BOOK REVIEW: The Founding children's crusade

Washington Times ^ | Monday, September 14, 2009 | James Srodes

[Pharmboy]

IN PURSUIT OF LIBERTY: COMING OF AGE IN

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

By Emmy E. Werner

Potomac Books, $17.95, 190 pages

Reviewed by James Srodes

Too often books about children are written in an infantile voice as if the audience is somehow unable to read adult themes unless the prose is watered down. Happily, the book at hand is a compelling history that is both clearly written and a riveting experience for both adults and young people who are interested in Revolutionary War history from a different perspective.

The story of young people, even children, in our War for Independence has not been so much "forgotten," as the publisher's blurb claims, as simply overlooked. Yet, as author Emmy Werner notes, America was an extraordinarily young country. The first U.S. census, taken in 1790, revealed that fully half the population throughout the 13 states was 16 years old or younger.

Moreover, while education was not universal, it was pervasive, and many of these young folks kept diaries and correspondence that found their way into various archives, where they awaited discovery. One of the interesting insights gleaned from this book can be that our Revolution loomed so large in our national consciousness and for so long at least in part because there were people who heard President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address who in their youth could have seen George Washington sworn in as our first president.

[Pharmboy]

Sounds interesting.

[Pharmboy]

RevWar/Colonial History/Gen. Washington ping list

[wagglebee]

The first U.S. census, taken in 1790, revealed that fully half the population throughout the 13 states was 16 years old or younger.

That's pretty amazing. The population in 1790 was just under 4 million and just under 26,000 Americans died in the Revolution, so that wasn't really a factor.

[Pharmboy]

Hmmm...my numbers are different than yours on deaths. My sources show about 4,500 dead on battlefields and about 11,000 dead on the prison ships. Do the additional deaths come from deaths in other prisons?

[wagglebee]

I just did a search and saw 25,700. Regardless, my point was that the death toll had no real effect on the overall population.

[Pharmboy]

Gotcha...and you’re quite right.

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

And thank you Pharmboy.

[tbw2]

I read somewhere that the average American woman averaged 13 children in her lifetime, versus 6-8 in Europe. Hence the life expectancy was about the same but the population growth rate was phenomenal. And the English government did not like expansion outside it's control, and said "don't go beyond this line". Population pressure drove people into the Appalachians, and some beyond to Ohio valley and Tennessee. This may have been another factor in the Revolution that wasn't fully discussed - the Americans had to expand or die, merely from demographics, and to live as densely as the mother country was not the only option. ObamaCare Jokes Obama Jokes

[NonValueAdded]

yep

[tbw2]

Would a good summary be: Americans: Make room! English: Stay in your pens and pay up for us. Americans: No! We're so crowded, it's gonna explode! ObamaCare Jokes Obama Jokes

[EDINVA]

Thanks, Pharmboy. I sent to a friend who works with Children of the Am Rev here in VA, also sending to others around the country. Great find.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

The Americans had more food and better living conditions then most of England.

This would lead to more less miscarriages and more live births.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Ah, but there is no count there for death due to illness, after-effects of battle injury, etc. Undoubtedly the bulk of deaths came from medical-related issues.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

$12.98 at Amazon.com

[Pharmboy]

Thanks!

[Pharmboy]

The following is a reference note from the Wikipedia entry for "United States Casualties of War, and can be found here.

Revolutionary War: All figures from the Revolutionary War are rounded estimates. Commonly cited casualty figures provided by the Department of Defense are 4,435 killed and 6,188 wounded, although the original government report that generated these numbers warned that the totals were incomplete and far too low.[18] Nevertheless, the numbers are often repeated without this warning, such as on the United States Department of Veteran Affairs website.[19] In 1974, historian Howard Peckham and a team of researchers came up with a total of 6,824 killed in action and 8,445 wounded. Because of incomplete records, Peckham estimated that this new total number of killed in action was still about 1,000 too low.[20] Military historian John Shy subsequently estimated the total killed in action at 8,000, and argued that the number of wounded was probably far higher, about 25,000.[21] The "other" deaths are primarily from disease, including prisoners who died on British prison ships.

This helps explain the disparate numbers I have seen over the years. As you likely know, 11,000 patriots were estimated to have died on the prison ships in NY Harbor alone.

[wagglebee]

I don’t think American children had a higher survival rate with childhood illnesses than the British children, but I might be wrong.

[wagglebee]

In other words, the best they can do is speculate.

I did find this chart:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_casualties_of_war

[Pharmboy]

Indeed—that is the Wiki entry from which I grabbed the footnote.