Before coming to the US, I always wanted to be there for Independence Day celebrations. This is the biggest holiday here (apart from Christmas of course). However, this was just the day when Americans made the Declaration of Independence and they had to fight fiercely for 5 years to defeat the British army and then had to wait for another 2 years for the Treaty of Versailles that recognized the independence of the USA. So, the actual Independence Day was not July 4th, 1776. But this is the day celebrated here to commemorate the birthday of the USA (in a similar manner as Christmas; Jesus has not been born on that day). This year, I had the opportunity to spend my holiday like an American; an apologetic American though.
I went to Maumee for the fireworks on July 3rd night. They'd set the mortars on the bridge connecting Maumee and Perrysburg. So, people at both sides of the river could enjoy the fireworks. And that ensured the debris and cinders would fall into the river (or on the bridge) and wouldn't cause fires in the trees or grasslands. And I learned a lesson: don't sit too close to where they fire that stuff; you might get a good view, but that would also mean you'd share the falling debris.
It was magnificent. The fireworks lasted for 30 minutes ending in a crescendo leading to a big applause by spectators. And I was thinking about what one of my American friends had told me; that all the gunpowder spent every year for July 4th fireworks is probably more than what was spent over the Revolutionary War. Well, I cannot be sure of that, but something is for sure: just like the other big holiday (Christmas), people (or more accurately speaking, the stores) celebrate the holiday in a shopping spree, buying firecrackers, American flags and much more and all that while American patriotic tunes are in the air on TV ads and in stores.
Well, one shouldn't be surprised. In America, spending money (and hence boosting the economy that gets its power mainly from all these money transactions) is a way to show one's patriotism. I don't forget that after 911, people were encouraged to show their patriotism by way of spending money to leverage the plummeting economy (which was already stalled long before that fateful day).
The fireworks was the last part of the celebrations where people enjoyed their time eating hot-dogs (an American specialty; over 16 billion consumed each years) and all sort of yummies while watching music bands and parades along Conant St. And all this an excellent opportunity for me as a sociologist to observe how Americans celebrate their Independence Day. Actually, that was the main reason I wished to be here on this day; to observe how patriotic is this truly patriotic day observed. But what I saw was more or less a display of American way of life.
And I can say as a revolutionary, I was not so happy about it. Not that I was surprised (as I knew about how things go even before coming here). But one expects to see some commemoration of the bravery of the people who fought the superpower of their time to win their liberty. One expects to see patriotism beyond merely display of flags, fireworks or shopping. And although I enjoyed both the fireworks and also doing my job as a sociologist in a very warm popular setting, I was not completely happy. Maybe I'm very old-fashioned or (as my father jokes) Mr. Classic.
On July 4th, I went to the Fallen Timbers monument for a tour around the sacred ground (as read in the newsletter announcement). The monument is built in memory of the Battle of Fallen Timbers. According to the official website for the venue:
The Battle of Fallen Timbers, August 20, 1794, has been called the “last battle of the American Revolution” and one of the three most important battles in the development of our nation. The decisive victory by the Legion of the United States over a confederacy of Indian tribes opened the Northwest Territory, a five-state region unceded by the native inhabitants, for westward expansion and led to Ohio’s statehood in 1803!
The battle took place amid trees toppled by a tornado just north of the Maumee River in the present-day city of Maumee.
The legion was commanded by General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, a veteran of Valley Forge handpicked by President Washington to oversee the new nation’s first professional army. Wayne’s force, made up of 1,600 to 1,700 “regulars” and 1,500 members of the Kentucky Militia, marched north from Cincinnati to build a series of forts between the Ohio and Maumee rivers. Among Wayne’s officers was 21-year-old General William Henry Harrison, who would become the ninth president of the United States.
Waiting for Wayne and his men were about 1,000 warriors representing the native confederacy and led by Miami war chief Little Turtle, an old nemesis of the United States. Other leaders of the confederacy included Shawnee Chief Blue Jacket and Delaware Chief Buckongahelas. One of the most famous leaders of the native resistance, Tecumseh, also took part in the battle.
Fewer than 100 men on each side died in the brief battle, but the Legion’s victory marked a major turning point in the battle for the western frontier. The victory led to the signing the Treaty Greenville in 1795. Without the treaty, portions of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin might have remained a buffer zone between Indian and settled territory, or even become part of British-controlled Canada.
The actual battlefield is one mile to the north of the monument. But anyway, what makes this ground sacred? The battle that opened the Northwest Territory for expansion? The blood shed on this ground? And if so, whose blood? That of American soldiers who were opening other peoples' land for settlement? Or the blood of the savage (terrorists, in our modern-day terminology) who resisted the occupation of their ancestral land?
The irony is that the very people who had fought the British aggression a few years ago to win their liberty had become the new aggressors in the land of the free and home of the brave and used their might to drive away the people who had been living there for centuries (or probably millennia) in the New World.
Having read about the battle, I felt most angry about the British. Unhappy that they were about losing their most profitable colony, they instigated the Indians and provided them with supplies to fight the Americans. Their old proven policy in all their colonies. And unscrupulous that they were, although they had pledged their support, when defeated Indians fled toward Fort Miami (the British outpost), they faced the closed gates and were routed by the marching American legion (who also decimated Indian villages and crops in the area afterwards). This led to the signing of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, which ceded much of present-day Ohio to the US, paving the way for the creation of the state in 1803. Well, we know about it: peace under the barrel of the gun.
And those poor Indians fell in the same trap in the War of 1812 and trusted the British. In that war, the British had gone so far as to give bounty for American soldiers' scalp. And as before, they did foresake the Indians when they felt like that. And those defeated Indians had to cede all their claims to their lands for good.
And knowing about all this, while I was walking amid the beautiful prairie on the sacred usurped ground, listening to the song of the birds, I was thinking to myself: what would the soul of those Indians think about me as a Muslim (who is against oppression and occupation) treading their land without their consent?
I went to Maumee for the fireworks on July 3rd night. They'd set the mortars on the bridge connecting Maumee and Perrysburg. So, people at both sides of the river could enjoy the fireworks. And that ensured the debris and cinders would fall into the river (or on the bridge) and wouldn't cause fires in the trees or grasslands. And I learned a lesson: don't sit too close to where they fire that stuff; you might get a good view, but that would also mean you'd share the falling debris.
It was magnificent. The fireworks lasted for 30 minutes ending in a crescendo leading to a big applause by spectators. And I was thinking about what one of my American friends had told me; that all the gunpowder spent every year for July 4th fireworks is probably more than what was spent over the Revolutionary War. Well, I cannot be sure of that, but something is for sure: just like the other big holiday (Christmas), people (or more accurately speaking, the stores) celebrate the holiday in a shopping spree, buying firecrackers, American flags and much more and all that while American patriotic tunes are in the air on TV ads and in stores.
Well, one shouldn't be surprised. In America, spending money (and hence boosting the economy that gets its power mainly from all these money transactions) is a way to show one's patriotism. I don't forget that after 911, people were encouraged to show their patriotism by way of spending money to leverage the plummeting economy (which was already stalled long before that fateful day).
The fireworks was the last part of the celebrations where people enjoyed their time eating hot-dogs (an American specialty; over 16 billion consumed each years) and all sort of yummies while watching music bands and parades along Conant St. And all this an excellent opportunity for me as a sociologist to observe how Americans celebrate their Independence Day. Actually, that was the main reason I wished to be here on this day; to observe how patriotic is this truly patriotic day observed. But what I saw was more or less a display of American way of life.
And I can say as a revolutionary, I was not so happy about it. Not that I was surprised (as I knew about how things go even before coming here). But one expects to see some commemoration of the bravery of the people who fought the superpower of their time to win their liberty. One expects to see patriotism beyond merely display of flags, fireworks or shopping. And although I enjoyed both the fireworks and also doing my job as a sociologist in a very warm popular setting, I was not completely happy. Maybe I'm very old-fashioned or (as my father jokes) Mr. Classic.
On July 4th, I went to the Fallen Timbers monument for a tour around the sacred ground (as read in the newsletter announcement). The monument is built in memory of the Battle of Fallen Timbers. According to the official website for the venue:
The Battle of Fallen Timbers, August 20, 1794, has been called the “last battle of the American Revolution” and one of the three most important battles in the development of our nation. The decisive victory by the Legion of the United States over a confederacy of Indian tribes opened the Northwest Territory, a five-state region unceded by the native inhabitants, for westward expansion and led to Ohio’s statehood in 1803!
The battle took place amid trees toppled by a tornado just north of the Maumee River in the present-day city of Maumee.
The legion was commanded by General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, a veteran of Valley Forge handpicked by President Washington to oversee the new nation’s first professional army. Wayne’s force, made up of 1,600 to 1,700 “regulars” and 1,500 members of the Kentucky Militia, marched north from Cincinnati to build a series of forts between the Ohio and Maumee rivers. Among Wayne’s officers was 21-year-old General William Henry Harrison, who would become the ninth president of the United States.
Waiting for Wayne and his men were about 1,000 warriors representing the native confederacy and led by Miami war chief Little Turtle, an old nemesis of the United States. Other leaders of the confederacy included Shawnee Chief Blue Jacket and Delaware Chief Buckongahelas. One of the most famous leaders of the native resistance, Tecumseh, also took part in the battle.
Fewer than 100 men on each side died in the brief battle, but the Legion’s victory marked a major turning point in the battle for the western frontier. The victory led to the signing the Treaty Greenville in 1795. Without the treaty, portions of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin might have remained a buffer zone between Indian and settled territory, or even become part of British-controlled Canada.
The actual battlefield is one mile to the north of the monument. But anyway, what makes this ground sacred? The battle that opened the Northwest Territory for expansion? The blood shed on this ground? And if so, whose blood? That of American soldiers who were opening other peoples' land for settlement? Or the blood of the savage (terrorists, in our modern-day terminology) who resisted the occupation of their ancestral land?
The irony is that the very people who had fought the British aggression a few years ago to win their liberty had become the new aggressors in the land of the free and home of the brave and used their might to drive away the people who had been living there for centuries (or probably millennia) in the New World.
Having read about the battle, I felt most angry about the British. Unhappy that they were about losing their most profitable colony, they instigated the Indians and provided them with supplies to fight the Americans. Their old proven policy in all their colonies. And unscrupulous that they were, although they had pledged their support, when defeated Indians fled toward Fort Miami (the British outpost), they faced the closed gates and were routed by the marching American legion (who also decimated Indian villages and crops in the area afterwards). This led to the signing of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, which ceded much of present-day Ohio to the US, paving the way for the creation of the state in 1803. Well, we know about it: peace under the barrel of the gun.
And those poor Indians fell in the same trap in the War of 1812 and trusted the British. In that war, the British had gone so far as to give bounty for American soldiers' scalp. And as before, they did foresake the Indians when they felt like that. And those defeated Indians had to cede all their claims to their lands for good.
And knowing about all this, while I was walking amid the beautiful prairie on the sacred usurped ground, listening to the song of the birds, I was thinking to myself: what would the soul of those Indians think about me as a Muslim (who is against oppression and occupation) treading their land without their consent?
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