Timothy Matlack, Scribe of the Declaration of Independence
Timothy Matlack, Scribe of the Declaration of Independence

Author: Chris Coelho

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2013-06-06

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 1476605645

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On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read aloud to a crowd gathered outside the Pennsylvania State House. It was engrossed on vellum later in the month, and delegates began signing the finely penned document in early August. The man who read the Declaration and later embossed it--the man with perhaps the most famous penmanship in American history--was Timothy Matlack, a Philadelphia beer bottler who strongly believed in the American cause. A disowned Quaker and the grandson of an indentured servant, he rose from obscurity to become a delegate to Congress. He led a militia battalion at Princeton during the Revolutionary War; his unflagging dedication earned him the admiration of men like Thomas Jefferson and Richard Henry Lee. Also in 1776 Matlack and his radical allies drafted the Pennsylvania Constitution, which has been described as the most democratic in America. This biography is a full account of an American patriot.

Through a Howling Wilderness
Through a Howling Wilderness

Author: Thomas A. Desjardin

Publisher: Macmillan + ORM

Published: 2007-04-01

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1429903546

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A military history of the 1775 invasion of Quebec by Benedict Arnold and the Continental Army, a narrative of adventure, hardship, and survival. Before Benedict Arnold was branded a traitor, he was one of the colonies’ most valuable leaders. In September 1775, eleven hundred soldiers boarded ships in Massachusetts, bound for the Maine wilderness. They had volunteered for a secret mission, under Arnold’s command to march and paddle nearly two hundred miles and seize British Quebec. But before reaching the Canadian border, hundreds died from hypothermia, lightning strikes, exposure, disease, and starvation. The survivors were forced to eat everything from dogs to lip salve just to survive, all the while struggling—undaunted—through a hurricane and then a blizzard to attack Quebec and almost take Canada from the British. With the enigmatic Benedict Arnold at its center, Through a Howling Wilderness is a timeless adventure narrative telling of heroic acts, men pitted against nature’s fury, and a fledgling nation’s fight against a tyrannical oppressor. Praise for Through a Howling Wilderness “Desjardin is able to portray fascinating, vivid characters, more human and more credible than the leaders who organized the expedition.” —Associated Press “Thoroughly researched and well written, this is likely to be the standard history of the campaign for some time to come.” —Booklist “Through a masterful use of the numerous accounts written by soldiers on expedition, he has fully preserved the harrowing, often tragic events that occurred.” —The Bangor Daily News

The Original American Spies
The Original American Spies

Author: Paul R. Misencik

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2013-12-07

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1476612919

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This book consists of seven stand-alone accounts of individuals who operated as spies during the American Revolutionary War. They were not trained as covert agents, which meant they had to develop their skills and techniques on their own, often while in the midst of the enemy where discovery meant almost certain death for them, and suffering and hardship for their family and friends. Five of them spied for the American cause and two spied for the British. Not all were motivated by patriotism, and not all escaped capture, yet their often painfully gained experience benefited future operatives and operations. They all were daring, intelligent and resourceful, and each had an unusual personality. Their labors resulted in battlefield victories, thwarted enemy plots, and significantly changed the conduct of the war, yet in spite of their efforts and their riveting stories, they and their deeds have remained relatively unknown.