Did you ever hear about the "Battle of Alamance"? It is a very significant part of our American history and I know for a fact that 99% of Americans never heard of it. I would go even farther and state that 90% of our public school history teachers never heard of it either. After the formation of Jamestown in 1608, I feel that the next most significant event was the Battle of Alamance that happened in 1771. That is about 150 years after the first English settlement in what is now the USA. Part of the reason that I am aware of the Battle of Alamance is that my family was both at Jamestown and the Battle of Alamance. It is in my blood, so I have a responsibility to know about these things, but what about people who came much later? Do they have a responsibility to know about these significant events too? I say that my family paid in blood for what we now have and it is the least that these new comers should do is to find out who paid in blood for what they can now take advantage of. Those of us who were here first and built this place have not required any of the newcomers to pay at the gate some share before they could enter. We let them in "free". We let Obama's father come in "Free" and all we expected is to have respect for those who came first and built this place, but for some reason he and his wife hate the USA. They want to change it to something that they have in their mind. As I see this, he and his wife have no respect for those who came first and built this place and thru the goodness of their hearts let all of these newcomers come in "free". Did Obama's father have to pay any dues? No, so why should he and his wife be so bitter? That is the question that those of us whose families paid in so much blood are asking.
I know that a lot of people get stuck on slavery and it is a fact that one of my ggg mothers owned three slaves. They did and I can't change that. I have a letter from one of their slaves and it tells about how he was treated. It was like a regular member of the family. He claims they tried to teach him to read, but he just could not learn. He never wanted for food or a warm place to sleep. I can tell you that I have slept under bridges while not a slave and bathed in creeks.
Another fact that seems to get lost in our history classes is that no slaves were ever legally imported into the USA. Slaves were here, but they were only imported while the country was under English control. That is a fact. When the USA was formed by all the 13 colonies joining together under a contract called the "Constitution", no more than half of the states were allowed to have slaves. That contract has held upto this day and was changed as part of our Civil War to not allow any more slaves in that half of the states. From the start, slavery was a problem for the new union. If my forefathers had tried to end slavery in 1780, the union would never have been formed and they knew that. They also knew that someday they would have to deal with the problem and that there was only one ending and that was to free all the slaves. They eventually did that, but not after the worst war that this nation has ever had. Go to the battle fields and you will agree.
Again, the problem that I have is why after all this time is there still so much hate? Why is it that Obama and his wife have so much hate for this country? How could it have been any different? England crated the slavery mess and we eventually cleaned it up. What else could have been done? If you have not gone back to the Battle of Alamance, then you don't really know much about our American history or the people who built the nation. Do some home work and get your friends to do the same. The deeper that you did the more you will "know" and thus "think" about these issues more clearly. It is upto you.
