America 250

<p>Some delegates at the Constitutional Convention wanted a strong executive, while others feared the American president might become a king.</p>

<p>Dickinson played a pivotal role in our Nation’s founding, from the Stamp Act to ratifying the Constitution, but his contributions are largely forgotten by history.</p>

<p>American patriots began a conflict that spread around the globe.</p>

<p>Our nation came into being thanks to an unexpected explosion of political talent in an emerging nation on the fringe of the Atlantic world.</p>

<p>As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, our founding charter remains central to our national life, unifying us and paving the way for what we have long called “the American Dream.”</p>

<p>Setting out 250 years ago this month, Henry Knox’s “Noble Train” carried 60 tons of desperately needed artillery to help patriots oust British forces from Boston.</p>

<p>While we “know” more and more about the American past, too many of our citizens are ignorant of who we are and where we came from.</p>

<p>The American patriots came up with a bold plan to force the British out of Boston 250 years ago this month.</p>

<p>Efforts continue to preserve the historic home of General John Glover in Swampscott, Massachusetts, which is still slated for demolition.</p>

<p>Previously unknown, a map drawn by Lord Percy, the British commander at Lexington, sheds new light on the perilous retreat to Boston 250 years ago this month.</p>

<p>What began as a civil war within the British Empire continued until it became a wider conflict affecting peoples and countries across Europe and North America.</p>

<p>Overshadowed in memory by Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts town of Menotomy saw the most violent and deadly fighting on April 19, 1775.</p>

<p>“Now the war has begun and no one knows when it will end,” said one minuteman after the fight.</p>

<p>American resistance to British authority developed with stunning speed 250 years ago in response to George III’s inflexibility. </p>

<p><span class="deck">The Lost Story of Revolutionary War POW’s</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">How tough Henry Knox hauled a train of cannon over wintry trails to help drive the British away from Boston</span></p>

<p>America’s first civil war took place during the Revolution, an ultra-violent, family-splitting, and often vindictive conflict between "patriots" and loyalists.</p>

<p>It is one of the most notorious incidents in American history, and also one of the least understood.</p>

<p>Largely overlooked in histories of the Revolution, the Battle of the Chesapeake is in fact one of the most important naval engagements in history, leading to the American victory at Yorktown.</p>

<p>The American War for Independence was part of an international trend -- a new focus on the individual that inspired people to new insights, new proclamations, and new assertions of rights.</p>

<p>Sixteen historic sites in Boston remind Americans of the events that led to our nation’s birth, from the Boston Massacre to Breed's Hill and the USS Constitution.</p>

<p>The outcome of the American Revolution may have been affected by catastrophic storms in the deadliest hurricane season in recorded history.</p>

<p>No figure in the Revolutionary era inspired as much affection and reverence as Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette</p>

<p>An estimated 1500 privateering ships played a crucial role in winning the American Revolution, but their contributions are often forgotten.</p>

<p>Enlisting an army of alter egos, Adams used the Boston press to make the case for American independence and to orchestrate a burgeoning rebellion.</p>

<p>Communities around the U.S. hope that the nation's upcoming 250th anniversary will inspire Americans to appreciate the importance of shared experience and preserving history.</p>

<p>The dumping of tons of tea in protest set the stage for the American Revolution and was a window on the culture and attitudes of the time.</p>

<p>In “the cradle of the American Revolution,” loyalists to the Crown faced a harsh choice: live with terrible abuse where they were, or flee to friendlier, but alien regions.</p>

<p>Our nation is free because, 250 years ago, brave men and women fought a war to establish the independence of the United States and created a system of government to protect the freedom of its citizens.</p>

<p>At a curious stone tower in Somerville, Massachusetts, panic in 1774 could have sparked a war seven months before Lexington and Concord entered the history books.</p>

<p>John Glover and the men of Marblehead saved the Continental Army several times, and then helped it cross the Delaware to victory at Trenton and Princeton.</p>