Szczęśliwego dnia niepodległości z USA! We will never forget the contributions of Pułaski and Kościuszko to our own independence.

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1. Apologies in advance if I used the incorrect preposition for “from”. In English, you make no distinction between “This cake is *from* Babcia” and “Babcia is *from* Poland”, but in Slavic languages, receiving something takes on a different preposition than if you were describing someone’s national origin. I know very basic Russian and very, very rudimentary Polish. I think the previous two phrases in Polish would be “To ciasto jest *od* Babci” and “Babcia jest *z* Polski”. However, from my preliminary research, it would appear that “z USA” is the correct way to say “from USA” in this context. Russian is easier than Polish IMO.

   Background information:

   Kościuszko was an absolute OG. I don’t know much about Pułaski though, other than that he was a cavalryman.

   Kościuszko was a commissioned officer in the Continental Army during the American revolution. As an engineer, he ordered the construction of fortifications on the Delaware river to prevent the British army from entering Philadelphia. During the battle of Fort Ticonderoga, his suggestions to build fortifications on another hill which overlooked the fort. He and his fellow engineers’ suggestions were initially ignored–until the British began fortifying the very hill he suggested fortifying in the first place. After Continental forces were forced to retreat, Kościuszko ordered soldiers to dam up streams and fell trees to slow the British advance — and the rebel forces successfully escaped.

   His most valuable contribution during the American Revolution was during the Battle of Saratoga, shortly after Ticonderoga, widely considered a major turning point in the war. Kościuszko had the continental army build fortifications at Saratoga which impeded the British advance and funneled them into choke points. The Battle of Saratoga proved to potential allies that the American rebels could win. After hearing news of the battle, the French crown pledged their support, and became the biggest bankrollers of the American revolution.

   Kościuszko was ahead of his time on the civil rights front, and was a staunch abolitionist after witnessing the horrors of slavery in the early USA. In his will, he urged Thomas Jefferson to free his slaves and convert Kościuszko’s property in America to educating them and other freed slaves, a request left unfulfilled. Upon his return to Poland, he attempted a rebellion against Russian occupation which included drawing peasants, Jews, and other lower-class Poles to his cause with promises of full citizenship. Unfortunately, many Szlachta saw Kościuszko’s promises to dismantle Poland’s class system as a future threat to their own power, and collaborated with Russia. The rebellion was put down, and Kościuszko was exiled.

   I’m not well-versed in his return to Poland, nor his upbringing, but I intend to remedy that.

   I know I’m not doing Kościuszko justice. Nonetheless, thank you for the life of such an amazing man, Poland. He would be proud to see that you have today what he could not achieve in his lifetime.

   Chwała Polsce!

   [Source 1](https://nymasons.org/site/tadeusz-kosciuszko-american-revolutionary-war-hero/)

   Storożyński, Alex (2009). *The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution*. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

   [Source 3](https://www.nps.gov/thko/learn/historyculture/kosciuszkobio.htm)