The Revolution

Imagine you are watching people you have known forever, being killed right in front of you on the front lines of a battle. The heart-ache and pain you experience during this tragic, but real moment. The Fifth of March and the movie “The Patriot” are both relatable because of the life changing experiences each story combines.     

            Rachel Marsh, a fourteen year old indentured servant, discovers the true meaning of America through difficult events in her life. These events included the death of her parents when she was young, leaving her with no parental guidance. Benjamin Martin, from “The Patriot”, had a wife and 7 kids until tragedy had struck him and his family. His wife died a little before the Revolutionary war started, and once it had begun he lost his second oldest son between the fury of Great Britain and the colonies. After these tragic events, both had them confused on what direction to go in life. They found it experiencing what they had feared most: War.

            Rebelling and hatred started expanding throughout the colonies and Great Britain changing many lives in and around the war. Though didn’t change at first for the life of Benjamin Martin, from “The Patriot” or Rachel Marsh, from The Fifth of March. They discovered it through war. Watching the deaths of Boston’s townspeople on the fifth of March was the most dreadful thing Rachel Marsh saw her whole life, leaving her with the choice of becoming an American. An American isn’t someone who just lives in America; it is a person who can guide himself or herself and build on his/her beliefs and still be free. This relates the Benjamin Martin because of what had happened after the death of his two oldest sons who believed in being free and being a Patriot; fighting to free the lives of many people who had worked so hard to get America to be free. Benjamin did not realize this until the deaths of his two oldest sons leaving him to be what his sons wanted to be and what they wanted him to be his whole life: a Patriot.         

War can change anyone no matter whom, but battling is much more than emotions. It involves many tactics and rules each side must follow and what leads to that can cause damage throughout the rest of history. The Boston Massacre was one of the small battles that sparked the Revolutionary war and was around the time The Fifth of March took place. Rebelling against the British seemed to the only thing to solve the problems occurring between Great Britain and the colonies. Having been sparked by many small battles, the Revolutionary war had lasted from 1775–1783, a total of eight years with large battles between the colonies and Great Britain. “The Patriot” was placed just soon after the war had started.

The experiences you have in life are to change the way you think and to shape you out to who you should become. Rachel Marsh and Benjamin Martin learned how to become an American and a Patriot through incidents that changed their courses in life. If all you want to do is be free and to be able to speak for yourself, you are an American and a Patriot. Not because you live in America but because you can be your own person and be free.