Washington takes command of Continental Army

On this day. July 3,1775, George Washington rides out in front of the American troops gathered at Cambridge common in Massachusetts and draws his sword, formally taking command of the Continental Army. Washington, a prominent Virginia planter and veteran of the French and Indian War, had been appointed commander in chief by the Continental Congress two weeks before. In agreeing to serve the American colonies in their war for independence, he declined to accept payment for his services beyond reimbursement of future expenses.

George Washington was born in 1732 to a farm family in Westmoreland County, Virginia. His first direct military experience came as a lieutenant colonel in the Virginia colonial militia in 1754, when he led a small expedition against the French in the Ohio River Valley on behalf of the governor of Virginia, beginning a fight that resulted in disastrous defeat for first Washington and then British General Edward Braddock. This launched the Seven Years War, but Washington resigned from his military post and returned to a planter’s life in Virginia, later taking a seat in Virginia’s House of Burgesses. During the next two decades, Washington openly opposed escalating British taxation and repression of the American colonies. In 1774, he represented Virginia at the Continental Congress.

After the American Revolution erupted in 1775, Washington was nominated to be commander in chief of the newly established Continental Army. Some in the Continental Congress opposed his appointment, thinking other candidates were better equipped for the post, but he was ultimately chosen because, as a Virginian, his leadership helped bind the southern colonies more closely to the rebellion in New England. Despite his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, General Washington led an effective war of harassment against British forces in America, while encouraging the intervention of the French into the conflict on behalf of the colonists. On October 19, 1781, with the surrender of British General Charles Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, General Washington defeated one of the most powerful nations on earth.

After the war, the victorious general retired to his estate at Mount Vernon, but, in 1787, he heeded his nation’s call and agreed to preside over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The drafters created the office of president with him in mind, and, in February 1789, Washington was unanimously elected the first president of the United States. As president, Washington sought to unite the nation and protect the interests of the new republic at home and abroad. Of his presidency, he said, “I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not hereafter be drawn in precedent.” He successfully implemented executive authority, making good use of brilliant politicians such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson in his cabinet, and quieted fears of presidential tyranny. In 1792, he was unanimously reelected but, four years later, refused a third term. He died in 1799.

http://www.history.com  

Jack Manning

Treasurer General

National Society Sons of the American Revolution

www.sar.org

The real Declaration of Independence is made

On this day in history, July 2, 1776, the real Declaration of Independence is made. But wait! Don’t we celebrate the Declaration of Independence on July 4th? It’s true. We do celebrate our nation’s independence from Great Britain on July 4th, but the actual date of the vote for independence was July 2nd!

During the time leading up to the American Revolution, many American colonists held out hope of reconciling with Great Britain. Letters were written and petitions made to King George detailing their grievances, but none of them made a difference. Once the Battles of Lexington and Concord took place, it became apparent to many that Britain was bent on military dictatorship, but not to all.

Even when the Second Continental Congress met in response to the first bloodshed, the majority was not ready to declare independence. They sent King George an "olive branch," known as the Olive Branch Petition, which was one last attempt at reconciliation. The King wouldn’t even receive the petition. He declared the colonies in full rebellion and made it an act of treason to support the colonists in any way.

By mid-1776, full blown battles had been waged at Bunker Hill and Quebec, naval battles had occurred in various places, Norfolk had been burned to the ground and British invasion attempts were made in North Carolina and South Carolina. These events finally convinced enough colonists that reconciliation was impossible. They would have to win a military victory over Great Britain, or be reduced to slaves.

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presented the Lee Resolution to Congress. The resolution called for three things, a joint declaration of independence from Great Britain, the formation of alliances with foreign powers against Britain and a plan of union for the colonies.

By this time, the attitude of most of Congress was in favor of independence, so committees were made to deal with each of the proposals. A date was set for the formal vote on the independence question for July 2nd. During the interim, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. When July 2nd arrived, 12 of the 13 colonies voted for independence with New York abstaining, making July 2nd the official day of American independence.

For the next 2 days, Congress debated the wording of its official announcement of independence, making several revisions to Jefferson’s declaration. The final version of the Declaration was adopted on the 4th. So independence was voted on officially on the 2nd, but the wording of the official announcement was adopted on the 4th. That evening, printer John Dunlap made the first copies, which were sent to various leaders around the colonies.

The first public announcement that independence had been declared was in the July 5th edition of the German language Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote. On July 6th, the full text was printed for the first time in the Philadelphia Evening Post. The first public readings of the Declaration occurred in Philadelphia, in Easton, Pennsylvania and in Trenton, New Jersey, on the 8th. As public announcements and readings took place around the colonies, public celebrations were held for the first time, but they occurred whenever the news arrived, not on the 2nd or on the 4th!

http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com

Jack Manning

Treasurer General

National Society Sons of the American Revolution

www.sar.org

“Liberty must at all hazards be supposed. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure and their blood.”
John Adams

A Cherokee war campaign against the southern colonies begins

On this day in history, July 1, 1776, a Cherokee war campaign against the southern colonies begins. The Cherokee tribe was traditionally located in the area of northern Georgia, western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Warfare arose periodically between the Cherokee and the encroaching white settlers from the time of their first contact, but a new wave of conflict arose after the French and Indian War.

The Proclamation Line of 1763 forbade British settlers from settling west of the Appalachians in an effort  to limit conflict between settlers and Indians who had supported the British against the French during the war. Some settlers had other ideas though and tried to settle in the area. In the late 1760s and early 1770s, the first several settlements began in what is now eastern Tennessee in Cherokee territory. The settlers believed they were in western Virginia, but a survey proved they were actually outside colonial territory. They were ordered to leave the Cherokee territory by the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs. The Cherokee chiefs, however, said they could stay as long as no more settlers came.

In 1775, Richard Henderson of North Carolina made a deal with Cherokee leaders to purchase most of modern day Kentucky. The sale did not take into account the fact that other tribes claimed this land, nor the fact that it was illegal according to British law as defined by the Proclamation Line of 1763. The "sale" caused a rift in the Cherokee tribe. A young rebel named Dragging Canoe angrily challenged the older leaders who made the deal and started gathering a coalition around him of those who were disenchanted with their elders for making deals with and selling land to the settlers.

When the American Revolution broke out, the settlers in Cherokee territory decided that British law no longer applied to them and they could live wherever they wanted. Since they had made a treaty with the Cherokee, they were on the land legitimately in their view. In May of 1776, a coalition of northern tribes allied with the British convinced Dragging Canoe and his band to join them in fighting the colonists.

A plan was hatched whereby simultaneous raids would be led against the settlers in Cherokee territory, as well as on frontier settlements in Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia. The campaign began on July 1, 1776. In some places, settlers had been warned and took refuge in various forts. In other places, settlers were massacred and homes and villages were destroyed.

The Cherokee attack led to a massive response from the combined colonial militias of the attacked colonies. Thousands of militia members marched on Cherokee territory, burned dozens of villages, destroyed crops and killed those who resisted. Even those who were not involved in the attacks suffered. Over a period of several months, the Cherokee campaign was put down with a resounding colonial victory.

The colonial victory led to peace treaties established with the older and wiser Cherokee chiefs who understood they could not win this fight. The younger Dragging Canoe moved south with a growing group of rebels where he continued to work with the British and launch attacks against white settlers for years to come, which were known as the Chickamauga Wars, named for the region in which Dragging Canoe settled near modern day Chattanooga, Tennessee.

http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com

Jack Manning

Treasurer General

National Society Sons of the American Revolution

www.sar.org

“The public cannot be too curious concerning the characters of public men.”
Samuel Adams (1775)