Anna Harper
Mountain View High School
Abstract John Paul Jones was an American naval hero in the American Revolutionary war. He was most commonly known for his victory over British ships near the east coast of England. When the American Revolutionary war began, John Paul Jones went to Philadelphia and was recruited to be a lieutenant in the new Continental Navy (John Paul Jones.). In 1779 he became captain of the Bonhomme Richard. "I have not yet begun to fight!" was the famous reply of Captain John Paul when he was told to surrender as he and his crew engaged in a desperate battle with a British warship off the northern coast of England during the American Revolutionary war. Without John Paul Jones the American Revolutionary war would have had a very different outcome (John Paul Jones in Battle). John Paul Jones was born in Scotland in 1747. In 1760 Jones went to sea, and was apprenticed to a merchant in 1761. He …show more content…
The battle was mostly fought in moonlight near the Yorkshire coast. The Bonhomme Richard struggled with the enemy. A British captain asked Jones if he wished to surrender and received the famous reply, “I have not yet begun to fight.” When the night’s work was done, Jones accepted the surrender of his enemy. This victory was the high point of John Paul Jones’s war – and life. After the war, he served in the Russian navy in the Black Sea in a war with the Turks (John Paul Jones.). He died in Paris on July 18, 1792, still an American citizen and one of the great heroes of the U.S. Navy (Biography.com).
The American Revolutionary war would have had a very different outcome without John Paul Jones. John Paul Jones famous quote "I have not yet begun to fight!" led America to victory. The American naval hero defeated the British ships near the east coast of England which helped America to win the