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Roanoke
Roanoke was the first attempt at establishing a permanent English settlement in North America on Roanoke Island in North Carolina. It was founded in 1585, funded by Sir Walter Raleigh, but aggressive natives and supplies spread thin, many settlers returned to England a year later. Upon the return to the colony, those left behind were found to be missing and John White requested assistance from England. in 1590, the whole colony had disappeared, and the only clue was "Croatoa" carved into a tree -
Founding of Pennsylvania
William Penn was the son of an English admiral to whom King Charles II owed a debt. As payment, Penn was given the land west of the Deleware River in 1680 as the colony of Pennsylvania ("Penn's woods). In 1682, 23 ships holding 2,000 colonists arrived to found the capital city of Philadelphia which translates to the city of brotherly love. Penn was a devout Quaker, which is a division of Protestantism that believes in an "Inner Light," so Philadelphia attracted many religions like Anglicans -
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials were an example of mass hysteria from 1692-1693 in which colonists believed to be executing real masters of witchcraft. Over two dozen "witches" died as a result of the trials from hangings or other causes. Someone could accuse someone of being a witch for being reclusive, deformed, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time when a famine or sickness struck. The trials ended when the governor's wife was accused and the first widescale cover up happened. -
Albany Plan of Union
A plan of action drafted by Benjamin Franklin that was reviewed by a group of delegates from each of the colonies in 1754. The idea behind it was a to create a united body under Britain and to cooperate in a war with each colony having a number of representatives based on their population. The colonies declined the plan for fear of losing their independence and autonomy and Britain feared the colonies uniting against it. -
Pontiacs Rebellion
Pontiacs rebellion was a string of Native American led attacks on the British forts and colonies in America. It was spearheaded by the Ottawa chief Pontiac who wanted to purge the British from their lands or at least attract the French back because the French colonists were much more friendly to the natives. The rebellion came to a slow end when the Indians ran out of gunpowder and guns and the British wanting to end the costs issued the Proclamation of 1763. -
Treaty of Paris
In the late 1750's and early 1760's, the British went to war with the French and Indians in response to attacks on British forts and settlements. In 1760, the British, during an invasion of French Canada, captured Montreal and the governor general surrendered the rest of Canada. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 gave Britain official control over Canada, the Great Lakes, the Ohio River Valley, and Spanish Florida which ended the war in triumphant victory for Britain. -
The Sugar, Quartering, and Stamp Acts
The Sugar Act of 1764 created courts to prosecute molasses smugglers and employed customs officers to persecute smugglers. The Quartering Act in 1765 allowed British soldiers to take residence in colonists' homes against colonists' wills. Lastly, the Stamp Act put a direct tax on any printed materials in the colonies from newspapers to pamphlets to contracts. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Sons of Liberty led by Samuel Adams disguised themselves as Native Americans and boarded a British ship carrying East India tea. The Patriots proceeded to dump the modern equivalent of $2,000,000 worth of tea into the Boston Harbor. This protest was in response to the Tea Act that allowed the East India Trade Company to sell tea directly to the colonists without import tax. -
The First Continental Congress
In the Fall of 1774, delegates from twelve colonies, excluding Georgia, met in Philadelphia to form the First Continental Congress. The congress was in response to the Coercive Acts and the general idea was national pride and freedom. Patrick Henry said "the Distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am no longer a Virginian, but an American. -
The Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney would be the popular promoter of interchangeable parts and textile machines, but he was most well known for the cotton gin which separated cotton seeds from the white fibers. This reduced production time and led to an increase of 165 million pounds of cotton annually after 20 years. The cotton benefited the North who created textiles from it and sold those for profit, but the South experienced a huge boom in the economy and also led to the promotion of slavery. -
XYZ Affair
In response to the seizure of American merchant ships by the French, Adams sent envoys to France to negotiate a peace treaty. Three unnamed French officials, X, Y, and Z, demanded bribes totalling $250,000 to negotiate. This insulted American citizens and spurred the creation of the American navy and larger army. to pay for these, unpopular taxes were imposed. -
the Alien and Sedition Acts
Federalists used the heat of th ongoing war to pass the Alien and Sedition Acts which turned out to become highly controversial. It gave the president the power to arrest or deport non-citizens who criticized any aspect of American government. Most non-citizens were D.-R. making it difficult to gain citizenship under the Federalists. Criticizing the government also became a crime which caused a silence among D.-R. opposition. -
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
The states of Kentucky and Virginia being highly Democratic-Republican, detested the A&S acts and passed resolves in response. Jefferson and Madison writing them declared the A&S Acts unconstitutional. These resolves hinted to the fact that states should have the power to nullify federal laws and threatened with secession. -
Barbary War
The Barbary States of North Africa included Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. These states seized American merchant ships in the Mediterranean Sea. Washington and Adams had payed protection money to the pirates for immunity. When the states raised the price on Jefferson, he sent a naval blockade and won a favorable peace in 1805 concluding the war. -
Louisiana Purchase
Napoleon Bonaparte sold the Louisiana Territory to America to fund his ongoing wars and make his territory easier to maintain. 828,000 square miles of land nearly doubled the size of America and extended to the Rocky Mountains. For a purchase price of $15,000,000, Jefferson purchased it at only $18.11 per square mile, but he thought he had betrayed his own beliefs in doing so. Louis and Clark were sent to explore the territory a year after. -
Embargo of 1807
Jefferson imposed and embargo on British trade in the hopes to starve British economy of goods and create anarchy in their streets. He hoped this would thus give America a stronger nation to fight the British. The British however found other markets in South America while American merchants suffered drastic losses in trade and farmers were unable to have their goods sold. This failure eventually led to the gain of power by federalists especially in the North. -
The Tariff of 1816
The Tariff of 1816 was imposed by Congress to promote and protect American built industry by taxing foreign imported goods and marking up the price by an average of 20 to 25 percent and up to 45 percent. This encouraged the people to buy items made in America which jump started industrialization in factories in the North, but farmers in the South were devastated by having to pay higher prices for consumer goods like textiles and machinery. -
Missouri Compromise
After long debate over the state of Missouri, Henry Clay drafted the Missouri Compromise which stated that the northern portion of Massachusetts would become the free state of Maine and balance the admission of Missouri as a slave state. The compromise also drew a line from the Southwestern corner of Missouri to the extent of American borders and all states south of the line would be slave states and all states north of it would become free states. -
Monroe Doctrine
Formulated by John Quincy Adams after President Monroe's statements about foreign monarchies, was a foreign policy meant to prevent Spain and other European countries from recovering Latin American countries that declared independence. Britain offered to aid America in the effort, but Adams and Monroe did not wish to partner up. Monroe released the document stating European monarchies had no right to meddle with American republics, and America would stay out of European affairs. -
Samuel F.B. Morse
Morse invented the electric telegraph which sent coded signals over long distances as electrical pulses along metal wires. Morse code is the system of dots and dashes used over telegraph to represent letters, numbers, or symbols. Historically messages were carried by horse or ship which limited its speed and could be further delayed by weather. The telegraph was almost instant regardless of condition and had 50,000 miles of line by 1860.
