quote—” Chandler flipped open his Harvard three-ring notebook but hardly needed to look at it.
“‘As between friends every affront is not worth a duel, between nations every injury not worth a war, so between governed and the government every mistake in government, every encroachment on rights, is not worth a rebellion.’”
Chandler leaned on the lectern, his hands clasped before him, glasses dangling, letting the words sink in: “And so it went, Franklin and Jefferson and John Adams, none of them wanted a war … or independence. In seventy-five Adams said the idea of independence was universally disavowed on our side of the water …” He dogged the point, pressed the idea that both the American Whigs and the Tories looked upon themselves as profoundly loyal to the crown. And when it came to war, he told them, it was a war by Whigs who sought to uphold their rights as Englishmen.
“These are crucial points to keep in mind when applying yourself to the study of the American Revolution … Revolution is a word with many meanings …”
He put his glasses back on and thrust his hand back into his pockets, straining the buttons on his jacket. He looked at the blackboard.
“The other word … treason. Now, Out of this new angle on revolution, it stands to reason that we’re going to get a new look at treason. And, incidentally, treason is an almost entirely subjective word—one man’s traitor is almost always another man’s hero. It’s an untrustworthy word, treason, yet the history of the American Revolution is riddled with … one righteous accusation of treason after another. But what is the illusion and what is the reality?
“Think—it started as anything but a revolution. Hell, no sane man could conceive of a war against the immeasurable might of England! These men thought of themselves as Englishmen, none more English than themselves—loyal subjects and proud to be. Yet events kept on conspiring as events will, pushing these loyal subjects toward a war … a war they didn’t want. But even as the spirit of independence was growing, even after July 4, 1776, the populace was far from unanimous in support of this declaration … in every corner of the country, in every city, there were thousands, tens of thousands who utterly opposed this precipitate act of insurrection—a suicidal rush to war.
“But get the point—they all saw themselves as patriots …
“And as the revolution gathered steam, as war engulfed them all, the differences and similarities grew in intensity. Political controversy had become a shooting war. Political views were reduced to only two, the population was polarized … You were either a patriot or a loyalist. The patriots insisted you were either willing to fight for the rights and liberties of Americans or you weren’t. And the loyalists said that was all irrelevant crap—the fact was, you were either for or against the lawful government.
“Naturally there were a great many intelligent, circumspect men who looked this way and that, unable to accept this harsh separation, this black-and-white view … and these men might be called, ah, realists. They were simply not convinced of the absolute tightness of one view or the other, they could not irrevocably join one side or the other … or, finding themselves serving one side or the other, they could not turn off their brains, they could not keep from seeing the other side’s point of view …
“The fact was, many great and powerful men were capable of shifting loyalties. Did that make them traitors?
“Shifting loyalties. Keep that in mind. You may be quite amazed at some of the fellows who found themselves prey to shifting loyalties … Quite amazed.” He sighed, picked up the Rolex and snapped it back on his wrist. “You’ve got the reading list. Keep at it.” He smiled, picked up his scarf. “That’s it for today.”
The woman with the huge eyes and the rakish cheekbones approached at a determined clip
“‘As between friends every affront is not worth a duel, between nations every injury not worth a war, so between governed and the government every mistake in government, every encroachment on rights, is not worth a rebellion.’”
Chandler leaned on the lectern, his hands clasped before him, glasses dangling, letting the words sink in: “And so it went, Franklin and Jefferson and John Adams, none of them wanted a war … or independence. In seventy-five Adams said the idea of independence was universally disavowed on our side of the water …” He dogged the point, pressed the idea that both the American Whigs and the Tories looked upon themselves as profoundly loyal to the crown. And when it came to war, he told them, it was a war by Whigs who sought to uphold their rights as Englishmen.
“These are crucial points to keep in mind when applying yourself to the study of the American Revolution … Revolution is a word with many meanings …”
He put his glasses back on and thrust his hand back into his pockets, straining the buttons on his jacket. He looked at the blackboard.
“The other word … treason. Now, Out of this new angle on revolution, it stands to reason that we’re going to get a new look at treason. And, incidentally, treason is an almost entirely subjective word—one man’s traitor is almost always another man’s hero. It’s an untrustworthy word, treason, yet the history of the American Revolution is riddled with … one righteous accusation of treason after another. But what is the illusion and what is the reality?
“Think—it started as anything but a revolution. Hell, no sane man could conceive of a war against the immeasurable might of England! These men thought of themselves as Englishmen, none more English than themselves—loyal subjects and proud to be. Yet events kept on conspiring as events will, pushing these loyal subjects toward a war … a war they didn’t want. But even as the spirit of independence was growing, even after July 4, 1776, the populace was far from unanimous in support of this declaration … in every corner of the country, in every city, there were thousands, tens of thousands who utterly opposed this precipitate act of insurrection—a suicidal rush to war.
“But get the point—they all saw themselves as patriots …
“And as the revolution gathered steam, as war engulfed them all, the differences and similarities grew in intensity. Political controversy had become a shooting war. Political views were reduced to only two, the population was polarized … You were either a patriot or a loyalist. The patriots insisted you were either willing to fight for the rights and liberties of Americans or you weren’t. And the loyalists said that was all irrelevant crap—the fact was, you were either for or against the lawful government.
“Naturally there were a great many intelligent, circumspect men who looked this way and that, unable to accept this harsh separation, this black-and-white view … and these men might be called, ah, realists. They were simply not convinced of the absolute tightness of one view or the other, they could not irrevocably join one side or the other … or, finding themselves serving one side or the other, they could not turn off their brains, they could not keep from seeing the other side’s point of view …
“The fact was, many great and powerful men were capable of shifting loyalties. Did that make them traitors?
“Shifting loyalties. Keep that in mind. You may be quite amazed at some of the fellows who found themselves prey to shifting loyalties … Quite amazed.” He sighed, picked up the Rolex and snapped it back on his wrist. “You’ve got the reading list. Keep at it.” He smiled, picked up his scarf. “That’s it for today.”
The woman with the huge eyes and the rakish cheekbones approached at a determined clip
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