Taking the side between a Patriot and a Loyalist is a hard thing to do, as it would mean fighting against other people who doesn’t possess the ideals that I have. But if I were to choose a side, I’d be choosing the Patriot’s side because it conforms to what I believe. I for one am a believer that oppression by the British Government should not be tolerated, and that it should be taken as a sign or an indication of a decline in our colonial rights.
The British government treats us unfairly, giving us no chance of representation in the British Parliament (Kearny, 2005). These actions by the British government are a clear threat to my individual liberty, that’s why it should be stopped. I, as a patriot, would do everything I can to stop this oppression, even if it means I would spy on the enemies. The Life of a Spy Being a spy is a very difficult task, but I would endure it if it means liberating my people from the oppression by the British Government.
I chose to become a spy because I think I am fully qualified to be one. First of all, I am a good actor, and I am confident that I will not be discovered. Also, I am in the best position to be a spy because nobody knows that I am affiliated with the Patriots. It is my own choice to become a spy, and it was my own realization that led me to this task. I was a Loyalist before; to stubborn to stand up for what is right, having a sense of duty to the British Crown.
I didn’t expect to be engaged in actual battle, and I never wished that I would be captured. But that capture changed everything for me. Despite all the physical sufferings that I had to undergo, all the pain that I have to endure, I can say that it was a life-changing experience. While being held prisoner in a Patriot camp, I was able to see their efforts, and has slowly understood their cause (“Spy Letters of the American Revolution,” 2007). Days have passed, but still the British government made no effort to save us.
I saw some of my co-prisoners die from sheer depression and not of fatal wounds. Because of this, I lost fate in what I have believed before. I am living in a different world right now, that’s why I shouldn’t let myself be ruled by those who don’t care about me. The time when I was taken away from my wooden cell, I felt a pang of fear and curiosity: am I going to be killed? When the guards took me to an makeshift office and offered me a chance to redeem myself for my people, the flame of hope inside me has been rekindled (Turner, 2007).
They told me the plan: a carefully laid tactic that would put me back in side of the British Government. But I would not be fighting for them; I would be fighting against them, as a spy for the Patriots. I thought about it for a moment, until I realized that there is no one who can do the job but me. I would not be so stubborn just like before and not fight for what I believed. For some, being a spy is an act of cowardice, an act of treachery to the people who have stood by you in times of trouble.
For me, being a spy is a courageous, if not heroic act of putting yourself among your enemies, risking your life every moment you spend with them. For me, being a spy is not an easy task. But it is not the task that you would hate all your life. Being a spy is a matter of choice, of how you can be useful during the times of war. Aside from being a cannon fodder, a person can equally risk his life by going behind enemy lines, acquiring crucial and essential information for the side you believe in, and eventually be the catalyst of your side’s victory.
References:
Kearny, J. (2005). Loyalist vs. Patriot. Retrieved November 11, 2007, from http://www. jarodkearney. com/id19. html Spy Letters of the American Revolution. (2007). Retrieved November 11, 2007, from http://www. si. umich. edu/SPIES/index-people. html Turner, E. B. (2007). Great Resouce for Espionage during the American Revolution. Retrieved November 11, 2007, from https://www.si.umich.edu/