Thursday, January 23, 2014
GEORGE WASHINGTON
George Washington grew up in a plantation worked by enslaved African Americans. He went to school for just seven or eight years in which his favorite subject was arithmetic. He learned to ride horses, fish, hunt and boat. All this skills helped him later on during war. At the age of fifteen he got to see pretty much the whole country by apprenticing to surveyors. When George Washington was twenty he became part of the Virginia militia. There he learned that working as a non-British- born officer would offer him less pay even thought they had the same rank. He still carried the British flag to the battle known as the French and Indian War against the French and Native Americans.
He went to British missions three different times to try to take Fort Duquesne. In the three missions he was defeated. In the first one they did not reach their destination, and created 60 miles away from it Fort Necessity. Later it was surrendered against French troops.Washington was allowed to go back to Virginia where he was told that all colonial officers had to drop a rank, but he resigned. General Edward Braddock went with him on the second mission but the consequences of the results were worst. The French defeated the British troops and Braddock was shot dead. In 1758 the troops set out again to take Fort Duquesne, and after being hurt throughout, later that year they found it burned to the ground by the retreating French.
After all this, Washington gave up his commission and went back to his house in Mount Vernon. He was asked to come back twice, once unpaid as advisor and another time. He stayed home until the end of the war in 1763. After all this years in the field, he learned the important lesson that the British could be beaten. In 1758 Washington was elected to the House of Burgesses. He served 15 years in all. In 1759 Gorge Washington married Martha Custis. Their wedding and reception took place on Martha's plantation, called the White House.They were happy for many years until war came again.
George Washington was elected for the First and Second Continental Congress. He was also named the Commander in Chief of the armed forces. Also he was the most experienced officer of the Continental Army, which was because all the wars he had fight with the British. George Washington finally becames the first president of the United States of America.
The Continental Army
On June 15, 1775, the Second Continental Congress chose George Washington to be commander in chief. He was chosen for his military experience and because he came from the most important of the Southern Colonies: Virginia. He also had an impressive appearance and a confident manner which made him a likely candidate alongside his excellent participation in the military committees. Washington recognized that he did not have the experience or the knowledge to command an entire army of men. His experience came from being in the frontier during the French and Indian War where he commanded a brigade of troops. He was the first colonist to command such a large group of men. He also gained experience during his political leadership in his native Virginia and when directing the business affairs of his plantation at Mount Vernon. Along with his experience, George Washington was very determined, a good leader and a unshakable sense of honor and duty.
Washington took formal command of the army on July 3, 1775. He described the army at first as a "mixed multitude of people under very little discipline order or government." He was a very firm believer in discipline. In fact, he wrote: "Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak and esteem to all." He also wanted to control the comings and goings of officers and men by instituting roll calls and strength returns. Other things he altered was to make the distinction between officers and enlisted men more rigid, along with introducing new punishments like the lash, pillory, wooden worse, among others. But Washington had other duties. Not only did he establish discipline in the existing army, but he also had to form a new one enlisted specially for the Continental service. After the congress with the congressional committee, the plan for the new army emerged. This new army would be composed of 26 regiments of infantry of 728 men each, plus one regiment of riflemen and one of artillery men.
In the year of 1776, 20,372 men were uniformly paid, supplied, administered and enlisted. The general, by choice, received no salary throughout the revolution. The plan on paper seemed plausible but when Washington tried to put it in action, he found he could not do it. The army resisted the reorganization and were reluctant to enlist for another year's service as that would mean abandoning their farms and families. Another problem Washington faced was the lack of supplies. However, these were easily arranged as the Congress and individual colonies sponsored trips to the West Indies, where they bought war materials from the French and Dutch exhortations. They also obtained supplies when Washington sent troops to capture British ships. When the British left, the stores of cannon and ammunition the British were forced to leave behind were a welcome addition to the meager American arsenal and helped win the revolution.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Declaration of Independence
It all started with the revolutionary war of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. The Second Continental Congress gathered to discuss about their independence. They did not want to be part of theBritish Empire, but instead fight for their freedom. This was on May of that same year. Tension in America grew stronger between colonists who wanted to be independent and Loyalists who remain loyal to the crown. On June 11,1776 almost one year after, the Second Continental Congress appointed a committee to write the Declaration of Independence from British rule. This committee was called the Committee of Five since five people were part of it. This five men were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. The committee decided Thomas Jefferson should write the first draft. Jefferson wrote it and the committee declared it was almost perfect. This document was presented to the Congress after few corrections were made on June 28,1776. After a few more corrections, Jefferson's work was approved.
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| Declaration of Independence |
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| Thomas Jefferson |
Af first not everyone agreed on declaring independence. Some thought that they should wait until the colonies had stronger alliances with other countries. When voting, on the first round South Carolina and Pennsylvania voted against while New York and Delaware did not vote. The Congress wanted for the vote to be unanimous, and since it didn't happen they continue to discussing it. The next day, South Carolina and Pennsylvania reversed their votes and said yes. Delaware also decided to vote yes. This meant that the agreement to declare independence, passed with 1 abstention from New York, who chose not to vote and 12 votes that said yes.
On July 4, 1776 the Congress decided to adopt the final version of the Declaration of Independence. 56 members of the Congress signed it. John Hancock was the first one with a signature of almost 5 inches long. After the document was signed, they sent it to a printer to make more copies. This copies were later on send to all the colonies. The Declaration of Independence was published on newspapers or read aloud. Also a copy was sent to the British government.
Quote from the Declaration of Independence
"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, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Battles of Lexington and Concord
On April 15,1776, General Thomas Gage, appointed military governor of Massachusets, was ordered to capture John Hancock and Samuel Adams and to seize the weapons at Concord. To accomplish this he assembled "The Flanking units" from his Boston Garrison. In charge of the mission were Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and Marine Major John Pitcairn. Gage did not inform his officers of his plans until the last minute in an effort to keep it a secret. However, many rebels were settled in Boston to spy on the British. Rebels knew of the British's every action and when the plant was put into motion, the entire countryside had been alerted to their presence. At midnight on April 19th, 650-900 troops left Boston to March towards Concord. Unknown to them, they were followed closely by alarm riders Paul Revere and William Dawes.
At dawn, the troops under the command of Major Pitcairn arrived at Lexington Green. A group of armed militia led by John Parker stood in formation. Parker ordered his men to disperse when the first war shot was was heard. This shot was called "the shot heard round the world". No one knows who fired the first but upon hearing the shot, the British army fired upon the militia, killing eight and wounding ten more. The militia retreated into the woods to avoid British fire. The army now advanced to Concord and at Concord North Bridge encountered a group of armed militia. The British retreated to Concord Center.
When Smith decided to return to Boston, militia and minutemen from surrounding town cornered the British. Americans did not fight as British men did. Colonists formed small squads and company tactics to flank the British. Americans fought from behind the trees, walls, etc. This fighting style caused British troops to break ranks while they retreated toward Lexington. At Lexington, Lord Percy used his two cannons to disperse the colonists and collect British troops. The British suffered many losses, nearly 20% deaths. At Boston, loyalists and British were confined by the Patriots. However, this event led to more colonists joining the cause of independence.
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