Siege Of Yorktown

The Battle of Yorktown in 1781 was a very important and decisive victory  for the Americans who combined the assault with the french army led by General George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau. They fought against  a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis. In 1780, 5,500 French soldiers landed in Rhode Island to assist their American allies, Washington and Rochambeau decided to ask de Grasse for help to stop the british from getting troops and supplies by sea.

The French and American armies got together  during the summer of 1781. When word of de Grasse's approval for help arrived, the American and French forces began moving south toward Virginia, De Grasse sailed from the West Indies and arrived at the Chesapeake Bay at the end of August, bringing additional troops and making a blockades at Yorktown. Cornwallis was surrounded and he sent sick men to the American lines trying to infect them and have a chance to escape, but it was in vain and he sent a soldier with a white flag indicating that Cornwallis was surrendering.

Battle of Saratoga

Battle of Saratoga , was on September 19 to October 7, 1777. The fight decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American Revolutionary War  and are generally know for a turning point in the war. The battles were fought eighteen days apart on the same ground. Burgoyne purpose was to divide New England from the southern colonies and it was going out well in the beginning, won a small victory over General Horatio Gates and the Continental Army in the September 19 Battle of Freeman's Farm. What he has gained from that fight he lost it when he attacked the Americans in the October 7 Battle of Bemis Heights, the Americans captured some of the British defenses.

Burgoyne was forced to retreat by this, and his army was surrounded by the American army at Saratoga, forcing him to surrender on October 17.  When the news of Burgoyne's surrender went out it helped the Americans because the French joined in as their allies, the American army had now more supplies, guns and weapons and this helped them greatly.

Charles Cornwallis

Charles Cornwallis, born on December 31,1738 and died on October 5,1805. He was a British army officer and colonial administrator, he is best known for being a great leader in the American war of Independence. The war practically ended when he surrendered against an American and French militia attack at Yorktown.
He was born in a very wealthy family and had military interests since a young age, he was also known for " Earl Cornwallis".

Cornwallis is mostly remembered for his surrender at Yorktown, He is well know in the USA for this. He was Governor of India for a while and he died of a fever shortly after being appointed, died at Gauspur in Ghazipur.Cornwallis signed the Traety of Amiens, it stated that hostilities  between the French and the British would end during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802, by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace" . The Treaty only lasted ! year and it was the only period of peace in the French Revolutionary War

Battle Of Camden

The Battle Of Camden was a really important victory for the British in the Revolutionary War. On August 16, 1780, British forces under the command of General Charles Lord Cornwallis had defeated the American army of  General Horatio Gates about 10 km north of Camden strengthening the British hold on the Carolinas.

The fight was an embarrassing defeat for Gates,because Gates army was far more superior than the British, the patriots outnumbered the British, after this he never led an army again. He was a popular man and his political connections helped him avoid the courts and trials.

 Camden was a key point that had to be captured to control the Carolina s. On July 27, Gates moved into South Carolina, heading towards Camden, then camped with  about 1,000 men under the leadership of Rawdon Gates established a camp at Rugeley's Mill, north of Camden, then troops from north Carolina and Virginia came and joined him ,The weather was extremely hot, and some troops had been infectious diseases like dysentery. Although Gates had over 4,000 men in camp, only about 2000 of them were good enough for combat, in part because Gates further reduced their numbers by sending several hundred men in support of  Sumter and Marion.

Valley Forge

 

 

      War was advancing in a very quick manner, Washington saw that, and as winter approached he looked for a place to establish with his troops. He decided for Valley Forge, located 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Philadelphia. The area was close enough to the British to keep their raiding and foraging parties out of the interior of Pennsylvania, yet far enough away to halt the threat of British surprise attacks. The high ground of Mount Joy and the adjoining elevated ground of Mount Misery made the area easily defensible. During December 19, 1777, when Washington's poorly fed, ill-equipped army, weary from long marches, struggled into Valley Forge, winds blew as the 12,000 Continentals prepared for winter's fury.

      

      Within week and 3 days, the man were undercover the first properly constructed hut appeared in 3 days. One other hut, whose timber had to be collected from miles away, went up in one week with the use of only one axe. These huts provided sufficient protection from the cold, but mainly wet and damp conditions of the mild, but typical Pennsylvania winter of 1777–1778. Snow was limited, and small in amounts. Alternating freezing and melting of snow and ice made it impossible to keep dry and allowed for disease to fester. Soldiers received irregular supplies of meat and bread, some getting their only nourishment from "fire cake," a tasteless mixture of flour and water.

       

      Word of the British departure from Philadelphia brought a frenzied activity to the ranks of the Continental Army. On June 19, 1778, six months after its arrival, the army marched away from Valley Forge in pursuit of the British, who were moving toward New York. The war would last for another five years, but for Washington, his men, and the nation to which they sought to give birth, a decisive victory had been won.

Molly Pitcher in the Battle of Monmouth

 

     In June 1778, Mary hays, most commonly known as molly pitcher was attending the army by providing them with water. Before the war started she found a spring that serve as her water supply. The water was very hot, over 100 Fahrenheit, it is said that she provided water to her husband who was firing the canyons. Some stories say that her husband died in war, but later on it was found that he was one of the survivors.

      

       As her husband was carried out of the battlefield, she took her place in the canyon. She covered her place on the canyon for the rest of the day. At one time, a canyon ball from the enemies was fired between her legs and raped a part of her skirt.  She said "Well, that could have been worse,"

      

     Later on that day, the fight ended because of the darkness that came with the night.  The war was supposed to continue next day, but the British forces retrieved. General Washington asked for the lady that he saw next to the canyon. She was given later on the nickname of "Sergeant Molly," nickname that se kept with herself for the rest of her life.

George Washington

George Washington, born on February 22, 1732 and died on December 14, 1799. He was military and political leader of the United States. Washington was born in a wealthy family, his family owned tobacco plantations, He was home schooled by his father and older brother,they both died young so he became close  to the Fairfax clan, who helped him in his career as a surveyor and soldier.Washington became the first President of the USA in 1789.

The 1st USA Congress voted to pay Washington  $25,000 a year, this was a lot of money back in 1789. Washington was already rick so he declined the salary, because  he valued his image as a selfless person, and he did not want to take the money. The Congress kept on urging until he finally accepted. Washington was the only one who did not sign the Declaration of Independence.Washington died due to a sever soar throat, the USA mourned his death for several months.

The Battle Of Bunker Hill

The Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775.The colonists took the hill on the Charlestown peninsula, to retake the hills Lord William Howe ordered a frontal assault in the middle of the day, the British soldiers were carrying heavy backpacks and wore red coats while the colonists where trenched in the hill. After both frontal assaults from the British failed, Howe took the hill with the third charge only because the Patriots ran out of ammunition.

The commander wanted to prove that trained men where invincible against a big rabble. Even though the British won the battle, the had suffered a big amount of casualties.The Patriots psychologically won the battle than day, they had killed over 225 soldiers and wounded over 800.The British should have proceeded with an artillery bombardment but they found out that the guns where supplied with the wrong ammunition .

Declaration of Independence

      The declaration of Independence was a document accepted by the continental congress on July 4 1776, announcing that the Thirteen Colonies where now independent Fro  The British Empire The declaration itself as written by Thomas Jefferson, and it contained an explanation of why does the Thirteen Colonies were proclaiming their independence from the British. The declaration contained many grievances against king Gorge the Third, it also contains a phrase that is to be said as “One of the best-known sentences in English Language” and also known as "the most potent and consequential words in American history". The lines follow like this:

       “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty, nad The persuit for Happines .”

 By our times, the constitution is kept under strict surveillance; a copy is usually presented to the public in The National Achieves in Washington D.C. The date of its signing has been controversial. Most historians have concluded that it was signed apparently a month after its presentation, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed. The constitution was signed by 56delegates on the Continental congress.

 

The continental Army

 

The continental army was an army created after the outbreak of American Revolutionary War, soldiers were from the colonies. They where guided by Americas first president Gorge Washington. The continental Army was created to coordinate the military efforts that the colonies had towards the British forces.  Some of their most important battles where:

Siege of Boston

Battle of Long Island

Battle of Harlem Heights

Battle of Trenton

Battle of Princeton

Battle of Brandywine

Battle of Germantown

Battle of Saratoga

Battle of Monmouth

Siege of Charleston

Battle of Camden

Battle of Cowpens

Battle of Guildford Court House

Siege of Yorktown

timated that the army counted on about 14,000-16,000 man, but historian’s state that the number can be lowered onto 11,000 because of desertions. By 1783 after The Treaty Of Paris ended the war, most of the army was deserted. Only some kept loyal to it, later on the Continental Army became the basis of what we know as The United States Army.

Thomas Jefferson

     Thomas Jefferson, born in April 13, 1743,  was the third president of the United States of America and the most influential author of the Declaration of Independence. He is also known as one of the Founding fathers and he once said that he saw America as an “Empire of Liberty”.

 

     He was the governor of Virginia from 1779 until 1781, he was also named as the first United States secretary of state from 1789-1793. Another important place he accomplished was as the second vice president of the United States from 1797 until 1801. He supported the idea of separation between the church and the state, and was the creator of the Virginia Statue of Religious Freedom; witch took 7 years to be completed.  He also was the co-founder and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, which governed the United States government for 25 years. 

     He was from a prominent planter family, and owned many salves during his life, he died on July 4 1826, and he died from uremia, severe diarrhea and pneumonia.

The epitaph of his grave, written by himself, follows:

"HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON

AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE

OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA."

And below it:

Born   April2. 1743. O.S.

Died  July 4. 1826

Thomas Gage

Thomas Gage, he was born in 1721 and died in England, 2 April of 1787 In 1754, T.Gage was sent to North America to fight in the French And Indian War. He was named the military governor of Montréal in 1760 and he was promoted to major general a year after. He became the commander of British soldiers in North America. He was an aggressive man and this helped against the colonists and it helped to the American Revolution. He married, 8 December 1758 with Margaret Kemble, her dad was president of the council of New Jersey. Gage fought in the Battle of the Bunker Hill, it was his first major battle of the American Revolution.

Thomas Gage enforced the Intolerable Acts by closing the Boston Port and suspended the Representative government in the colonies.

Boston Tea Party

     The Boston Tea Party took place on december 16, 1773. It was a direct protest from the colonist who lived in Boston, against the British gob¿vernment, and the East  India Company, who supplied and controled the te incoming into the colonies.  A force between 30-130 men went, some disguised as mohawk indians, entered three vessels, witch contained the majority, if not all, the imported tea. It took theme between three to four hours for theme to throw all the tea to the water.

     It is said that Samuek Adams was involved in the planning of the Boston tea party, nothing could be proved. Although after these events occure, in the following days, he wa one of the biggest promoter  of it. He firmly approve it nd said that these acts were not bandalim, if not the last resort, that colonist had to defend their constitutional rights.

According to some writers the Boston tea party wasnt known by that name until 1834, it was known as the "destruction of tea". According to some writers by those times censorhip was very in use. The Boston tea party was an acted that showed immorality and destruction of property, so it was banned for the writers.These changed by the 1830 when the story started spreading all around the world.

Boston Massacre

     The Boston Massacre occured on marc 5, 1770, i was an incident btween the British red coats, and some of the civilian colonists.

          These riot occured when a group of read coats were bypassing and encoauntered themselves with a crownd of angry colonists. After many insults and threaths by the colonists, the British red coats didnt hassitated against the colonits, and opened fire. Amog the crowd, eleven people were injured, and 2 of those eleven, died afterwards. Although these event seemed veyry rought and savage, it was one of the fundamental pilaars in the begingn of riots, witch later led to what we nkow today as the glorious "American Revolution".

     The very beginig of these dispute took place when    a young  wigmakers aprentice named Edward gerrish called on an officer that he had not payed some imposed taxes. The offucer ignored the insults and whent away, but came later with some other soldiers. Then another man joined Edward and started to throw rocks onto the soldiers, later on they started arguing in a higer vaice tone, and these made the nearby people come to see what was happening. And a big crowd started forming, and when the soldiers felt all the preasure, it was then when they fired.

      Later on th soldiers wer judged but none of theme got the ounisment they deserved, although they were acused with charges of murder.

Sons of Liberty

 Sons of Liberty was a club formed that had a very strong frase or motto, It said "Join or Die". The members got into the homes of the tax collectors and beat them and burned their homes.The British sent 40,000 soldiers to help the tax collectors which didnt help alot since the sons of liberty outnumbered them.Traders smuggled goods in and out of their towns to keep from paying the British taxes.
Their leader was Samuel Adams, they were mainly in the cities of Boston, New York and Providence.
Adams became the tax collector of Boston. When he founded the Sons of Liberty, he became a leader. On March 5, 1770, a mob surrounded ten British soldiers, who panicked and fired the mob, killing five men. Samuel Adams termed the incident a "massacre".

The Sons of Liberty consisted of traders, lawyers, and prosperous artisans. They organized the lower classes such as sailors, dockworkers, poor artisans, apprentices, and servants. In every colonial city, mobs fighting by the name of the Sons of Liberty burned stamp collectors, insulted them on the streets, tore down their offices, and attacked their homes. All stamp agents in the colonies, had quitted their jobs before the Stamp Act officially became law on November 1, 1765.

Tarred and feathered

In a Tarred and Feathered attack, the Tax collector the crowd chose was to be stripped to his waist. Hot tar was  poured onto the person while he was being hold by the other Patriots. Then the victim  had feathers thrown on him and was rolled around on a pile of feathers so that they stuck to his body.Sometimes the victim was shown around town on a cart so the other ones could see him and be afraid.Their goal was to give them enough pain on a person to cause him to quit his job or leave town.

Tar could easily be found in the shipyards and everyone had feathers in their pillows.Like the materials were easy to get, tarring and feathering was a common threat and punishment. Although the tarring was not so painful, it was extremely unpleasant.

The first victim of this tarred and feathered in America was in 1766 it was Captain William Smith , he was tarred and feathered, and dumped into the harbor by a mob. He was picked up by a boat, he was found beat up. Tax collectors would no longer work or even be in town because they feared the patriots would go and get them tarred and feathered or even burn their houses down, so their fear grew greatly and they quit their jobs.

The French and Indian War

These is a picture, showing a representation of the French and Indian War.

The French and Indian war isn’t exactly what we think. These war was not between the French and the Indians, it was between and the French that allied with the Indians, and the British. This war was also known as “the seven year war.” This war lasted from 1754 to 1763.

     
       This war began because both, French and Indians claimed not to move from the territory they were using, for fur trade. In 1750 the French soldiers captured many English trading points, and they also built fort Duquesne.  Later in 1754 George Washington and a small force of Virginia militiamen tried to take over that same fort, hoping to lead the French out of their territory, although when he got there he realized the fort was too strong to capture it. Knowing that, he built the fort necessity, he said that if he could not take over fort Duquesne, we would contest their presence with a new fort.

     On July 3, 1754 a combined army of French and Indians took over fort necessity marking these as the beginning of the French and Indian war in the new world. Initially, the British suffered many lost, between 1756-1757, the French destroyed forts on Lake Ontario and Lake George. Without knowing what to do, the British found a military solution to the problem, they stopped the shipping’s from France to The new world. These weekend the French, because they didn’t have more weapons, munitions, and supplies. Besides, they couldn’t keep allied with the Indians, because know that the shipping stopped, they didn’t have anything to offer the Indians for their help. The British captured Quebec in 1759 and Montreal in 1760.

In 1763, the treaty of Paris was signed, the British proclaimed themselves with the victory.

John Adams Before The Revolution

John Adams was born in october 30,1735 and died on july 4, 1826. He was a statesman , considered one of the most important founding fathers of the united states, he sipported republicanism, and was the second president of the united states of America.

Stamp Act

       In 1765, John Adams raised to prominence, as an opponent to the Stamp Act imposed by the British Parliament. That year, he wrote four anonymous letters to the Boston Gazette, explaining that the negligence they showed to the Stamp Act was based on the same thoughts that their ancestors had, when first coming to America. He also stated that by passing The Stamp Act, two major rights that were supposedly given to all English men, were being violated. Those rights were:

      

     1._Rights to be taxed only by consent.

     2._Right to be tried only by a jury of one's peers.

        In December of 1765, he delivered a speech to the governor and to the council, in which he proclaimed the stamp Act invalid to Massachusetts.

 Boston Massacre.

      

      In 1770, during a street confrontation, English soldiers killed five civilians, these is what we know as the Boston Massacre. The colonial people wanted to present legal charges against the soldiers, but they didn’t have no one to represent theme. John Adams was asked for the job, he accepted, although he knew that his reputation could be damaged, he said one of his most famous quotes "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." Meaning that he had to do what was right, no matter what. Six of the soldiers were acquitted, and the two who had fired directly into the crow were accused of murder.

     

      Even Though John Adams made an outstanding job, representing the colonial people, the payment he received was very minimum, he got 18 guineas in total, 10 before starting the job, and the other 8 were given consequently as the case was advancing. These is what he said after finishing the job "all the pecuniary Reward I ever had for fourteen or fifteen days labor, in the most exhausting and fatiguing Causes I ever tried." Later on it was confirmed n his diary that these was the only payment he received by his effort.