Volume 1 of 12, Part 1 of 3 Primary sources constitute the backbone of written history and history; is the means by which a nation repossesses its past. As the bicentennial of our own Declaration of Independence draws near, it is all the more important to publish as completely as possible the original papers essential to a full understanding of our nation's birth. Students of the American past will therefore welcome this series of volumes designed to illustrate through contemporary documents the role of the sea in the American Revolution. These volumes make amply clear the critical role played by sea power in the achievement of American independence. Although the documents emphasize naval and combined operations, American, allied and British, they properly include a selection of items showing the activities of privateers and of the merchant marine. It is evident that the thirteen colonies would have been hard put to win independence without this trident of maritime support -- the small but spirited American Navy, epitomized in the audacity of John Paul Jones; the powerful fleets of our allies, French, Spanish and Dutch, converting a local revolt into a two-continent war; and the ceaseless flow of supplies to the rebels made possible by Yankee ingenuity and daring in merchant ship and privateer. These documents characteristically speak in the casual and laconic tones of the sailor who regards the hazards of storms, shoals and enemy fire as the expected impediments of life. Between the lines, they tell the story of courage and valor which established the high traditions of the American Navy -- and which, ever since, has inspired and fortified the American people in times of crisis. John F. Kennedy