Random Things Discussion

[Dax]

Tss, Professor Dax? I'm still waiting for my detailed history lesson on the American Revolution before I can play AC3.

Funny you should say that because outside my major my next best subject is history with direct emphasis on the American Revolution, French Revolution, Napoleonic era, American Civil War, WWI, and WWII.

 

Update: Ok I got bored and tired after typing for like an hour and a half. I short changed you at the bottom but I included an exciting Wikipedia article that will give you all the information you need =D. This summary may be riddled with spelling, grammatical, and other English language errors, but I don't feel like going back and editing it so have at it -_o! Also this is a pretty small portion of events believe it or not, there really is a lot lot lot more to it then what I've laid out.

 

Now technically speaking the American Revolution was set up by the seven years war from 1756 to 1763 which was more or less another France vs England war with all their European allies (France: Russia, Spain, Sweden, England: Prussia, American colonies, Portugal, Iroquois Confederation). This was ultimately settled by one of the thousands of treaties of Paris that are out there which caused a lot of land to shift which in and of itself was a pretty big cause but not a primary one. Any who the war pretty much bankrupted Great Britain and forced them to raise taxes, and where else but to raise them in one of the primary battlefields of the seven years war, the colonies. They felt the colonies should pay taxes for a war they fought but not a war that the colonies necessarily wanted to participate in. Now mind you up until this time there were other taxes like the navigation and molasses acts that pissed off the colonies before this entire war but they are less consequential. This war also led to the Proclamation of 1763 that limited settlement in North America beyond Appalachians mountain which realllly pissed off settlers. This was done in part to satisfy the Native American allies GB had during this time, but at the same time the colonies wanted to expand and limiting the territory for expansion isn't a very wise idea. Btw the seven years war is known as the French and Indian war in the US or by the American colonies during this time but was part of the larger conflict known as the seven years war. It arguably started earlier than the seven years war (roughly 1754) but that's not particularly important at the moment.

 

Right so that was basically the start of the lead up to the American Revolution. During the middle to later 1760's Great Britain started imposing even more egregious taxes on the colonies to recoup their loses from the seven years war. Now it's important to note that the US had no representation in Britain's Parliament hence those common "No taxation without representation" chants you might have commonly heard. Basically they are levying all these taxes and the colonies have no say. In 1764 the sugar act and currency act were implemented which caused further agitation at GB. Then they implemented the Quartering act of 1765 which really pissed off colonists because it forced them to house and feed British soldiers at the expense of the residents. Many colonists were unhappy with a large presence of British soldiers to begin with. Then later in 1765 they released the stamp act which was the real kicker. All official documents, pamphlets, almanacs, even playing cards were taxed. You can probably see where this is going, taxes for a war caused more or less by the Europeans powers bickering that spilled over to their continent and then being forced to pay for it while they didn't receive representation didn't sit well with them. (Side Note: The taxes the English were asking the colonies to pay were for the resources that protected the colonies. In actuality the amount of money they were trying to requisition through taxes really wasn't that big of a deal, in fact by standards of the day the taxes they were asking were pretty low. The key agitation arose from the lack of representation. When people 3,000 miles away are making your decisions without you having a say, it can angers people). The stamp act cause widespread boycotts of British goods which actually hurt them even more so they repealed it in 1766 with the Declaratory act. In addition to repealing the stamp act it reiterated GB's authority to create laws in the colonies and that they were binding with or without representation (again this declaration somewhat pissed off colonists). Next came the Townsend acts in 1767 which taxed paper, glass, tea, ect (noticing a common thread yet?) More anger. All of these taxes led to immense tension which could be seen in this like the Boston Tea Party (Where colonists dressed up as indians and chucked British tea into Boston Harbor), Boston Massacre (In which three colonists were killed and others injured [side Note: This was a huge propaganda tactic, the colonists egged on the British soldiers, verbally abusing them and throwing objects at them, eventually even throwing snowballs with rocks packed inside. It got pretty bad. They were eventually found not guilty in part thanks to eventual 2nd president John Adams. You can tell it's pure propaganda because 3 people isn't a massacre...]), and there were even instances of tax collectors being tarred and feathered. In response to this GB passed the Intolerable acts in 1774 which closed Boston Harbor (until the tea was paid for), put Massachusetts under pretty much complete GB control (the king or governor were the only ones allowed to appoint officials), the ability to move accused royal officials trials to another colony or GB itself (in part a response to the Boston Massacre) and yet another Quartering act! Many saw these moves as a violation of their constitutional rights and they were already mad at the lack of representation.

 

So that's probably decent in terms of a summary for the background. Mind you I'm leaving quite a bit out and some things should probably be expanded upon but you probably get the general picture at this point.

 

I'm guessing you already know about the Declaration of Independence, so to start off about the war, it wasn't actually just a North American war as some seem to believe. The US colonies were actually joined by the French, Spain, and even the Netherlands! (The French were largely the helping hand in North America, they helped bring troops [about 12,000], weapons, supplies, and money. Spain and the Netherlands helped finance the US but their navies as well as Frances were their primary contribution. I believe there was some fighting in Europe but nothing really significant.) GB had the Native Americans backing them although at this point they really despised all European powers, kind of the lesser of two evils deal. They also had a large contingent of German soldiers but they weren't from a specific nation, more like soldiers for hire. Finally there were loyalists in the colonies who would fight for GB, a bit of a minority, but there nonetheless. America itself really didn't have much of an army. The Continental Congress (acting governing body of the colonies) raised the Continental Army but really the militias in the colonies started to outweigh the army at various points in the war. To be fair the Continental Army was pretty rag tag but they got the job done, good ole boys. On April 19th, 1775, about 700 British soldiers headed out to Concord in search of reported military supplies the colonists had. The colonists new about their plans, moved the supplies and rallied local militias. Eventually some of their militias met the British regulars, had a standoff, and someone fired a shot that started the revolutionary war. (Side Note: No one knows who fired the first shot but I would say odds are it was probably a colonists. British soldiers up till this war were pretty elite, facing them would have been intimidating. Especially for a young colonist, I'd venture a guess that nerves got the best of someone and then all hell broke loose). A lot of militias ended up joining them and they overwhelmed the British soldiers who beat a hasty retreat. So that started the war pretty much.

 

Long story short, we won the war after a large, albeit heavily delayed, French fleet showed up and we pinned General Cornwallis in the south at Yorktown 1781 basically destroying GB's army in the south. The war would technically last two more years but nothing major ever really happened during that time period.

 

For more information check out this wonderful wikipedia article Omg, It's an American Revolution!

[Arie]

Dax, I think you need a hobby... or a job... something....

[Maestro]

Funny you should say that because outside my major my next best subject is history with direct emphasis on the American Revolution, French Revolution, Napoleonic era, American Civil War, WWI, and WWII.

 

Update: Ok I got bored and tired after typing for like an hour and a half. I short changed you at the bottom but I included an exciting Wikipedia article that will give you all the information you need =D. This summary may be riddled with spelling, grammatical, and other English language errors, but I don't feel like going back and editing it so have at it -_o! Also this is a pretty small portion of events believe it or not, there really is a lot lot lot more to it then what I've laid out.

 

Now technically speaking the American Revolution was set up by the seven years war from 1756 to 1763 which was more or less another France vs England war with all their European allies (France: Russia, Spain, Sweden, England: Prussia, American colonies, Portugal, Iroquois Confederation). This was ultimately settled by one of the thousands of treaties of Paris that are out there which caused a lot of land to shift which in and of itself was a pretty big cause but not a primary one. Any who the war pretty much bankrupted Great Britain and forced them to raise taxes, and where else but to raise them in one of the primary battlefields of the seven years war, the colonies. They felt the colonies should pay taxes for a war they fought but not a war that the colonies necessarily wanted to participate in. Now mind you up until this time there were other taxes like the navigation and molasses acts that pissed off the colonies before this entire war but they are less consequential. This war also led to the Proclamation of 1763 that limited settlement in North America beyond Appalachians mountain which realllly pissed off settlers. This was done in part to satisfy the Native American allies GB had during this time, but at the same time the colonies wanted to expand and limiting the territory for expansion isn't a very wise idea. Btw the seven years war is known as the French and Indian war in the US or by the American colonies during this time but was part of the larger conflict known as the seven years war. It arguably started earlier than the seven years war (roughly 1754) but that's not particularly important at the moment.

 

Right so that was basically the start of the lead up to the American Revolution. During the middle to later 1760's Great Britain started imposing even more egregious taxes on the colonies to recoup their loses from the seven years war. Now it's important to note that the US had no representation in Britain's Parliament hence those common "No taxation without representation" chants you might have commonly heard. Basically they are levying all these taxes and the colonies have no say. In 1764 the sugar act and currency act were implemented which caused further agitation at GB. Then they implemented the Quartering act of 1765 which really pissed off colonists because it forced them to house and feed British soldiers at the expense of the residents. Many colonists were unhappy with a large presence of British soldiers to begin with. Then later in 1765 they released the stamp act which was the real kicker. All official documents, pamphlets, almanacs, even playing cards were taxed. You can probably see where this is going, taxes for a war caused more or less by the Europeans powers bickering that spilled over to their continent and then being forced to pay for it while they didn't receive representation didn't sit well with them. (Side Note: The taxes the English were asking the colonies to pay were for the resources that protected the colonies. In actuality the amount of money they were trying to requisition through taxes really wasn't that big of a deal, in fact by standards of the day the taxes they were asking were pretty low. The key agitation arose from the lack of representation. When people 3,000 miles away are making your decisions without you having a say, it can angers people). The stamp act cause widespread boycotts of British goods which actually hurt them even more so they repealed it in 1766 with the Declaratory act. In addition to repealing the stamp act it reiterated GB's authority to create laws in the colonies and that they were binding with or without representation (again this declaration somewhat pissed off colonists). Next came the Townsend acts in 1767 which taxed paper, glass, tea, ect (noticing a common thread yet?) More anger. All of these taxes led to immense tension which could be seen in this like the Boston Tea Party (Where colonists dressed up as indians and chucked British tea into Boston Harbor), Boston Massacre (In which three colonists were killed and others injured [side Note: This was a huge propaganda tactic, the colonists egged on the British soldiers, verbally abusing them and throwing objects at them, eventually even throwing snowballs with rocks packed inside. It got pretty bad. They were eventually found not guilty in part thanks to eventual 2nd president John Adams. You can tell it's pure propaganda because 3 people isn't a massacre...]), and there were even instances of tax collectors being tarred and feathered. In response to this GB passed the Intolerable acts in 1774 which closed Boston Harbor (until the tea was paid for), put Massachusetts under pretty much complete GB control (the king or governor were the only ones allowed to appoint officials), the ability to move accused royal officials trials to another colony or GB itself (in part a response to the Boston Massacre) and yet another Quartering act! Many saw these moves as a violation of their constitutional rights and they were already mad at the lack of representation.

 

So that's probably decent in terms of a summary for the background. Mind you I'm leaving quite a bit out and some things should probably be expanded upon but you probably get the general picture at this point.

 

I'm guessing you already know about the Declaration of Independence, so to start off about the war, it wasn't actually just a North American war as some seem to believe. The US colonies were actually joined by the French, Spain, and even the Netherlands! (The French were largely the helping hand in North America, they helped bring troops [about 12,000], weapons, supplies, and money. Spain and the Netherlands helped finance the US but their navies as well as Frances were their primary contribution. I believe there was some fighting in Europe but nothing really significant.) GB had the Native Americans backing them although at this point they really despised all European powers, kind of the lesser of two evils deal. They also had a large contingent of German soldiers but they weren't from a specific nation, more like soldiers for hire. Finally there were loyalists in the colonies who would fight for GB, a bit of a minority, but there nonetheless. America itself really didn't have much of an army. The Continental Congress (acting governing body of the colonies) raised the Continental Army but really the militias in the colonies started to outweigh the army at various points in the war. To be fair the Continental Army was pretty rag tag but they got the job done, good ole boys. On April 19th, 1775, about 700 British soldiers headed out to Concord in search of reported military supplies the colonists had. The colonists new about their plans, moved the supplies and rallied local militias. Eventually some of their militias met the British regulars, had a standoff, and someone fired a shot that started the revolutionary war. (Side Note: No one knows who fired the first shot but I would say odds are it was probably a colonists. British soldiers up till this war were pretty elite, facing them would have been intimidating. Especially for a young colonist, I'd venture a guess that nerves got the best of someone and then all hell broke loose). A lot of militias ended up joining them and they overwhelmed the British soldiers who beat a hasty retreat. So that started the war pretty much.

 

Long story short, we won the war after a large, albeit heavily delayed, French fleet showed up and we pinned General Cornwallis in the south at Yorktown 1781 basically destroying GB's army in the south. The war would technically last two more years but nothing major ever really happened during that time period.

 

For more information check out this wonderful wikipedia article Omg, It's an American Revolution!

 

TLDR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding!

 

 

*hides*

[Dax]

Dax, I think you need a hobby... or a job... something....

Knowledge is power O_O! The power of knowing things

[Arie]

Knowledge is power O_O! The power of knowing things

 

Yes but getting out of the house now and then to hand out with friends is important too!

[Maestro]

Hand out with friends?

 

 

 

Oh and also:

 

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/1365/themoreyouknowd.jpg

[Dax]

Yes but getting out of the house now and then to hand out with friends is important too!

No need to worry Arie , I get out plenty ^.^.

 

@Erik: A truer graphic was never made =D.

[Will]

Getting out is meaningless ;O

[Arie]

Hand out with friends?

 

Oops

 

No need to worry Arie , I get out plenty ^.^.

 

[emwatsonsuperfan]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

 

I'm back!

 

Again!

 

Hehe how are the good ole forums?

[Dax]

Hey Anna ^.^

[Maestro]

Quickly! Tie her up so she can't go anywhere!!!!

[Dax]

Quickly! Tie her up so she can't go anywhere!!!!

With what man???? This is Anna we're talking about, she'll rip through anything we have in 1.876 seconds! That will only enrage her, and god help us if that happens O_O...

[Maestro]

I'll distract her with some magic words, you get duct tape, a clock, a pink left handed frisbee, a turquoise coloured pencil, the soul of a red haired pidgeon and a coffee, no milk, no sugar.

 

 

Now for the magic words!

 

 

What a to do to die today at a minute or two to two--

 

A thing distinctly hard to say but harder still to do,

 

For they'll beat a tattoo at twenty to two

 

With a ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta tattoo,

 

And the dragon will come when he hears the drum

 

At a minute or two to two today, at a minute or two to two.

 

Quickly! We won't have much time!

[Dax]

I'll distract her with some magic words, you get duct tape, a clock, a pink left handed frisbee, a turquoise coloured pencil, the soul of a red haired pidgeon and a coffee, no milk, no sugar.

 

 

Now for the magic words!

 

 

What a to do to die today at a minute or two to two--

 

A thing distinctly hard to say but harder still to do,

 

For they'll beat a tattoo at twenty to two

 

With a ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta tattoo,

 

And the dragon will come when he hears the drum

 

At a minute or two to two today, at a minute or two to two.

 

Quickly! We won't have much time!

WHERE AM I SUPPOSE TO GET A LEFT HANDED FRISBEE?!?!?!?! I've got everything else though o.o...

[Maestro]

GEEH! DO I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING AROUND HERE?! Left handed frisbees can be found on the second star from the right near the third moon on 12 o'clock near my second uncle twice removed brother's cousin Jane's barbershop/garage, where you will get a free haircut with every tire change.

 

And thanks for the coffee, I needed that.

 

*drinks coffee and looks around.

 

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? CHRISTMAS? COME ON, MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!

[Dax]

GEEH! DO I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING AROUND HERE?! Left handed frisbees can be found on the second star from the right near the third moon on 12 o'clock near my second uncle twice removed brother's cousin Jane's barbershop/garage, where you will get a free haircut with every tire change.

 

And thanks for the coffee, I needed that.

 

*drinks coffee and looks around.

 

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? CHRISTMAS? COME ON, MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!

My ship doesn't have enough cornflakes for the journey and I don't want to settle for cheerio's! That haircut sounds enticing, but not as enticing as cornflakes...

 

Thank god I have my robot penguin Pegio # 10, I'll send him and we should have the Frisbee by sunrise on the 5th day before the horn of helm hammerhand is sounded.

[Maestro]

But that's like three flobwabs away! We don't have enough time for that...unless we can distract Anna some more...how quick can you arrange three camels in a hamsterwheel. Mind you, they must be Middle footed, German hamsterwheels. The camels can be of any type, as long as they can count to ten in Chinese and know the national anthem of Antartica.

[Dax]

But that's like three flobwabs away! We don't have enough time for that...unless we can distract Anna some more...how quick can you arrange three camels in a hamsterwheel. Mind you, they must be Middle footed, German hamsterwheels. The camels can be of any type, as long as they can count to ten in Chinese and know the national anthem of Antartica.

Does a billywub crack chili with 3 pounds of re-fried beef while talking about coconuts? I'll have them there within the hour -_o.

[Maestro]

Does a billywub crack chili with 3 pounds of re-fried beef while talking about coconuts? I'll have them there within the hour -_o.

 

I assume you are talking about the North Australian billywub, because the South Australian billywub will crack chili with 3 pounds of re-fried beef while talking about coconuts. I remember because a friend of mine was trying to convince me that dagwags and billywubs of either variety were similar to cosybonks from Russia, and they only like re-fried pork...they once tried to feed them re-fried beef...and wow...you wouldn't believe the kwazamba that came from that.

 

Not sure their obsession with coconuts though...

[Dax]

Good, our plans of capturing Anna are so close now. The great Macara beast shall be pleased with our work. Any who kwazamba eh? I thought we eradicated that years ago, just goes to show you things can get pretty crazy here.

[Maestro]

All hail to the Macara beast and his partner.....Bob.

 

Now...where is Anna?

[Maestro]

Why does this thread always seems to die whenever I posted last in it? Is it something I said?

[Dax]

It's the intimidation factor, everyone knows you're the brute mod .

[Maestro]

Brute mod?! But I'm all cuddly and stuff!!!