February 6, 2013
And so it continues …

My “full of shit” commenter continues, this time planning to cite those incidents when militias mattered. To wit, I offer these examples of his comments. (Alas, it’s hard to do this in a coherent way in Tumblrville, so this is the best I can figure out.) 

He has subsequently pointed to the Green Mountain Boys, and will no doubt eventually get to Morgan’s campaign in South Carolina.

All of which is true. And all of which makes my point: militias annoyed the British. They made it harder for the British to operate. No doubt they made it harder for the British to mass their forces against the American Army, although to be fair the colonies were big and the forces involved in most battles were surprisingly small so retreat into the wilderness was always an option.

But these events didn’t beat the British.

The British did not surrender to a militia. They surrendered to an army. (Two, in fact, if you remember the French.) Indeed, Cornwallis’ deputy tried to give his sword to the French general at Yorktown, but the French officer demurred and indicated he should surrender to Washington. 

Can armed people make it hard for an oppressor to govern? Absolutely. Did some of the American militia do this in the Revolution? Absolutely. Did the militia beat the British? 

Don’t make me laugh.

1:28pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZPUuPydXoqBU
(Notes: 45)
  
  1. think4yourself reblogged this from politicalprof
  2. redcloud said: Militias couldn’t stop a tax on whiskey….
  3. brightthings said: And then after we became a nation, some righteous farmers DID try and rise up against the government’s tyranny with their guns… It did not go very well.
  4. quasiflexuralthrusting said: BUT THE PATRIOT! Are you telling me that Mel Gibson didn’t lead the fight in gaining our independence? Damn historical inaccuracies in movies
  5. msriverblues said: 1 of the ironies of the militia myth is that, in the late 18th Century, the militias existed to suppress revolts against the gov’t, & not just by slaves. See Shays Rebellion, State of Franklin, Whiskey Rebellion, Fries’s Rebellion, etc.
  6. foolsandirish said: And pointing this out in no way demeans the American militia-members who fought in the Revolution. The only reason to take offense is because it ruins the case for massive personal armament in modern America.
  7. orderfromchaos said: As a British player, supply issues mean that you can’t concentrate enough to effectively destroy the American army, but you also can’t disperse enough to take a lot of ground
  8. shrinkwrappedpackets said: Preach, sir.
  9. politicalprof posted this