10th Grade Short Essays Free Essay Example

What qualities in George Washington made him a good choice for commanding the revolutionary army? What were his most valuable contributions to independence?

Washington would lead the Patriots to a surprising victory over Great Britain. There are many qualities that made George Washington into the great leader that he was. These qualities can be seen by the many decisions he made throughout his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and as President. Washington was a heroic man. As a general of the Continental Army, George Washington often rode with his troops along the front lines and brought them together during crucial battles.

An example of this is before the battle of Trenton. In December of 1776, Washington personally led his troops across the icy Delaware River into New Jersey on a surprise attack on a Hessian outpost. This shows that George Washington is a brave man, as he is willing to sacrifice for his people. He also doesn’t just call orders and expect his men to comply but instead he leads them himself which shows that he is passionate about what he’s doing.

Washington was also experienced when it came to military matters.

His knowledge came from his experience because he had fought during the French Indian War and proved to be skilled in commanding troops. Washington was also a very wise leader; he knew that he could form an alliance with either Britain or France during the 1790’s. It was too dangerous to side with one or the other because of the political chaos in Europe.

So instead he said that the United States should stay neutral. Although it took years for both nations to acknowledge the United States’ neutrality, Washington’s position for the country paid off. These were some of George Washington’s most valuable contributions to independence. Washington was gifted with the ability to reason things out, to examine matters thoroughly before making decisions. Washington also worked very hard.

The combat of the revolutionary war began in spring 1775. Why did colonists wait until the summer of 1776 to declare independence?

They had been dependent on the British government for so long that declaring independence was very controversial at that time. Some members of the continental congress actually wanted independence while others just wanted to make peace with the British, but they realized that this was not possible and even if it was they would be hung for treason. Thomas Paine then wrote an extremely influential pamphlet in 1776, which was very controversial, persuading many colonists to become independent. “ It called not simply for independence, but for the creation of a new kind of political society, a republic, where power flowed from the people themselves, not from a corrupt and despotic monarch.” Many of the colonial Americans didn’t want to support independence until a year into the war. They only wanted to declare independence in 1776 because they thought that they were too far into the war to go back.

Account for the widespread and enthusiastic colonial reception of Thomas Paine’s common sense.

It promoted the law; the law is higher than the king. This was very popular with Americans because it promoted the idea that the king is not absolute. Most people believed that king George was the problem with the British government and this message appealed to them .It also gave arguments of why the British who were three thousand miles away and smaller should govern America. Many people felt that someone as far away as Britain should not govern America because they would not have their best interests in mind. Its very good use of imagery was used to provoke thoughts among the colonists. Many colonists who read this pamphlet felt a deep desire to support the revolutionary cause because of the imagery, it caused a lot of anger and resentment among the Americans.

Colonists had debated with parliament and protested its actions since 1763. Why, then, did the declaration of independence single out king George iii as a tyrant threatening their liberties?

The King was the obvious symbol of the British Empire. He was also the single most determined person in trying to prevent independence. A speech by the King in late 1775 called for the maximum level of force to stop the revolution and to punish the colonies and included language that made the rebels very angry. The King was extremely unpopular in America. George III represented England and by extension parliament and never did anything to protest those acts. The reason why they were treated badly was because the American people felt that they were powerless against them and the British evils of America.

Write your definition of loyalty. Then explain why the loyalists were held in such low regard and treated with abuse during the revolutionary war.

Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to something. Loyalty is standing up for what you believe in, when everyone sits down.

Actually, during the American Revolution, Loyalists also would have considered the Rebels with low regard. Only the outcome of the war made the Loyalist cause the losing side, which were the “bad guys”. This is because history tends to brand losers of war as the villains. Fighting between Loyalists and Rebels in South Carolina was particularly bitter. We forget that not all American colonists wanted independence from Britain. A rough assessment might be that one third were for rebellion, another third were loyalists and a third were neutral and had no opinions on this matter.

The Revolutionary War became particularly nasty in the southern colonies during 1780-1781.Both sides Loyalist and Rebel abused each other during the war. Many Americans and loyalists felt betrayed by the other because they had betrayed their cause and thus each side treated each other brutally.

List the three most important battles of the revolutionary war. Justify your selections.

Lexington Concord – The first battle of the Revolutionary War was the Battle of Concord and Lexington. On April 19th, 1775 American Militamen fought 800 British troops. The battle started in Concord. 73 British soldiers were killed and over two hundred were wounded. 49 American soldiers were killed and 39 were wounded. This basically started the American Revolution.

Battle of Saratoga – The turning point of the war, British general John Burgoyne surrendered over 9000 soldiers. Americans take control of the north.

Siege of Yorktown – Americans with help from the French, defeat the British. The battle of York town was the most important battle in the revolutionary war. 
During the battle of Seratoga General Burgyne felt he had no other option but to press to albany. However the American army was blocking the route to Bemis Heights. The british made two attempts to break through the American forces, but they failed. After the second attempt they retreted to searatoga. There they were surrounded by American troops.

The British had no choice but to surrender on Oct. 13, 1777. One fourth of the British forces in north America have, even though there were many battles to be fought. This insured the American independence. 

 General Cornwalis arrived in Petersburg in May of 1781. After receiving instructions General Cornwalis went to Yorktown and began preparation for a naval base. General Washington moved south and, together with the French ground and naval forces surrounded the British army, forcing them to surrender and eventually ending the war


Many historians argue that without French aid the colonies could never have won their independence. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

It is not likely. The involvement of the French provided some major victories for the Colonists. Without them the war would have lasted longer. The extremely long line of supply for England was a major short fall at that point in time. The war was also draining the monetary coffers of England. The American colonies could not have succeeded in defeating the British Empire without French aid. The colonists were not soldiers; they had no military training. The colonies had no government to pay for supplies and weapons. The colonists had no chance of success without foreign aid. Before France would ally with the colonies, they wanted to be sure that the colonists had the capability of winning the war. This was accomplished when the colonists defeated the British at the Battle of Saratoga.

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