Another's Inspiring Stand

Throughout time, millions of people around the world have surveyed the conditions around them and then took a stand reflecting their views on the matter, causing theirs and others’ destinies to change dramatically. For example, the forefather’s of our country went against the odds, risked their lives, and began possibly the most important war in American history, just based on what they believed to be right. These people deserve respect and admiration for taking the stand that became the first step down the long road that brought America to what the country has become.

These people, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and George Washington, played their deadly game with a deck stacked against them. Their opponents, the Britons, were a highly trained, highly skilled, and highly feared superpower. The Thirteen Colonies however were just a bunch of backwater settlements, unheard of and supposedly weak. The game began with the high taxes bringing on peaceful protests. When the taxes were raised further, the protesting became wilder and more ingenious. Really, where in the world would a Boston Tea Party happen, other than in, what would become, the United States?

Soon the British influence and laws become intolerable, causing a full-scale war. British soldiers met the “American” opposition and, against everyone’s expectations, the Colonies’ forces dominated the British at first. The Colonies had advantages the British could not match. North America and Britain are separated by the Atlantic Ocean, causing to resupplying and reinforcing to take a long time. The French also bore a grudge against the British; after all, France had just lost Canada to Great Britain. Because of this, the French lent the Colonists their support. Spain also lent the Colonists a hand. With Britain facing war on multiple fronts, they could not help but to ration their troops on all of them, therefore dividing them and making them easy to conquer.

During all of this, patriots held their ground and literally fought for freedom. George Washington led the troops as a general, Thomas Jefferson gathered support as a diplomat, and John Adams set the people’s hearts ablaze with his powerful, eloquent speeches and his piquant retorts toward British supporters. Their actions have had a direct effect on history itself, and for that they deserve our admiration. After all, where would we be without them?