even chase saw the navy as a necessity, and on october 13, the continental navy was born. while congress purchased merchant men to convert into warships and adams drafted the articles of war for the new navy loss officers and sailors, stephen hopkins of rhode island cherry picked four of the first five captain sees out for his family and knowing when contacts, including his brother, who became the first and only commander-in-chief of an american navy. serving ascalled his midwife to the new label force the pleasantest part of his service to congress. franklin was specifically ordered by congress that once he arrived in france, he was too, as they put it, let old england see how they liked to have an active enemy at their own door. for most of the war, franklin did just that, handing out commissions to american mariners, giving orders to cruise the british coast lines, capture or destroy british shipping, drive up british insurance rates, and spread a level of fear along the british coast that had not been seen since the spanish armada. to counter franklin's efforts in franc

and on the 13th, the continental navy was born. adams drafted the articles of war for the new navy's officers sailors, steven hawkins of the first four five captaincies for his family nd new england contacts including his brother who became the first and only commander in chief of an american navy. adams called his serving new naval to the orce the pleasantness part of my neighbors. but a colleague of his took full new force once he arrived in paris. seasick throughout the entire crossing, franklin was ordered by congress once he arrive in france, he was to, as they put it, let old england see how they ike to have an active enemy at their own door. franklin f the war, did just that, handing out commissions and giving orders to crews the british coastline aptured and destroyed british shipping, and spread a level of ear on the coast that have not been seen since the spanish armada. arthur lee, better born and educated than franklin. and a lawyer.or he treated people beneath him to him meant just about and the with disdain navy captai

a quarter of the continental navy was african american. as you point out, fighting for liberty they thought it would guarantee their liberty, many slave holders tried to recapture their property. why can't i serve in the massachusetts militia, because their complexion was their crime and this is something they wrote about very powerfully and very movingly. as a historian of the american past, i write on very many topi topics, i'm very moved by these stories and i believe they should get out there. for example, i've written a children's book called the black soldier which deals with this problem all the way through and how harriet tubman, as a woman warrior, was denied her pension for her work, she had to receive it as the widow of a veteran. so these battles are still ongoing, i still think we need to recognize them and i agree with you that representation is an issue. i believe each of us has our story to tell. one of my problems was that i was teaching students, i was trying to tell them how compelling i found her story, and i just reall

oversaw construction of the first fleet and wouldn't numerous naval victories when he serve in the continental navyg the american revolution. >> this is not only a very happy day for the memory of john barry and the united states navy. it also happens to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the dedication of the john barry bridge. >> barry received his naval commission from president washington in 1797. >> turning back to your fox 29 weather authority now. much mr. pleasant day after last in it's storm. chief meteorologist scott williams is back with another look at the forecast. hey, scott. >>> hi, lauren. we are getting a break from that oppressive humidity that we saw yesterday. yesterday highs were in the low 90s and that helped to fuel those showers and storms. looking at ultimate doppler over the last 24 hours, you can see that line that moved through yesterday evening it's going and we're quiet. we're dry and pretty comfortable right now. you can see center city right now a lot of sunshine out there. little bit of haze, but 84 degrees is the current temperature. those winds making a differe

the call to freedom, african-americans responded to it, a quarter of the continental navy was african-american. as you point out, after the american revolution, many slave holders tried to recapture their property. men would say, why can't i serve in my state militia or the massachusetts militia? because they were -- their complexion was their crime. this is something they wrote about very powerfully and i just have to say as a historian of the american past i write on many topics. i write on slavery and i write on women's history and african-americans. i'm very moved by these stories and i believe they should get out there. so for example, i've written a children's book called the black soldier which deals with this problem all the way through and tubman as a woman warrior was denied her pension for her work. she had to receive it as the widow of a veteran. these battles are still on going. but i think we need to recognize them. i agree with you that representation is an issue but i believe each of us has our story to tell. each should get the word out. one of my problems was i was teaching s

a quarter of the continental navy was african-american. as you point out, after the american revolution when people thought service in the american armed forces, fighting for liberty, would guarantee them their liberty, many slave-holders went in and tried to recapture their property. men would say "why can't i serve in my state militia? why can't i serve in the pennsylvania or the massachusetts state militia?" because their complexion was their crime. and this is something they wrote about very powerfully, very movingly, and i just have to say as a historian of the american past, i write on many topics. i write on slavery. i write on women's history. i write on african-americans. and i am very moved by these stories and i think they should get out there and i wrote a children's book called "the black soldier" which deals with this problem all the way flew and how harriet tubman as a woman warrior was denied her pension for her work. she had to receive it as the widow of a veteran. so these battles are still ongoing but i still think we ne

navy to speak out. of. we have privateers, pirates essentially that we gave the ability to steal and pillage for their pay. most of the americans didn't actually support independence. less than half of continental americans supported independence. thousands fought for the british. many of the others just want to be left alone. that's not to mention the thousands of german soldiers and the thousands of native americans that sided with the british cause. not to mention the fact that the british had the world's greatest economy. the united states didn't have one at tha the time. we had no central bank and we had a very hard time raising money. so how did we win? it's not that we just wanted it more than they did pick it have a lot to do with the fact we used intelligence better than the british did. that george washington among others was really good at utilizing information they came in from a network of spies, a network of intelligence apparatus that the setup during this time. that's what i just will talk about today. kenneth daigler holds a ba in history from the center college of kentucky and the masters in history from the school at syracuse university. after he cut his majesty served in the