1776 (2005) (edit title/settings)

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People edit see section history

• John Adams: One of the most important politicians in that year who was influential in the Declaration of Independence.
• William Alexander: American General who spent most of the war with the Main Army under Washington. Captured during the 1776 Battle of Long Island, he was exchanged for Montfort Browne.
• Benedict Arnold: American General who was a key leader in the early stages of the war; his treasonous activities did not occur until 1780.
• Thomas Gage: British General; Commander-in-chief of North American forces from 1763 until 1775. He presided over the rising tensions (with his actions sometimes contributing to them, in the opinions of some historians) that led to the outbreak of the war. He was recalled after the Battle of Bunker Hill.
• Horatio Gates: American General who served at first as Washington's adjutant, and then in the Northern Department.
• King George III: The King of Britain at the time.
• Nathanael Greene: A young General in the Continental Army who, being born and raised in Rhode Island, was the son of a Quaker. In spite of having little schooling, Nathaniel became a very literate and self educated man. General Washington claimed that if he were to die, then Greene ought to become the commander-in-chief.
• William Howe: British General; replaced Gage, and personally directed the war effort in 1776 and 1777, including the British captures of New York City and Philadelphia. He failed to gain control over New Jersey, and his actions in taking Philadelphia contributed to the failure of John Burgoyne's Saratoga campaign
• Thomas Jefferson: The writer in the Declaration of Independence.
• Henry Knox: A common man who helped out the war by bringing guns to Fort Ticonderoga.
• Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette: A young French nobleman who served as major general. He served with Washington in the Philadelphia campaign, fought in the Battle of Rhode Island, and successfully resisted significant engagements with British forces in Virginia before the armies of Washington and Rochambeau arrived. A favorite of Washington's.
• Robert Morris: A member of Congress who helped out the army by paying money to them for funds.
• John Sullivan: American General who led a relief column and ended up in command of the invasion of Quebec during its final weeks in 1776. He then served under Washington in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He led American forces in the failed Battle of Rhode Island.
• Artemas Ward: The first overall leader of the assembled militia forces outside Boston after the war began; ranked second in seniority to Washington in the Continental Army. He commanded the Eastern Department, which was largely responsible for containing the British at Newport, until 1777, when he resigned due to poor health.
• George Washington: Supreme Commander of the Continental Army; eventual first President of the United States.

Quotes edit see section history

• ““The year 1776 is over. I am heartily glad of it and I hope you nor America will ever be plagued with another,””

  Robert Morris

• ““Suppose this army should be defeated, two or three of the leading generals killed our stores and magazines all lost, I would not be answerable for the consequences that such a stroke might produce in American politics””

  Nathanial Greene to John Adams

• ““Here we are at Loggerheads””

  Brigadier General Rhode Island

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

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• He was not a brilliant strategist or tactician, not a gifted orator, not an intellectual. At several crucial moments he had shown marked indecisiveness. He had made serious mistakes in judgment. But experience had been his great teacher from boyhood, and in this his greatest test, he learned steadily from experience. Above all, Washington never forgot what was at stake and he never gave up.

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• “Be easy…but not too familiar,” he advised his officers, “lest you subject yourself to a want of that respect, which is necessary to support a proper command.”

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• A century later, Sir George Otto Trevelyan would write in a classic study of the American Revolution, “It may be doubted whether so small a number of men ever employed so short a space of time with greater and more lasting effects upon the history of the world.”

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• “A people unused to restraint must be led, they will not be drove.”

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• In fact, the Americans of 1776 enjoyed a higher standard of living than any people in the world. Their material wealth was considerably less than it would become in time, still it was a great deal more than others had elsewhere. How people with so much, living on their own land, would ever choose to rebel against the ruler God had put over them and thereby bring down such devastation upon themselves was for the invaders incomprehensible.

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• “’Tis not in mortals to command success, but we’ll do more, Sempronius, we’ll deserve it.”

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• The war was a longer, far more arduous, and more painful struggle than later generations would understand or sufficiently appreciate. By the time it ended, it had taken the lives of an estimated 25,000 Americans, or roughly 1 percent of the population. In percentage of lives lost, it was the most costly war in American history, except for the Civil War.

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• Like most southerners, Washington did not want blacks in the army and would soon issue orders saying that neither “Negroes, boys unable to bear arms, nor old men” were to be enlisted. By year’s end, however, with new recruits urgently needed and numbers of free blacks wanting to serve, he would change his mind and in a landmark general order authorize their enlistment.

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• The total British armada now at anchor in a “long, thick cluster” off Staten Island numbered nearly four hundred ships large and small, seventy-three warships, including eight ships of the line, each mounting 50 guns or more. As British officers happily reminded one another, it was the largest fleet ever seen in American waters. In fact, it was the largest expeditionary force of the eighteenth century, the largest, most powerful force ever sent forth from Britain or any nation.

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First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Leadership: Describe this theme.
• Perseverence

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. David G. McCullough (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Quill Award (2005: History/Current Events/Politics)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: E208 .M396 2005
• Dewey: 973.3

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Written for adults, but easily digestible by young adults.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › History › Americas › United States › Revolution & Founding

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