revolutionary war diary help!!!?

Question

ok, in history i have to write a diary pretending to be an american during the revolutionary war time. i have to start in 1775 and get to 1783! i dont know who to be help!!!

Answer 1

Pick an interesting area to be living in, one with the various armies moving through, or maybe one occupied by the British for a major part of the time. Since the military part began in New England, I would suggest somewhere in that area. You could begin with some solitary horseman riding by warning everyone that the British were coming, as if that mattered to you. If you really want to make this interesting, write it from the point of view of a Loyalist. Check the timeline of the Revolution and see what was happening in your area when and report it. Do you want to go fight or stay home and tend the herd? Wars have a way of intruding even if you do that, as part of my family did. Life was hard, winters were cold and nice, fancy things were in short supply unless you were in an occupied city, so you are not writing about something all sweetness and light. You are writing about a hard life with accidents and illnesses killing people in addition to a war going on around you. There are no antibiotics, no anaesthetics and nothing resembling modern medical care. Appendicitis was a death sentence. One thing I will recommend is that you get a case of cowpox. This was common among people who milked cows and protected them against smallpox, which was not at all uncommon then.

You have three basic points of view and the populace was pretty much evenly divided. You could remain loyal to King George III, you could be a rebel, or you could just go about trying to survive and wish the other two factions would go kill each other somewhere besides in your neighborhood.

Answer 2

Why not be a soldier? If you want a good set of books to read to give you a better understanding try "The Kent Family Chronicles" by John Jakes. In that his main character starts off as a printers apprentice and joins in the revoluntionary cause after reading some of Sam Adams works. He fights at Breeds Hill, Bunkers Hill, and just about every major battle that happened in the Massachusetts. The novel that concentrates on this portion of the characters life is Book 2 - The Rebels.

Answer 3

Go rent the movie with Mel Gibson about the revolutionary war, it's very accurate and to the point. You could chose to be one of the sons that fought the war with him. It starts about 1776 and ends about 1783

Answer 4

Find a current event in 1775, ie, who was President, etc. And then do the same for 1783. Create your character and make the rest up.

Answer 5

There are several revolutionary era diaries online. I'm including the link to the diary of Martha Ballard which covers 27 years of her life between 1785 to 1812. I feel that if you can see a sample, you can get a better idea of what you want to do.

http://dohistory.org/diary/

Good luck!