Is it Fair?

As we all know (mentioned on previous posts) the colonists, now known as Americans, have been fighting for freedom. Though the question is: who’s freedom are they really fighting for. During this era the Declaration of Independence was very contradictory to the real life in America.

Why was it contradictory you may ask? Well first of all, aren’t people created equal? So why aren’t women and slave or simply African- Americans included? They are humans and should have the same rights as everyone else?

As you know women have contributed in so many ways especially during the Revolution. Women have helped cure the ill, make clothes, and in some cases fight in the war. The slaves have been doing most of the work in the plantations especially in the South. If it weren’t for the slaves then the plantations wouldn’t have prospered as much as it did.

Why did women only gain respect, but not any legal rights? Why were slaves re-enslaved and treated just as cruely? It’s no wonder why the loyalist called the Patriots hypocrites. I guess that I would also call them that. They were spreading the idea of freedom, but I apparently it seems like this freedom was for white males only. Some kind of freedom.

The bright side to this is that years later slavery was abolished and women now have rights (in some cases more rights then men).

Battle of Camden

Date: 16th August 1780

Place: South Carolina

Sides: British and Germans vs. the Americans

Generals: Major General Lord Cornwallis vs. Major General Horatio Gates
Size of the armies: The British were1,500 hundred regulars and 500 militia. The American army included 1,500 Continental troops and some 1,500 militia.
Outcome: British victory

Since Charleston was under the power of the British, Maj. General Horatio Gates wanted to double up his winnings and territory. So Gates immediately marched for Camden, South Carolina to capture the British. Back in Charleston, Lt. General Charles Earl Cornwallis learned of Gates' march and went to Camden. On evening of August 15, the two armies ran into each other. The next morning, they started to fight. The British were obviously bigger than the Patriots, about 1/3 bigger and better equiped. So Gates had to retreat forty miles on the same day. Not such a good day right?

The War comes to its End

Cornwallis's Surrender

George Washington rapidly marched with his troops to the south, where he planned to trap Cornwallis's army at Yorktown, Virginia. This victory consisted of a combined assault of Patriot forces led by George Washington and French forces. On 1781 Washinton led his army out of Williamsburg to surround Yorktown. The french army took positions on the left, while the Americans took positions on the right. French General  Lafayette trapped the British in the peninsula. But George Washington's plan was going to work if and only if the French fleet arrived at the precise moment. The French fleet was extremely important because it was going to prevent the British navy to evacuate the army by the sea and it was also preventing the British from getting the support that was coming from the north. George Washington was not sure if the fleet was going to arrive in time, he could just wish they were going to. The fleet appeared on September 5th, 1781 just in time. This coordination was pure luck, because at that time there was no long-distance communication.

Trapped by land and by sea, Cornwallis surrendered his army on Oct 19th, 1781. Cornwallis's surrender prompted the British to put an end the conflict.

Patriots Drive the British Back

After being defeated in the Battle of Saratoga and after the alliance between the French and the Patriots, the British decided they had to stop with the nonsense and put a stop to the rebellion of their American Colonies. Toward the end of the war, the British shifted their attention to the south. In late 1778 and 1780, the British had won most of the battles and captured a lot of major sea ports on the south. In 1778, they easily captured Savannah in Georgia. In 1780, they captured Charleston and 5000 Patriot soldiers in South Carolina. At last, they captured Camden in South Carolina too. General Lord Cornwallis was able to capture all these ports with the help of the German mercenaries. Everything was going right for the British, but what they didn't know was that the Patriots were not giving up just yet.

Simultaneously, Bernardo de Gálvez, spanish governor of Louisina, captured Mobil, Alabama and Pensacola, West British Florida. This expanded spanish power in North America and divided the British army.

At last, the Patriots crushed the loyalist militia at King Mountain in South Carolina. On 1781, the Continental Army inflicted heavy losses on the British Army on two battles: Cowpens and Guildford Court House. Frustrated, Lord Cornwallis decided to march north, where he walks directly into a trap.

The Frontier War

After the French and Indian War, there was another war called Pontiac's Rebellion. After this rebellion the king proclaimed that no one could settle west of the Appalachian Mountains, through the Proclamation of 1763. He had set that land as an indian reserve. This angered the colonists because it wouldn't permit colonial expansion. This measure was supposedly taken because the indians feared that the colonists would take away their territory by expanding westward, and at the same time it was a way of keeping the colonies at the east coast (where it would be easier to be controlled by England). Defying this proclamation, the colonies started to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains around the 1770's. 

Most indians sided with British and they were urged by England to attack the colonies. The indians eventually attacked, but the colonists wouldn't tolerate that. They started attackinh and killed neutral indians.They kept on disregarding the peace treaties they made with the indians. Little by little, the colonists managed to take more land. 

After many fights with the British, the Patriots finally convince some Native Americans to abandon the British allies, allowing the Patriots to recapture a fort they had lost. Of course, not all Native Americans were willing to help the Patriots and they started attacking Patriot's frontieer posts in New York. The Patriots simply decided to stop trying to convince them and so they burned 40 Iroqouis towns. The Indians, in return, continued their attacks with awful consequences, forcing many Patriots to retreat to the east.

European Allies

The victory of Saratoga encouraged many European countries to show their support one way or another. France recognized American Independence and entered the war, openly allying to the colonies. France had been helping the Patriots in many ways, but always secretly because they didn't believe that they would win. Of course France would welcome an opportunity to weaken their enemies' empire. Before the Saratoga Battle, they had been sending secret ships with ammunitions and weapons, and pratically this secret help was what kept the Patriots going. Some french volunteers even provided military expertise (training the soldiers), such as Marquis de Lafayette. After annnounceing publically their allience, they even sent troops to fight beside Patriots against British troops. 

In 1779, British suffered another blow, when Spain entered the war. However they didn't enter as an ally to the Americans, but to France. They also wanted to weaken the British empire, but they feared that, if they encouraged the colonies' independence from Britain, their own colonies in America would want independence too. The Spanish governor of Louisiama, Bernardo de Gálvez, provided money and supplies to the Patriots, at the same time they prevented British ships from entering the Mississippi River.

The Netherlands also tried to help somehow and they tried to beat the East India Company. This disrupted England's economic stability.

The Battle of Saratoga

Date: October 17^th, 1777

Place: Saratoga on the Hudson River in New York State.

Sides:  British and German troops vs. the Americans

Generals: Major General John Burgoyne vs. Major General Horatio Gates and Brigadier Benedict Arnold

Armies: 5,000 British, Canadians, and Indians vs.  12,000-14,000 militia and American troops

Uniforms: The British wore showy red coats that could be seen from a mile away and the Germans wore blue coats. Meanwhile, the Americans dressed as best as they could. They simply wore their normal clothing. Until later on did the Continental army start to wear blue coats and the militia continued to wear rough clothing.

Outcome: The Americans forced General Burgoyne to surrender.

The Battle of Saratoga in September and October 1777was a decisive American victory ending with the surrender of an entire British army of 9,000 men invading New York from Canada. Battle of Saratoga was actually two battles about 9 miles south of Saratoga, New York. 

The surrender of General John Burgoyne, who was surrounded by much larger American militia forces, took place after his retreat to Saratoga. The capture of an entire British army secured the Americans from mroe attacks out of Canada and prevented New England from being isolated. A huge result was that France  entered the war on behalf of the Americans, dramatically improving the Americans' chances in the war.