viernes, 8 de abril de 2011

The Treaty of Paris

After all the great fightings and battles the patriots had to endure in order to accomplish 
their Independence, they finally got to the end of it and signed the known treaty of Paris. 
What had happened?  Why would the British make peace with patriots?




When the British heard of the surrender at Yorktown, the 
House of Commons was in an uproar. They now were concerned of losing the war. The British prime minister North resigned and was replace 
by Lord Shelborne.


The Treaty of Paris, 1783. The British delegation refused to pose.




Lord Shelborne wanted to negotiate an end to the war. He sent Richard Oswald to Paris to meet with the American representatives Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay.
The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1782. The treaty was ratified on April 17, 1783, and it officially recognized American independence.





This treaty had also some terms that were beneficial for the Americans as well for the British. Under the terms of the treaty for example:

  • Britain recognized the independent nation of the United States of America. 
  • Britain agreed to remove all of its troops from America. 
  • The treaty also set new borders for the United States including all land from the Great Lakes on the north to Florida on the south, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River.
  • The United States agreed to allow British troops still in America to leave. 
  • America agreed to pay all existing debts owed to Britain. 
  • The Treaty of Paris is on display during a media preview at the National Archives August 21, 2008 in Washington DC. The Treaty of Paris is the agreement that marked the official end of the Revolutionary War and will go on display August 29, to commemorate the 225th anniversary of its signing.
    The Treaty of Paris
  • They also agreed not to persecute loyalists still in America, and allow those that left America to return.
As a conclusion the Treaty of Paris which was represented by Benjamin Franklin was considered as The Treaty of Paris officially ended the revolution, and recognized the United States of America as an independent nation.

king Mountain Battle

Countless number of battles took place in the American Revolution as we know it 
however there some battle specifically that were crucial for the American victory
in the Independence war. 

First of all we must know that there were two different kinds of groups in the colonies.
The Patriots: who were the ones pursuing independence and fought all the battles against
England
The Loyalists: the loyalists were a percent of the colonial people who were kind of against
patriots, supported the British and intended to keep under the control of them.

In the Southern colonies war became a cruel and bloody civil was with the patriot and loyalists 
confrontations. I must say also that Loyalists at this point (1780) had allied with the British 
and reached to a point of confrontation with Patriots. Even though they were sort of allied 
British didn't support the loyalists in war, therefore they obtained as a result big failure. 

Many historians consider the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780 to 
be the turning point in America's War for Independence. 
The victory of the Patriots over British Loyalist troops completely destroyed 
the left wing of Cornwallis' army. This decisive battle successfully ended the British 
invasion into North Carolina and forced Lord Cornwallis to retreat from Charlotte 
into South Carolina to wait for reinforcements. 
This triumphant victory of the Overmountain Men allowed General Nathanael Greene the opportunity to reorganize the American Army.  

Benjamin Franklin


Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706-April 17, 1790 )

          Early Life
Benjamin franklin had a tough llife at the beginnig, when he was a kid given that his father had a tough economic situation he was onlly able to go through 1 or 2 years of school. later on he was sent to his uncle where he had to works printing pamphlets and sellling printed products. in 1721 when he was 15 his uncle started a news paper "The New England Courant" in Boston. After James was in prision he started to beat Benjamin which caused him to run away, this happened in 1723 when he was 17 years old. 
After running away he went to Philadelphia where he got a job as a printer and there he met his wife, Deborah Read.
In the later years he retired and started inventing machines. Towards the independence he was selected in the second continental congress, helped draft the declaration of indepence and serve as embassador in France.  He played an important role in Italy of alliance and the treaty of Paris in 1783 on his return he served as president of the execution councils of Pennsylvania. Sadly he died on April 17, 1790 when he was 84 years old.

Inventions

Among his many creations were the lightning rod, glass harmonica (a glass instrument, not to be confused with the metal harmonica), Franklin stove, bifocal glasses and the flexible urinary catheter. His inventions also included social innovations, such as paying forward. Franklin's fascination with innovation could be viewed as altruistic; he wrote that his scientific works were to be used for increasing efficiency and human improvement. One such improvement was his effort to expedite news services through his printing presses.  

Battle of Saratoga

Date: 17th October 1777

Place: Saratoga on the Hudson River in New York State.

Combatants: British and German troops against the Americans.

Generals: Major General John Burgoyne commanded the British and German force. Major General Horatio Gates and Brigadier Benedict Arnold commanded the American army.

There Were: The British force comprised some 5,000 British, Brunswickers, Canadians and Indians. By the time of the surrender the American force was around 12,000 to 14,000 militia and troops.

Winner: The Americans forced the surrender of Burgoyne’s force.

British Regimens: The senior officers were Major General Phillips, Baron Riedesel, Brigadier Simon Fraser and Brigadier Hamilton.


The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the Revolutionary War.
The scope of the victory is made clear by a few key facts: On October 17, 1777, 5,895 British and Hessian troops surrendered their arms. General John Burgoyne had lost 86 percent of his expeditionary force that had triumphantly marched into New York from Canada in the early summer of 1777.

Divide and Conquer

The divide-and-conquer strategy that Burgoyne presented to British ministers in London was to invade America from Canada by advancing down the Hudson Valley to Albany. There, he would be joined by other British troops under the command of Sir William Howe. Howe would be bringing his troops north from New Jersey and New York City. Burgoyne believed that this bold stroke would not only isolate New England from the other American colonies, but achieve command of the Hudson River and corrupt the Americans and their would-be allies, such as the French.


Howe's journey
 Instead of heading north to help Burgoyne fight the rebels in Saratoga, General Howe sailed south and embarked on a campaign to capture Philadelphia.

In June 1777, Burgoyne's army of over 7,000 men (half of whom were British troops and the other half Hessian troops from Brunswick and Hesse-Hanau) departed from St. Johns on Lake Champlain, bound for Fort Ticonderoga, at the southern end of the lake. As the army proceeded southward, Burgoyne drafted and had his men distribute a proclamation that, among other things, included the statement "I have but to give stretch to the Indian forces under my direction, and they amount to thousands," which implied that Britain's enemies would suffer attacks from Native Americans allied to the British.

viernes, 18 de marzo de 2011

The Battle of Monmouth

Date: 28th June 1778.
Place: New Jersey.
Combatants: The army of British and German troops against American Continental troops and militia.

Generals: Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton, Major General Earl Cornwallis and Major General Knyphausen against General George Washington and Major General Charles Lee.
There Were: 10,000 British troops against 11,000 Americans.

Winner: The battle is generally taken as a draw.

The Battle of Princeton commanded by General George Washington

General George Washington and his army spent the winter of 1777/8 at Valley Forge in harsh and deathly circumstances.
Memorably the Prussian officer General Steuben trained the American regiments in a form of European battle drill, devised and adapted to suit American troops.

in the other hand the British army spent the winter in Philadelphia. Lieutenant General Howe returned to England, relieved of his appointment in command in America at his own request, to be replaced by General Clinton. Clinton arrived with orders to evacuate Philadelphia and concentrate the British forces at New York.
On 18th June 1778 the British army with artillery, left Philadelphia and began the laborious march to the North-East.

General Washington marched east from Valley Forge seeking to intercept the slow moving British troop. He did so at Monmouth Courthouse.
General Lee unsuccessful attack


France had initially doubted America's resolve and ability to wage an effective war against Britain, but was now willing to join forces with them and intercept the British. 
General Washington, bringing the main American army along the Monmouth road, encountered, not the rear of the British column, but Lee’s regiments, retreating in considerable disorder with the British advancing behind them. What was the main problem with Lee tactics was that he didn't gave strict orders but left the troops do as they wished which resulted in sort of a chaos. Later with the invaluable assistance of Baron von Steuben, Washington managed to re-form the American ranks and engage the enemy again; the fighting continued throughout the remainder of the day.


Washington's attack after Lees retrieving 
During the night the British broke camp and marched on they quickly embarked upon a short voyage over Lower New York Bay and through The Narrows to Manhattan. Washington prudently decided not to follow and instead marched his army northward to rejoin other the American force that was camping along the Hudson River. Eventually The patriot forces took credit for their enemy's flight from Philadelphia and New Jersey
Something curious was that Up to 100 men are thought to have died of heatstroke during the battle.