Order and Chaos
The book April Morning by Howard Fast is a story about the Revolutionary War and how it can change a person. Adam and the Nation are orderly until the war breaks out into chaos then returns to an orderly everyday life. Eventually they both realize that life known to them will never be the same as before.
Adam’s life in the beginning was very orderly and had daily chores that needed to be done. “Draw you mother’s evening water” (Fast 3) is a good example of how his life was dictated by Moses, his father. His father ordered Adam that he has to do these chores without question and sometimes Adam was not happy about how Moses ruled over him. He thought since he was tall enough and almost old enough that he was a man. The Cooper family welcomed newcomer and guests into their home. “There was five in our family but the table was set for six” (Fast 11). The Coopers did this at every
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meal as if they were expecting someone. As this was an occurring thing at every meal, the Coopers were orderly in how they had their meals. They were also very welcoming to guests or someone who just needed a fresh meal. During this time, the nation was trying to establish itself as a free country. “I’m tall and strong” (Fast 22) is Adam pleading to Moses that he should be considered a man now. This can also be said about the colonies, as people were contemplating a revolution and how they wanted to be free from Great Britain. Adam and the nation were under whom they considered a tyrannical leader but they remained orderly until chaos broke out. When the war broke out that is when Adam realized that nothing would be the same as before. “Adam he loves you” (Fast 11) is when his mother told him that his father actually loved him and did not hate him. This changed Adam from hating his father to when he died he could not help himself but to just cry. Adam did not like the war and wanted it to be gone “I never want to see a redcoat again” (Fast 112). He had been shot at by redcoats and shot at some. He hated how this one battle changed his life. When Moses died, he had become the man of the house and had to do many of his father’s chores that he was not used to. The nation broke out into chaos during the war, as they had no definite military. “We broke into parties of two or three” (Fast 146) shows that the militia was far below the British military. Many people in the militia were using guns not made for fighting as many, including Adam, were using their guns used for hunting animals. The British were a much stronger fighting force but the Americans were fighting for much more than the Brits. During the battle, the reverend was even in the militia. This battle also shows how when you have no definite military, it can call for anyone able to help the cause. “That morning I became a smoker” (Fast 128). Many in the nation were changed forever from the war. Adam had lost his father, became a man, and smoked his first cigarette all in less than one day. He knew that nothing would be the same as before and many knew they could not go back to the way it was before. After the day, Adam went home to a different home but one he had to embrace.
Adam went home to find that his family thought he was dead like Moses. “Do I look dead?” (Fast 170) He said when Levi ran to him crying. The family would have a hard time going on if they lost Moses and Adam. When Adam went to bed, he said “farewell to childhood” (Fast 201). He went to bed and then he had to accept that Moses was gone. Adam had become a man in under 24 hours. The battle took its toll on more than just the Cooper family, “Everyone wanted a crumb of comfort” (Fast 163). Many people did not want to fight with the British. After the battle, many returned home to find the British pushed back into Boston. The people who fought in the war some came home to dead friends and a changed life. After the battle “things had to be done” (Fast 201). America had to continue its fight for independence after the battle. Many thought with British would be driven out and it would be over. The nation had to put together a basic fighting force to battle with the best in the
world. The Revolutionary War changed Adam and the nation for a long time. They started orderly life until the battle broke out and eventually the returned to an orderly life. During the war, they know life will never be the same as before.
The first section of the book, named The Siege, holds the first chapters. The title of the section relates to McCullough’s descriptions of the events that happened on the Atlantic and at the Siege of Boston. The beginning of the book takes places actually in October of 1775 with Royal Majesty George III and his ride to the Palace of Westminster. He was on a ride to speak to a joint session of Parliament. King George announces that the American colonies to be in a state of rebellion. The King asks that both the House of Lords and the House of Commons support this decision. The House of Lords were session debating until midnight and finally accepting the King’s assertion. On the other hand, the House of Commons were in session well after 4 o’clock in the morning before they agreed with the King. The conditions previous to and during the Siege of Boston is described in great detail. McCullough revealed that, “In the General Evening Post, one solider portrayed the scene in Boston as nothing but melancholy, disease, and death.” (8)
Howard goes on to share that the story needs to be told from the standpoint of people from the war that’s not told in schoolbooks, “But to tell the story of the American Revolution, not from the standpoint of the schoolbooks, but from the standpoint of war as a complex
The setting of this book was especially essential to the plot. The story takes place in Southern Illinois during the American Civil War, from April of 1861 to April of 1865, hence the title Across Five Aprils. These Illinoisans were a scattered group of people basically made up of women, men, and children who moved there from the south. This created a lot of controversy when the Confederate states secede from the Union. Because of their upbringing many families had fathers fighting sons and brother’s fighting brothers. The hostility in the towns in Illinois made even the best of friends become the worst of enemies.
It was important that we won this battle so that we wouldn’t be walked all over as a country. Even though we had already passed the Treaty of Paris, the British were not acknowledging our rights as a country; and Europe, as a whole, didn’t have much respect for us either. After this win we started earning the respect we deserved as a united nation. The fact that the British were “violating American rights would not go unchallenged or unpunished.”(6). The battle and fight between the Patriots and the British army was on.
In “The Weekend,” George cheats on Lenore with Sarah, and she still chooses to stay with him and work out their issues. The story by Ann Beattie can relate to “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin because Edna cheats on Leonce with Robert and Alcee Arobin. After learning Edna cheats on him, Leonce decides to stay with Edna to work their relationship out. While nothing is wrong with their significant others, they cheat because something in them is unfulfilled. Lenore knows George cheats because he spends much of his time with the other women, but she never acknowledges it, until she talks with Julie one day; “she’s really the best friend I’ve ever had. We understand things—we don’t always have to talk about them. ‘Like her relationship with George,’
In 1776, David McCullough gives a vivid portrayal of the Continental Army from October 1775 through January 1777, with sharp focus on the leadership of America’s greatest hero, George Washington. McCullough’s thesis is that had not the right man (George Washington) been leading the Continental Army in 1776, the American Revolution would have resulted in a vastly different outcome. He supports his argument with a critical analysis of Washington’s leadership during the period from the Siege of Boston, through the disastrous defense of New York City, the desperate yet, well ordered retreat through New Jersey against overwhelming odds, and concludes with the inspiring victories of Trenton and Princeton. By keeping his army intact and persevering through 1776, Washington demonstrated to the British Army that the Continental Army was not simply a gang of rabble, but a viable fighting force. Additionally, Mr. McCullough supports his premise that the key to the survival of the American Revolution was not in the defense of Boston, New York City, or any other vital terrain, but rather the survival of the Continental Army itself. A masterful piece of history, 1776 is not a dry retelling of the Revolutionary War, but a compelling character study of George Washington, as well as his key lieutenants, and his British adversaries, the most powerful Army in the 18th Century world. When I read this book, I went from a casual understanding of the hero George Washington to a more specific understanding of why Washington was quite literally the exact right man at the exact right place and time to enable the birth of the United States.
...e gun, it seemed, the greater the owner‘s pride in it.” (McCullough 33) The Continental army certainly did not look like an army yet these people were brought together in this fight for freedom and prevailed even winning the support of Americans who had no hope the British would be defeated.” Merchant Erving had sided with the Loyalists primarily because he thought the rebellion would fail. But the success of Washington‘s army at Boston had changed his mind as it had for many” (McCullough 108). The reader must comprehend the power of this accomplishment for the rag-tag army. “Especially for those who had been with Washington and who knew what a close call it was at the beginning-how often circumstance, storms, contrary winds, the oddities or strengths of individual character had made the difference- the outcome seemed little short of a miracle.” (McCullough 294).
1776, Book Review It was a good year for a revolution, 1776. But it didn't start off quite as well as the colonists would have liked. When George Washington agreed to take command of the American forces in 1775, he probably didn't realize what he was truly getting himself into. Washington took command of an army made up of old men and young boys that had either come from their farms or the streets. The army was short on weapons and gunpowder, lacked uniforms, and was racked by disease and drunkenness.
The ending of this battle is tragic and enlightening as well, the great idea of sneak attacks at dawn by the Confederates and the righteous timings of reinforcement by the Union, brought this story to my attention. Gathering this information brought me believe that this is a movie, a novel, but this was actual real life. Losing lives in a battle like this one bring only one thing to mind, that each side was fierce on fighting for what they believe in. No other battles before this have had this much bloodshed in less than a day, the planning done by Grant and Johnston was phenomenal. The steady mind of Johnston and the brave hearts that were under Grant is what brought this battle to what is today’s history. Working on this essay has been excellent in my learning process and I hope to be doing another one soon.
The American Revolution: the war for our independence. This revolution opened the door to our liberty, freedom, and basically what America is now. Most Americans have heard the stories of famous battles, important people (George Washington for instance), and everything in between. However, this was only for our side of the American Revolution and a small fraction of people have been told of Britain’s campaign of the revolution. The only thing people have been told was the Britain lost the war. What of Britain’s triumphs, strategies, and everything that happened in the span of a few years? Not many people know it, but the British struck a major blow against the Patriots in the last few years of the war. Even though the United States won the American Revolution, Britain struck a major blow against the colonists when the British successfully and brutally took the town of Charleston, South Carolina.
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we alter and lose our freedoms, it will destroy ourselves,” said Abraham Lincoln. The novel Killer Angels as told by Michael Shaara, examines the three day Battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of several key people of the battle. The book looks at the battle and how each person viewed the events of the three day battle. General Robert E. Lee was a good general, but during this particular battle, he did not make the best of decisions, which led to the Confederate troops losing the war. The loss was a result of Lee’s own poor physical and emotional health, the welfare and conditions for the soldiers who fought for him as well as the weather that they were faced with and the conflict between
This was only just the beginning of what is turning out to be a long and tough road. It seemed like fights and protests were breaking out all of the time. If it wasn’t about the lack of freedom that they had because they couldn’t make decisions for themselves, then it was about the new laws that were being made. One particular that angered them was the act that imposed a tax on anything that was printed. From what I heard many of the colonists felt as if they shouldn’t have to pay extra money on something just because the British needed more money. Not only that but they had no choice in the matter because Parliament overruled any decision that Americans made. It was on a weekly trip into town with Mrs. Smith to pick up some groceries and supplies
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In contrast, the Adam and Eve creation described in Chapter Two of Genesis appears quite different. Adam was created first, from the dust of the earth as well as G-d blowing into his nostrils. Furthermore, unlike Adam’s creation in Chapter One which included Man’s Purpose as active verbs, the Adam in Chapter Two’s mission in life includes only passive verbs, such as “keep, guard, protect”; these are verbs of submission. Moreover, as stated earlier, Adam was cre...
Wars affect a country one way another, either for best or for the worst. The outcome of the war can change a country and the citizens of the country. The American Revolutionary was a war where the affect was tremendous. The American Revolution began in 1775 till 1783. The American Revolution is also known as the United States War of Independence. As soon as people left England to come to United States there was smell of revolution in the air. The revolutionary war was a way for the United States to make a statement and move forward as a country that wasn’t underneath the British rule. John Adams, the second prime minister of the United States explains how the American Revolution began when he says, “The Revolution was affected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people” . Adam basically means that everyone was thinking about the revolution and in their minds they were already there, wanting to break free from the British rule. Once everyone was against England the people were ready for war. The American Revolution started for many reasons, some of the few are; social, economic, and political changes. These changes provided America to be an independent country with its own government. The increase in strict laws and violent events made many Americans angry and that’s why the revolution began. The French and Indian war, taxes without representation, as well as the first continental congress. These are just some of the reasons that Americans wanted the revolution; there are many more causes that can be justified for this major event. Americans did not want to be ruled by the British who were thousands of miles away from them, they wanted to have control of their country and have their own laws....