Document Importance

In starting the class we learned about the findings in the new world and the growth of our united states. This may have been a very significant part in history but I felt as if many things that occurred in this time period were because of the finding of new things and learning, not a great change in history. But when we started to learn about the rebellion of Continental soldiers against the British army I was interested and surprised by their efforts. These documents we read had great significance and explained the view of so many. Reading about the hardships of the soldiers rebelling, the British and their allies, slaves hope being and even the citizens that didn’t wish to pick sides quickly grabbed my attention.

In the first document I read, Document 7-3 J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur: Distresses of a Frontier Man, Crevecoeur so vividly explained the troubles of being in the middle. This shows a very significant part of the rebellion and time in history. Crevecoeur is questioning his course of action. In the beginning he explains the changes the area around him. To the west of him, he is enclosed by a chain of mountains, and to the east the country is thinly inhabited. There is also a fear of British allies [Indians] coming through the wilderness and entering their land in the night. He explains the constant fear of him and his family in anticipation of the oncoming army. This is all important to the time because of the large group of men, women, and children that did not take part in the rebellion on either side but chose to remain neutral, and still were punished, tortured and force into submission. This tells how the innocent class seemed to constantly be greatly affected by the wars of another. I believed that this document pointed out how the rebellion affected the part of the country that was almost never acknowledged.

In the second document I read, Document 7-5 Joseph Brant: Address to British Secretary of State Lord Germain, it was explained