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Revolutionary War vs. Civil War
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Posted on 04/09/2013 7:32:14 PM PDT by PinkChampagneonIce

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TOPICS: History
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I really value the collective wisdom of this group. As we approach what appears to be a societal divide, I have been thinking about both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Both were fought by people who had fewer resources than their opponent. If I were to boil down their concerns, I would say that the concerns of the Revolutionary War were taxation without representation, and that the concerns of the Civil War were to maintain current institutions and traditions. Both involved economics, and social issues. The Revolutionary War succeeded against incredible odds, with the people involved fighting against their families who chose the other side. Ditto the Civil War, except the Confederacy lost and suffered for it.

I've been mulling over the nature of our current conflict and whether, if it reaches the point of war, it will be more like the Revolutionary War or more like the Civil War.

Does anyone care to chip in with some opinions? I have to go to bed soon, so will only be able to participate for about an hour, but I am REALLY interested in a compare and contrast between our present situation and those two conflicts. I know there are people here who hae studied both conflicts seriously, and might be able to provide some insight.

Thanks!

1 posted on 04/09/2013 7:32:14 PM PDT by PinkChampagneonIce
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To: PinkChampagneonIce

All you really know is that it will be an utter disaster period.


2 posted on 04/09/2013 7:36:35 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: PinkChampagneonIce

It wouldn’t be a CW.

The left doesn’t have the balls to fight.

My dad shot at his government killing several ( Hungary ‘57 ) to be free and says socialists are cowards.


3 posted on 04/09/2013 7:36:52 PM PDT by NoLibZone (A nation's electoral process is as free and fair as its press.)
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To: cripplecreek

Like nuclear war without the nukes... hide away and ride it out.


4 posted on 04/09/2013 7:38:41 PM PDT by Third Person (Welcome to Gaymerica.)
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To: PinkChampagneonIce

I don’t see other countries getting involved to “help”, so no, I don’t think it would be comparable to the Revolutionary War. The enemy would literally be your family members, your neighbors, and you coworkers, so it would literally be another Civil War.


5 posted on 04/09/2013 7:38:58 PM PDT by gop4lyf (Are we no longer in that awkward time? Or is it still too early?)
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To: NoLibZone
...socialists are cowards.

Of course they are, which is why they're subverting our own institutions to disarm, then kill us. I think most conservatives have felt this in their bones for a very long time.

My hat's off to your dad. That's a real patriot.

6 posted on 04/09/2013 7:50:11 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: PinkChampagneonIce

Neither at first, I think. In the Revolution the rebels were fighting against a colonial power who had enemies that had a vested interest in a British setback, and were willing to aid them, even to the point of going to war themselves. At present it is not in my opinion likely any country would want to get involved in an internal squabble in the US- and such aid might not be accepted if offered (Neither side would be likely to accept aid from North Korea, for example.) In the Civil War the rebels were set aside by geography. We are more divided along ideology and issues than by states, although the South and some of the West would be more likely to make common cause.

If history is any teacher, it would probably more resemble something like Bosnia in the 1990s, or perhaps some of the Central Asian brawls right after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Or, from our own history, Bleeding Kansas just before the Civil War. But, one of the telltale signs the republic is fracturing hasn’t appeared yet- when the legislators start physically assaulting each other. Right before the end of Rome’s republic, the Roman senators beat Tiberius Gracchus to death, and right before our own Civil War, Senator Charles Sumner was beaten by Representative Preston Brooks. Of course, if the whole Congress has gone treasonous this sign won’t be there. But there might be yet a place for politics to work before everything becomes a set of strategic and tactical problems.


7 posted on 04/09/2013 7:52:03 PM PDT by GenXteacher (You have chosen dishonor to avoid war; you shall have war also.)
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To: PinkChampagneonIce

I believe it is a Revolutionary War, with people vs the government; not a Civil War, with one group against another.


8 posted on 04/09/2013 7:52:33 PM PDT by Duchess47 ("One day I will leave this world and dream myself to Reality" Crazy Horse)
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To: cripplecreek

Well, I’m not so sure. In both conflicts there were people who managed to survive, and some (probably those in out of the way places) that might have hardly been aware of the conflict. History only records the heroic deeds, the shocking incidents, the tragedies and triumphs. Ordinary people, those not involved in politics or statesmanship, have always managed to survive somehow. It’s very difficult to determine from historical records just exactly what the impact of these events was on ordinary people.


9 posted on 04/09/2013 7:52:40 PM PDT by PinkChampagneonIce
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To: PinkChampagneonIce

In those cases the people were used to living without electricity, running water, medicine, grocery stores etc.


10 posted on 04/09/2013 7:55:18 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: NoLibZone

I think there are two things that inspire people to fight. The first is the fear that something will be taken away from them that they value. The second is that they will obtain something they want (the spoils of war). I think there are plenty of people out there today who seem “weak” who would find a lot of energy if they thought they were going to be able to take some of that stuff from the “rich” people they feel have oppressed them all their lives. There’s a lot of anger out there.....I don’t think we should discount how that might play out.


11 posted on 04/09/2013 7:55:24 PM PDT by PinkChampagneonIce
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To: PinkChampagneonIce

It would be neither, because its a war against Communism.

The Communist or Socialism War.

Or the War of the Second Amendment.

Either way the bad guys are those that are willing to defend Communism.


12 posted on 04/09/2013 7:56:50 PM PDT by Spartan302
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To: Duchess47

I’m not so sure. I think there are some people who identify so closely with the current government that they see any attack against it as an attack against themselves.


13 posted on 04/09/2013 7:58:04 PM PDT by PinkChampagneonIce
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To: PinkChampagneonIce
What starts as a Rev War would soon become a Civil War because the blacks would go nuts in defense of their brotha in the White Hut. A Civil War would draw out public and federal response teams where they themselves would become targets by all sides. Cops will be overwhelmed and will head for the hills. Firefighters will stay home and half the country will be ablaze. It's a bloodbath, lose/lose scenario with no rhyme or reason as to who survives and who doesn't. Think massive collateral damage of the human kind. I see mutiny at every turn because our military has been poisoned by those seeking to protect it's government, not it's people; No different than the cops!

The other FReeper here is right. Hide out and wait for the dust to settle if that's possible. Drones or no drones, that is the question. There will be so much division in our military it's anyone's guess as to how that will transpire.

14 posted on 04/09/2013 7:59:18 PM PDT by GeorgeWashingtonsGhost
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To: PinkChampagneonIce

Yes, but I don’t think they will have the stomach for a fight. They will turn in relatives, friends, neighbors though. That’s just based on the ones I know.


15 posted on 04/09/2013 8:00:34 PM PDT by Duchess47 ("One day I will leave this world and dream myself to Reality" Crazy Horse)
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To: PinkChampagneonIce

War is war. Devastating to all sides, indiscriminate in death. The best and worst human traits are seen in war.
What would it be like? Think Kosovo...Sarajevo...at its worst. Neighbor killing neighbor, families slaughtered, ethnic and political cleansing. Millions of refugees fleeing to safer areas, starvation, disease, complete breakdown of American society.


16 posted on 04/09/2013 8:02:36 PM PDT by jim-x (9/11/2001 - Never forget, Never forgive.)
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To: GeorgeWashingtonsGhost

That scenario seems a little excessive to me. I live in a very rural area in Oklahoma, with a high population of poor tribal members. Many people in my area raise animals, heat with wood, and are accustomed to doing without electricity and other power (sometimes just because they’ve spent all their money at the casino). If the grid went down, we would all do just fine.

There are family rivalries, and people who hate their neighbor’s guts, but these are also people who understand that survival requires cooperation. I don’t see many people running amok, and those who do would be dealt with (everyone here is HEAVILY armed, and everyone knows it).

So I don’t think we would have the same scenario here as someone who lives in a place like Los Angeles, or Dallas.


17 posted on 04/09/2013 8:04:13 PM PDT by PinkChampagneonIce
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To: PinkChampagneonIce

Both wars were about the same thing all wars are about: the money and the freedom. Its all about the money and the freedom. It is about the God given entitlement to the pursuit of wealth and freedom.

At the moment the Obamunists want to take all the money, and to remove all the freedom. In return they will reap, and reap, the consequences.


18 posted on 04/09/2013 8:06:01 PM PDT by FlyingEagle
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To: FlyingEagle

I agree completely. It is ALWAYS about the money (power) and the freedom. I will always choose freedom - there’s nothing you could give me to compensate for its loss.


19 posted on 04/09/2013 8:08:33 PM PDT by PinkChampagneonIce
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To: PinkChampagneonIce

Neither as it will not have clear borders. It,will likely be asymmetric for,most of the duration until the military steps in to end it.


20 posted on 04/09/2013 8:10:26 PM PDT by WriteOn (Truth)
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