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Patrick Henry
Henry was Aa outspoken opponent of the Stamp and Townshend Acts levied by England, he stirred the seeds of discord with his famous, "Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death," speech to the Virginia Assembly in 1775. He helped form the US Constitution, but he didn't lead in combat. -
Lord Cornwalls
Charles Cornwallis led several successful early campaigns during the American Revolution, securing British victories at New York, Brandywine and Camden. In 1781, as second in command to Gen. Henry Clinton, he moved his forces to Virginia, where he was defeated at the Battle of Yorktown. This American victory and Cornwallis’ surrender of his troops to George Washington was the final major conflict of the American Revolution. -
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold was a member of the Sons of Liberty, Arnold rose to the rank of general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He subsequently became a spy for the British, plotting to arrange a siege of West Point. When the plans came to light, Arnold defected to the British side. He died in London on June 14, 1801. In the end he was a loyalist. -
Henry Knox
Henry Knox was born in 1750, in Boston Massachusetts. A bookstore owner, Knox joined the Continental Army at age 21 and later served under General George Washington in the American Revolutionary War. After rising in rank to Major General, Knox resigned and became Secretary of War in
President Washington's first cabinet in 1789. He died in 1806. -
Marquis De Lafayette
He served the Continental Army with distinction during the American Revolutionary War, providing tactical leadership while securing vital resources from France. Lafayette fled his home country during the French Revolution, but he regained prominence as a statesman before his death on May 20, 1834. He was a patriot. -
Proclomation of 1764
The end of the French and Indian War in 1763 was a cause for great celebration in the colonies, for it removed several ominous barriers and opened up a host of new opportunities for the colonists. The first thing on the minds of colonists was the great western frontier that had opened to them. The proclamation, closed off the frontier to colonial expansion. -
Sugar Act
On April 5, 1764, Parliament passed a modified version of the Sugar and Molasses Act (1733), which was about to expire. Under the Molasses Act, colonial merchants had been required to pay a tax of six pence per gallon on the importation of foreign molasses. This upset the colonist and fueled rebellion. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. -
Sons of Liberty
Samuel and John Adams created an informal group of patriots, that opposeed the kings rule over New England. Their most popular objective was to force Stamp Distributors throughout the colonies to resign. The groups also applied pressure to any Merchants who did not comply with the non-importation associations. Wherever these groups existed they were either directed in secret by leading men in the community or actually lead by them. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable acts were a series of laws sponsored by British and enacted in 1774 in response to the Boston Tea Party. It was comprised of four parts, the Impartial Administration of Justice Act, the Massachusetts Bay Regulating Act, the Boston Port Act, and the Quartering Act. These acts were put in place to weaken the colonists economy. -
Battle of Bunkerhill
On June 17, 1775, the British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces caused significant damage to the british, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost. -
Battle of Trenton
With the Continental Army threatening to dissolve around him, General George Washington led the remnants of his army across the icy Delaware River on Christmas night 1776 at Trenton. The patriots won the battle and Washington became known as one of the greates generals. -
Battle of Saratoga
Fought eighteen days apart in the fall of 1777, the two Battles of Saratoga were a turning point in the American Revolution. British General John Burgoyne achieved a small, but costly victory over American forces led by Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold. Though his troop strength had been weakened, Burgoyne again attacked the Americans at Bemis Heights on October 7th, but this time was defeated and forced to retreat. He surrendered ten days later. (this was very hard to describe simply, history. -
Battle of King's Mountain
The Battle of King's Mountain took place on Saturday, October 7, 1780. One thousand American frontiersmen under Colonel Campbell of Virginia gathered in the backcountry to resist Ferguson’s advance. Pursued by the Patriots, Ferguson positioned his Tory force in defense of a rocky, treeless ridge named King’s Mountain. The Patriots charged the hillside multiple times, demonstrating lethal marksmanship against the surrounded Loyalists. Patriots won the battle, massacuring the loyalsits. -
Battle of Yorktown
The battle on October 19, 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia, was a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops and French Army troops over a British Army commanded by British lord and Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the war.
