Betsy Ross made flags for 50 years, and we are all familiar with the famous circular 13-star design. Fewer know about Francis Hopkinson, signer of the Declaration of Independence and designer of our Stars and Stripes. Letters between Hopkinson and the Continental Congress tell the story, and these letters can be found in the National […]
Americans love their Stars and Stripes, and fly it proudly. But many do not know that it was not the one flying when the 13 Colonies declared Independence on July 4th, 1776. The first flag that the early United States used as its “national flag” is known by several names, like Continental Colors and Grand […]
Famed US naval officer John Paul Jones was born in Scotland in 1742. At age 13 he began his career at sea, as a ship’s boy on the Friendship sailing between Britain and Virginia and the West Indies. By 21 he was the captain of his own ship. Jones joined the Continental Navy during the […]
North African pirates were menacing folks at least as far back as the Crusades. We have tales of them sailing as far north as Iceland, not only capturing merchant ships but plundering ports and taking captives for the slave trade.It was the habit of European nations to pay tribute to the scoundrels, rather than fight […]
America’s early Minutemen were men who were ready for military duties “at a minute’s warning.” When these men rallied, they became a militia, citizens with limited military training who could grab their arms immediately and fight in an emergency to defend their local area. The first Minutemen were in Massachusetts, and they saw their first […]
The first shots of the American Revolution were fired in Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Today we call this day Patriots Day. But did the American soldiers have a flag with them that day? Great question! British soldiers had marched from Boston to arrest Colonial leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock. But men […]
Our forefathers had strong opinions about unjust taxation. In 1765, when Americans were still British subjects, Parliament passed the Stamp Act. It was an attempt to raise revenue by directly taxing paper. Every piece of printed paper was to be taxed, from newspapers, cards, and pamphlets, to almanacs, legal papers and playing cards. Even dice […]
Molly Pitcher is described as a patriot who carried pitchers of water to soldiers and helped with cannon duty during the Battle of Monmouth in the American Revolution. “Molly Pitcher” may be a combination folk hero inspired by the actions of many women who served in this role on the battlefield, and became know by […]
America has had its share of pirates. One could even say that the Boston Tea Party was a sort of piracy. It’s likely that a some of those tea leaves found their way into a patriot’s teapot instead of landing at the bottom of Boston Harbor. It was normal for a nation at war to […]
Until modern times, the great killer of soldiers in all armies was an invisible one. It was not bullets, cannons or bayonets, but the disease called smallpox. In 1775, smallpox had so devastated the American army in Canada that John Adams bemoaned that “…smallpox is ten times more terrible than the British, Canadians and Indians […]
George Washington was known for keeping his cool, so it was rare that anyone saw him lose his temper. But at the Revolutionary War Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey, Washington exploded in rage when his second in command disobeyed orders and retreated from an engagement. Washington had sent General Charles Lee ahead to […]
The British had tens of thousands of troops in America throughout the war, but still found it necessary to increase their numbers by hiring foreign troops. German rulers hired out some of their regular army units to Great Britain to fight against the Patriots in the American Revolution. By 1776 thousands of soldiers called “Hessians” […]
