Yorktown Through Time

Yorktown, where the Revolutionary War's tide turned in 1781, remains a symbol of American independence and liberty.
Yorktown's position of first rank in the annals of American history, earned with the British defeat there in the fall of 1781 that turned the tide of the Revolutionary War in favor of the American colonies, also effectively ended the war. Though Yorktown no longer appears as it did when it was an important eighteenth-century port city or when the British were trapped within its boundaries during that fateful siege, it is still a place of national importance--a place where independence for the United States of America was won. In the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt: "I like to dwell not on the surrender of an army under a brave leader but rather on the genesis, as a result of this conflict, of a new concept of liberty for the human race--an ideal," he continued, "which quickly made itself felt among our allies of France and our mother peoples of the British Isles, and spread at last throughout the greater part of the civilized world." The changing fortunes of time and place, to include a world often turned upside down, has not diminished these words, offered by the nation's future thirty-second president during the sesquicentennial celebration of the British surrender.

Amy Waters Yarsinske is the author of several best-selling, award-winning nonfiction books, notably An American in the Basement: The Betrayal of Captain Scott Speicher and the Cover-up of His Death, which won the Next Generation Indie Book Award for General Non-fiction in 2014. Amy's drive to document and investigate history-shaping stories and people has already led to publication of over 85 nonfiction books, most of them spotlighting current affairs, the military, history and the environment. Amy graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Economics, and the University of Virginia School of Architecture, where she earned her Master of Planning and was a DuPont Fellow and Lawn/Range resident. She also holds numerous graduate certificates. If you want to know more about Amy and her books, go to www.amywatersyarsinske.com.