1.
Grant Wood
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Grant DeVolson Wood was an American painter best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, particularly American Gothic, an iconic painting of the 20th century. Grant Wood was born in rural Iowa four miles east of Anamosa in 1891, soon thereafter he began as an apprentice in a local metal shop. A year later Wood returned to Iowa, where he taught in a rural one-room schoolhouse, in 1913 he enrolled at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and performed some work as a silversmith. From 1922 to 1928, Wood made four trips to Europe, but it was the work of the 15th-century Flemish artist Jan van Eyck that influenced him to take on the clarity of this technique and to incorporate it in his new works. From 1922 to 1935, Wood lived in the loft of a house in Cedar Rapids. In 1932, Wood helped found the Stone City Art Colony near his hometown to help artists get through the Great Depression and he became a great proponent of regionalism in the arts, lecturing throughout the country on the topic. As his classically American image was solidified, his days in Paris were expunged from his public image. Wood was married to Sara Sherman Maxon from 1935–38, a little older than Grant, she was born in Iowa in 1887, and friends considered the marriage a mistake for him. Wood taught painting at the University of Iowas School of Art from 1934 to 1941, during that time, he supervised mural painting projects, mentored students, produced a variety of his own works, and became a key part of the Universitys cultural community. It is thought that he was a homosexual, and that there was an attempt to fire him because of a relationship with his personal secretary. Critic Janet Maslin states that his friends knew him to be homosexual, University administration dismissed the allegations and Wood would have returned as professor if not for his growing health problems. In the early hours of February 13,1942, his 51st birthday, when Wood died, his estate went to his sister, Nan Wood Graham, the woman portrayed in American Gothic. When she died in 1990, her estate, along with Woods personal effects and various works of art, became the property of the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, throughout his life, he hired out his talents to many Iowa-based businesses as a steady source of income. This included painting advertisements, sketching rooms of a house for promotional flyers and, in one case. In addition, his 1928 trip to Munich was to oversee the making of the glass windows he had designed for a Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids. The window was damaged during the 2008 flood and it is currently in the process of restoration and he again returned to Cedar Rapids to teach Junior High students after serving in the army as a camouflage painter. Wood was one of three artists most associated with the movement, along with Benton, Curry, and other Regionalist artists, Woods work was marketed through Associated American Artists in New York for many years. Wood is considered the patron artist of Cedar Rapids, and his childhood country school is depicted on the 2004 Iowa State Quarter and it was first exhibited in 1930 at the Art Institute of Chicago, where it is still located
2.
Oil painting
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Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. Commonly used drying oils include linseed oil, poppy seed oil, walnut oil, the choice of oil imparts a range of properties to the oil paint, such as the amount of yellowing or drying time. Certain differences, depending on the oil, are visible in the sheen of the paints. An artist might use different oils in the same painting depending on specific pigments and effects desired. The paints themselves also develop a particular consistency depending on the medium, the oil may be boiled with a resin, such as pine resin or frankincense, to create a varnish prized for its body and gloss. Its practice may have migrated westward during the Middle Ages, Oil paint eventually became the principal medium used for creating artworks as its advantages became widely known. In recent years, water miscible oil paint has come to prominence and, to some extent, water-soluble paints contain an emulsifier that allows them to be thinned with water rather than paint thinner, and allows very fast drying times when compared with traditional oils. Traditional oil painting techniques often begin with the artist sketching the subject onto the canvas with charcoal or thinned paint, Oil paint is usually mixed with linseed oil, artist grade mineral spirits, or other solvents to make the paint thinner, faster or slower-drying. A basic rule of oil paint application is fat over lean and this means that each additional layer of paint should contain more oil than the layer below to allow proper drying. If each additional layer contains less oil, the painting will crack. This rule does not ensure permanence, it is the quality and type of oil leads to a strong. There are many media that can be used with the oil, including cold wax, resins. These aspects of the paint are closely related to the capacity of oil paint. Traditionally, paint was transferred to the surface using paintbrushes. Oil paint remains wet longer than other types of artists materials, enabling the artist to change the color. At times, the painter might even remove a layer of paint. This can be done with a rag and some turpentine for a time while the paint is wet, Oil paint dries by oxidation, not evaporation, and is usually dry to the touch within a span of two weeks. It is generally dry enough to be varnished in six months to a year, art conservators do not consider an oil painting completely dry until it is 60 to 80 years old
3.
Art Institute of Chicago
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The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879 and located in Chicagos Grant Park, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. Recognized for its efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 million guests annually. The growth of the collection has warranted several additions to the museums original 1893 building, the Art Institute is connected to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a leading art school, making it one of the few remaining unified arts institutions in the United States. In 1866, a group of 35 artists founded the Chicago Academy of Design in a studio on Dearborn Street, the organization was modeled after European art academies, such as the Royal Academy, with Academicians and Associate Academicians. The Academys charter was granted in March 1867, classes started in 1868, meeting every day at a cost of $10 per month. The Academys success enabled it to build a new home for the school, a stone building on 66 West Adams Street. When the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the building in 1871 the Academy was thrown into debt, attempts to continue despite the loss by using rented facilities failed. By 1878 the Academy was $10,000 in debt, members tried to rescue the ailing institution by making deals with local businessmen, before some finally abandoned it in 1879 to found a new organization, named the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. When the Chicago Academy of Design went bankrupt the same year, in 1882, the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts changed its name to the current Art Institute of Chicago and elected as its first president the banker and philanthropist Charles L. Also in 1882, the purchased a lot on the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue. By January 1885 the trustees recognized the need to provide space for the organizations growing collection. The city agreed, and the building was completed in time for the year of the fair. Construction costs were met by selling the Michigan/Van Buren property, on October 31,1893 the Institute moved into the new building. For the opening reception on December 8,1893, Theodore Thomas, from the 1900s to the 1960s the school offered with the Logan Family the Logan Medal of the Arts, an award which became one of the most distinguished awards presented to artists in the US. Between 1959 and 1970 the Institute was a key site in the battle to gain art and documentary photography a place in galleries, under curator Hugh Edwards and his assistants. As Director of the museum starting in the early 1980s, James N. Wood conducted an expansion of its collection. He retired from the museum in 2004, in 2006, the Art Institute began construction of The Modern Wing, an addition situated on the southwest corner of Columbus and Monroe. The project, designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Renzo Piano, was completed, the 264, 000-square-foot building makes the Art Institute the second-largest art museum in the United States
4.
Colonial history of the United States
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The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European settlements from the start of colonization until their incorporation into the United States. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain, small early attempts often disappeared, such as the English Lost Colony of Roanoke. Everywhere, the rate was very high among the first arrivals. Nevertheless, successful colonies were established several decades. European settlers came from a variety of social and religious groups, few aristocrats settled permanently, but a number of adventurers, soldiers, farmers, and tradesmen arrived. They built colonies with distinctive social, religious, political, non-British colonies were taken over and most of the inhabitants were assimilated, unlike in Nova Scotia, where the British expelled the French Acadian inhabitants. There were no civil wars among the 13 colonies. The colonies developed legalized systems of slavery, based largely in the Atlantic slave trade from Africa or by way of the Caribbean, Wars were recurrent between the French and the British—the French and Indian Wars especially—and involved French support for Native American attacks on the British frontiers. By 1760, France was defeated and the British seized its colonies, on the eastern seaboard of what became the United States, the four distinct British regions were, New England, the Middle Colonies, the Chesapeake Bay Colonies, and the Lower South. Some historians add a fifth region of the Frontier which was never separately organized, see timeline of Colonial America for list of historical events. Colonizers came from European kingdoms that had highly developed military, naval, governmental and these efforts were managed respectively by the Casa de Contratación and the Casa da Índia. England, France, and the Netherlands had also started colonies in both the West Indies and North America and they had the ability to build ocean-worthy ships but did not have as strong a history of colonization in foreign lands as did Portugal and Spain. However, English entrepreneurs gave their colonies a foundation of merchant-based investment that seemed to need much less government support, initially, matters concerning the colonies were dealt with primarily by the Privy Council and its committees. The Commission of Trade was set up in 1625 as the first special body convened to advise on colonial questions, mercantilism was the basic policy imposed by Britain on its colonies from the 1660s. The goal of mercantilism was to run trade surpluses, so that gold, the government took its share through duties and taxes, with the remainder going to merchants in Britain. The government spent much of its revenue on a superb Royal Navy which protected the British colonies, thus, the British Navy captured New Amsterdam in 1664. The colonies were captive markets for British industry, and the goal was to enrich the mother country, the prospect of religious persecution by authorities of the crown and the Church of England prompted a significant number of colonization efforts. People fleeing persecution by King Charles I were responsible for settling most of New England, anonymous Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to map the future eastern seaboard of the U. S. from New York to Florida, as documented in the Cantino planisphere of 1502
5.
Pitchfork
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A pitchfork is an agricultural tool with a long handle and tynes used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw or leaves. A pitchfork is a tool with a long handle and long, thick, widely separated pointed tynes used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay. True pitchforks typically have two or three tynes, while manure forks have four or more. However, some forks with more than three tynes are also used for handling loose material such as hay or silage, other forks have up to ten tynes with different lengths and spacing depending on purpose. They are usually made of steel with a wooden handle. In some parts of England a pitchfork is known as a prong and, in parts of Ireland, the pitchfork is similar to the shorter and sturdier garden fork. Pitchforks and scythes have frequently used as weapons by those who could not afford or did not have access to more expensive weapons such as swords, or, later. As a result, pitchforks and scythes are stereotypically carried by angry mobs or gangs of enraged peasants, in Europe, the pitchfork was first used in the early Middle Ages, at about the same time as the harrow. The pitchfork was originally made entirely of wood, today, the tynes are usually made of hard metal, a notable American artistic display of a three-pronged pitchfork is in American Gothic, the painting by Grant Wood. In this painting it symbolizes hand labour, there are other paintings by various artists which depict a wide variety of pitchforks and other tools in use and at rest. The Hellenistic deity Pluto wields a bident, a two-pronged weapon strikingly similar in form to a pitchfork, trident Fork Media related to Pitchfork at Wikimedia Commons
6.
Sansevieria trifasciata
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Sansevieria trifasciata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to tropical West Africa from Nigeria east to the Congo. It is most commonly known as the plant, mother-in-laws tongue. It is an perennial plant forming dense stands, spreading by way of its creeping rhizome. Its stiff leaves grow vertically from a basal rosette, mature leaves are dark green with light gray-green cross-banding and usually range between 70–90 centimetres long and 5–6 centimetres wide. The specific epithet trifasciata means three bundles, Sansevieria trifasciata is commonly called mother-in-laws tongue or snake plant, because of the shape and sharp margins of its leaves. It is also known as the vipers bowstring hemp, because it is one of the sources for plant fibers used to make bowstrings, in Eurasia, it is known as hǔwěilán in China, tora no o in Japan, and paşa kılıcı in Turkey. In South America, it is known as espada de São Jorge in Brazil, in the Netherlands and Flanders, the plant is also known as vrouwentong. Like some other members of its genus, S. trifasciata yields bowstring hemp and it is now used predominantly as an ornamental plant, outdoors in warmer climates, and indoors as a houseplant in cooler climates. It is popular as a houseplant because it is tolerant of low light levels and it will rot easily if overwatered. The NASA Clean Air Study found S. trifasciata has air purification qualities, by using the crassulacean acid metabolism process, it is one of the few plants which also remove carbon dioxide and produce oxygen at night. Numerous cultivars have been selected, many of them for variegated foliage with yellow or silvery-white stripes on the leaf margins, popular cultivars include Compacta, Goldiana, Hahnii, Laurentii, Silbersee, and Silver Hahnii. Hahnii was discovered in 1939 by William W. Smith, Jr. in the Crescent Nursery Company, New Orleans, the 1941 patent was assigned to Sylvan Frank Hahn, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The variety S. trifasciata var. laurentii and the cultivar Bantels Sensation have both gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit and it can be propagated by cuttings or by dividing the rhizome. The first method has the disadvantage that the variegation will be lost, the plant contains saponins which are mildly toxic to dogs and cats and can lead to gastrointestinal upset if consumed. In its native range in Africa, a yellow-tipped cultivar is associated with Oya, in Nigeria it is commonly linked with Ogoun, the Orisha of war, and is used in rituals to remove the evil eye. In Brazil its common name espada de São Jorge links it to Saint George, germplasm Resources Information Network, Sansevieria trifasciata Kamal Meattle, How to grow fresh air, a TED talk
7.
Royal Academy of Arts
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The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. The Royal Academy of Arts was founded through an act of King George III on 10 December 1768 with a mission to promote the arts of design in Britain through education and exhibition. Supporters wanted to foster a national school of art and to encourage appreciation, fashionable taste in 18th-century Britain was based on continental and traditional art forms, providing contemporary British artists little opportunity to sell their works. From 1746 the Foundling Hospital, through the efforts of William Hogarth, the success of this venture led to the formation of the Society of Artists of Great Britain and the Free Society of Artists. Both these groups were primarily exhibiting societies, their success was marred by internal factions among the artists. The combined vision of education and exhibition to establish a school of art set the Royal Academy apart from the other exhibiting societies. It provided the foundation upon which the Royal Academy came to dominate the art scene of the 18th and 19th centuries, supplanting the earlier art societies. Sir William Chambers, a prominent architect, used his connections with George III to gain royal patronage and financial support of the Academy, the painter Joshua Reynolds was made its first president. Francis Milner Newton was elected the first secretary, a post he held for two decades until his resignation in 1788, the instrument of foundation, signed by George III on 10 December 1768, named 34 founder members and allowed for a total membership of 40. William Hoare and Johann Zoffany were added to this list later by the King and are known as nominated members, among the founder members were two women, a father and daughter, and two sets of brothers. The Royal Academy was initially housed in cramped quarters in Pall Mall, although in 1771 it was given temporary accommodation for its library and schools in Old Somerset House, then a royal palace. In 1780 it was installed in purpose-built apartments in the first completed wing of New Somerset House, located in the Strand and designed by Chambers, the Academy moved in 1837 to Trafalgar Square, where it occupied the east wing of the recently completed National Gallery. These premises soon proved too small to house both institutions, in 1868,100 years after the Academys foundation, it moved to Burlington House, Piccadilly, where it remains. Burlington House is owned by the British Government, and used rent-free by the Royal Academy, the first Royal Academy exhibition of contemporary art, open to all artists, opened on 25 April 1769 and ran until 27 May 1769. 136 works of art were shown and this exhibition, now known as the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, has been staged annually without interruption to the present day. In 1870 the Academy expanded its programme to include a temporary annual loan exhibition of Old Masters. The range and frequency of these exhibitions have grown enormously since that time. Britains first public lectures on art were staged by the Royal Academy, led by Reynolds, the first president, a program included lectures by Dr. William Hunter, John Flaxman, James Barry, Sir John Soane, and J. M. W. Turner
8.
Carpenter Gothic
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The abundance of North American timber and the carpenter-built vernacular architectures based upon it made a picturesque improvisation upon Gothic a natural evolution. The genre received its impetus from the publication by Alexander Jackson Davis, Rural Residences, Carpenter Gothic houses and small churches became common in North America in the late nineteenth century. These structures adapted Gothic elements such as pointed arches, steep gables, the invention of the scroll saw and mass-produced wood moldings allowed a few of these structures to mimic the florid fenestration of the High Gothic. But in most cases, Carpenter Gothic buildings were relatively unadorned, retaining only the elements of pointed-arch windows. Probably the best known example of Carpenter Gothic is the house in Eldon, Iowa, Carpenter Gothic is largely confined to small domestic buildings and outbuildings and small churches. It is characterized by its profusion of jig-sawn details, whose craftsmen-designers were freed to experiment with elaborate forms by the invention of the scroll saw. A common but not necessary feature is board and batten siding, a less common feature is buttressing, especially on churches and larger houses. Carpenter Gothic structures are found in most states of the United States, except Arizona. There is one Carpenter Gothic in the Huning Highlands Historical District in downtown Albuquerque circa 1882 built by the Seth family who lived there until 2002, many Carpenter Gothic houses were built in Nevada in the 1860-1870s and still exist. In Canada, carpenter Gothic places of worship are found in all provinces and the Northwest Territories, while Carpenter Gothic houses seem to be limited to Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces. Many American Carpenter Gothic structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, many, though, are not listed and those in urban areas are endangered by the increased value of the land they occupy. A current example of this is St. Saviours Episcopal Church, Maspeth, New York and it was sold to a developer in 2006. At a cost of some $2 million, the building was reduced to its appearance and dismantled into pieces, so it could be transported through the narrow. It was reconstructed on the grounds of a cemetery in the neighborhood of Middle Village. Some Carpenter Gothic buildings have been relocated for reasons ranging from historic preservation to aesthetics, others such as All Saints, DeQuicy, Louisiana, have been dismantled, transported long distances and then reassembled in order to be preserved and reused. Some structures have been moved many times, St. Lukes, Cahaba, Alabama, has had an interesting history of moves. In 1876, due to the danger of flooding in Cahaba, American Gothic is a painting by Grant Wood from 1930. Carpenter Gothic structures are still being built today, St. Lukes Church in Blue Ridge, Georgia, was built in 1995, while Carpenter Gothic house plans are available
9.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
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Cedar Rapids /ˈsiːdər ˈræpᵻdz/ is the second largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River,20 miles north of Iowa City and 100 miles northeast of Des Moines and it is a part of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Corridor of Linn, Benton, Cedar, Jones, Johnson, and Washington counties. Cedar Rapids is a hub of the state, located in the core of the Interstate 380. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 126,326, the estimated population of the three-county Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the nearby cities of Marion and Hiawatha, was 255,452 in 2008. In the 1990s and 2000s, Hollywood would feature several Cedar Rapidians including actors Bobby Driscoll, Ashton Kutcher, Elijah Wood, the city is also the setting for the musical The Pajama Game and the comedy film Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids is nicknamed the City of Five Seasons, for the fifth season, the symbol of the five seasons is the Tree of Five Seasons sculpture in downtown along the north river bank. The name Five Seasons and representations of the sculpture throughout the city in many forms. The location of present-day Cedar Rapids was in the territory of the Fox, the first permanent settler, Osgood Shepherd, arrived in 1838. When Cedar Rapids was first established in 1838, William Stone named the town Columbus, in 1841 it was resurveyed and renamed by N. B. They named the town Cedar Rapids for the rapids in the Cedar River at the site, Cedar Rapids was incorporated on January 15,1849. Cedar Rapids annexed the community of Kingston in 1870, the economic growth of Cedar Rapids increased in 1871 upon the founding of the Sinclair meatpacking company. In 2010, the Census Bureau reported Cedar Rapids population as 87. 98% white, and 5. 58% black. During the Iowa flood of 2008, the Cedar River reached a high of 31.12 feet on June 13,2008. 1,126 city blocks were flooded, or more than 10 square miles,561 city blocks were severely damaged and this is 14% of the citys total area. It is estimated 1300 or more properties are to be demolished in the Cedar Rapids area because of the flood, more than 4000 members of the Iowa National Guard were called up to assist the city. The temporary levies became saturated not only with the flood waters, the inundation of southern Minnesota, central and western Wisconsin, and northeastern Iowa by Hurricane Paines remnants began on September 21 and 22 and continued until the end of September 2016. This cresting in Cedar Rapids was below the estimate of 25 feet and the revised estimate of 23 feet. This flood was above levels considered to have about a 1 percent chance of occurring in a given year
10.
Gothic architecture
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Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture and its characteristics include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress. Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the cathedrals, abbeys. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings, for this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches. A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18th-century England, spread through 19th-century Europe and continued, largely for ecclesiastical and university structures, the term Gothic architecture originated as a pejorative description. Hence, François Rabelais, also of the 16th century, imagines an inscription over the door of his utopian Abbey of Thélème, Here enter no hypocrites, slipping in a slighting reference to Gotz and Ostrogotz. Authorities such as Christopher Wren lent their aid in deprecating the old medieval style, the Company disapproved of several of these new manners, which are defective and which belong for the most part to the Gothic. Gothic architecture is the architecture of the medieval period, characterised by use of the pointed arch. As an architectural style, Gothic developed primarily in ecclesiastical architecture, the greatest number of surviving Gothic buildings are churches. The Gothic style is most particularly associated with the cathedrals of Northern France. At the end of the 12th century, Europe was divided into a multitude of city states, norway came under the influence of England, while the other Scandinavian countries and Poland were influenced by trading contacts with the Hanseatic League. Angevin kings brought the Gothic tradition from France to Southern Italy, throughout Europe at this time there was a rapid growth in trade and an associated growth in towns. Germany and the Lowlands had large flourishing towns that grew in comparative peace, in trade and competition with other, or united for mutual weal. Civic building was of importance to these towns as a sign of wealth. England and France remained largely feudal and produced grand domestic architecture for their kings, dukes and bishops, the Catholic Church prevailed across Europe at this time, influencing not only faith but also wealth and power. Bishops were appointed by the lords and they often ruled as virtual princes over large estates. The early Medieval periods had seen a growth in monasticism, with several different orders being prevalent. Foremost were the Benedictines whose great abbey churches vastly outnumbered any others in France, a part of their influence was that towns developed around them and they became centers of culture, learning and commerce
11.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
12.
Boston
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Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Boston is also the seat of Suffolk County, although the county government was disbanded on July 1,1999. The city proper covers 48 square miles with a population of 667,137 in 2015, making it the largest city in New England. Alternately, as a Combined Statistical Area, this wider commuting region is home to some 8.1 million people, One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England. It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. Upon U. S. independence from Great Britain, it continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub as well as a center for education, through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the original peninsula. Its rich history attracts many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone drawing over 20 million visitors per year, Bostons many firsts include the United States first public school, Boston Latin School, first subway system, the Tremont Street Subway, and first public park, Boston Common. Bostons economic base also includes finance, professional and business services, biotechnology, information technology, the city has one of the highest costs of living in the United States as it has undergone gentrification, though it remains high on world livability rankings. Bostons early European settlers had first called the area Trimountaine but later renamed it Boston after Boston, Lincolnshire, England, the renaming on September 7,1630 was by Puritan colonists from England who had moved over from Charlestown earlier that year in quest of fresh water. Their settlement was limited to the Shawmut Peninsula, at that time surrounded by the Massachusetts Bay and Charles River. The peninsula is thought to have been inhabited as early as 5000 BC, in 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Colonys first governor John Winthrop led the signing of the Cambridge Agreement, a key founding document of the city. Puritan ethics and their focus on education influenced its early history, over the next 130 years, the city participated in four French and Indian Wars, until the British defeated the French and their Indian allies in North America. Boston was the largest town in British America until Philadelphia grew larger in the mid-18th century, Bostons harbor activity was significantly curtailed by the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812. Foreign trade returned after these hostilities, but Bostons merchants had found alternatives for their investments in the interim. Manufacturing became an important component of the economy, and the citys industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance by the mid-19th century. Boston remained one of the nations largest manufacturing centers until the early 20th century, a network of small rivers bordering the city and connecting it to the surrounding region facilitated shipment of goods and led to a proliferation of mills and factories. Later, a network of railroads furthered the regions industry. Boston was a port of the Atlantic triangular slave trade in the New England colonies
Smarthistory - Grant Wood's American Gothic
