Discover New Jersey’s Revolutionary War History
New Jersey played a crucial role in the American Revolution Positioned between the nation’s capital in Philadelphia, Pa. and the British stronghold in New York City, no place in New Jersey was spared the ravages of war. The New Jersey American Revolution Geo Trail locations are a sampling of historic sites across New Jersey. Start your journey to see these and many other historic locations waiting to be explored.The New Jersey American Revolution Geo Trail is a heritage tourism journey to adventure and discovery. Not only New Jersey’s history, but many historical accounts which led up to the founding of a new nation, the United States of America. Youll learn about the endurance and perseverance of the these brave American patriots and the critical role New Jersey played throughout theWar for Independence.A heritage adventure of discovery This journey will connect you with history, people, and places to give you an appreciationof the endurance of the American spirit. Patriots who fought for liberty and made our freedom possible, and what they endured to achieve the building of a new nation. Participants will experience stunning landscapes at New Jersey State battlefields, pristine natural resources at the palisades of Fort Lee, encampments, George Washington’s Headquarters, historic churches, and houses. You’ll visit Washington Crossing State Park where the brave patriots crossed the wintry Delaware and marched on to capture Trenton.
Jordan B Noblethe Veteran Drummer
Who had the pride and satisfaction of beating to arms theAmerican Army, on the 23d of December, 1814, and on the 8th ofJanuary, 1815, and the members of his Band, ADOLPH BROOKSand WILLIAM SAVAGE, who served with him in Mexico, in the FirstRegiment of Louisiana Volunteers, Col. J. B. WALTON,Commander, under Gen. TAYLOR, in 1846, beg to present theircongratulations of the season and best wishes to the officers of theregular and militia service, under whom they had the honor toserve wishing them long lives, increased honors, and that theNational Flag of our great country may ever be sustained by theirfaithful arms and gallant hearts.
And beg to remain ever,
Their obedient servants.
In proof of the estimation in which this colored veteran is heldby his fellow-citizens, the New Orleans Daily Deltamentions the following “happy incident” as having occurred atthe celebration of the “Eighth,” at the St. Charles Theatre:–
A benefit was also tendered him, at the same theatre, on theevening of April 24th, 1854 and at the Fourth of July celebrationfollowing, JORDAN B. NOBLE was complimented and, accordingto the Delta, “no speech or toast produced a finer effect thanhis.”
JOHN JULIUS was a member of the gallant colored regiment.He is a tall, good-looking, brown-skinned Creole of
This is but one of numerous instances, of which there areabundant testimonies.
The same important admission was made in debate, on
Many African Americans Were Dedicated Patriots During The American Revolutionary War
Probably no historical painting is as familiar to the American public as Emanuel Gottlieb Leutzes dramatic Washington Crossing the Delaware. Painted in 1851, seventy-five years after the event, it may not be true to the facts, but it catches the spirit of dauntless courage exhibited by General George Washington and his soldiers on Christmas Eve 1776. Among the men to whom Leutze grants a place in the rowboat is the fifth American president, James Monroe, who did not actually make the crossing. Another is a man who, in most reproductions, is hard to make out. He is shown pulling the stroke oar just behind General Washingtons forward-thrusting kneecap. He is a black man, and he did make the crossing. His name was Prince Whipple.
According to the earliest account of Whipples remarkable life, he was born in Africa of comparatively wealthy parents and, when about ten, was sent by his parents in company with a cousin, to America to be educated. Instead, both young men were sold into slavery in Baltimore and purchased by William Whipple of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. During the Revolution, William Whipple served as an aide to Washington and rose to the rank of general. Prince Whipple served at his masters side throughout the Revolution and, according to historian William C. Nell, was emancipated during the war.
This article was written by Jon Swan and originally published in MHQ Magazine in Autumn 2000.
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The idea of no taxation without representation is that the American colonists refused to accept the idea of their British leaders taxing them without representation for the profit. One example for the no taxation without representation would be the Stamp Act of 1765 which was a direct tax that was imposed by the British Parliament without the consent of the American colonists. The Stamp Act was the act of taxing for stamps on legal documents or publications. The American colonists wanted political representation intended British Parliament but they were never granted that power. In short, many in the thirteen colonies believed that,they were not directly represented in the distant British Parliament, any laws the British Parliament passed affecting the colonists themselves were illegal were a denial of their rights as Englishmen.
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What Were The Major Causes Of The American Revolution
The American Revolution was principally caused by colonial opposition to British attempts to impose greater control over the colonies and to make them repay the crown for its defense of them during the French and Indian War . Britain did this primarily by imposing a series of deeply unpopular laws and taxes, including the Sugar Act , the Stamp Act , and the so-called Intolerable Acts .
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Why Should You Be A Patriot Instead Of A Loyalist
Choosing a side could be dangerous depending on where you lived. Patriots were mostly supported in the New England colonies, while Loyalists were more likely to be found in the Southern colonies. Patriots felt that the recent British laws enacted on American colonies were unfair and violated their rights.
Causes Of The Revolutionary War
For more than a decade before the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, tensions had been building between colonists and the British authorities.
The French and Indian War, or Seven Years War , brought new territories under the power of the crown, but the expensive conflict lead to new and unpopular taxes. Attempts by the British government to raise revenue by taxing the colonies met with heated protest among many colonists, who resented their lack of representation in Parliament and demanded the same rights as other British subjects.
Colonial resistance led to violence in 1770, when British soldiers opened fire on a mob of colonists, killing five men in what was known as the Boston Massacre. After December 1773, when a band of Bostonians altered their appearance to hide their identity boarded British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party, an outraged Parliament passed a series of measures designed to reassert imperial authority in Massachusetts.
Did you know? Now most famous as a traitor to the American cause, General Benedict Arnold began the Revolutionary War as one of its earliest heroes, helping lead rebel forces in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775.
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James Armistead Lafayette The Double Agent
Corbis/Getty Images
During the Revolution, James Armisteads life changed drasticallyfrom an enslaved person in Virginia to a double agent passing intel, and misinformation, between the two warring sides. When Armistead joined the Patriots efforts, they assigned him to infiltrate the enemy. So he pretended to be a runaway slave wanting to serve the crown, and was welcomed by the British with open arms. At first they assigned him menial support tasks, but he soon became a more strategic resource due to his vast knowledge of the local terrain. Armisteads role got more interesting when the British directed him to spy on the Patriots. Since his loyalty remained with the colonists, he claimed to be bringing the British intel about the Continental Army, but he was actually pushing incorrect information to foil their plans. In the meantime, he was learning details of the British battle plans, which he brought back to his commander, General .
This served the Americans well. Because of Armisteads efforts, they got the insight they needed to successfully execute the decisive Siege of Yorktown, which effectively ended the war. Years later, after a testimonial from the French general helped secure Armisteads freedom, the former slave changed his surname to Lafayette.
Casting Out Evil: The Centuries
Serving with distinction at the Battles of White Plains, Brandywine, and Germantown, Continental dragoon Benjamin Tallmadge was also the mastermind behind the Culper Spy Ring, one of the most effective espionage networks of the American Revolution. The New York native first organized the cabal in late-1778 at the behest of General George Washington. Operating under the pseudonym John Bolton, he recruited childhood friend Abraham Woodhull and several other acquaintances to provide intelligence from in and around British-controlled Long Island. Tallmadge instructed his operatives to communicate via a complex system of dead drops and coded messages. He even had them write some of their reports in invisible ink that could only be read after being brushed with a chemical compound. Once smuggled out of the city, the documents would be ferried to Tallmadges coastal Connecticut headquarters by a fleet of whaleboats operated by an agent named Caleb Brewster.
Despite operating from the heart of enemy territory, Tallmadges Culper Ring managed to gather intelligence for some five years without losing a single agent to the British. One of their most significant achievements came during the summer of 1780, when they informed Washington of a British plan to ambush French forces gathered at Newport, Rhode Island.
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What Percentage Of Colonists Were Patriots
In recent years, there have been several detailed studies to better understand colonial attitudes towards independence. In general, these studies found that staunch loyalists constituted about 20% of the population or 400,000 people, while committed Patriots accounted for about 40% of the population or 800,000 people.
Colonel Tye Loyalist Guerrilla
Colonel Tye earned a reputation as the most formidable guerilla leader in the Revolutionary War. During his years fighting for the British, Patriots feared his raids, while their slaves welcomed his help in their liberation.
Tye, originally known as Titus during his early years in slavery in New Jersey, escaped a particularly brutal master in 1775 and joined the British army after the Crown offered freedom to any enslaved person who enlisted. While Tye stood out as a soldier from the start, the British didnt station him at pitched battles. They saw more value in using his knowledge of the coveted New Jersey territory, which sat between British-occupied New York and the Patriots center of government in Philadelphia. The Redcoats needed to take this middle landand believed Tye could help.
The British were right. Tye excelled at raid warfare there. His familiarity with the area gave him an advantage in attacks on Patriots lands. And his daring, skillful execution kept his Black Brigade soldiers largely unscathed as they plundered homes, took supplies, freed slaves and sometimes even assassinated Patriot slaveholders renowned for their cruelty. The British recognized Tyes impact on their success and, out of respect for all his contributions, bestowed on him the honorific title of Colonel. He remains an important symbol of fearless resistance.
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Winter Encampment At Morristown
While Valley Forge is more famous, the winter that Washington’s army confronted in its winter quarters at Jockey Hollow, near Morristown, New Jersey, was the coldest in recent memory. It was here at Morristown that the Continental Army was nearly starved out of existence. The constant lack of food and the never-ending hard winter led to the mutiny of several Continental regiments. Washington declared that the army could “perish for want of food.”
Patriots Of The American Revolution Dar High School Essay Contest
In preparation for the 250th anniversary of the nations founding, the DAR is launching the Patriots of the American Revolution DAR High School Essay Contest!
This contest will focus on the men and women, both famous and unknown, who figured in the events of the American Revolution . Students will be asked to discuss how their chosen Patriot contributed to the founding of the nation. These Patriots may be one of our famous Founders, or an everyday man, woman, or child who supported the American Revolution in ways both large or small. We hope that this wide topic area will allow students to choose individuals who capture their imagination and interest.
Students will be encouraged to use primary sources for their research, and judges will be asked to take the quality and scope of references into account when judging the essays. While many primary references are online, at, for example, the National Archives Founders Online project or the Library of Congress American Revolution Digital Collection, DAR chapters are also encouraged to reach out to students to help them explore the many primary sources available in their area at local historical societies, local libraries, and even in chapters own records and collections.
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The First Rhode Island Regiment Integrated Revolutionary Force
A painting by French artist and sub-lieutenant Jean Baptiste Antoine de Verger, depicting the different men of war, including a member of the First Rhode Island Regiment on the far left.
Alpha Stock/Alamy
The First Rhode Island Regiment, the first Continental Army unit largely comprised of Black New Englanders, showcased African Americans skill as soldiers and commitment to their brethren on the battlefield. In the late 1770s, dwindling manpower forced George Washington to reconsider his original decision to ban Black people from the Continental Army. So in 1778, a Rhode Island legislature declared that both free and enslaved Black people could serve. To attract the latter, the Patriots promised freedom at the end of service.
Though relatively smallonly about 130 menthe First Rhode Island Regiment had an outsized impact. Commanding General John Sullivan praised its soldiers for their success against attacks in the Battle of Newport, saying they displayed “desperate valor in repelling three furious Hessian infantry assaults.” When the Rhode Islanders journeyed to Virginia, where several thousand other soldiers were assembling, they stood out, according to aFrench military officer there, as most neatly dressed, the best under arms and the most precise in all their maneuvers.”
Phyllis Wheatley.
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
How Did The American Revolution Begin
On the ground, fighting in the American Revolution began with the skirmishes between British regulars and American provincials on April 19, 1775, first at Lexington, where a British force of 700 faced 77 local minutemen, and then at Concord, where an American counterforce of 320 to 400 sent the British scurrying. The British had come to Concord to seize the military stores of the colonists, who had been forewarned of the raid through efficient lines of communicationincluding the ride of Paul Revere, which is celebrated with poetic license in Longfellows Paul Reveres Ride .
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Why New Jersey Is Called The Crossroads Of The American Revolution
| New Jersey is called the crossroads of the American Revolution because it held an importantgeographic location at the center of the new nation. The armies were in or crossing it throughout the war due to its key position between New York City and Philadelphia.Throughout the Revolutionary War, there were many clashes between the Americans and British withinNew Jersey. In total, there were 296 engagements, more clashes than occurred in any other colony in the Revolutionary War.Besides being the location of several important battles, New Jersey was also helpful in disrupting British supply units. Forts on the Delaware River could attack British supply troops as they sailed to Philadelphia. Men in whaleboats crossed the Hudson and raided New York City and Long Island, andcaptured shipping in the Sandy Hook staging area outsideNY harbor.Ships based in south Jersey ports raided British shipping at sea. New Jersey also had several ironworks that provided products such as cannons for the war effort. The Ford family in Morristown ran a black powder mill that supplied needed powder for the cause.The Continental army encamped three years in New Jersey, in the winters of 1777 at Morristown, 1778-79 at Middlebrook , and in 1780 again at Morristown. Large parts of the Continental forces wintered in other years inNew Jersey. |
Loyalists During The War
- Loyalists living in Patriot areas were under constant threat. They were in danger of attack from radical patriots and many loyalists lost their homes and businesses due to patriot attacks.
- Some loyalists left the colonies and headed back to Britain. The more devoted loyalists either joined the British army or formed their own group of fights, including the Loyal Greens and the Royal American Regiment.
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Depiction Of Atrocities In The Revolutionary War
The Patriot was criticized for misrepresenting atrocities during the Revolutionary War, including the killing of prisoners of war and wounded soldiers and burning a church filled with townsfolk. While atrocities occurred during the war, the most striking of the film’s depictions of British atrocitiesâthe burning of a church full of unarmed colonial civiliansâhad virtually no factual basis nor parallel in the American or European 18th century wars, with the exception of the Massacre at Lucs-sur-Boulogne in 1794, which was a purely French affair with no connection to British troops nor the American Revolution. The New York Post film critic Jonathan Foreman was one of several focusing on this distortion in the film and wrote the following in an article at Salon.com:
The Washington Post film critic Stephen Hunter, a historian of the era, said: “Any image of the American Revolution which represents you Brits as Nazis and us as gentle folk is almost certainly wrong. It was a very bitter war, a total war, and that is something that I am afraid has been lost to history….he presence of the Loyalists meant that the War of Independence was a conflict of complex loyalties.” The historian Richard F. Snow, editor of American Heritage magazine, said of the church-burning scene: “Of course it never happenedâif it had do you think Americans would have forgotten it? It could have kept us out of World War I.”
