tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post3217045033698448988..comments2023-04-27T04:39:45.647-04:00Comments on JT Thinks About Stuff: The Spirit of '16JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170062950345779215noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post-82902877242653283252016-06-27T21:58:42.834-04:002016-06-27T21:58:42.834-04:00I'm sure most of them didn't, not to begin...I'm sure most of them didn't, not to begin with. I expect, for example, that the "embattled farmers" of the Battle of Concord weren't thinking philosophically; they were angry because the government was sending soldiers against their homes. By the same token, I expect that many of the young Germans who conquered France in 1940 weren't particularly ardent Nazis. I still argue, though, that the collective purpose of any war--the purpose articulated by those who sound the bugles and write the proclamations--is a matter of very significant weight. Otherwise you'd have to conclude that there's no moral difference between the sides in any war, which strikes me as self-evidently false.<br /><br />It's also true, and very relevant, that Enlightenment ideas were in the air at that time and place. John Adams wrote that "The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations…. This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution." (quote copied from Wikipedia, but cited there)JThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12170062950345779215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post-37135221691493696792016-06-27T19:44:00.112-04:002016-06-27T19:44:00.112-04:00I wonder if people in the colonies really looked a...I wonder if people in the colonies really looked at independence as a philosophical point. We've had 240 years to build up the story, and there were a lot of other political changes at the time. My guess is that most people in the colonies just didn't think of themselves as part of the mother country anymore. Plus, they were further removed geographically. The relatively diverse population made the ethnic rule assertion implausible.<br /><br />There was a lot of political upheaval in that period, democracies overwhelming monarchies. Maybe some of that philosophy is the real reason for independence. But maybe it was a convenience, too.seanovanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00288825590780391411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post-78211155576192235432016-06-27T10:23:13.577-04:002016-06-27T10:23:13.577-04:00We did. Powerful and somber expresses it very well...We did. Powerful and somber expresses it very well. It's not just that it would have been a cruel place to be held, particularly in the old wing. It's also the sense that, as hard as life is, humans keep inventing ways to make it harder.JThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12170062950345779215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post-22209290411048833082016-06-26T23:03:43.131-04:002016-06-26T23:03:43.131-04:00Did you get to the prison then?? I was hoping to v...Did you get to the prison then?? I was hoping to visit in 2012. It seems like it must be a powerful and sombre place.Varianorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09576040365080504873noreply@blogger.com