{"id":1140,"date":"2015-07-29T13:57:47","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T13:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=1140"},"modified":"2015-09-05T15:19:11","modified_gmt":"2015-09-05T15:19:11","slug":"on-american-history-patched-and-piebald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=1140","title":{"rendered":"On American History, “patched and piebald”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/1\/15\/Declaration_independence.jpg\/600px-Declaration_independence.jpg\"Declaration of Independence<\/a><\/em>:\u00a0 John Adams – “patched and piebald” – stands at center, hand on hip…<\/em><\/p>\n

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Here’s a break in the action<\/a> from my multi-volume Mid-summer Travelog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I recently got some\u00a0 much-needed cheering up on the political front<\/em>.\u00a0 I got cheered up by listening to two lectures on CD<\/a>.\u00a0 The one I just started is Brotherhood of the Revolution: How America’s Founders Forged a New Nation<\/a>.\u00a0 I started listening just a few days ago.<\/p>\n

The other CD – actually an audiobook<\/a> – was Chris Matthew\u2019s Life\u2019s a Campaign<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 I talked about it on June 12, in \u201cGreat politicians sell hope<\/a>.”\u00a0 I noted the book gave me the sense that the most of the U.S. presidents of the past have been \u2013 overall, generally, and even the ones I didn’t like \u2013 “decent, honorable and capable.”\u00a0 What’s more, the book gave me a sense that the same applies – in general – “to politicians today<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 (Gasp!<\/em>)”<\/p>\n

I’ll write more on Campaign<\/a> later, but for now I’ll focus on\u00a0Brotherhood of the Revolution<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I got as far as Lecture 3 – Disc 2, Track 6 – where I felt moved to note the disconnect<\/a>\u00a0between history as it’s written – and taught – and as it actually happens. (How it’s actually lived through<\/em>.)\u00a0 John Adams<\/a> – for one – preferred the more-accurate history as actually lived through<\/em><\/strong>, as opposed to the popular rose-colored glasses<\/a>.\u00a0 See Adams and American Mythology<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In elementary school, they told us that the Founding Fathers were Great Men. \u00a0They sat down in Philadelphia in 1776 with a mandate from God, and calmly and certainly wrote the Declaration of Independence. \u00a0Then they fought the British, and then they founded the first democracy ever, and then independence and democracy spread to the rest of the world. \u00a0They knew what they were doing. \u00a0They were carried by a sure and steady tide.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The\u00a0American Mythology<\/a>\u00a0site said this mythos<\/a><\/em> “became popular while Adams was still alive,” but it was a view of history he loathed. \u00a0That was followed by a statement of “nothing certain in what those ‘great men’ did in Philadelphia.”\u00a0 Our American History – as lived through<\/em> – was “improvised, patched together, made up from one moment to the next, with every outcome uncertain until it was safely past.”<\/p>\n

\"1776The site noted the musical\u00a01776<\/a><\/b><\/em>\u00a0– and\u00a0film<\/a>, shown at left – which had John Adams saying these words.\u00a0 (Words that mirrored “almost exactly” what he wrote in a letter to Benjamin Rush<\/a>\u00a0in 1790):<\/p>\n

I’ll not be in the history books. \u00a0Only Franklin. \u00a0Franklin did this, and Franklin did that, and Franklin did some other damn thing. \u00a0Franklin smote the ground, and out sprang General Washington, fully grown and on his horse. \u00a0Then Franklin electrified him with that miraculous lightning-rod of his, and the three of them \u2013 Franklin, Washington, and the horse \u2013 conducted the entire War for Independence all by themselves.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The article noted another book by Ellis<\/a>, his 2002 Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation<\/a>. \u00a0See also Wikipedia<\/a>, which described the “fractious disputes and hysterical rhetoric<\/em><\/strong> of these contentious nation-builders.” (Emphasis added.)<\/p>\n

Wikipedia<\/a> said these disputes might come across today as “hyperbolic pettiness.”\u00a0 (Hyperbole<\/a> is the use of “exaggeration<\/a> as a rhetorical device<\/a>.”)\u00a0<\/em> But the article added that\u00a0Founding Brothers<\/em> showed the real<\/em> issues, the “driving assumptions and riveting fears that animated Americans’ first encounter with the organized ideologies and interests we call parties.”\u00a0 (And apparently that “hysterical rhetoric” isn’t limited to our<\/em> times.)\u00a0 Then came Adams:<\/p>\n

As Adams remembered it… ‘all the great critical questions about men and measure from 1774 to 1778’ were desperately contested and highly problematic… \u00a0 Nothing was clear, inevitable, or even comprehensible to the soldiers in the field at Saratoga or the statesmen in the corridors at Philadelphia: \u00a0‘It was patched and piebald<\/strong> policy then, as it is now, ever was, and ever will be, world without end.’ \u00a0The real drama of the American Revolution … was its inherent messiness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"(Emphasis added.)\u00a0 Note that term, “inherent messiness.”<\/p>\n

And incidentally, the term “piebald” usually refers to the spotting on a certain type of horse.\u00a0 (As shown at right.)\u00a0 But in a metaphoric sense it means “composed of incongruous parts.” \u00a0See for example\u00a0<\/span>piebald – Wikipedia<\/a>, and Piebald … Merriam-Webster<\/a>.<\/p>\n

See also\u00a0American Creation – Book Review<\/a>, noting Ellis on Adams’ theory that – in the history of the Revolution as people lived it – “contingency played a large role in shaping the decisions of leaders who were often making it up as they went along, teetering on the edge of the abyss.”<\/p>\n

Note that term too, “teetering on the edge of the abyss,” which also<\/em> seems to apply today.<\/p>\n

Which brings us back to Brotherhood of the Revolution<\/a>.\u00a0 As noted, I’ve gotten as far as Lecture Three.\u00a0 Ellis said that in the process of studying Adams – living through the Revolution as he did – it was most<\/em> fascinating to read his letters and diaries.\u00a0 Those papers give “a sense of how confused and how incoherent and inchoate<\/a> events seemed at the time.”\u00a0 And this was especially true of the letters of Adams to his wife Abigail in the critical years 1775-1776<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ellis noted the turmoil of those two years, engulfing the Colonies.\u00a0 But during that key time in American History, John and Abigail wrote mostly about their children<\/em><\/strong>, and about the smallpox epidemic raging through America at the time. \u00a0See Siege of Boston – Wikipedia<\/a>.\u00a0 Their biggest fear was of losing their children.\u00a0 (And so it likely is of all history “as it’s lived through<\/em>.”)<\/p>\n

Which Ellis said brought up the point that when we study history, we normally divide it into “segments<\/a>.” \u00a0But history as it’s lived through – as it happens – “happens in a variety of different ways, all at the same time<\/em>.”\u00a0 Which brings up that key difference, between how Adams saw such developing history, and how a guy named Thomas Jefferson<\/a> saw it.<\/p>\n

\"\"In later years, Jefferson recalled the Revolution as “clear moral conflict between right and wrong.”\u00a0 But Adams saw the Revolution as a chaotic event<\/em>, a “concatenation<\/a>, a tumbling, overlapping experience of turmoil.”\u00a0 And that chaos<\/em><\/strong> – illustrated at left – swept up all Americans living at the time.\u00a0 Adams rejected<\/em> Jefferson’s view of American history.\u00a0 He thought his patched and piebald<\/em> memory of the war was more accurate:<\/p>\n

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“We didn’t know what we were doing. \u00a0<\/strong>We were improvising … always on the edge of catastrophe.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Which brings us to today’s political gridlock<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before I listened to Brotherhood<\/a>, I felt that we too<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0are living in a time of chaos. \u00a0See Gridlock in Congress?\u00a0 It\u2019s probably even worse than you think<\/a> (Washington Post<\/em>), Political gridlock: Unprecedentedly dysfunctional<\/a>, (The Economist<\/em>),\u00a0 and Political Gridlock \u2013 Huffington Post<\/a>.\u00a0 (A list of articles on the current gridlock<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

But after<\/em> listening to the CD, I came to think maybe today’s gridlock is more of a \u201cSituation Normal<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0(Or as Adams would say, politics \u201cas it is now, ever was, and ever will be, world without end.\u201d)\u00a0 Remember those terms, “improvised, patched together, made up from one moment to the next?”\u00a0 “Hysterical rhetoric?”\u00a0 \u201cTeetering on the edge of the abyss?<\/em><\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

As Churchill said, “No one pretends democracy is perfect or all wise.\u00a0 Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried…<\/em>”<\/p>\n

So cheer up.\u00a0 At least we haven’t come to this!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 (Not yet anyway…<\/em>)<\/p>\n

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Congressman Brooks makes a point of order<\/a> with Senator Sumner…<\/em><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The upper image is courtesy of Wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Declaration_of_Independence_(Trumbull)<\/a>.\u00a0 The caption:\u00a0 “50 men, most of them seated, are in a large meeting room. Most are focused on the five men standing in the center of the room.\u00a0 The tallest of the five is laying a document on a table.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

See also The Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull<\/a>, and John Adams – Wikipedia<\/a>, with the caption: “Trumbull’s<\/a> Declaration of Independence<\/a> depicts committee presenting draft Declaration of Independence to Congress.\u00a0\u00a0 Adams at center has hand on hip.”\u00a0 Thus Trumbull showed “only” the presentation of the first draft of the Declaration, not the signing itself.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Re:\u00a0 The views of Ellis – and Adams – on history as people actually live through it:\u00a0 “What in retrospect has the look of a foreordained unfolding of God\u2019s will was in reality an improvisational affair in which sheer chance” – not to mention pure luck – “determined the outcome.\u201d\u00a0 See also Trust and Caution – The New York Times<\/a>, which noted: \u00a0“How to live in a tragic milieu and yet strive toward triumph … was a consuming concern for the founders.” \u00a0As it is even to this day<\/strong>…<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: 1775-1776.\u00a0 The full cite in the text is American Revolution: Conflict and Revolution 1775-1776<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Re: Smallpox during the siege of Boston. \u00a0See The Siege of Boston & Smallpox \u2013 1775 \u2013 1776<\/a>, and Colonial Germ Warfare : The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation<\/a>.\u00a0 The latter especially noted the circumstantial evidence that the British engaged in a form of germ warfare<\/a> against Americans during the siege.\u00a0 The article noted most British troops had either been inoculated or had smallpox, and thus were immune.\u00a0 Further, smallpox was endemic in Europe at the time – “almost always present” – so that nearly everyone had been exposed, and “most of the adult population had antibodies that protected it.”\u00a0 On the other hand, most American soldiers were susceptible; at the time of the siege most Americans had never come in contact with the virus, and thus had no immunity.<\/em><\/p>\n

As Ellis also noted in Brotherhood of the Revolution<\/a>,\u00a0 John Adams was a paradox, a “conservative revolutionary,” as shown by his defending the British soldiers after the “Boston Massacre.”\u00a0 See The Boston Massacre Trials | John Adams Historical Society<\/a>, and also\u00a0Boston Massacre – Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

The trial of the eight soldiers opened on November 27, 1770.\u00a0<\/sup> Adams told the jury to look beyond the fact the soldiers were British. \u00a0He argued that if the soldiers were endangered by the mob, which he called “a motley rabble of saucy boys, negroes<\/a>, and\u00a0molattoes<\/a>, Irish teagues<\/a> and outlandish jack tarrs<\/a> [i.e. sailors],” they had the legal right to fight back<\/a>, and so were innocent. \u00a0If they were provoked but not endangered, he argued, they were at most guilty of manslaughter<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which raises the question:\u00a0 Are there any such conservative revolutionaries<\/strong> today?<\/em><\/p>\n

The chaos<\/strong> image is courtesy of Chaos theory – Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 The caption:<\/em><\/p>\n

Turbulence<\/a> in the tip vortex<\/a> from an airplane<\/a> wing.\u00a0 Studies of the critical point beyond which a system creates turbulence were important for chaos theory[, including] that fluid turbulence<\/a> could develop through a strange attractor<\/a>, a main concept of chaos theory.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Churchill quote is from Winston Churchill’s Quote on Democracy : Papers – Free Essays<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

The lower image is courtesy of Caning of Charles Sumner – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 The caption:\u00a0 “Lithograph of Preston Brooks<\/a>‘ 1856 attack on Sumner; the artist depicts the faceless assailant bludgeoning the learned martyr.”\u00a0 See also 1851: Caning of Senator Charles Sumner – May 22, 1856<\/a><\/em> (Senate Archives),<\/em> and Preston Brooks – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Note that Sumner recovered from the attack and returned to the Senate in 1859.\u00a0 He served throughout the Civil War and beyond, until 1872, where he served much of the time as “powerful chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Brooks on the other hand died less than a year later, “unexpectedly from croup<\/a> in January 1857…\u00a0\u00a0 The official telegram announcing his death stated ‘He died a horrid death, and suffered intensely.'”<\/em><\/p>\n

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Declaration of Independence:\u00a0 John Adams – “patched and piebald” – stands at center, hand on hip…   Here’s a break in the action from my multi-volume Mid-summer Travelog. I recently got some\u00a0 much-needed cheering up on the political front.\u00a0 I got cheered up by listening to two lectures on CD.\u00a0 The one I just started […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1140"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1140"}],"version-history":[{"count":140,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1549,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1140\/revisions\/1549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}