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The following are minor or locally celebrated holidays related to the American Revolution.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2022) |
The following are minor or locally celebrated holidays related to the American Revolution.
A Great Jubilee Day , first organized May 26, 1783 in North Stratford, now Trumbull, Connecticut, celebrated the end of major fighting in the American Revolutionary War.
Bennington Battle Day is a state holiday unique to Vermont which commemorates the American victory at the Battle of Bennington (which actually took place in New York) during the Revolutionary War in 1777. The holiday's date is fixed and occurs on August 16 every year. [ citation needed ]
In Bennington, there is a battle reenactment put on by the local history foundation.[ citation needed ]
This may be the only state holiday in the US that commemorates an event that did not even happen in the state.[ citation needed ]
The Battle of Bennington is named as such because the battle was over weapons and munitions stored where the Bennington Battle monument now stands. This site is located in what is now referred to as Old Bennington. [1]
Carolina Day is set aside to commemorate the first decisive victory of the American Revolutionary War in South Carolina.
On June 28, 1776, a small band of South Carolina Patriots repulsed a Royal Navy attack in the Battle of Sullivan's Island. Patriots stationed at an unfinished palmetto log and sand fort near what is today Fort Moultrie defeated a Royal Navy force of nine warships as it attempted to capture Charleston. After a nine-hour battle, the ships were forced to retire. Charleston remained in Patriot hands, and the fort was named in honor of its commander, General William Moultrie. Charleston would remain in Patriot hands until a British expedition captured the city after a brief siege.[ citation needed ]
The Liberty Flag designed by Colonel William Moultrie and waved by Sergeant William Jasper to rally the troops during that battle became the basis for the Flag of South Carolina, bearing on it an image of the palmetto tree that was used to build the fortress.[ citation needed ]
The anniversary of the victory was celebrated locally starting in 1777 when it was known as Palmetto Day or Sergeant Jasper's Day. (The latter name referred to a colonial soldier who had rushed into the fight to save the fallen battle flag during the battle). [2] The anniversary became known as Carolina Day for the first time in 1875. The anniversary remained popular until the mid-20th century but eventually fell out of favor. Regardless, the day continued to be marked by the tradition of playing the tune of "Three Blind Mice" at noon at St. Michael's Episcopal Church (Charleston, South Carolina). In 1995, Charleston historical groups helped reinvigorate the celebration of Carolina Day to help raise awareness of South Carolina's and Charleston's role in the Revolutionary War. [3]
While the holiday has not regained the popularity it once enjoyed, it remains an official holiday in South Carolina, although not marked by office closings. According to South Carolina Code Ann. sec. 53-3-140, "June twenty-eighth of each year, the anniversary of the Battle of Sullivan's Island in 1776, is declared to be 'Carolina Day' in South Carolina." [4]
Founder's Day originated from a proclamation by the United States Continental Congress on October 11, 1782, in response to Great Britain's expected acceptance of its defeat in the American Revolutionary War. The war did not formally end until Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris on January 14, 1784. [5]
The purpose of the proclamation was to thank God for America's good fortune in the Revolutionary War. This did not form the basis for Thanksgiving Day as it is known presently in the United States. Congressional and presidential declarations named several days of thanks each year throughout the Revolutionary War period and after. This particular day of thanks falls on November 28. [6]
By the United States in Congress assembled.
PROCLAMATION.***
IT being the indispensable duty of all Nations, not only to offer up their supplications to ALMIGHTY GOD, the giver of all good, for his gracious assistance in a time of distress, but also in a solemn and public manner to give him praise for his goodness in general, and especially for great and signal interpositions of his providence in their behalf: Therefore, the United States in Congress assembled, taking into their consideration the many instances of divine goodness to these States, in the course of the important conflict in which they have been so long engaged; the present happy and promising state of public affairs; and the events of the war, in the course of the year now drawing to a close; particularly the harmony of the public Councils, which is so necessary to the success of the public cause; the perfect union and good understanding which has hitherto subsisted between them and their Allies, notwithstanding the artful and unwearied attempts of the common enemy to divide them; the success of the arms of the United States, and those of their Allies, and the acknowledgment of their independence by another European power, whose friendship and commerce must be of great and lasting advantage to these States:----- Do hereby recommend to the inhabitants of these States in general, to observe, and request the several States to interpose their authority in appointing and commanding the observation of THURSDAY the twenty-eight day of NOVEMBER next, as a day of solemn THANKSGIVING to GOD for all his mercies: and they do further recommend to all ranks, to testify to their gratitude to GOD for his goodness, by a cheerful obedience of his laws, and by promoting, each in his station, and by his influence, the practice of true and undefiled religion, which is the great foundation of public prosperity and national happiness.
Done in Congress, at Philadelphia, the eleventh day of October, in the year of our LORD one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two, and of our Sovereignty and Independence, the seventh.
John Hanson, President.
Charles Thomson, Secretary.
Halifax Day occurs on April 12 in Halifax, North Carolina. It celebrates the Halifax Resolves (which was the first official call for independence from Britain by any of its colonies) when it was voted unanimously that North Carolina's delegates to the Continental Congress be empowered to concur with the other colonial delegates in declaring independence from Britain. Until the 1980s, Halifax Day was celebrated as a public holiday in North Carolina. Every year, on April 12, the Historic Halifax State Historic Site hosts Halifax Day. Interpreters in period costumes guide tours of historic buildings and demonstrate historic crafts and other colonial activities. Occasionally, reenactors portray Revolutionary-era soldiers and demonstrate the use of historic weapons during the Halifax Day events.
Massacre Day was a holiday in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1771 to 1783. It was held on March 5, the anniversary of the 1770 Boston Massacre. [7] [8]
Powder House Day in New Haven, Connecticut, is celebrated annually to commemorate the events of April 22, 1775, when the Governor's Foot Guard, under Captain Benedict Arnold, demanded the keys to the powder house to arm themselves and begin the march to Cambridge, Massachusetts, marking the entry of New Haven into the American Revolution.[ citation needed ]
When news of the Battle of Lexington reached New Haven, Connecticut, on April 21, 1775, the Second Company of the Governors Foot Guard voted to assist their fellow Massachusetts patriots.[ citation needed ]
Although the New Haven town meeting had voted the day before not to send aid to Massachusetts, the Foot Guard decided overwhelmingly to go. With the blessing of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards they confronted the selectmen, who were meeting at a Beer's Tavern, and demanded access to the powder house.[ citation needed ]
"You may tell the selectmen," Arnold reportedly said, "that if the keys are not coming within five minutes, my men will break into the supply-house and help themselves. None but the Almighty God shall prevent me from marching." The keys were reluctantly handed over, and supplies and arms were taken for the march to Cambridge. On July 2, 1775, members of the Foot Guard escorted General George Washington to Cambridge after his overnight stay in New Haven on his way to Boston to take command of the forces around the Greater Boston area.[ citation needed ]
The Governor's Foot Guard stages an annual recreation of the events on a Saturday in April. After a memorial service at New Haven's Center Church on the Green (the same church where Arnold's wife was later buried in the cellar cemetery), the reenactors march across the Green to City Hall, where a member of the Foot Guard playing Arnold demands the keys to the powder house from the current mayor of New Haven, who plays his Revolutionary predecessor. Despite his later deeds, Benedict Arnold is still considered an unnamed hero in Connecticut, though no memorial to him was ever built because of his treason. [9]
Yorktown Day is a holiday celebrated in Yorktown, Virginia, United States annually on October 19. The holiday celebrates the surrender of the British forces on that date in 1781, ending the Battle of Yorktown and forcing Britain to negotiate the end of the American Revolutionary War.
Typical events during the day include a parade, speeches from groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, wreath-laying at several gravesites in the area, and reenactments of the battle and subsequent surrender.[ citation needed ]
The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, part of the Saratoga campaign, that took place on August 16, 1777, on a farm in Walloomsac, New York, about 10 miles (16 km) from its namesake, Bennington, Vermont. A rebel force of 2,000 men, primarily New Hampshire and Massachusetts militiamen, led by General John Stark, and reinforced by Vermont militiamen led by Colonel Seth Warner and members of the Green Mountain Boys, decisively defeated a detachment of General John Burgoyne's army led by Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum, and supported by additional men under Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich von Breymann.
Brigadier General Francis Marion, also known as the "Swamp Fox", was an American military officer, planter, and politician who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. During the American Revolution, Marion supported the Patriot cause and enlisted in the Continental Army, fighting against British forces in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War from 1780 to 1781.
William Moultrie was an American planter and politician who became a general in the American Revolutionary War. As colonel leading a state militia, in 1776 he prevented the British from taking Charleston, and Fort Moultrie was named in his honor.
Timeline of the American Revolution—timeline of the political upheaval culminating in the 18th century in which Thirteen Colonies in North America joined together for independence from the British Empire, and after victory in the Revolutionary War combined to form the United States of America. The American Revolution includes political, social, and military aspects. The revolutionary era is generally considered to have begun with the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 and ended with the ratification of the United States Bill of Rights in 1791. The military phase of the revolution, the American Revolutionary War, lasted from 1775 to 1783.
Patriots' Day is an annual event, formalized as a legal holiday or a special observance day in six U.S. states, commemorating the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy, some of the first battles of the American Revolutionary War. The holiday occurs on the third Monday of April each year, with celebrations including battle reenactments and the Boston Marathon.
Christopher Gadsden was an American politician who was the principal leader of the South Carolina Patriot movement during the American Revolution. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress, a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, a merchant, and the designer of the Gadsden flag. He is a signatory to the Continental Association.
The flag of South Carolina is a symbol of the U.S. state of South Carolina consisting of a blue field with a white palmetto tree and white crescent. Roots of this design have existed in some form since 1775, being based on one of the first American Revolutionary War flags. While keeping most of its design intact since its adoption, it has varied over the years.
The siege of Charleston was a major engagement and major British victory in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the environs of Charles Town, the capital of South Carolina, between March 29 and May 12, 1780. The British, following the collapse of their northern strategy in late 1777 and their withdrawal from Philadelphia in 1778, shifted their focus to the North American Southern Colonies. After approximately six weeks of siege, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, commanding the Charleston garrison, surrendered his forces to the British. It was one of the worst U.S. defeats of the war.
The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took place on October 7, 1780, 9 miles (14 km) south of the present-day town of Kings Mountain, North Carolina. In what is now rural Cherokee County, South Carolina, the Patriot militia defeated the Loyalist militia commanded by British Major Patrick Ferguson of the 71st Foot. The battle has been described as "the war's largest all-American fight".
Fort Moultrie is a series of fortifications on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, formerly named Fort Sullivan, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and nickname of South Carolina, as "The Palmetto State". The fort was renamed for the U.S. patriot commander in the Battle of Sullivan's Island, General William Moultrie. During British occupation, in 1780–1782, the fort was known as Fort Arbuthnot.
The Battle of Waxhaws was a military engagement which took place on May 29, 1780 during the American Revolutionary War between a Patriot force led by Abraham Buford and a British force led by Banastre Tarleton near Lancaster, South Carolina. Buford's men consisted of Continental Army soldiers, while Tarleton's force was mostly made up of Loyalist troops. After the two forces sighted each other, Buford rejected an initial demand to surrender. Tarleton's cavalrymen launched a charge against the Patriot troops, which led many of Buford's men to throw their arms down in surrender. However, as Tarleton was shot under his horse during the charge, his infuriated soldiers attacked their Patriot opponents, killing several.
South Carolina was outraged over British tax policies in the 1760s that violated what they saw as their constitutional right to "no taxation without representation". Merchants joined the boycott against buying British products. When the London government harshly punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, South Carolina's leaders joined eleven other colonies in forming the Continental Congress. When the British attacked Lexington and Concord in the spring of 1775 and were beaten back by the Massachusetts Patriots, South Carolina Patriots rallied to support the American Revolution. Loyalists and Patriots of the colony were split by nearly 50/50.
The 84th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highland Emigrants) was a British regiment in the American Revolutionary War that was raised to defend present day Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada from the constant land and sea attacks by American Revolutionaries. The 84th Regiment was also involved in offensive action in the Thirteen Colonies; including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and what is now Maine, as well as raids upon Lake Champlain and the Mohawk Valley. The regiment consisted of 2,000 men in twenty companies. The 84th Regiment was raised from Scottish soldiers who had served in the Seven Years' War and stayed in North America. As a result, the 84th Regiment had one of the oldest and most experienced officer corps of any regiment in North America. The Scottish Highland regiments were a key element of the British Army in the American Revolution. The 84th Regiment was clothed, armed and accoutred the same as the Black Watch, with Lieutenant Colonel Allan Maclean commanding the first battalion and Major General John Small of Strathardle commanding the second. The two Battalions operated independently of each other and saw little action together.
The southern theater of the American Revolutionary War was the central theater of military operations in the second half of the American Revolutionary War, 1778–1781. It encompassed engagements primarily in Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Tactics consisted of both strategic battles and guerrilla warfare.
The Battle of Stono Ferry was an American Revolutionary War battle, fought on June 20, 1779, near Charleston, South Carolina. The rear guard from a British expedition retreating from an aborted attempt to take Charleston held off an assault by poorly trained militia forces under American General Benjamin Lincoln.
The Battle of Sullivan's Island or the Battle of Fort Sullivan was fought on June 28, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. It took place near Charleston, South Carolina, during the first British attempt to capture the city from American forces. It is also sometimes referred to as the first siege of Charleston, owing to a more successful British siege in 1780.
John Rutledge was an American Founding Father, politician, and jurist who served as one of the original associate justices of the Supreme Court and the second chief justice of the United States. Additionally, he served as the first president of South Carolina and later as its first governor after the Declaration of Independence was signed.
The Moultrie Flag, also known as the Liberty Flag, was a flag flown in the American Revolutionary War.
James Hogun was an Irish-American military officer who was as one of five generals from North Carolina to serve with the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born in Ireland, Hogan migrated to North Carolina – then a British colony – in 1751. Settling in Halifax County, he raised a family and established himself as a prominent local figure.
The Defenders of Fort Moultrie, also commonly known as the Jasper Monument, is a monument in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Located in White Point Garden, the monument depicts Sergeant William Jasper and was dedicated in 1877 to all South Carolina militiamen involved in the Battle of Sullivan's Island during the American Revolutionary War.
