Mia Bjorkenstam
Social Studies H
September 1*99
My Brother Sam is Dead: Response Questions

1. Mr. Meeker*s comment *You may know principal Sam, but I know war.* I
think means that no matter how much Sam has learned, or read, or studies
about war he doesn*t really understand the concept. Sam may have totally
good reasons for fighting and rebelling but until he has experienced it
himself he doesn*t really know what he is getting in to.

2. Meeker doesn*t believe in physically going to war and fighting for
what you believe in. Whereas Sam does. Sam believes that whatever choice
he makes he is not going to stop until he has won or until he dies.
Either he fights till he is free or he dies with his dream of being
free. I think that what Mr. Meeker is trying to say is that there are
other ways of fighting for injustice rather than in war, shooting and
dying in cold blood. I don*t think Mr. Meeker thinks war solves
anything; it is just a bunch of lives being lost. I agree with both Sam
and Mr. Meeker. I don*t believe war is the solution to anything. But I
think that if things get so bad that that is your only choice sometimes
you have to take it

3. I think that Tim*s statement, *It made me wonder how the war was
going to make us freer if you couldn*t read any paper you wanted
anymore.* told you that even though the Patriots were fighting for
independence they still did not give total freedom to the colonists. The
Patriots did not want the colonists to read the British papers because
the British may have exaggerated things or changed them around and they
might convince the colonists to be loyal to Britain. This just tells you
that even though the Patriots were fighting for something, they were not
necessarily giving it themselves. They wanted freedom and independence
but yet they wouldn*t give the colonists freedom to read what they
wanted. I think this is common in all wars. World War II, most people in
Europe were only allowed to read German/Nazis newspapers and not other
newspapers because it might tell the people stuff that the Nazis did not
want the people to know about.

4.I agree with what Tim said, **..anybody who joined the army to fight
couldn*t be a coward.* Think of the soldiers, who offered to join the
army, the army could mean life or death. Not always did soldiers enlist
in the army, sometimes they were drafted. It is a tough life being a
soldier. Not all soldiers had horses; most had to march around. There
was a limited amount of food, clothes, and medical supplies. Disease was
always a risk in wiping out armies. While fighting you had to be
prepared to die, to watch people get shot to death one by one. A soldier
had to be brave; it took strength and courage. Once a soldier left home
there was a chance they would never return or ever see their families
and homes again. They would either die in war or die as a prisoner of
the enemy. They had to withstand rough conditions. There would be no
comforts. They not only had to survive the fighting but also mother
nature*s forces. Such as rough winters and bad weather.

5. I think that Native America men, like Tom Warrups, worked for both
Patriots and Tories because it did not matter really matter to them who
won the war. Basically whether America was free or not was no real
concern to them. It did not really involve them. Either way they would
still be treated the same way and their land would still be taken from
them. Other groups of people (besides the rich whites), blacks and
Native Americans, did not care very much about the war. Most probably
helped the side that was kinder to them. For example if a Patriotic
plantation owner treated his slaves very badly then most likely the
slaves would prefer to help the people who gave them good lives and
treated them well. Though sometimes they did not have a choice they
fought for the side that they worked for. My opinions of people who take
both sides of a dispute are people who do not want anything to do with
the dispute, or also called neutral. They just stay out of it, unless
being part of it earns them some sort of living. I guess it also depends
on the circumstance. If I was a slave who had no choice but to work in a
Tory plantation even though I believed in Independence I would probably
do that rather then runaway and have no way of making a living. I think
being neutral is one of the smartest sides to be on during a dispute. I
truly believe in the saying that says, *there are always two sides to a
story.*

6. The message in the letter Mr. Heron was sending said * If this
message is received, we will know the messenger is reliable.* Mr. Heron
claimed he was sending it because it was supposedly a business letter.
He needed it delivered and it was easier to send a young boy who most
likely not be bothered then an adult who would probably be questioned.
This message tells you a lot about communication back then because it
tells you that spies and messengers were probably sent back and forth
secretly. There must have been a lot of sneaking around. A lot of the
messengers probably did not know how important or what some of the
letters they delivered said. The message Mr. Heron sent told us that a
lot of the messengers probably fibbed and worked for the opposite or
both the Patriots and Tories in the war. You did not know whom you could
trust.

7. The war affected Tim Meeker*s family both physically and emotionally.
Physically it cost a shortage in supplies and for producing food, making
it more difficult to run the tavern. It also meant a lot more manual
labor. Tim had to work twice as hard and he had to drop out of school so
he could spend more time working at home. Beyond physical changes the
war brought a lot of emotional changes too. Talk of Sam fighting in the
war for the rebels caused conflict within the family. Mr. Meeker was
against keeping touch with Sam and supporting him. While Mrs. Meeker
wanted to write to him and stay in touch with him. It also caused a
conflict between the brothers. Tim started to have feelings against Sam
for fighting in the war and bringing distress into the family.

8. Tim did not really care for the war much until it started affecting
him and his family. His father thought it was stupid for Sam to be
fighting in the war. Most of the Meeker families were loyalists. Then
again Sam was someone Tim looked up to and respected. So Tim was stuck
in the middle with what he believed in. Tim really had not made up which
side he was on.

9. I think that cowboys captured Mr. Meeker. I think that they saw him
coming and maybe they were the same cowboys they had met the first time.
I think they figured that Meeker would probably not be riding in such
awful weather all by himself. So they must have been expecting Tim. I
think they captured him and either killed him or turned him over to the
Patriots, and told the Patriots that he had been selling the beef to the
British. I think this will have a huge impact on Sam because now he is
the man of the house. With Sam and his father away Tim will have to grow
up extra fast and take up the responsibilities of a man.

10. Tim*s statement, *I still hadn*t figured out what he was fighting
for. It seemed to me we had been free all along.* Means that people had
different views on the war and independence. Obviously there was the
Patriots and the Loyalists, but I mean views from the different people
and age groups who were in different situations. For example to someone
like Tim he did not really understand what the Patriots were fighting
for. To him there would be no change in his lifestyle. At the beginning
of the war Tim*s life was no different. The taxation and the
Parliament*s laws didn*t affect him. (Eventually the war took the life
of his friends and family but that was an effect of the war) I think
because Mr. Meeker had a pretty steady flow of income, he did not mind
so much the increase in tax, or at least if he did Tim must have never
heard him talk about it. The laws that the Parliament put down must not
have matter much to the Meekers*. I mean laws like the Sugar Act and
the Townshened Acts must have affected the family tavern a little bit
because they need sugar and tea to run their business. Even if Mr.
Meeker really hated the taxation, it still wouldn*t have mattered to Tim
because it really was not a concern of his. Basically his only concerns
had to do with his chores around the house, school and some business and
people around the town. Also since Redding (where he lived) was
considered *Tory country* most of his neighbors were probably Loyalists
and they did not complain much about tax and what the English did. I
believe that depending on your situation, your views were different. A
slave, like Ned, or a Native American, like Tom Warrups, did not really
care about the war because it did not involve them. A young man like
Sam, who was either at college or starting a new job, probably had
different views and believed in Patriotism. Probably cause most young
people believed in it and they probably enlisted in the war not really
knowing the realities of war. Then again an older man could have a
different opinion, depending on his lifestyle, where he was from and how
he was brought up. Most opinions are formed from your situation.

11. I think that when Tim means *something big*, he means that in the
first place he believed that not only cause Sam believed in Patriotism
did he join the war. But also because almost all young men were going
off to war and because Sam felt special because he was special and part
of something special and big. I believe that Sam went into war not
really knowing or understanding the realities of war. Part of the reason
I believe he went in was because all his friends were joining (it is
human nature to follow others) and because it was something to say and
be proud of. Maybe it made him feel like a somebody. Though I still
believe he also went into the war because he did believe in American
Independence. If he did not then why did he refuse to stop fighting?
Why did he talk with so much respect of his commanders? I think Sam
chose independence based on more then one reason.

12. I believe that the statement, *In war the dead pay the debts for the
living* is saying that in all wars the dead pay the mistakes/actions of
the living. Most soldiers go into war knowing that they have a 50%
chance of surviving. They are the ones physically fighting the war and
losing their lives in the war; but they are the ones most likely to die.
So then the families and people sitting at home can go on and live their
lives. The soldiers pay for the lives of the family at home that are not
in the war.

13. I believe that Patrick Henry*s words influenced soldiers like Sam
because it gave them motivation and encouraged them to go into war and
fight for what they believed in. Henry was saying that he would not stop
fighting until he had independence. I believe this is totally true, not
only in the Revolutionary War but in other wars too. When most soldiers
went into war they went in with one thing in mind and that was
independence (or to win). After they had experienced the war, I think it
toughened them up and drove them to not want to give up. In the book it
says that Tim saw a difference in Sam when he went back home to visit.
Not only physically but emotionally as well. Inside Sam was a tougher
man, it had changed him. After going through so much they didn*t want
to stop until they had won or died trying.

14. I believe the irony of Sam*s execution was that a Patriot executed
Sam. He was put in a Patriot prison and was sentenced and put to death
by other Patriots. This is of course after he had left school to go
fight in the war for the Patriots and supported them. Sam*s death is
similar to what happened to Mr. Meeker because Mr. Meeker was considered
a Tory and he died on a British prison ship. Both father and son were
both put in prison, and killed by the side of the war that they
supported.

15. I believe that there are many ways to approach things. Violence and
war is one of them but I don*t think it is the best approach. I believe
that if you have tried ever-other possible way then maybe you can
consider war. But I think the United States could have become and nation
without the Revolutionary war. Think about Ghandi. He led his nation to
independence without any violence. He had a different approach. He did
not believe in war and fighting and death. He believed in peaceful
approaches to things. He would go days without eating to convince the
British to give India independence. Ghandi went about things in his own
way. So there is other ways to accomplish things and gain independence
without fighting. Maybe Ghandi and India were under different
circumstances then the Continental Congress and America. But either way
I believe there is other and better approaches over violence.