Born in 1781:
Died in 1781:
Events of 1781:
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The Austrian Empire abolishes serfdom and grants freedom of the press
and religious tolerance.
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War of American Independence:
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Political activity:
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Military activity:
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(January 1) The Pennsylvania contingent of the Continental Army mutinies
over the conditions they are forced to live in. However, when British General
Henry Clinton sends messengers to them, the messengers are turned over.
George Washington appeals to Congress to improve their conditions.
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(January 5) The government of Virginia is forced to flee Richmond
as an army under Benedict Arnold enters the city.
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(January 17) The Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina. British colonel
Banastre Tarleton is defeated by General Daniel Morgan. Tarleton
himself escapes.
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(January 20) The New Jersey contingent of the Continental Army mutinies.
This time, Washington has two of the mutineers' leaders hanged.
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(February 3) The British under Admiral Rodney capture the Dutch-held
Caribbean island St. Eustasius. He confiscates a large amount
of materiel that British merchants were selling to American rebels.
Because of this, he is plagued with lawsuits for the rest of his life.
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(January-March) British General Lord Cornwallis' supply lines are stretched
precariously thin as General Nathaniel Greene leads him on a merry chase
through South Carolina and North Carolina.
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(March 15) Cornwallis catches up with Greene. At the Battle of Guilford
Court House in North Carolina Greene retreats but the British suffer
far more casualties. Cornwallis falls back to Wilmington, NC, North
Carolina to regroup.
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(April) French Admiral de Grasse captures Tobago from the British.
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(May) Louis XVI dismisses his war minister Necker.
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(May 10) Pensacola, the last holdout in West Florida, finally surrenders to the Spanish governor of Louisiana, Bernardo de Galvez.
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(June 4) Banastre Tarleton raids Monticello but Virginia Governor Thomas
Jefferson escapes.
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(June 5) The British surrender Augusta, Georgia to Richard
Henry Lee.
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(June 6) Washington and Rochambeau prepare for a combined assault on
Manhattan Island.
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(August 28) Militia defeat a company of Loyalists at Elizabethtown,
North Carolina.
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(September) Cornwallis defeats Greene at the Battle of Eutaw, then moves
into Virginia.
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(September 28) Washington, Rochambeau, and fresh French troops brought
by Admiral De Grasse surround Cornwallis' army at Yorktown, Virginia.
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(October 17) Lord Cornwallis offers a white flag. By October 19,
British troops, accorting to the terms of surrender, give up their arms
while their band plays The World Turned Upside Down.
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(October 19) A British fleet leaves New York to relieve Cornwallis, too
late.
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The Ancient Order of Druids founded.
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Thomas Jefferson (anonymously) publishes his Notes on the State of
Virginia which contains his opinion of the inferiority of black people
and his feeling that slavery should never be abolished.
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Yuma Indians destroy the Mission La Purisima Concepcion, the present
site of Yuma, Arizona.
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The survivors of the Yuma attack found El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora
la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúncula.
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Immanuel Kant publishes his Critique of Pure Reason.
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Tupac Amaru is captured, then drawn and quartered in Cuzco.
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Frederick Herschel discovers a new planet, the first discovered by telescope,
and decidedly smashing Aristotelian cosmology. He originally calls
it George's Star after King George III, but it is now known as Uranus.
1780 - 1781 - 1782
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