From the book Spies of the Revolution by Katherine and John Bakeless Who’s Got the Button? From the book Spies of the Revolution by Katherine and John Bakeless

Some 100 people, many of them seeking religious freedom in the New World, set sail from England on the Mayflower in September 1620. That November, the ship landed on the shores of Cape Cod, in present-day Massachusetts. A scouting party was sent out, and in late December the group landed at Plymouth Harbor, where they would form the first permanent settlement of Europeans in New England. These original settlers of Plymouth Colony are known as the Pilgrim Fathers, or simply as the Pilgrims.

The American Revolution (1775-83) is also known as the American Revolutionary War and the U.S. War of Independence. The conflict arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. Skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence. France entered the American Revolution on the side of the colonists in 1778, turning what had essentially been a civil war into an international conflict. After French assistance helped the Continental Army force the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1779, the Americans had effectively won their independence, though fighting would not formally end until 1783.

There is no one event that singularly led to the Revolution There is no one event that singularly led to the Revolution. The Americans believed that they were entitled to the full democratic rights of Englishmen. The British believed that the American colonies were just colonies, to be used and exploited in whatever way best suited Great Britain. These two conflicting views made war inevitable. The American colonists had become increasingly angered at their homeland over a period of many decades. The colonists became especially alarmed at British taxation programs, not only because they greatly hampered colonial economies, but also because they believed the acts of Parliament were consistently violating their rights as British citizens.

American General George Washington

British General William Howe

American Quaker “Friend” Lydia Darragh Lydia Darragh (1729 – December 28, 1789) was an American woman said to have crossed British lines during the British occupation of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War, delivering information to George Washington and the Continental Army that warned them of a pending British attack.[2] Contemporary sources claim Darragh's uncorroborated story is historically unsubstantiated.[3]

Examples of Short Hand

American Captain Charles Craig

American Major George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War.

American Major Allen McLane (1746-1829)

The Darrah's house was of strategic importance to the British army, and was often used as a meeting point by the officers. The British had at one point wanted the Darrah's to move out of the house, but had been convinced that the family had nowhere else to go, and were of no threat. This convincing was assisted by the fact that one of the British officers, Captain Barrington, was a distant cousin of Lydia.

American Major Benjamin Tallmadge Tallmadge was a major in the 2nd Regiment Light Dragoons. He was initially commissioned on June 20, 1776.[2] Eventually, as the chief intelligence officer for George Washington, he was promoted to the rank of colonel.

American Colonel Elias Boudinot