Colonial America and the American Revolution: The 25 Best Sites - Softcover

Johnson, Clint

Softcover

ISBN 10: 097660132X ISBN 13: 9780976601326

Publisher: Asdavis Media Group, 2006

Synopsis

A definitive resource to more than 200 of the nation's most historically significant regions includes coverage of such sites as Williamsburg, Washington Crossing State Park, and Valley Forge, in a reference complemented by historical overviews, maps, and accommodation listings. Original.

About this title

About the Author

Clint Johnson is the author of eight books, including The 25 Best Civil War Sites, Touring the Carolinas Civil War Sites, Touring Virginia s and West Virginia s Civil War Sites, In the Footsteps of Robert E. Lee, In the Footsteps of Stonewall Jackson, Civil War Blunders and Bull s Eyes and Misfires: 50 People Whose Obscure Efforts Shaped the American Civil War. He lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

From the Back Cover

Follow in the footsteps of history with this comprehensive guide to colonial times and the war that shaped our nation.

Featuring sites in and around Boston, Lexington, Concord, Plymouth, Fort Ticonderoga, Saratoga, Philadelphia, Valley Forge, Mount Vernon, Williamsburg, Jamestown, St. Augustine, Cowpens, Kings Mountain, Savannah, and more!

For the casual traveler or dedicated history enthusiast, this definitive guide gives an illuminating glimpse into our nation s early days and struggle for independence. By exploring these sites standing where soldiers fought, triumphed, and fell; witnessing the difficulties of life in a colonial village; standing in the buildings where unprecedented ideas were debated visitors will have the opportunity to bring history to life.

Detailed descriptions of over 150 points of interest Historical overviews of each site that describe what took place and its significance Site maps and directions to points of interest In-depth travel and logistical information Accommodations located close to major sites More than 40 color photos

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1776 It is the most famous year in the American Revolution. On July 4, the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence. That document, beginning "When in the course of human events," bluntly informs King George III and the Parliament that the 13 colonies are going their own way. Sadly, that pretty much sums up all that some people know about the colonization of the New World and the early days of the United States struggle for independence.

This book is written for people who not only want to know how the Declaration came to be, but who also want to know more about the places that this nation s fight for independence took place. The nation we know as the United States did not just pop up on July 4, 1776. Our colonial history dates back to 1513 when Ponce de Leon first sighted Florida and ends in 1783 when England finally pulled its last soldiers out of the colonies.

I hope that the readers of this book are those history travelers and armchair historians who want to see the sites that were so important to the country s history. This book brings alive through photographs and current descriptions all those old history-book mentions of faraway places like St. Augustine, Lexington, and Plymouth. It also shows people how to find and appreciate historically important places that do not get as many tourists such as Fort Ticonderoga, Morristown, Kings Mountain, and Cowpens.

By visiting these sites, readers might find their own answers to some interesting questions of the colonial period and the American Revolution:

What compelled England to build colonies in the New World? How did those first colonists, and the slaves who came shortly afterwards, survive in a new and unfamiliar world that they they knew very little about? What skills did it take to survive and thrive?

How did those colonists learn what plants, vegetables, and fruits would grow in the New World? How did they know what wild foods were safe to eat? How did they know which plants would produce medicines?

What event launched the American Revolution? Once the Revolution was underway, how did armies find each other in vast wildernesses that lacked not only road maps, but roads? What were the obstacles that had to be overcome?

How were military tactics different or the same as in later wars?

Why would men stand shoulder to shoulder and shoot at each other from distances of less than 100 yards? What must it have been like to watch a red-coated battle line marching forward with bayonets pointed at you?

What was really going through the heads of Patriots as they fought battles against Tories who spoke the same language and who might even be relatives living just down the road?

Thanks to the historic sites covered in this book, the public can learn that the colonial period and the American Revolution are not just dusty, forgotten episodes in the nation s past. These sites live and breathe every day with the help of dedicated historians and interpreters who realized long ago that a nation cannot march forward into the future without honoring its past. They stretch from Florida to upstate New York and as far west as Indiana.

I used several over-lapping methods to rate these sites. First, the sites have to be accessible to the public as opposed to some important sites that are on private property. Second, something important to the overall history of the nation had to have taken place there. There are scores of Revolutionary War skirmishes and battles that occurred, but those engagements were not always as vital to the outcome of the war as the battles covered here. Third, the sites must have some type of educational value to them. For instance, Old Salem in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, did not see a Revolutionary War battle, but the historic preservation of this 18th-century settlement describes the Moravian religion, a religion that is not well known around the nation, but which was known during the American Revolution.

One word regarding accommodations; I ve chosen bed and breakfasts that try to reflect the colonial period. With the exception of one motel in Rome, New York, which is right across the street from Fort Stanwix, you won t find economy motels in this book.

Although it was unlikely that anyone then could foresee that the United States would one day become the most powerful nation on earth, these early days reveal a great deal about how the nation developed. By exploring these sites standing where soldiers fought, triumphed, and fell; witnessing the difficulties of life in a colonial village; standing in the buildings where unprecedented ideas were debated visitors will have the opportunity to bring history to life and experience it in an accessible way. In addition to gaining a better understanding of our past, visiting these sites also affords people the opportunity to honor those who fought for what they believed in and in many cases died for a country that did not even formally exist yet.

Edition details

• Publisher: Asdavis Media Group
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 097660132X
• ISBN 13: 9780976601326
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256