The American Revolution, Massachusetts, USA

Throughout the Boston metropolitan area many sites commemorate some historical event from the 1700's illustrating our fight for freedom.  Minuteman National Historical Park is such a place and currently spans parts of  the towns of Lexington, Bedford, and Concord.  The events on April 19, 1775 along this route, Battle Road,  mark the beginning of the American revolution.

This is Battle Road Trail which winds through the park following the historical route.  Not far from this location is where Paul Revere was captured by the British.  If you look at drawings from that period you will observe that most of the land was cleared for farming.  Today, much of this area of Massachusetts is tree covered.


The restored Captain William Smith House is located mid-way along Battle Road.

A nicely gnarled old tree.

Hartwell Tavern. A tavern in those days had to offer services to both foot travelers and their horses.  And when not resting in the stable, the horses could stick their heads in the windows to play checkers .  And notice the width of the planks on the floor and walls.  Bet you can't buy those at Home Depot or Lowe's.......

I wonder what the REAL story is from those days.  I wonder because in my former professional career, I saw how the press would report an aviation event - mostly accurate but almost always missing key and important information and perspective.  I imagine the press does that with almost every subject.  Reporting is nearly always somehow altered by the perspective of the reporter. So, it makes me wonder how accurate is our understanding of the events from 200-plus years ago when accuracy of events today is so elusive?

Please DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER - you will be exposed to mild political ranting if you do.

Listening to the Republican Debates this fall further demonstrates my point.  Everyone may look at the same event but each will see and interpret differently.  As another example, eyewitnesses will often have startlingly different reports after witnessing an accident or crime. 

Looking at our own nation's past, other events in the world, and today's political battles, I reach this conclusion:  When one bunch of people attempt to impose their ideas on another bunch of people the result is hate, discontent, and/or war and death.  Why haven't we learned that such a technique seldom works without lasting damage, bloodshed and/or economic disaster?  Why don't we learn?  Why don't we evolve to a better way?  We have spent or squandered so much of our national resources, both the  lives of our young soldiers and our nation's financial treasure, while our own needs increasingly go unmet. What have we gained?  Why don't we learn? One of the candidates said we have 900 military bases in 130 countries around the world.  Why is that?  Especially while we have closed hundreds of bases here on American soil.   I'm not generally an isolationist but, enough is enough.  Isn't it time we focus on our own homeland instead of so many others around the world?  Paul Revere rode a horse in the middle of the night to alert a few hundred people - in today's world we can email, text, or tweet to reach millions.