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Portal:American Revolutionary War
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The American Revolutionary War Portal
The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was, at least initially, a civil war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies on the North American continent (as well as some naval conflict). The war was the culmination of the political American Revolution, whereby the colonists overthrew Royalist rule. In 1775, Revolutionaries seized control of each of the thirteen colonial governments, set up the Second Continental Congress, and formed a Continental Army. The following year, they formally declared their independence as a new nation, the United States of America. From this time on, other European nations which rivaled Britain as colonial powers provided support for the rebels, at first secretly, later openly. Meanwhile, Native Americans and African Americans served on both sides.
Throughout the war, the British were able to use their naval superiority to capture and occupy coastal cities, but control of the countryside (where 90% of the population lived) largely eluded them due to their relatively small land army. In early 1778, shortly after an American victory at Saratoga, France signed treaties of alliance with the new nation, and declared war on Britain that summer; Spain and the Netherlands also went to war with Britain over the next two years. French involvement proved decisive, with a French naval victory in the Chesapeake leading to the surrender of a British army at Yorktown in 1781. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 ended the war and recognized the sovereignty of the United States over the territory bounded by what is now Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and the Mississippi River to the west.
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The Crawford expedition, also known as the Sandusky expedition and Crawford's Defeat, was a 1782 campaign on the western front of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the final operations of the conflict. Intending to surprise the Indians and destroy enemy American Indian towns along the Sandusky River in the Ohio Country, William Crawford led about 500 volunteer militiamen deep into American Indian territory, but Indians and their British allies from Detroit had already learned of the expedition, and gathered a force to oppose the Americans. After a day of indecisive fighting near the Sandusky towns, the Americans found themselves surrounded and attempted to retreat. The retreat turned into a rout, but most of the Americans managed to find their way back to Pennsylvania. About 70 Americans were killed; Indian and British losses were minimal. During the retreat, Colonel Crawford and an unknown number of his men were captured. The Indians executed many of these captives in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten massacre that occurred earlier in the year, in which about 100 Indian civilians were murdered by Pennsylvanian militiamen. Crawford's execution was particularly brutal: he was tortured for at least two hours before being burned at the stake. His execution was widely publicized in the United States, worsening the already-strained relationship between Native and European Americans.
John Paul Jones ( July 6, 1747(1747-07-06) – July 18, 1792 (aged 45)) was America's first well-known naval hero in the American Revolutionary War.
John Paul Jones was born 'John Paul' in 1747, on the estate of Arbigland in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright on the southern coast of Scotland. John Paul's father was a gardener at Arbigland, and his mother was a member of Clan MacDuff.
John Paul adopted the alias 'John Jones' when he fled to his brother's home in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1773 to avoid the hangman's noose in Tobago after an incident when he was accused of murdering a sailor under his command, whom he claimed had been involved in a mutiny. He began using the name 'John Paul Jones', at the suggestion of his brother.
Although his naval career never saw him above the rank of Captain in the Continental Navy after his victory over the Serapis with the frigate Bonhomme Richard, John Paul Jones remains the first genuine American Naval hero, as well as a highly regarded battle commander. His later service in the Russian Navy as an admiral showed the mark of genius that enabled him to defeat the Serapis.
Jones simply was not as good a politician as he was a naval commander, in an era where politics determined promotion, both in America and abroad. Although he was originally buried in Paris, after spending his last years abroad, he was ultimately reinterred at the United States Naval Academy, a fitting homecoming for the "Father of the American Navy".
During his engagement with Serapis, Jones uttered, according to the later recollection of his First Lieutenant, the legendary reply to a quip about surrender from the British captain: "I have not yet begun to fight!"
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