Revolutionary War Essays (Examples)

I have always been loyal to the King, but is this how a king treats his subjects, by drawing weapons on them on a hillside? The colonists did not start this fight; they are here in response to the threat.

Every real man wants to defend his homeland from threat, in my opinion. Until today I thought of my homeland as Great ritain, and I saw my allegiance to King George. ut there are King George's representatives ready to aim their muskets at Mr. Cooper, and old Mr. Pike, and our only doctor, and a lot of other good people. Look there, I see Matthew Cooper, my fellow apprentice and best friend. It seems he has made up his mind.

I am of two minds about the Stamp Acts. On the one hand, the ritish did send soldiers to protect us and fight for us when the French threatened (Kreamer,…

By studying the American Revolution, children will gain a sense of how 'young' America is, in comparison to other nations, and why such issues as individualism and taxation remain such an important part of the American civic discourse today. Being able to identify major British and American figures of the revolution is essential because people like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison continue to play such an important influence on our image as to what constitutes an 'American' leader in every election. Children must understand these leaders as imperfect individuals, not as icons. Understanding the American guerilla warfare tactics in the major battles of the Revolutionary War help show how America was able to challenge the British army's superior numbers and firepower.

Explaining New Jersey's critical role in the American Revolution is important in understanding exactly how America's independence was won can bring history to life for young children…

More precisely, anthropology studies suggest that African-American communities represent some of the strongest human gatherings in the world precisely because there is a sense of unity in suffering (Jenkins, 1997). Seeing the complete isolation and rejection from and by the white community the African-American communities gathered around and against a common evil which was the white communities and the state. Therefore, the emotional element played an essential role for the way in which the African-American communities developed.

Also, religion played an extremely important part. Their belief in the final absolution and the eternal resolution of all evil deeds motivated their community and succeeded in keeping the community united. This is one of the reasons for which then and now the church is such a significant symbol in the African-American community.

Discuss how demographic patterns have reshaped your understanding of Puritan families and the communities they created.

The issue of religion…

Slavery Insurrections and Revolutionary ars

Revolutionary ars vs. Slavery Insurrection

Uprising is a common thread throughout history. henever one group is oppressed by another the inevitable outcome will be a revolution. In fact, the very term revolution is defined as, "a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure, especially one made suddenly and often accompanied by violence." (Dictionary.com). Throughout history there are many examples of various violent overthrows. Among the list the two most prominent that come to mind are revolutionary wars and slavery insurrections.

The American Revolution is a prime example of a radical change that required violence. The American Revolutionary ar happened between the years of 1775 and 1783 and marked a new era in governments (Middleton 20). After being ordered and taxed into poverty by England, the colonies determined that the only way of ensuring the nation's success was to overthrow England and break…

John Shy and Revolutionary War

John Shy raised the question of how the American Revolution could have been successful at all against the greatest military and economic power of the 18th Century and one that had a longer imperial reach than any other. Yes in the end Great ritain gave up its North American colonies after the defeat at Yorktown in 1781 and the collapse of Lord North's ministry. Over 200,000 men fought in the Continental Army at one time or another and perhaps even more in the local at state militias, an enormous number in a country with a white population of only about two million. In addition to the conventional battles that have been well-covered in the traditional histories, there were a far larger number of skirmishes and ambushes by local militias and irregular forces that made ritish control impossible outside of large towns and garrison areas. Throughout…

156.

Ibid, pg. 157.

"General Nathanael Greene." Historic Valley Forge. 2006. Internet. Retrieved March 14, 2009 at http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/greene.html.

"Brigadier General Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox." The American Revolution

Homepage. 2004. Internet. Retrieved March 14, 2009 at http://americanrevwar.homestead.

A com/files/marion.htm.

Ibid, Internet.

10 Cheaney, Janie B. "Daniel Morgan." 1998. Internet. Retrieved March 14, 2009 at http://jrshelby.com/kimocowp/morgan.htm.

11 "The inning of Independence, 1777-1783." American Military History, Chapter 4. U.S.

Army Military History. 2001. Internet. Retrieved March 14, 2009 at http://www.history.army.mil/books/amh/amh-04.htm.

12 Ibid, Internet.

13 Ibid, Internet.

14 Ibid, Internet.

15 Ibid, Internet.

16 Ibid, Internet.

orks Cited

Bicheno, High. Rebels and Redcoats: The American Revolutionary ar. UK: Harper Collins, 2003.

Brigadier General Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox." The American Revolution

Homepage. 2004. Internet. Retrieved March 14, 2009 at http://americanrevwar.homestead.com/files/marion.htm.

Cheaney, Janie B. "Daniel Morgan." 1998. Internet. Retrieved March 14, 2009 at http://jrshelby.com/kimocowp/morgan.htm.

Heathcote, Charles . "General Nathanael Greene." Historic Valley Forge. 2006.…

military narrative of the American Revolutionary ar is often depicted in clear, bright shades of red, white and blue, with the "Star Spangled Banner" blaring loudly in the background. However, the lived reality of the American Revolutionary ar was often quite brutal and harsh, particularly for the ordinary soldiers in the Colonial Army. The account of the Patriot soldier Joseph Plumb Martin, as related in the book Ordinary Courage: The Revolutionary ar Experiences of Joseph Plumb Martin, (edited by the historian James Kirby Martin), makes this fact abundantly clear.

It is important to note that the editor James Kirby Martin, unlike many chroniclers of the American Revolution both past and present, did not chose to edit the work of a prominent founding father to present a new perspective upon the war. Instead, he chose to look at the conflict through the eyes of an ordinary soldier. Rather than rhetoric about…

Revolutionary War, loyalist leaders like enjamin Franklin's son Governor William Franklin, warns of "all the horrors of a Civil War" when advising his constituents to remain loyal to the crown.[footnoteRef:1] Therefore, the American Revolution and the Revolutionary War were self-consciously considered to be a type of Civil War. Furthermore, when the Civil War of the 1860s broke out amid the United States, it seemed that similar dialog was being used to describe the secessionists in the South as what was being used to describe the American Revolutionaries rebelling against the Crown. In President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1862, he affirms the will to respond "in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion."[footnoteRef:2] Yet did the Civil War produce, as McPherson claims, a "Second American Revolution," creating changes that were both more…

Both sides took preventative measures as best they could, mainly by keeping their troops away from those afflicted with the disorder or by inoculating them. Did smallpox have the potential to affect the outcomes of campaigns or the war itself? Certainly the smallpox outbreak did indeed have the potential to affect the outcome of the war. On page 85 of his book, McCandless writes that sicknesses "…killed and incapacitated large numbers of soldiers and felled key commanders at critical moments." ashington and British military leaders alike moved their troops to places that would supposedly keep them from becoming infected.

hy is the terrible scourge of smallpox that affected the Revolutionary ar in serious negative ways not talked about today? It is interesting that many students have not been aware at all of the smallpox issue during the Revolutionary. It doesn't have anything to do with the modern world being less…

Fighting as a Black Slave in the Revolutionary War

If I were a black slave fighting in the American War of Independence, I would fight for the colonial rebels, men like George Washington. Even though these colonialists were mostly slave holders, I would view these men as my masters and I would probably feel an allegiance to them in this regard. And even though Washington himself would issue an order in 1775 to recruiters to avoid enrolling negroes, this would not deter me from choosing sides in this conflict, simply because of what I see as my duty in this country. Strictly speaking, I would not see the conflict as one in which I had a dog in the fight, but for the fact that my owner and his people would view the conflict one way or the other, I would view it that way too in order to appear…

The idea that all human beings were born equal and that as equals and that all had equal rights flew in the face of traditional social norms. In the Old World, social hierarchies determined political and economic status. In the New World, citizens at least had the opportunity to participate in town meetings. The newly bestowed rights and freedoms were not universal, however. Slaves and women were both excluded from the political process, stripped of the liberties granted to white males.

Moreover, the revolution proposed a new form of republican government that was "by the people." The Greeks had practiced a democratic form of government but the Americans extended Hellenistic ideas by fusing them with Enlightenment theory. The Revolutionary War did alter the political landscape of the New World. Rather than be governed from beyond as a colony, the United States asserted its right to self-government.

The ritish came to impose serious taxes as a result of the French Indian war. These in turn were unacceptable to a people which considered itself not to be responsible for the causes of the war. The confrontation had been in fact another matter of European dispute that had to be solved outside the continent in the colonies.

Third, there is a disagreement in the way in which the war was perceived at the local level. The American colonies viewed this struggle as a need for independence from a regime that continued to impose an undemocratic control over its institutions and the lives of the people. On the other hand, the ritish saw it as a rebellion that must be immediately squashed. In its view, it was a war for the maintenance of a certain order, while the Americans viewed it as one of disruption of this order. While the…

The book is constructed on two main theses, the first revolving around the relevance of the Barbary wars in the freeing of the American population and in its formation as stable and confident people. The second thesis focuses on the Tripolitan war played in the formation of the modern American Navy. However the general history courses place little emphasis on the wars against the Barbary States, the naval forces commemorate them and recognize the role they played in the formation of the modern U.S. Marine. A third specification which could be made relative to the book is that, however not implicit, it also presents the historical conflict between the American and Islamic forces, relating as such to a contemporaneous matter, which is not as new as one could think.

"Wars of the Barbary Pirates: To the Shores of Tripoli, the Birth of the U.S. Navy and Marines" is written in…

" It is course legitimate editorial decision-making to spend less time on one aspect than another writer might invest on that issue; but this points out the way in which Berkin makes her history more like journalism, bringing in as many quotes from a diverse set of speakers whenever she can. It was interesting to know that Jefferson was dead set against the proceedings going private.

Middlekauff (630) writes that by putting their Virginia Plan out first, the Virginians "had framed the terms of the discussion." And for the next two weeks the delegates supporting the Virginia Plan "had forced the pace of deliberations, and, for the most part, controlled the Convention." The momentum was on the side of the Virginians and their supporters; the Virginia Plan called for an executive branch, a judiciary, and a "supreme" legislature - and that the representation in the legislature should be allocated according…

War

The concept of war encompasses various different types of conflict. Wars between sovereign nations involve nation states. Regional and world wars involve multiple sovereign nations. Revolutionary wars of independence involve the populations of nations rebelling against or rejecting the continued control national authorities. ivil wars occur when rival regions or political factions within one nation seek formal separation or complete control. Proxy wars are a means by which nations prosecute their competing interests against one another through smaller conflicts involving other nations as a means of avoiding direct military conflict.

Wars between Nation States

Wars between sovereign nations have occurred throughout recorded history, dating back to Biblical times. Generally, sovereign nations go to war when they each have claims to the same land, or natural resources, or rights of passage that each seeks to own or control exclusively. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the early modern age, the…

Lear and Comodore Barron, the commander of the American fleet in the Mediterranean agreed in 1805 that Ahmad was no longer useful to the American cause. As a result, Lear met with Muhammad D'Ghies, Tripoli's Minister for foreign affairs, and eventually reached an agreement. War prisoners would be mutually exchanged, and America had to pay a sum of $60, 000 to Tripoli. However, this sum was considerably smaller than what the Pasha had asked for in 1804. Legendary Commodore Charles Morris wrote, "On the 3rd of June, a peace was concluded with Tripoli by Colonel Lear, who had been authorized by the President to negotiate."

One of the most important consequences of the war was its power to produce some of the earliest American war heroes. In the absence of news correspondents, and the far-reaching means the press has today, the accounts of the war were given by the people…

Because the country was essentially thirteen colonies fighting separately, the British had to deal with battles throughout the country, with people who were fighting for their homes and towns. The American forces knew their surroundings better, and they were motivated to fight well to protect their loved ones and neighbors.

The Declaration of Independence, written in July 1776, indicates how resolved most of the population was to independence from Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson, author of the document, wrote that the British government had become "destructive," and people believed they must assert their independence and be free of the country, or their lives would never be free from oppression. He wrote, "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the ight of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in…

The Seven Years War saw Britain established as the greatest colonial power, with control over India and North America seemingly secured, while Prussia emerged as the greatest power on the Continent, and the dominant force inside Germany, reducing still further the power of the Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg Austria. Frederick II of Prussia (the Great) emerges as the most remarkable leader of the war. Prussia was the smallest of the main combatants, and yet Frederick survived year after year of campaigning, and despite coming near to defeat he emerged triumphant (Richard).

Histories of the American Revolution tend to start in 1763, the end of the Seven-Year's War, a worldwide struggle for empire that pitted France against England in North America, Europe, and Asia. Fred Anderson, who teaches history at the University of Colorado, takes the story back a decade and explains the significance of the conflict in American history.…

American evolutionary War

The objective of this study is to write on the causes and major outcomes of the American evolutionary War.

Until the finalization of the Seven Years' War, there were only very few British North America colonists that had objections to their situation in the British Empire and British American Colonists had realized a great many benefits reported from the system of the British imperialists and furthermore paid little in the way of costs for those reported benefits. In fact, the British did not bother the American colonies until the earlier part of the 1760s. However, the 'Seven Years' War" brought about changes with Britain realizing victory over France and their allies at a great cost.

The War

The Seven-Year's War also known as the French and Indian War brought many changes. According to reports "A staggering war debt influenced many British policies over the next decade. Attempts…

Founding Brothers

When studying the history of the formation of the United States, one usually thinks in terms of separate events and individuals. However, the American republic was established, instead, by a series of important decisions and the joint efforts of some of the most prominent men of all time. In a matter of ten years, these critical interactions among the eight leading figures of John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and George Washington formed a nation that to this day remains one of the most successful "experiments" of democratic governments. As Joseph J. Ellis, the author of Founding Brothers: the Revolutionary Generation states:

What in retrospect has the look of a foreordained unfolding of God's will was in reality an improvisational affair ... If hindsight enhances our appreciation for the solidity and stability of the republican legacy, it also blinds us to the…

French Revolution

The final crisis of the French Monarchy occurred in 1789, with the official beginning of the French Revolution. Although this was the year in which the first official battle of this martial encounter was fought, it is vital to realize that the monarchy had been floundering for some time prior. There were numerous factors that contributed to the disfavor the monarchy found itself in at the end of the 18th century. Some of the more eminent of these political, financial, and environmental causes helped to weaken the French Monarchy's hold over its subjects, as judged by the standards of the present 1. Concurrently, there were military woes that accompanied these factors and which contributed to the mounting unpopularity of this government. However, an analysis of these factors reveals that the most prominent cause of the French Revolution pertained to the zeitgeist of the time in with Enlightenment ideals…

Revolutionary Era

y the late 1780's many Americans had grown dissatisfied with the Confederation. It was unable to deal effectively with economic problems and weak in the face of Shay's Rebellion. A decade earlier, Americans had deliberately avoided creating a strong national government. Now they reconsidered. In 1787, the nation produced a new constitution and a new, much more powerful government with three independent branches. The government the Constitution produced has survived far more than two centuries as one of the most stable and most successful in the world.

The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution resembled each other in some cases and differed from each other greatly in other aspects. The Articles of Confederation were a foundation for the Constitution, and sometimes even called the Pre-Constitution. The Confederation, which existed from 1781 until 1789, was not a big success. It lacked power to deal with interstate issues, to enforce…

War of 1812

A mere thirty years after the end of the Revolutionary War -- which saw the American colonies separate from and defeat the British empire -- the fledgling United States found itself once again face-to-face with the world's greatest military power in a struggle to secure for the new nation, a mark of international status. The War of 1812 began with a "secret vote on June 4th, in which House members endorsed going to war 79-49…and a Senate vote on June 17 favoring war 19 to 13" (Langguth, A.J. 2006). How though had the U.S. arrived at this precarious position and what would the confrontation invariably mean for American interests going forward?

Causes of War

America's "second war of independence" (Langguth, A.J. 2006) had three primary causes: the impressment of American sailors, the British trade and embargo and blockade of U.S. ports, and the "incitement of Native American's…

Wars of Principle in the Falklands and Malvinas

Although the age of imperialism has slowly, but inexorably, been consigned to history books, with the great ritish, Spanish and Portuguese empires that once dominated the globe now largely defunct after the revolutionary spirit swept through colonies from America to Argentina, vestiges of this age-old system still remain to this day. Despite withdrawing from the vast majority of its former colonies after successful campaigns for independence were waged, the United Kingdom has strived to maintain a semblance of its former power by maintaining control over small areas of land within the nations it previously ruled over. Hong Kong in China, Gibraltar in the Iberian Peninsula, and a half dozen Caribbean islands from ermuda to Turks and Caicos, the custom of leaving behind ritish territories in the wake of widespread independence movements was instituted to ensure that the United Kingdom's dogged pursuit of…

Eventually, these deficiencies would lead to the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. But during the years that they 13 states struggled to achieve their independence, the Articles of Confederation accomplished what they had been intended to. Adopted by Congress on November 15, 1777, the Articles became operational on March 1, 1781 when the last of the 13 states signed the document (The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, 2009).

During the debates that took place regarding the adoption of the Constitution, the opponents argued that the Constitution would open the way to tyranny by the central government. With the memory of the British violations of their civil rights before and during the evolution, they insisted that a bill of rights be used that would spell out the protections of the individual citizens. During the state conventions that were held to ratify the Constitution, several states asked for these amendments (Bill…

...[p. 41] Reasons may be given, why an Act ought to be repeal'd, and yet obedience must be yielded to it till that repeal takes place.

The intent of most colonists, was to create change through the proper channels, as has been described by the Philadelphia congress, as having occurred over the ten years bridging the two previous declarations.

A consummate expert on the War of Independence, writing in the early twentieth century, Van Tyne, stresses that the development of the ideal of democratic representation, was seeded in the ideals of Puritan politics which were spurned by the exposure of ministers to the ideas of John Locke and John Milton, who demonstratively effected the ideas of the American colonists as well as many others all over the colonial world. The idea of a fierce fight against tyranny and unchecked despotism was an essential standard of the day and at some…

Revolutionary Women for Liberty and Freedom

Although they lived in an era defined by the pursuit of personal freedom, as their male counterparts courageously waged a successful revolution against the tyranny of the British monarchy, there were several patriotic women who made their presence felt during the tumultuous time of America's birth. From the poignant letters written by Abagail Adams to her husband John, the diplomat and statesman who worked tirelessly as a Founding Father to help form the foundation of a new union, to the steady hand of companionship provided by Martha Washington to her husband George as he led an undermanned and outgunned army against the most powerful armed forces in the world, women exerted their influence largely from behind the scenes. With the concept of liberty emerging as an ideal worth fighting for, as thousands of Americans bravely laid down their lives to secure liberty for their…

Black Soldier During the American ar for Independence

Many Americans today are aware of the military service of blacks during the First and Second orld ars, and some are even aware of the major contributions of these troops to the Union's victory in the Civil ar. Far fewer modern Americans, though, are aware of the contribution of black soldiers during America's ar for Independence. In fact, by war's end in 1783, fully five thousand black soldiers would serve in the military for a country that otherwise held them and their compatriots in slavery and contempt. This paper reviews the literature to determine the role of the black soldier during the American ar for Independence, followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning their role in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

Although they were at a clear disadvantage economically, politically and socially, many black men recognized the need…

Government Changes post-Revolution ar vs. post-Civil ar

Close examination of the reasons for and the results of the Revolutionary ar and the Civil ar forces me to disagree with McPherson's position that more radical change in government occurred due to the Civil ar than the Revolutionary ar. In order to understand how this is true, one must look at several issues, such as the causes of each of the wars, the purposes and intentions, and the ultimate results.

The Revolutionary ar was based on the struggle to become independent from Great Britain and this struggle began due to a series of taxes forced upon the citizens. So "taxation without representation" was the initial call to arms however, it grew to include other freedoms as well.

The Civil ar was utterly a different process of situation. hile claims by the South of freedom it was always an economic issue tightly woven…

Narrative of a evolutionary Soldier

In his memoir A Narrative of a evolutionary Soldier, Joseph Plumb Martin recounts his experiences fighting in the evolutionary War as a private, providing a view of the war not usually seen in histories dealing with the more famous major political and military leaders of the day. In particular, Martin's perspective on colonial and British officers and soldiers, the day-to-day experience of the war, and his reasons for staying throughout the campaign offer the reader a useful insight into the realities of the American evolution from the perspective of an average soldier.

Although Martin serves under a variety of admirable officers during his time fighting for the colonial army, at one point in the narrative he encounters a particularly heartless officer which serves to demonstrate some of the class differences likely not seen in other accounts of the war. As Martin and some of his…

Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier

In Martin's (2001) narrative, he addresses many aspects of soldiering in the Revolutionary War. There were many deserters during that time, but Martin chose to stay. That makes him somewhat unusual, but he had a different outlook about American officers, ritish regulars, soldier morale, and the physical discomforts that came with soldiering. He talks of how he could have easily killed enedict Arnold, but did not realize at the time the significance that would have come along with that act (Martin, 2001). He was fiercely loyal to his cause, even though many of the American officers under whom he fought were not well-liked. According to Martin (2001), the largest risk that the American officers were taking in battle was from being killed by their own men. The conditions were bad and many of the men were mistreated by the officers, but most of the men…

African-American Roles in the ar for Independence and the Civil ar

America was founded on the principle of freedom. ith this in mind, it comes as little surprise that both the ar for Independence and the Civil ar have the similarity that they both involved the struggle for freedom. Both wars sought to overcome oppression and both wars encompassed a vision of basic human rights connected with a sense of justice. The other similarity these two wars shared was the heroic efforts of African-Americans in their participation in the fight for freedom. This paper will seek to compare and contrast their involvement in these to similar, but different wars.

To understand African-American involvement in the Revolutionary ar, one must first paint a picture of what colonial life was like. Colonists faced the labor-intensive task of trying to carve out a life on a new continent. These were harsh conditions unlike…

Civil War in Alabama

The American civil war was a political turmoil that took place during the later years of the 18th Century, particularly between 1775 to 1783, where 13 British colonies joined together to liberate themselves from the British Empire and unite to from the United States of America (American evolutionary War, 2011). It all began with the rejection of the Parliament of the Great Britain as governing body from overseas without their representation and consequently rejecting and sending away all the royal officials and representatives. In turn they formed Provincial Congress in 1774 which made up the self-governing state. This prompted the British to send troops to America to reinstate the direct rule and in return, the Second Continental Congress was formed in 1775 to wade off the British troops and also to defend their decision towards self-governance. This was what was and still is famously know as…

Nursing & omen's Roles Pre-and-Post Civil ar

The student focusing on 19th century history in the United States in most cases studies the Civil ar and the causes that led to the war. But there are a number of very important aspects to 19th century American history that relate to women's roles, including nursing and volunteering to help the war wounded and others in need of care. This paper delves into the role nurses played in the Civil ar (both Caucasian and Black nurses), the way in which the Civil ar changed the woman's work roles, the role women (both Black and Caucasian) played before, during, and after the war, and the terrible injustices thrust on women of color in a number of instances throughout the 19th century.

The oman's role in America prior to the Civil ar

"A woman's work is never done," is an old maxim but it…

History of World War II: American Involvement and Social Effects of the War on America

Many people think that the United States' involvement in World War II did not actually begin until Japan infamously attacked the American navy base at Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941. However, in truth, even before the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese, the American President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) and other U.S. military, industrial, and economic leaders had taken initial steps to mobilize the nation into a wartime economy. In terms of both mobilization at home and social effects of the war, the onset of World War II contributed greatly to changes, many of them permanent, in American society and the American way of life.

In the build-up to the war, American factories were offered economic rewards by the government for adopting wartime production modes and practices. Consequently, United States industry focused increasingly on…

S. system of communication was responsible for far too many problems, including the presidential conception of the value of the leader, Nhu Ding Diem. Key factors in this war were the misuse of technology in the south and intelligent use of simple technology by the north. The Battle of Diem Bin Phu was a classic miscalculation when the French thought that artillery could not be brought against them through the jungle. The North Vietnamese did just that, manually hauling big guns on jungle trails and over mountains, then followed with ammunition on bicycles. In addition they hid the guns in tunnels and set off charges in the jungle to confuse the French as to the sources of shelling.

After the French left, the U.S. set up Nhu Ding Diem as president of South Vietnam. Between him and his brother, they alienated more than half the population in short order with…

There was another group of Americans who felt that all of America, including British Canada, should have been conquered during the Revolutionary War and then ceded to the Americans, so they felt the War of 1812, which began with Americans attempting to conquer Canada, should not have had to take place at all.

Finally, New England residents openly opposed the war, and did not support anything connected with it. They would not offer funds for the war, and they would not allow their militia to fight in the war. They were angry about the economy, but they were also angry because they felt they had been mislead by the government, and the war was really being fought to gain territory in Canada, which they did not agree with. Ultimately, the war ended in 1814, but much of American did not support or condone the…

Splendid Little War

John Hay -- "A Splendid War"

Secretary of State John Hay once wrote to Theodore oosevelt that the Spanish-American War had been "a splendid little war" (Fried, 1998). It was an opinion shared by many Americans at the time. The three-month war -- declared in April 1898 and over by August -- had few American casualties and helped open up many foreign territories for the United States.

The war began with the Cuban evolution. Spanish rule in Cuba was fiercely opposed by Cuban rebels who were routinely dehumanized, degraded and mistreated in the country throughout the late 19th Century (Lovett, 1997). Spanish general Valeriano Weyler instituted many concentration camps to contain insurgents and suppress the threat of rebel uprisings. The camps were scenes of indecency and deplorable living conditions where death, starvation and malaria and typhoid epidemics were rampant. The suffering of Cubans was deemed a social…

Mary illiman's War

Women in the 18th Century:

Mary illiman's War

Women's roles have changed throughout history both very slowly and very rapidly. The reason for the former is due to the fact that women had, for a very long time, stayed in the same role of household fixture; yet, as is stated in the latter part of the previous sentence, once change began happening it spread both very rapidly and very inclusively. As a result, in Western societies today woman have all the rights and privileges that men have. However, this was not the case in the 18th century, and especially in pre-Civil War America. In the film Mary illiman's war, the viewer is shown a glimpse of what life was like in this period, and how a woman fought both to reconcile with prescribed gender roles, and to break them while accommodating behavior considered appropriate. In order to…

The belief was that eventually the North would have to give up, as long as the South could maintain a unified defense (McPherson). The Confederate Army was not well organized in the beginning, however, and the widespread and largely independent militias defending the Confederate borders were stretched too thin in places, allowing the Union Army to break through (McPherson). Technological advancements had large effects on the strategies of both the Union and Confederate armies as well.

The railroad was one of the most important advancements of the time; it was used to ship troops and supplies, and the destruction of railroad lines was common practice by both armies.

eferences

McPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom. Accessed 10 May 2009. http://www.civilwarhome.com/confederatestrategy.htm

Smith, Page. Trial By Fire, A People's History of the Civil War and econstruction. Accessed 10 May 2009. http://www.civilwarhome.com/unionstrategy.htm

revolutionary the American evolution was in reality. This is one issue that has been debated on by many experts in the past and in the present too. The contents of this paper serve to justify this though-provoking issue.

American evolution-how revolutionary was it?

When we try to comprehend why the American evolution was fought, we come to know that the residents of the American colonies did so to retain their hard-earned economic, political and social order when the British had stated to neglect them. However, before we began to understand what The American evolution was all about, it is necessary for us to look at conditions of the colonies preceding the war. The economy of Colonial America were divided into three separate parts: New England, where the economy was commerce; the South, where cash crops were the major source of earning; and the middle colonies, a combination of both. [Account…

Furthermore, while it established Canada as an independent
nation, it also established America. As a war over its previous colonizer,
America can be said to have won a second war of independence. This is
further reflected in considering President Madison's war message to
Congress. Madison appeals to the "honor" of his country, as if Britain has
violated it and it is America's responsibility to retain it (Madison,
1812). Although the war was fought primarily for economic reasons, the
"honor" Madison is referring to was regained during the war as Great
Britain was unable to dominate the United States. In fact, the United
States did more than a good job of fighting the British. Thus, it appears
that the war was fought somewhat over honor, and the United States
maintained their honor in the war. This means that the United States
established itself, and its pride, in the war, and this…

Life's Subjections: Changes To The ays Of Life Found In Tolstoy's ar And Peace

ar and Peace is a truly epic novel in that details a number of important themes as well as major events in the lives of its characters. In this respect it actually uncovers some of the most major events that are bound to take place throughout a person's life -- birth, death, marriage, divorce, war and peace. hat makes this particular novel so compelling is the fact that it largely depicts these life altering events through the fates of a couple of aristocratic Russian families during the time in which the usurper Napoleon Bonaparte is wreaking havoc on the European continent in the early part of the 19th century. As such, there is a certain romantic quality to this tale and to the life-altering events it depicts of people who in some cases are noble personages…

Founding Fathers

Freedom and Liberty to the Founding Fathers

The founding fathers of the United States of America were a product of the Enlightenment. The "Enlightenment" was the 18th century's attempt to break out of the self-imposed restrictions of society and create something better. (osner 2000, 251-253) Beginning with the writings of John Locke in the mid-1600's, a new idea had begun to take root: that man could, through his reason, create better social structures. In other words, man had the ability to create a more perfect form of government, one more in line with the rights of the people. This idea, by its very nature, is an attempt to transfer authority over society from a select few, to the masses of people. The idea of taking power away from Kings, and other rulers, and creating governmental system that would be created and responsible to the people is what the…

The Civil War was one of the most defining events in the nation’s history, and at the time was the most important event since the American Revolution. Whereas the Revolution embodied the ideals, values, and principles of the new nation, setting it apart from the British Crown and forever altering the geopolitical landscape, the Civil War revealed the persistent hypocrisy that continues to plague American society. Unresolved conflicts left brewing in the American psyche led to built-up tensions, exposing fissures in the society along the lines of culture, ethnicity, religion, race, gender, and socioeconomic class. The causes of the Civil War can be traced in fact to the inability of the original framers to take a firm stance on slavery, and to divest too much of the federal government’s power to the states. At the same time, protecting states’ rights was critical in the late eighteenth century when the nation…

A stronger Navy allowed the North to enforce the blockade more effectively than the Confederacy could overcome it. The second significant part of the Anaconda Plan was similar in scope and strategic significance: to take control of the Mississippi. When the Union Army eventually did gain control of the mighty Mississippi, the South was effectively split in two. The Anaconda Plan was fulfilled. Not only did the Union have the means by which to enforce their strategies: the Confederacy also lacked as clear a military plan.

While the blockade was nearly automatic and put into place toward the beginning of the war, control over the Mississippi was harder-fought. It meant encroachment deep into Southern territory, where most of the war was fought. Not until 1863 and the Union victory at the Battle of Vicksburg did the Union manage to infiltrate the iver and successfully set up its second major and…

Finally, torture is the best means to try to get this information from the suspect (McCoy, 2006). Taken as a whole, these circumstances are so unlikely to occur that, even if the ticking bomb scenario would justify the use of torture, it has not ever occurred and, therefore, cannot be used to justify torture.

In fact, what many people who advocate in favor of torture fail to acknowledge is that while torture may be guaranteed to elicit information from even the most reticent of subjects, there is no reason to believe that torture will elicit truthful information. The theory behind torture is that, with the application of sufficient pain and fear, people will talk, and that does appear to be true in the vast majority of cases. However, it is more important to wonder what they will say than whether they will talk. In the non-terrorist scenario, "About 25% of…

growth and development of the United States military from its origination to its present status in the 21st century. It will specifically examine the fostering of both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force. Moreover, these two branches -- which will serve as case studies for the overall development tendencies of the military in general -- will get deconstructed in the context of the martial encounters that were most seminal for them: The evolutionary War and the War of 1812, and World War I and World War II, respectively.

this paper will delineate the history of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force to indicate how military sophistication has paralleled the developments in technology and applications knowledge of America itself.

B.U.S. Naval History

The American evolutionary War

The War of 1812 and the establishment of the U.S. Naval Academy

C.U.S. Air Force History

1947 Third branch of the…

Therefore, the South felt she could count on the aid of France and Great Britain at some time during the war. This of course, did not happen, and so, the South did not have the luxury of external support that the United States had enjoyed during the evolutionary War (Donald, 1996, p. 15-16).

The South also had over 3 million slaves they could conscript into the Army, but these slaves could also stay behind and work, while the whites fought the war, and this gave the South a distinct advantage over the North. While she did not have more manpower, their operations were smaller, and they could move more effectively. They were also on the defensive, which gave additional impetus to their cause, and their coastline was short and sheltered, which held off blockading of supplies they needed (Donald, 1996, p.16). In addition, they were more attuned to the war…

Royster does an effective job of explaining how the revolutionaries managed to hold on and keep fighting against the larger British forces. In the hellish nightmare of war, "Liquor in moderation was thought to relieve fatigue," Royster explains (144). This was not a decision that the generals made -- allowing soldiers to drink alcohol during battles -- but rather it was fully endorsed by Congress. Those that haven't read Royster's book might not know that Congress "rewarded victory with rum" -- although perhaps elected officials didn't realize that liquor had its bad side; many soldiers "got drunk every day and men sold their clothing and equipment to buy liquor, which "aggravated mutiny as well as valor" (144).

Two themes beyond what have already been expressed are important to Royster's book. One is religion, which he uses as a subtle and not-so-subtle theme off and on; a total of 52 pages…

revolutionary thinkers held widely disparate viewpoints regarding war. Charles Darwin's viewpoint was based on the assumption that war was a manifestation of humans' "struggle for existence." In his book The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1882) Darwin explained that natural selection was behind the development of certain human social qualities, namely sympathy, courage, and fidelity. Thus in a fight between two primitive human tribes, the tribe that had the most sympathetic, courageous, and secure warriors was most likely to succeed. ar was thus seen as being essential towards the diffusion of such noble qualities throughout the world.

Karl Marx's view towards war was that it was an essential aspect of the Communist revolution. In the Communist Manifesto (1848) he laid out the steps that would lead towards this revolution. The first step was that an inevitable "class struggle" would occur between workers and capitalists. This would…

War for uban onquest

In 1883, Frederick Jackson Turner gave a speech to the World's olumbian Exposition, introducing what is now known as the "Turner thesis" of American history. This thesis says "continental expansion...was the driving, dynamic factor of American progress. Without [it] America's political and social institutions would stagnate. If one adhered to this way of thinking, America must expand or die." (Musicant) It was an odd moment to being saying such things, and a prophetic one, for America has, perhaps unbeknownst to him, just run out of frontier to conquer. Further expansion had to be overseas. Of course, "overseas" was already conquered, had its own government, and its own citizens. Thus a war of conquest rose on the horizon for America. The perfect opportunity to conquer arose during what was politely called the Spanish-American war, in which America stepped in to help out a struggling band of revolutionaries…

This makes sense, and has happened in other wars, such as the Civil War. Here, it seems like it was more prevalent because of the nature of the war, and the close proximity of the trenches. The men understood they were more than killing machines, and reached out to the men close to them. The author states, "In various place they fraternized, even playing soccer, singing, and talking together" (Kolko 134). This indicates the men recognized each other as human beings first - trapped in a war not of their making. It also shows that the men were larger than what they were fighting, and larger than the countries that created the war. They could see the humanity of the "enemy," and understand they were simply men caught up in an impossible situation. This is interesting, since the text notes that so many of the soldiers were peasants, who many…

Unlike the English Revolution, the American Revolution was also bloody, not relatively peaceful, and created a new government, rather than sustained and substantially reformed an old one. But it was more desired and waged 'by the people,' rather than by the ruling classes, unlike the British. In this sense, the American Revolution was seen as a greater victory for the Enlightenment. Just as the Bloodless Revolution did make the English system more balanced in terms of monarchial authority and allowed the predominantly Protestant will of the English people to be respected, the American Revolution even more radically upheld notions of national self-definition, individual rights, and the right for a people to exercise self- determination over their futures. The philosopher John Locke believed that a sovereign abdicated his or her right of rule when he or she acted in a tyrannical fashion and deprived citizens of fundamental rights to life, liberty,…

Nicaragua

The Civil War in Nicaragua was one of the defining events from the 1980s, and it also happened to be a defining event in my personal life and that of my family. The argument in question was over the nature of the revolution in Nicaragua, and the political motivations of the Sandinistas. My assertion is that the situation in my home country is not as black-and-white as it has been presented in the American media, and to a lesser degree, the Canadian media. I believe that the situation that gave rise to this argument is rooted in a lack of accurate media coverage. Because I am from a Nicaraguan background, but also have one American parent, I can present a unique perspective that illuminates both sides of the argument to show that neither the Sandinistas nor the Americans had the best interests of Nicaragua at heart.

During this argument,…

Spanish Civil War

The famous Spanish Civil War fought from the year 1936 to 1939. This war was fought between two groups; the Republicans and the Nationalists. The Republicans were the supporters of the established Spanish republic; meanwhile the latter were a group of rebels who were led by General Francisco Franco. Franco emerged victorious in this war and ruled Spain for the next 36 years as a dictator.

After a group of generals (led by Jose Sanjurjo) of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces declared opposition against the government of the Second Spanish Republic, the war ensued. At that time the President of Spain was Manuel Azana. This group of rebels had gained support from a couple of conservative groups that included the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right, Fascist Falange and Carlists (Payne, 1973).

Military units formed in urgos, Pamplona, Corodova, Morocco, Cadiz and Seville supported this group of…

In some ways, the Civil War was the analogue of the Terror for Americans: It was the bloodthirsty incestuous violence that allowed the nation to move onward to a full embrace of democracy, joining itself to Europe as the world began to tip toward democratic ideas and ideals.

White Supremacy

Stephen Kantrowitz's biography of Benjamin Tillman demonstrates how he can be seen as a symbol for an entire cohort of Southerners of his generation, people (mostly but not exclusively men) who could neither understand nor tolerate the new order that had formally instituted itself after Emancipation. They could not understand a world in which black men were suddenly their legal equals. Tillman, and others like him, lived in a world that told them that blacks had to be treated like equals even though many white Southerners did not see their black compatriots as even being fully human.

This set up…

Great ar

orld ar One ultimately killed 35 million people -- this alone might have merited its being called "The Great ar," although to a large degree it was the astonishing way in which the deaths happened. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme alone, Britain suffered almost sixty thousand casualties. The ten-month stalemate of the Battle of Verdun resulted in seven hundred thousand (700,000) dead, with no discernible tactical advance made by either side (Tuchman 174). The immediate causes of orld ar One were complicated but fairly straightforward. Many of the long-standing political institutions of Europe were badly outmoded, in particular two of the oldest: the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Each of these institutions were the inheritors of previous large-scale imperial institutions (the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire accordingly) which dated back nearly a thousand years -- and each was failing badly.…

World War Turning Point Europe, Significant Change Occurred Emergence Legitimate evolutionary egimes

Self-Determination in Cuba

There are few who would dispute the fact that following the conclusion of World War II and prior to its revolution (which began in 1953 and concluded on January 1 of 1959) Cuba was a prosperous region of the world that was certainly worth fighting for. The country's leader prior to the ascendancy of Fidel Castro, Fulgencio Batista, had cleverly manipulated the assistance of a number of external forces, primarily that of the United States, to assist the country in achieving a degree of economic gain and modernity the likes of which were comparable to, if not surpassing, those of other parts of the world.

Its economic prowess may be demonstrated from the following quotation. "Cuba in 1958, prior to the government of the Communist Fidel Castro, paid its employees an average of $3.00 per…

Civil ars

It is estimated that between 1900 and 1967, there were 526 civil wars called throughout the world (Civil pp). Today, there are literally dozens of wars going on around the globe, and dozens more that have ended during recent years, such as the civil wars in Guatemala and Tajikistan.

According to Christopher Cramer, most literature concerning civil wars has highlighted the role of political instability in the relationship between growth and inequality (Cramer pp). Although there are interlinkages between distribution, conflict and growth, these interlinkages are complex and cannot be read off or predicted from any convincing repeated empirical relationship between variables that are often loaded with too much and unclear meaning (Cramer pp). Cramer takes the title to his article, "Civil ar is Not a Stupid Thing: Exploring Growth, Distribution and Conflict Linkages" from a short story by Sicilian writer, Leonardo Sciascia, about a Sicilian dragooned into…