The Patriots Of The American Revolution

Revolutionary War Draws To A Close

Though the movement for American independence effectively triumphed at the Battle of Yorktown, contemporary observers did not see that as the decisive victory yet. British forces remained stationed around Charleston, and the powerful main army still resided in New York. Though neither side would take decisive action over the better part of the next two years, the British removal of their troops from Charleston and Savannah in late 1782 finally pointed to the end of the conflict. British and American negotiators in Paris signed preliminary peace terms in Paris late that November, and on September 3, 1783, Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States in the Treaty of Paris. At the same time, Britain signed separate peace treaties with France and Spain , bringing the American Revolution to a close after eight long years.

Access hundreds of hours of historical video, commercial free, with HISTORY Vault. Start your free trial today.

The Fugitive Slave Law

The reign of terror which burst upon the land in 1850, by thepassage of the atrocious Fugitive Slave Law, sounded the alarm formeetings of consultation and vigilance in every community whereits immediate victims were located, and their action has beenpublished broadcast to the world. The seizure of Hamlet, Long andBoulding, in New York, Garnet and others, in Philadelphia, ThomasSims and Anthony Burns, in Boston, with each attendant chain ofassociations, has created a healthy agitation, ominous, we hope, atno distant day, of its final repeal.

The following resolutions, submitted at a public meeting inBoston, October 5th, 1850, by Wm. C. Nell, may be accepted as embodying the general feeling:–

Resolved, That in view of the imminent danger, present and lookedfor, we caution every colored man, woman and child, to be careful intheir walks through the highways and byways of the city by day,

and doubly so if out at night, as to WHERE they go–HOW they go–and WHO they go with to be guarded on nigh side, off side and allsides as watchful as Argus with his hundred eyes, and as executive aswas Briareus, with as many hands if seized by any one, to make theair resound with the signal-word, and, as they wouldrid themselves of any wild beast, be prompt in their hour of peril.

No Taxation Without Representation

The Patriot faction came to reject taxes imposed by legislatures in which the tax-payer was not represented. “No taxation without representation,” was their slogan, referring to the lack of representation in the British parliament. The British countered there was “virtual representation,” that is, all members of Parliament represented the interests of all the citizens of the British Empire.

Though some Patriots declared that they were loyal to the king, they believed that the assemblies should control policy relating to the colonies. They should be able to run their own affairs. In fact, they had been running their own affairs since the period of “salutary neglect” before the French and Indian War. Some radical Patriots tarred and feathered tax collectors and customs officers, making those positions dangerous the practice was especially prevalent in Boston, where many Patriots lived, but was curbed there sooner than elsewhere.

Also Check: Patriot Tires Mt 33×12 50r20

Stalemate In The North Battle In The South

During the long, hard winter at Valley Forge, Washingtons troops benefited from the training and discipline of the Prussian military officer Baron Friedrich von Steuben and the leadership of the French aristocrat . On June 28, 1778, as British forces under Sir Henry Clinton attempted to withdraw from Philadelphia to New York, Washingtons army attacked them near Monmouth, New Jersey. The battle effectively ended in a draw, as the Americans held their ground, but Clinton was able to get his army and supplies safely to New York. On July 8, a French fleet commanded by the Comte dEstaing arrived off the Atlantic coast, ready to do battle with the British. A joint attack on the British at Newport, Rhode Island, in late July failed, and for the most part the war settled into a stalemate phase in the North.

How Willie Velsquez Organized For Latino Voting Rights

Throughout that fall and winter, Washingtons forces struggled to keep the British contained in Boston, but artillery captured at Fort Ticonderoga in New York helped shift the balance of that struggle in late winter. The British evacuated the city in March 1776, with Howe and his men retreating to Canada to prepare a major invasion of New York.

By June 1776, with the Revolutionary War in full swing, a growing majority of the colonists had come to favor independence from Britain. On , the Continental Congress voted to adopt the , drafted by a five-man committee including Franklin and John Adams but written mainly by Jefferson. That same month, determined to crush the rebellion, the British government sent a large fleet, along with more than 34,000 troops to New York. In August, Howes Redcoats routed the Continental Army on Long Island Washington was forced to evacuate his troops from New York City by September. Pushed across the Delaware River, Washington fought back with a surprise attack in Trenton, New Jersey, on Christmas night and won another victory at Princeton to revive the rebels flagging hopes before making winter quarters at Morristown.

Also Check: Do Republicans Want To Cut Social Security And Medicare

Patriots Loyalists And Neutrals

As Britain continued to attempt control over the colonies through taxes and regulations, calls for independence grew across the 13 Colonies. The colonists who favored independence from Great Britain were called Patriots. Those who wished to remain tied to Great Britain as Colonies were called Loyalists. Americans who embraced both beliefs and could not choose a side were called Neutrals.

Colonists had various reasons for whichever side that they chose. Farmers for example often chose the side that their landowner supported. Others who might be have a large debt owed to British creditors may have chosen the Patriot side in hopes that their debts would be erased.

Conversely, a merchant who had a lucrative contract with the crown would likely support the Loyalist cause. 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.

Loyalists, often called Tories, were loyal to the crown for several reasons. They were mostly upper class and lived in cities and wanted to keep their wealth and land. Many had valuable ties with the British and jobs in the government. Loyalists believed in peaceful reconciliation but were met with insults and mistrust because they did not believe in the Patriots cause.

The Colored Patriots Of The American Revolution

The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, With Sketches of Several Distinguished Colored Persons: To Which is Added a Brief Survey of the Conditions and Prospects of Colored Americans, or, in brief, The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, is an American history book written by William Cooper Nell, with an introduction by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was published in 1855 by Robert F. Wallcut. It focuses on African-American soldiers during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. It details “the services of the Colored Patriots of the revolution“.

Among other patriots mentioned are Crispus Attucks, the first person killed in the Boston Massacre Peter Salem, who was instrumental in the victory at Bunker Hill and Prince Whipple, who participated in George Washington‘s noted crossing of the Delaware.

The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution is considered by some to be the first history book by and about African Americans that is based on written documentation.

You May Like: Difference Between Democratic And Republican Party

The Claims Of The Red Man

The reader has already learned, from the foregoing pages, somefacts in regard to the history of New England red men, and theirdevotion to liberty. The following is a copy of a petition sent,some years. ago, by an Indian of the Catawba tribe, to the Assemblyof South Carolina:–

“I am one of the lingering emblems of an almost extinguishedrace. Our graves will soon be our habitations. I am one of the fewstalks that still remain in the field, when the tempest of therevolution is past. I fought against the British for your sake. TheBritish have disappeared, and you are free. Yet from me the Britishtook nothing,–nor have I gained any thing by their defeat. Ipursue the deer for my subsistence the deer are disappearing, and Imust starve. God ordained me for the forest, and my habitation isthe shade but the strength of my arm decays, and my feet fail in thechase. The hand which fought for your liberty is now open for yourrelief. In my youth, I bled in battle that you might be independent let not my heart in my old age bleed for the want of yourcommiseration.

PETER HARRIS.”

“The Indians are now but few in number,” “separated from the

A cluster of brilliant gems adorn this tribute of the gifted author,whose heart, tongue and pen are a free-will offering to the oppressedof every clime or kin and to himself may be most truthfully applieda quotation familiar to his own lips, when awarding honor to someof Nature’s noblemen,–“The ocean: of his philanthropy knows noshore.”

Strike Of The Amistad Captives For Liberty

On the 28th of June, 1839, the Spanish schooner Amistad, RamenFerrer, master, sailed from Havana for Porto Principe, a place in theisland of Cuba, about 100 leagues distant, having on board aspassengers, Don Pedro Montes and Jose Ruiz, with 54 fresh Africannegroes, just brought from Lemboko, as slaves. Among the slaveswas one called in Spanish, Joseph Cinquez. He was the son of anAfrican Prince. On the fifth night after leaving port, Cinquez, with afew chosen men among the fifty-four slaves, revolted, striking

They were released in 1841, by the United States Court, and”they now sing of liberty on the sunny hills of Africa, beneath theirnative palms, where they hear the lion roar, and feel themselves asfree as that king of the forest.” They are living within a few miles ofthe Missionary Station at Sherbron Island. Cinquez has built a town,of which he is chief.

Also Check: How To Register For Republican Party

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.

Military Convention At Washington

JANUARY 8th, 1855, the soldiers of the war of 1812 celebratedthe anniversary of the battle of New Orleans by a Convention atWashington, having for its object the furtherance of the bill beforeCongress giving one hundred and sixty acres of land to all thesoldiers of the last war with Great Britain. Among those present wasa colored man, named GEORGE R. ROBERTS, a well-known residentof Baltimore, and now over seventy years of age. He attended inquest of a pension for services in behalf of his country. He was aprivateer, was captured and carried to Jamaica, and, with half a dozenothers, barely escaped the honors of yard-arm promotion. TheNational Era informs us that he was requested, by vote, to make astatement of his experience. He was introduced by Col. Baldwin, and “made his statement in an earnest andimpressive manner, relating the incidents of his captivity andcondemnation to death by the British, of his exchange and returnhome, and of his subsequent services under the celebrated privateercommander, Captain Thomas Boyle, of Baltimore. His recital wasreceived with applause.”

The Washington Convention was characterized by the presence,not only of white and black, but also of red Americans, allparticipating in its proceedings,–a striking and significant fact.

Recommended Reading: New Orleans Saints Vs Patriots

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.

The Revolutionary Wara Nation Is Born

From 1775, with the first shots in Lexington, to the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the Revolutionary War secured independence for the United States of America. Ancestry has 33 collections with millions of records spanning the length of the war and beyond. Find the patriots in your family who helped give birth to a new nation.

Ancestry has 33 collections with millions of records spanning the entire length of the war and beyond. Search to find the patriots in your family who helped give birth to a new nation.

You May Like: How Do I Change From Republican To Democrat

Saratoga: Revolutionary War Turning Point

British strategy in 1777 involved two main prongs of attack aimed at separating New England from the other colonies. To that end, General John Burgoynes army marched south from Canada toward a planned meeting with Howes forces on the Hudson River. Burgoynes men dealt a devastating loss to the Americans in July by retaking Fort Ticonderoga, while Howe decided to move his troops southward from New York to confront Washingtons army near the Chesapeake Bay. The British defeated the Americans at Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, on September 11 and entered Philadelphia on September 25. Washington rebounded to strike Germantown in early October before withdrawing to winter quarters near Valley Forge.

Howes move had left Burgoynes army exposed near Saratoga, New York, and the British suffered the consequences of this on September 19, when an American force under General Horatio Gates defeated them at Freemans Farm in the first Battle of Saratoga. After suffering another defeat on October 7 at Bemis Heights , Burgoyne surrendered his remaining forces on October 17. The American victory Saratoga would prove to be a turning point of the American Revolution, as it prompted France to enter the war openly on the American side, though it would not formally declare war on Great Britain until June 1778. The American Revolution, which had begun as a civil conflict between Britain and its colonies, had become a world war.

Myths Of The American Revolution

A noted historian debunks the conventional wisdom about Americas War of Independence

John Ferling

We think we know the Revolutionary War. After all, the American Revolution and the war that accompanied it not only determined the nation we would become but also continue to define who we are. The Declaration of Independence, the Midnight Ride, Valley Forgethe whole glorious chronicle of the colonists rebellion against tyranny is in the American DNA. Often it is the Revolution that is a childs first encounter with history.

Yet much of what we know is not entirely true. Perhaps more than any defining moment in American history, the War of Independence is swathed in beliefs not borne out by the facts. Here, in order to form a more perfect understanding, the most significant myths of the Revolutionary War are reassessed.

I. Great Britain Did Not Know What It Was Getting Into

In the course of Englands long and unsuccessful attempt to crush the American Revolution, the myth arose that its government, under Prime Minister Frederick, Lord North, had acted in haste. Accusations circulating at the timelater to become conventional wisdomheld that the nations political leaders had failed to comprehend the gravity of the challenge.

After the Continental Congress convened, King George III told his ministers that blows must decide whether the Americans submit or triumph.

II. Americans Of All Stripes Took Up Arms Out Of Patriotism

IV. The Militia Was Useless

Don’t Miss: North Star Necklace From The Patriot

The Battle Of Trenton

After crossing the icy Delaware River on Christmas Day 1776, Washington led his forces in an attack upon the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey. Washington’s lightning attack surprised the Hessians and led to the capture of almost two-thirds of the 1,500 man force – at the cost of zero American combat casualties. This victory greatly bolstered the sagging morale of the Continental Army.