“Revolutionaries - true revolutionaries - are aggressive, ruthless, and generally seize the main chance, as William Henry Drayton did when he saw that stump-speaking was getting him nowhere. But defenders of the status quo tend toward caution and legalisms and inaction until it is too late”
Source: The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas
“It was only then that Major John James realized that he was quite alone—whereupon he pulled the oldest trick in the book. Spurring Thunder on, he shouted, “Come on, boys! Come on! Here they are! Here they are!”28 The now thoroughly demoralized Tories leaped onto their horses and fled again, their leader joining them.”
Source: The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas
“The Greenes were incensed and Rhode Islanders took up the family’s cause as theirs, for what happened to one merchant could happen to others, who were, after all, only engaged in their God-given right to smuggle rum, sugar, and molasses rather than pay duties that everyone knew Parliament had no right to levy.”
Source: The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas
“It is with great concern that Lord Cornwallis hears every day reports of Soldiers being taken by the Enemy, in consequence of their Straggling out of Camp in search of whiskey.”
Source: The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas
“On September 28 at 5:00 a.m., Washington started his Franco-American army down the road from Williamsburg to Yorktown.”
“Soldiers of the world’s most powerful king were surrendering to ragged rebels who had defied that sovereign in the name of a new idea, the liberty of free men.”
“Thomas Jefferson, brilliant theorist of the Declaration of Independence, was a disaster as the state’s wartime governor. Instead of organizing Virginia’s resources on an emergency basis, he had concentrated on building an ideal government where nothing was done without the consent of the governed. As a result, Virginia, with 50,000 militia on her rolls, was unable to repulse 900 British under traitor Benedict Arnold, when they came to raid in late 1780.”
“During the American Revolution, the British offered emancipation to any enslaved person who fought on their side. This military tactic infuriated the Patriots and caused pandemonium on the southern plantations as thousands of slaves escaped and joined the British Army or sought refuge behind enemy lines.”
Source: Discovering Black America: From the Age of Exploration to the Twenty-First Century
“Being a spy during the american revolution was arole that a black person was well suited for. as the "invisible race" it was easy for blacks to gain access to information that would help either the Patriots or the Loyalists, because many on both sides did not believe that a black person had the cunning or intellect to be a spy. Black housekeepers, servants, cooks, and maids were often present when valuable information about troop positions, troop movements, and artillery and supply routes were discussed.”
“The first newspapers written, edited, and published by African Americans appeared in the northern United States and Canada beginning in the early 1800s. They focused primarily on issues that were important to the black community, including the abolition of slavery and the rights of free blacks.
Samuel E. Cornish and John B. Russwurm published the first black-owned and operated newspaper in America for African Americans. Freedom's Journal covered international, national, and regional news and provided its readership with useful information.”
Source: Discovering Black America: From the Age of Exploration to the Twenty-First Century