Unit Nine By Joseph Plumb Martin Summary

Joseph Plumb Martin penned an account on his times during the Revolutionary War called A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers, and Sufferings of a Revolutionary War Solder, Interspersed with Anecdotes of Incidents That Occurred Within His Own Observation. The title itself, while long, paraphrases the contents of his memoir. In unit nine, we were given the introduction chapter to this narrative, as well as most of chapter four. Mr. Martin is an intriguing figure from the American Revolutionary era, as his documentation shows how he had a different reason for joining the war rather than simple necessity. After years of observing interactions between his home country and mother country, he began to support the cause for independence …show more content…
Martin served out of pride versus necessity gives the reader a different interpretation of the Revolutionary War. Most people are under the impression that serving in the war was more of a requirement than a choice. Mr. Martin challenges this common thought and brings to light reasons of service that extend beyond simply force. This idea changes the historical value of text documents. While the process and flow of the war is described in accurate detail, some of the emotions described within the text may be flawed due to his background and his years following his service. One important aspect that is often forgotten when it comes to Mr. Martin is that following the war, he faced poverty and lack of veteran support services. This in some ways changed the tone of his writing. Also, the accounts written by Mr. Martin were penned many years following the war. Some historians have questioned if this changed the way in which he documented the war. In simple terms, some wonder if the negativity Mr. Martin expressed was more of a result of his life after the war versus his time actually …show more content…
Martin provides an interesting look at a time period that is not often seen by an average person. Most narratives from this era are from already popular historical figures and thus create almost a bias when describing the experience of an average soldier. As in, the accounts by popular historical figures may paint an experience that wasn’t always common. Many people joined the war for reasons unlike that of Mr. Martin. The Revolutionary War directly contributed to the founding of a new, separate nation by providing a sense of direction by fighting. With this, the nature and significance of service can be analyzed by observing the details Mr. Martin describes. Lastly, the historical value of this text is intriguing because while it provides details on the actual mechanism of daily war life, it may be tainted with bias due to coming from a person who had negative experiences with