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As part of the reading for my advanced standing test in “History of the American Revolution”, I’m reading a book called “The Unknown American Revolution” by Gary Nash. The book goes beyond the traditional telling of the roles of the “Founding Fathers” in the revolution and instead focuses on the important roles played by slaves, Indians, women, and the common man. The writing smacks of neo-liberal white guilt – which I find irritating – but overall it’s an interesting read. My favorite part so far has been the telling of how people celebrated and reacted to hearing that the Declaration of Independence had been signed:
In one of the most telling celebrations of all, a milling crowd of New York City citizens roped the marble-mounted equestrian statue of George III, toppled it on Bowling Green, and fell upon the leaden monarch. Mutilating the face, cutting off the head, and displaying the royal visage atop a flagpole, they left the rest of the torso on the ground. It would end up in Litchfield, Connecticut, where women and children turned it into about 42,000 musket balls…to be fired at the king’s redcoated troops.
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Colonists pulling down statute of King George III
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An Alternate depiction (Courtesy Library of Congress)
If there is anything cooler than tearing down the statue of a tyrant and then making bullets from that same statue to be used against said tyrant, I’d like to know what it is.
