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Sports During The American Revolution
Sports during the American Revolution
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Sports during the American Revolution
Introduction
Sports have always been treated as one of the favorite ways of passing idle time; taking into account that almost all the beings existing in the world have treated games as one of the basic necessities. Spinning the wheel of history right into the Revolution era, it has been brought into insight that there was a growing stance of games and Olympics; it would be great to talk about the athletic pastimes of the American soldiers during the war of revolution. A point of curiosity is, there is no basic and underlying stance of the facts and figures that can communicate whether it was the soldiers itself who wrote about the sports or the account of sports is just a hunch. Well, it would not be wrong to say that American love sports and this aspect is still prevalent in the present time. A glance of reality infers that in many houses, morning begins with the hot sip of coffee with absorbing glimpses on the highlights of the newspaper that shows the status of sports. Daughters and sons still decorate their rooms with the pictures and portraits of players and athletes. Even today while watching favorite cricketers or players, children paint their face with the name of favorite sportsman showing their immense love. It would not be wrong to say that old and young, girls and boys, hence everyone is seen with the same charm of sports, demonstrating that it is a stance of heritage that has been passed from generations to generations.
Discussion
Although the historical sportsmen have not enjoyed the major leagues of college football, baseball and ice dancing but they must have enjoyed the unquestionable athlete bunch. The colonial sportsmen practiced cluster of obscure games such as whirl, cricket and shiny. Although they had not participated in modern-day rugby, but they must have been entertained by races, various ball games, and shooting matches. Common soldiers plagued with the boredom of camp were in dire need of diversions. A soldier, Connecticut’s Nathan Hale before he was martyred attained a legendary record of “football and checuers." Capt. Johann Hinrichs has an inspirational account of being a Cherokee warrior at Savannah, a game of throwing tomahawk. It would not be wrong to say that physical activity was imperative for soldiers taking into account that the armies that fought in the war were efficient in marching abilities and fighting with the troops even it was unexpected. Revolution era has a compact code of sports and physical activities that seems much stressing apparently, but they beheld ample entertainment.
Colonial days were more than rough and harsh; whatever the task was, an individual has to struggle. If one needs food, man needs to slaughter and spend ample time to coax the animal out of the dirt. There was always a chance to die because of an infected hangnail. It would not be wrong to say that in the series of colonial amusement there were some good and some evil sports. Games like ninepins and ring taw were treated as the baseline of cultural paradigms, taking into account that a single substance was used for playing in a diverse way. Everyone had marbles but it would be entertaining to know the use of marbles in the era of revolution. In the past, marbles were treated as a therapy for emotional stability. Ring taw is one of the games that are associated with marbles; it was a pay pool where one of the players used his marble to hit the marbles of his fellow players. Moreover, in colonial times, ninepins was another game that was played with great enthusiasm, favored by the Dutch settlers. The game was much similar to the present time bowling where a soothing game ended into a hostile struggle by the end of time.
A great spectrum of hostility can also be found in the revolutionary time where dueling was practiced. It is a game that was considered to be a plan of structured murder because of a single aspect of disagreement. It is important to note that death was not the ultimate end of the game; in fact, the underlying idea was violence that could be stopped after some sort of critical violent happenings. Moving few steps back, it can be seen that historical accounts lead to the idea of Mark Naison who highlighted the issue of racial struggles and discrimination in "Why Sports history is American history," addressing the struggles made in boxing rings, baseballs, and tracks. A columnist, Gail Collins in New York Times, affirmed the sports that have been played by ancient Americans in his article, "The Battle of Sexes". The crux of the article helps to interpret the famous tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jeans that brought an end to the myth that women don’t have the potential to compete with men. Addressing the scenario of sports, in the past, it has been brought into limelight that the leisure activity of officer corps was to play with other officers. There were plenty of ball games, much similar to the present time, rugby, football, baseball, and soccer. Once George Washington said, “Sometimes throws and catches a ball for whole hours with his aides-de-camp”. Many games such as cricket also called wicket was played in the camps, and the rules were somehow similar to hurling and field hockey. One of the varieties of football called fives was also played by the soldiers.
Celebrating victory is the right of every human being, and there is no better and enthusiastic way of celebrating victory with thirteen shot salvo from about six ponders. It was one of the major and most casual games of the Americans in the time of the revolution. One of the famous acrobatic French militiamen escaped a tragedy where a blast launched the helpless soldier when he jumped ten feet and then landed without getting hurt. Taking into account that sports injuries are a risk that is inherent with the pleasure of sports. The Crown Force in March 1781 depicted a remarkable stance of “shot put." Shaw has depicted the characteristics of the athletes inferring that they were men of diabolical practices and principles who were fond of carousing, drinking and sorting amusement, neglecting whatever was the day of the week, and men were always ready to practice shot. In accordance with the historical accounts, it has been highlighted that both officers and men participated in the sports like cockfighting billiards and horse racing; these sports were treated as major sports of America. According to Jacob Plumb Martin, a private from Massachusetts has witnessed and described the horror that he viewed in boxing. He described them as two men drunk enough to hardly fight, carrying evident prejudice and stumbling around the ring.
If a flashback is thrown at 1775, it can be concluded that the Continental Army comprised of several passionate and patrician Virginian can be assumed with hands full of bringing New England outfits that were meant for army. In compliance with the warm summer months, swimming became one of the dominant hobbies of the people. An account of the troops from history inferred that the soldiers use to dive so deep that it was hard to know where they have left. Even the troops that seemed to be modest in their choices and lifestyles were found in extreme summers swimming around the Cambridge Bridge; the swimmers were more like promoting indignant. The civilians made complaints against the swimmers because of their over blatant exhibitionism. The stance of physical activity does not end here; there was another activity that was frequently practiced by the civilian and soldiers in the course of revolution, adhering to the framework of foraging for outright behavior. It was 1777, when a protest was framed in the limelight of imposition that reflected men practicing taekwondo. It was more like a game in which people use to practice certain commands, guided by actions taking into account that they were initiatives for killing or attacking others. According to the disposition that was forwarded to Washington, fellow officers used to form a circle in which they use kick and abuse each other, generally as a sport.
It is much interesting to note that many of the sports during the era of revolution were found in accordance with the requirement of wartime. In the same context, 400 Yard Rifle a physical activity can be found as a tribute to the attention of Maj George Hanger, inferring that American riflemen were considered feeble when compared to the bayonet-wielding line infantry. Although Hanger along with his mate was considered as backcountry militiaman, the two officers tried their best to make the riflemen a product of circumstances rather than a necessity by mounting few yards out of the forest and observe the riflemen as they run into the open area, lay down their bellies and shoot. It was a casual practice, so he thought to bring some kind of innovation in which he took a flash of powder from the gun of riflemen, and it was backed off. It hardly took a few minutes when the shot passed between the people standing beside striking and killing the mounts behind the soldiers. This practice made American riflemen better in shooting and loading muzzles, taking into account that it was treated as a game.
Another major sport that was practiced during the time of revolution was Canoeing, a physical activity that seems strange apparently but it was a source of immense pleasure. The sport involves two heavy bulls that were much difficult to kill entering the river right from the opposite bank of the sportsmen. As soon as the buffaloes became mainstream, the player pushes off their canoe. The next step is much amusing, but it is equally horrible to note that the bull was meant to be shot either by hook or by crook. In a nutshell, the hunters or the sportsmen were supposed to thrash high the underbrush meanwhile the men with canoe enjoyed pleasant regatta. However, the players were never ever amused. As it was the time of war, much of the attention was given to the sport that was anyhow related to attacks. The same stance of military physical activity can be found in Pole Vault a game that involved shooting and seizing. An account from Howards infers that the men used to remain neck and neck as they approach the guns. Then, a call from the coach or head would result in an expansion directed into the ground by taking a long leap that can help the participants jump over the gun and win the prize.
It is to infer that the physical activities of Americans were not confined to the realms of war affairs; much of the attention was given to the entertainment. It can be found in the situations where several men join together to fight back with fatigue and trouble. According to Martin, Discus was an activity opted by the American in which they strike a wheel, with an unknown object and threw it off within the course, although it was terrible to watch the wheel getting faster and moving with momentum with men running by its side. Martin shared his experience, inferring that he experienced this game; it was breathtaking; it was the last incident that did not cause tears in his eyes. The sportsman spirit of the era of revolution is not confined to “breathtaking scenes” and "grief moments," in fact, there are several great examples of sportsmanship. An example of this spirit is Javelin a game in which a light spear also known as a ranged weapon, specifically designed for throwing has been designed. The javelin is most probably term as a sport in which the arrow was to be thrown by the sportsman, much like arrow and bow. The one who throws the bow and arrow is called a javelineer. It was much entertaining because it inculcated competition in the players to address the underlying passion for winning and showing strengths.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, an analysis of history depicts that the time span of American Revolution is overwhelmed by several sports that acted as a tool for entertainment and physical activity side by side. A mixture of assimilated feelings has beautified history with a variety of sports whose modified forms are still practiced today, acting as a major source of entertainment. It would not be wrong to say that the American Revolution comprises of complete code of sportsmanship accompanied by a framework that acted as a source of entertainment and inculcating passion.
End Notes
Cone, Carl B. Burke and the Nature of Politics: the Age of the American Revolution. University Press of Kentucky, 2015.
Davies, Richard O. Sports in American life: A history. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.
Gems, Gerald, Linda Borish, and Gertrud Pfister. Sports in American History, 2E: From Colonization to Globalization. Human Kinetics, 2017.
Grundy, Pamela, and Benjamin G. Rader. American Sports. Routledge, 2018.
Higgs, Robert J. God in the stadium: Sports and religion in America. University Press of Kentucky, 2015.
Hill, Daniel Delis. Peacock Revolution: American Masculine Identity and Dress in the Sixties and Seventies. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018.
Jozsa, Frank P. Sports capitalism: the foreign business of American professional leagues. Routledge, 2017.
Keeney, Jacey, Kristin L. Schneider, and Arlen C. Moller. "Lessons learned during formative phase development of an asynchronous, active video game intervention: Making sedentary fantasy sports active." Psychology of Sport and Exercise 41 (2019): 200-210.
Mays, Terry M. Historical dictionary of the American Revolution. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019.
Mays, Terry M. Historical dictionary of the American Revolution. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019.
Ogbar, Jeffrey OG. Black power: Radical politics and African American identity. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019.
Price, Joseph L. "Postures of Prophetic Action in American Sports." In The Prophetic Dimension of Sport, pp. 51-57. Springer, Cham, 2019.
Serazio, Michael. The Power of Sports: Media and Spectacle in American Culture. NYU Press, 2019.
Shrader, John, and David Cassilo. "Home field advantage? Exploring credibility of British and American announcers covering United States soccer." Soccer & Society (2019): 1-15.
Taylor, Brent. Founding Leadership: Lessons on Business and Personal Leadership From the Men Who Brought You the American Revolution. Morgan James Publishing, 2019.
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