Because his attack on the convoy came from the bushes and quickly disappeared, Martin is called "The Ghost," and Tavington seeks his own revenge, eventually getting approval to do so from the commander of the British forces in America, Lord Charles Cornwallis (played by Tom Wilkinson). When the movie ends, Martin’s militia plays a key role in weakening Cornwallis’s forces, and Gibson’s voiceover tells us that the arrival of French ships in 1781 sealed the fate of the British at Yorktown. As a film focusing on an American victory, The Patriot may seem yet another post-Vietnam effort to find American heroism in the use of force, but there are several twists. We first view the democratic method used to decide upon entry into war through a town meeting, though of course only white male property owners attend, with only a slight majority convinced that peace efforts had failed. Next, we realize that the Americans were already a conglomeration of diverse ethnic groups. Whereas the British tell African slaves that their slave status will end if they join the army of the mother country, General George Washington offers freedom for any Black who serves twelve months in the Continental army or the militia, though of course the implied promise of complete abolition of slavery was unfulfilled after 1781. The British also promise a land redistribution as a reward for the Loyalists, whereas the Americans only want "no taxation without representation." Cornwallis is portrayed as a gentleman who wants to follow rules of civilized warfare, as do most British officers, so Tavington’s excesses embarrass Cornwallis in the film, especially since the atrocities are a rallying point for rebels to oppose the British; nevertheless, the historical fact is that there was no rift between the two British commanders. Whether barbarous British tactics prompt unorthodox ambushes by Martin’s guerrillas, or perhaps the reverse, is yet another ambiguity in the movie. Allegorically, The Patriot turns out to be a retelling of the Vietnamese war of independence, first from the French and then from the arrogant superpower of the day, with Colonel Tavington playing Lieutenant Calley, and the cost of independence is a war in which marginalized women and traumatized children pay a heavy price while men act like savages. MH

ANNUAL MEETING OF MEMBERS CONVENED AUGUST 5
The annual Meeting of Members selected members of the Board of Directors for the year 2001. Michael Haas was retained as Chair and Treasurer. Eric Dacumos was elected Secretary.