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43ad665
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a space of time is a great breeder of myths.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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0a21664
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During World War II, the University of Minnesota's Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene conducted what scientists and relief workers still regard today as a benchmark study of starvation. Partly funded by religious groups, including the Society of Friends, the study was intended to help the Allies cope with released concentration-camp internees, prisoners of war, and refugees. The participants were all conscientious objectors who volunteered..
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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e621b01
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When an enlisted man sees his commanding officer lose his head entirely...," Private Taylor wrote, "it would...demoralize anyone taught to breathe, almost, at the word of command."
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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54f68c0
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Chase's ability to adjust his manner of leadership to the needs of his men begs comparison to one of the greatest and most revered leaders of all time, Sir Ernest Shackleton.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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9e783e6
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In 1836, the Lydia, a Nantucket whaleship, was struck and sunk by a sperm whale, as was the Two Generals a few years later.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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09eb286
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Hindsight has a way of corrupting people's memories, inviting them to view a past event not as it actually occurred but as they wished it had occurred given the ultimate result.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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dda7ee8
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Only in the heart of quickest perils; only when within the eddyings of his angry flukes; only on the profound unbounded sea, can the fully invested whale be truly and livingly found out.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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7d360e2
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The day before, they had started eating the saltwater-damaged bread. The bread, which they had carefully dried in the sun, now contained all the salt of seawater but not, of course, the water. Already severely dehydrated, the men were, in effect, pouring gasoline on the fire of their thirsts--forcing their kidneys to extract additional fluid from their bodies to excrete the salt. They were beginning to suffer from a condition known as hyper..
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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4d673e8
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If half of the two thousand warriors fired ten arrows each during the engagement, that would have been a total of ten thousand arrows,
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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7c822a8
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The act of self-expression--through writing a journal or letters--often enables a survivor to distance himself from his fears.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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f6c1ec7
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How much of assumed national and personal character comes from the fact that we have never truly known need to the point of having our character tested? Willing conscientious objectors underwent controlled starvation and confirmed how quickly it impacts the initiative and generosity we like to think of as "American" characteristics."
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compassion
empathy
grace-of-god
prosperity
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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50c8496
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Paul Revere Jr., with whom I had lunch at Spanky's Clam Shack in Hyannis, Massachusetts.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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After seventeen days, one of the crew suggested that they cast lots. As it turned out, the lot fell to the man who had originally made the proposal, and after lots were cast again to see who should execute him, he was killed and eaten.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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36ddaa3
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Soon after, Tom, all of twenty years old, became the only soldier in the Civil War to win two Medals of Honor. In
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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36e55f7
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Faint not, poor soul, in God still trust; Fear not the things thou suffer must; For, whom he loves he doth chastise, And then all tears wipes from their eyes. William Bradford Plymouth Colony Governor
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colony
governor
indians
mayflower
pilgrim
puritan
religion
survival
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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89a9909
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Without Massasoit's help, the Pilgrims would never have survived the first year, and they remained steadfast supporters of the sachem to the very end. For his part, Massasoit realized almost from the start that his own fortunes were linked to those of the English.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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daf24ae
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Part of what makes a revolution such a fascinating subject to study is the arrival of the moment when neutrality is no longer an option. Like it or not, a person has to choose.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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e2fd459
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Some Englishmen privately admitted that if the Narragansetts had chosen to join Philip in July, all would have been lost. As the Nipmucks assailed them from the west, the far more powerful Narragansetts might have stormed up from the south, and Boston would have been overrun by a massive pan-Indian army. But instead of acknowledging the debt they owed the Narragansetts, the Puritans resolved to wipe them out.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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c5a03aa
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The Puritans believed that the identity of the Saints had long since been determined by God. This meant that there was nothing a person could do to win salvation. But instead of being a reason to forsake all hope, what was known as predestination became a powerful goad to action. No one could be entirely sure as to who was one of the elect, and yet, if a person was saved, he or she naturally lived a godly life. As a result, the Puritans wer..
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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a9b0690
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THE PILGRIMS HAD BEEN DRIVEN by fiercely held spiritual beliefs. They had sailed across a vast and dangerous ocean to a wilderness where, against impossible odds, they had made a home. The purity of the Old Comers' purpose and the magnitude of their accomplishments could never again be repeated. From the start, the second generation suffered under the assumption that, as their ministers never tired of reminding them, they were "the degenera..
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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It may have been true that from a strictly legal standpoint there was nothing wrong with how Winslow and the other Plymouth officials acquired large amounts of Pokanoket land. And yet, from a practical and moral standpoint, the process removed the Indians from their territory as effectively--and as cheaply--as driving them off at gunpoint
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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51bb13b
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They were too focused on their own inner lives to appreciate the subtleties of character that might have alerted them to the true motives of those who did not share in their beliefs. Time and time again during their preparations to sail for America, the Pilgrims demonstrated an extraordinary talent for getting duped.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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c97b98a
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Atrocities were expected in both European and Native conflicts. And yet, the English had to admit that compared to what was typical of European wars, the Indians had conducted themselves with surprising restraint.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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4dc3e73
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As Smith later wrote, much of the suffering that lay ahead for the Pilgrims could easily have been avoided if they had seen fit to pay for his services or, at the very least, consult his map. "[S]uch humorists [i.e., fanatics] will never believe...," he wrote, "till they be beaten with their own rod."
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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00e5181
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Countless Victorian-era engravings notwithstanding, the Pilgrims did not spend the day sitting around a long table draped with a white linen cloth, clasping each other's hands in prayer as a few curious Indians looked on. Instead of an English affair, the First Thanksgiving soon became an overwhelmingly Native celebration when Massasoit and a hundred Pokanokets (more than twice the entire English population of Plymouth) arrived at the settl..
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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d0b40ac
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It has been estimated that at least a thousand Indians were sold into slavery during King Philip's War, with over half the slaves coming from Plymouth Colony alone. By the end of the war, Mount Hope, once the crowded Native heart of the colony, was virtually empty of inhabitants. Fifty-six years after the sailing of the Mayflower, the Pilgrims' children had not only defeated the Pokanokets in a devastating war, they had taken conscious, met..
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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5146bfb
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Stephen Hopkins was making his second trip to America. Eleven years earlier in 1609 he had sailed on the Sea Venture for Virginia, only to become shipwrecked in Bermudaan incident that became the basis for Shakespeare's The Tempest.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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1569919
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In a letter hastily written to a friend in London, Cushman saw only doom and disaster ahead. "Friend, if ever we make a plantation God works a miracle, especially considering how scant we shall be of victuals, and most of all un-united amongst ourselves and devoid of good tutors and regiment. Violence will break all. Where is the meek and humble spirit of Moses?"
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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919f939
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That Church according to Church is too brave, too cunning, and too good to be true is beside the point. America was destined to become a nation of self-fashioned and self-promoting men. What makes his story so special, I believe, is that he shows us how the nightmare of wilderness warfare might one day give rise to a society that promises liberty and justice for all.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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df4c5e9
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For the future welfare of the settlement, it was essential that all the colonists--Leideners and Strangers alike--learn to live together as best they could. This nonjudgmental attitude did not come naturally to the Leideners. As Separatists, they considered themselves godly exceptions to the vast, unredeemed majority of humankind. A sense of exclusivity was fundamental to how they perceived themselves in the world. And yet there is evidence..
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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In April, Bradford had decided that each household should be assigned its own plot to cultivate, with the understanding that each family kept whatever it grew. The change in attitude was stunning. Families were now willing to work much harder than they had ever worked before. In previous years, the men had tended the fields while the women tended the children at home. "The women now went willingly into the field," Bradford wrote, "and took ..
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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A total of about 200,000 Americans had served in the war, but that did not mean the rest of the country of about 3 million would show them any gratitude or respect. Americans in 1783 were desperate to put the trauma of the Revolution behind them, and these broken and penniless soldiers were a daily reminder of what they preferred to forget. "What scornful looks and hard words have I experienced," Martin wrote forty-seven years later. "I hop..
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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0b1e31e
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In 1634, smallpox and influenza ravaged both the Indians and the English in the region. William Brewster, whose family had managed to survive the first terrible winter unscathed, lost two daughters, Fear and Patience, now married to Isaac Allerton and Thomas Prence, respectively.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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resumed
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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Lee wrote, "[and] lament with you that fatal indecision of mind which in war is a much greater disqualification than stupidity or even want of personal courage. . . . Eternal defeat and miscarriage must attend the man of the best parts if cursed with indecision." Washington was as aware as"
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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8a455ae
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It was not as if the rest of the nation was suffering from want. .. Americans were experiencing a war-related economic boom. these same citizens might be enjoying an unusual level of prosperity, but they were not aboutto share it with their struggling national government and their even more beleaguered army. Without an ability to raise its own taxes, the Continental Congress had been printing its own money to pay for the war. But after five..
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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c602803
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to voice private sympathies in the context of an official proceeding would require Washington to become, in his own words, 'lost to my own character.' Here, in this reference to character, Washington hit upon the essential difference between himself and Arnold. Washington's sense of right and wrong existed outside the impulsive demands of his own self-interest. Rules mattered to Washington. Even though Congress had made his life miserable f..
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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45f986b
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In the years after the War of Independence, historian paid scant attention to the Siege of Fort Mifflin, primarily because, Martin believed 'there was no Washington, Putnam, or Wayne there.' 'Had there been,' he conjecture, 'the affair would have been extolled to the skies.' As Martin and the five hundred defenders of Fort Mifflin had learned first-hard, 'great men get great priase, little men nothing.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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Then I'll haste to wed a sailor, and send him off to sea, For a life of independence, is the pleasant life for me. But every now and then I shall like to see his face, For it always seems to me to beam with manly grace, With his brow so nobly open, and his dark and kindly eye, Oh my heart beats fondly towards him whenever he is nigh. But when he says "Goodbye my love, I'm off across the sea," First I cry for his departure, then laugh becaus..
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strong-women
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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f17e17c
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During the forty-five months of World War II, the United States lost just under 1 percent of its adult male population; during the Civil War the casualty rate was somewhere between 4 and 5 percent; during the fourteen months of King Philip's War, Plymouth Colony lost close to 8 percent of its men.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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ee3b7b8
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and the University of Pennsylvania, he penned a memoir of his time in America. Shortly after marrying the twenty-eight-year-old Marie Brigitte Plunkett,
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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Robinson's fierce quest for spiritual purity had been tempered by the realization that little was to be gained by arrogance and anger.
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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wishing thee a short and prosperous voyage, with a full portion of happiness we remain thy friends. In
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Nathaniel Philbrick |
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I've always known that I had the happy facility of making enemies of any one I ever knew,
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Nathaniel Philbrick |