Daily Life for Dem Common Folk, Dem Natives, and Dem Slaves

During the war between Britain and our Colonies, every aspect of life was affected, for everyone, even if they had no prior participation between the confrontations. Considering all the different involvements, you couldn't sum it down to a war between just Britain and America but rather one full of Slaves, Natives, Sailors, and regular Citizens.

Before I am able to begin this discussion, I must point out that our mentalities consisted of principles of low tolerance and the idea of liberty above all. Later we will discuss how this contradiction affected the outlook of slavery in the latter days, so to speak. Also one must consider that even before the Revolution, these different groups were already living combatively.

Life, for a regular citizen as I, was quite anything but simple. Most of my days were filled with mental perplexity, trying to sort out everyday tasks while I also maintain my composure of a man with born liberties. Struggle was the lifestyle, as a man of I, with only consistent obstacles trying to block my destiny of freedom. Inevitably one would become forced to see patience as a disadvantage rather than a virtue. As for my peers and I in general, we had a responsibility of resistance and no other choice but to run amuck. Our prerequisites of protest were only a warning to the British, but it is apparent that the only way to deem peace is at the climax of war. Motley crews of sailors were formed in response to British cruelty and the hardships endured during daily life. Even at this time, the life of either a Slave or Native American weren’t too different than that of a lower class Citizen.

The Slave Owners were very hesitant around this point of time, especially if they were large land holders. The problem was that they didn’t want to fight due to the fact that they would have to leave, and they didn’t trust slaves to fight because they would be equipped with weapons. Slaves, on the other hand wanted to fight for their freedom. Advocates like Alexander Hamilton argued that if we didn’t let them, the British would be recruiting. Of course our distractions were of multitudes, so our conscious decisions weren’t at their full capacity. Britain jumped the gun at first shot, and we were left in the dust, only to observe around an estimate of 10,000 Slaves to be freed or killed from signing with the British (Lord Dunmore's Proclamation). The idea of equality and liberty were also misconstrued at this time, being the fact that what we were fighting for WAS equality and liberty, while at the same time we deprived other humans the so called ‘unalienable rights’. In doing so, we caused future confusion which led to different political views and overall a state of turbulence within our own nation.

The trials none-the-less weren’t at an end. The Natives, already fighting for territory with different European Nations, were some of the most disadvantaged. European technology, diseases, and imperialism were only pre-inherent compared to what came next. Most tribes had to choose between either the Loyalist or Patriots. Regardless if they were with Britain, America, or just remained neutral, they would be targeted as an enemy. In the beginning, we wanted the Natives to remain neutral, but it became obvious to the Natives that we posed a greater threat than the British, who created laws against westward expansion. The Natives, already trying to still recover from the Seven Years War, couldn’t truly even sustain their independence. Tribes separated, even to the point that individual families would take up arms while others would cooperate with us. These events occurred even before the Revolution but were increased in magnitude when the war began. We began to overlook Indian territory, seeing it as if it were our entitlement. We urged our government to sell it to us for a low price, or better yet offer it to us for free. In the late 1790s, the court houses of Kentucky were filled with settlers with lawsuits for land we thought we owned. Also, parallel to Britain before us, we had to constitute western settlement in avoidance of Indian confrontation.

So as we see, history preceded us in what maybe could be called karma, but only after all of our lives were effected and changed in many different ways. To some, this could be seen as a learning experience that created the America we ‘know’ today, but relatively speaking, this was a necessary stepping stone that would lead us further down the path of growth. In conclusion, not only the lives of regular citizens were effected, but also of those who were undermined, even before we considered ourselves undermined. As a result, a certain passion was grown out of the roots of suffering, and branched out to what we see as America today.

Citations

Give me Liberty! By Eric Foner 3rd Edition:

Pages 258-264