1. Revolutionary War. Privates in 1776 earned $6 a month plus a bounty at the end of their service. That pay would equate to $157.58 today, a pretty cheap deal for the poor Continental Congress.
An estimated 100,000 African Americans escaped, died or were killed during the American Revolution.
At the siege of Yorktown she dug trenches, helped storm a British redoubt, and endured canon fire. For over two years, Sampson's true sex had escaped detection despite close calls.
How many soldiers served in the war? Over the course of the war, about 231,000 men served in the Continental Army, though never more than 48,000 at any one time, and never more than 13,000 at any one place. The sum of the Colonial militias numbered upwards of 145,000 men.
Soldiers were promised a pay of $29 per month, a small fortune for the time. Many of the colonies maintained their own currencies and exchange rates. The Continental dollar was almost worthless. Congress often lacked the funds to pay the soldiers, who remained true to the cause of liberty despite the hardships.
A major weakness for the Continental Army was manpower; they were always short of qualified and capable men. General George Washington routinely had no more than 20,000 troops at one time and place.
This young man was one of several of Quaker Robert Pleasants's slaves who defected to Benedict Arnold's army in 1781. He is not in the Birchtown muster but a John Pleasants is, although he is said to be much older at 26.
As a young man, he worked as a surveyor then fought in the French and Indian War (1754-63). During the American Revolution, he led the colonial forces to victory over the British and became a national hero. In 1787, he was elected president of the convention that wrote the U.S. Constitution.
Samuel Whittemore (July 27, 1696 – February 2, 1793) was an American farmer and soldier. He was 78 years old when he became the oldest known colonial combatant in the American Revolutionary War (1775–83).
| Samuel Whittemore |
|---|
| Rank | Captain (in British army) |
What officially ended the American Revolution?
April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783
The Patriot rebellion was based on the political philosophy of republicanism, which entailed a rejection of monarchy and aristocracy and an emphasis on civic virtue. Early Patriots alienated some by resorting to violence against tax collectors and pressuring others to declare a position in the conflict.
Loyalists wanted to pursue peaceful forms of protest because they believed that violence would give rise to mob rule or tyranny. They also believed that independence would mean the loss of economic benefits derived from membership in the British mercantile system. Loyalists came from all walks of life.
Most Patriots supported independence because they felt that recent British laws on the American Colonies violated their rights as British citizens (e.g. taxing without consent, quartering soldiers in citizens' homes, and denying colonists the right to a trial).
Washington's charisma and boldness, even in the face of numerous military defeats, helped lead the Americans to victory. Washington's understanding that victory required the Americans to fight a defensive war enabled him to avoid direct and fruitless combat with the larger and more powerful British armies.
Patriots were people who wanted the American colonies to gain their independence from Britain. They wanted their own country called the United States. Why did people become patriots? The patriots wanted freedom from British rule.
Younger than you think.As it turns out, many Founding Fathers were younger than 40 years old in 1776, with several qualifying as Founding Teenagers or Twentysomethings. And though the average age of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was 44, more than a dozen of them were 35 or younger.
Among the most notable signers were James Monroe (18), John Marshall (20), Aaron Burr (20), Alexander Hamilton (21), and James Madison (25). Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the document, was only 33.
America's Founding Fathers — including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe and Benjamin Franklin — together with several other key players of their time, structured the democratic government of the United States and left a legacy that has shaped the world.
The delegates elected George Washington of Virginia, former commanding general of the Continental Army in the late American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and proponent of a stronger national government, to become President of the convention.
