I Used to Know That_ Stuff You Forgot From School - Caroline Taggart [36]
☞ 1337-1453: HUNDRED YEARS WAR
A war between England and France. Primarily a dispute over territory because parts of France, notably the prosperous wine-growing areas of Gascony and Aquitaine, had come into English possession through a succession of strategic marriages. The battles include: Crécy (1346), at which Edward III’s son, the Black Prince, “won his spurs;” Poitiers (1356), when the French king, John II, was captured and held for ransom; and Harfleur and Agincourt (both 1415), when English archers won the day. After Henry V’s early death in 1422, a French resurgence inspired by Joan of Arc gradually pushed the English back, until in 1453 the French won a decisive victory at Castillon and reclaimed all of the southwest part of the country. Only Calais remained in English possession.
☞ 1455-85: WARS OF THE ROSES
A series of civil wars between the English royal houses of York and Lancaster. In a nutshell, Edward III had far too many descendants who thought they ought to be in charge. Key battles were, Wakefield (1460), in which Richard, Duke of York, leader of the opposition to the Lancastrian Henry VI, was killed; and Tewkesbury (1471), a Yorkist victory, shortly after which Henry VI died—probably murdered—in the Tower of London. Rivalry between the in-laws of the new (Yorkist) king, Edward IV, the numerous and opportunistic Woodvilles, and other members of the aristocracy ensured that conflict continued. It culminated in the Battle of Bosworth (1485), when Henry Tudor, a Lancastrian descended from an illegitimate son of Edward III’s son, John of Gaunt, defeated and killed the Yorkist Richard III and became Henry VII.
☞ 1622-1917: THE AMERICAN INDIAN WARS
In the past, American history books have conveniently skimmed over or skipped the Indian wars altogether. A few early proprietors, such as William Penn, formed alliances with the Native American people, even learning to speak their language, but a large number of the early settlers encroached upon Indian territory, defied treaties, monopolized game, and practiced outright slaughter of the Native Americans. In some cases the Native Americans attacked first, but most often they felt threatened. The Pequot War of 1637, one of the earliest skirmishes, essentially eliminated the power of the Pequot tribe in present-day New England; most were killed, others were sold into slavery. The Indian wars were eventually fought in other parts of the East, the Great Plains, the Southwest, and in California. Some of the wars include Tecumseh (the Creek War), the Texas-Indian Wars, the Battle of Little Big Horn (Custer’s Last Stand), the Wounded Knee Massacre, the Navajo and Apache conflicts, the California Indian wars, and many more. Native Americans were killed, relocated, or escaped to Canada. The 10th Cavalry Regiment, an African-American unit that the Native Americans termed Buffalo Soldiers, fought one of the last battles in 1917.
☞ 1759: THE BATTLE OF THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM
A significant turning point in North American history, the British rout over French forces at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham near Quebec City on September 13 was an important milestone for the ascendant British Empire. This battle by land and sea that cost the lives of the commanding generals on both sides all but eradicated France’s colonial role in the New World. It also helped set the stage for the American War of Independence less than two decades later.
☞ 1775-83: AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, OR THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
The clue is in the title, really. The thirteen British colonies in North America revolted against British rule, specifically against taxation without representation. The Boston Tea Party (1773) was an act of direct action, which helped spark the American Revolution. Late on the night of April 18, 1775, a silversmith named Paul Revere recieved word that the British posed an imminent threat, which Longfellow preserved in