Yorktown

We visited the battlefield at Yorktown this weekend.  The Interpretative Center at the battlefield made clear that Washington could not have won this victory and hence the American Revolution without the aid of the French fleet.  

Here is a rule to follow:  Whenever you visit a historical site run by the National Park Service, always watch the film first.  The films are always well done, and they will make the history clear.

Yorktown also has a completely separate (and expensive) Museum of the American Revolution.  Some of the exhibits were misleading.  For example, they stressed that African Americans fought on the side of the Americans.  They did, of course, by the thousands, but even more thousands fought for the British.  The British promised freedom to any slave who joined their cause.  If you were a slave, would you have fought for the Americans?

That museum also had material on the Indians, and again, some Indians, including one of the Five Nations, were pro-American.  However, if you were an Indian, you might have been aware that the British tired to keep the Americans east of the Proclamation Line.  Americans wanted to invade Indian territory.  The Declaration of Independence lists this restriction as one of the grievances against the Crown.