Finally, I have a little time to write, which is amusing because that is exactly what has been occupying my time. As a result I really don't have too many stories to tell since my time has been occupied by reading and writing. Since I'm planning on a trip to Ireland in a few days I knew that I had to finish my papers before they were due on Friday. As a result I decided to spend the weekend working myself to the bone. But before that we had gone to Bath near the west coast.

Bath was an incredible experience. Bath is named after the Roman Bath house and temple that once occupied town. The Baths were built above a hot water spring that releases thousands of gallons of 100 degree water a day. The spring was thought to be the dwelling place of a goddess to both the Celts and the Romans. The Romans built an impressive structure to harness the spring's heat and runoff to fill a massive bath complex. They utilized lead pipes and drainage systems, some of which are still being used to fill the bath, and carry away excess water. The design was incredibly elaborate. But aside from the Bath house, Bath's only other attraction is 19th century architecture.

The picture above is me standing on the edge of a complex called the King's Circus, in Bath. It is a Circle of homes, and the picture contains 1/3 of the complex. It had the same area as Solomon's Temple, and has 3 stories, 3 roads, and 3 sections... a representation of the trinity. Although you can't make it out well in this picture each vertical column has a different Roman style, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian... pretty sweet. Other than that Bath had an amazing waterfall in the river, and the countryside that it sat in, just south of Wales, is georgeous. Some of the pictures to the left are documenting that.

But after Bath I set to work on my papers. Friday night I stayed up until 6:30am writing about the Darwinian Controversies. The question I was trying to answer was: Would Victorian era Naturalist Clergymen find it odd to have an incompatibility between religion and science. The answer is YES! The fact that they were Victorian, Naturalist, and Anglican all meant that they held to a type of Natural theology, which depended on a close relationship between science and faith. They believed that scientific discoveries merely attempted to explain the mechanisms of God. Many were caught off guard by Darwin, but even more just adopted evolution into their faith and continued on their way. Whatever the case, the issue of evolution was not nearly the divisive issue during Darwin's day as it is today. It is a result of both scientists and Christians blowing the issues out of proportion and making their respective positions attempt to explain more than they can or should. I finsihed the paper saturday, and revised it Monday, all done.

The next paper I started Sunday and it was much more fun than I had first expected. I was writing on the British Reaction to the American Revolution, and whether social class or religion had a bigger impact on whether a Briton would support or oppose the Americans. After hours in the library I suddenly cracked the code, and figured out the puzzle. I was amazed and felt like a real historian. It was a amazing to see.

Here's how it goes: We have massive amounts of evidence saying that the merchant and trading classes in Britain supported the American cause, and the trading cities like London, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, ect all sent huge petitions to Parliament to pursue peace with the colonies. So I knew that social class was a huge factor in supporting America, but I couldn't figure out why until I started putting the pieces together.

Of course the obvious reason is that the trade merchants and cities wanted peace to trade with the colonies, but its so much more intricate than that. 1.) Because America was a British Colony, the British had a trade monopoly with the Americans... the colonies traded with Britain ONLY. 2.) Parliament passed the Stamp Act, putting a tax on official document paper... 3.) the Americans reacted by stopping shipments of paper and destroying it, or the presses used to make it, intimidating stamp officials and eliminating all stamped paper... 4.) Because there was no stamp paper, no official documents could be legitimated. 5.) Court decisions were useless because they weren't on official stamped paper. 6.) Courts shut down 7.) No one could sue to recover any debts. 8.) Who were the only people who had debts in America? British Merchants and Creditors. 9.) The British Merchant class was in serious financial trouble because they couldn't recover their debts. 10.) Merchant cities were drowning from the lack of debt recovery.
11.) the Merchant class and big trading cities all wanted the Americans happy, because if it went to war... like it did, the debts would all be burned and never repaid. Crazy huh? I felt like a real historian after putting all those peices together.

I also discovered some amazing quotes from British people in support of America. Aside from economic interest, the intellectuals in Britain also understood that the issue was about more than taxation... it was about freedom and liberty. What the Americans started off was so pure and truly American... it makes me sick to think about what we've become since then.

Read this speech given by William Pitt. Pitt was the "Prime Minister" during the Seven Years War with France, and had made the colonies what they were. Pitt had engineered the Empire, he had bled for it, and is the person who had the most invested in it... even Pitt understood that the Americans were persuing something noble and truly British. On the eve of declaration of war with the colonies, Pitt rose in-front of Parliament to persuade them to persue peace with America, saying,

“I rejoice that America has resisted. I would argue that even under former arbitrary reigns, parliaments were ashamed of taxing a people without their consent. The gentleman asks, ‘When were the colonies emancipated?’ But I desire to know, when were they made slaves?”

Then looking to the members of Parliament bent on squashing the American resistance, certain the group of backwards farmers would soon cower to superior British Imperial Majesty, Pitt gave a clear picture of what would face the Red Coats across the ocean:

“Did their lordships not understand that in fighting the Americans, they were fighting their own ghosts, the ghosts of English liberty past? What, though you march from town to town, and province to province, though you shall be able to enforce a temporary submission, how shall you be able to secure the obedience of the country you leave behind to grasp the dominion of 1,800 miles of continent, populace in numbers, possessing valour, liberty, and resistance? The spirit which resists your taxation is the same spirit which called England on its legs and, by the bill of rights, vindicated the English constitution. This glorious spirit animates three millions in America who prefer poverty with liberty to gilded chains and sordid affluence, and who will die in defense of their rights as free men.”

I've got to admit, that makes me proud to wear the title of "American." And it makes me sick to think that we no longer deserve that title. Clearly we no longer care about liberty, and certainly have fallen prey to the sordid affluence Pitt was describing. The idea that we would support a document like the Patriot Act, which sacrifices the liberties that even our enemies understood us to cherish, tarnishes what it is to be American.

Benjamin Franklin said, "Those who would sacrifice liberty, for a little security, deserve neither liberty nor security." It saddens me to think how ashamed of our country its forefathers would be. They would have tossed our brand of tea into the harbor long ago... and our response would have been to call them unpatriotic, and aiding the terrorists... that they weaken the resolve of our allies.

I have come to the fervent belief that it is up to Historians to send this message, that at the very least we have surrendered our convictions for security, in the face of what everyone in the 18th century understood to be "American."

The fact that I'm done with my papers is a sweet gift. I've had time to enjoy life again. Reading for pleasure, and taking my time between places. I visited museums today, the Natural History museum in Oxford is breathtaking. Tomorrow I'll go to the Ashmolean. Should be fun.

Oh I also found out that I successfully played a joke on Tabor. Every year the Tabor community plays a game called, "Gotcha." In "Gotcha" (Gotch-ya) each person that signs up is given the name of someone else... the goal is to get that person wet with water balloons, water gun, or even cups of water by the end of the week. Once you "get" the person who is your target, they are out of the game and give you the name of their "target" which becomes your new "target" The person at the end of the week with the most names wins. You can only get the person who is your target, so as a result people need only fear one person, but its all secret, so you only know you're own target, not who has you. Well, I thought it would be funny, so I signed up, and apparently so I'm told, they didn't catch it that I'm off campus, so they put me in the game... Apparently a freshman who didn't know me pulled my name and asked, "So where do I find Trent Voth?" Those around him busted up laughing... saying, "This is going to be a boring game." Anyway, it all got figured out, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Well I must be off, the video below is yet another installment in the house tour. Today you'll be going from the kitchen to the dining room, and then into the living room. Enjoy.