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• AUGUST 27 to 29 - BRITISH ACTION: General William Howe led 15,000 Redcoats against Washington’s army in the Battle of Long Island. Outnumbered two to one, the Americans suffered a severe defeat.
• SEPTEMBER 11 - AMERICAN & BRITISH ACTION: A peace conference was held on Staten Island between British and American representatives. The conference failed because General Howe demanded that Congress revoke the Declaration of Independence.
• SEPTEMBER 16 - AMERICAN ACTION: After evacuating New York City, Washington’s army repulsed a British attack during the Battle of Harlem Heights.
• SEPTEMBER 26 - AMERICAN ACTION: Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Silas Dean to negotiate treaties with European countries.
• OCTOBER 28 - AMERICAN ACTION: Washington’s army suffered heavy casualties at the Battle of White Plains.
• NOVEMBER 16 to 20 - BRITISH ACTION: British forces won victories at Fort Washington in Manhattan and Fort Lee in New Jersey.
• DECEMBER 11 - AMERICAN ACTION: Washington moved his troops across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. The Continental Congress abandoned Philadelphia and relocated in Baltimore.
• DECEMBER 25 to 26 - AMERICAN ACTION: On Christmas night, General Washington moved his troops across the frozen Delaware River into New Jersey. They defeated a force of Hessians at Trenton during a surprise morning raid.
IAmerica’s Last King
n the beginning King George III wanted to replace the debt his government had incurred during the French and Indian War. He also wanted to avoid conflicts with the Indians in the western territory that now belonged to England.
As time passed, his motive was to keep the American colonies as a member of the British Empire.
He, along with Parliament and his ministers, restricted, penalized, controlled, bullied and taxed the American colonists to the point where they demanded independence.
He made his first public comments about the Declaration of Independence to Parliament on October 31, 1776. The king was not pleased. He made harsh comments about the Declaration and the revolutionary leaders.
He told the members of Parliament, “But so daring and
desperate is the spirit of those leaders, whose object has
always been dominion and power, that they have now openly
renounced all allegiance to the crown, and all political connection with this country. . . . and have presumed to set up their rebellious Confederacies for Independent States.”
He said it was necessary to continue the battle.
In the end, King George III became America’s last king.
King George III at age 33 wearing his General Officer’s coat with the ribbons and star of the Garter. Artist: Johann Zoffany in 1771