The Continental Army at Valley Forge

In the winter of 1778 George Washington led his troops which were like down because all the defeats and the battles lost, to Valley Forge. there he planed to camp during winter, and prepare for the battle with the return of the warmth weather. Since the British entered Philadelphia now, the Washington forces wanted to take out the British out of their main city.


The conditions in the camp were not the best, they were living in crowded quarters, and the 12,000 members of Washington's army were suffering from having not the adequate clothing and food.  Abut 2,000 died and the army of George Washington was disintegrating. However as time passed a transformation occurred, under Washington's leadership conditions improved, and new helps reached the camp lifting spirit. Baron Von Steuben helped the army a lot by discipline the troops, he was a member of the General Staff of the Prussian army. Steuben arrived in camp in February with a letter of introduction from Benjamin Franklin whom he had met in Paris

Washington assigned Van Steuben to train his army, which helped the army bring confidence with all the schooling that Steuben taught.

Out of this terrible winter emerged a new Army, confident and ready to do battle. On June 19, 1778 the British abandoned Philadelphia and marched back to New York City. Washington led his Continental Army in pursuit. w. The War for Independence would last another five years, but a major victory of the spirit had been won during the winter at Valley Forge.

Washington crosses the Delaware River

  The British had forced the Continental Army to abandon New Jersey, so this make them have the control of Rhode Island and New Jersey and make them think that the revolution has been crushed. Washington had to do something and quickly because his commands in the militia were due to expire in that month and all the soldiers were going back home.


His decision was to attack the British. The target was the Hessian-held town of Trenton just across the Delaware River. So in the night of Christmas in 1776. In the night of Christmas i 1776, Washington led his troops toward the icy and dangerous Delaware River. The climate was raging winds combined with snow and  it was icy cold. Also some members of the troop marched through the snow without shoes. 

 So the next morning Washington troops attacked the Hessian fores, which were tired and drunk from the Christmas night. After fighting the Hessians surrender, and Washington's victory was complete. Washington and his commanding officers decided to retrace their steps across the Delaware taking their Hessian prisoners with them.

The news of the American victory spread rapidly and make the revolution spirit again.  The battle's winning also gave Washington and his officers the confidence to make another campaign. On December 30 they again crossed the Delaware, attacked and won another victory at Trenton on January 2, and then pushed on to Princeton defeating the British there on January 3.

This battles were a decisive point in the Revolution because they give the colonial army for confident and support from other armies too, the British now were aware of the cleverness of the wash

The crossing  of the Delaware river, in the Christmas night  energized the tired and sad Colonial army, and gave the American people a reason to celebrate.

Thomas Paine

Born January 29, 1737
Husband of Mary Lambert— married
Died June 8, 1809 



Thomas Paine was a writer and revolutionary. He was born in Thetford, England, and lived and worked in Britain until age 37, he immigrated to the British American colonies, in time to participate in the American Revolution.


Thomas Paine will be most remembered because he is the writer of the famous book called Common Sense, published January 10. 1776. It expressed the ideas behind the American Revolution.
In a time when there were only two million free colonists living in America, 100,000 copies were sold in just three months!  It was read by everyone.
The publication of this hugely popular pamphlet, along with other similar publications, would lead to his legacy as the Father of the American Revolution.
After the American Revolution ended, he moved back to England were he was outlawed for treason for defending the French Revolution. In 1792 he fled to France. He greatly influenced the French Revolution. He wrote the Rights of Men(1791), a guide to Enlightenment ideas. Despite not speaking French, he was elected to the French National Convention in 1792.

Second Continental Congress

Following the the fighting at Lexington and Concord a meeting was called in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775 to assemble delegates to the Second Continental Congress. Those present included Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington. Some wanted to declare America independent immediately; some wanted to avoid war. While giving peace a final try, Congress established a Continental army and appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief. In an effort to bring peace, John Dickinson and others in Congress drew up a document referred to as the "The Branch Petition" which King George refused to read. With the creation of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 the Congress became as the Congress Of the Confederation.

The Battle of Lexington and Concord

On the evening of April 18, 1775, many of Captain John Parker’s militiamen gathered in a local tavern to await word about the movement of British soldiers, an event that had been rumored for several days.Then in April 19, 1775 the first shot between Americans and British was fired. British had decided to march to Concord because Americans had a stockpiles of weapons in that place. british troops were established in Boston and to march to Concord they had to pass through Lexington. Confirmation of the British advance was delivered to Lexington by Paul Revere and William Dawes. In the early hours of April 19 the Minutemen,  began to gather on the village green, then when the British arrived, they ordered the colonists to throw their arms down and disperse. At that point a shot was fired, No one knows who shot first , but it was called ´´The shot heard around the World´´.  Americans had to withdraw because British were winning. British advanced, going to Concord, but forces were waiting them, forcing them to retreat.

The CALAME-TEA

In December 16, 17773 the colonists dressed like Indians and went to the Boston Harbor, waiting for the ships that contained all the British Tea. The Boston Tea Party was a reaction to the Tea Act of 1773 that was passed by Parliament to save the British East India Company from bankruptcy.  the colonists boarded the three ships of the East India Company and dumped over 10,000 pounds of tea into the Boston harbor. Parliament was furious and retaliated by passing the Coercive Acts, one of which closed the Boston harbor.

The Sons of Liberty

   

In Boston in early summer of 1765 a group of shopkeepers and artisans who called themselves The Loyal Nine, began preparing for agitation against the Stamp Act. As that group grew, it came to be known as the Sons of Liberty.The first widely known acts of the Sons took place on August 14, 1765, when an effigy of Andrew Oliver  was found hanging in a  

tree on Newbury street, along with a large boot with a devil climbing out of it. Samuel Adams and Paul Revere headed the Sons Of Liberty in Massachucets.

Patrick Henry

Born: May 29 1736 in Cedar Hill, Hanover Co., Virginia

Died: June 6 1799 in Red Hill Plantation, Virginia

Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 – June 6, 1799) was an orator and politician who led the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. As a Founding Father , he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governer of Virginia from 1776 to 1779 and subsequently, from 1784 to 1786. Henry led the opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765 and is well remembered for his "Give me Liberty, or give me Death" speech. Along with Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine, he is remembered as one of the most influential exponents of Republicanism, promoters of the American Revolution and Independence, especially in his denunciations of corruption in government officials and his defense of historic rights. After the Revolution, Henry was a leader of the anti-federalists in Virginia who opposed the United States Constitution , fearing that it endangered the rights of the States, as well as the freedoms of individuals

Henry was born in Studley, Hanover County, Virginia on May 29, 1736. His father was John Henry, an immigrant from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, who had attended King's College, Aberdeen before immigrating to the Colony of Virginia in the 1720s.

Henry attended local schools for a few years, and then was tutored by his father. After failing in business, in 1754 he married Sarah Shelton, with whom he would have six children. As a wedding gift, his father-in-law gave the couple six slaves and the 300-acre Pine Slash Farm. Henry began a career as a planter, but their home was destroyed by fire in 1757. Henry made another attempt at business,which also failed, before deciding to become a lawyer in 1760.

The Sugar, Stamp and Quatering Acts

After the french and Indian war with the colonists, the national debt Britain had nearly doubled. This caused the increasing of taxes to the British, which were taxed heavily. The increasing of taxing seem unfair to the british beacause he colonists were not taxed so heavily and they were the ones that were being protected and made Britain lose money. The parliament decided that the colonists should pay more taxes.

George Grenville

 Sugar Act

In 1764 the prime minister of Britain Geroge Grenville  decided to enforce the tax to the colonists, with the sugar act. The Sugar Act reduced the rate of tax on molasses from six pence to three pence per gallon, while Grenville took measures that the duty be strictly enforced. The act also listed more foreign goods to be taxed including sugar, certain wines, coffee, pimiento, cambric and printed calico, and further, regulated the export of lumber and iron. The enforced tax on molasses caused the almost immediate decline in the rum industry in the colonies.

                                                                  

Quatering Act

In March of 1765, the government of Grenville, created the law of the quatering act. This act consisted in that each colonial assembly was directed to provide for the basic needs of soldiers stationed within its borders. Specified items included bedding, cooking utensils, firewood, beer or cider and candles. This law was expanded in 1766 and required the assemblies to billet soldiers in taverns and unoccupied houses. The British ministry was also faced with the prospect of taking back the French and Indian war veteran and retirated soldiers, and provide them with pays and pensions. If those soldiers could keep fighting in America then the colonists would need to pay taxes.

                                                                       

     Stamp Act

                                                                          

 In March of 1765, the government had another bill to raise money for the colonists, this was to pay a high price for printing documents like: newspapers, books, court documents, court deeds, land deeds etc. All those documents had a seel and the colonists should pay for it. This are examples of the seels and the documents being charged:

The French and Indian War

 The French and Indian War was one of a series of wars between the British and French starting as early as the 1600s. The French Indian War took place from 1754 to 1763.

The Most important events leading to the war were:

In the 1750s, France and Britain were fighting in Europe. The war was now spreading to North America. British Colonists wanted to take over French land in North America. The British wanted to take over the fur trade in the French held territory.

British soldiers fought against French soldiers and Native Americans. Native Americans joined in the battle against the British because they were afraid the British would take over their land.

The war ended in 1759 when British Major General James Wolfe captured Quebec.

Quebec- Quebec was the center area of the french.

Results Of the war:

In the peace treaty of 1763 called the THE TREATY OF PARIS the British got most of the French land in North America. Also as a result of the war, the British began taxing the colonists to pay for the war.