“The vote is precious. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it”-John Lewis
This week in history was an important week for the United States of America. During the tail end of the war against tyranny, on Sept. 28th in 1781, General George Washington along with 9,000 American troops and 7,000 French troops, began the Siege of Yorktown.
The Siege of Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the RevolutionaryWar and led to the 1783 Treaty of Paris, finally freeing us from the oppression of the crown and instilling the Democratic Republic that we are today.
General Cornwallis of the British Army along with Loyalists say Yorktown, Virginia as a key strategic location. After the French defeated a British fleet in that August at the Battle of Chesapeake General George Washington, with help from the French, rushed down from New York to completely surround Cornwallis and the British.
On the morning of Sept. 28, General Washington and his men left Williamsburg and took their positions to the right and left of Yorktown, keeping a tight circle with the French navy on creating a blockade and the Continental army along with the French putting the British in a chokehold. On Sept. 29 the cannon fire and bombardment commence, the revolutionist side had
few casualties while the Cornwallis and his men had to retreat from their outer defenses.
By the first of October, the allies had learned that the British were deserting and slaughtering horses to preserve food, and in the following days the British would surge their firing power increasing the casualty rate as some of their cavalry snuck up to Gloucester to scavenge for food.
The foraging party, though, was quickly encountered by Virginia’s militia and had to retreat to their defensive lines. After a casualty report of about 389 killed and wounded on the American French side and between 7,884-8, 589 killed, captured or wounded on the British side they finally surrendered on the 19th of October.
So What?
I think pointing out any event in America’s Revolutionary War is cause for celebration as this was the starting point of a new era. An era where America has sovereignty over its own people and change will come, not at the will of the crown but at the will of the voter.
With early voting already underway, there is no better time to stress the power that each of us hold in our hands, the power to send to make a difference in our community that men and women have sacrificed their lives for. This power’s inception cannot be pinpointed to the Siege of Yorktown, because it was built over the course of the United States of America’s lifetime; as seen with the 15th Amendment in 1870 when African Americans gained the right to vote and just as importantly in 1920 with the ratification of 19th Amendment guaranteeing women’s suffrage.
These rights were not given to us, they were fought for with blood, sweat, tears and most importantly sacrifice. The quote I used above is by John Lewis, a civil rights activist protesting during the Freedom Rides and the Selma to Montgomery Marches and Georgia’s House Representative from 1987 until 2020.
It is important because it is a reminder that voting is the first and most peaceful route to change. So why is it important to remember the Siege of Yorktown? Because some people, myself included, forget that it is not only our right, but our civic duty to go to the ballot box and do what we believe is best, not only for ourselves individually but for our community and those that came before that gave everything for it.
