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American Revolution
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Chapter 1:
Taxes and Taxation
If you want to understand the American Revolution, you need to know a little about
taxes. Taxes are money people pay to the government. Governments collect taxes and use the
money to pay for things. Taxes pay for policemen and police cars. They pay for firemen and fire
trucks. They pay for the army and the navy. They pay for roads and courthouses and public
schools.
If you want government, you have to be willing to pay taxes. But you don’t have to feel
happy about it. In fact, almost no one enjoys paying taxes. You can understand this. Imagine
you set up a lemonade stand and make $20. Would you want to keep all the money for
yourself? Or would you want to give $5 to the government? Most of us would rather keep the
money. But consider this: if nobody paid taxes, there would be no government; and if there
were no government, a bully might come along and take your lemonade money.
The American Revolution began as an argument about taxes. The British government
needed money, so it approved new taxes. The American colonists didn’t want to pay the new
taxes. They didn’t think the taxes were fair. Eventually, the Americans got so angry with the
British government that they declared independence. That is, they said they did not want to be
part of Great Britain any more. They wanted to start a new nation. A war was fought, and the
Americans won. The thirteen colonies won the right to become an independent nation ‐‐ the
United States of America.
But why did the British government call for new taxes? And why were the Americans so
upset about those new taxes? To answer these questions, you need to know a little more
history.
- 4. 4
Image2
During the war, the British attacked French Canada. They sailed up the St. Lawrence
River and attacked the city of Quebec. A battle was fought outside the city, and the British won.
After losing this battle, the French agreed to sign a peace treaty.
This was good news for the British. In the treaty, the French agreed to give up almost all
of their land in North America. They handed most of this land over to the British.
Unfortunately, the British government had borrowed a lot of money during the war. By
the time the war ended, the country owed almost 130 million pounds. (That would be more
than ten billion dollars in today’s money.) That money had to be paid back ‐‐ and since a lot of
2
Map of British and French Colonies in North America Before the French and Indian War. Note: create map using
this spec. Map should be modified and simplified as follows: Purple can be eliminated, or turned to pink. Label the
13 colonies. Don’t label cities. For French territories, only label Canada, Louisiana, and the cities of Quebec, St
Lawrence River, Montreal, and New Orleans. Show French forts with a fort symbol but don’t label them.Add title.]
- 7. 7
assemblies, but to Parliament. And, unfortunately, there were no American representatives in
Parliament.
There were Scotsmen in Parliament. Their job was to represent – or stand up for ‐‐ the
people of Scotland. If these men felt a new tax was unfair for Scotland, they could stand up and
protest. They could also vote against the tax. But there were no representatives from the
American colonies in Parliament. Not even one! There was no one who could stand up and say
“Wait a minute! That’s unfair to us Americans!” And, more importantly, there was no one who
could vote against the proposed taxes. Can you see why the colonists were upset about the
Stamp Act?
Imagine it is Halloween night. You and your friends have been out trick‐or‐treating. Each
of you has a big bag of candy. Then someone says, “maybe we should set aside some candy for
Max. He has the flu and couldn’t go trick or treating.” You think this is a great idea. After all,
Max is a good kid. And last year, when Jen was sick, everyone set aside some candy for her.
Why not do the same for Max? Then, all of a sudden, the biggest kid in the room stands up and
makes an announcement: “Okay, here’s how we are going to do this. Leave all your candy here
tonight. I’ll decide how much each of you will give Max. Then, tomorrow, I’ll give you guys back
your candy – or what’s left of it. Okay? Great! See you!”
How do you feel about this new way of doing things? Are you comfortable with it? Or
are you worried about what might happen? Are you confident that the big kid will treat you
fairly? Do you think he will give Max as much of his candy as he takes of yours? Also, are you
happy with the way the decision was made? Do you feel like you had a say in deciding how the
candy would be divided up?
If the new way of dividing up the candy makes you uncomfortable, you can understand
how the colonists felt. They agreed that there were bills that had to be paid, and they wanted
to help out. But they also wanted some say in how the money was raised. They were concerned
that, all of a sudden, important decisions about taxes were being made thousands of miles
away, in London, by a Parliament that had no American representatives. That seemed wrong to
them.
- 11. 11
purchased by a merchant named John Wheatley. Mr. and Mrs. Wheatley were kinder than
many slave owners. They taught young Phillis to read and write. Eventually she also began to
write poetry. A book of her poems was published in 1773.
[Image]
[End Sidebar]
Tea was a popular drink in the colonies. Many Americans liked to sip tea, either at home
or at a local inn. However, many Americans decided they would not buy tea if that meant
paying an unfair tax. And they thought the new tax on tea was every bit as unfair as the old tax
on paper. After all, the new tax had been approved by the same Parliament, and there were still
no American representatives in Parliament. So it was still taxation without representation.
Suddenly drinking tea became a political act. If you bought British tea, you were paying
a tax, and, in a sense, you were agreeing that Parliament had the right to tax the colonies. On
the other hand, if you refused to buy British tea, then you were making a statement of a
different sort: you were saying that you did not approve of ‐‐ and would not accept ‐‐ taxation
without representation.
Colonists who were angry about the new tax agreed not to buy British tea. But they
didn’t stop there. They also visited inns and asked the innkeepers, “You’re not really planning to
sell British tea, are you? Don’t you know about the tax? Doesn’t it bother you that we are being
taxed without representation? Whose side are you on? Are you a Patriot? Or are you a
despicable Tory who sides with a government that is trying to enslave us?” Many innkeepers
agreed to boycott British tea; that is, they agreed not to buy or sell British tea, as a way of
protesting the tax on tea.
Debates about taxes continued for several years, and things got worse over time. By
1770, the situation was getting very tense, especially in Boston. There was a group of men in
Boston who called themselves “The Sons of Liberty.” The Sons of Liberty were very upset about
- 12. 12
the new taxes. They met under a tree that they called “The Liberty Tree.” There they made loud
speeches against taxes and the British government. One of their favorite slogans was “no
taxation without representation!”
The British government sent soldiers to Boston to keep an eye on the Sons of Liberty.
Because they wore red uniforms, these soldiers were sometimes called “redcoats,” or “lobster
backs.”
In March of 1770, some Bostonians got into a tussle with a redcoat. The Bostonians
surrounded the soldier. They called him names. They threw snowballs at him. Some of them
even threatened him with sticks and clubs.
More soldiers came out. They ordered the Bostonians to go home, but the Bostonians
refused. In fact, more and more people poured out onto the streets. Soon a mob of 300 angry
Bostonians was pressing in on the outnumbered soldiers.
Some of the Bostonians started shouting at the soldiers, daring them to fire. Then one of
them threw something. It may have been a snow ball. It may have been a rock. Whatever it
was, it hit one of the soldiers and knocked him down. The soldier was frightened. He thought
his life might be in danger. He fired his musket. One of the Bostonians fought back, attacking
the solider with a club. After that, the other soldiers felt they had to fight back. They fired into
the crowd. Five Bostonians were killed.
The Sons of Liberty were outraged. They started making speeches about “the Boston
Massacre.” That was the name they used. They made it sound like the Americans were peaceful
and the British had no reason to fire. One of them, a man named Paul Revere, made an
engraving that showed British soldiers firing into a crowd of peaceful‐looking Americans. It was
not an accurate picture of what happened, but many Americans thought it was.
[Sidebar]
Crispus Attucks
- 14. 14
The captain wasn’t sure what to do. So he did nothing. The ship sat in the harbor for a
while, until the Sons of Liberty decided to get rid of the tea. They disguised themselves as
Native Americans, boarded the ship, and threw the tea into Boston Harbor. They dumped 342
chests of tea – worth hundreds of thousands of dollars ‐‐ into the Atlantic Ocean. Later, this act
of protest came to be known as “The Boston Tea Party.”
A few weeks later, in January of 1774, a group of angry Bostonians attacked a British tax
collector by the name of John Malcolm. The Bostonians stripped off Malcolm’s shirt, covered
him with hot, sticky tar, and rolled him in feathers. This was a way of humiliating Malcolm.
After tarring and feathering him, the colonists dragged Malcolm to the Liberty Tree and
threatened to hang him from the tree if he would not give up his job as a tax collector.
Eventually Malcolm agreed to quit. The colonists let him live, but Malcolm decided he had had
enough of American protests and went back to England.
- 17. 17
Chapter 3:
The Fighting Begins
When news of the Boston Tea Party and the attack on John Malcolm reached England in
1774, many Englishmen were shocked. King George III was furious. He decided to punish the
people of Boston.
Over the next few months, Parliament approved a series of new laws:
The Boston Port Act declared that Boston Harbor would remain closed – no ships
could enter or leave ‐‐ until the tea that had been destroyed was paid for.
The Massachusetts Government Act declared that the people of the colony
would no longer be allowed to elect their own officials. From this point on, all
important positions would be filled by the King and his ministers.
The Administration of Justice Act made new rules for trials. If a Bostonian was
accused of a crime, he would no longer be tried in Boston, by fellow Bostonians.
Instead he would be sent to another colony, to Canada, or even to London. Also,
he would be tried in a special “Admiralty” court, by a judge hand‐picked by the
king.
The Quartering Act declared that the British army could take over buildings in
the colonies if it needed them; this was important, because the government was
getting ready to send more soldiers to Boston.
The people of Massachusetts were very angry about these new laws. How could they
make a living if no goods could be shipped in or out of Boston? How could they get a fair trial if
they were shipped to faraway courts? And how could they trust the government if all of the
top officials were selected by the king?
- 18. 18
The Bostonians called the new rules “The Intolerable Acts.” That was their way of saying
they could not tolerate ‐‐ or put up with ‐‐ the new laws. Nobody could tolerate them! They
were intolerable!
People in other colonies were angry as well. Many were upset about the new taxes.
Many felt that their rights and freedoms were being taken away. More and more began to think
it might be time to stand up against the government. Twelve of the thirteen colonies decided to
send representatives to the First Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, in September of 1774.
The fifty‐six members of the First Continental Congress sent a list of complaints and
grievances to King George III. They agreed that all thirteen colonies would stop importing goods
from Great Britain – not just tea and other items that were taxed, but all British goods. They
also agreed that, unless Parliament repealed the Intolerable Acts, the colonies would stop
exporting American goods to Great Britain.
Some colonists began to think a war was inevitable. They thought it was time to start
stockpiling muskets and gunpowder. Others thought this was going too far. They believed that
it was not too late to patch up relations with the King and the government in London.
The members of Virginia’s House of Burgesses debated this issue in March of 1775.
Several members argued that Virginia should do whatever it could to keep the peace and
restore good relations with the king and Parliament. But others felt that it was too late for that.
A country lawyer named Patrick Henry argued that it was time to stop talking about peace and
start fighting for liberty:
Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace – but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! . .
. Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that
gentlemen wish? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of
chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take;
but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
- 19. 19
Many people in Massachusetts agreed with Patrick Henry. They were organizing militias,
stockpiling guns, and preparing to fight. Some of the Massachusetts men called themselves
minutemen. They boasted that they could be ready to fight in a minute!
King George III and his ministers knew that these things were happening. The
government sent a large army to Boston. The generals were told to confiscate any weapons
they could find. They were also told to arrest the biggest troublemakers among the Sons of
Liberty – men like Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
In April of 1774, the British tried to capture some weapons that the Sons of Liberty had
hidden in the town of Concord, east of Boston. About 700 British soldiers marched out of
Boston the night of April 18th
. They were hoping to surprise the Americans in Concord, but the
Sons of Liberty were watching every move the soldiers made.
One of the men keeping an eye on the British was Paul Revere. He had heard rumors
that the soldiers were getting ready to march out to Concord, and he had made plans. He knew
that there were two ways to get to Concord. One was to march there on foot. The other was to
cross the Charles River in boats and then march the rest of the way. Would the redcoats go by
land or by sea? There was no way to know until they set out. So Revere came up with a clever
plan. He told a friend to hang lanterns in the belfry of the North Church, in Boston. If the
soldiers left Boston on foot, Revere’s friend was to hang up one lamp; if they set off in boats, he
was to hang two lanterns.
On the night of April 18th
, Revere’s friend ran up to the belfry and hung out two lamps.
That meant the soldiers were going by sea.
Revere and several other patriots saw the lamps and sprang in action. Revere got in a
rowboat and rowed across the Charles River, right past a British warship. Once he made it
across, he jumped on a horse and set off. He traveled along the road the soldiers would be
taking, waking up the farmers by shouting “the regulars are turning out!”
- 20. 20
Because of Revere and other riders, the Americans who lived along the road knew that
the soldiers were on their way to Concord. Hundreds of minutemen grabbed their guns and got
ready.
In Lexington, a town on the road to Concord, 80 American militiamen lined up in
formation. They had their guns with them, but they were not planning to fire on the redcoats.
After all, no war had been declared. Still, they knew that there was a chance that fighting might
break out, and they wanted to be ready if it did.
As the British approached, the leader of the Lexington militia, John Parker, told his men,
“Stand your ground; don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin
here.”
A British officer called on the Americans to go home. According to one report, he
shouted “lay down your arms, you rebels!” That was how the soldiers saw the minutemen ‐‐ as
rebels against king and country.
Parker told his men to go home. However, as they were turning to go, a shot rang out.
Who fired that first shot? Even today nobody knows for sure. The soldiers thought the
American militiamen fired it. However, Parker and his men said later that they did not. The shot
may have been fired by an American who was not part of Parker’s militia. He may have been
firing into the air to sound an alarm. It’s hard to know. In any case, the soldiers thought they
were under attack. They fired a volley and, in a few seconds, guns were flashing and smoking on
both sides.
The British killed eight Americans in Lexington and wounded ten more. Then they
marched on to Concord. They searched Concord and found a few cannons and some musket
balls. However, by this time, word of the fighting was spreading rapidly. Hundreds of Americans
made their way to Concord, ready to fight. One troop of militiamen met the regulars on the
outskirts of Concord, at a bridge known as the North Bridge. The British fired. The Americans
fired back.
[Sidebar]
- 22. 22
Chapter 4:
Bunker Hill and the Second Continental Congress
What a difference a day makes! On April 18th
, 1775, Massachusetts still enjoyed an
uneasy peace. Some colonists were stockpiling weapons, but none of them were firing those
weapons at British soldiers. The redcoats were not popular, but they were not under attack,
and they could march wherever they wanted to go.
By the time the sun came up on April 19th
, everything had changed. The British army had
retreated from Concord back to Boston and suffered more than 200 casualties. The British were
surrounded by more than 15,000 Americans. The way these Americans thought of themselves
had also changed. They no longer thought of themselves as British subjects and militiamen
from different towns. They viewed themselves as an army of Americans, standing together to
fight for their rights and their freedoms.
The British controlled Boston, but they were surrounded on all sides, and things went
from bad to worse when the American set up cannons on two hills overlooking Boston Harbor.
One of the hills was called Breed’s Hill. The other was called Bunker Hill.
The British generals were worried. If the Americans had cannons up on the hills, they
might be able to fire on the British ships in the harbor below. They might even be able to sink
some of them. The generals decided that they had to drive the Americans off the hills.
On June 17, 1775, the British launched an attack. Hundreds of redcoats began marching
up Breed’s Hill. The Americans at the top waited nervously. Their commander knew his men did
not have much ammunition. They would have to make every shot count. He told the men,
“Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!”
The Americans waited . . . and waited . . . and waited. Finally they opened fire. Ka‐pow!
Scores of British troops fell to the ground. The redcoats fell back. So the first attempt to retake
the hill failed. The British attacked a second time. Again they were beaten back. They attacked a
- 23. 23
third time ‐‐ and this time they were successful. By this time, the Americans had run out of
ammunition. They were forced to retreat.
Today this battle is known as the Battle of Bunker Hill. That is a little odd, because the
battle was actually fought on Breed’s Hill. But it is hard to change a name after people get used
to using it.
In one sense, the Battle of Bunker Hill was a victory for the British. They achieved their
goal: they drove the Americans off the hill. In another sense, however, it felt more like a defeat.
Is it a victory if you lose a thousand men and the other side loses only five hundred? One of the
British generals did not think so. He remarked that, if the British army kept winning “victories”
like Bunker Hill, it would not be long until they had no soldiers left!
While the Battle of Bunker Hill was raging outside Boston, the Second Continental
Congress was meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fifty‐six representatives, from thirteen
colonies, attended. Thomas Jefferson came north to represent Virginia. John Adams, Sam
Adams, and John Hancock made their way south from war‐torn Massachusetts. Benjamin
Franklin, of Pennsylvania, did not have to travel far: Philadelphia was his hometown.
One of the first things the Second Continental Congress did was “adopt” the army that
had surrounded the British troops in Boston. The delegates decided that this group of farmers
and minutemen from Massachusetts would be called the Continental Army. They also asked
each of the remaining twelve colonies to send reinforcements.
The Congress selected George Washington, of Virginia, to be the commander‐in‐
chief of this army. The decision to send a Virginian to lead an army of Massachusetts men was
deliberate. This was a way of showing that the colonies intended to stand together.
By the end of 1775, many members of the Continental Congress thought that the
colonies should go ahead and declare independence from Great Britain. They wanted the
colonies to break free and become a new nation. But there were others who were not ready to
go that far. They thought there might still be a way to patch things up with the king and
Parliament, and they wanted to try to do so.
- 24. 24
It was not only the members of the Continental Congress who were divided on the
question of whether to declare independence. The people of the colonies were divided as well.
One man did more than anyone else to convince the Americans to declare
independence. His name was Thomas Paine. Paine was an Englishman who had moved to
America only a few months earlier. He wrote a pamphlet called Common Sense. It was
published in January of 1776, while the Second Continental Congress was meeting.
Paine believed that monarchy, or government by kings, was a ridiculous way to run a
country. All men were created equal, Paine wrote; so how could any one man claim the right to
rule over millions? That was ridiculous. It was absurd!
Paine argued that the American colonies should break free from Great Britain and form
a republic – a government without a king. He told his new countrymen they had an amazing
opportunity: they could cast off government by kings and replace it with something much,
much better:
We have every opportunity and every encouragement before us, to form the noblest
purest constitution on the face of the earth. We have it in our power to begin the world
over again. . . . The birthday of a new world is at hand. . . . For God's sake let us come to
a final separation.
Common Sense became a bestseller. Copies were printed in all thirteen colonies.
Selections were printed in newspapers. Those who could read studied the pamphlet
themselves. Those who could not read listened while it was read aloud at an inn or a
coffeehouse. Common Sense convinced many Americans that it was time to declare
independence.
By June of 1776, most members of the Second Continental Congress were ready to vote
for what Paine called “a final separation.” Thomas Jefferson, a delegate from Virginia, was
asked to write a declaration of independence. His job was to explain why the colonies were
breaking away from Great Britain, and why it was right for them to do so.
- 25. 25
Benjamin Franklin and John Adams read over Jefferson’s draft. They made a few
changes, but, basically, they thought it was a fine piece of work. On July 4th
, 1776, the members
of the Second Continental Congress voted to approve the Declaration of independence. Twelve
colonies voted for independence. None voted against it. One colony (New York) abstained; that
is, they chose not to vote on either side. The Declaration of Independence had been approved!
At the beginning of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson set out of some things
he and his fellow colonists believed:
We hold these truths to be self‐evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Jefferson said that the role of government is to protect these rights. However, if a government
failed to protect these rights ‐‐ if it actually took these rights away ‐‐ then the people had the
right to rebel and set up a new government. Jefferson argued that this was what King George III
and his government had done. In the second half of the Declaration he presented a long list of
bad things the king had done. He had levied unfair taxes. He had taken away trial by jury. He
had quartered troops in American cities. For all of these reasons, Jefferson said, the Americans
had no other option but to declare independence.
[SIDEBAR]
Ever since 1776, the fourth of July has been a holiday in the United States. On the fourth of July
Americans celebrate their independence by shooting off fireworks, playing patriotic songs, and
having picnics.
[END SIDEBAR]
- 27. 27
independence. Kosciuszko suggested that the Americans use engineering tricks to slow the
British down.
The Americans decided to do what Kosciuszko suggested. As they retreated, they cut
down trees so that they fell across roads. They destroyed bridges. They built dams so rivers
would overflow and wash out the roads.
These engineering tricks slowed the British down. They also gave the Americans time to
set up defenses near Saratoga, New York. Kosciuszko played an important part in that, too. He
picked the best spots to build forts, and he showed the Americans how to build strong walls.
In September of 1777, the British attacked. Despite repeated efforts, they were not able
to break through the American defenses. On October 17th
, the British general surrendered.
More than 6,000 British soldiers handed over their weapons.
Art11
The Battle of Saratoga was the first big victory for the Americans. It turned out to be
very important, too ‐‐ because it convinced the French that the Americans actually had a
chance to win the war. Four months after the battle, in February of 1778, France entered the
war on the American side.
While these battles were being fought in upstate New York, George Washington was
doing his best to defeat, or at least slow down, another British army outside New York City.
However, in 1776 and 1777, his best was generally not good enough. Washington was driven
off Long Island. He had to give up New York City, too. He retreated across the Hudson River and
into New Jersey.
Washington saw that his army was simply not as strong as the British army. If he tried to
challenge the British in a big battle, he would probably lose. He would have to have to look for
opportunities to attack when his enemies were not expecting it.
11
Kosciusko
- 28. 28
That is precisely what he did on December 25th
, 1776. It was Christmas night, and the
Hessian troops camped in Trenton, New Jersey, were not expecting an attack. These men were
not British soldiers. They were mercenaries, or soldiers‐for‐hire, from Hesse, in Germany. King
George III had hired them to help him put down the rebellion in the colonies. On Christmas
night, however, the Hessians were not expecting to need their weapons. They stayed up late,
drinking and celebrating. Washington crossed the Delaware River and launched a sneak attack.
He took the Hessians completely by surprise, and more than 1,000 of them were forced to
surrender.
The victory at Trenton was good for American morale, but it was followed by a string of
defeats. Washington and his men were defeated at the Battle of Brandywine in September of
1777 and again at the Battle of Germantown in October. At Germantown, some of the
Americans got confused and ended up firing on their own troops. As a result of these defeats,
the British were able to capture Philadelphia. The Continental Congress was forced to break up
and relocate to another city.
In December of 1777, Washington and his men limped into a Pennsylvania town called
Valley Forge. Washington had decided that the army would spend the winter there. In those
days, armies fought when the weather was warm and stopped fighting during the winter.
During the winter there was another enemy the army had to face: Mother Nature.
Mother Nature was not kind to the Americans during the Winter of 1777‐78. It was a
very cold winter, and the soldiers were not prepared for it. Most of them did not have winter
coats. Many of them did not even have shoes. Their bleeding feet left bloody footprints in the
snow.
During December and January, the soldiers cut down trees and used them to build log
cabins. These cabins provided some shelter from the cold, but they were crowded and damp.
There were other problems as well. The soldiers did not have enough to eat. They had
to survive for many weeks “firecake” – a tasteless mixture of flour and water baked over a fire.
- 29. 29
Occasionally, if they were lucky, they might get a bowl of “pepper pot soup,” a thin broth made
from the stomach of a cow and a handful of peppercorns.
There was also a shortage of clean drinking water. Many of the soldiers drank dirty
water and got sick. A few died of frostbite or starvation; many more were killed by diseases like
typhoid and dysentery.
[Art12
]
An army surgeon from Connecticut kept a diary during his time in Valley Forge. Here is
part of what he wrote:
December 12. It snows. I am sick – eat nothing. Lord, Lord, Lord! Cold and
uncomfortable.
December 14. The Army, which has been surprisingly healthy hitherto, now begins to
grow sickly from the continued fatigues they have suffered this campaign. . . . I am sick,
discontented, and out of humor. . . . Why are we sent here to starve and freeze? . . . . A
pox on my bad luck. . . . Being sick covers your mind with a melancholic gloom, which
makes everything about you appear gloomy. . . . People who live at home in luxury and
ease . . . have but a very faint Idea of the unpleasing sensations, and continual anxiety
the man endures who is in camp . . . There comes a soldier. His bare feet are seen
through his worn‐out shoes, his legs nearly naked from the tattered remains of an only
pair of stockings . . . He cries . . . ‘I am sick, my feet lame, my legs are sore, my body
covered with this tormenting Itch!’”
Washington was worried about the state of the army. On the 23rd
of December, 1777,
he wrote a letter to the Continental Congress, explaining that many of his men were in such bad
shape that they were no longer fit for combat: “We have this day no less than 2,873 men in
camp unfit for duty because they are barefooted and otherwise naked." The situation was so
bad, Washington explained, that he was worried that his men might give up and go home:
12
Image of American soldiers at Valley Forge
- 31. 31
Chapter 6
From Valley Forge to Yorktown
The Winter of 1777‐1778 was a terrible time for Washington and his men. But there is
an old saying: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The men who survived that winter in
Valley Forge came to think they were strong enough to survive just about anything.
In the spring of 1778, things began to improve. Washington sent out foraging parties to
gather food, and they gathered enough food to keep the soldiers at Valley Forge fed.
Washington also appointed a new quartermaster whose job was to make sure the army did not
run out of food and supplies. And, last but not least, Washington convinced the Continental
Congress to send more money and recruit more soldiers.
The French decided to enter the war in February. That was good news for the
Americans. It meant that help was on the way!
Sometime in late February, a funny looking man with a thick German accent arrived in
Valley Forge. His full name was Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben. He
was a German who had volunteered to help the Americans.
Washington met Von Steuben and liked him. He asked the German if he would train his
soldiers, and von Steuben agreed. There was just one problem: Von Steuben knew only a few
words of English. He decided to shout his commands in German ‐‐ ein, zwei, drei! ‐‐ or French –
une, deux, trois! Then an American would translate the words into English: one, two, three!
[Art ]
Von Steuben taught the American soldiers to march. He taught them how to stand in
formation and how to charge. He also taught them how to use the bayonets attached to their
muskets. He trained a “model company.” Then the members of this model company trained
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other companies. By the time Washington’s army marched out of Valley Forge in June of 1778,
they were prepared to fight as an army.
From that point on, the Americans were able to hold their own against the British army.
They began to win more battles. However, they were not able to win a decisive victory until the
fall of 1781.
By 1781, much of the fighting had shifted even farther south, to Virginia and the
Carolinas. The main British army in the South was led by Lord Cornwallis. The American army
was led by a French commander. His name was Marie‐Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier
de La Fayette. But he was known by his title, the Marquis de Lafayette.
[Sidebar]
The Marquis de Lafayette
The Marquis de Lafayette was one of the first Europeans who volunteered to assist the
Americans in their fight for independence. When he offered to help, the Americans told him
they could not pay him. Lafayette did not mind. He agreed to serve without pay. The King of
France tried to keep Lafayette from joining the Americans. He reminded Lafayette that the
French had not yet taken sides in the dispute. They were “neutral.” But Lafayette himself was
not neutral. He had taken sides, and he was determined to help the Americans, even if it meant
disobeying the king! Lafayette even went so far as to purchase a ship that would carry him to
America. Once he arrived, he quickly established himself as Washington’s top generals.
[Image]
[End Sidebar]
In August of 1781, Cornwallis and his men camped at Yorktown, in Virginia. Lafayette’s
army was smaller, but he managed to get his men into a good position. He backed Cornwallis
up against the York River, so the British army could not escape by land.
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Even so, Cornwallis was not worried. If he couldn’t break out, he could always rely on
the British navy. The navy could pick his men up and move them to a new position. Or so he
thought. What he didn’t know was that a French fleet was sailing to Virginia. This meant that
Cornwallis and his men might be cut off.
While Cornwallis was setting up camp at Yorktown, Washington was meeting with
several French generals outside New York City. The French had sent 5,500 troops to assist the
Americans. Washington and the French generals had to decide how to use these new troops.
Should they attack the British in New York City? Or should they turn south and attack Cornwallis
in Virginia?
Eventually they decided to march the main American army and most of the French
troops south to Virginia to try to trap Cornwallis. But Washington was crafty. He sent out fake
messages to make the British think he was actually going to attack to New York. The British
were fooled by the fake messages. They didn’t see that Washington and the French were
making a big move ‐‐ sending most of their troops south to Virginia.
In late September, Washington arrived at Yorktown, with 4,000 French and 3,000
American soldiers. These soldiers reinforced Lafayette’s men. The French navy arrived, as well,
and one of the first things they did was drive away a convoy of British ships that was carrying
supplies for Cornwallis and his men. That was when Cornwallis knew he was in trouble. He was
penned in by the French and American armies, and the French navy had cut off his escape
route, as well as his supplies.
The Americans and the French set up cannons and began firing on the British. For days
the guns fired constantly. Washington gave orders to fire through the night so the British would
not have any quiet time to repair the damage.
Cornwallis and his men could not protect themselves – and, because of the French fleet,
they could not sail away. Eventually Cornwallis decided that he and his men were in an
impossible position. On October 19th
, 1781, he surrendered.
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James Thatcher, of Massachusetts, was present at Yorktown and wrote an account of
the surrender. He told how the Americans lined up on one side of the road and the French on
the other:
At about twelve o'clock, the combined army was arranged and drawn up in two lines
extending more than a mile in length. The Americans were drawn up in a line on the
right side of the road, and the French occupied the left. At the head of the former the
great American commander [General Washington], mounted on his noble courser
[horse], took his station, attended by his aides. . . . The French troops, in complete
uniform, displayed a martial and noble appearance. . . . The Americans though not all in
uniform nor their dress so neat, yet exhibited an erect soldierly air, and every
countenance [face] beamed with satisfaction and joy.
Thousands of Americans who lived in nearby towns and villages also came out to watch
the surrender, which began when the British army marched between the lines of French and
American troops, about two o’clock in the afternoon:
It was about two o'clock when the captive army advanced through the line formed for
their reception. Every eye was prepared to gaze on Lord Cornwallis, the object of
peculiar interest and solicitude; but he disappointed our anxious expectations.
Cornwallis claimed to be sick, and he sent one of his aides to surrender to Washington.
After the aide surrendered, the British troops were required to “ground” their arms – that is to
throw muskets down on the ground. More than 7,000 British soldiers laid down their muskets.
Of course, many of them were not happy about it:
It was . . . when they came to the last act of the drama, that the spirit and pride of the
British soldier was put to the severest test. Here their mortification [distress;
unhappiness] could not be concealed. Some of the platoon officers appeared to be
exceedingly chagrined [upset] when giving the word "ground arms," and I am a witness
that they performed this duty in a very unofficerlike manner, and that many of the
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Chapter 7:
Heroes and Villains of the American Revolution
Every war has its heroes. And every war has its villains. The Revolutionary War was no
exception.
Without a doubt, the biggest hero on the American side was George Washington.
Washington was commander‐in‐chief of the American Army throughout the war. He took over
not long after the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775. He fought the British in New York
and New Jersey. He survived the dreadful winter at Valley Forge in 1777‐78. And he was still in
command when the Americans won the decisive victory at Yorktown in 1781.
There were also heroes from other lands. You have already read about three of them.
Do you remember Kosciusko, from Poland, who helped the Americans win the Battle of
Saratoga? What about Von Steuben, the German who helped Washington transform a bunch of
untrained farmers into a disciplined, well‐regulated army? And how about the Marquis de
Lafayette, the Frenchman who helped Washington win the Battle of Yorktown?
Another hero was the sea captain John Paul Jones. In 1779, Jones’s ship, Bonhomme
Richard, got into a fight with a British ship. The American ship, with 42 guns, fired away at the
British ship, the Serapis, which had 50 guns. For awhile the two ships floated right next to one
another, blasting away. At one point a British sailor shouted across to Jones, asking him if he
was ready to surrender. “Surrender?” Jones shouted back. “I have not yet begun to fight!” In
the end, it was the British captain who had to surrender. The story of the victory – along with
Jones’s defiant reply – was printed in the newspapers, and John Paul Jones became a hero to
many Americans.
Nathan Hale, of Connecticut, proved his heroism in a different way. In 1775, he
volunteered to help General Washington with a very dangerous mission. He agreed to sneak
behind the British lines and spy on the British army. Unfortunately, Hale was captured, and the
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British gave orders that he be hanged. Before he was put to death, one of the hangmen asked
him if he had any regrets about what he had done. Hale is said to have replied, “I only regret
that I have but one life to lose for my country.” That is another line that has gone down in
history.
There were also women heroes – or, if you prefer, heroines. George Washington’s wife,
Martha, played an important part in helping the American Army survive at Valley Forge. She
helped make clothing for the soldiers and helped take care of the sick. Abigail Adams, the wife
of John Adams, raised the kids and ran the farm, but she also found time to write letters to her
husband, who was one of the most important delegates in the Continental Congress. She gave
her husband advice on several important questions.
There were even a few women who managed to fight in the war. At the time, most
people believed that fighting in the army was strictly a job for men. Women who tried to enlist
were turned away. However, some women disguised themselves as men so they could enlist.
That is what Deborah Sampson, of Massachusetts, did.
Sampson was unusually tall – tall enough that she thought she could pass for a man. So
she signed up for the army, using the name Robert Shurtlief. She served for a year and a half
and fought in several skirmishes. In one of them, she was wounded. Two musket balls lodged in
her thigh. Sampson removed one of the balls herself, but the other was buried too deep to be
removed. Fortunately, her wound healed and she survived. After the war, she was recognized
by John Hancock for having shown “an extraordinary instance of female heroism.”
Mary Ludwig Hays, of Pennsylvania, got involved in the fighting in a different way. Her
husband, William Hays, joined the Continental Army in 1777. He served in an artillery unit and
spent the Winter of 1777‐78 at Valley Forge. He was one of the Americans trained by Von
Steuben in the spring of 1778.
William’s wife, whom he called “Molly,” followed him around during the war. She was
one of thousands of “camp followers” who followed the army from place to place and helped
out in various ways. At the Battle of Monmouth, in June of 1778, Molly Hays was helping her
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husband and his unit by bringing water to the troops. William Hays and the other men in his
unit needed water to clean and cool off their cannons. They also needed water to drink, for it
was almost a hundred degrees that day.
During the battle, Molly Hays brought dozens of pitchers of water to the soldiers.
Eventually her husband collapsed from heat exhaustion and had to be carried off the
battlefield. That was when Mary Hays decided to step up. She took her husband’s place beside
the cannon and did his job for the rest of the day. At one point, a cannonball tore off the
bottom part of her dress. But she continued to fight. After the battle, George Washington
declared her an honorary member of the army, with a rank of sergeant. The soldiers called her
“Sergeant Molly,” or “Molly Pitcher.”
Benedict Arnold was a hero at first. But later he turned into a villain. He was one of the
top American generals at the Battle of Saratoga, and he was praised after the American victory
there. But he was not praised as much as he wanted to be, and so he decided to switch sides.
He made a plan to get back at the Americans by giving away the American fort at West Point.
When this plan was foiled, Arnold joined the British Army. He went on to fight for the British,
against the Americans. So the cheers for Benedict Arnold quickly turned to jeers. Even today,
more than two hundred years later, you will still hear people use the name “Benedict Arnold”
as a synonym for “traitor.”
Can you be a hero if you don’t fight in the war? Can you be a hero if all you do is file a
lawsuit? Yes, you can! Mum Bett, an enslaved woman from Massachusetts, proved it. During
the war, Bett heard a declaration read aloud. It wasn’t the Declaration of Independence, but it
declared some of the same things. It said that “All men are born free and equal, and have
certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights,” including “the right of enjoying and
defending their lives and liberties.” Bett thought about those words. She figured they meant
that she herself had a right to be free and equal. She found a lawyer who was opposed to
slavery and convinced him to take her case. And, amazingly, she won the lawsuit. In 1781, the
supreme court of Massachusetts ruled that Mum Bett could no longer be held as a slave. She
celebrated her victory by taking a new name, Elizabeth Freeman.
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Chapter 10:
Understanding the Declaration of Independence
[Enrichment Chapter 1]
The Declaration of Independence is divided into five parts: the introduction, the
preamble, the indictment, the denunciation, and the conclusion. You can understand the whole
document a lot better if you learn a little about each part and what it does.
The introduction is just one sentence. But it is a long, complicated sentence. You might
want to read it two or three times to get a good sense of what it is saying:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve
the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the
powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of
Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that
they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
What Jefferson is trying to say in this sentence is this: we Americans are breaking away from
Great Britain. We feel it is necessary for us to do so. But we understand that we need to explain
our actions to the rest of the world. In fact, any time people decide to break away, they have a
duty to explain their reasons.
In other words, the purpose of the Declaration of Independence is not just to declare
independence. It is also to justify independence ‐‐ to explain why the colonies are breaking
away from Great Britain, why it is right for them to do so, and why there is no other option.
The next section of the Declaration is called the preamble. This is the most famous
section of the Declaration. In the preamble, Jefferson and the other members of the
Continental Congress set out some of their most important beliefs about government and life:
We hold these truths to be self‐evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
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The big idea here is that people have some rights that come from “their Creator” ‐‐ that is, from
God. Jefferson argues that these rights must never be taken away by any government set up by
men. No government should be allowed to take away your life. No government should be
allowed to take away your liberty. And no government should be allowed to keep you from
searching for happiness.
In the next sentence, Jefferson insists that “governments are instituted among men . . .
to secure these rights.” That is to say, the purpose of government is to make sure people’s
“inalienable” rights are protected and cannot be taken away. That is why governments are
“instituted,” or set up.
But what if a government fails to protect peoples’ rights? What if it actually takes those
rights away? Jefferson addresses that possibility a little later in the preamble. “Whenever any
form of government becomes destructive of these ends,” he says, “it is the right of the people
to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government.”
Jefferson is saying that the government is sort of like a worker doing a job. If you do
your job well, you will probably be allowed to keep doing it. But if you do it badly, you might get
fired. And if you do it really badly most people would say that your boss has a right to fire you.
Jefferson says that the government is like the worker and the people are like the boss. The
government’s job is to protect peoples’ rights. But if the government does not do its job, if it
fails to protect peoples’ rights, or actually takes those rights away, it can be fired. Jefferson
does not think the people should work for the government. He thinks the government should
work for the people. If the people decide that the government is not doing its job, they can
“fire” the old government and create a new one. That was, in fact, exactly what the Americans
were doing; they were setting aside the government they had grown up with and preparing to
create a new one.
The next section of the Declaration of independence is called the indictment [in‐DITE‐
ment]. An indictment is a list of crimes that is usually read out at a trial. In a courtroom, you
might hear a bailiff say, “Hear ye, hear ye! The defendant is hereby accused of robbery, theft,
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assault and battery, arson, etc.” In this case, however, the person under indictment was no
ordinary criminal. It was King George III!
Jefferson and the other members of the Continental Congress set down a long list of things
King George III had done. Some of these should sound familiar:
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our
legislatures.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass
our people and eat out their substance.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the
amount and payment of their salaries.
The Americans were also fed up with King George III for several other reasons:
for imposing taxes on us without our consent
for cutting off our trade with all parts of the world
for depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of trial by jury
for transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences
The indictment goes on and on. It lists a total of twenty‐seven “crimes” the king had
committed. It is, far and away, the longest part of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, it is
almost as long as all of the other parts put together. Jefferson and the other members of the
Continental Congress knew this list was important. They wanted to show the world that the
Americans had plenty of good reasons for declaring independence.
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In the next section, called the denunciation, Jefferson turns from King George III to the
British people as a whole. He explains that the colonists have tried, over and over, to explain
why they object to the King’s policies, but the British people have not listened:
We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an
unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our
emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and
magnanimity . . .
But, Jefferson says, none of this has worked. The British people have been “deaf” to the
Americans and their complaints.
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt that your parents were not listening to
your complaints, were not doing anything to correct a problem? That is how Jefferson says the
Americans have come to feel. They feel that the people of Great Britain have refused to listen
to them. Therefore, the Americans feel they have no choice but to declare independence. And
that is what is announced in the final section, the conclusion:
Words in Each Section of the Declaration
Introduction
Preamble
Indictment
Denunciation
Conclusion
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We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General
Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of
our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies,
solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be
Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British
Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is
and ought to be totally dissolved
Can you see how the five parts of the Declaration of Independence work together? Here
is a quick summary of the five sections that will give you a sense of what section says and how
they build on each other:
1. People declaring independence should explain why they are doing so (introduction)
2. We believe that people have some “inalienable” rights that the government must
never take away, and that governments that take away these rights can be replaced
(preamble)
3. George III is a tyrant who has taken many of our rights away (indictment)
4. And the British people have not listened to our repeated complaints (denunciation)
5. Therefore, we declare that we are now an independent nation. (conclusion)
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Church of England. You go to church every Sunday and try to do what the minister says is right.
You have been taught that it is important to remain loyal to the king and the government. You
have been told that it is a great sin to rebel against a lawful king. God does not approve of
rebellion, the minister says. How, then, can you support the rebellion in the colonies? Perhaps
you can’t. Perhaps it just seems wrong to you.
Now change your point of view. Imagine that you live in Massachusetts. You are a
descendent of the Pilgrims and Puritans who settled that colony. You also go to a Christian
church on Sundays, but you are not a member of the Church of England. Your church is an
independent church, a church that broke away from the Church of England many years ago.
Your church does not teach the necessity of loyalty to kings. In fact, your church was founded
by men who stood up to kings. Members of your family stood up against King Charles I in the
1640s. And their children and grandchildren stood up against King James II in the 1680s. Does it
seem wrong to you to stand up against King George III? Not at all. On the contrary. It seems like
the right thing to do. You feel that every citizen has a right to stand up a tyrannical king ‐‐ and
not just a right, a duty. For you, it seems sinful not to join the rebellion.
Now let’s imagine that your ancestors did not come to America from Europe. Let’s
imagine that you are African‐American – an African person brought to America on a slave ship.
As an enslaved person, what might your point of view be? Which side would you support in the
American Revolution? Would you side with the patriots, even though your freedom was no part
of their mission? The American Revolution was about taxes and self‐government. It was not
about freeing the slaves or ending slavery. In fact, Thomas Jefferson and many of the men who
signed the Declaration of Independence owned slaves. They made statements about
“inalienable rights,” including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” But they did not
expect their ideas to be applied to enslaved persons.
Some African‐Americans saw things from the American point of view and joined the
rebellion. You have read about Crispus Attucks, the black man who was killed in the Boston
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Massacre. You have also read about Phillis Wheatley, the African‐American poet. She opposed
the Stamp Act, and, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, she wrote a poem for George
Washington. In it, she expressed her hope that Washington and the Americans would
eventually defeat the British.
There were also African‐American soldiers. There were African‐American minutemen
who fought at Lexington and Concord. There were dark‐skinned African‐Americans who were
present at the Battle of Bunker Hill and heard the order, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of
their eyes!” There were also black soldiers at Yorktown. In fact, a German who was there said
that about 1 in every 4 American soldiers at Yorktown was black. That means that several
thousand African‐Americans fought on the American side in the decisive battle of the war. So
African‐Americans played an important role in the struggle for independence.
However, there were also African‐Americans who fought for the British. In November
of 1775, Lord Dunmore, the loyalist Governor of Virginia, made a proclamation. He said that any
slave who ran away from a “rebel” master and joined the British army would be set free. Many
slaves did run away, and some of them served in a regiment of the British Army known as Lord
Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment. The soldiers in this regiment wore a patch on their uniform
that said “Liberty to Slaves.” So you can see that there were different points of view among
African‐Americans, just as there were among European‐Americans.
The Native Americans also had their own point of view. Or, rather, they had many
different points of view. It can be misleading to think of Native Americans as a making up a
single group. Each tribe had its own leaders, its own history, and its own traditions.
Early in the war, the Americans tried to convince the Native Americans not to get
involved. The Second Continental Congress sent a message to six nations of native people:
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This is a family quarrel between us and Old England. You Indians are not concerned in it.
We don't wish you to take up the hatchet against the king's troops. We desire you to
remain at home, and not join on either side, but keep the hatchet buried deep.14
Some Native Americans heeded this advice and remained neutral. But a number of
others decided to side with the British. Many of these tribes had fought battles against the
colonists, and they thought the British government might offer them some relief. The British
government had tried to keep American settlers from spreading west. It had passed a law that
said colonists were not to move west of the Appalachian Mountains. They were to stay on the
east coast. If this law could be enforced, it might be a very good thing for the Native Americans.
It might stop the westward expansion of the colonists. It might mean the native peoples would
be able to stay on their land. That is one reason why the Cherokee people and other Native
Americans fought for the British and against the colonists.
There were also a few Native Americans tribes that sided with the Americans. The
Mohican people, who lived in western Massachusetts, were one of them. The Mohicans had
fought with the colonists in the French and Indian War, and they sided with the colonists again
in the American Revolution. Mohican Indians fought with General Washington’s army when he
surrounded the British army in Boston. They also served in the army that was victorious at
Saratoga.
As Americans, we tend to see the American Revolution as a noble struggle; after all,
the revolution led to the creation of our country. It’s natural for us to see the Revolution as “a
good thing.” But it’s important to remember that this not the only way of looking at things.
Whenever you study history, it is important to keep other points of view in mind.
14
Since the phrase “burying the hatchet” is used here,” the apparatus could suggest that teachers introduce the
saying at this point.
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Chapter 12
Artillery Training
[Enrichment Chapter 3]
“Gentlemen, welcome to the Third Continental Artillery Regiment, under the
command of Colonel Crane! I am Sergeant Campbell. You are here to learn to fire a 6‐pound
field cannon, like the one you see before you.
“Gentlemen, this cannon is not like the musket your father taught you to fire back on
the farm! It fires a 6‐pound cannonball and has a maximum range of 2,000 yards, or a little
more than a mile. However, if you want to fire with accuracy, you will want to select a target
that is no more than 1,000 yards away.
“This cannon has wheels on it, so it can be wheeled around on the battlefield. That is
why it is called a field cannon.
“To fire this weapon you will need to work together, in teams of twelve. Each of you
will have a job, and I will explain what you must do. Are you ready to master the weapon?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I can’t hear you!”
“YES, SIR!”
“That’s more like it. Now, gentlemen, what you see before you is a muzzle‐loading
cannon. That means that the cannonball is inserted at the muzzle end of the cannon, rather
than at the breech end. This is the muzzle end. And this is the breech end.
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“Correct! Gentlemen, there is no point in putting a cannonball in unless you have
already put in a charge of gunpowder. The powder is going to explode behind the cannonball,
and the force of the explosion is going to send the ball flying out of the cannon. But the powder
has to be behind the cannonball. So it has to go in first.
“However, before we add the powder, we must clean the cannon. And to do that we
need this item here. Do any of you know what this is called?”
No one spoke.
“This is called the sponge. Repeat after me: the sponge!”
“The sponge.”
“The sponge is the wooly part on top here. It was donated by a very patriotic sheep.
General Washington and I thank her for her devotion to the colonial cause. The sponge is
attached to this pole, about ten feet in length. The pole allows you to reach down inside the
cannon and clean parts you could not otherwise reach.
“It is very important to clean out the cannon. There could be sparks in the pipe. There
could be bits of paper or gunpowder still burning from the last time you fired the gun. And
believe me, gentleman, you do not want to stuff a new charge of gunpowder into the cannon if
there is still fire in the pipe. That will put a speedy end to your war service! If you insert a
charge of gunpowder into a cannon that contains fire, the next trip you take will probably be to
the church graveyard – and you will not be walking. Your friends will be carrying you on their
shoulders, in a wooden box. Do I make myself clear? So ‐‐ always, always, always! ‐‐ sponge out
the barrel carefully before loading a new round. Dip the sponge in a pail of water and then
clean out the cannon, like this.
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“Next use the mop – this thing here ‐‐ to dry out the inside of the cannon. If it is too
wet inside the cannon, the gunpowder will not detonate. You don’t want there to be fire in the
pipe. But you don’t want it to be soaking wet in there either.
“After sponging and mopping, you are ready to insert the main charge of powder. You
may be using a charge that has been measured and packed for you. Or you may have to pack
the correct amount of loose powder. In this case we will be using a pre‐packed charge. Use this
tool – called a ramrod – to drive the charge all the way down to the back of the cannon. See?
“Only then are you ready to insert the cannonball. Again, use the ramrod to make sure
it is pressed all the way down. Ram it down, like this.
“Once the cannon is loaded, it must be aimed. That is a complicated business, which I
will begin to explain tomorrow. For now, let’s just say the higher you point the cannon, the
farther the ball will travel – at least, until you get it tilted at a forty‐five degree angle. However,
as I said, that is a topic for tomorrow.
“Now let’s move from the muzzle end to the breech end. Do you see this small hole at
the breech end of the gun? It is called the touch hole. Sometimes we also call it the vent. This is
where you will light the powder and fire the gun. First, however, you need to puncture the
charge.
“In order to fire the cannon, you must poke a hole in the charge of powder that you
stuffed into the cannon. See this little poker? Stick it in through the touch hole and poke a hole
in the charge so that some of the gunpowder is exposed.
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“After poking a hole in the charge, you must pour a little more gunpowder into the
touch hole. This is a delicate task, so do it slowly and make sure you don’t spill. Haste makes
waste, and the army does not have enough gunpowder to waste it.
“The last step is to insert a quill fuse filled with gunpowder. A quill fuse, as you can
see, is just a feather from a liberty‐loving goose that has been filled with powder.
“Once the quill has been inserted, you must call out ‘PRIMED!’ That means the gun
has been loaded and is ready to fire.
“Then wait for your commanding officer to call out, ‘GIVE FIRE!” When he does, you
will touch the quill with a long match. Then stand back! And, in particular, don’t stand here,
behind the gun, because the cannon will recoil and it could hit you.
“Once you touch the match to the quill, BOOM! The cannon ball will go sailing out at
the redcoats, teaching them new respect for the American army, and for American liberties.
“Well, gentlemen, that concludes your first lesson. I know it is a lot to learn, but with a
few days of training and some practice, you will catch on. And, with a little more practice, you
should be able to fire up to a hundred rounds a day.”
[Note: based on 1771 Encyclopedia Britannica article on cannon firing, Wikipedia articles and
other online sources on Revolutionary cannon. Illustrations should include one schematic
diagram showing muzzle, breech, touch hole, powder, and cannonball. I worked in the proverb
“haste makes waste.”]
http://www.11thpa.org/artillery.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannon_operation
