Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was born April 13, 1743 in Shadwell, Virginia. He was the author of the Declaration of Independence also he was the third President of the United States. Jefferson was the nation's greatest champion of representative democracy and the rights of man. Jefferson was adressed on June 11, 1776, to head a committee of five in preparing the Declaration of Independence. In June 1779, Jefferson was elected governor of Virginia. In all honesty his different ways of doing things his political enemies had critisized him as there war govenor. He got charged with failure, although he had some insite on the the Bristish invasion . In 1781 he had completely retired from the governorship. Thomas Jefferson wished to be remembered for three achievements in his public life. He had served as governor of Virginia, as U.S. minister to France, as secretary of state under George Washington, as vice-president in the administration of John Adams, and as president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was its primary author, although his initial draft was amended after consultation with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams and altered both stylistically and substantively by Congress.

As Jefferson returned to Virginia, it was about late 1776, he had served until 1779 in the House of Delegates, one of the two houses of the General Assembly of Virginia--it was established in 1776 by the state's new constitution. Jefferson was also instrumental in devising a major revision of the criminal code, although it was not enacted until 1796. The death of his wife, on Sept. 6, 1782, added to Jefferson's troubles, alot of things changed, and became very complicated. But by the following year he was again seated in Congress. There he made two contributions of enduring importance to the nation. Jefferson immediately expressed his alarm at the regal forms and ceremonies that marked the executive office, but his fears were tempered somewhat by his confidence in the character of Washington. Jefferson, however, distrusted both the proposals and the motives of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. He thought Hamilton's financial programs both unwise and unconstitutional, flowing "from principles adverse to liberty." He had attempted, and he had failed, To persuade Washington to veto the bill incorporating a Bank of the United States--had been recommended by Hamilton.

Revolution and War

1765—Stamp Act Congress
-Sons of Liberty
-Samuel Adams
-Paul Revere
-John Hancock
-Propaganda
-Boycotts
-Lobsters (Lobster-backs, Thomas Lobster)

1766—Declaratory Act

1767—Townsend Acts (indirect tax)

-Charles Townsend

-Writs of Assistance (search warrants)
-Revenue used to pay Royal officials in the colonies
-Tea Act (glass, paper, paint) support British East India Company

1770—Boston Massacre
-March 5, 1770
-Local reaction (primarily)
-5 dead colonists
-John Adams defends British soldiers/5 exonerated-2 convicted
-Convicted men discharged and thumbs branded

1773—Boston Tea Party
-November 30, 1773--Dartmouth sails into Boston Harbor
-December 16, 1773--Tea dumped into harbor
-340 chests of tea dumped (value of 10,000 British pounds)

1774—Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts in Britain)
-Close the port of Boston
-Shut down Provincial and Town Governments
-All offices appointed
-Named General Thomas Gage as Governor
-Gave all western lands north of the Ohio R. to Quebec, allowed Catholic Church to practice

1774—1st Continental Congress
-September to October (7 weeks)
-Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia
-New England—John Adams, Paul Revere, Silas Deane
-Virginia—Washington, Patrick Henry, Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee
-Pennsylvania—John Dickenson, Joseph Galloway (Plan for American council under Parliament, to avoid war)
-New York—John Jay, James Duane
-Maryland—Samuel Chase (future Supreme Court Justice), Charles Carroll (richest man in Maryland, Catholic)
-Declaration of Rights—rejects Parliamentary authority over internal colonial affairs, colonies manage own defense, united aid to Boston if Intolerable Acts continue, absolute boycott of British goods to be enforced rigidly

1775— January
-William Pitt urges Parliament to withdraw troops from America because the idea of managing the colonies through force was “too ridiculous to take up a moment of your lordships’ time”

1775—April 19 Lexington and Concord
-Gen. Gage sends 700 men to Concord to seize the powder supplies
-Paul Revere and William Dawes raise alarm the night before
-Town of Lexington is on the way to Concord
-Minutemen are assembled on the town common
-“Shot heard round the world”
-18 colonials killed and the rest run away
-British march on to Concord and find the munitions were moved overnight
-Minutemen ambush the British the whole way back to Boston
-430 Redcoats make it back to Boston
-30,000 Colonists surround Boston

1775—May
-Gen. Howe, Gen. Clinton, Gen. Burgoyne
-5,000 British troops
-Ethan Allen, “Green Mountain Boys” seize Fort Ticonderoga
-Henry Knox uses canon to lay siege on Boston
-Benedict Arnold (Connecticut) takes Fort Crown Point to impede an invasion from Canada

1775—May 10, 2nd Continental Congress
-Sam Adams pushes for Independence
-John Dickenson (Penn.) urges restraint
-Agree to form Colonial Army
-Delegates unanimously agree to Washington as Commander of Continental Army (John Adams suggestion)

1775—June 17, “Battle of Bunker Hill”
-Actually fought on Breed’s Hill
-Gen. Howe leads assault without canon support (his canon had been matched with wrong-sized cannonballs [Amherst at Ticonderoga])
-Militia waited to within 30 yards (some say 15 yards)
-Militia target British officers
-Militia ran extremely low on ammunition
-On the third assault, led by Gen. Howe, British troops overtake the colonial position
-Britain losses almost 1000 men (about half the attacking force)
-Colonials lose about 500 men

1776—January, Common Sense
-Written by Thomas Paine
-120,000 copies sold in three months

1776—March
-Gen. William Howe evacuates Boston
-July 2, lands in Staten Island, New York (Loyalist base)

1776—Declaration of Independence
-June 7, Richard Henry Lee (Virginia) introduces legislation to declare independence from Britain
-Before voting on Lee’s proposal Congress appoints five-man committee to draft a formal
-Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson, 33, does most of the writing)
-June 28, Declaration presented to Congress
-July 2, Congress approves Lee’s legislation to declare the United States of America independent of Great Britain
-July 4, Congress officially adopts the Declaration of Independence
-The Declaration intended to:
-Undermine loyalty to King George III
-Outline basic principles of representative government
-Establish the “right” of rebellion
War

1776—August, Brooklyn Heights, New York
-Largest Naval group Britain will launch until the 20th century
-British victory, city falls to England
-As winter came “sunshine patriots” left the American Army
-Initial colonial enlistments due to expire

1776—December, Battle of Trenton
-Howe believes war almost won
-1,400 Hessians stationed at Trenton
-Colonel Rall (Hessian) builds no fortifications
-Washington “Crosses the Delaware” Christmas night
-2,500 men; 18 artillery guns
-Surprise attack at dawn
-106 Hessians killed, 918 captured
-No colonial casualties
-Washington retreats in secret to avoid Gen. Cornwallis counter-attack

1777—January, Princeton
-Washington ambushes British troops
-Colonial victory establishes this will not be a quick war for Britain

1777—September-October, Saratoga
-Gen. Burgoyne plans a three-prong attack on colonials at Albany
-Plan does not consider the terrain, forcing British troops to march through swamps, lakes, hills and forests full of rebels
-Two of the three “prongs” never arrive (Howe goes to Philadelphia instead, St. Leger retreats to New York afraid of Benedict Arnold)
-Sept. Burgoyne crosses Hudson River
-Oct. 17, Burgoyne surrenders
-Establishes American Army as real threat
-Helps secure open French Alliance
-Turning Point of the War

1777-1778—Winter at Valley Forge
-Under-funded troops
-Low morale
-10,000+ troops
-4,000 troops listed as “unfit for duty” due to poor supplies (boots, blankets, coats, etc.)
-2,500 troops die of disease (typhus, typhoid fever, dysentery, pneumonia)
-George Washington mentioned a lack of shoes so severe that the men's "marches might be tracked by the blood from their feet”
-Local farmers would sell produce to Brits who could pay cash

1779—February, Vincennes

1780—August, Camden
-October, Kings Mountain

1781—October, Yorktown
-British Gen. Cornwallis
-American Gen. Washington (also “Mad” Anthony Wayne, Baron von Steuben)
-French Gen. Rochambeau (also Marquis de Lafayette)
-Essentially a French Naval victory
-Last significant battle of the war

1783—Sept. 3, Treaty of Paris
-Britain recognizes American independence
-America gets all land from Atlantic coast to Miss. River, Great Lakes to Florida
-Fishing rights to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and off the coast of Newfoundland
-America must pay debts to Britain
-American congress would “earnestly recommend” all Loyalist property returned.