Exhibits trace Pennsylvania history to Earth's beginnings. The nearby Battle of Gettysburg July 1 - 3, 1863, the Civil War's turning point, cost 50,000 casualties. Pickett's Charge, lasting an hour, cost 5000 Confederate casualties. Harrisburg began in 1710 with John Harris' trading post beside the Susquehanna River. A saloon and a river crossing ensured its viability as a gathering place. Originally the site was named Louisburg, after King Louis XVI of France. French power in the region disappeared as did the need for political correctness. In 1760 John Harris' son John Jr persuaded Pennsylvania's state legislature to change the town's name to Harrisburg. In return Harris gave the town much of the land it now sits on. Harris' mansion, built in 1766, offers guided tours. Growing steadily in power and influence, Harrisburg became Pennsylvania's capital in 1812. George Washington's Valley Forge headquarters stands nearby along with earthen redoubts, trenches and rebuilt huts where Revolutionary troops froze in winter 1779-80.
Irish along the Mississippi
In a field near Lake Ponchartrain a large Celtic cross marks a mass grave of Irish workmen who died (1830 - 1838) building the 6-mile New Basin Canal linking Lake Ponchartrain to the Mississippi River. Gaelic was the first foreign language Choctaw and Natchez Indians heard, long before Columbus. New Orleans' first official St Patrick's Day parade was in 1803.
From Liberty! The American Revolution
Thomas Fleming 1997 Viking Press
Americans of 1776 had the West's highest living standard and the lowest taxes. Colonial farmers, lawyers and businesses made the equivalent of $500,000 a year. England wanting their share tried to tax the colonists. Two Boston Tea Parties, Dec 16, 1773 and March 7, 1774, cost England $3 million in today's money.
Lexington Militia Capt John Parker didn't say "If they want war let it begin here." As British soldiers approached Parker ordered his men to disperse. The British fired on them without provocation, starting the Revolutionary War.
In 1775, disgusted with British arrogance and appalled at Lexington and Concord bloodshed, Ben Franklin wrote the first Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson, while enthusiastic, noted that many other Continental Congress delegates disapproved. It took another year of bitter conflict to persuade the Congress to vote for Jefferson's version - with Franklin's editorial suggestions.
Nathan Hale was hanged not only for spying but for trying to burn New York. Sept 20, 1776 American soldiers, some of them from Hale's regiment, filtered into British-held New York City, stashing resin-soaked logs in numerous buildings. Hale was caught the next day after 1/4 of New York City, the British army's winter quarters, was destroyed.
History's first submarine attack was in New York Harbor Sept 6, 1776. Connecticut inventor David Bushnell's submarine Turtle - resembling 2 large tortoise shells joined together - had a watertight hull made of 6" thick tarred oak timbers. The Turtle tried to secure a cask of gunpowder to the hull of the HMS Eagle and sneak away before it exploded. The Turtle got tangled with the Eagle's rudder bar, lost ballast and surfaced before the cask could be planted.
Benedict Arnold was the Continental Army's best general, without whom during the war's first 3 years we would have lost. In 1775 Arnold came close to conquering Canada. In 1776 he built a fleet, fighting a bigger British fleet to a standstill on Lake Champlain. At Saratoga in 1777 his brilliant battlefield leadership forced the British army to surrender. This victory persuaded France to join the war on the American side. Arnold switched sides in 1780 because he disapproved of the French alliance.
By 1779 one in 7 Americans in Washington's army was African-American. Washington enlisted them after hearing how well thay fought at Bunker Hill. The all-black First Rhode Island Regiment of 33 freedmen and 92 slaves promised freedom if they served until the war's end, distinguished itself in the Battle of Newport. Later they were all but wiped out in a British attack.
There were women in the Continental Army, even a few who saw combat. Probably the best known was Mary Ludwig Hays - Molly Pitcher - replacing her wounded husband at his cannon during 1778's Battle of Monmouth. Another artilleryman's wife, Margaret Corbin, was badly wounded serving in her husband's gun crew in the 1776 Battle of Harlem Heights. Thousands of other women were cooks or nurses.
George Washington was America's best spymaster, running dozens of rings in British-held New York and Philadelphia. The man who never told a lie was a master disinformer, constantly befuddling the British by leaking through double agents inflated reports on the strength of his army.
By 1779 more Americans fought with England than with Washington. 21 regiments of 6500 - 8000 loyalists vs Washignton's 3500. 1/3 of Americans opposed the Revolution.
At Yorktown, the victory that won the war, Washington's 11,000 men and 29,000 French soldiers and sailors along with 37 French ships-of-the-line played a crucial role in trapping the British and winning the engagement.
King George III almost abdicated when England lost. After Yorktown George vowed to keep fighting. When Parliament demurred George wrote a letter of abdication and then withdrew it, trying to console himself thinking Washington would become a dictator and make Americans long for Royal rule. Hearing Washignton's plans to resign his commission George said, "If he does he'll be the world's greatest man."