20230221 Notes.docx

Lead up to Revolution & Revolution - HIST 1050

Thomas Paine * Published persuasive essays to draw more people to the Patriot Cause * Published Common Sense (1776) * Met Benjamin Franklin in 1774 when he was an ambassador to Britain, trying to stop the future revolutionary war * Also wrote * The American Crises * The Rights of Man * The Age of Reason
George Washington & Maximilien de Robespierre were attacked in Paine’s essays about his imprisonment due to protesting
James Monroe was the president of the US who let Paine out of prison due to his protest
Governor Josiah Martin * British governor of NC, outcasted, but had plans to retake the colony with redcoats/loyalists (wanted to take Wilmington & New Bern) * This group of loyalists were led by General Donald MacDonald, and convened at Cross Creek
Colonel James Moore * Commanded the Patriot force
Colonel Richard Caswell * Led the group of loyalists with MacDonald * Would be called the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge, which ended in Patriot victory
Siege of Boston (April 1775-March 1776) * Washington sent Henry Knox to Fort Ticonderoga to get the cannons that they left there to help supplement the fighting during the Siege
Brigadier General John Thomas * Lead the Continental Army cannon positions at Dorchester Heights to fight the British
General William Howe * The British commander of British soldiers in Boston, had to call for an evacuation because the position was too good to fight and lead Boston to be taken under Patriot control
North Carolina Provincial Congress * Met for the 4th time in Halifax, and voted to approve the Halifax Resolves * Stated that they wanted complete separation from Britain, allowed it to create a constitution, and offer assistance to other colonies that wanted to separate from Britain * James Green sent it to the continental congress, and it was the first self-governed state
Second Continental Congress * Joseph Hewes was a delegate from NC and push for delegates from Britain
Richard Henry Lee * Virginia delegate introduced his separation from Britain in the Continental Congress, known as the Lee Resolution
General Henry Clinton * British general left Boston with Lord Charles Cornwallis and Sir Peter Parker * Wanted to meet General William Howe to fight for Charles Town, and meet the Patriot force assembling close by on Sullivan’s Island
Colonel William Moultrie and William “Danger” Thomson led the Patriots stationed there and around 100 Catawba natives * Major General Charles Lee would be the person to manage the battle itself under Col Moultrie
Actaeon was the British ship that was beached in the sand bar and the ship was abandoned * Set the frigate on fire to make sure they couldn’t utilize the ship
This was known as the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, which was a huge win for patriots and a large morale boost for the patriots while making the British morale lessen (because they couldn’t take a half-built fort)
Declaration of Independence * Adopted July 4th, 1776 * Introduced and voted upon on July 2nd, 1776 * Colonies approved and signed technically on August 2nd
Committee to affirm the Declaration included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams
Thomas Jefferson wrote the early draft, and incorporated the comments of Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, then published it * Thomas Jefferson originally published the idea of banning the African Slave Trade, which were taken out by other delegates because of their unknowingness of why to keep it in there
Battle of Long Island/Battle of Brooklyn/Battle of Brooklyn Heights
General William Howe * British General landed on Long Island in hopes of cutting off the colonies * Led red coats and German mercenaries
General George Washington * Knew that it was a British target and assigned people as required * Knew it was a target because of it’s use for moving supplies from the NY port and NE
Major General Nathanael Greene * Commanded troops at Brooklyn Heights
Major General Israel Putnam * Took over for Nathanael Greene after he became sick
Lieutenant Thomas Knowlton * 100 rangers led by Knowlton and Joseph Reed met the British during the Patriot retreat from Long Island * Knowlton was killed in the retreat at the battle of Harlem Heights * The retreating battles were known as the battle of Harlem Heights
Margaret Cochrane Corbin * First woman to fight in combat for the revolutionary war and enlist in the Continental Army * Usually did clothes and made food like other women * But she manned the cannon after her husband had been killed at the Battle of Fort Washington (another battle for NY) * She had lost her arm, and received a pension as a result, and became the first person to receive a military pension
David Bushnell & Phineas Pratt had ideas on how to fight British forces because they supported the Americans in the Revolutionary War * Developed a bomb that could be detonated underwater, but needed a way to utilize it * Turtle was the design that would be utilized, which was basically a crude submarine
Ezra Lee was the pilot, and he was tasked to attack the British ship the HMS Eagle * But he was unable to successfully drill and place the bomb in the boat because it was made of copper
Major General Philip Schuyler * Meant to command the Canadian forces, but would later come back into the states with his forces and Major General Horatio Gates with Major General John Sullivan
Brigadier General Benedict Arnold was the person in charge of all these generals in charge of the colonial fleet * Had extensive experience in ship building and merchanting
Crown Point would be the defending point of these generals, just before Fort Ticonderoga, and they would be stationed around Lake Champlain
Commodore Jacobus Wynkoop * Leader of the Canadian forces
General Sir Guy Carleton * British general in Canada, who wanted to secure Lake Champlain
Lieutenant Thomas Pringle * The British vessels were under General Carleton’s control
Battle of Valcour Island would soon be the naval battle that would take place between the 29 British ships and the 16 Patriot ships * Patriot ships retreated in the night of the battle, and were eventually caught * Patriots crashed their ships and burned them and headed towards Fort Ticonderoga for reinforcements * Ended up being neither a win or a loss for either side
General William Howe * Temporarily retired and waited for the freezing of the deleware weather
General George Washington * Knew this and planned for a win to help morale
Colonel Johann Rall * Commanded the Hessians (German mercenaries) and British forces to hold off on the Delaware, and relaxed his guard
Colonel John Cadwaladerc & General James Ewing surrounded the Redcoats and Hessians in Trenton * While Washington was able to pass the Delaware, Cadwaladerc & Ewing couldn’t take their positions
Major General John Sullivan & Major General Nathanael Greene took positions given by Washington after they beached in the Delaware
Would be known as the Battle of Trenton, a major win for the Patriots (with no deaths) and the British retreated on sight of the Patriots
Lord Charles Cornwallis * Would lead the British soldiers to take Trenton once again, but had to give up the attack because they couldn’t get past the bridge connected to Trenton because of the Patriot soldiers position * Known as Second Battle of Trenton
Battle of Princeton * Patriots captured 200 redcoats and were able to rally themselves to fight for Princeton, not a win, but not a loss either
Fort Ticonderoga * Where the Americans had fled
Major General John Burgoyne * Led thousands of Natives, British, and Hessian soldiers against Fort Ticonderoga
Major General Arthur St. Clair * Knew they couldn’t defend the fort, so tried to hold it as long as they could until they could flee to Mount Independence * Decided to flee in the night, which led to small skirmishes, but they were able to retreat * Were tried after their retreat without any fight because of the government’s furious response to Clair’s failures