Arthur with his Knights of the Round Table. It will be something like Margaret George's "The Autobiography of Henry VIII", "Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles", and "Memoris of Cleopatra". Afterall, what is the use of majoring in English and History if I do not put to use? On the other hand, I wonder how good my books can sell if I ever do get down to writing them.
2 comments:
it won't be easy to write a historical biography.
even the author like Bernard Cornwall whose books of Arthur 'Rex Quondam Rexque Futurus', the Once and Future King can't even dare to claim them as a non-fiction.
but once you read them--"The Winter King", "Enemy of God", "Excalibur"--you will marvel at the amount of research that he did to make the books so plausible.
I know. That is why I always love historical biographies - it's really well-researched and the author really dedicated years of his life just to finish the book. I marvel at the endurance and perseverance.
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