...The USA, a unbelievable country that was formed in the 1700s. This country has progressed massively over the past 150 years. We have developed the best country in the world. Imagine how good we are right now, we have the best Military, health care, technology, Athletes, and we have a huge, strong economy. Now take these facts and reverse then to what we would be if we were still under British rule. My my all we have is the 13 colonies and the United Kingdom. ⅙ of the Military we have now. Not as good health care, technology, or economy. We broke away, and I guarantee, that if we didn't have George Washington we want would still be under British rule. George Washington is the most important person in American History. One of the reasons that George Washington was the most influential American in History was his...
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...George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia on February 22, 1732. He was born into a middle class family, his father Augustine and mother Mary, moved the family up the well-known Potomac River, to another Washington owned plantation called Little Hunting Creek. This was in 1735, only three years later the family packed up and moved again. This time to Ferry Farm, opposite of Fredericksburg Virginia, This was finally the place George would call home, for much of his childhood and youth years. George lived a normal child’s life for the time period. A little better off than most, he was homeschooled in his younger years, where he learned math, geography, Latin and the English classics. Like many people he gained most of his knowledge and understanding of life by watching other people. He mastered the art of growing tobacco, and how to run a plantation. A major...
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...historic figure in American history. Serving under George Washington, Charles Lee participated in a number of battles. However, history says Charles Lee was treacherous to the cause, all the while that he was in command during that time; he was acting in bad faith toward the Americans. His influence in the army was, at all times, mischievous (General Charles Lee: Traitor of the American Revolution). To the British, Charles Lee was a traitor who turned on England to fight under George Washington. Due to Charles Lee’s treacherous actions against America, it would lead to his downfall in the following years. Born in England to an aristocratic family, Lee had already joined the army at the age of 12, and in the 1750's was sent to colonial America to fight in the French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years War). It was here that he first served with the man who would be his superior officer later in life, General George Washington. Together they survived the bloody disaster of Major General Edward Braddock's defeat at the hands of the French Canadians and Indians in 1755 (American History Suite 101) at the Monongahela River at the forks with the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers near modern Pittsburgh (Fort Pitt) in the Battle of Monongahela (British Battles). Not only was it here that Charles Lee first came into contact with George Washington, it was also Washington’s first defeat, which probably leads to Lee’s treason later on. Why this happens is because Lee was arrogant and ugly, and...
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...“1776” by David McCullough, it tells the tale of war times in the year 1776. This book is a work of historical nonfiction and a true account of an American History, based on true events of war, hard times with many people, and the lives of soldiers. Their accounts take us throughout the South to the North. George Washington was a man that many of us know and will know for years to come and this book will give the readers a look into his life as he battles in war time during 1776. At the same time we must not forget who was with him and the other men on the opposing sides of these battles. David McCullough will walk his readers through heroic battles, sadness, illness, and lives that many of us never realized happen. The author...
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...Black Hills of South Dakota, which has become a big tourist attraction. It has a history that not everyone knows, which makes it unique from other United States monuments. Some common questions people have are why was a huge carving placed on a mountain in South Dakota, who carved it, and how did they choose which four presidents would be on it? In the 1920's a historian by the name of Doane Robinson had an idea to carve historical figures into the granite “Needles”, which was the tallest mountain in South Dakota to attract more people to visit the state (Smithsonianmag.com). Robinson located a sculptor named Gutzon Borglum, but when he came to look at the site called “needles” he felt that...
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...1789- George Washington Becomes President George Washington became the first president of the United States in April 1789. Washington was not planning on becoming president after the Constitutional Convention. His plans were to live a quiet, mellow life in his Virginia estate called Mount Vernon. The news reached him on April 16, 1789 that he was the unanimous choice for the first president and he accepted, leaving his estate two days later. He made his way to New York City to take the oath of office. This is important because being Washington being the first president modeled how future presidents should act. He was a wise and strong willed leader, showing that in the war, he was the leader that the people not only wanted but also needed. George Washington was a big part of creating the foundation for our democracy today. -Aaron...
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...that during the 1780’s everyone thought that it was only natural that America verge away from British rule. They all figured that it would be a gradual change; not a full blown revolution. Throughout the chapter, Ellis puts great emphasis on the many things that could have gone wrong during the revolution. He points all these negative events and set backs that he felt could easily have brought the developing America down to show just how great of an accomplishment the revolution was. The Founding Fathers were not completely oblivious to the severity of breaking away from Great Britain. Tom Pain states that, “it is only common sense that an island can not rule a continent (pg.3).” Many assumed that it was only natural that the thirteen colonies govern themselves. They figured that it would be a peaceful break such as the gaining of independence for Ghana or Canada. It was not until later on that the colonies realized that Britain would not easily hand over the land. What I find interesting is that only the Founding Fathers seemed to realize the great events taking place during their time. John Adams even instructed his wife to file and keep all of his records. It is as if he knew that hundreds of years from then, we the future Americans would look back at his notes and recognize his greatness. This makes me wonder why they were so sure of themselves. The Americans were at a disadvantage during the beginning of the war. How was it that they seem so certain that the war would...
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...The United Sates was the golden crock-pot of the major innovations of democracy and the future of what lies ahead of this newly crafted country. During the early 1800s, major figures entered presidency such as the late George Washington and the new president taking the throne, Thomas Jefferson. Major pieces of law came to play that they enforced after Congress drafted them, all abiding the same regulations as the constitution. The constitution was written by the constitution convention in 1787 outlining the basic freedoms every citizen in the newly found republic of the United States should have. Every single law trying to pass was checked and balance because of the constitution. However, the character that the presidents demonstrate to the...
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...If a survey was conducted that asked us the question of "name at least three founding fathers of The United States," we could easily come up with George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, or Alexander Hamilton. Now if that same survey asked instead "name one defining characteristic of these founding fathers," or "describe in your own words the significance of these individuals," we would get various responses. Despite the randomness of answers we would receive on such a survey, a common consensus could be reached about America's Founding Fathers, that is these individuals were great figures in our nation's history. The role they played in the 18th century to establish the basis for a nation that would continue to grow for centuries was significant....
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...Decision in Philadelphia was written by well-known authors Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier. Christopher Collier was the headlining author of this book and also wrote the well know children’s book My Brother Sam is dead, which won the Newberry Honor book and was nominated for the National Book award in 1975. Collier was born in New York City on 1930 and worked with his brother James Lincoln Collier in numerous books that were published. Christopher also gained his PhD in history and now is a Professor of history at the University of Connecticut. Finally Collier is an official Connecticut State Historian. After knowing all of this background information about Professor Collier the reader should feel comfortable about reading this material for the reason that it is coming from a knowledgeable source....
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...sunshine. -General William Maxwell to Adam Stephen, April 10, 17771 On New Year’s Day in 1777, Robert Morris sent George Washington a letter that rings strangely in a modern ear. “The year 1776 is over,” Morris wrote. “I am heartily glad of it and hope you nor America will ever be plagued with such another.” Washington shared that feeling, which was very far from our own. We celebrate 1776 as the most glorious year in American history. They remembered it as an agony, especially the “dark days” of autumn.2 Americans have known many dark days, from the starving times in early settlements to the attack on the World Trade Center. These were the testing times and the pivotal moments of our history. It was that way in 1776, after the decision for independence and the military disasters in New York. In early December, British commanders believed that they were very close to ending the rebellion, and American leaders feared that they might be right. Then came a reversal of fortune, and three months later the mood had changed on both sides. By the spring of 1777, many British officers had concluded that they could never win the war. At the same time, Americans recovered from their despair and were confident that they would not be defeated. That double transformation was truly a turning point in the war. 363 ~ Reprise: A Web of Contingency in History We have seen how it happened: not in a single event, or even a chain of events, but in a great web of contingency...
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...defeated the British, American patriots then drafted the constitution that remains the law of the land to this day. With George Washington's inauguration as president in 1789, the story has a happy ending and the curtain comes down. This time-honored script renders the road from colonies to nation clear, smooth, and straight, with familiar landmarks along the way, from Boston's Massacre and Tea Party through Lexington and Concord, then on to Bunker Hill and Yorktown before reaching its destination: Philadelphia in 1787, where the Founders invented a government worthy of America's greatness. Those Founders are equally familiar. Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison, Sam and John Adams, Patrick Henry and Alexander Hamilton: in the popular mind this band of worthies, more marble monuments than mere mortals, guides America towards its grand destiny with a sure and steady hand. "[F]or the vast majority of contemporary Americans," writes historian Joseph Ellis, the birth of this nation is shrouded by "a golden haze or halo."(1) So easy, so tame, so much "a land of foregone conclusions" does America's Revolution appear that we tend to honor and ignore it rather than study it. In 1976, the 200th birthday of the Declaration of Independence, "every sidewalk survey show[ed] the great majority of Americans unwilling to sign [the] Declaration if it [was] presented to them without its identifying label." During the Constitution's bicentennial eleven years later, American...
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...president, George Washington. President Washington requested that Congress set aside a ‘secret service fund’ for clandestine and secret activities (Revolutionary Ideas, 2007). After leading the Continental Army during the war, he knew how important it was to have secret agencies analyze and protect the new country. The use of secret agents, counterintelligence, and the clandestine paramilitary, have been used extensively to set up elaborate deceptions, gather sensitive information, and coordinate operations to cause sabotage towards other adversaries or countries that wished to cause us harm throughout the history of our country (Revolutionary Ideas, 2007). Although President Washington set a growing foundation of creating and fostering the need and use of foreign intelligence, it was President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) that helped combined the efforts of the state and war departments to coordinate efforts on a combined government-wide level (History of the CIA, 2007). The events of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 prompted FDR to make a change to all government intelligence. FDR asked World War I veteran William J. Donovan to draft a new plan for an intelligence service that would combine all those departments’ efforts and make sure they were on the same levels of communication (History of the CIA, 2007). Donovan became the new Coordinator of Information (COI). This was the United States’ first peacetime, non-departmental intelligence organization. It was called the...
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...American Slavery, American Freedom Edmund S. Morgan discusses the historical ideas between slavery and the fight for freedom, mostly in Virginia. He explains American history in a different view on how slavery of the blacks, secured the privilege of the whites. Edmund argues that the experience of the Virginia colonies show the natural and unavoidable rise in slavery as an American solution to a real issue of labor shortages, excess capacity, and open markets. One of Morgan’s overall conclusion is that America was built upon this foundation of enslaved African Americans. The core message of the book is the paradox between the ample amounts of independence liked by some in the colony and slavery undergo by many others. In the first chapter, Morgan stated, “The paradox is American, and it behooves Americans to understand it if they would understand themselves. But the key to the puzzle, historically, does lie in Virginia” (5). Morgan wants the readers to understand the true American history and culture on how we got here today. Other subject manners in this book include the association between the colonies and the Native Americans, with the tobacco economy. Morgan described the racial, economic and constitutional evolution of the 17th and early 18th century Virginia. Morgan explains on how spokesmen like George...
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...Joint and Combined Operations: Question 7. Given the overwhelming British victories in New York and New Jersey in 1776, how was General Washington able to avoid catastrophic defeat and eventually win the war? By Julie Moss A paper submitted to the Faculty of the Naval War College in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the Department of Strategy and War. The contents of this paper reflect my own personal views and are not necessarily endorsed by the Naval War College or the Department of the Navy. Signature: /JKM/ BACKGROUND Following the French-Indian War, The American Revolution began between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the former British colonies in North America. The British power was trying to overwhelm the colonists of New America with many acts, such as the Stamp Act, the Sugar Act, and the Intolerable Acts, all of which were deemed illegitimate by the colonists and in violation of the rights as Englishmen. For the most part, colonists were trying to reject the oligarchies that were common in Europe and started to believe in Republicanism based on the Enlightenment. Many leaders took part in this Revolution; one of the most important of whom was General George Washington. His role was vital in the victory for Americans and their freedom from the power of Britain. As the war for independence approached, Washington was known throughout the American Colonies for his courage and military exploits. In Virginia, he had established a reputation...
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