How might the weather have influenced cornwallis's decision to finally surrender with in days

British chief Lord Cornwallis might have disappeared from Yorktown to lengthen the Revolutionary War. On the night of October 16-17, 1781, Cornwallis offered to vacate his cornered army over the York River estuary on flatboats.

In the center of the passage, a severe thunderstorm scattered the boats, driving some of them five miles downriver where they were caught by the French. The passage had to be left. According to one of its officer, the last hope of the British army was expired. Cornwallis yielded on October 19, ensuring American sovereignty.

in the united states, the president is controlled by the

constitution, and in all respects subordinate to it. insofar

as it deals with presidential power, however, the american

constitution has proved to be a highly malleable document.

with very few exceptions,' the constitutional provisions relating to the president have not been changed at all since

they were ratified in 1787. but in the late twentieth century, those provisions do not mean what they meant in

1787. the constitution is a legal document, and it is enforced judicially; but its meaning was hardly fixed when it

was ratified. in particular, the contemporary president has

far broader powers than the original constitution contemplated. it is remarkable but true that large-scale changes in

the authority of the president have been brought about

without changes in the constitutional text, but nevertheless

without significant illegality.

this is a paradox. is it not clear that constitutional

changes, if not textual, are illegal? the paradox has considerable relevance to our current thinking about the presidency in particular and about constitutionalism in general.

perhaps the framers of the american constitution feared

legislative power most of all; 2 but from well-known events

in the twentieth century, it is possible to conclude that it is

presidential power that holds out the greatest risks to both

liberty and democracy. the president is by far the most visible leader in the nation; he is often the only person in government with a national constituency. moreover, he is