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Give me Liberty Give me Death speech
"Give me Liberty, or Give me Death!" is a quotation attributed to Patrick Henry from a speech he made to the Virginia Convention. On that day, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, and is credited with having swung the balance in convincing the Virginia House of Burgesses to pass a resolution delivering the Virginia troops to the Revolutionary War. Among the delegates to the convention were future US Presidents Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. -
The Midnight ride of Paul Revere
The highlight of his Whig activity came the night of April 18-19, 1775, when on Joseph Warren's orders he crossed the Charles River and rode to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were coming through on their way to Concord. Revere got the word to the radical leaders, but a British patrol prevented any further progress. -
Battle at Lexington/ Concord
(British victory- first shot fired around the world) -
Battle at Bunker Hill
(British victory- Though the british won, it resulted in a large dent in the English army's population) -
Benjamin Franklin becomes first U.S. Post General
The United States Postmaster General is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin was appointed by the Continental Congress as the first Postmaster General, serving slightly longer than 15 months -
Battle of Quebec
The battle was the first major defeat of the war for the Americans, and it came at a high price. General Richard Montgomery was killed, Benedict Arnold was wounded, and Daniel Morgan and more than 400 men were taken prisoner. The city's garrison, a motley assortment of regular troops and militia led by Quebec's provincial governor, General Guy Carleton, suffered a small number of casualties. -
Common Sense
Convince Americans thet were better off free. -
Besty Ross sews first American Flag
The Betsy Ross flag is an early design of the flag of the United States, popularly attributed to Betsy Ross, using the common motifs of alternating red-and-white striped field with five-pointed stars in a blue canton. The flag was designed during the American Revolution and features 13 stars to represent the original 13 colonies. The distinctive feature of the Ross flag is the arrangement of the stars in a circle. -
Virginia Declaration of Rights
A call for American independence from Britain, the Virginia Declaration of Rights was drafted by George Mason in May 1776 and amended by Thomas Ludwell Lee and the Virginia Convention. -
Battle at Sulivan's Island
(American victory-The victory at Sullivan's Island saved Charleston and, along with the Declaration of Independence a few days later, provided a much needed boost to American morale.) -
Declaration of Independence
To state America's independence from England -
Battle of Long Island
(British victory-the largest battle of the entire conflict, and the first battle in which an army of the United States engaged, having declared itself a nation only the month before.) -
Battle of Valcour Island
(British tactical victory-Valcour Island was critical strategic victory for General Arnold as it prevented an invasion from the north in 1776. The delay caused by the naval race and battle gave the Americans an additional year to stabilize the northern front and prepare for the campaign that would culminate with the decisive victory at the Battles of Saratoga.) -
Battle at Trenton
(American victory- It was a very riskey move on George Washingtons part because the Hessians were one of the most highly trained armies on the face of the earth.) -
Battle of Brandywine
(British victory-The defeat and subsequent maneuvers left Philadelphia vulnerable. The British captured the city on September 26, beginning an occupation that would last until June 1778.) -
Battle of Paoli
Following the American retreats at the Battle of Brandywine and the Battle of the Clouds, George Washington left a force under the command of Brigadier General Anthony Wayne behind in order to monitor and harass the British as they prepared to move on the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. -
Battle of Germantown
(British victory-Despite the defeat, the Americans were encouraged by their initial successes. France, impressed by the American victory at Saratoga and the attack at Germantown, decided to lend more assistance to the rebellion.) -
Battle of Saratoga
(American victory- Americans caught British and Hessians by suprise) -
Battle at Fort Mifflin
British land batteries commanded by Captain John Montresor and a British naval squadron under Vice Admiral Lord Richard Howe attempt to capture an American fort in the Delaware River commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Smith. The operation finally succeeded when the wounded Smith's successor, Major Simeon Thayer, evacuated the fort on the night of November 15 and the British occupied the place the following morning. -
French Alliance
Promised military support in case of attack by British forces indefinitely into the future -
Spain declares war on Great Britain
Spain was allied with France through the Bourbon Family Compact, and also viewed the Revolution as an opportunity to weaken the British Empire, which had caused Spain substantial losses during the Seven Years' War. As the newly appointed Prime Minister, José Moñino y Redondo, Count of Floridablanca, wrote in March 1777, "the fate of the colonies interests us very much, and we shall do for them everything that circumstances permit". -
Battle of Cowen's Ford
The Battle of Cowan's Ford was a battle in the Southern Theater of Cornwallis's 1780–1782 Campaign that eventually led to the British Army's surrender at Yorktown during the American Revolutionary War. It was fought on 1 February 1781 at Cowan's ford on the Catawba River in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, between a force of about 5,000 British and fewer than a thousand Americans who were attempting to slow the British advance across the river. The American general William Lee Davidson was ki -
Battle of Yorktown
( American victory-last major land battle in North America during the American Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of Independence) -
Tready of Paris
Ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on one side and the United States of America and its allies on the other. -
Washington Resigns
On this day in 1783, following the signing of the Treaty of Paris, General George Washington resigns as commander in chief of the Continental Army and retires to his home at Mount Vernon, Virginia.
