I finished reading the book “1776” a couple of days ago and it has filled me with a new found sense of awe for the American
founding fathers. I’ve been in the US for five years now, and I’ve observed that the Americans treat their founding fathers, especially George Washington with tremendous awe and respect – something that I’ve not seen in India. In fact, some people in India adopt cavalier attitude towards even M.K. Gandhi – one of the greatest Indians ever born on Indian soil.
In any case, After reading this book, I realize that their reverence is totally deserving. From the time the revolutionary war started sometime in 1775 until the December of 1776 – the Americans faced defeat and retreat almost non-stop and yet George Washington, in the face of all the adversity and might of the enemy never thinks of giving up. Yes – he is frustrated and angry at times but he almost never lets the emotions take over his judgment.
It is an astonishing story of a ragtag army of farmers, traders and the like defeating the mightiest empire in the world. What particularly strikes me is the fact that how many times Mother Nature and plain luck seems to have helped the Americans. It happens so many times that one cannot simply shrug it away and attribute it to coincidence. Americans call it Providence with a capital “P”. You can also say that fortune favors the brave. If you believe in God though you might be tempted to say that it seems that God almost willed for the creation of the United States and guided her to victory.