In the midst of the American Revolution, the colonists faced the daunting task of conducting international diplomacy with European nations in order to gain support and funding for their efforts. Luckily, Benjamin Franklin had built up a reputation in France as “a representative of republican simplicity and honesty” and due to his reputation, much of the French public supported the revolution (French Alliance,...). In 1775, the Second Continental Congress created the Secret Committee of Correspondence in order to spread the word about their cause throughout Europe. Benjamin Franklin, a member of the new committee, sent letters to his contacts in France detailing examples of successful colonial resistance in order to demonstrate the revolution’s
The British naval commander communicated that he could not stay at the location unless Washington’s troops were pushed out. After Howe’s plans for retaliation were disrupted by a storm, he and his troops fled the city, leaving behind around 200 cannons as well as large stores of small arms and ammunition. This was the victory that initially swayed French Foreign Minister Comte de Vergennes towards an alliance with the United states, until news of Washington’s soon after defeats in New York made it to
After the British had captured Fort Washington on Manhattan Island in November of 1776 and British general Howe pushed the Americans to retreat across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania, Howe took the majority of his troops into winter quarters, with Hessian colonel Johann Rall guarding Trenton with around 1,400 men. After learning of this weak defense, Washington crossed the ice floe littered Delaware river on December 25, ready for attack. He went on to capture upwards of 900 men and the city of Trenton. Once Lord Cornwallis learned of Washington’s move, he drove them back with about 7,000 men east of the city. Washington’s troops were backed up against the Delaware with no boats for escape, when he came up with a plan to take a byroad to Princeton in the dead of night. The troops escaped, and were met in Princeton by three British regiments which they managed to drive back. He then continued his march to Morristown, New Jersey effectively flanking the British communication with New York. Washington had evaded defeat, won two battles, and placed himself in an advantageous position for procuring more recruits and maintaining defense. These bold acts of leadership renewed colonist morale and confidence in their leader, General George Washington. Without these defeats, it would have been difficult to rally the much-needed continuous
George Washington took control of the revolutionary army on 2 July 1775. He took over at outside of Boston, before this his experience was limited to wilderness travel and soldiering. His soldiering experiences had been mainly for his home state of Virginia. The first battle that was of significance in this book was the Battle of Long Island. At this battle Washington and the rebel army are soundly defeated by General Sir William Howe and the British army. After this battle was fought Howe did not follow-up the victory with quick action as the Americans retreated. It could be said that if Howe and the British would continued the attack this rebellion could have been put down right away. This will not be the first time that Howe fails to do this, and it will lead to him being replaced later in the war Sir Henry Clinton. Even though his army was thoroughly defeated Washington is able to get his troops off of Long Island back to Manhattan in the middle of the night, this will also not be the last time that Washington is able to get his
Other problems include many of the cannons could not get over the Hudson River due to the ice being thin and it became bitterly cold that there still was not an ice bridge for the army to cross. The author continues to write about the problems George Washington faces a year later in New York. The first problem that George Washington faced while in New York was that he was worry about what route the enemy was going to take, Another problem that he faced was that there were waters on both side of the harbor that the enemy could easily take control of the harbor and mount an attack, another problem he had was if the enemy success by taking over the harbor they will bottle up New England from all the other colonies The second problem that he deals with was that there was not enough naval strength to defend a city. The third problem was that unlike Boston, where there was little known, but here General Howe knew George Washington strength and intention, another problem that George Washington had was that there was little time to convene with his council of war on whether to fight, another problem was that there was a lack of artillery and many of the troops did not have
“Although Howe might logically be expected to resume his overland offensive through the Jerseys, he had already decided to move against Philadelphia by water; Washington had no way of knowing what Howe’s objective would be, but he did have reason to believe that the British would move by water. These points are mentioned because many accounts of the maneuvers about to be discussed are written from the viewpoint that Washington expected Howe to march toward Philadelphia in a continuation of his 1776 campaign (chesco.org).”
On December 7, 1776, Washington and his men made it to the Delaware River. General George Washington told Hugh Mercer that he wanted to cross the Delaware and attack the Hessians on the other side. Washington told Glover to get boats to sail across the Delaware. For a while before the occurrence, Washington was retreating from the British and the Hessians. Washington 's men suffered from many hardships in the months and years prior to crossing the Delaware. 20,000 men became fewer than 2,000 men, 300 cannons became 18 cannons, and the army had very little food, medicine, and blankets. Washington is quoted in saying, “An army without supplies cannot endure.” Washington was referring to his own army when he proclaimed this. Washington’s army
The conflict between Benjamin Franklin and his only living son is a microcosm of the little-understood clash between those Americans who strived for independence from British occupation and those that felt the country was either not or never would be ready for self-governance. Benjamin Franklin felt strongly enough about his son’s actions to label them betrayal; William Franklin felt strongly enough about the foolhardiness of the Revolution to suffer his father’s wrath. The actions of the loyalists are understood by Americans to constitute treason, but this is a simplification. Many loyalists felt that r...
At the start of the war, the Continental Army lacked training and organization. While the scattered guerilla tactics seemed to waste time and resources, they helped Americans stay alive. In addition, the colonists had the advantage of perseverance; they had to fight for their freedom as a nation. Another facet that helped survival was the leadership of George Washington. His knowledge and expertise was critical in making sure his soldiers stayed alive; having the home field advantage boosted his effectiveness as well. All of these assets culminated into a powerful force against the British
The plans for Yorktown actually started up in May of 1781 when General Washington joined up with French General Rochambeau. The American forces at this time were stationed in the area of New York City closely watching British General Clinton’s forces. Washington knew that General Cornwallis who had been dominating in the south would soon be moving northward to rendezvous with Clinton’s and General Nathaniel Green’s forces. He also knew that if this happened it would be near impossible of defeating the British. As Cornwallis continued his northern track he ran into trouble at the Battle of Cowpens. In fact he lost much of his light infantry and cavalry in the Carolinas. He did score a victory at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, but this would prove to not help him much as he took severe losses and consumed a lot of time.
The Seven Years War had a huge impact on the help the Americans received from the French. As a result of French resentment for the British after the war, the French were eager to help the war effort in supplying the Continental Army with troops, firearms, and generous financial support. The Americans were also at an advantage because of the familiar soil they were fighting on. They knew their way around the battlegrounds and used skillful location tactics to outmaneuver the British army. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of America’s tough, experienced war generals. George Washington, commander in chief, played a huge role in American victory in the Revolutionary War. He led his generals with a natural leading ability, and he provided his skillful tactics and adequate resources to lead his men to victory on the battlefield. However, the biggest influence that pushed
Franklin also contributed to convincing France to join the revolution with the colonies against Britain. The colonies were in a losing war. Eventually France intervened and helped the colonies by supplying them with firearms and men to assist the defeat of the English. This defeat led to the independence of the United States.
Benjamin Franklin is one of the most profound individuals in American history. He is a Diplomat, Writer, Inventor, a founding father, and holds the title as the “First American.” In 1706 Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He is the fifteenth of seventeen children that his father, Josiah Franklin, had. At the age of 8 years old Franklin attended school, here he learned literacy. In spite of his successes in school, he had to drop out at the young age of 10 to assist his father with his business. Franklin did not enjoy working for his father’s business, however he had to work at his father’s shop for about 2 years. Josiah then had Benjamin apprenticed to his little brother, James, who was a printer. James is the founder
Washington immediently received a promotion to a full colonelcy. On July 3, 1754, the French drove him and 350 men into Fort Necessity. The French then took controlled of it with 700, men and forced Washington to surrender. They sent the unarmed colonials back to Virginia with honours of war. He had to then sign paper saying that he would not build a fort on the Ohio Valley for one year. In that same year he resigned his commission.
Washington immediately began to put together an army. He ordered Major General Charles Lee to bring his troops from New York to help, and General James Ewing brought his troops as well. On December 11, Washington crossed the Delaware River to get his army together and prepare for the upcoming fight. On December 13, General Lee was captured by the British, but thankfully General Sullivan successfully crossed the river with his troops. By December 20, Washington had enlisted around six thousand men (Murphy). Washington received reports that General Howe sent most of his force back to New York and had left the Hessians in different areas of New Jerse...
It’s common for people who are successful in life to look down on other’s who haven’t ‘made something of themselves’ in their eyes, but it is also common for these successful people to come from privilege. It isn’t often they they will factor in this privilege when setting themselves up as a model, and this can be said for even Benjamin Franklin, a founding father of our country. While some people read Benjamin Franklin autobiography and put him in the place of the ‘perfect American self-made man’, it can be argued that Benjamin Franklin only accomplished everything he did because he started out with privilege that most people could only dream of in the time. When Benjamin Franklin makes a switch from
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston. His father, Josiah Franklin, who was a tallow chandler, had seventeen children; Benjamin was the fifteenth child and the tenth son. His mother, Abiah Folger, was his father’s second wife. After he went to grammar school from age eight to ten, Benjamin started working at his father’s business. He didn’t like the work very much, however, and so he began to work for a cutler. When he was just thirteen, he became an apprentice to his brother James, who had just returned from England with a new printing press. Benjamin learned the printing trade, but in his spare time he tried to improve his education. In 1721 his brother James Franklin started the New England Courant, and Benjamin, who was fifteen at the time, kept busy in delivering the newspaper during the day and writing articles for it at night. These articles, published anonymously, were widely noticed and even acclaimed for their observations of the current events. Because of its liberal bias, the New England Courant frequently displeased the local colonial authorities. In 1722, because of one of these articles that was considered particularly offensive to the authorities, James Franklin was imprisoned for a month and forbidden to publish his paper, and for a while it appeared under Benjamin’s name.
Gordon S. Wood delves into Benjamin Franklin’s philosophical, political, and personal legacies in the biography, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin. The book travels through Franklin’s experiments, his travels in Europe, and his role in the American revolution. The book begins when Franklin retires from business and becomes a gentleman. It was when he became a gentleman, it allowed him to analyze the world around him. “Indeed, he could not drink a cup of tea without wondering why the tea leaves at the bottom gathered in way rather than another,” a quote from Edmund S. Morgan’s book, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin spent a great deal of time in Britain before returning to America. When he returned, he threw himself into the American revolution, which sent him to France. After he accomplished his duties in France, he returned back home to America where he ran for public office.