Patriot

Patriot

Benjamin Martin had seven children. His wife died while giving birth to his youngest daughter, Susan. The Martin family lived in South Carolina, where he built a small home on a farm. The Martin’s were well known and liked by both Patriots and Whigs alike. They only hired freedmen. Benjamin enjoyed making furniture; his main goal was to make the perfect chair, the three-pound rocking chair. His plantation, Fresh Water Plantation, was his retirement plan.

The Patriot begins in March 1776, with a messenger from the Continental Mail Service delivering a stack of letters to Benjamin Martin. The most urgent letter was from the Speaker of the Assembly. Everyone who was old enough knew what this meant. Benjamin’s sons thought war was glorious and were excited by the letter. Benjamin, who was a veteran of the French and Indian war, was not. He learned the hard way how gruesome war was, and didn’t want to have anything to do with it, nor his family. His oldest son Gabriel scared him the most. Gabriel wanted to join the war, and was old enough to do it. The note was an invitation to a meeting in Charles Town where the colonies would decide whether they’d join the cause or not. Benjamin and family left for Charles Town to stay with their aunt Charlotte on their mother’s side. Benjamin and Charlotte had a spark between them, but Benjamin was not yet over his wife. At the meeting, an argument over why the colonies should all unite was in full strength.

Benjamin, who was thought to be a Patriot, stood and made a point as to why he should not join the war, and offered an alternative to war. By the end of the meeting, Martin said he would not agree to make a vote that allowed a war to go on in his backyard. Benjamin’s children were ashamed by their father’s words. The levy was passed, however, and Benjamin later caught up with Gabriel who was in line to enlist in the war. There was nothing he could do to change his son’s mind. Colonial Harry Burwell told Martin he’d take care of his son.

Gabriel was away for nearly two years. Benjamin’s second oldest son, Thomas, grew thirsty for war himself. The war was growing closer to Fresh Water Plantation. Gunshots were within earshot. Gabriel returned home wounded and bloody. Soon the battle took place on Martin’s ground. His home was soon transformed into a hospital. Both Patriots ...

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...y, and if Burwell didn’t see Martin in that time, he’d make the letter final. Martin went to his family, but soon returned to the war in thee weeks. Approximately five months later, Martin and his militia hiked to the top of a nearby hill to see Seven Thousand French troops. There was also a barricade in the sea, preventing British supplies from coming in. A few weeks later, the British raised the white flag.

General Washington thanked the militia greatly for their contributions to the war. Burwell and Martin talked about what they planned to do now that the war was finally over. So much had changed; Martin had lost two of his boys. Burwell informed Martin that he had named his new son after Gabriel. Martin soon departed for his family. His wife was pregnant, so he had to wait at Gullah Village until his eighth child was old enough to travel. He planned to rebuild at Fresh Water Plantation, but worried because he didn’t know how he’d be able to finish in time for the winter. When he arrived at his homestead, he found that people were already building on his property. He was delighted though, when he found that it was a few of his militiamen helping to rebuild his home.