The Frontier: Fort Gower and Fincastle | The Shot Heard ’Round the World

Support for the growing rebellion against Great Britain extended even into the frontier. Virginians who were fighting Native Americans for control of land beyond the Appalachians also backed the colonists’ fight for their rights. After defeating the Shawnee at Point Pleasant in modern West Virginia on Oct. 10, 1774, the Virginians set up Fort Gower, in modern Ohio. When they learned of the events in Boston and Philadelphia, the Virginians passed their own resolves on Nov. 5 in support of American liberty.

Two months later, resolutions supporting resistance to Britain were passed by the elected representatives of Virginia’s large Fincastle County — an area that included modern Kentucky, southern West Virginia, and western Virginia. 

As students watch the video, they examine to what extent physical geography influenced the events preceding the Revolutionary War.