George Washington

George Washington was born in 1732 into a planter family from Virginia. There, he learned body of knowledge for a Virginia gentleman, morals,  and manners. He pursued his two interests; western expansion and military arts. When he was a teen, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew later into the French and Indian War. George served in the Virginia House of Burgesses and managed his own land around Mount Vernon from 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution. He married a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis. Washington had a busy and happy life. Like others, he felt pressured/exploited by the British.

George Washington was elected to be the commander of the Continental Army in the Second Continental Congress on Philadelphia in May 1775. On July 3, 1775, he took his soldiers and embarked on a war that was to last for six years. When the war had just started, he started thinking that they had to harass the British, so he told Congress "We should on all Occasions avoid a general Action, or put anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity, into which we ought never to be drawn. "

Washington wanted to retire and live in Mount Vernon, but he saw that Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not working well. So he returned and became a prime mover in the steps that lead to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. The Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President. When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept at all the recommendations of his Secretary of State (Thomas Jefferson), and his Secretary of the Treasury (Alexander Hamilton). Instead, he insisted upon a neutral state until the United States could grow stronger.

Battle of Bunker Hill

    
       On June 17, 1775 the British defeated the Patriots at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. Even though the Americans lost, this battle provided them with a confidence boost. This battle is referred as "The Battle of Bunker Hill" but it actually occurred nearby Breed's Hill. The colonials had proven themselves strong enough to defeat the British army, a force superior in training, equipment and organization. On April 19,1775 the citizens of Boston found themselves between two armies. On June 15, the colonists learned that the British planned to occupy Charlestown and so to make them angry they decided to act first.

       The next morning, the British were stunned to see the Americans threatening them. In the 18th century, British military custom demanded that the British attack the Americans, even though the Americans were in a higher position militarily. Major General William Howe, who led the British forces, could have surrounded the Americans with the ships at sea, but instead he decided to march his troops uphill. Howe believed that the Americans would retreat in the face of smashing, head-on attack, but he was so wrong.

       Howe's majesty's ship opened fire on the Americans. Early in the afternoon, 28 barges of British soldiers crossed the Charles River and stormed the hills. The Americans waited until the British were within 15 paces and then released a bloody fusillade. A lot of British troops were either killed or wounded and the rest retreated down the hill. Again, the British rushed the hill for a second time and again the same thing happened the first time they rushed the hill. They tried one last time, a third time, and by this time, the Americans were running low on ammunitions so they had to fight with their bare hands. The British eventually took the hill, but at a great cost. Of the 2,300 British soldiers who had gone in the first place 1,054 were either killed or wounded.

Lord William Howe

Lord William Howe was a British commander that wanted to prove that his British army was invincible. He was born on was born August 10, 1729. His grandmother had been the mistress of King George I. As a result, Howe and his 3 brothers were the uncles of King George III. On January 4, 1756, Howe was appointed major of the newly formed 60th Regiment, and traveled with the unit to North America for operations against the French.

On March 1776, British army decides to attack New York City. After several nights Lord Howe took over New York City on September 15, 1776 with 30,000 British and German soldiers. They almost entirely crushed the poorly trained Continental Army. Washington decided to get revenge and attacked a group of German soldiers that belonged with the British army at midnight on December 26, 1776. They were in a garrison stationed near a place called Trenton. As a result, Howe pulled back many of his outposts.

Howe defeated Washington at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11. Outnumbering the Americans, Howe captured the city(New York City) without a fight eleven days later. In the fall of 1777, Lord Howe won over Washington and got Philadelphia. Later on June 1778, they evacuate Philadelphia into New York City. On the way to New York City they fought with George Washington's army on Monmouth. British are attacked by the Continental Army, so they turn their attention to the south colonies.

Thomas Paine

  

       Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England on January 29, 1737 and died on June 8, 1809. He was an influential writer of essays and pamphlets. His father was a quaker and he had an anglican mother. Thomas received a not so formal educate, but he did learn how to read and write. When he was 13 years old, he began working with his father as a corset maker and later on started working as an officer, hunting smugglers and collecting tobacco and liquor taxes. He did not succeed in this work and his life in England was very much full of failures.

       Around 1760, his wife and child both died at childbirth, and his company of corset making didn't go too well and went down. In 1772,  he published "The Case of The Officers of Excise" this was an article in defense of a higher pay for all excise officers. This was his first political work, and in 1774, he got fired from the excise office. Luckily for him, he met Benjamin Franklin who advised him to move to America, and so he did. He arrived in Philadelphia in 1774, the job he got when he first got there, was helping to edit the Pennsylvania Magazine. At this time he had already started writing and publishing several articles. 

       Five months after his arrival in America, the most important event on the most famous work he did would occur. After the battles in Lexington and Concord in 1775, which were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary war Paine argued that America shouldn't just revolt against taxation, but what they should do is demand their Independence from Britain completely. He mentioned this in a pamphlet called "Common Sense" which was printed on January 10, 1776. This pamphlet was very powerful, it changed people's ideas and pushed them towards wanting Independence. He mentioned three important things in this pamphlet and those were; declare Independence from Great Britain, to become a Republican State Government and to Unite the States.

Funny Cartoons

Continental Army

The Continental Army was a group of soldiers under the command of George Washington. This army was different from the state militias. the Continental Army stood around 230,000 strong, while the state militias could count around 164,000 men, although only 20,000 men were actively fighting at any one time. Washington commanded the Continental Army from June 1775 to the end of the war in 1783.



Washington had gained plenty of military experience during the French and Indian War. The original Continental Army was made up of the New England army. The Second Congressional Congress co-opted this force as the new U.S. army and ordered that 10 companies of riflemen be recruited from other states. This would provide for the larger force that developed as the war continued. Many of the soldiers came from agricultural backgrounds and were poorly trained, poorly paid, not used to military discipline and refused to leave their farms for extended periods.



Washington developed tactics to take advantage of the opportunities available to his armies. He tried to maintain a strong army and avoid situations where his soldiers were outnumbered and could be trapped and captured or killed. His men would not hesitate to retreat if that was the best option open to them. He also used small mobile forces to harass, confuse and distract the British.

Olive Branch Petition

      On May 1775, The Second Continental Congress met to discuss some problems that have been going on between Britain and the colonies. After forming the Continental Army and putting George Washington as commander, they tried their best effort to avoid war. So, on July 1775 Congress sent an "Olive Branch Petition" to the king of Britain. This Petition was the Americans trying to make peace and pleaded, they even declared their loyalty to the crown. This "Olive Branch Petition" was their last attempt to find a peaceful end to the revolution.

      Congress drafted the Olive Branch Petition, it outlined their issues and asked the British government to respond and deal with them. The King didn't like the Americans and this affected his decision over the Petition. He didn't even want to read it, he refused to receive the Olive Branch Petition. Instead he declared the colonies to be in state of rebellion in August. He truly believed the Americans to be in a rebellion and believed it could be ended with military force. 

     The Olive Branch Petition has been called different names, like for example, The Second Petition to the King and The Humble Petition. Although the King refused the Petition it still served a very important purpose in the Independence. The King's rejection, actually gave John Adams and his radicals a chance they need in order to move forward to the Independence. Even though the Congress did their last effort at ending the war in peace with Britain, which unfortunately, the stubborn King, refused, it was still a success.