'Rank-and-File Rebels'

The first section of Ray Raphael's A People's History of the American Revolution makes a case that the American Revolution didn't begin with the 'shot heard round the world' at Lexington, as nearly every US history text book claims, but with a broad popular organizing and uprising two summers earlier.

Uneducated, landless common people refused the British monarchy's authority by disallowing the Crown's courts to open all across the state, asserting their rights as free people to determine their own legal and social affairs. Thousands of citizens from all over the countryside gathered numerous times throughout the Massachusetts colony, physically barring the agents of King George III from unilaterally determining their communities' fates. The Crown's influence in Massachusetts remained only on paper. As Raphael puts it,

This was the first major shift of political authority from the British to the Americans. One government was overthrown, another quickly took its place. A new state was born, and eventually a new country.

Why is such a monumental event, this massive rising of the people, not included in the oft-told tale of our nation's beginnings? Such a serious lapse in reporting gives cause to wonder. Without bloodshed, without famous personalities, and without a singular event or unique location, the Massachusetts Revolution of 1774 has been neglected by history. (Raphael, 46)

This is one of what I'm sure will be hundreds of similarly forgotten events, and learning about it brings up one of the central questions I have in undertaking this reading project: What role did rich, white men play in creating our country?

The usual narrative of our country has been told only in terms of the white male personalities. And the post-modern examination of that narrative has brought out all kinds of important stories from history, showing us how much of our country's 'progress' has been possible only due to the obscene abuses of slavery, genocide, and an economics of scarcity that values human beings for their capacity to generate capital, regardless of the impact on the poor, the environment, or the future. The unpleasant underside of the famous 'founding fathers' is an important story to be told and understood by Americans.

But it also seems accurate to say that the myth, however false, of purely virtuous, freedom-loving founders has had a huge impact on how we Americans see ourselves. Real, authentic love of freedom and justice, I would suppose, has been generated based on these stories.

I can speak for myself and say that the things I love most about the United States are rooted in my sense of the idea behind all of this: that all humans are created equal, and have certain inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It's consistent with my experience of the world, with my belief of the message of Christ, and has produced all kinds of positive change in the world as oppressed peoples have claimed these ideals for themselves.

And so our country's 'creation myth' can't simply be replaced with a story of awful injustices. What's ironic is that the stories like this one of the Massachusetts Revolution are so much more inspiring, hopeful and relevant to real people than the silly, false stories of Washington and his cherry tree, or Lincoln being born in a log cabin he built with his own two hands. We need heroes, I guess, to help us understand what kind of people we come from. But our heroes are lacking in relevance, breadth, and truthfulness.

I want real heroes who made real stands for justice and love, and who deserve to be venerated. I want heroes who, like me and the rest of America, have incredible short-comings and incredible strengths. I want to give honor and remembrance to people who earned it, despite their weaknesses, whether they look like me, spoke my language, worshiped my God, or shared my political views.

If Washington is a hero who deserves his own holiday, his face on the $1 bill, and our capital named in his honor, I want proof. If he doesn't deserve it in the light of honest, accurate historical examination, then we should take back our veneration and find one of the real heroes who made our country possible.

My suspiscion is that there's a lot more to our famous personalities than is widely known, and that many of them do deserve to be honored, but for very different reasons than our 5th grade teachers knew ho wto explain. My hope is that by reading from multiple sources and taking everything with a grain of salt, I'll uncover the real people who made the United States what it is today, get a better understanding of who's been left out of the story and why, and know better who to thank and who to blame for the complicated, broken and beautiful country I call home.