A Huge Defeat

July 4th, 1777

Dear Diary,

A year ago today, we experienced the greatest loss in our short-lived history. How could we expect to win, we were a small and weak colony compared to the whole of the British empire. Sure we had the French on our side but their help joined a little too late, and now we were experiencing the consequences. It was almost like the revolution never happened, but way worse. You weren’t allowed to talk about it, if you did then both parties of the conversation mysteriously disappeared the next day without a trace of them even existing. They were forgotten quickly by most. Even the words liberty and freedom were banned and if you so much as started saying them you were punished severely.

They had eyes and ears everywhere. Nobody trusted anybody. With good reason too. If you caught someone doing something against the rules and didn’t inform the authorities about them then you were punished even worse. Sisters reported brothers, wives reported husbands, even parents reporting their own children.

We essentially were being ruled by a dictator instead of a king. Everyone lived in fear of slipping up and facing the consequences. No one was allowed in or out unless they got permission straight from the Royals. There was even a wall built around us and any who tried to run away were killed on the spot without question. We were essentially a colony of slaves, we worked without pay and then were given the bare minimum of food to keep us alive. All the resources from our factories and farms were sent straight out of here. We didn’t get to own anything; property, clothes, or even our time. There was a strict schedule that if you didn’t follow you would face harsh discipline.

I think Britain wanted to use our colonies as an example for the rest of the world. To prevent any other revolutions or rebellions from taking place. If that worked or not we will never know, as we are not allowed to know any information on the outside world. Just by writing all this down I could be subjected to years of torture before a cruel and painful death. I guess, I find the risk to be worth it. Just so that maybe, years later, the chance of someone finding this diary and reading the history of our revolution and what it was like before. And maybe just maybe there can be hope once more for the American colonies.

Well, I've got to go... I'll write more at a future date hopefully,

Sincerely, Paul Revere