The Role of John Paul Jones in the Revolutionary War that Shaped America

The Revolutionary War was the most dramatic occurrence in America 's long, tragic, and amazing history. After all, it was the technical beginning of the country we live in today. When starting out, America had virtually no navy. This changed because of John Paul Jones. Jones was the revolutionary war 's first naval commander, and is known as the "Father of the American Navy." Though he started out as not a very rich man, Jones became a naval commander for both America and Russia. He was very charming, but he had a horrible temper that tended to get him in trouble. At one point he was in such deep of trouble that he was charged for murder, but then acquitted soon after. This is just one of the murders Jones was [allegedly, for the previous one, on account of his acquittal] involved in. The second murder he committed happened on the ship Betsy in the West Indies, where he killed the ringleader of a mutiny with his sword in a dispute over wages. He was forced to flee to Virginia, where he changed his name first to John Jones, then to John Paul Jones. Though he seems like a horrible mass murderer, he really wasn 't. He had his good points in history. For example, he "started" the American navy and he performed a hit and run raid on Whitehaven. When Congress formed the "Continental Navy," Jones offered his services and was commissioned as first lieutenant. His first ship was the Alfred. The navy at this time consisted of the ships Alfred and Columbus, the brigantines Andrew Doria and Cabot and the sloop Providence. Thirteen frigates were ordered to be built. As lieutenant of the Alfred and later the Providence, Jones gained many skills and a variety of experience in naval warfare. In 1777 he sailed in the "Ranger" for France, where he struck up a connection with the American commissioner in Paris, with Benjamin Franklin and at Quiberon forced the French to salute the American flag. It was the first time the American flag had been hoisted in a foreign

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