History To 1876 Exam 2: Terms and Definition

Pontiac's Rebellion (1720-1769)

Also known as Obwandiyag, he was an Ottawa war chief who became noted for his role in Pontiac's War (1763-1766), an American Indian struggle against British military occupation of the Great Lakes region and named for him. It followed the British victory in the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years' War. Pontiac's importance has been debated in the war that bears his name. Nineteenth-century accounts portrayed him as the mastermind and leader of the revolt, but some subsequent scholars argued that his role had been exaggerated. Historians today generally view him as an important local leader who influenced a wider movement that he did not command. The war began in May 1763 when Pontiac and 300 followers attempted to take Fort Detroit by surprise. His plan was foiled, so Pontiac laid siege to the fort, where he was eventually joined by more than 900 warriors from a half-dozen tribes. Meanwhile, messengers spread the word of Pontiac's actions, and the war expanded far beyond Detroit. In July 1763, Pontiac defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Bloody Run, but he was unable to capture the fort. In October, he lifted the siege and withdrew to the Illinois Country. Pontiac's influence declined around Detroit because of the unsuccessful siege, but he gained stature as he continued to encourage resistance to the British. Seeking to end the war, British officials made him the focus of their diplomatic efforts. In July 1766, he made peace with British Superintendent of Indian Affairs Sir William Johnson. The attention that the British paid to Pontiac resulted in resentment among other tribal leaders, as the war effort was decentralized and Pontiac claimed greater authority than he possessed. He was increasingly ostracized, then assassinated by a Peoria warrior in 1769.

Montesquieu (1689-1755)

Baron Charles-Louis de Secondat de Montesquieu is famous for his articulation of the theory of the separation of powers, which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. He is also known for doing more than any other author to secure the place of the word despotism in the political lexicon. Montesquieu's most influential work The Spirit of the Laws, divided French society into three classes: the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the commons. Montesquieu saw two types of governmental power existing: the sovereign and the administrative. The administrative powers were the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. These should be separate from and dependent upon each other so that the influence of any one power would not be able to exceed that of the other two, either singly or in combination. This was a radical idea because it completely eliminated the three Estates structure of the French Monarchy: the clergy, the aristocracy, and the people at large represented by the Estates-General, thereby erasing the last vestige of a feudalistic structure.

Samuel de Champlain (1574-1635)

Born into a family of mariners, while still a young man, began exploring North America in 1603 under the guidance of François Gravé Du Pont, his uncle. He was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He is important to Canadian history because he made the first accurate map of the coast and he helped establish the settlements. He was the first European to explore and describe the Great Lakes, and published maps of his journeys and accounts of what he learned from the natives and the French living among the Natives. For this reason, he is often called "The Father of New France," and "Father of Acadia;" many places, streets, and structures in northeastern North America bear his name, or have monuments established in his memory. From 1604 to 1607 Champlain participated in the exploration and settlement of the first permanent European settlement north of Florida, Port Royal, Acadia (1605) as well as the first European settlement that would become Saint John, New Brunswick (1604). Then, in 1608, he established the French settlement that is now Quebec City. and founded New France. In 1609 he led an expedition up the Richelieu River and explored a long, narrow lake situated between the Green Mountains of present-day Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of present-day New York; he named the lake after himself as the first European to map and describe it. The most notable lakes are Lake Champlain, which straddles the border between northern New York and Vermont, extending slightly across the border into Canada. He formed relationships with local Montagnais and Innu and later with others farther west (Ottawa River, Lake Nipissing, or Georgian Bay), with Algonquin and with Huron Wendat, and agreed to provide assistance in their wars against the Iroquois. In 1620, Louis XIII of France ordered Champlain to cease exploration, return to Quebec, and devote himself to the administration of the country. In every way but formal title, Samuel de Champlain served as Governor of New France, a title that may have been formally unavailable to him owing to his non-noble status. He established trading companies that sent goods, primarily fur, to France, and oversaw the growth of New France in the St. Lawrence River valley until his death in 1635.

Voltaire (1694-1778)

François-Marie Arouet, known by his nom de plume 'Voltaire', was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a versatile writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken advocate of civil liberties, despite the risk this placed him in under the strict censorship laws of the time. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma, and the French institutions of his day. He mainly argued for religious tolerance and freedom of thought. He campaigned to eradicate priestly and aristomonarchical authority, and supported a constitutional monarchy that protects people's rights. In his most famous work, the novel Candide begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply "optimism") by his mentor, Professor Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not rejecting optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, "we must cultivate our garden", in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, "all is for the best" in the "best of all possible worlds". Candide is characterized by its sarcastic tone as well as by its erratic, fantastical and fastmoving plot. A picaresque novel with a story similar to but more serious, 'Bildungsroman', parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact.. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so too does Candide in this short novel, albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers through allegory; most conspicuously, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism. Because of his lifelong thorny relationship to organized religion, Voltaire advocated for a naturalistic religion called Deism, which he disseminated widely. Many of the top Enlightenment figures, including the Founding Fathers, considered themselves Deists of one stripe or another. Deism imagined a remote and rather diffident Creator, who set the cosmos in motion through the mechanism of 'Natural Laws,' and then stepped aside to let his creation run itself with no further input from him. For this reason, the Deists often refer to God as "The Divine Watchmaker," "The Supreme Mechanic," or "The Cosmic Tinkerer."

Johnathan Edwards (1703-1758)

He was a revivalist preacher, philosopher, and Congregationalist Protestant theologian. Like most of the Puritans, he held to the Reformed theology. His colonial followers later distinguished themselves from other Congregationalists as "New Lights" (endorsing the Great Awakening), as opposed to "Old Lights" (non-revivalists). Edwards is widely regarded as "one of America's most important and original philosophical theologians". A precocious child, he entered Yale College in 1716, at just under the age of 13. In the following year, he became acquainted with John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which influenced him profoundly. his college studies, he kept note books labelled "The Mind," "Natural Science" (containing a discussion of the atomic theory), "The Scriptures" and "Miscellanies," had a grand plan for a work on natural and mental philosophy, and drew up for himself rules for its composition. Edwards' theological work is broad in scope, but he was rooted in Reformed theology, the metaphysics of theological determinism, and the Puritan heritage. Recent studies have emphasized how thoroughly Edwards grounded his life's work on conceptions of beauty, harmony, and ethical fittingness, and how central The Enlightenment was to his mindset. Edwards played a critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening, and oversaw some of the first revivals in 1733-35 at his church in Northampton, Massachusetts. Edwards delivered the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", a classic of early American literature, during another revival in 1741, following George Whitefield's tour of the Thirteen Colonies. His greatest work, however, was motivated by the religious revival of the early Enlightenment era, which gave Edwards an opportunity for studying the process of conversion in all its phases and varieties, and he recorded his observations with psychological minuteness and discrimination in A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton (1737).

Paul Revere (1713-1818)

He was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, and a Patriot in the American Revolution. He is best known for alerting the colonial militia to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride" (1861).

Gov. Morris

He was an American statesman, a Founding Father of The United States, and a native of New York City who represented Pennsylvania in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. As a contributor, he was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the US Constitution. He wrote the preamble, and has been called the "Penman of the Constitution." In an era when most Americans thought of themselves as citizens of their respective states, He advanced the idea of being a citizen of a single union of states. He was a Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. During the Convention, he was a friend and ally of George Washington and others who favored a strong central government. He was elected to serve on a committee of five (chaired by William Samuel Johnson) who drafted the final language of the proposed constitution It was his pen that was responsible for most of the draft, as well as its final polished form. It is said by some that he was "an aristocrat to the core," who believed that "there never was, nor ever will be a civilized Society without an Aristocracy." Its alleged that he thought that common people were incapable of self-government because he feared that the poor would sell their votes to the rich. So, consequently, he believes that voting should be restricted to property owners. He opposed admitting new western states on an equal basis with the existing eastern states. He feared that the interior wilderness could not furnish "enlightened" national statesmen. Madison's summary of his speech at the Convention, on July 11, 1787, said that his view "relative to the Western Country had not changed his opinion on that head. Among other objections it must be apparent they would not be able to furnish men equally enlightened, to share in the administration of our common interests." His reason given for that was regional: "The Busy haunts of men, not the remote wilderness, was the proper school of political Talents. If the Western people get the power into their hands they will ruin the Atlantic interests." In this fear, he turned out to be in the minority. Jon Elster has suggested that his attempt to limit the future power of the West was a strategic move designed to limit the power of slaveholding states because he believed (incorrectly) that slavery would predominate in new Western states. At the convention, he gave more speeches than any other delegate, a total of 173. As a matter of principle, he often vigorously defended the right of anyone to practice his chosen religion without interference, and he argued to include such language in the Constitution.

George Whitefield (1714-1770)

He was an English Anglican cleric who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he graduated from the Oxford in 1732. There he joined the "Holy Club" and was introduced to the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, (founders of Methodism) who he would work closely with in his later ministry. Whitefield was ordained after receiving his BA. He immediately began preaching, but he did not settle as the minister of any parish. Rather he became an itinerant preacher and evangelist, frequently preaching in parks and fields in England on his own, reaching out to people who normally did not attend church. Like Jonathan Edwards, he developed a style of preaching that elicited emotional responses from his audiences. But Whitefield had charisma, and his loud voice, his small stature, and even his cross-eyed appearance (which some people took as a mark of divine favour) all would serve to help make him one of the first celebrities in the American colonies. In 1738 he went to Savannah, Georgia, in the American colonies, as parish priest. While there he decided that one of the great needs of the area was an orphan house. He decided this would be his life's work. He returned to England to raise funds, as well as to receive priest's orders. While preparing for his return, he preached to large congregations In 1740, Whitefield traveled back to America, where he preached a series of revivals that came to be known as the "Great Awakening". His methods were controversial and he engaged in numerous debates and disputes with other clergymen. Whitefield received widespread recognition during his ministry; he preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million listeners in Great Britain and the American colonies. Whitefield could enthrall large audiences through a potent combination of drama, religious rhetoric, and imperial pride. Whitefield included slaves in his revivals and their response was great. Historians see this as "the genesis of AfricanAmerican Christianity." He was also a friend of Benjamin Franklin, who attended a revival meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was greatly impressed with Whitefield's ability to deliver a message to such a large group.

Gen. John Burgoyne: (1722-1792

Iearly in his career, Burgoyne was a member of the Horse Guards, a fashionable cavalry regiment, stationed in London where he soon acquired the nickname "Gentleman Johnny" and became well known for his stylish uniforms and general high living which saw him run up large debts. He is best known for his role in the American Revolutionary War. He designed an invasion scheme and was appointed to command a force moving south from Canada to split away New England and end the rebellion. Burgoyne advanced from Canada but his slow movement allowed the Americans to concentrate their forces. Instead of coming to his aid according to the overall plan, the British Army in New York City moved south to capture Philadelphia. Surrounded, Burgoyne fought two small battles near Saratoga to break out. Trapped by superior American forces, with no relief in sight, Burgoyne surrendered his entire army of 6,200 men on 17 October 1777. His surrender, says historian Edmund Morgan, "was a great turning point of the war, because it won for Americans the foreign assistance which was the last element needed for victory". He and his officers returned to England; the enlisted men became prisoners of war. Burgoyne came under sharp criticism when he returned to London, and never held another active command.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

It is one of the most important acts of the Articles of Confederation government that is still in force today. The ordinance created the Northwest Territory out of the lands of the upper portion of the Ohio Valley. It established the precedent legislation with regards to American public domain lands and template for the orderly admission of new states to the union. The prohibition of slavery in the Northwest Territory had the practical effect of establishing the Ohio River as the boundary between free and slave territory in the region between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. This division helped set the stage for national competition over admitting free and slave states; the basis of a critical question in American politics in the 19th century until the Civil War. The most significant intended purpose of this legislation was its mandate for the creation of new states from the region. It provided that at least three-5 states would be established in the territory. If the population increases more than 60,000 then it would be admitted into representation in the Continental Congress on an equal footing with the original thirteen states. The 1st state created from the Northwest Territory was Ohio, in 1803, at which time the remainder was renamed Indiana Territory. The other 4 states were Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Before the population of a territory reached 5000, there would be a limited form of government. There would be a governor, a secretary, and three judges, all appointed by Congress. The governor (3-year term) will have a "freehold estate therein, in one thousand acres of land." The governor would be commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint magistrates and other civil officers, and help create and publish laws as they see fit for their territory. The secretary (4-year term) and the judges (No set term) will have a, "freehold estate therein, in five hundred acres of land." The secretary would be in charge of keeping and preserving the acts and laws passed by the territorial legislatures, the public records of the district and to transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings every six months to the secretary of the Continental Congress. The judges would be in charge will help the governor create and pass acts and laws and in making official court rulings. As soon as the population of a territory reached 5000 free, male inhabitants, then they would receive authority to elect representatives (2-year term) from their counties or townships for the general assembly. For every 500 free, males there would be one representative until there were 25 representatives. Then the Congress will control the number and proportion of the representatives from that legislature. No male can be a representative unless they have been a citizen of the United States for at least three years or lived in the district for three years. In both cases, the male in question would have to own at least 200 acres of land within the same district. These representatives shall serve for a term of two years. If a representative died or was removed from office, a new one would be elected to serve out the remaining time. Eventually, all the remaining states to join the union would do so according to the provisions of the Northwest Ordinance.

Articles of Confederation

It was an agreement among the 13 original states of the US that served as its first constitution. It's drafting by a committee appointed by the Second Continental Congress began on July 12, 1776, and an approved version was sent to the states for ratification on November 15, 1777. The Articles of Confederation came into force on March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all 13 states A guiding principle of the Articles was to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. The federal government received only those powers which the colonies had recognized as belonging to king and parliament. The Articles formed a war-time confederation of states, with an extremely limited central government. Even unratified, the document was used by the Congress to conduct business, direct the American Revolutionary War, conduct diplomacy with foreign nations, and deal with territorial issues and Native American relations. Actually, the adoption of the Articles made no perceptible change in the federal government, because it did little more than legalize what the Continental Congress had been doing. That body was now taken over as the Congress of the Confederation, but Americans continued to call it the Continental Congress since its organization remained the same. As the Confederation Congress attempted to govern the continually growing American states, delegates discovered that the limitations placed upon the central government rendered it ineffective at doing so. The government's weaknesses became apparent, especially after Daniel Shays' Rebellion in which veterans, who'd been paid with Confederation "IOUs," found that their creditors wouldn't accept the scrip as legal tender after the war. Additionally, the Articles government was so weak because the individual states so jealously guarded their sovereign right of taxation that the only revenue the central government was allowed to charge and collect was for postage! Furthermore, there was no president, no executive agencies, no judiciary and no tax base. The absence of a tax base meant that there was no way to pay off state and national debts from the war years except by requesting money from the states, which seldom arrived. Finally, much of the mundane business of the unicameral legislature (which was, itself, one of the weaknesses) was transacted in an unsavory and highly anti-democratic manner behind closed doors, in "smoke-filled rooms," in what were called Conventions. At both the Annapolis and Mt. Vernon conventions, many delegates who sought transparency and accountability in the process of governance, began asking for changes to the Articles. It was at the Mt. Vernon convention that the assemblage proposed a meeting for exactly that purpose; and therefore, the third and final convention was set in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787. This would become the Constitutional Convention as the delegates quickly realized that simple changes around the edges would not work, and instead the entire Articles needed to be replaced.

Constitution

Its a supreme law of the United States of America that is composed of 7 articles. The first 3 articles entrench the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting the Bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting the president; and the judicial, consisting the supreme court. The next 3 articles entrench concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of the state governments and the relationship to the federal government. Article 7 establishes the procedure subsequently used by the 13 states to ratify it. Since 1788, it has been amended 27 times. The first 10 amendments, Bill Of Rights, offer specific protection of individual liberty, justice, and restriction on the powers of the government. The majority of the next 17 amendments expanded individual civil rights and protection. Others address issues related to the federal authority or modify the government process and procedures. Amendments to the US Constitution, are appended to the end of the document. All four pages of the original US Constitution are written on parchment. According to the US Senate: "The Constitution's first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. For over two centuries the Constitution has remained in force because its framers wisely separated and balanced governmental powers to safeguard the interests of majority rule and minority rights, of liberty and equality, and of the federal and state governments." It was adopted by the people's representatives for an expansive nation. It is interpreted, supplemented, and implemented by a large body of constitutional law, and has influenced the constitutions of other nations.

James Otis: (1725-1783)

James Otis, Jr. graduated from Harvard in 1743 and rose meteorically to the top of the Boston legal profession. Otis represented pro bono the colonial merchants who were challenging the legality of the "writs of assistance" before the Superior Court, the predecessor of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. These writs enabled British authorities to enter any colonist's home with no advance notice, no probable cause, and no reason given. In his oration against the writs, John Adams recollected years later, "Otis was a flame of fire; with a promptitude of classical allusions, a depth of research, a rapid summary of historical events and dates, a profusion of legal authorities." James Otis considered himself a loyal British subject. Yet in February 1761, he argued against the Writs of Assistance in a nearly five-hour oration before a select audience in the State House. His argument failed to win his case, although it galvanized the revolutionary movement. John Adams promoted Otis as a major player in the coming of the Revolution. His short, eloquent slogan "Taxation without representation is tyranny" (often repeated as "No taxation without representation") became the basic Patriot political position and rallying cry.

Rousseau (1712-1778)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau's political philosophy influenced the Enlightenment in France and across Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the overall development of modern political and educational thought. Rousseau's novel Emile, or On Education is a treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. His sentimental novel Julie, or the New Heloise was of importance to the development of preromanticism and romanticism in fiction. Rousseau's autobiographical writings—his Confessions, which initiated the modern autobiography, and his Reveries of a Solitary Walker—exemplified the late 18th-century movement known as the Age of Sensibility, and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection that later characterized modern writing. His Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. However, as he was already being influenced by the late 18th-19th C. anti-Enlightenment movement against rationalism, some of his works stray dangerously into justifications for collectivist tyranny. Hence, there's frequently discussion of the "good" Rousseau, who was an advocate of education and news dissemination in order to inform the public mind in preparation for political action; the necessity of forming a 'general will' or majority opinion; and, the centrality of polling as the mechanism for transferring political will into actionable behavior by government. However, because Rousseau was already being influenced by the Romantic era to come, he made questionable assumptions about the essential nature of people, whom he surmises to be essentially 'good.' Therefore, "bad or dangerous" Rousseau's philosophy contained a sentimental regard for innate human 'goodness,' which would manifest in the goodness and rightness of the majority's will that would direct the actions of government. Moreover, Rousseau argued that once the general will was established, its decisions were no longer subject to challenge, and the minority was expected to silently assent to the majority. This belief would cause a great deal of grief as it would prove to be a 'slippery slope' to the totalitarian tyrannies that would emerge in the 20th C., since dictators from Hitler to Stalin would claim only to be representing the will of their people.

Coureur de Bois

Literally, runner of the woods; plural: coureurs de bois, were independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian woodsman who traveled in New France and the interior of North America. They ventured into the woods usually to trade various European items for furs, and along the way they learned the trades and practices of the Native people. These expeditions were fuelled by the beginning of the fur trade in the North American interior. Trade began with coat beaver, but as the market grew coureurs de bois were trapping and trading prime beavers to be felted in Europe. While Frenchmen had been trading and living among the natives since the earliest days of the colony, coureurs des bois reached their apex during the second half of the 17th century. After 1681, the independent coureur was gradually replaced by the state-sponsored voyageurs, who were the canoe travel workers of licensed fur traders. Coureurs des bois had therefore lost their importance within the fur trade by the early 18th century. However, even while their numbers were dwindling, the coureur des bois developed as a symbol of the colony, creating a lasting myth that would continue to define New France for centuries. Shortly after founding a permanent settlement at Quebec City in 1608, Samuel de Champlain sought to ally himself with the local native peoples. He therefore decided to send young French boys to live among them to serve as interpreters, in the hope of persuading the natives to trade with the French rather than with the Dutch. These boys learned native languages, customs, and skills, and tended to assimilate quickly to their new environments. For instance, upon visiting Étienne Brûlé a year after leaving him with a Huron tribe in 1610, Champlain was surprised to find the young boy in complete native clothing, able to converse fluently in the Huron language. Early explorers like Brûlé could educate the French on the complex trading networks used by the natives, serve as interpreters, and encourage the burgeoning fur trade. Between 1610 and 1629, dozens of Frenchmen spent months at a time living among the natives. Over time, these early explorers and interpreters played an increasingly active role in the fur trade, paving the way for the emergence of the coureurs des bois proper in the mid-17th century.

Marquis de Lafayette: (1757-1834)

Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Le Marquis de Lafayette in the U.S. often known simply as Lafayette, was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War. A close friend of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. Born in Chavaniac, in the province of Auvergne in south central France, Lafayette came from a wealthy landowning family. He followed its martial tradition, and was commissioned an officer at age 13. He became convinced that the American cause in its revolutionary war was noble, and traveled to the Colonies seeking glory in it. There, he was made a major general; however, the 19-year-old was initially not given troops to command. When he was finally issued a field command, he armed, clothed, fed, and supplied his American troops with his own money, thus sparing the perpetually-broke Continental treasury. Wounded during the Battle of Brandywine, he still managed to organize an orderly retreat. He served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island. In the middle of the war, he returned home to lobby for an increase in French support. He again sailed to America in 1780, and was given senior positions in the Continental Army. In 1781, troops in Virginia under his command blocked forces led by Cornwallis until other American and French forces could position themselves for the decisive Siege of Yorktown. Upon Cornwallis' defeat, Washington gave Lafayette the honor of receiving the British surrender as a mark of gratitude for all that Lafayette and the French government had done on behalf of the new nation. He made a grand tour of the US in 1824-25 during the presidency of James Monroe and was wildly cheered, honored, feasted, entertained and toured about for the better part of 16 months. He intended to visit 13 states but, by then, he would end up visiting 24! He went to Bunker Hill and gathered soil, which would order to be sprinkled on his grave. His grave in Paris is marked with a large US flag as he is considered an honorary American citizen. Apart from the Scotsman John Paul Jones and Lafayette, other European volunteers joined the American cause and are honored with place names across the country today. For example, Count de Rochambeau, as well as two Polish volunteers, Thaddeus Kosciuszko and Casimir Pulaski.

Quebec

The culmination of a three-month siege by the British, the battle lasted about 15 minutes. British troops commanded by General James Wolfe successfully resisted the column advance of French troops and Canadien militia under General Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm, employing new tactics that proved extremely effective against standard military formations used in most large European conflicts. Both generals were mortally wounded during the battle; Wolfe received three gunshot wounds that ended his life within minutes of the beginning of the engagement and Montcalm died the next morning after receiving a musket ball wound just below his ribs. In the wake of the battle, the French evacuated the city; their remaining military force in Canada and the rest of North America came under increasing pressure from British forces. The Battle of Quebec is also important because it fulfilled, simultaneously, all three of the rules of engagement of line-and-volley (also known as Napoleonic style) combat: 1. Capture the opponent's capital; 2. Inflict one major defeat; 3. Capture/kill the opponent's commander.

A new Quartering Act of 1774

allowed a governor to house soldiers in other buildings if suitable quarters were not provided. While many sources claim that the Quartering Act allowed troops to be billeted in occupied private homes, historian David Ammerman's 1974 study claimed that this is a myth, and that the act only permitted troops to be quartered in unoccupied buildings. Although many colonists found the Quartering Act objectionable, it generated the least protest of the four Coercive Acts.

The Administration of Justice Act

allowed the Royal governor to order that trials of accused royal officials take place in Great Britain or elsewhere within the Empire if he decided that the defendant could not get a fair trial in Massachusetts. Although the act stipulated for witnesses to be reimbursed after having travelled at their own expense across the Atlantic, it was not stipulated that this would include reimbursement for lost earnings during the period for which they would be unable to work, leaving few with the ability to testify. George Washington called this the "Murder Act" because he believed that it allowed British officials to harass Americans and then escape justice. Many colonists believed the act was unnecessary because British soldiers had been given a fair trial following the Boston Massacre in 1770.

Battle of Saratoga

decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led a large invasion army southward in the Champlain Valley from Canada, hoping to meet a similar force marching northward from New York City, and another force marching eastward from Lake Ontario; the southern and western forces never arrived, and Burgoyne was surrounded by American forces in upstate New York. Burgoyne fought two small battles to break out. They took place eighteen days apart on the same ground, 9 miles south of Saratoga, New York. They both failed. Trapped by superior American forces, and with no relief in sight, Burgoyne retreated to Saratoga (now Schuylerville) and surrendered his entire army there on October 17. His surrender, says historian Edmund Morgan, "was a great turning point of the war because it won for Americans the foreign assistance which was the last element needed for victory. The French were waiting for precisely such an American victory in order to commit their money and resources toward the war effort With the victory at Saratoga, the French then signed a mutual assistance treaty and began shipping materiels in earnest.

The Quebec Act

enlarged the boundaries of what was then the Province of Quebec to include the Ohio Valley, thereby removing from their jurisdiction a territory the colonies had considered theirs by right.

Writs of Assistance

generally speaking, writs were a written order issued by a court instructing a law enforcement official, such as a sheriff or a tax collector, to perform a certain task. These writs were called "writs of assistance" because they called upon sheriffs, other officials, and loyal subjects to "assist" the customs official in carrying out his duties. In general, customs writs of assistance served as general, open-ended search warrants that did not expire, allowing customs officials to search anywhere for smuggled goods without having to obtain a specific warrant or provide arguments for probable cause. These writs became controversial when they were issued by courts in British America in the 1760s, especially the Province of Massachusetts Bay. General writs of assistance played an important role in the increasing tensions that led to the American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America. In 1760, Great Britain began to enforce some of the provisions of the Navigation Acts by granting customs officers these writs. In New England, smuggling had become common because of the increasing intrusiveness and oppressiveness of mercantilist controls. However, officers could not search a person's property without giving a reason. Colonists protested that the writs violated their rights as British subjects. The colonists had several problems with these writs. They were permanent and even transferable; the holder of a writ could assign it to another. Any place could be searched at the whim of the holder, and searchers were not responsible for any damage they caused. This put anyone who had such a writ above the laws. All writs of assistance expired six months after death of the king, at which time new writs had to be obtained. With the death of King George II in October 1760, all writs would expire on 25 April 1761. The crisis began on 27 December 1760 when news of King George II's death reached Boston and the people of Massachusetts learned that all writs faced termination. Controversy over these general writs of assistance inspired the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which forbids general search warrants in the US.

Ft. Ticonderoga

is a large 18th-century, stone-built, star-shaped fort based upon the designs of the famous French military theorist Sebastien de Vauban. 12 such forts exist in the world and they're national treasures, and the US is lucky to have one of its own. Ft. Ticonderoga was built by the French to control the rapids-infested 3.5 mile-long La Chute River narrows between the south end of Lake Champlain and the north end of Lake George, in upstate New York. It was constructed by Canadian-born French military engineer Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, Marquis de Lotbinière between October 1755 and 1757 during the French and Indian War. It was of strategic importance during the 18th-century colonial conflicts between Great Britain and France, and again played an important role during the American Revolutionary War. In 1775, Ft. Ticonderoga, in disrepair, was still manned by a token Redcoat force, who still considered it extremely useful to the British as a supply and communication link between Canada and New York. On May 10, 1775, less than one month after the skirmish at Lexington and Concord, the British garrison of 48 soldiers was surprised by a small force of Green Mountain Boys, along with militia volunteers from Massachusetts and Connecticut, led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold. Allen claims to have said, "Come out you old Rat!" to the fort's commander, Captain William Delaplace. He also later said that he demanded that the British commander surrender the fort "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!"; however, his surrender demand was made to Lieutenant Jocelyn Feltham and not the fort's commander, who did later appear and surrender his sword. With the capture of the fort, the Patriot forces obtained a large supply of cannons and other armaments, much of which Henry Knox transported by a train of ox-sleds 300 miles through the snow at night to Boston during the winter of 1775-1776. Ticonderoga's cannons were instrumental in ending the Siege of Boston when they were used to fortify Dorchester Heights. With Dorchester Heights secured the British were forced to evacuate Boston in March 1776. The capture of Ft. Ticonderoga made communication between the British Canadian and American commands much more difficult

Proclamation of 1763

issued by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War, which forbade all settlement past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. The Royal Proclamation continues to be of legal importance to the Indian tribes in Canada and is significant for the variation of indigenous status in the US. The Royal Proclamation may have played a role in the separation of the US from Great Britain as colonists at the time wanted to continue in the economically beneficial cultural practice of taking land for one's own livelihood as part of the drive west. Pontiac's Rebellion was the excuse for the British government's refusal to allow the American colonists into the Ohio Valley following the British victory in the French & Indian War. For their part, the colonists felt cheated of their 'payment,' and moved into the Ohio Valley anyway, thus inaugurating an era of increasing acts civil disobedience that would culminate in the America Revolution. It eventually ensured that British culture and laws were applied in Upper Canada after 1791, which was done to attract British settlers to the province. The 1763 proclamation line is similar to the Eastern Continental Divide's path running northwards from Georgia to the Pennsylvania-New York border, and north-eastwards past the drainage divide on the St. Lawrence Divide from there northwards through New England.

John Paul Jones: (1747-1792)

originally named John Paul, he was a Scottish-born seaman and captain who became the US' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends and enemies among America's political elites, and his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to this day. As such, he is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the American Navy." John Paul started his maritime career at the age of 13. Paul's older brother William Paul had married and settled in Fredericksburg, Virginia, the destination of many of the younger Jones' voyages. As an adult, John Paul killed a mutinous crew member, causing him to flee to Fredericksburg and leaving his fortune behind. He went to Fredericksburg to arrange the affairs of his brother, who had died without leaving any relatives; and about this time he assumed the surname of Jones, in addition to his original surname. From that period, America became "the country of his fond election," as he would later say. Soon afterwards John Paul "Jones" joined the American navy to fight against Britain, volunteering his services around 1775 to the newly founded Continental Navy, precursor to the US Navy. During this time, the Navy and Marines were being formally established, and suitable ship's officers and captains were in great demand. Jones' potential would likely have gone unrecognized were it not for the endorsement of Richard Henry Lee, who knew of his abilities. By 1779, Captain Jones took command of the 42-gun USS Bonhomme Richard, a merchant ship rebuilt and given to America by the French. On September 23, 1779, his squadron met a large merchant convoy off the coast of East Yorkshire. The 44-gun British frigate, the HMS Serapis and the 22-gun hired ship, the Countess of Scarborough, placed themselves between the convoy and Jones's squadron, allowing the merchants to escape. The Serapis engaged the Bonhomme Richard, and soon afterwards, the USS Alliance fired, from a considerable distance, at the Countess. Quickly recognizing that he could not win a battle of big guns, and with the wind dying, Jones made every effort to lock the Richard and Serapis together during which he uttered his famous quotation "I have not yet begun to fight!" in reply to a demand to surrender in this phase of the battle. Finally succeeding after about an hour, his deck guns and his Marine marksmen up in the rigging then began firing down on the British decks. Thus locked together, and with the Richard burning and sinking, the captain of the Sarapis was forced to surrender to Jones. After the Revolution, Jones later served in the Russian, Dutch, Swedish, and French navies. He died of kidney failure in Paris at the age of 45. In 1905, after a 6 year search, the US ambassador to France finally located his remains at an abandoned cemetary. His bones were brought back to the US by a Naval flotilla, and reinterred with great honor and ceremony, in a magnificent bronze and marble sarcophagus in the Naval Academy Chapel at Annapolis, MD.

The Massachusetts Government Act

provoked even more outrage than the Port Act because it unilaterally took away Massachusetts' charter and brought it under control of the British government. Under the terms of the Government Act, almost all positions in the colonial government were to be appointed by the governor, Parliament, or king. The act also severely limited the activities of town meetings in Massachusetts to one meeting a year, unless the Governor called for one. Colonists outside Massachusetts feared that their governments could now also be changed by the legislative fiat of Parliament.

The Boston Port Act

the first of the laws passed in 1774 in response to the Boston Tea Party, closed the port of Boston until the colonists paid for the destroyed tea and until the king was satisfied that order had been restored. Colonists objected that the Port Act punished all of Boston rather than just the individuals who had destroyed the tea, and that they were being punished without having been given an opportunity to testify in their own defense.

Tea Act of 1773

the thoroughgoing colonial boycott of East India tea resulted in Americans' adoption of coffee as an alternative (such that even today, the US alone, of all former British possessions, is the only one which is coffee-drinking) and was so effective that it threatened to bankrupt the company. Parliament immediately responded to the East India Co.'s financial distress by passing the Tea Act, which granted the British East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies, thereby saving the company from bankruptcy. This made British tea less expensive, which Parliament thought would be a welcome change in the colonies. In addition, there was added a small tax on which the colonists were not allowed to give their consent, but the tea still remained less expensive even with the tax. Again, Parliament taxed the colonists without their representation. The principal objective was to reduce the massive amount of tea held by the British East India Co. in its London warehouses and to help the struggling company survive. A related objective was to undercut the price of illegal tea, smuggled into Britain's North American colonies. This was supposed to convince the colonists to purchase Company tea on which the Townshend duties were paid, thus implicitly agreeing to accept Parliament's right of taxation. The Act granted the Company the right to directly ship its tea to North America and the right to the duty-free export of tea from Britain, thus making the tea cheaper. Yet, the other taxes imposed by the Townshend Acts remained in force. However, far from mollifying the colonists with the promise of cheaper tea, Americans recognized the implications of the Act's provisions: Parliament placed a higher value on protecting the financial bottom line of a native British business over a colonial business. A coalition of merchants, smugglers, and artisans similar to that which had opposed the Stamp Act 1765 mobilized opposition to delivery and distribution of the tea. The company's authorized consignees were harassed, and in many colonies successful efforts were made to prevent the tea from being landed. In Boston, this resistance culminated in the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773, when Sons of Liberty activists (some disguised as Mohawk Indians ) boarded tea ships anchored in the harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea (around 90,000 lbs and worth £9,000, or £1.03 million [2014, approx. $1.7 million US]) overboard over a period of 3 hours. Parliamentary reaction to this event included passage of the Coercive Acts, designed to punish Massachusetts for its resistance, and the appointment of General Thomas Gage as royal governor of Massachusetts. These actions further raised tensions that led to the eruption of the American War of Independence in April 1775.

Quartering Act of 1765

two Acts of Parliament that required local governments of the American colonies to provide Redcoat soldiers with any needed accommodations and housing. It also required colonists to provide food for any British soldiers in the area. Each of the Quartering Acts was an amendment to the Mutiny Act and required annual renewal by Parliament. They were originally intended as a response to issues that arose during the French and Indian War and soon became a source of tension between the inhabitants of the Thirteen Colonies and the mother country. These tensions would later fuel the fire that led to the American Revolution. Lieutenant-General Thomas Gage, commander-in-chief of forces in British North America, and other British officers who had fought in the French and Indian War, had found it hard to persuade colonial assemblies to pay for quartering and provisioning of troops on the march. Therefore, he asked Parliament to do something. Most colonies had supplied provisions during the war, but the issue was disputed in peacetime. The Province of New York was their headquarters, because the assembly had passed an Act to provide for the quartering of British regulars, but it had expired on January 2, 1764 The result would be the Quartering Act of 1765, which went far beyond what Gage had requested. No standing army had been kept in the colonies before the French and Indian War, so the colonies asked why a standing army was needed after the French had been defeated in battle. This first Quartering Act provided that Great Britain would house its soldiers in American barracks and public houses, as by the Mutiny Act of 1765, but if its soldiers outnumbered the housing available, would quarter them in "inns, livery stables, ale houses, victualing houses, and the houses of sellers of wine and houses of persons selling of rum, brandy, strong water, cider or metheglin", and if numbers required in "uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings." Colonial authorities were required to pay the cost of housing and feeding these troops. When 1,500 British troops arrived at New York City in 1766 the New York Provincial Assembly refused to comply with the Quartering Act and did not supply billeting for the troops, compelling them to remain on their ships. With its great impact on the city, a skirmish occurred in which one colonist was wounded following the Assembly's refusal to provide quartering. For failure to comply with the Quartering Act, Parliament suspended the Province of New York's Governor and legislature in 1767 and 1769, but never carried it out, since the Assembly soon agreed to contribute money toward the quartering of troops; the New York Assembly allocated funds for the quartering of British troops in 1771. The Quartering Act was circumvented in all colonies other than Pennsylvania.

Gen. Charles Cornwallis: (1738-1805)

was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. In the United States and the United Kingdom he is best remembered as one of the leading British generals in the American War of Independence. His surrender in 1781 to a combined American and French force at the Siege of Yorktown ended significant hostilities in North America. He also served as a civil and military governor in Ireland and India; in both places he brought about significant changes, including the Act of Union in Ireland, and the Cornwallis Code and the Permanent Settlement in India. Born into an aristocratic family and educated at Eton and Cambridge, Cornwallis joined the army in 1757, seeing action in the Seven Years' War. Upon his father's death in 1762 he became Earl Cornwallis and entered the House of Lords. From 1766 until 1805 he was Colonel of the 33rd Regiment of Foot. He next saw military action in 1776 in the American War of Independence. Active in the advance forces of many campaigns, in 1780 he inflicted an embarrassing defeat on the American army at the Battle of Camden. He also commanded British forces in the March 1781 Pyrrhic victory at Guilford Court House. Cornwallis surrendered his army to General Lafayette at the Battle of Yorktown in October 1781, to which he and his troops had arrived exhausted and hungry after an extended and inexplicable campaign through the Southern states, one which was marked by disagreements between him and his superior, General Sir Henry Clinton. Despite this defeat, Cornwallis retained the confidence of successive British governments and continued to enjoy an active career. Knighted in 1786, he was in that year appointed to be Governor-General and commander-in-chief in India.

Gen. William Howe: (1729-1814)

was a British Army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the American War of Independence. Howe was one of three brothers who had distinguished military careers. Having joined the army in 1746, Howe saw extensive service in the War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War. He became known for his role in the capture of Quebec in 1759 when he led a British force to capture the cliffs at Anse-au-Foulon, allowing James Wolfe to land his army and engage the French in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. Howe was sent to North America in March 1775, arriving in May after the American War of Independence broke out. After leading British troops to a costly victory in the Battle of Bunker Hill, Howe took command of all British forces in America from Thomas Gage in September of that year. Howe's record in North America was marked by the successful capture of both New York City and Philadelphia. However, poor British campaign planning for 1777 contributed to the failure of John Burgoyne's Saratoga campaign, which played a major role in the entry of France into the war. Howe's role in developing those plans and the degree to which he was responsible for British failures that year (despite his personal success at Philadelphia) have both been subjects of contemporary and historic debate. He resigned his post as Commander in Chief, North America, in 1778. He served for many years in Parliament, and was knighted after his successes in 1776. He inherited the Viscountcy of Howe upon the death of his brother Richard in 1799. He married, but had no children, and the viscountcy was extinguished with his death in 1814.

Gen. Thomas Gage: (1718-1787)

was a British general best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as military commander in the early days of the American Revolution. Born to an aristocratic family in England, he entered military service, seeing action in the French and Indian War, where he served alongside his future opponent George Washington in the 1755 Battle of the Monongahela. After the fall of Montreal in 1760, he was named its military governor. During this time he did not distinguish himself militarily, but proved himself to be a competent administrator. From 1763 to 1775 he served as commanderin-chief of the British forces in North America, overseeing the British response to the 1763 Pontiac's Rebellion. In 1774 he was also appointed the military governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, with instructions to implement the Intolerable Acts, punishing Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. His attempts to seize military stores of Patriot militias in April 1775 sparked the Battles of Lexington and Concord, beginning the American War of Independence. After the Pyrrhic victory in the June Battle of Bunker Hill he was replaced by General William Howe in October 1775, and returned to Great Britain.

Gen. Montcalm: (1712-1759)

was a French soldier best known as the commander of the forces in North America during the Seven Years' War (whose North American theatre is called the French and Indian War in the US). Montcalm was born near Nîmes in France to a noble family, and entered military service early in life. He saw service in the War of the Polish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession, where his distinguished service led to promotion to brigadier general. In 1756 King Louis XV sent him to New France to lead its defence against the British in the Seven Years' War. Montcalm met with notable successes in 1756, 1757 and 1758, but British mobilization of large numbers of troops against New France led to military setbacks in 1758 and 1759, culminating in Montcalm's death at the Battle of Quebec.

Adam Smith (1723-1790)

was a Scottish economist, philosopher, and author. He was a moral philosopher, a pioneer of political economy, and was a key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment era. He is best known for two classic works: The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The latter, usually abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work of capitalist economic theory. Smith laid the foundations of classical free market economic theory. The Wealth of Nations was a precursor to the modern academic discipline of economics. In this and other works, he developed the concept of division of labour, and expounded upon how rational self-interest and competition can lead to economic prosperity. In The Wealth of Nations, Smith argued that the economy functioned best when left alone, hence his dictum: "l'aissez-faire" or, leave it alone, let it be. He argued that the government that governed best, governed least, since an economy was such a complex organism that functioned on the principle of rational self-interest and competition, which he called "the invisible hand," that any tinkering would ultimately skew or even destroy it. In The Wealth of Nations, Smith was responding to the increasingly controlling and micromanaging governmental impulse of his day which sought to use the economy as a blunt instrument of state power. Those socalled 'mercantilists,' therefore, could see no further than the accumulation of enormous stockpiles of raw materials and resources from their colonial enterprises which then served no other purpose than of keeping these commodities away from competitor states and provide a visible manifestation of the "wealth" of the nation that horded these "treasures." Smith argued that useless stockpiled hordes were no indicator of anything other than wastefulness, which Smith personally despised. He believed that the true 'wealth of nations' comes from the number of hands gainfully employed in the creation of finished products from the raw materials as well as the strength and distribution of the trade network through which the products are sold. Not surprisingly, The Wealth of Nations became the textbook of economic theory for the new US economy after independence, which so quickly outstripped the British that within a century, the US would be the single largest economy in the world by the end of the 19th C.

2nd Continental Congress

was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the spring of 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. By raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties such as the Olive Branch Petition, the Congress acted as the de facto national government of what became the United States. When the Second Continental Congress came together on May 10, 1775 it was, in effect, a reconvening of the First Continental Congress. Many of the same 56 delegates who attended the first meeting were in attendance at the second. Notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, John Hancock of Massachusetts, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. Lyman Hall of Georgia was a latecomer to the assemblage. Hancock was elected president and is the reason why his name is at the top center of the Declaration of Independence in large script. As their appeal to the Crown had had no effect, the Second Continental Congress was convened to organize the defense of the colonies at the onset of the American Revolutionary War. The delegates also urged each colony to set up and train its own militia. By the time the Second Continental Congress met, the American Revolutionary War had already started with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Congress was to take charge of the war effort. For the first few months of the struggle, the Patriots had carried on their struggle in an ad-hoc and uncoordinated manner. They had seized arsenals, driven out royal officials, and besieged the British army in the city of Boston. On June 14, 1775, the Congress voted to create the Continental Army out of the militia units around Boston and quickly appointed Congressman George Washington of Virginia as commanding general of the Continental Army because of his experience as a Redcoat officer during the French and Indian War. On July 6, 1775 Congress approved a Declaration of Causes outlining the rationale and necessity for taking up arms in the Thirteen Colonies." On July 8, Congress extended the Olive Branch Petition to the British Crown as a final attempt at reconciliation. However, it was received too late to do any good. Silas Deane was sent to France as a minister (ambassador) of the Congress. American ports were reopened in defiance of the British Navigation Acts. Although it had no explicit legal authority to govern, it assumed all the functions of a national government, such as appointing ambassadors, signing treaties, raising armies, appointing generals, obtaining loans from Europe, issuing paper money (called "Continentals"), and disbursing funds. The Congress had no authority to levy taxes, and was required to request money, supplies, and troops from the states to support the war effort. Individual states frequently ignored these requests.

Fort Duquesne

was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the convergence point of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh in the US state of Pennsylvania. It was destroyed by the British, and replaced by Fort Pitt in 1758. The site of both forts is now occupied by Point State Park, where the outlines of the two forts have been laid in brick. Fort Duquesne, built at a point where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers came together to form the Ohio River, was long seen as important for controlling the Ohio Country, both for settlement and for trade. Englishman William Trent had established a highly successful trading post at the forks as early as the 1740s, to do business with a number of nearby Native American villages. Both the French and the British were keen to gain advantage in the area. As the area was within the drainage basin of the Mississippi River, the French claimed it as theirs. In the early 1750s, the French commenced construction of a line of forts, starting with Fort Presque Isle on Lake Erie near present-day Erie, Pennsylvania, followed by Fort Le Boeuf, about 15 miles inland near present-day Waterford, and Fort Machault, on the Allegheny River in Venango County in present-day Franklin. Lieutenant Governor of the Virginia Colony, Robert Dinwiddie, saw this as threatening to the extensive claims to land in the area by Virginians (including himself). In late autumn 1753, Dinwiddie dispatched a young Virginia militia officer named George Washington to the area to deliver a letter to the French commander, asking them to leave, and to assess French strength and intentions. Washington reached Fort Le Boeuf in December and was politely rebuffed by the French. Following Washington's return to Virginia in January 1754, Dinwiddie sent Virginians to build Fort Prince George at the Forks of the Ohio. Work began on the fort on February 17. By April 18, a much larger French force of five hundred under the command of Claude-Pierre Pécaudy de Contrecœur arrived at the forks, forcing the small British garrison there to surrender. The French knocked down the tiny British fort and built Fort Duquesne, named in honor of Marquis Duquesne, the governor-general of New France. The fort was built on the same model as Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario. Meanwhile, Washington, newly promoted to Colonel of the newly created Virginia Regiment, set out on 2 April 1754 with a small force to build a road to, and then defend, Fort Prince George. Washington was at Wills Creek in south central Pennsylvania when he received news of the fort's surrender. On May 25, Washington assumed command of the expedition upon the death of Colonel Joshua Fry. Two days later, Washington encountered a Canadian scouting party near a place now known as Jumonville Glen (several miles east of present-day Uniontown). Washington attacked the Canadians killing 10 in the early morning hours, and took 21 prisoners, of whom many were killed by the natives. More importantly for world history, the Battle of Jumonville Glen is widely considered the formal start of the French and Indian War and ultimately of the Seven Years' War.

Benedict Arnold: (1740-1801)

was a general during the Revolutionary War who originally fought for the American Continental Army but defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fortifications at West Point, New York (future site of the U.S. Military Academy after 1802) overlooking the cliffs at the Hudson River (upriver from British-occupied New York City), and planned to surrender it to the British forces. The plan was exposed in September 1780, and he was commissioned into the British Army as a brigadier general. Arnold was born in Connecticut and joined the growing army outside Boston and distinguished himself through acts of intelligence and bravery. His actions included the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775, defensive and delaying tactics at the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in 1776 (allowing American forces time to prepare New York's defenses), the Battle of Ridgefield, Connecticut (after which he was promoted to major general), operations in relief of the Siege of Fort Stanwix, and key actions during the pivotal Battles of Saratoga in 1777, in which he suffered leg injuries that halted his combat career for several years. Despite Arnold's successes, he was passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress, while other officers claimed credit for some of his accomplishments. Adversaries in military and political circles brought charges of corruption or other malfeasance, but most often he was acquitted in formal inquiries. Congress investigated his accounts and found that it was indebted to Arnold who had spent much of his own money on the war effort. Arnold was frustrated and bitter at this, as well as with the alliance with France and the failure of Congress to accept Britain's 1778 proposal to grant full self-governance in the colonies. He decided to change sides and opened secret negotiations with the British. In July 1780, he was awarded command of West Point. His scheme was to surrender the fort to the British, but it was exposed when American forces captured British Major John André carrying papers which revealed the plot. Upon learning of André's capture, Arnold fled down the Hudson River to the British sloop-of-war Vulture, narrowly avoiding capture by the forces of George Washington, who had been alerted to the plot. After the war, he and his wife settled in London. The name "Benedict Arnold" quickly became a byword in the US for treason or betrayal because he betrayed his countrymen by leading the British army in battle against the men whom he once commanded. His earlier legacy is recalled in the ambiguous nature of some of the memorials that have been placed in his honor

1st Continental Congress

was a meeting of delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies that met on September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the passage of the Intolerable Acts by Parliament in punishment of Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. The Congress was attended by 56 delegates. Georgia declined to send delegates because they were hoping for British assistance with Indian problems on their frontier and did not want to upset the British. The Congress met briefly to consider options, including an economic boycott of British trade; rights and grievances; and sent a conciliatorily worded letter, an almost identical precursor to the famous "Olive Branch Petition" to King George III to lend his good offices for redress of those grievances. The First Continenental Congress passed and signed the Continental Association, which called for a boycott of British goods to take effect in December 1774. It requested that local Committees of Safety enforce the boycott and regulate local prices for goods. These resolutions adopted by the Congress did not acknowledge the legal power of Parliament even to regulate trade, but consented, nonetheless, to the operation of acts for that purpose. Furthermore, they did not repudiate control by the royal prerogative, which was explicitly acknowledged in the Olive Branch Petition a few days later. The Congress had two primary accomplishments. The first was a compact among the colonies to boycott British goods beginning on December 1, 1774. Imports from Britain dropped by 97 percent in 1775, compared with the previous year. The Congress also called for another Continental Congress for the following year in the event that their petition was unsuccessful in halting enforcement of the Intolerable Acts.

Albany Plan of Union

was a plan to create a unified government for the Thirteen Colonies, suggested by Benjamin Franklin, then a senior leader (age 45) and a delegate from Pennsylvania, at the Albany Congress on July 10, 1754 in Albany, New York. More than twenty representatives of several northern and mid-Atlantic colonies had gathered to plan their defense related to the French and Indian War, the front in North America of the Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France. The Plan represented one of multiple early attempts to form a union of the colonies "under one government as far as might be necessary defense and other general important purposes."

Stamp Act of 1765

was an Act of the Parliament that imposed a direct tax on the colonies of British America and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. Printed materials included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. Like previous taxes, the stamp tax had to be paid in valid British currency, not in colonial paper money. The purpose of the tax was to help pay for troops stationed in North America after the British victory in the Seven Years' War and its North American theater of the French and Indian War. The Americans said that there was no military need for the soldiers because there were no foreign enemies on the continent, and the Americans had always protected themselves against Indians. They suggested that it was actually a matter of British patronage to surplus British officers and career soldiers who should be paid by London. The Stamp Act was wildly unpopular among colonists and stirred up a hornet's nest of angry opposition. A consensus considered it a violation of their rights as Englishmen to be taxed without their consent—consent that only the colonial legislatures could grant. Their slogan was "No taxation without representation." Colonial assemblies sent petitions and protests. The Stamp Act Congress held in New York City was the first significant joint colonial response to any British measure; it petitioned Parliament and the King. Local protest groups led by colonial merchants and landowners established connections through Committees of Correspondence, creating a loose information network that extended from New England to Maryland. Protests and demonstrations initiated by a new secret organization called the Sons of Liberty, often turned violent and destructive as the masses became involved. Very soon, all stamp tax distributors were intimidated into resigning their commissions, and the tax was never effectively collected. Opposition to the Stamp Act was not limited to the colonies. British merchants and manufacturers, whose exports to the colonies were threatened by colonial boycotts, pressured Parliament. The Act was repealed on March 18, 1766 as a matter of expedience, but in order to have the last word on the issue Parliament, through the Declaratory Act, reaffirmed its power to legislate for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever". There followed a series of new taxes and regulations, likewise opposed by the colonists. The episode played a major role in defining the grievances that were clearly stated within the text of the Indictment of George III section of the Declaration of Independence, and enabling the organized colonial resistance that led to the American Revolution in 1775.

Thomas Jefferson

was an American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the third President from 1801 to 1809. Prior thereto, he was elected the second Vice President, serving under John Adams from 1797 to 1801. A proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights motivating American colonists to break from Great Britain and form a new nation, he produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national level. Jefferson was primarily of English ancestry, born and educated in colonial Virginia. A graduate from the College of William & Mary, a certified genius, and true Renaissance man, Jefferson mastered many disciplines, which ranged from surveying and mathematics to horticulture and mechanics. He was a proven architect in the classical tradition. Jefferson's keen interest in religion and philosophy earned him the presidency of the American Philosophical Society. He shunned organized religion, but was influenced by both Christianity and deism. He was well versed in linguistics and spoke several languages. He founded the University of Virginia after retiring from public office. He was a prolific letter writer and corresponded with many prominent and important people throughout his adult life. His only full-length book is Notes on the State of Virginia (1785), considered the most important American book published before 1800. During the American Revolution, he represented Virginia in the Continental Congress that adopted the Declaration, drafted the law for religious freedom as a Virginia legislator, and served as a wartime governor (1779-1781). He became the US Minister to France in May 1785, and subsequently the nation's first Secretary of State in 1790-1793 under President George Washington. After the death of his wife in 1782, he had a relationship with his slave Sally Hemings and fathered at least one of her children. It's believed that Jefferson's love of France was because Paris was the only place he could go about in public with Hemings without being judged. Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the 'strong-government' and 'loose constructionism' of the Federalist agenda of Alexander Hamilton during Washington's tenure. Jefferson was especially antagonistic to the formation of the Bank of the US (the B.U.S.), a cornerstone of Hamilton's desire to promote capitalism and business interests in the urban areas of the new republic. The political split between these two intellectual titans led the formation of the First Party System. With Madison, he anonymously wrote the controversial Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in 1798-1799, which sought to embolden states' rights in opposition to the national government by nullifying the Alien and Sedition Acts. Later in life, Jefferson considered his designs for the campus of the U. of Virginia to have been his greatest achievement.

Patrick Henry: (1736-1799)

was an American attorney, planter and politician who became known as an orator during the movement for independence in Virginia. A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia, from 1776 to 1779 and from 1784 to 1786. Henry led the opposition to the Stamp Act 1765 and is remembered for his "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech to the Second Virginia Convention, a Patriot legislature. Along with Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine, he is regarded as one of the most influential champions of Republicanism and an enthusiastic promoter of the American Revolution and its fight for independence. After the Revolution, Henry was a leader of the anti-federalists in Virginia. He opposed the United States Constitution, fearing that it endangered the rights of the States as well as the freedoms of individuals; he helped gain adoption of the Bill of Rights. However, by 1798 he supported President John Adams and the Federalists. He denounced passage of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions as he feared the social unrest and widespread executions that had followed the increasing radicalism of the French Revolution.

George Washington: (1732-1799)

was an American politician and soldier who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and later presided over the 1787 convention that drafted the United States Constitution. He is popularly considered the driving force behind the nation's establishment and came to be known as the "father of the country," both during his lifetime and to this day. Washington was widely admired for his strong leadership qualities and was the only man in US history unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. He oversaw the creation of a strong, well-financed national government that maintained neutrality in the French Revolutionary Wars, suppressed the Whiskey Rebellion, and won acceptance among Americans of all types. Washington's presidency established many precedents still in use today, such as the cabinet system, the inaugural & farewell addresses, the title of "Mr. President," handshakes (as opposed to bowing), plain clothes (as opposed to ceremonial robes), horse&carriage (as opposed to royal coach of state), etc. His retirement from office after two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third--and then fourth--term. The 22nd Amendment (1951) now limits the president to two elected terms. Because he was the most respected of only a few American who'd served in the British regulars as an officer, he had the right to wear the gorget with his Continental Army uniform. The gorget was a small, half-moon-shaped gold or silver plate, worn around the neck, that signified officer status. It symbolized the last remaining vestige of a medieval knight's armored breastplate. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress commissioned him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution. In that command, Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776 but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles (Trenton and Princeton), retook New Jersey, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause. His strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. Historians laud Washington for the selection and supervision of his generals; preservation and command of the army; coordination with the Congress, state governors, and their militia; and attention to supplies, logistics, and training. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies. After victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism. Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which devised a new form of federal government for the US. Following his election as president in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation. He supported Alexander Hamilton's programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank. In avoiding war with Great Britain, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795, despite intense opposition from the Jeffersonians. He remained non-partisan, never joining the Federalist Party, although he largely supported its policies. Washington's Farewell Address was an influential primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars. He retired from the presidency in 1797, returning to his home and plantation at Mount Vernon. Upon his death, Washington was eulogized as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen" by Representative Henry Lee III of Virginia. He was revered in life and in death; scholarly and public polling consistently ranks him among the top three presidents in American history.

Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804)

was an American statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was an influential interpreter and promoter of the US Constitution, as well as the founder of the nation's financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and The New York Post newspaper. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton was the main author of the economic policies of the George Washington administration. He took the lead in the funding of the states' debts by the Federal government, as well as the establishment of a national bank, a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. His vision included a strong central government led by a vigorous executive branch,[3]:3-4 a strong commercial economy, with a national bank and support for manufacturing, plus a strong military. This was challenged by Virginia agrarians Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who formed a rival party. They favored strong states based in rural America and protected by state militias as opposed to a strong national army and navy. They denounced Hamilton as too friendly toward Britain and toward monarchy in general, and too oriented toward cities, business and banking. Hamilton was born out of wedlock in Charlestown, British West Indies, to a mother of French Huguenot and British ancestry, and a Scots father, James A. Hamilton, the fourth son of Scottish laird Alexander Hamilton of Grange, Ayrshire. Orphaned as a child by his mother's death and his father's abandonment, he was taken in by an older cousin, and later by a prosperous merchant family. He was recognized for his intelligence and talent, and sponsored by a group of wealthy local men to travel to New York City and pursue his education. Hamilton attended King's College (now Columbia University), choosing to stay in the Thirteen Colonies to seek his fortune. Hamilton became the leading cabinet member in the new government under President Washington. He was a nationalist who emphasized strong central government and successfully argued that the implied powers of the Constitution provided the legal authority to fund the national debt, assume states' debts, and create the government-backed Bank of the United States. These programs were funded primarily by a tariff on imports, and later also by a highly controversial tax on whiskey. To overcome localism Hamilton mobilized a nationwide network of friends of the government, especially bankers and businessmen, which became the Federalist Party. A major issue in the emergence of the American two-party system was the Jay Treaty, largely designed by Hamilton in 1794. It established friendly trade relations with Britain, to the chagrin of France and the supporters of the French Revolution. Hamilton played a central role in the Federalist party, which dominated national and state politics until it lost the election of 1800 to Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party. In 1795, he returned to the practice of law in New York. He tried to control the policies of President Adams (1797-1801). In 1798-99, Hamilton called for mobilization against France after the XYZ Affair and became commander of a new army, which he readied for war. However, the Quasi-War was never officially declared and did not involve army action, though it was hard-fought at sea. In the end, President Adams found a diplomatic solution that avoided a war with France. Hamilton's opposition to Adams' re-election helped cause his defeat in the 1800 election. Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied for the presidency in the electoral college in 1801, and Hamilton helped to defeat Burr, whom he found unprincipled, and to elect Jefferson despite philosophical differences. Hamilton continued his legal and business activities in New York City, and was active in ending the international slave trade. Vice President Burr ran for governor of New York State in 1804, and Hamilton crusaded against him as unworthy. Burr took offense and challenged him to a duel. Burr mortally wounded Hamilton, who died the next day.

Samuel Adams: (1722-1803)

was an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and one of the architects of the principles of American republicanism that shaped the political culture of the United States. He was a second cousin to President John Adams. Adams was born in Boston, brought up in a religious and politically active family. A graduate of Harvard College, he was an unsuccessful businessman and tax collector before concentrating on politics. He was an influential official of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Boston Town Meeting in the 1760s, and he became a part of a movement opposed to the British Parliament's efforts to tax the British American colonies without their consent. His 1768 Massachusetts Circular Letter calling for colonial non-cooperation prompted the occupation of Boston by British soldiers, eventually resulting in the Boston Massacre of 1770. Adams and his colleagues devised a committee of correspondence system in 1772 to help coordinate resistance to what he saw as the British government's attempts to violate the British Constitution at the expense of the colonies, which linked like-minded Patriots throughout the Thirteen Colonies. Continued resistance to British policy resulted in the 1773 Boston Tea Party and the coming of the American Revolution. Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in 1774, at which time Adams attended the Continental Congress in Philadelphia which was convened to coordinate a colonial response. He helped guide Congress towards issuing the Continental Association in 1774 and the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and he helped draft the Articles of Confederation and the Massachusetts Constitution. Adams returned to Massachusetts after the American Revolution, where he served in the state senate and was eventually elected governor.

John Locke (1632-1704)

was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism". Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Sir Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social contract theory. His work greatly affected the development of epistemology and political philosophy. His writings influenced Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, as well as the American revolutionaries. His contributions to classical republicanism and liberal theory are reflected in the United States Declaration of Independence. He postulated that, at birth, the mind was a blank slate or tabula rasa. Contrary to Cartesian philosophy based on pre-existing concepts, he maintained that we are born without innate ideas (or instincts), and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience derived from sense perception. He wrote two great works summarizing his pholosophical positions: Two Treatises of Government, and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Between these two works, Locke explained the concept of natural laws that govern human interaction, the residence of sovereignty in the individual and government by the consent of the governed. Locke also advocated governmental separation of powers and believed that revolution is not only a right but an obligation in some circumstances. These ideas would come to have profound influence on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States

Thomas Paine: (1736-1809)

was an English-American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, he authored the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, and he inspired the rebels in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era rhetoric of transnational human rights. He has been called "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination." Born in Thetford in the English county of Norfolk, Paine migrated to the British American colonies in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin, arriving just in time to participate in the American Revolution. Virtually every Patriot read (or listened to a reading of) his powerful pamphlet Common Sense (1776), proportionally the all-time best-selling American title, which crystallized the rebellious demand for independence from Great Britain. His The American Crisis (1776-83) was a prorevolutionary pamphlet series. Common Sense was so influential that John Adams said, "Without the pen of the author of Common Sense, the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain."

Boston Massacre

was an incident on March 5, 1770, in which British Army soldiers shot and killed people while under attack by a mob. The incident was heavily propagandized by leading Patriots, such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams, to fuel animosity toward the British authorities. British troops had been stationed in Boston, capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, since 1768 in order to protect and support crown-appointed colonial officials attempting to enforce unpopular Parliamentary legislation. Amid ongoing tense relations between the population and the soldiers, a mob formed around a British sentry, who was subjected to verbal abuse and harassment. He was eventually supported by eight additional soldiers, who were subjected to verbal threats and repeatedly hit by clubs, stones and snowballs. They fired into the crowd, without orders, instantly killing three people and wounding others. Two more people died later of wounds sustained in the incident. One of those killed instantly was Crispus Attucks, a mixed-race man of African and Wampanoag American Indian descent. He was the first casualty of the American Revolutionary War. The Boston Massacre was important for giving the Patriots' cause its first martyrs.

The Sons of Liberty

was an organization that was created in the Thirteen American Colonies. The secret society was formed to protect the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. They played a major role in most colonies in battling the Stamp Act in 1765. The group officially disbanded after the Stamp Act was repealed. However, the name was applied to other local separatist groups during the years preceding the American Revolution. In the popular imagination, the Sons of Liberty was a formal underground organization with recognized members and leaders. More likely, the name was an underground term for any men resisting new Crown taxes and laws. The well-known label allowed organizers to issue anonymous summons to a Liberty Tree, "Liberty Pole", or other public meeting-place. Furthermore, a unifying name helped to promote inter-Colonial efforts against Parliament and the Crown's actions. Their motto became "No taxation without representation."

Bunker Hill

was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the early stages of the Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in the battle. It was the original objective of both the colonial and British troops, though the majority of combat took place on the adjacent Breed's Hill. On June 13, 1775, the leaders of the colonial forces besieging Boston learned that the British were planning to send troops out from the city to fortify the unoccupied hills surrounding the city, which would give them control of Boston Harbor. In response, 1,200 colonial troops under the command of William Prescott stealthily occupied Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill. During the night, the colonists constructed a strong redoubt on Breed's Hill, as well as smaller fortified lines across the Charlestown Peninsula. In the interim, cannons brought from Ft. Ticonderoga were emplaced so as to present a clear line of fire into Charlestown, across the Charles River from Boston itself. As it was the first pitched battle between the Continental forces and the Redcoats, there was the usual trepidation and ineptitude of untested men. Since secrecy and surprise were essential, Col. Prescott uttered the famous instruction to his troops: "don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes!" The battle was a Pyrrhic victory for the Redcoats; they had suffered 1,054 casualties (226 dead and 828 wounded), with a disproportionate number of these officers. The casualty count was the highest suffered by the British in any single encounter during the entire war. British General Clinton remarked in his diary that "A few more such victories would have shortly put an end to British dominion in America." British dead and wounded included 100 commissioned officers, a significant portion of the British officer corps in North America. Much of General Howe's field staff was among the casualties. Meanwhile, the colonial losses were about 450, of whom 140 were killed. Most of the colonial losses came during the withdrawal. Major Andrew McClary was technically the highest ranking colonial officer to die in the battle; he was hit by cannon fire.

Intolerable Acts

was the American Patriots' term for a series of punitive laws passed by Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. In Great Britain, these laws were referred to as the Coercive Acts. They were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance of throwing a large tea shipment into Boston Harbor in reaction to being taxed by the British. The acts took away Massachusetts' self-government and historic rights, triggering outrage and resistance in the Thirteen Colonies. They were key developments in the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775. Four of the acts were issued in direct response to the Boston Tea Party of December 1773; the British Parliament hoped these punitive measures would, by making an example of Massachusetts, reverse the trend of colonial resistance to parliamentary authority.it was passed in the same legislative session and seen by the colonists as one of the Intolerable Acts. The Patriots viewed the acts as an arbitrary violation of the rights of Massachusetts, and in September 1774 they organized the First Continental Congress to coordinate a protest. As tensions escalated, the American Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775, leading in July 1776 to the declaration of an independent United States of America.

Townshend Acts of 1767

were a series of acts passed by Parliament and named after Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who proposed the program. The first of the Townshend Acts, represented Parliament's new approach for generating tax revenue in the American colonies after the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. The British government had gotten the impression that because the colonists had objected to the Stamp Act on the grounds that it was a direct tax, colonists would therefore accept indirect taxes, such as taxes on imports. With this in mind, Townshend, devised a plan that placed new duties on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea that were imported into the colonies. These were items that were vital to the building trades; not produced in North America; and, were products that the colonists were only allowed to buy from Great Britain. The colonists' objection to direct taxes did not mean that they would accept indirect taxes; the colonial position was that any tax laid by Parliament for the purpose of raising revenue was unconstitutional. "Townshend's mistaken belief that Americans regarded direct taxes as unconstitutional and indirect taxes constitutional," wrote historian John Phillip Reid, "was of vital importance in the history of events leading to the Revolution." There was little opposition expressed in Parliament at the time. "Never could a fateful measure have had a more quiet passage", wrote historian Peter Thomas. The original stated purpose of the Townshend duties was to raise a revenue to help pay the cost of maintaining an army in North America. Townshend changed the purpose of the tax plan, however, and instead decided to use the revenue to pay the salaries of some colonial governors and judges. Previously, the colonial assemblies had paid these salaries, but Parliament hoped to take the "power of the purse" away from the colonies. According to historian John C. Miller, "Townshend ingeniously sought to take money from Americans by means of parliamentary taxation and to employ it against their liberties by making colonial governors and judges independent of the assemblies." The colonists responded by organizing a colonial boycott of British products, and none was so vital to all Englishment as tea.

Hessians

were the 18th century German mercenary units contracted for military service by the British government, which found it easier to borrow money to pay for their service than to recruit its own soldiers. They took their name from the German state of Hesse-Kassel, from whence they were recruited. The British hired Hessian troops for combat duty in several 18th C. conflicts, but they are most widely associated with combat operations in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). About 30,000 German soldiers fought for the British during the American Revolutionary War, making up a quarter of the troops the British sent to America. They entered the British service as entire units, fighting under their own German flags, commanded by their usual officers, and wearing their existing uniforms. The largest contingent came from the state of Hesse, which supplied about 40% of the German troops who fought for the British. The large number of troops from Hesse-Kassel led to the use of the term Hessians to refer to all German troops fighting on the British side. The others were rented from other small German states. Patriots presented the soldiers as foreign mercenaries with no stake in America. Many of the men were press-ganged into Hessian service. Deserters were summarily executed or beaten by an entire company. Hessian prisoners of war were put to work on local farms. Americans were alarmed, appalled and deeply affronted at the arrival of Germanspeaking troops on American soil, viewing it as a betrayal by King George III. Also, Americans-- Patriots and Loyalists alike--often feared the Hessians, believing them to be rapacious and brutal mercenaries. Meanwhile, Hessian diaries frequently express disapproval of the British troops' conduct towards the colonists, including the destruction of property and the occasional execution of prisoners, the latter being doubly upsetting when American Germans were among them. The recent film "Sleepy Hollow" with Johnny Depp, capitalizes on their fearsome reputation by portraying the "Headless Horseman," (played by Christopher Walken) as a Hessian officer. Since the British government had stooped to using German mercenaries, the Continental Army would use them, too. Many Prussian officers and enlisted men came across the Atlantic and joined the American cause. For the Prussians, the issue was a political one. The largest and militarily most powerful of the 300 Principalities of the Holy Roman Empire were each maneuvering to gain the necessary power to unite the fractious and bickering polities into a new, unified state. Hesse, Prussia, Bavaria, Hannover, Schlesswig-Holstein, and others were, at the end of the 18th C., quietly amassing large armies and using other states' conflicts to gain their officers military experience to better position themselves for the unification movement to come. Hence, Prussian officers such as Baron de Kalb, Baron von Steuben, Baron de Woedtke, Nicholas Haussegger, the "German Regiment," and numerous others. In fact, the Battle of Morristown, NJ was fought by two opposing German generals--von Steuben and General Knyphausen

Lexington and Concord

were, technically, the first military engagements marking the outbreak of open armed conflict between Great Britain and the Colonies in what would become the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775 within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. In late 1774, following the Boston Tea Party, the colonial assembly responded by forming a Patriot provisional government known as the Ma ssachusetts Provincial Congress and calling for local militias to train for possible hostilities. The most famous of these militias were the Minutemen. The rebel government exercised effective control of the colony outside of Britishcontrolled Boston. About 700 British Army regulars in Boston, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were given secret orders to capture several rebel ringleaders at Lexington and then destroy rebel military supplies reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Through effective intelligence gathering, Patriot colonials had received word weeks before the expedition that their supplies might be at risk and had moved most of them to other locations. They also received details about British plans on the night before the battle and were able to rapidly warn, by virtue of the famous 'Midnight Ride of Paul Revere' and William Dawes, all the area militias about the planned British expedition. The militia units, engaging in guerrilla-style sniping and irregular Indian tactics, were able to harass the Redcoat lines all the way out to Concord and back. At the end of day, the casualties stood at 273 Redcoats to 93 rebels. By the next morning, Boston was surrounded by by a huge militia army, numbering over 15,000, which had marched from throughout New England. The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his "Concord Hymn", described the first shot fired by the Patriots at the North Bridge as the "shot heard round the world".