I had a significant revelation about the Revolution.  I’m reading the Bill O’Reilly book Killing England, and I’m feeling kind of stupid.  It’s almost embarrassing to admit, let alone write it down, that I always thought that the Declaration of Independence was established after the war, rather than before.  I’ve seen the actual document and traveled to many of the battle sights, but my timeline was definitely out of whack.  I made the wrong assumption that independence was the reward, not the wish.  It also explains why there was so much bravery involved in attaching your name to it, because it was like signing your own death warrant.  I’m hoping that others had this same misunderstanding, or was it just me?

I blame it on lack of personal family history, or perhaps not paying attention in class.  Long before I was a retiree, I was an adoptee, so I had a slight handicap when it came to history.  (See Post #104).  I have no family history that dates back to revolutionary times, and my only natural connection to war was a piece of paper identifying my birth father as a Marine.  As a result of recent research, I do know that my adopted Grandfather served in World War I and has a lineage dating back to Nicholas Hancher, who was born in 1705 and died in 1777, conceived a son named John (1734-1793), who then fathered a son named Nicholas II (1768-1846).  These “pseudo relatives” were all Virginians that l lived during the Revolutionary War.  In addition, Nicholas (1705-1777) had an additional son named William (1736-1799) who went by the last name of Hinshaw.  This was common due to phonetic pronunciation in the 1700’s, so spelling variations of Hancher, Hinshaw, and Hanshaw were a factor of the times.  He was at the battle of Point Pleasant in 1774 and was present for the signing of he peace treaty with the Indians at Camp Charlotte that same year.  William then joined the Virginia Continental Army in 1775 as a lieutenant and later became a captain, with no compensation reported.  He’s listed in the “Patriot Index” of the Daughters of the American Revolution, but his war service may have been controversial since his father was a Quaker.  William and his wife Ann’s sons were named Levi and Hiram.  This is my only “adopted family” connection with the Revolutionary War, but was unbeknownst to me as a history student.

When I wasn’t watching “I Love Lucy” on our black-and-white television, I was watching Disney’s “Swamp Fox,” although probably not with my mom.  (See Post #291).  It was where I first observed tri-corned hats, although apparently historically inaccurate in the T.V, portrayal of Francis Marion by actor Leslie Nielsen, who also sang the theme song:  “Swamp Fox, Swamp Fox, tail on his hat…nobody knows were the Swamp at; Swamp Fox, Swamp Fox, hiding in the glen, He’ll ride away to fight again.  Got no money, got no beds, got no roof above our heads; got no shelter when it rains,  All we’ve got is Yankee brains.”  Other key Revolutionary figures like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Benedict Arnold, and John Paul Jones have further stirred my interest throughout the O’Reilly book.  As a result, I’m a smarter man today.  I just hope the book ends with an American victory, because the odds seem so much against us.