L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 www.italoamericano.org 15 L'Italo-Americano Dear Readers, The July 4th Celebrations remind me to refresh your mem- ory and mine of the Declaration of Independence signed July 4, 1776 (in Philadelphia). T h e r e i s a l w a y s m o r e t o learn about Italian and Italian American contributions to the American Revolutionary War. A l t h o u g h t h e c o l o n i s t s declared themselves indepen- dent of England and set up "The U n i t e S t a t e s o f A m e r i c a " , a l o n g w a r f o l l o w e d t h i s "Declaration", and it was not until April 30, 1789 that George Washington – "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen" – became the first President of the United States. H e t o o k t h e f i r s t U . S . Presidential oath of office on the balcony of the City Hall in New York – the new nation's temporary capital. From 1789 to 1790, the Presidential mansion was located at No. 1 Cherry Street, New York; John Adams o f M a s s a c h u s e t t s w a s V i c e President. *** C o l u m b u s d i s c o v e r e d America in 1492. When heads of European countries discov- ered a "new world", many of them tried to get a share of it. A race of sorts began. Spain took possession of South America, Central America, Mexico and all the southern part of our now U.S.A. Then France, Holland and England wanted a share, but could not agree upon a division that would satisfy all four. In a w a r b e t w e e n E n g l a n d a n d H o l l a n d , E n g l a n d w o n t h e Dutch colonies of New York, N e w J e r s e y , D e l a w a r e a n d Pennsylvania. Then England drove out the French. The King sent a regi- ment from England to drive the F r e n c h f r o m t h e O h i o R i v e r Valley. Eventually England too would go. A few years after the war w i t h F r a n c e , t h e E n g l i s h colonists (Yankees) began to quarrel with the mother country. The King of England had won the war against France, but had ended up deeply in debt and wanted the colonists to help pay for it. So, in 1765 he passed the Stamp Act, which meant that every time some kind of goods were bought or sold, it was nec- essary to buy stamps to put on d e e d s , w i l l s , p l a y i n g c a r d s , newspapers, almanacs, adver- tisements printed in newspa- pers, etc. to make them valid. King George began appoint- ing officers in America to sell the stamps, but mobs visited the homes of stamp officers and very few of the officers were bold enough to sell them after that. B e n j a m i n F r a n k l i n o f Pennsylvania, on business in London, told the King he had no business taxing the colonists for these "Sons of Liberty had already paid more than their share of the English/French War by furnishing men and supplies for the army, and for settling America and bringing it under the English flag." The English King and gov- ernment gave up the Stamp Tax, but never stopped trying to get more money from the colonists. Soon another law was passed saying they must pay taxes on c e r t a i n g o o d s b r o u g h t t o America from England. This law made the colonists angry, and they stopped buying goods from England until the English merchants begged the government to give up the law. "Okay," said King George, " b u t t h e T e a T a x s t a y s . " I n December 1773, ships carrying t e a a r r i v e d i n C h a r l e s t o n , Philadelphia and New York. When the people refused to buy the English "Royal Tea," it was stored in damp cellars to rot, but in Boston, after the colonists asked the governor to send the t e a b a c k t o E n g l a n d a n d h e refused, a large party of men dressed up as Native Americans boarded the ships. With toma- hawks waving, they dumped 342 chests of tea overboard into t h e b a y , i . e . t h e B o s t o n T e a Party. Boston patriot Paul Revere had taken his "midnight ride" on April 8, 1775, the eve of the B a t t l e o f L e x i n g t o n a n d C o n c o r d . T h e q u a r r e l w i t h England had been going on for ten years. The July 4th, 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence just formalized it. A t t h e o u t b r e a k o f t h e Revolution, Italians and Italian- A m e r i c a n s w i t h a n g l i c i z e d spelling of their names were early getting their share of fatal firepower from the British sol- diers, i.e. James Bracco, killed in action on October 26, 1776. But Italy contributed more t h a n m e n t o t h e A m e r i c a n Revolution. Even before the c o n f l i c t s t a r t e d , I t a l y w a s a s o u r c e o f i n s p i r a t i o n t o American patriots because of the struggle waged by Pasquale Paoli and his fellow Corsicans for independence. *** Many men from France with Italian surnames fought during the American Revolution. Some of them were probably the off- spring of Italians who settled in France, or Italian citizens who assumed or were given French s u r n a m e s . T o a s c e r t a i n t h e names of Italians who fought under the French flag is difficult because of the way their names were written or copied. Philip Phinizy (Finizzi) for example, came over with Rouchambeau. In 1903, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a list of soldiers and sailors who fought under the French flag d u r i n g t h e A m e r i c a n R e v o l u t i o n . T h e d o c u m e n t , titled "Les Combattants Français de la Guerre Americaine 1778- 1783," contains scores of Italian names. British records also provide additional evidence of Italian participation in the Revolution. Whenever the English impris- oned an enemy soldier, they kept a record of his name and rank in a ledger. Among the Italian-born vol- unteers to bear arms against the British were Filippo Mazzei, C a r l o B e l l i n i a n d V i n c e n z o R o s s i , w h o j o i n e d P a t r i c k Henry's forces. N e w s p a p e r a r t i c l e s b y M a z z e i a n d h i s c l o s e f r i e n d Thomas Jefferson inspired the formation of independent mili- tary companies of volunteers in every county of Virginia. When B r i t i s h t r o o p s l a n d e d a t H a m p t o n i n 1 7 7 5 , M a z z e i , B e l l i n i , R o s s i a n d J a m e s Madison joined the company of Albemarle County as privates. In 1778, Bellini became clerk of f o r e i g n c o r r e s p o n d e n c e f o r Virginia and the first professor o f m o d e r n l a n g u a g e a t t h e College of William and Mary. In 1779, Mazzei received a letter from Governor Patrick H e n r y a s k i n g h i m t o g o t o Europe to seek foreign aid for Virginia. Mazzei accepted. On June 20th, Mazzei, his wife and his daughter set sail for Europe. When their ship, the Johnston, was thirty miles from the Virginia coast, an English privateer overtook the vessel. The British imprisoned Mazzei f o r t h r e e m o n t h s o n L o n g Island. After they released him in mid-September, he and his family sailed for France. Mazzei visited high officials i n G e n o a a n d F l o r e n c e , a n d wrote many articles in favor of the American cause. He busied himself gathering useful politi- cal and military data, which he sent to his friend Jefferson, the new governor of Virginia. Mazzei advocated a military plan that called for coordinated action by the French navy and American army as the best way to defeat the British. He told his plan to Jefferson in a letter dated May 20, 1780. Mazzei stressed t h a t " n o t h i n g c o u l d b e d o n e without superiority on water [...]" Mazzei also gave a sketch o f h i s p l a n s t o t h e F r e n c h General Comte de Rochambeau. A m e r i c a n a n d F r e n c h f o r c e s applied this strategy successful- ly at the Battle of Yorktown.

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