The truth is that the news is so damn redundant that I have become bored with it….and after all the readership of this blog slips during the holiday season…..so I revert back to my secondary interest…history.

I have been doing a lot of reading about the beginnings of the United States, from 1750-1812, and watching documentaries on the Revolutionary War and in that time I have seen and read many things that are not that accurate.

Most of the history is whitewashed or sanitized, if you will…..

If instance take the participation of France in the American Revolution…..

It’s the goddamn American Revolution. Sure, the French stepped in late in the game, but by the time they bothered to put down their baguettes and wine, the colonists had already proven they were a solid bet. Even after the Americans won at Saratoga, French assistance was, well, French: underwhelming and plagued by indecision.

The Reality

In the centuries since the Revolutionary War, French contributions have been criminally downplayed. Somewhere between the real Yorktown and Mel Gibson’s rather less accurate version, The Patriot, the monumental French war effort during the birth of America got forgotten, buried in the sand, and pissed on.

The truth is, the 13 colonies would never have earned their freedom without French intervention — the whole battle for American independence was essentially a proxy war between Britain and France. To the French, America was nothing but another theater in their grand blood feud against Britain. They were all about making the Englishmen eat every last available dick, and since they noticed they could use the colonists’ struggle for independence as a handy feeding pen, that’s exactly what they did.

France began providing arms and ammunition as early as 1776 (the war started in 1775). In early 1777, months before Saratoga, the French sent American colonists 25,000 uniforms and pairs of boots, hundreds of cannons, and thousands of muskets — all stuff that the colonists would’ve had a hard time surviving without, and all stuff they had no access to on their own. And that was just the tip of the iceberg: From supplies to advice to military reinforcements, France exercised all the fiscal restraint of a drunk businessman at a strip club when it came to funding the American war.

France provided a whopping 90 percent of the rebels’ gunpowder. Let that sink in for a second. Without France, the entire American Revolution would have devolved into a bunch of dudes swinging their muskets as clubs within weeks.

Still, the most important French contribution to the revolution (or, if you’re British, their ultimate dick move) was the least visible to Americans. As mentioned, the reason France pampered the Patriots was always selfish. They were out to weaken the British forces — particularly their naval strength — in order to take the fight to them, perhaps even conquer them. That’s why, for much of the Revolutionary War, the British ships tasked with kicking America’s ass had to survive 12 rounds with the French navy before they could even think of crossing the Atlantic. France gleefully fought the British, eventually teaming up with Spain, declaring a war, attacking from all sides, and even setting up an invasion force. In those battles, America’s independence was a fart in the desert.

So, when the Colonial army was fighting for dear freedom, history books tend to conveniently forget that they did so with French money, equipment, and backup forces, while France and its other allies were busy pummeling the empire from every other side.

(cracked.com)

Like I stated whitewashed.

Like so many other things and people the US history tends to sanitize the facts so that the noble Colonialist appear more god-like.

There is such much more and so many myths that need to see the light of day.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

Joy to all and to all a good night.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”