Bassman62 Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Amazing, this thread "American contribution to the world" has had hundreds of replies (many of them slagging off the great USA) and is still running yet the thread entitled "What has Islam done to you?" has been closed after less than 200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Lets go back a tad further. Here's these Iceni and Druids and such happy as pigs in whatever, when up comes these Romans making hot baths and straight roads. Then Vikings, who aren't up to much good. No sooner got them out when over come Normans, Normans FCS!! Now everybody who is Norman gets all snobbish. Poor old Saxons. Finally Americans. You treat them fairly, because they're cousins, and what do they do, chuck tea into Boston Harbour, which is now spelled Harbor, just because Mother wants taxes paid to pay for British soldiers who are murdering innocent Bostonians for daring to call King George 111 a madman. Not only that, they up and win the war of independance, and haven't stopped crowing about it to this day. Now, if you put your boat in the water for a nice little sail, you're likely to get run over by a SuperCarrier. They very nearly didnt win it. The colonists lost nearly every battle and skirmish over the years the war was fought and George Washington until near the end of the conflict wasn't the great and able general that hsitory likes to paint him as such but like all good soldiers he learned from his mistakes along the way. On the other hand if the admiral in charge of the British fleet stationed off the American coast had had the moxy to take on the French fleet bottling up the very large British force trapped in Yorktown then history might have taken a whole different turn. Who this British admiral was is probably known to history but his name deservedly isn't worth remembering. I can understand Americans being very proud of the events that led to their indepenedence but like many things that happened in history certain other facts are conveniently forgotten by those who see it purely as a struggle between the good guys and the bad guys. The British government had long before the war started declared all teritory beyond the 13 colonies to be free from colonial settlement and it was to remain Indian territory. This did not go down very well at all with the colonists and during the war for independence many colonists took advantage of the situation to cross into this new frontier and carry out a policy of genocide and wholesale destruction of Indian farms and settlements. While Boston and Rhode Island were strongly for independence from Britain New York was almost 100 percent loyalist as were many living in the rural areas of the northern colonies. As for those colonies to the south including Virginia they were largely indifferent to which side won the war. Most decided to just sit the war out and settle for whatever the outcome was to be. In the end around 48,000 loyalists left for good and settled in Canada Very few Indians and freed former slaves threw in their lot with the revolutionaries. Instead they placed their fate in the hands of the British. They knew all too well which side their bread was buttered on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callippo Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Apparently the Zulus had quite a few firearms at Rourks Drift that were captured from the recent battle at Isandlwana. true, but they didn't know how to fire or reload them. Nobody had trained, or wanted to train them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callippo Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 They very nearly didnt win it. The colonists lost nearly every battle and skirmish over the years the war was fought and George Washington until near the end of the conflict wasn't the great and able general that hsitory likes to paint him as such but like all good soldiers he learned from his mistakes along the way. On the other hand if the admiral in charge of the British fleet stationed off the American coast had had the moxy to take on the French fleet bottling up the very large British force trapped in Yorktown then history might have taken a whole different turn. Who this British admiral was is probably known to history but his name deservedly isn't worth remembering. I can understand Americans being very proud of the events that led to their indepenedence but like many things that happened in history certain other facts are conveniently forgotten by those who see it purely as a struggle between the good guys and the bad guys. The British government had long before the war started declared all teritory beyond the 13 colonies to be free from colonial settlement and it was to remain Indian territory. This did not go down very well at all with the colonists and during the war for independence many colonists took advantage of the situation to cross into this new frontier and carry out a policy of genocide and wholesale destruction of Indian farms and settlements. While Boston and Rhode Island were strongly for independence from Britain New York was almost 100 percent loyalist as were many living in the rural areas of the northern colonies. As for those colonies to the south including Virginia they were largely indifferent to which side won the war. Most decided to just sit the war out and settle for whatever the outcome was to be. In the end around 48,000 loyalists left for good and settled in Canada Very few Indians and freed former slaves threw in their lot with the revolutionaries. Instead they placed their fate in the hands of the British. They knew all too well which side their bread was buttered on. the level of collaboration with the British was high, as you would expect and a lot of people sent out mixed messages - they wanted to bat for both sides if they could. It was a revolution and people were unsure who or what would win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 the level of collaboration with the British was high, as you would expect and a lot of people sent out mixed messages - they wanted to bat for both sides if they could. It was a revolution and people were unsure who or what would win. We just came back from a ten day tour of Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. I loved Boston and so full of history. There's a burial ground in the north part of the city called Copps Hill. During the war for independence the British stationed an artillery battery inside the graveyard to fire down at Charlestown. They also used some of the gravestones for target practice. You can still see the musket ball chips on the stones. Poor old Samuel Adams is buried in a graveyard right in the middle of town surrounded by hordes of tourists and endless traffic. I wish I could have stayed much longer in that city but we did get to go on a very enjoyable tour of the Samuel Adams brewery and we were all more or less three sheets to the wind by the time the tour was over. For anyone planning a visit to that part of the USA I strongly recommend a visit to Boston before they leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatYank Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 the personal computer the apple macintosh the ipod ipod touch iphone the internet pro-tools the electric guitar jimi hendrix elvis the blues jazz electric light bulb electrical current the phonograph revolution the internal combustion automobile wire rope steel (William Kelly) sold his process to Bessemer. the telephone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_inventions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatYank Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 They very nearly didnt win it. The colonists lost nearly every battle and skirmish over the years the war was fought and George Washington until near the end of the conflict wasn't the great and able general that hsitory likes to paint him as such but like all good soldiers he learned from his mistakes along the way. On the other hand if the admiral in charge of the British fleet stationed off the American coast had had the moxy to take on the French fleet bottling up the very large British force trapped in Yorktown then history might have taken a whole different turn. Who this British admiral was is probably known to history but his name deservedly isn't worth remembering. I can understand Americans being very proud of the events that led to their indepenedence but like many things that happened in history certain other facts are conveniently forgotten by those who see it purely as a struggle between the good guys and the bad guys. The British government had long before the war started declared all teritory beyond the 13 colonies to be free from colonial settlement and it was to remain Indian territory. This did not go down very well at all with the colonists and during the war for independence many colonists took advantage of the situation to cross into this new frontier and carry out a policy of genocide and wholesale destruction of Indian farms and settlements. While Boston and Rhode Island were strongly for independence from Britain New York was almost 100 percent loyalist as were many living in the rural areas of the northern colonies. As for those colonies to the south including Virginia they were largely indifferent to which side won the war. Most decided to just sit the war out and settle for whatever the outcome was to be. In the end around 48,000 loyalists left for good and settled in Canada Very few Indians and freed former slaves threw in their lot with the revolutionaries. Instead they placed their fate in the hands of the British. They knew all too well which side their bread was buttered on. the Main reason for wanting to be free of england's domination was the fact that england, in great debt from the french and indian wars, decided to raise revenue by raising taxes and not allowing the americans any representation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 the Main reason for wanting to be free of england's domination was the fact that england, in great debt from the french and indian wars, decided to raise revenue by raising taxes and not allowing the americans any representation. England wasn't the only country to go into near bankrupy fighting wars in North America. France suffered the same fate afterwards through sending a great big army and navy to aid the Americans which cost King Louie his crown and head along with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 the personal computer the apple macintosh the ipod ipod touch iphone the internet pro-tools the electric guitar jimi hendrix elvis the blues jazz electric light bulb electrical current the phonograph revolution the internal combustion automobile wire rope steel (William Kelly) sold his process to Bessemer. the telephone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_inventions Revolution? The beheading of King Charles the First and the abolition of the monarchy might have been called the first revolution of sorts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingjimmy Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Revolution? The beheading of King Charles the First and the abolition of the monarchy might have been called the first revolution of sorts Revolutions are thousands of years older than that, there were revolutions in ancient rome, greece, egypt and persia like, all the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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