British Imperialism Exposed In Mel Gibson's The Patriot

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“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” – George Orwell. In the rhythmic rise and fall of nations, people too often lose sight of the means as they seek their ends. One such case is that of the British Empire in 1700’s, as the consequences of immeasurable growth over the past century began to take effect. The unstoppable giant that was Great Britain had become dependent on growth to survive, as demands for evolving infrastructure exponentially outweighed productive capability and available resources. It was for this reason that when growth was challenged by other global powers Great Britain turned to increasing the strain on colonies that already disdained its rule. “The Patriot”, starring Mel Gibson, depicts one such result …show more content…

Tavington for what he had done. He begins this campaign for vengeance by meeting with Colonel Harry Burwell and organizing a military unit with a focus on informal, guerilla-style warfare. These guerilla warfare soldiers were primarily lower class white men and escaped slaves. Benjamin’s unit launches a series of tactical assaults on British supply lines, and makes resounding use of the unorthodox method of targeting British officers during a skirmish; the British regulars are thrown into disarray and begin to lose the remainder of their loyalist support in the South. Following a struggling series of conflicts in South Carolina, in which the British regulars captured Savannah and the American patriots captured Charleston, British General Clinton withdrew – leaving Officer Henry Cornwallis in charge of handling the threat posed by patriot militias. Cornwallis led a march North to quell the reminder of the Patriot opposition, but lacked adequate forces and was quickly halted; Cornwallis retreated back to South Carolina after losing the last of his Loyalist support. Around this time the Patriot Henry Morgan was dispatched to gather support for a counter-attack. Henry Morgan’s officers, such as Major General “Light-Horse” Harry Lee – the equivalent the films Col Harry Burwell, managed to gather the support of many informal militias composed of those wronged by the British regulars under Col Banastre Tarleton (Foner, 2017). Most of those recruited were led by the legendary Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox”; Benjamin Martin was made in the likeness of this historical character. Marion launched campaigns of guerilla-style and informal warfare, seeking to wear down the British forces in South Carolina and destroy any remaining Loyalist support. Around this time Washington began to consider the idea of blacks participating in his army. At first Washington had denied blacks participation in the

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