Threshold to Valley Forge

Today, the US Postal Service launched a stamp in honor of the great Phillis Wheatly, my shero, the first African American woman to publish a book, hers being a book of poetry.  I take this occasion to launch my new podcast—What Would You Do For Democracy?—the Evolution of the Revolution, which you will find next week wherever you get your podcasts. I’ll post the links next week as we move the podcast technology. This podcast is the evolution of my Threshold to Valley Forge podcast, which is about my award-winning book, Threshold to Valley Forge: The Six Days of the Gulph Mills Encampment. My new podcast ties the people, places, and activities of the Gulph Mills Encampment directly to the question What Would You Do for Democracy, which is the question that I asked myself as I felt the extreme personal sacrifice of the soldiers, officers, their families, and all citizens of the new United States, when I wrote the book.  I posted this question prominently on my website, and I ask attendees to think about this question as they listen to my presentations and speeches. This blog post is essentially the last episode of my Threshold to Valley Forge podcast.

As December 1777 began, General George Washington and the Continental Army, in their encampment in Whitemarsh, PA, were at a crossroads and in search of a way forward. On December 10, that way forward came into better focus. To understand the state of Washington and his army on December 10, one must first look more closely at what happened in the early days of December 1777.

This episode continues the introduction to the book with a review of the five main themes of significant events during the Gulph Mills Encampment: 1) the problems arising from the British Army's occupation of nearby Philadelphia, 2) where would George Washington and the Continental Army go for winter quarters and would they engage in one more battle against the British before they did, 3) could the Continental Congress implement a victorious way forward and also formulate the new government that the army was fighting for, 4) would Ben Franklin and his two other American Commissioners in France convince the French King Louis XVI to formally and diplomatically recognize the new United States, and 5) would the government and people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provide the necessary support for the Continental Army, which was now in its backyard? The answers to all of these questions were very uncertain at the start of December 1777.

In this episode, I talk about how I became interested in writing this book after growing up in Gulph Mills and on Rebel Hill. Also, I provide some initial background on Gulph Mills and the state of the Continental Army, the new United States, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at this time in December 1777, right before and at the start of the Gulph Mills Encampment.

Welcome! This podcast is centered on the new book, Threshold to Valley Forge: The Six Days of the Gulph Mills Encampment by Sheilah Vance. This encampment from December 12 to 19, 1777 in the towering hills of Gulph Mills about 15 miles from the City of Philadelphia was a pivotal microcosm of the Revolutionary War. This podcast will explore the important activities that occurred and decisions that were made during these six days in December and tie them to the current state of the United States. Those crucial activities and decisions concerned General George Washington and the other officers and soldiers of the Continental Army, the Continental Congress, the Pennsylvania legislature, the French government, and local residents who suddenly found that the war came to their back yards. Those six days form the basis for and relate to many of the issues that face us today in the United States. Consequently, each episode will end with the question: what will you do for democracy? NEW EPISODES COMING WEEKLY STARTING FEBRUARY 2025. See www.thresholdtovalleyforge.com for more information about the book and pre-order the book at Amazon and all booksellers.