Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.
Posted on 07/06/2014 8:35:05 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
For the Journal of the American Revolution, Todd Andrlik compiled a list of the ages of the key participants in the Revolutionary War as of July 4, 1776. Many of them were surprisingly young:
Marquis de Lafayette, 18
James Monroe, 18
Gilbert Stuart, 20
Aaron Burr, 20
Alexander Hamilton, 21
Betsy Ross, 24
James Madison, 25
This is kind of blowing my mind...because of the compression of history, I'd always assumed all these people were around the same age. But in thinking about it, all startups need young people...Hamilton, Lafayette, and Burr were perhaps the Gates, Jobs, and Zuckerberg of the War. Some more ages, just for reference:
Thomas Jefferson, 33
John Adams, 40
Paul Revere, 41
George Washington, 44
Samuel Adams, 53
The oldest prominent participant in the Revolution, by a wide margin, was Benjamin Franklin, who was 70 years old on July 4, 1776. Franklin was a full two generations removed from the likes of Madison and Hamilton. But the oldest participant in the war was Samuel Whittemore, who fought in an early skirmish at the age of 80. I'll let Wikipedia take it from here:
Whittemore was in his fields when he spotted an approaching British relief brigade under Earl Percy, sent to assist the retreat. Whittemore loaded his musket and ambushed the British from behind a nearby stone wall, killing one soldier. He then drew his dueling pistols and killed a grenadier and mortally wounded a second. By the time Whittemore had fired his third shot, a British detachment reached his position; Whittemore drew his sword and attacked. He was shot in the face, bayoneted thirteen times, and left for dead in a pool of blood. He was found alive, trying to load his musket to fight again. He was taken to Dr. Cotton Tufts of Medford, who perceived no hope for his survival. However, Whittemore lived another 18 years until dying of natural causes at the age of 98.
No, I do not have to be rude and I am sorry. I’ve been so enraged by the border thing that my mind is not thinking straight.
Again my apologies.
That’s all right.
=)
That’s wacked. LOL!
Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.
Thanks for the ping. The young ages of these men isn’t a surprise to people who study revolutions/big political movements. They say revolutions are the result of young determination. It’s why America is doomed. The people who believe in American ideals are old. The young of present day America don’t believe in it.
Those white powdered wigs made them all look like old geezers! LOL.
(Though not many of them wore them at the time, as it was a leftover fashion from “aristocratic” Europe.)
Some young people their age today act like morons. Some give me a great deal of hope for the future. For every Obama-worshiping moron who can't check his own oil or who thinks her boss should pay for her birth control and other hobbies, there is another young person who genuinely gets it and values freedom. For every gender studies major who is confused on why after nine years as an undergraduate he still lives in Mommy's basement and gets yelled at for being late to his job flipping burgers, there is an engineer or an accountant who puts in extra time on the job to make sure that his work meets his own standards. For every parasite voting democrat to get free stuff, there is a patriot practicing at the local gun range while praying that it won't be necessary to water the Tree of Liberty.
Interesting bit of historical perspective.
‘It’s not that they were so young, but rather that 20 year olds used to be grown ups.’
Exactly. They were better educated by the eighth grade than almost all college grads of today. You can see their spiritual and emotional maturity easily in their writings from the time.
In a way they were not exceptional men, they were men in exceptional times. America was exceptional at that time and most likely the world will never see her match again.
Just in case Pharmboy hasn’t been pinged to this list yet!
And where is Brig. Gen. Thaddeus Kosciusko, founder of West Point and hero of 2 revolutions, on this list? He was in his early 30’s when he was recruited in Paris to come to the Colonies shortly after the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. Our local PBS station did a documentary on him when they restored and re-installed his grand statue in his park in Milwaukee.
Thaddeus Kosciusko’s memory was revered across this country in 1900. Why is he forgotten today? My theory is that his name is harder to pronounce than Lafayette’s, beut he was equally as important. Many statues and monuments were erected in this country around 1900 honoring him. Why do our text books skip him today?
I do not know one single person who studied him in school over the last 3 generations, exxcept (perhaps) at the Thaddeus Kosciusko Montessori School in Milwaukee.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Ko%C5%9Bciuszko
Don’t forget white wigs was the fashion. Lends distinction to “people of quality”
The RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list
Fixed it.
Of course people died at much younger ages then, so young people probably were able to advance into leadership positions at ages we consider immature.
Or you could say that they were young and wild-eyed revolutionaries like the Occupy protestors or the SDS or YAF of their time :-)
This weekend I re watched the National Geographic presentation on Dr Ballard’s search for the sunken carriers participating in the Midway battle. They found the Yorktown but not the Kaga.
On board were old warriors from both sides come to bid farewell to lost shipmates.
They were 18 or 19 at the time they fought each other in that great sea battle.
BTT
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