1776
By the beginning of 1776, what John Adams would later call “thirteen revolutions in civil government” began in earnest to repudiate the authority of Britain. New Hampshire adopted a new constitution on January 5. Other colonies would follow. By the end of 1776, each of the colonies had new governments – a transition that was mirrored on a national level.
1781
In his first major action as a British Brigadier General, traitor Benedict Arnold successfully raided Richmond, the new capital of Virginia.
As Arnold’s force of 1,600 Loyalists and British regulars arrived, Governor Thomas Jefferson and the state government were forced to flee to Charlottesville. Arnold’s troops burned public buildings, private homes and a local foundry. Outraged by the destruction, Washington placed a bounty on Arnold’s head and ordered him to be hanged if captured.