Process Paper
I had been always interested in the American Revolution, ever since I read The American Revolution for Kids when I was eight. I have also been interested in Prussian military history because Prussia was very strong for a small state. When it came time to do this year’s National History Day project, I decided to combine these two interests and focus on Steuben, since he was a turning point in the American Revolution. I decided on a website because this would allow me to use various media, especially maps, which would show what happened clearly.
I went to the local library, where I got several secondary books on battles to see how the Continentals' success rate went up after Steuben trained the troops at Valley Forge. I then read some primary documents, including several of Washington’s letters. These showed the stark contrast between the troops’ performance before Steuben and after. I read Steuben’s drill manual, which contains all of Steuben’s ideas on military training and sanitation. I went to Columbus to interview Professor Daniel Crosswell, Richard R. Hallock Distinguished University Chair in Military History. He told me about all the problems the Americans had in great depth, and gave me a history of the Prussian army, which showed how Steuben got his mindset, and his ideas on how to carry out his training in a short amount of time. I watched a documentary on Steuben's training and found a clip of re-enactors demonstrating Steuben's faster musket firing.
I did a website last year, so it was easy for me to upload material and operate Weebly. I was mainly concerned with organizing and focusing my argument. In constructing my website, I wanted to show some of the key defeats before Steuben. Then I wanted pages dealing with what Steuben brought to the Americans. Finally I made three pages that show how battles went better for the Continentals after they had been trained by Steuben. My conclusion acknowledges other important factors that helped the Americans win the war, but reasserts Steuben's importance.
Steuben’s training gave the soldiers better maneuvering, musket firing, and a use of the bayonet that surpassed the British. His cleaning up the camps meant the troops had a better chance of survival on and off the battlefield. He turned the tide of the war for the Americans.
I had been always interested in the American Revolution, ever since I read The American Revolution for Kids when I was eight. I have also been interested in Prussian military history because Prussia was very strong for a small state. When it came time to do this year’s National History Day project, I decided to combine these two interests and focus on Steuben, since he was a turning point in the American Revolution. I decided on a website because this would allow me to use various media, especially maps, which would show what happened clearly.
I went to the local library, where I got several secondary books on battles to see how the Continentals' success rate went up after Steuben trained the troops at Valley Forge. I then read some primary documents, including several of Washington’s letters. These showed the stark contrast between the troops’ performance before Steuben and after. I read Steuben’s drill manual, which contains all of Steuben’s ideas on military training and sanitation. I went to Columbus to interview Professor Daniel Crosswell, Richard R. Hallock Distinguished University Chair in Military History. He told me about all the problems the Americans had in great depth, and gave me a history of the Prussian army, which showed how Steuben got his mindset, and his ideas on how to carry out his training in a short amount of time. I watched a documentary on Steuben's training and found a clip of re-enactors demonstrating Steuben's faster musket firing.
I did a website last year, so it was easy for me to upload material and operate Weebly. I was mainly concerned with organizing and focusing my argument. In constructing my website, I wanted to show some of the key defeats before Steuben. Then I wanted pages dealing with what Steuben brought to the Americans. Finally I made three pages that show how battles went better for the Continentals after they had been trained by Steuben. My conclusion acknowledges other important factors that helped the Americans win the war, but reasserts Steuben's importance.
Steuben’s training gave the soldiers better maneuvering, musket firing, and a use of the bayonet that surpassed the British. His cleaning up the camps meant the troops had a better chance of survival on and off the battlefield. He turned the tide of the war for the Americans.