Were the Framers of the Constitution and the Signers of Declaration of Independence aware of William Wallace and his exploits? From what I read they were not very fond of the medieval period.
They hated Scots, Highlanders in particular>The situation in the colonies in early 1776 also provided a background against which Highlanders could easily be thought of as a threat to the cause of independence. Lowland Scotch and Scotch Irish were in the forefront of the move for independence, but Highlanders probably were more loyal to the Royal cause, and more ready to take up arms against rebellious colonists, than were any other ethnic group. A gentleman of Philadelphia wrote on May 18, 1776, to a friend in England: "Believe me, Sir, these [demands for independence] are the sentiments of all degrees of men in British America, a few tattered Scotch Highlanders excepted, who have lately emigrated, and whose ignorance, feudal notions and attachment to names> keeps them servile and wholly at the beck of their Chiefs. .. . In this Province, English, Scotch, and Irish, are equally engaged in the great cause of liberty. Indeed many of the Scotch have particularly signalized themselves in the cause of freedom.">The British authorities made the most of this local situation. In early 1776 Highlanders were active with the forces of Sir John Johnson in the Mohawk Valley, and some 300 were forced to throw down their arms by General Philip Schuyler.10 In North Carolina Highlanders made up a large part of a Tory force raised by Governor Martin that was defeated by colonial militia at Moore's Creek on February 27, 1776. News of the Highlanders' defeat reached General Washington at Cambridge, and in a letter of April 1, 1776, to Joseph Reed he spoke of "those universal instruments of tyranny, the Scotch."11
>>18482438>When the Declaration of Independence was drafted and debated in the closing days of June and early July, Americans were familiar with the German treaties, and the Hessians were already on the high seas headed for New York, where the British after their evacuation of Boston were preparing an attack. However, no Hessian had set foot on American soil, and no shots had been exchanged between them and the colonials. But with Scotch Highlanders Americans had already come face to face as enemies, and blood had been shed. Early in 1776 some 3,000 Highland troops had set sail from Greenock, most of them headed for Boston. When they arrived, General Howe had already evacuated that hotbed of rebellion. So, early in June four of the transports, with nearly 500 Highlanders, were taken prisoner by the Americans, but only after Major Menzies and seven Highland soldiers had been killed and several Americans wounded. Word of conflict with the Highlanders, and their capture, spread throughout the colonies. The Highlanders were buried to the dirge of bagpipes, and the captured officers were marched up the streets of Boston. The prisoners were widely dispersed. A captured Highland officer wrote to a friend in England: "As it was thought improper for us to remain at a seaport, we were ordered sixty miles up the country .. . on our journey no slaves were ever served as we were; through every village, town, and hamlet that we passed, the women and children, and indeed some men among them, came out and loaded us with the most rascally epithets, calling us "rascally cut-throat dogs, murtherers, blood hounds &. &." But what vexed me most was their continual slandering of our country (Scotland), on which they threw the most infamous invectives; to this abuse they added showers of dirt and filth, with now and then a stone.5"
>>18482438>>18482440> a few tattered Scotch Highlanders excepted, who have lately emigrated, and whose ignorance, feudal notions and attachment to names>feudal notions and attachment to namesYeeeeah they for sure weren't fanboys of the Middle Ages
>>18482438The North Carolina Highlanders were refugees from the failed 1745 Jacobite rising, including Flora Macdonald, rescuer of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Moore’s Creek Bridge is seen as the last Highland broadsword charge in history and the Scots had all the trappings of clan warfare including chiefs and bards inciting them with war poetry. Back to the original question—was Wallace as popular a figure back then as later? and I’m talking pre Mel Gibson 19th-20th century, and either in the U.S. or Scotland.
>>18482426Probably they knew about Wallace, but he wasn't very important in their eyes. A much more important "revolutionary" or "rebel leader" from British history was Oliver Cromwell. You can see this in how one of the first US Navy ships was USS Cromwell. Another example should also tell you how important Parliamentarians were for the US Independence Leaders John Adams and Thomas Jefferson when they visited the town of Worcester, where the first and last battles of English Civil Wars were fought:>134 years later, in early April 1786, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson visited Fort Royal Hill at the battlefield at Worcester. John Adams wrote that he was "deeply moved" but disappointed at the locals' lack of knowledge of the battle, and gave the townspeople an "impromptu lecture",>"The people in the neighborhood appeared so ignorant and careless at Worcester that I was provoked and asked "And do Englishmen so soon forget the ground where liberty was fought for? Tell your neighbors and your children that this is holy ground, much holier than that on which your churches stand. All England should come in pilgrimage to this hill, once a year".In some ways, you could say that for early US, the English Civil War was kinda like the Paris Commune was to the Soviet Union.
>>18482468Cromwell's importance cannot be overstated.
>>18482468>And do Englishmen so soon forget the ground where liberty was fought for? Tell your neighbors and your children that this is holy ground, much holier than that on which your churches stand. All England should come in pilgrimage to this hill, once a year".John Adam's went full Reddit larpoid. I guess any true revolutionary has got to be a little delusional and embracing of the extraordinary. Maybe reddit larpoids become trannies or incels too soon today
