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`` The Cradle Of Freedom `` By Nathaniel Philbrick

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Samuel Adams once said, "It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." In Bunker Hill, Nathaniel Philbrick chronicles how the conflagration of the American Revolution would erupt from the embers of the past focusing on the great impact that those involved in the infamous battle for which the book is titled and the battle itself would have on the colonies and their fight for liberties. This is a vivid bildungsroman for the city of Boston, teeming with new thoughts and ideals, that would face internal conflict, which would later give the city the title “the Cradle of Freedom.”1 Setting aside the legends of the revolution, Philbrick presents not only a historic event in American history, but also the subtle, essential moments that are not limited to 1775 but are the underpinning “mechanics of overthrowing a regime” that “are essentially the same today as they were in the eighteenth century;” however, focusing on our mythic Founding Fathers, many overlook the true nature of the war that is present in every revolution.2
Unlike the hackneyed stories told to us as children on the Fourth of July, the American colonies were not victims to an overly oppressive, malevolent motherland thousands of miles away. In fact studies have shown that the American colonies were the least-taxed people in the Western world and that, overall, the claims of English oppression boil down to nothing more

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