“Promises that you make to yourself are often like the Japanese plum tree- they bear no fruit,” said Francis Marion. The youngest son of six children from Gabriel and Esther Marion was born in 1732 at the family plantation in Berkeley County, South Carolina, whose name was soon to be Francis Marion. The Marion family moved to a plantation in St. George when Francis was only a toddler so that the children could receive an education in Georgetown, SC. When Francis turned fifteen, he decided to take a job as a sailor and register as the sixth crewman on a schooner, which is a type of sailing vessel with several masts. After a voyage to the West Indies, on the trip back the ship was reported to be hit by whale and sunken. After a week in a small boat under the blazing sun, two men have died due to exposure and dehydration, while the Marion and the rest have survived and made it back to shore. Soon to come throughout Francis Marion’s life more adventurous scenarios will been seen and greatly affect America’s history which will show how Francis Marion receives the nickname the ,”Swap Fox.”
With a disaster at sea, Francis made a bright decision to go back to his home plantation. With another disaster brewing on land, the French & Indian War was crucial for Francis Marion because warfare was seen for the first time but far from the last time. Marion mobilized into a militia company in 1757 serving as a lieutenant to defend the frontier. Taking orders under Captain William Moultrie, Francis pursued in a barbarous movement facing the Native American tribe called the Cherokees. Throughout the short war, Francis took important notes of Cherokee tactics which stressed on tools like camouflage, utilizing the terrain for advantage, and ambushi...
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... appointed Loyalist militias to pursue Marion. Through no militia could stop him, he won victories at Black Mingo Creek, Blue Savannah, and Tearcoat Swamp.
Still No one could touch him, Major Patrick Ferguson's force was defeated at the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7. Cornwallis became increasingly concerned about Marion, so as a result he dispatched the feared Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton to destroy Marion's command. With nicknames like “Bloody Man” or “Butcher” Lieutenant Colonel Banastre was not the best choice to mess with, even after the “Waxhaw’s Massacre” slaughtering hundreds. Tarleton was told intelligence spilling Marion’s location. Closing on Marion's camp, Tarleton hunted for the patriot for seven hours and across 26 miles before stopping in swampy territory and stating, "As for this damned old fox, the Devil himself could not catch him."
Tecumseh ,Shawnee war chief, was born at Old Piqua, on the Mad River in western Ohio. In 1774, his father, Puckeshinwa, was killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant, and in 1779 his mother, Methoataske, accompanied those Shawnees who migrated to Missouri, later died. Raised by an older sister, Tecumpease, Tecumseh would play war games with other fellow youths in his tribe. Tecumseh accompanied an older brother, Chiksika, on a series of raids against frontier settlements in Kentucky and Tennessee in the late 1780’s. Chiksika had a vision that he would not survive the battle at Buchanan’s station he went ahead as plan and attacked the stockade and was mortally wounded and was carried from the battle field and the dying warrior asked not to be buried but to be placed on a hill. Tecumseh and the other’s retreated back to a Cherokee village where most went back to Ohio while Tecumseh and some other warriors stayed behind. After that Tecumseh went on mostly hunting but occasionally attacking settler’s. After that moved back towards home and come to find out that the Shawnee’s had moved on to where it’s much safer. The battle of Fallen Timber’s broke confidence in British assistance as well as many casualties. Pissed off by the Indian defeat, he refused to sign the Treaty of Greenville (1795). In the 1800’s Tecumseh began to show signs of a prominent war chief. He led a group of yong Indian warriors to a village on the White River in east-central Indiana. There in 1805 Lalawethika ex...
In the years leading up to the Seven Years War, there were already many skirmishes in the thirteen colonies between the British and the Native American tribes in the area.1 The first official year of fighting also led to many decisive defeats to the overextended British Empire. Many small battles for dominance between the British and the French also occurred along the Indian coast. In response to the acts of expansion by the French, the British decided to defend its own territory in North America and India.2 There were many battles scattered across the world, with significant naval battles in the Indian theatre and the Mediterranean. At first, the French won many decisive battles with the aid of its allies against the British Empire. Both countries however, were relatively equal in size and power at the time, but that would soon change. The British began to turn the tide as they made significant lead...
The French and Indian War was very momentous because it greatly expanded the English’s territorial claims it had owned, meaning more control over the colonies than it had before. It diminished the English’s wealth it had accumulated due to the heavy taxation on American colonies, creating a debt the English owed to pay for the war. All of this would lead to factors that would influence the colonists to rebel against the English Crown and later on fully declare independence.
William Bradford and John Smith’s two pieces both convey America as a place to escape the European world but completely fail to contain congruency on what early America was like in this time period.
Frederick Douglass corroborated a story about John Parker, one of the black Confederates at Manassas. A Virginia slave, John was sent to Richmond to build batteries and breastworks. After completing this job, he, and his fellow slaves were ordered to Manassas “to fight,” as he said. He was put in an artillery unit with three other black men. On Sunday, July 21, “we opened fire about 10:00 in the morning; couldn’t see the Yankees at all and only fired at random.
His impact on the Battle of Saratoga and efforts in controlling the sea for American were not recognized as much until after his death. He might not have won “the glory he sought,” but he definitely “helped win a nation’s freedom” (Thomas 311). This biography has provided me with information that has widened by understanding of the American Revolution and a new perspective on the intricacies of the battles at
As white settlers poured across the mountains, the Cherokee tried once again to compensate themselves with territory taken by war with a neighboring tribe. This time their intended victim was the Chickasaw, but this was a mistake. Anyone who tried to take something from the Chickasaw regretted it, if he survived. After eleven years of sporadic warfare ended with a major defeat at Chickasaw Oldfields (1769), the Cherokee gave up and began to explore the possibility of new alliances to resist the whites. Both the Cherokee and Creek attended the 1770 and 1771 meetings with the Ohio tribes at Sciota but did not participate in Lord Dunnmore's War (1773-74) because the disputed territory was not theirs.
The beginnings of English America would begin with those brave enough to endure the turbulent voyage across the vast Atlantic under complete mercy from one of largest bodies of water in the seven seas. Those who were lucky to survive the journey would pioneer the unknown region of the present day United States. No one would be fully prepared for the difficult journey to the west. Regardless, those few trailblazers sought to achieve their dreams of land and economic and religious freedom from the oppression they suffered living under Britain’s regime. In a time when exhaustive war, civil unrest, social turmoil, and political strife crippled a nation, the New World spoke the alluring language of equality and abundant wealth. They would wish
In addition to the road to battle, it is important to know that historical accounts of what led to the battle and what transpired are in dispute. These are not disputes over minor items, such as the exact order of battle or a clear sequence of events in what was a confusing night and dawn battle. Accounts of what transpired are often fundamentally different, and it is clear that various actors suppressed or championed differing accounts for political or personal reasons. By some accounts, the battle began by accident as an Indian patrol sent to keep watch on the Americans drew fire from nervous American sentries, leading the Indians only a mile away at Prophetstown to attack. By other accounts, the Indians planned a deliberate attack in order to strike the American force before the Americans could strike the Indians. Harrison touted the battle as a decisive victory that broke up the Indian confederacy and many historians agreed. However, modern accounts argue that the battle actuall...
Sears’ thesis is the Union could have won the war faster. McClellan was an incompetent commander and to take the initiative to attack an defeat the Confederate army. The Army of Northern Virginia, under...
Joseph, Chief. “An Indian’s Perspective.” For the Record. 5th ed. Vol. 2. New York & London:
The first point he made was how the Westward expansion affected the Plains Indians. The Plains Indian tribes consisted mostly of the Kiowa, Kiowa Apaches, Comanche, Sioux, and Cheyenne. As the white settlers made their way across the country taking land, the Indians pushed back by raiding settlements and killing the occasional settler. More and more white settlers were pouring into the West in search of gold and silver. As the settlers came into the territories, large herds of buffalo were killed, much of the time just for the sport of it. This had an adverse affect on the Indians since they relied on buffalo not only for food, but also for hides and blankets as well as to make teepees. Another factor was the pony herds; the U.S. Army frequently seized herds and a herd of upwards of one thousand was killed just so the Indians would not be able to use them. The soldiers that were on patrol in the West kept pushing the Indians, driving them away from their hunting and fishing grounds.
In “ A Description of New England ”, Smith starts by describing the pleasure and content that risking your life for getting your own piece of land brings to men. On the other hand, Bradford reminds us how harsh and difficult the trip to the New World was for the p...
Calhoun, William. “The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War.”
In “A Description of New England,” John Smith documents his time in New England while trying to persuade several audiences to travel or to fund a third expedition to the New World with him as a leader. More specifically, Smith uses certain details to entice readers of two vastly different audiences: the poor and idle, the rich and generous, and evangelists. Smith’s main motive for writing “A Description of New England” is to persuade others to allow him to have a chance to go back to the New World as a leader, since he was previously unsuccessful. Smith’s use of exaggeration further convinces his various audiences that he can easily help them gain fortune from the New World.