My family is very loud and strong when it comes to their beliefs, which means they are willing to fight for what they consider to be right. During the Revolutionary War, I had an ancestor named Robert Brown. Robert Brown and his family played a prominent role in the Revolutionary War even though they had to sacrifice many things. However, even though they made a lot of sacrifices, they gained a lot of happiness in the end. The fact that Robert and his family gained happiness after the war shows that fighting for what you believe is right will bring you great happiness.

Robert Brown was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, which meant he would do anything for his fellow troops and his country. His army was doing especially well during the first part of the Revolutionary War, but that all changed when they were cornered and forced to surrender. Robert, along with most of his army, was taken to one of the prisons the British held American soldiers in. In the prison, the conditions were very harsh. People would get fed many hours apart and in very small portions. Those who couldn’t handle the new environment passed away. Eventually, the soldiers were moved to prison ships that the British also were sending American soldiers. Robert was then removed from the prison after three days for unknown reasons, but was still kept in the vicinity until an arrangement of letting him go could be figured out. Most of Robert’s soldiers would have died, for the conditions in the prison ship were much harsher than the prison on land, but Robert made money by working as a blacksmith, which he then used to buy food to feed his starving troops. Robert saved many of his troops from dying because he knew it was the right thing to do.

Robert’s father, Samuel Brown, was the person that gave him the tools to gain happiness. Robert wouldn’t have been rewarded with happiness if he had just done nothing to help the sick troops in the British prison. Because he was able to help his fellow troops survive, he gained happiness. Samuel gave him that happiness because he was the one that taught him how to be a blacksmith, which was how Robert was able to feed his troops to keep them alive. The reason Samuel Brown taught Robert and his older brother how to be blacksmiths was so that they would have a profession they were actually good at and could make some money off of if they ever were too poor to support themselves or their family. Obviously, that never happened, because he only used his skills as a blacksmith to keep his fellow troops alive. However, I would say that what he did in the prison for his troops helped him even more than his skills would have helped him if he was too poor to support himself or his family. Eventually, Brown was set completely free from the British prison in 1781, after feeding his troops for quite some time. That October, Washington defeated General Charles Cornwallis. Robert did not return to the war after he was released, contrary to popular belief, but instead he settled down back in Northampton County. After the war ended in 1783, Robert became a general in the state militia because the men he saved told people what he had done and how brave he had been, to risk his life for people he barely knew, if he knew them at all.

My family had been persecuted in Ireland, so Robert knew what it was like and how to try to stop it. Robert’s Grandparents moved to Pennsylvania to escape the persecution in Ireland, so what was happening to America greatly angered him. His passion against persecution in his homeland was very strong. Even though he was extremely against what the British were doing to America, he wasn’t originally going to fight. He was going to let them take over America without putting up a fight, but he got drafted. Him getting drafted allowed him to fight for his culture and way of life, which ultimately made him happier even though he was very upset about getting drafted at first, which shows that you are able to find happiness where you least expect it.

Because Robert fought for what was right, he was rewarded with happiness. Robert went on to become a Congressman from 1799 to 1815, but he eventually had to decline re-election because he was getting too old and frail. He also met and dined with Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, getting to know them personally through his bravery in the Revolutionary War. His life after the War was much better than what it was before because he found happiness in doing what was right. Because he was too preoccupied with the Revolutionary War, he didn’t get married until he was 44 years old, which was unheard of back then. However, he had a happy marriage and had many children with his wife. The best thing that happened to him from the war was getting to meet George Washington. George met with him and gave him a gift: Seeds. These seeds would be later placed in Robert’s family farm. My Grandfather grew up on that very farm, and was able to see that very tree with his own eyes before it sadly died. None of this would have happened to Robert if he hadn’t fought for what he believed to be right.

 Fighting for what you believe in will bring you great joy in the long run. People who go out of their ways to create a better world for everyone around them usually have the best and happiest lives. They live life the way they want to live life, which is something that everyone should strive to do if it didn’t cause harm to anyone. If you have a passion, you can pursue that passion. If you have a dream, follow that dream, for it will make you a happier person. Robert Brown fought for the country he loved, and that caused him great happiness because he was doing what he loved, because he loved serving America. If you have something that makes you happy in life, why not be happy?