Sarah Palin, slavery and the Engladers

     Sarah Palin posted on Facebook that Jesus was with George Washington and lead the Revolutionaries to victory during the war for independence.  This statement does not trouble me so much because there are those who believe that Jesus and/or God is on the side of the victorious.  President Abraham Lincoln, in his Second Inaugural Address, spoke of both sides praying for victory to the same God.  What concerns me much more deeply is that Sarah Palin, a woman chosen to be a vice-presidential candidate, either does not know or does not understand much about early American History.
     Sarah Palin, in her post, spoke about the fight against the "Englanders."  Ah, Sarah, they were actually referred to as British or English.  Perhaps a little petty on my part to point that out, but knowing and using proper terminology does lend some bit of credibility to the speaker/writer.
     If simply misstating the name of the group the Revolutionaries were fighting against was all Sarah Palin did, then I'd likely have simply let it go without so much as a brief comment.  But Sarah Palin had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt her lack of historical knowledge.  She said that if the colonists had been defeated, "it's possible we would all still be slaves to the England empire."   Sorry Sarah, but the colonists were not slaves in the British empire.  They were actually British citizens.  They chose to fight for freedom, not out of a fear of being enslaved or to free themselves from slavery, but because they believed their rights as citizens were being violated.  The decision did not come easy for them, and the Declaration of Independence states their case against the King of England and reasons for choosing independence.
     While many are focusing on Sarah Palin's praise and thanksgiving to God that Jesus led the colonists to victory, I am more dismayed at her factual inaccuracy than her religious beliefs about the victory.  I am not concerned about how many people share her beliefs about Divine Intervention, but I am am deeply worried about how many people believe her when she speaks or writes about history.