1.
John Adams
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John Adams was an American patriot who served as the second President of the United States and the first Vice President. He was a lawyer, diplomat, statesman, political theorist, and, as a Founding Father and he was also a dedicated diarist and correspondent, particularly with his wife and closest advisor Abigail. He collaborated with his cousin, revolutionary leader Samuel Adams, Adams was a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress, where he played a leading role in persuading Congress to declare independence. He assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776, as a diplomat in Europe, he helped negotiate the eventual peace treaty with Great Britain, and acquired vital governmental loans from Amsterdam bankers. Adams was the author of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780 which influenced American political theory. Adamss credentials as a revolutionary secured for him two terms as President George Washingtons vice president and also his own election in 1796 as the second president. In his single term as president, he encountered fierce criticism from the Jeffersonian Republicans, as well as the dominant faction in his own Federalist Party, led by his rival Alexander Hamilton. Adams signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and built up the army, the major accomplishment of his presidency was a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the face of Hamiltons opposition. Due to his strong posture on defense, Adams is often called the father of the American Navy and he was the first U. S. president to reside in the executive mansion, now known as the White House. In 1800, Adams lost re-election to Thomas Jefferson and retired to Massachusetts and he eventually resumed his friendship with Jefferson upon the latters own retirement by initiating a correspondence which lasted fourteen years. He and his wife established a family of politicians, diplomats, Adams was the father of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. He died on the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Modern historians in the aggregate have favorably ranked his administration, John Adams was born on October 30,1735 to John Adams Sr. and Susanna Boylston. He had two brothers, Peter and Elihu. Adams birthplace was then in Braintree, Massachusetts, and is preserved at Adams National Historical Park, Adams mother was from a leading medical family of present-day Brookline, Massachusetts. His father was a Congregationalist deacon, a farmer, a cordwainer, the Deacon also served as a selectman and supervised the building of schools and roads. Adams often praised his father and recalled their close relationship, though raised in modest surroundings, Adams felt an acute responsibility to live up to his familys heritage of reverence. Journalist Richard Brookhiser wrote that Adams Puritan ancestors believed they lived in the Bible, England under the Stuarts was Egypt, they were Israel fleeing
2.
James Wilson
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James Wilson was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence. Wilson was elected twice to the Continental Congress, where he represented Pennsylvania, a leading legal theorist, he was one of the six original justices appointed by George Washington to the Supreme Court of the United States. Wilson was one of seven children born into a Presbyterian farming family on September 14,1742 near St. Andrews, Scotland and he studied at the Universities of St. Andrews, Glasgow and Edinburgh, but never obtained a degree. While he was a student, he studied Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, including Francis Hutcheson, David Hume, imbued with the ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in British America in 1766, carrying valuable letters of introduction. These helped Wilson to begin tutoring and then teaching at The Academy and he petitioned there for a degree and was awarded an honorary Master of Arts several months later. Wilson began to read the law at the office of John Dickinson a short time later, after two years of study he attained the bar in Philadelphia, and in the following year, set up his own practice in Reading, Pennsylvania. His office was successful and he earned a small fortune in a few years. On November 5,1771, he married Rachel Bird, daughter of William Bird and Bridget Hulings, they had six children together, Mary, William, Bird, James, Emily and Charles. Rachel died in 1786, and in 1793 he married Hannah Gray, daughter of Ellis Gray and Sarah DOlbear, the marriage produced a son named Henry, after Wilsons death, Hannah married Thomas Bartlett, M. D. In 1774, Wilson published Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament, in this pamphlet, Wilson argued that the Parliament had no authority to pass laws for the American colonies because the colonies had no representation in Parliament. It presented his views that all power derived from the people, scholars considered his work on par with the seminal works of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams of the same year. However, it was penned in 1768, perhaps the first cogent argument to be formulated against British dominance. Some see Wilson as a leading revolutionary while others see him as another reluctant, in 1775 he was commissioned Colonel of the 4th Cumberland County Battalion and rose to the rank of Brigadier General of the Pennsylvania State Militia. As a member of the Continental Congress in 1776, James Wilson was an advocate for independence. Believing it was his duty to follow the wishes of his constituents, only after he received more feedback did he vote for independence. While serving in the Congress, Wilson was clearly among the leaders in the formation of French policy, Wilson also served from June 1776 on the Committee on Spies, along with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Rutledge, and Robert R. Livingston. On October 4,1779, the Fort Wilson Riot began, after the British had abandoned Philadelphia, Wilson successfully defended at trial 23 people from property seizure and exile by the radical government of Pennsylvania. A mob whipped up by liquor and the writings and speeches of Joseph Reed, president of Pennsylvanias Supreme Executive Council, marched on Congressman Wilsons home at Third, Wilson and 35 of his colleagues barricaded themselves in his home, later nicknamed Fort Wilson
3.
Henry Baldwin (judge)
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Henry Baldwin was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from January 18,1830, to April 21,1844. Descended from an aristocratic British family dating back to the century, Baldwin was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He is the half-brother of Abraham Baldwin and he attended Hopkins School, and received a B. A. at age 17 from Yale College in 1797. He also attended Litchfield Law School and read law in 1798, Baldwin then moved to Pittsburgh and established a successful law practice. He was also the publisher of The Tree of Liberty, a Republican newspaper, after the death of his first wife, Marana Norton, Baldwin married Sally Ellicott. Jackson’s first attempt at nomination was blocked in the Senate by then Vice President John Calhoun, Baldwin served in this role until late 1829. His political popularity can be traced to his investment in the economic growth of Pittsburgh. In the House, he was a prominent advocate of protective tariffs and he received support from Independent Republicans and Federalists for his support of the protective tariff as a national measure. He strongly supported the election of Andrew Jackson in the election of 1824 and 1828, when Bushrod Washington died after thirty-two years of service, the president turned to Baldwin to replace him. On January 6,1830, the Senate approved Baldwin’s nomination 41,2 despite the efforts of the Calhoun forces, the only dissenters were two Senators from Calhoun’s home state of South Carolina. In a letter to President Jackson, he complained about the Court’s extension of its powers, some historians believe that Baldwin suffered from mental illness during this period. However, he continued to serve on the court until his death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Justice Baldwin was personally involved in cases deciding the issue of slavery. In the case of Johnson v. Tompkins,13 F. Cas,840, he instructed the jury that although slaverys existence is abhorrent to all our ideas of natural right and justice, the jury must respect the legal status of slavery. He was the sole dissenter in the case United States v, the Amistad, in which Associate Justice Joseph Story delivered the Courts decision to free the 36 kidnapped African adults and children who were on board the schooner, La Amistad. In Groves v. Slaughter,40 U. S.449, Justice Baldwin emphatically expressed his opinion that, as a matter of law, slaves are property. In another federal case, Justice Baldwin interpreted the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Constitution and that case was Magill v. Brown,16 Fed. This eventually became the view accepted by the Supreme Court, and he also interpreted the Clause that way, in dictum, when speaking for the Court in Rhode Island v. Massachusetts,37 U. S.657,751. He wrote of Marshall that no commentator ever followed the more faithfully, or ever made a commentary more accordant with its strict intention
4.
Virginia House of Delegates
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The Virginia House of Delegates is one of two parts in the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years, unlike most states, these take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, the Speaker is almost always a member of the majority party and, as Speaker, becomes the most powerful member of the House. The House shares legislative power with the Senate of Virginia, the house of the Virginia General Assembly. The House of Delegates is the successor to the Virginia House of Burgesses. The House is divided into Democratic and Republican caucuses, in addition to the Speaker, there is a majority leader, majority caucus chair, minority leader, minority caucus chair, and the chairs of the several committees of the House. Through the House of Burgesses, the Virginia House of Delegates is considered the oldest continuous legislative body in the New World, originally having 22 members, the House of Burgesses met from 1619 through 1632 in the choir of the church at Jamestown. From 1632 to 1699 the legislative body met at four different state houses in Jamestown, the first state house convened at the home of Colonial Governor Sir John Harvey from 1632 to 1656. The burgesses convened at the state house from 1656 until it was destroyed in 1660. Historians have yet to identify its location. The House has met in Virginias Capitol Building, designed by Thomas Jefferson, the legislative body met from 1788 to 1904 in what is known as today the Old Hall of the House of Delegates or commonly referred to as the Old House Chamber. The Old House Chamber is part of the original Capitol building structure and it measures 76 feet in width and is filled today with furnishings that resemble what the room would have looked like during its time of use. There are many bronze and marble busts of historic Virginians on display in the Old House Chamber, including, George Mason, George Wythe, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and Meriwether Lewis. From 1904 to 1906, University of Virginia graduate and architect John K. Peeples designed, the General Assembly members and staff operate from offices in the General Assembly Building, located in Capitol Square. Prior to 1788 the House of Delegates met in the Colonial Capital of Williamsburg, in 1999, Republicans took control of the long-time Democratic House of Delegates for the first time since Reconstruction. The annual salary for delegates is $17,640 per year, each delegate represents roughly 83,000 people. Candidates for office must be at least 21 years of age at the time of the election, residents of the districts they seek to represent, and qualified to vote for General Assembly legislators. The regular session of the General Assembly is 60 days long during even numbered years and 30 days long during odd numbered years, the House has 14 standing committees
5.
Westmoreland County, Virginia
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Westmoreland County is a county located in the Northern Neck of the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2010 census, the population was 17,454 and these were part of Westmoreland until 1664, when Stafford County was formed. The county was the place of residence for Colonel Nicholas Spencer, Spencer, who served as President of the Council and acting Governor of the Colony of Virginia, was the cousin of, and agent for, the Barons Colepeper, proprietors of the Northern Neck. Spencer lived at his plantation, Nomini, which his descendants later sold to Robert Carter I, Robert Carters grandson, Robert Carter III, voluntarily freed almost 500 slaves from Nomini Hall beginning in 1791 and settled many on lands he gave them. His manumission is the largest known release of slaves in North America prior to the American Civil War and the largest number ever manumitted by an individual in the U. S. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 253 square miles. The county is located on the Northern Neck and is part of the Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace AVA winemaking appellation, charles County, Maryland - north St. The population density was 73/sq mi, there were 9,286 housing units at an average density of 40/sq mi. 3. 46% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,26. 90% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the family size was 2.91. 23. 00% of the population were under the age of 18,6. 30% from 18 to 24,23. 90% from 25 to 44,27. 80% from 45 to 64, the median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 92.30 males, for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.90 males. The median household income was $35,797 and the family income was $41,357. Males had an income of $31,333 and females $22,221. The per capita income was $19,473, about 11. 20% of families and 14. 70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21. 10% of those under age 18 and 12. 50% of those age 65 or over. The countys economy is based on agriculture. The county is also an extended exurb of Washington, D. C, Northern Neck Coca-Cola Bottling Inc. and the weekly Westmoreland News are located in Montross. S
6.
Colony of Virginia
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The Colony of Virginia was the first permanently settled English colony in North America. Newfoundland, with settlements, had been established as a colony by Royal Charter in 1583. American archaeologist William Kelso says Virginia is where the British Empire began and this was the first colony in the British Empire. The colony existed briefly during the 16th century, and then continuously from 1607 until the American Revolution, the name Virginia was first applied by Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth I in 1584. In 1607, members of a joint venture called the Virginia Company founded Jamestown, tobacco became Virginias first profitable export, the production of which had a significant impact on the society and settlement patterns. In 1624, the Virginia Companys charter was revoked by King James I, from 1619 to 1776, the legislature of the Virginia was the House of Burgesses, which governed in conjunction with a colonial governor. Jamestown remained the capital of the Virginia colony until 1699, from 1699 until its dissolution the capital was in Williamsburg and it experienced its first major political turmoil with Bacons Rebellion of 1676. The name Virginia is the oldest designation for English claims in North America, the latter word may have inspired the Queen to name the colony Virginia, noting her status as the Virgin Queen. in Carolina Algonquian, and was not the name of the country as previously misunderstood. Virginia was originally a term used to refer to North Americas entire eastern coast from the 34th parallel north to 48th parallel and this area included a large section of Canada and the shores of Acadia. In gratitude for Virginians loyalty to the crown during the English Civil War, Charles II gave it the title of Old Dominion, Virginia maintains Old Dominion as its state nickname. Accordingly, the University of Virginias athletic teams use Cavaliers as one of their nicknames, earlier attempts had been made by the Spanish in what is now Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, and by the French in South Carolina. Farther south, the Spanish colony of Spanish Florida, centered on St. Augustine, was established in 1565, while to the north, in 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh sent his first colonization mission to the island of Roanoke. This was the first English settlement, although it did not survive and it was a military research expedition with a very narrow focus. In 1587, Raleigh sent another group to attempt to establish a permanent settlement. The first English child born in the New World was named Virginia Dare, the expedition leader, John White returned to England for supplies that same year, but was unable to return to the colony due to war between England and Spain. When he finally did return in 1590, he found the colony abandoned, the houses were intact, but the colonists had completely disappeared. Although there are a number of theories about the fate of the colony, Dare County was named in honor of the baby Virginia Dare, who was among those whose fate is unknown. The word Croatoan was found carved into a tree, the name of a tribe on a nearby island, following the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, King James I ascended to the throne
7.
British America
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English America, and later British America, were the English, and later British, territories in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Guyana from 1607 to 1783. After that, British North America was used to describe the remainder of Britains continental North American possessions, the term British North America was first used informally in 1783, but it was uncommon before the Report on the Affairs of British North America, called the Durham Report. British America gained large amounts of new territory following the Treaty of Paris which ended Britains involvement in the Seven Years War, at the start of the American War of Independence in 1775, the British Empire included 20 colonies north and east of New Spain. East and West Florida were ceded to Spain in the Treaty of Paris which ended the American Revolution, all but one of the remaining colonies of British North America apart from the British West Indies united together from 1867 to 1873 forming the Dominion of Canada. The first such permanent settlement was founded at Jamestown by the Virginia Company whose investors expected to reap rewards from their speculative investments, Virginia Native Americans had established settlements long before the English settlers arrived, and there were an estimated 14,000 natives in the region. Native American political leadership sought to resettle the English colonizers from Jamestown to another location, other colonizers, both English and German, did join the Powhatans. The first colonizers were welcomed by the Indians with dancing, feasting, there were twenty British colonies in North America in 1775
8.
Philadelphia
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In 1682, William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. Philadelphia was one of the capitals in the Revolutionary War. In the 19th century, Philadelphia became an industrial center. It became a destination for African-Americans in the Great Migration. The areas many universities and colleges make Philadelphia a top international study destination, as the city has evolved into an educational, with a gross domestic product of $388 billion, Philadelphia ranks ninth among world cities and fourth in the nation. Philadelphia is the center of activity in Pennsylvania and is home to seven Fortune 1000 companies. The Philadelphia skyline is growing, with a market of almost 81,900 commercial properties in 2016 including several prominent skyscrapers. The city is known for its arts, culture, and rich history, Philadelphia has more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city. Fairmount Park, when combined with the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the watershed, is one of the largest contiguous urban park areas in the United States. The 67 National Historic Landmarks in the city helped account for the $10 billion generated by tourism, Philadelphia is the only World Heritage City in the United States. Before Europeans arrived, the Philadelphia area was home to the Lenape Indians in the village of Shackamaxon, the Lenape are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government. They are also called Delaware Indians and their territory was along the Delaware River watershed, western Long Island. Most Lenape were pushed out of their Delaware homeland during the 18th century by expanding European colonies, Lenape communities were weakened by newly introduced diseases, mainly smallpox, and violent conflict with Europeans. Iroquois people occasionally fought the Lenape, surviving Lenape moved west into the upper Ohio River basin. The American Revolutionary War and United States independence pushed them further west, in the 1860s, the United States government sent most Lenape remaining in the eastern United States to the Indian Territory under the Indian removal policy. In the 21st century, most Lenape now reside in the US state of Oklahoma, with communities living also in Wisconsin, Ontario. The Dutch considered the entire Delaware River valley to be part of their New Netherland colony, in 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina and quickly spread out in the valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their defeat of the English colony of Maryland
9.
Federalist Party
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The Federalist Party was the first American political party. It existed from the early 1790s to 1816, its remnants lasted into the 1820s, the Federalists called for a strong national government that promoted economic growth and fostered friendly relationships with Great Britain, as well as opposition to revolutionary France. The party controlled the government until 1801, when it was overwhelmed by the Democratic-Republican opposition led by Thomas Jefferson. The Federalist Party came into being between 1792 and 1794 as a coalition of bankers and businessmen in support of Alexander Hamiltons fiscal policies. These supporters developed into the organized Federalist Party, which was committed to a fiscally sound, the only Federalist president was John Adams, although George Washington was broadly sympathetic to the Federalist program, he remained officially non-partisan during his entire presidency. Federalist policies called for a bank, tariffs, and good relations with Great Britain as expressed in the Jay Treaty negotiated in 1794. Hamilton developed the concept of implied powers and successfully argued the adoption of that interpretation of the United States Constitution, the Jay Treaty passed, and the Federalists won most of the major legislative battles in the 1790s. They held a strong base in the cities and in New England. After the Democratic-Republicans, whose base was in the rural South, won the election of 1800. They recovered some strength by their opposition to the War of 1812. On taking office in 1789, President Washington nominated New York lawyer Alexander Hamilton to the office of Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton wanted a strong national government with financial credibility. James Madison was Hamiltons ally in the fight to ratify the new Constitution, Political parties had not been anticipated when the Constitution was drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1788, even though both Hamilton and Madison played major roles. Parties were considered to be divisive and harmful to republicanism, No similar parties existed anywhere in the world. By 1790 Hamilton started building a nationwide coalition and his attempts to manage politics in the national capital to get his plans through Congress, then, brought strong responses across the country. In the process, what began as a capital faction soon assumed status as a faction and then, finally. The Federalist Party supported Hamiltons vision of a centralized government. In foreign affairs, they supported neutrality in the war between France and Great Britain, the majority of the Founding Fathers were originally Federalists. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and many others can all be considered Federalists and these Federalists felt that the Articles of Confederation had been too weak to sustain a working government and had decided that a new form of government was needed
10.
College of William & Mary
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The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. William & Mary educated U. S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, a young George Washington also received his surveyors license through the College. W&M students founded the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society in 1776, the establishment of graduate programs in law and medicine in 1779 makes it one of the first universities in the United States. In addition to its program, W&M is home to several graduate programs. Named in honor of the reigning monarchs King William III and Queen Mary II, the original plans for the College date back to 1618 but were thwarted by the Indian Massacre of 1622, a change in government, events related to the English Civil War, and Bacons Rebellion. In 1695 before the town of Williamsburg existed, construction began on the College Building, now known as the Sir Christopher Wren Building and it is the oldest college building in America. The College is one of the countrys nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution, the Charter named James Blair as the Colleges first president. William & Mary was founded as an Anglican institution, students were required to be members of the Church of England, and professors were required to declare adherence to the Thirty-Nine Articles. In 1693, the College was given a seat in the House of Burgesses and it was determined the College would be supported by taxes and export duties on furs. The College acquired a 330 acres parcel for the new school,8 miles from Jamestown, in 1694, the new school opened in temporary buildings. Williamsburg was granted a charter as a city in 1722 by the Crown. During this time, the College served as a law center and it educated future U. S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler. The College has been called the Alma Mater of a Nation because of its ties to Americas founding fathers. A 17-year-old George Washington received his surveyors license through the College, William & Mary is famous for its firsts, the first U. S. institution with a Royal Charter, the first Greek-letter society, the first student honor code and the first law school in America. The College became a school in 1906 and became coeducational in 1918. In 1928, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. chose the College Building as the first building to be returned to its 18th-century appearance as part of the iconic Colonial Williamsburg restoration. During the period of the American Revolution, freedom of religion was established in Virginia notably with the 1786 passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, in 1779 the college became the first American university with the establishment of the graduate schools in law and medicine. The College of William and Mary is home to the nations first collegiate secret society, Society, popularly known as the Flat Hat Club, founded November 11,1750
11.
Bachelor of Arts
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A Bachelor of Arts is a bachelors degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both. Bachelor of Arts degree programs take three to four years depending on the country, academic institution, and specific specializations, majors or minors. The word baccalaureus or baccalarium should not be confused with baccalaureatus, degree diplomas generally are printed on high-quality paper or parchment, individual institutions set the preferred abbreviation for their degrees. In Pakistan, the Bachelor of Arts degree can also be attained within two years as an external degree, in colleges and universities in Australia, New Zealand, Nepal and South Africa, the BA degree can be taken over three years of full-time study. Unlike in other countries, students do not receive a grade for their Bachelor of Arts degree with varying levels of honours. Qualified students may be admitted, after they have achieved their Bachelors program with an overall grade point average. Thus, to achieve a Bachelor Honours degree, a postgraduate year. A student who holds a Honours degree is eligible for entry to either a Doctorate or a very high research Master´s degree program. Education in Canada is controlled by the Provinces and can be different depending on the province in Canada. Canadian universities typically offer a 3-year Bachelor of Arts degrees, in many universities and colleges, Bachelor of Arts degrees are differentiated either as Bachelors of Arts or as honours Bachelor of Arts degree. The honours degrees are designated with the abbreviation in brackets of. It should not be confused with the consecutive Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours, Latin Baccalaureatus in Artibus Cum Honore, BA hon. de jure without brackets and with a dot. It is a degree, which is considered to be the equivalent of a corresponding maîtrise degree under the French influenced system. Going back in history, a three-year Bachelor of Arts degree was called a pass degree or general degree. Students may be required to undertake a long high-quality research empirical thesis combined with a selection of courses from the relevant field of studies. The consecutive B. cum Honore degree is essential if students ultimate goal is to study towards a two- or three-year very high research masters´ degree qualification. A student holding a Baccalaureatus Cum Honore degree also may choose to complete a Doctor of Philosophy program without the requirement to first complete a masters degree, over the years, in some universities certain Baccalaureatus cum Honore programs have been changed to corresponding master´s degrees. In general, in all four countries, the B. A. degree is the standard required for entry into a masters programme, in science, a BA hons degree is generally a prerequisite for entrance to a Ph. D program or a very-high-research-activity master´s programme
12.
Chief Justice of the United States
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The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices, the eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. From 1789 until 1866, the office was known as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice also serves as a spokesperson for the judicial branch. The Chief Justice leads the business of the Supreme Court and presides over oral arguments, when the court renders an opinion, the Chief Justice—when in the majority—decides who writes the courts opinion. The Chief Justice also has significant agenda-setting power over the courts meetings, in the case of an impeachment of a President of the United States, which has occurred twice, the Chief Justice presides over the trial in the Senate. In modern tradition, the Chief Justice also has the duty of administering the oath of office of the President of the United States. The first Chief Justice was John Jay, the 17th and current Chief Justice is John G. Roberts, Jr. The office was known as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and is still informally referred to using that title. However,28 U. S. C. §1 specifies that the title is Chief Justice of the United States, the title was changed from Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by Congress in 1866 at the suggestion of the sixth Chief Justice, Salmon P. Chase. Chase wished to emphasize the Supreme Courts role as a branch of government. The first Chief Justice commissioned using the new title was Melville Fuller in 1888, use of the previous title when referring to Chief Justices John Jay through Roger B. Taney is technically correct, as that was the title during their time on the court. The other eight members of the court are officially Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, the Chief Justice is the only member of the court to whom the Constitution refers as a Justice, and only in Article I. Article III of the Constitution refers to all members of the Supreme Court simply as Judges, the Chief Justice is nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed to sit on the Court by the United States Senate. The salary of the Chief Justice is set by Congress, the Constitution prohibits Congress from lowering the salary of any judge, including the Chief Justice, while that judge holds office. As of 2015, the salary is $258,100 per year, which is higher than that of the Associate Justices. Three serving Associate Justices have received promotions to Chief Justice, Edward Douglass White in 1910, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1941, Associate Justice Abe Fortas was nominated to the position of Chief Justice of the United States, but his nomination was filibustered by Senate Republicans in 1968. Despite the failed nomination, Fortas remained an Associate Justice until his resignation the following year, there have been 21 individuals nominated for Chief Justice, of whom 17 have been confirmed by the Senate, although a different 17 have served
13.
John Marshall
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John Marshall was the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Previously, Marshall had been a leader of the Federalist Party in Virginia and he was Secretary of State under President John Adams from 1800 to 1801. Most notably, he reinforced the principle that courts are obligated to exercise judicial review. Thus, Marshall cemented the position of the American judiciary as an independent, in particular, he repeatedly confirmed the supremacy of federal law over state law, and supported an expansive reading of the enumerated powers. Some of his decisions were unpopular, nevertheless, Marshall built up the third branch of the federal government, and augmented federal power in the name of the Constitution, and the rule of law. John Marshall was of almost entirely English ancestry, though his mother also had some distant Scottish ancestry as well, the oldest of fifteen, John had eight sisters and six brothers. Also, several cousins were raised with the family, from a young age, he was noted for his good humor and black eyes, which were strong and penetrating, beaming with intelligence and good nature. Marshall loved his home, built in 1790, in Richmond, Virginia, for approximately three months each year, Marshall lived in Washington during the Courts annual term, boarding with Justice Story during his final years at the Ringgold-Carroll House. Marshall also left Richmond for several weeks each year to serve on the court in Raleigh. He also maintained the D. S. Tavern property in Albemarle County, Marshall himself was not religious, and although his grandfather was a priest, never formally joined a church. He did not believe Jesus was a divine being, and in some of his opinions referred to a deist Creator of all things. He was an active Freemason and served as Grand Master of Masons in Virginia in 1794–1795 of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free, while in Richmond, Marshall attended St. The Marshall family occupied Monumental Churchs pew No.23 and entertained the Marquis de Lafayette there during his visit to Richmond in 1824, Thomas Marshall was employed in Fauquier County as a surveyor and land agent by Lord Fairfax, which provided Marshall with a substantial income. In the early 1760s, the Marshall family left Germantown and moved about 30 miles miles to Leeds Manor on the slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains. On the banks of Goose Creek, Thomas Marshall built a frame house. Thomas Marshall was not yet established, so he leased it from Colonel Richard Henry Lee. The Marshalls called their new home the Hollow, and the ten years they resided there were John Marshalls formative years, in 1773, the Marshall family moved once again. Thomas Marshall, by then a man of means, purchased an estate adjacent to North Cobbler Mountain in Delaplane
14.
American Colonization Society
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It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 on the coast of West Africa as a place for free-born American blacks. The two opposed groups found common ground in support of so-called repatriation, among the societys supporters were Charles Fenton Mercer, Henry Clay, John Randolph, Richard Bland Lee and Bushrod Washington. From 1821, thousands of blacks, who faced legislated restrictions in the U. S. moved to Liberia. Over twenty years, the continued to grow and establish economic stability. In 1847, the legislature of Liberia declared the nation an independent state, the society closely controlled the development of Liberia until its declaration of independence. By 1867, the ACS had assisted in the movement of more than 13,000 Americans to Liberia, from 1825 to 1919, it published the African Repository and Colonial Journal. After 1919, the society had essentially ended, but it did not formally dissolve until 1964, in the first two decades after the Revolutionary War, the percentage of free blacks rose in Virginia, for instance, from 1% to nearly 10% of the black population. Although the ratio of whites to blacks was 4,1 between 1790 and 1800, it was the increase in the number of free African Americans that disturbed some proponents of colonization. The perception of change was highest in major cities, but especially in the Upper South. This steady increase did not go unnoticed by a white community that was ever more aware of the free blacks in their midst. The arguments propounded against free blacks, especially in states, may be divided into four main categories. It was claimed they were licentious beings who would draw whites into their savage, the fears of an intermingling of the races were strong and underlay much of the outcry for removal. African-Americans had a tendency toward criminality, African-Americans were supposed mental inferiors, contending it made them unfit for the duties of citizenship and incapable of real improvement. Economic arguments were advanced, most notably by those who said that the presence of free blacks threatened the jobs of working-class whites in the North. Southerners had their reservations about free blacks, fearing that those living in slave areas caused unrest among slaves and encouraged runaways. They also had reservations about the ability of free blacks to conform. The proposed solution was to have free blacks deported from the United States to colonize parts of Africa, paul Cuffee was a mixed-race, successful Quaker ship owner, and activist descended from Ashanti and Wampanoag parents. Cuffee was an advocate of settling freed blacks in Africa
15.
Africa
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Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earths total surface area and 20.4 % of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the human population. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos and it contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states, nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Africas population is the youngest amongst all the continents, the age in 2012 was 19.7. Algeria is Africas largest country by area, and Nigeria by population, afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000 years ago. Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas, it is the continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones. Africa hosts a diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the late 19th century European countries colonized most of Africa, Africa also varies greatly with regard to environments, economics, historical ties and government systems. However, most present states in Africa originate from a process of decolonization in the 20th century, afri was a Latin name used to refer to the inhabitants of Africa, which in its widest sense referred to all lands south of the Mediterranean. This name seems to have referred to a native Libyan tribe. The name is connected with Hebrew or Phoenician ʿafar dust. The same word may be found in the name of the Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania, under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province of Africa Proconsularis, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya. The Latin suffix -ica can sometimes be used to denote a land, the later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name. According to the Romans, Africa lay to the west of Egypt, while Asia was used to refer to Anatolia, as Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of Africa expanded with their knowledge. 25,4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya, isidore of Seville in Etymologiae XIV.5.2. Suggests Africa comes from the Latin aprica, meaning sunny, massey, in 1881, stated that Africa is derived from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, meaning to turn toward the opening of the Ka. The Ka is the double of every person and the opening of the Ka refers to a womb or birthplace
16.
Founding Fathers of the United States
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Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin were members of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay were authors of the The Federalist Papers, Jay, Adams and Franklin negotiated the Treaty of Paris that would end the American Revolutionary War. Washington was Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and was President of the Constitutional Convention, according to the CIA, Washington, Jay and Franklin helped define the powers of the Executive Branch All held additional important roles in the early government of the United States. The term Founding Fathers is sometimes used to refer to the Signers of the version of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Of the 55 Framers, only 39 were signers of the Constitution, a further subset of Founding Founders includes those who signed the Continental Association or the Articles of Confederation. The phrase Founding Fathers is a twentieth century appellation and was first coined by Warren G. Harding in 1916, the First Continental Congress met briefly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1774 and consisted of fifty-six delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies that became the United States of America. On the list of attendees was George Washington, who would soon be out of military retirement to command the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Also in attendance was Patrick Henry, and John Adams, who were elected by their respective colonial assemblies, other notable delegates included Samuel Adams from Massachusetts, John Dickinson from Pennsylvania and New Yorks John Jay. This congress in addition to formulating appeals to the British crown, when the Second Continental Congress came together on May 10,1775, it was, in effect, a reconvening of the First Congress. Many of the same 56 delegates who attended the first meeting participated in the second, notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin and Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, John Hancock of Massachusetts, and John Witherspoon of New Jersey. Hancock was elected Congress President two weeks into the session when Peyton Randolph was summoned back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses, Thomas Jefferson replaced Randolph in the Virginia congressional delegation. The second Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, Witherspoon was the only active clergyman to sign the Declaration. He also signed the Articles of Confederation and attended the New Jersey convention that ratified the Federal Constitution, the newly founded country of the United States had to create a new government to replace the British Parliament. The Americans adopted the Articles of Confederation, a declaration that established a government which was made up of a one-house legislature. Its ratification by all thirteen colonies gave the second Congress a new name, the Congress of the Confederation, later, the Constitutional Convention took place during the summer of 1787, in Philadelphia. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the Convention, the result of the Convention was the United States Constitution. The Founding Fathers represented a cross-section of 18th-century American leadership, almost all of them were well-educated men of means who were leaders in their communities. Many were also prominent in national affairs, virtually every one had taken part in the American Revolution, at least 29 had served in the Continental Army, most of them in positions of command
17.
George Washington
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George Washington was an American politician and soldier who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is popularly considered the driving force behind the nations establishment and came to be known as the father of the country, both during his lifetime and to this day. Washington was widely admired for his leadership qualities and was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. Washingtons incumbency established many precedents still in use today, such as the system, the inaugural address. His retirement from office two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment now limits the president to two elected terms and he was born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia to a family of wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves, which he inherited. In his youth, he became an officer in the colonial militia during the first stages of the French. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress commissioned him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, in that command, Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776 but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles, retook New Jersey, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause and his strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies, after victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism. Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which devised a new form of government for the United States. Following his election as president in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation and he supported Alexander Hamiltons programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank. In avoiding war with Great Britain, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795 and he remained non-partisan, never joining the Federalist Party, although he largely supported its policies. Washingtons Farewell Address was a primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism. He retired from the presidency in 1797, returning to his home, upon his death, Washington was eulogized as first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen by Representative Henry Lee III of Virginia. He was revered in life and in death, scholarly and public polling consistently ranks him among the top three presidents in American history and he has been depicted and remembered in monuments, public works, currency, and other dedications to the present day. He was born on February 11,1731, according to the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar was adopted within the British Empire in 1752, and it renders a birth date of February 22,1732. Washington was of primarily English gentry descent, especially from Sulgrave and his great-grandfather John Washington emigrated to Virginia in 1656 and began accumulating land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson, Georges father Augustine
18.
Mount Vernon
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Mount Vernon was the plantation house of George Washington, the first President of the United States, and his wife, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington. The estate is situated on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, near Alexandria, across from Prince Georges County, the Washington family had owned land in the area since the time of Washingtons great-grandfather in 1674. In 1739 they embarked on an expansion of the estate that continued under George Washington, who came into possession of the estate in 1754, the mansion is built of wood in a loose Palladian style, and was constructed by George Washington in stages between 1758 and 1778. It occupies the site of an earlier, smaller house built by George Washingtons father Augustine and it remained Washingtons country home for the rest of his life. Following his death in 1799, under the ownership of successive generations of the family. Escaping the damage suffered by many plantation houses during the American Civil War, Mount Vernon was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and is today listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is still owned and maintained in trust by The Mount Vernon Ladies Association, allowing the public to see the estate is not an innovation, but part of a 200-year-old tradition started by George Washington himself. In 1794 he wrote, I have no objection to any sober or orderly persons gratifying their curiosity in viewing the buildings, Gardens, when George Washingtons ancestors acquired the estate, it was known as Little Hunting Creek Plantation, after the nearby Little Hunting Creek. Vernon had been Lawrences commanding officer in the British Royal Navy, when George Washington inherited the property, he retained the name. The current property consists of 500 acres, the main buildings, the present house was built in phases from 1758, by an unknown architect, on the site of the Washingtons former farmhouse. This staggered and unplanned evolution is indicated by the main door. As completed and seen today, the house is in a loose Palladian style, the principal block, dating from 1758, is a two-storied corps de logis flanked by two single-story secondary wings, built in 1775. These secondary wings, which house the hall on the northern side. The corps de logis and secondary wings have hipped roofs with dormers, the rooms at Mount Vernon have mostly been restored to their appearance at the time of George and Martha Washingtons occupancy. These rooms include Washingtons study, two dining rooms, the West Parlour, the Front Parlour, the kitchen and some bedrooms, instead they range from severe Palladianism to a finer and later neoclassicism in the style of Robert Adam. This varying of the style is best exemplified in the doorcases. Today, visitors to Mount Vernon are shown Washingtons study, a room to which in the century only a privileged few were granted entrée. It is a furnished room Washington used as a combined bathroom, dressing room and office
19.
Martha Washington
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Martha Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States, during her lifetime she was often referred to as Lady Washington. Widowed at 25, she had four children with her first husband Daniel Parke Custis, two of her children by Custis survived to young adulthood. She brought great wealth to her marriage to Washington, which enabled him to buy land and she also brought nearly 100 dower slaves for her use during her lifetime, they and their descendants reverted to her first husbands estate at her death and were inherited by his heirs. She and Washington did not have children together but they did rear her two children by Daniel Parke Custis, including son John Jacky Parke Custis, as well as helped both of their extended families. Martha Dandridge was born on June 2,1731 on her parents plantation Chestnut Grove in the British colony, Province of Virginia. She was the oldest daughter of John Dandridge, a Virginia planter and immigrant from England, by his wife Frances Jones, who was of American birth and English, Welsh, and French descent. Martha had three brothers and four sisters, John, William, Bartholomew, Anna Marie Fanny Bassett, Frances Dandridge, Elizabeth Aylet Henley, Marthas father may also have fathered an out-of-wedlock half-brother to Martha named Ralph Dandridge, who was probably white. They had four children together, Daniel, Frances, John, Daniel and Frances died in childhood. The other two children, John Parke Custis and Martha Parke Custis, survived to young adulthood, in all, she was left in custody of some 17,500 acres of land and 300 slaves, apart from other investments and cash. According to her biographist, she ran the five plantations left to her when her first husband died. Martha Dandridge Custis, age 27, and George Washington, age nearly 27, married on January 6,1759, as a man who lived and owned property in the area, Washington likely knew both Martha and Daniel Parke Custis for some time before Daniels death. During March 1758 he visited her twice at White House, the time he came away with either an engagement of marriage or at least her promise to think about his proposal. At the time, she was also being courted by the planter Charles Carter, Washingtons suit was of blue and silver cloth with red trimming and gold knee buckles. The bride wore purple silk shoes with spangled buckles, which are displayed at Mount Vernon. The couple honeymooned at White House for several weeks before setting up house at Washingtons Mount Vernon estate and they appeared to have had a solid marriage. Martha and George Washington had no children together, but they raised Marthas two surviving children and her daughter, nicknamed Patsy, died as a teenager during an epileptic seizure, classed as SUDEP. John Parke Jacky Custis returned from college to comfort his mother, Custis later married and had children, he served as an aide to Washington during the siege of Yorktown in 1781 during the American Revolutionary War
20.
Phi Beta Kappa Society
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The Phi Beta Kappa Society - the oldest honor society for the liberal arts and sciences in the United States - is widely recognized and considered as the nations most prestigious honor society. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the arts and sciences and to induct the most outstanding students of arts. Phi Beta Kappa stands for Φιλοσοφία Βίου Κυβερνήτης or in Latin letters Philosophia Biou Cybernētēs, according to Phi Beta Kappa, they have chapters in about 10% of American higher learning institutions, and about 10% of these schools Arts and Sciences graduates are invited to join the society. Although most students are elected their senior year, many colleges elect a limited number of extremely select students in their junior year. There is an initiation fee, which is sometimes covered by the inductees university. There had been earlier fraternal societies at the College, but these, Society, founded in 1750, were Latin-letter societies, their names were taken from initial letters of a secret Latin motto. William and Mary alumnus and third U. S. President Thomas Jefferson was perhaps the most famous member of the F. H. C, other notable members of the original Society included Col. James Innes, St. George Tucker, and George Wythe. Jefferson noted that When I was a student of Wm. & Mary college of this state, Society, confined to the number of six students only, of which I was a member, but it had no useful object, nor do I know whether it now exists. The best opinion is that the society did not survive the invasion by British forces during the Revolution, a second Latin-letter fraternity at William and Mary was the P. D. A. John Heath, chief organizer of Phi Beta Kappa, according to tradition earlier sought but was refused admission to the P. D. A, though he may instead have disdained to join it. The new society was intended to be purely of domestic manufacture, without any connexion whatever with anything European, either English or German. The founders of Phi Beta Kappa declared that the society was formed for congeniality and to good fellowship, with friendship as its basis and benevolence. Like the older, Latin-letter fraternities, the Phi Beta Kappa was a secret society, the new society was given the motto, Φιλοσοφία Βίου Κυβερνήτης or in Latin letters Philosophia Biou Kybernētēs, which means in English The Love for Knowledge be the Guide of Life. Greek was chosen, because Greek was in Roman times the language of science like Latin in medieval times, one official historian of the society, William T. The heading on the original list of states, A List of the members. This new complex of gestures was created to allow the recognition of members in any foreign country or place. A second chapter was founded at Yale College in late 1780, a third, at Harvard College in 1781, from these new chapters, the Phi Beta Kappa evolved from a fraternity with principally academic and some social purposes to an entirely honorary organization recognizing scholastic achievement. Further chapters appeared at Union College in 1817, Bowdoin College in 1825, the original chapter at William and Mary was re-established
21.
George Wythe
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George Wythe was the first American law professor, a noted classics scholar and Virginia judge, as well as a prominent opponent of slavery. Wythe taught and was a mentor to Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Henry Clay, Wythe was born in 1726 at Chesterville, the plantation operated by three generations of the Wythe family in what was then Elizabeth City County but is now Hampton, Virginia. His mother, Margaret Walker of Kecoughtan, a learned woman probably raised as a Quaker, in his later years, Wythe became known for his outdated Quaker dress, as well as his gentle manner, which could cause even a surly dog to unbend and wag his tail. After the early death of his father, Wythe probably attended grammar school in Williamsburg before beginning training in the office of his uncle, Stephen Dewey. Wythe was admitted to the bar in Elizabeth City County in 1746 and he then moved to Spotsylvania County to begin legal practice in several Piedmont counties. He soon married the daughter of his mentor, Zachary Lewis, however, Ann Wythe died on August 10,1748, about eight months after their Christmas season marriage. The childless and bereaved widower soon returned to Williamsburg, there, Wythe made law and scholarship his life, as he began what would become a distinguished career in public service. His motto was Secundis dubiisque rectus, translated as Upright in prosperity, Wythe also continued to practice law before those committees and the General Court in Williamsburg, as was permitted at the time. In 1750, Wythe was first elected as one of Williamsburgs aldermen, Wythe resigned when Randolph returned from his unsuccessful mission. Lieutenant governor Robert Dinwiddie returned to England less than three years after Peyton Randolphs return, meanwhile, Wythe began his legislative career, while still maintaining a private law practice. In the session of August 22,1754, Wythe replaced the deceased Armistead Burwell as the burgess representing Williamsburg, in 1755, Wythes elder brother, Thomas, died, childless. Wythe inherited the familys Chesterville plantation, and was appointed to his brothers place on the Elizabeth City County court. However, Wythe probably continued to live in Williamsburg, for his work continued. Wythe served as Williamsburgs delegate through the sessions of 1754 and 1755, in 1759, The College of William and Mary elected Wythe as its burgess to replace Peyton Randolph, and reelected Wythe in 1760 and 1761. For the Assemblies of 1761,1765 and 1767, Wythe was one of the two burgesses representing Elizabeth City County, meanwhile, Wythe maintained close friendships with successive Governors, Francis Fauquier and Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt. Wythe also earned a reputation for integrity, which years later led Rev. Lee Massey to call Wythe the only honest lawyer I ever knew. Fauquier, Wythe and college professor William Small often socialized together—conversing about philosophy, natural history, languages, history, in 1762, Small suggested Wythe supervise the legal training of a star student, Thomas Jefferson, which had profound impact that went beyond their lives. When John Robinson, the speaker of the House of Burgesses, died, his estate was nearly insolvent
22.
Continental Army
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The Continental Army was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Congress on June 14,1775, the Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and troops that remained under control of the individual states or were otherwise independent. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war, most of the Continental Army was disbanded in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris ended the war. The 1st and 2nd Regiments went on to form the nucleus of the Legion of the United States in 1792 under General Anthony Wayne and this became the foundation of the United States Army in 1796. The Continental Army consisted of soldiers from all 13 colonies, and after 1776, when the American Revolutionary War began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19,1775, the colonial revolutionaries did not have an army. As tensions with Great Britain increased in the leading to the war. Training of militiamen increased after the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774, colonists such as Richard Henry Lee proposed forming a national militia force, but the First Continental Congress rejected the idea. On April 23,1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized the raising of an army consisting of 26 company regiments. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut soon raised similar, on July 18,1775, the Congress requested all colonies form militia companies from all able bodied effective men, between sixteen and fifty years of age. It was not uncommon for men younger than sixteen to enlist as most colonies had no requirement of consent for those under twenty-one. Four major-generals and eight brigadier-generals were appointed by the Second Continental Congress in the course of a few days, after Pomeroy did not accept, John Thomas was appointed in his place. As the Continental Congress increasingly adopted the responsibilities and posture of a legislature for a sovereign state, as a result, the army went through several distinct phases, characterized by official dissolution and reorganization of units. Soldiers in the Continental Army were citizens who had volunteered to serve in the army, early in the war the enlistment periods were short, as the Continental Congress feared the possibility of the Continental Army evolving into a permanent army. The army never numbered more than 17,000 men, turnover proved a constant problem, particularly in the winter of 1776–77, and longer enlistments were approved. Major General Philip Schuylers ten regiments in New York were sent to invade Canada, the Continental Army of 1776, reorganized after the initial enlistment period of the soldiers in the 1775 army had expired. Despite attempts to broaden the recruiting base beyond New England, the 1776 army remained skewed toward the Northeast both in terms of its composition and of its geographical focus. This army consisted of 36 regiments, most standardized to a battalion of 768 men strong and formed into eight companies. Enlistment terms extended to three years or to the length of the war to avoid the crises that depleted forces
23.
Virginia Ratifying Convention
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The Convention met and deliberated from June 2 through June 27 in Richmond at the Richmond Theatre, presently the site of Monumental Church. Judge Edmund Pendleton, Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention, served as the president by unanimous consent. The Convention met from June 2–27,1788, in the wooden Old Capitol building at Richmond VA, the Virginia Ratifying Convention narrowly approved joining the proposed United States under a Constitution of supreme national law as authorized by “We, the people” of the United States. James Madison led those in favor, Patrick Henry, delegate to the First Continental Convention and Revolutionary wartime governor, governor Edmund Randolph, who had refused to sign the Constitution in the Philadelphia Convention, chose in Virginias Ratifying Convention to support adoption. George Mason had refused to sign due to the lack of a Bill of Rights in Philadelphia, the Virginia ratification included a recommendation for a Bill of Rights, and Madison subsequently led the First Congress to send the Bill of Rights to the states for ratification. An early estimate gave the Federalists seeking ratification a slim margin of 86 to Anti-Federalists rejecting at 80, the Anti-federalists found strength in the central Piedmont, Southside and southwest counties. Unlike the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Federal Constitution was open to the public, delegates changed sides over the debates, demonstrators paraded in the streets, and the press churned out accounts of the proceedings along with commentary pamphlets. The Federalist Papers first became a factor in state ratification conventions outside New York in Virginia, Patrick Henry questioned the authority of the Philadelphia Convention to presume to speak for “We, the people” instead of “We, the states”. In his view, delegates should have only recommended amendments to the Articles of Confederation, consolidated government would put an end to Virginia’s liberties and state government. Nine states making a new nation without the rest would abrogate treaties, Edmund Randolph had changed from his opposition in the Philadelphia Convention to now supporting adoption for the sake of preserving the Union. He noted that the Confederation was “totally inadequate” and leading to American downfall, the new Constitution would repair the inadequacies of the Articles. If something were not done, the Union would be lost, the new government should be based on the people who would be governed by it, not the intermediary states. The Constitution should be ratified, along with any “practical” amendments and they brought anarchy and confusion, disharmony and foreign invasion. Efficient government can only come from direct operation on individuals, it can never flow from negotiations among a confederation’s constituent states, the proposed Constitution creates a republic with each branch of government grounded in the people without hereditary offices. Its mixed nature was both federated and consolidated, but in all cases was based on superior power of the people”. The states would remain important because the House of Representatives were chosen by people in state. The Constitution limited the national government to enumerated powers, the Virginia Ratification Convention made a final vote on George Wythe’s motion to ratify, passing it 89 to 79. Virginia was the state to ratify the new Constitution
24.
United States Constitution
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The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government, Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure used by the thirteen States to ratify it. In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty, the majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures, Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to the document. All four pages of the original U. S, according to the United States Senate, The Constitutions first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. From September 5,1774 to March 1,1781, the Continental Congress functioned as the government of the United States. The process of selecting the delegates for the First and Second Continental Congresses underscores the revolutionary role of the people of the colonies in establishing a governing body. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first constitution of the United States and it was drafted by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776 through late-1777, and ratification by all 13 states was completed by early 1781. Under the Articles of Confederation, the governments power was quite limited. The Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked enforcement powers, implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures. The Continental Congress could print money but the currency was worthless, Congress could borrow money, but couldnt pay it back. No state paid all their U. S. taxes, some paid nothing, some few paid an amount equal to interest on the national debt owed to their citizens, but no more. No interest was paid on debt owed foreign governments, by 1786, the United States would default on outstanding debts as their dates came due. Internationally, the Articles of Confederation did little to enhance the United States ability to defend its sovereignty, most of the troops in the 625-man United States Army were deployed facing – but not threatening – British forts on American soil. They had not been paid, some were deserting and others threatening mutiny, spain closed New Orleans to American commerce, U. S. officials protested, but to no effect. Barbary pirates began seizing American ships of commerce, the Treasury had no funds to pay their ransom, if any military crisis required action, the Congress had no credit or taxing power to finance a response. Domestically, the Articles of Confederation was failing to bring unity to the sentiments and interests of the various states
25.
United States Senate
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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. S. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states represented, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The Senate chamber is located in the wing of the Capitol, in Washington. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House, in the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise, there was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a Peoples House directly elected by the people, the other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the people of the United States equally, the Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation. First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate, the name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders. James Madison made the comment about the Senate, In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people. An agrarian law would take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation, landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority, the senate, therefore, ought to be this body, and to answer these purposes, the people ought to have permanency and stability. The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that states consent, the District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two senators, but they are officials of the D. C. city government. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming and this means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures
26.
Ogden v. Saunders
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Ogden v. Saunders,25 U. S.213, was a United States Supreme Court case that determined the scope of a bankruptcy law in contrast to a clause of the Constitution of the United States. It was the only Constitutional decision from which Chief Justice John Marshall dissented during his tenure on the court, Saunders was a citizen of Kentucky demanding payment in accordance with a contract. Ogden was a citizen of Louisiana who lived in New York at the signing of the contract, Saunders was represented by Daniel Webster, among others. Webster argued to the Court that the clause of the Constitution barring states from impairing the obligations of contracts is applicable not just to past contracts, the case was initially argued in 1824, and then again in 1827. The main issue of the case was whether or not the New York law violated the Obligation of Contracts Clause of the Constitution, the other three Justices joining the Majority were William Johnson, Smith Thompson, and Robert Trimble. However, there was also an issue in the case. Chief Justice John Marshall authored the dissenting opinion, Marshall was joined in his dissent by Associate Justices Gabriel Duvall and Joseph Story. The Chief Justice in the course of his opinion uses the theory of contract. The obligation of any contract is what the parties determine it to be. This case was the one in his long career when Marshall found himself on the losing side in a constitutional case. In his Ogden dissent, Marshall also adopted a definition of the law that would later be denounced by the individualist anarchist Lysander Spooner. List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 25
27.
Marshall Court
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The Marshall Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States from 1801 to 1835, when John Marshall served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. Marshall served as Chief Justice until his death, at which point Roger Taney took office, the Marshall Court played a major role in increasing the power of the judicial branch, as well as the power of the national government. The Marshall Court began in 1801, when President John Adams appointed Secretary of State John Marshall to replace the retiring Oliver Ellsworth. The Marshall Court began with Marshall and five Associate Justices from the Ellsworth Court, William Cushing, William Paterson, Samuel Chase, Bushrod Washington, President Thomas Jefferson appointed William Johnson to replace Moore after Moore resigned in 1804. In 1807, Jefferson appointed two justices, as Paterson died and Congress added a new seat for an Associate Justice. Jefferson successfully nominated Henry Brockholst Livingston and Thomas Todd, President James Madison appointed Gabriel Duvall and Joseph Story in 1811 and 1812, replacing Cushing and Chase. Madison had nominated Alexander Wolcott to replace Cushing, but the Senate voted him down, President James Monroe appointed Smith Thompson to succeed Livingston in 1823. President John Quincy Adams successfully nominated Robert Trimble to replace Todd in 1826, Trimble died in 1828, and Adamss nomination of John J. Crittenden was blocked by the Senate. Instead, Trimble was succeeded by John McLean, who was appointed by Andrew Jackson, in 1830, Jackson appointed Henry Baldwin to replace Washington, and in 1834, Jackson appointed James Moore Wayne to replace Johnson. In 1835, Jackson nominated Roger Taney to succeed the retiring Duvall, Marshall died in 1835, and Taney was instead nominated to replace Marshall as Chief Justice. Taney was confirmed in 1836, beginning the Taney Court, Chief Justice Associate Justice Marshall took office during the final months of John Adamss presidency, and his appointment entrenched Federalist power within the judiciary. Marshalls domination of the courts ensured that the government would retain relatively strong powers. Due to the Marshall Courts many accomplishments, President Adams referred to his appointment of Marshall as the proudest act of his life, the Marshall Court issued several major rulings during its tenure, including, Marbury v. In so doing, the court held that a law written by Congress was unconstitutional, the case marked the first time that the court struck down a state law as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court would again uphold this principle in Cohens v. Virginia, mcCulloch v. Maryland, In a unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice Marshall, the court held that the state of Maryland had no power to tax a federal bank operating in Maryland. In so doing, the court upheld Congresss ability to establish the bank, taking a broad view of the Necessary. Dartmouth College v. Woodward, In an opinion written by Chief Justice Marshall, the court held that the Contract Clause protects corporations from having contracts interfered with by the states. Johnson v. MIntosh, In an opinion written by Chief Justice Marshall, gibbons v. Ogden, In an opinion written by Chief Justice Marshall, the court struck down a New York law that had granted a monopoly on steamship operation in the state of New York
28.
Richmond, Virginia
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Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond Region and it was incorporated in 1742, and has been an independent city since 1871. As of the 2010 census, the population was 204,214, in 2015, the population was estimated to be 220,289, the Richmond Metropolitan Area has a population of 1,260,029, the third-most populous metro in the state. Richmond is located at the line of the James River,44 miles west of Williamsburg,66 miles east of Charlottesville. Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield counties, the city is located at the intersections of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64, Major suburbs include Midlothian to the southwest, Glen Allen to the north and west, Short Pump to the west and Mechanicsville to the northeast. The site of Richmond had been an important village of the Powhatan Confederacy, and was settled by English colonists from Jamestown in 1609. The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737 and it became the capital of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia in 1780. During the American Civil War, Richmond served as the capital of the Confederate States of America, the city entered the 20th century with one of the worlds first successful electric streetcar systems. The Jackson Ward neighborhood is a hub of African-American commerce. Richmonds economy is driven by law, finance, and government, with federal, state. Dominion Resources and MeadWestvaco, Fortune 500 companies, are headquartered in the city, in 1737, planter William Byrd II commissioned Major William Mayo to lay out the original town grid. The settlement was laid out in April 1737, and was incorporated as a town in 1742, Richmond recovered quickly from the war, and by 1782 was once again a thriving city. A permanent home for the new government, the Virginia State Capitol building, was designed by Thomas Jefferson with the assistance of Charles-Louis Clérisseau, after the American Revolutionary War, Richmond emerged as an important industrial center. The legacy of the canal boatmen is represented by the figure in the center of the city flag, on April 17,1861, five days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, the legislature voted to secede from the United States and joined the Confederacy. Official action came in May, after the Confederacy promised to move its capital to Richmond. It became the target of Union armies, especially in the campaigns of 1862. The Seven Days Battles followed in late June and early July 1862, during which Union General McClellan threatened to take Richmond, three years later, as March 1865 ended, the Confederate capitol became indefensible. On March 25, Confederate General John B, gordons desperate attack on Fort Stedman east of Petersburg failed
29.
Manumission
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Manumission, from manumit /ˌmænjəˈmɪt/, is the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves. Different approaches developed, each specific to the time and place of a slave system. The motivations of slave owners in manumitting slaves were complex and varied, firstly, manumission may present itself as a sentimental and benevolent gesture. One typical scenario was the freeing in the masters will of a servant after long years of service. A trusted bailiff might be manumitted as a gesture of gratitude, for working as agricultural laborers or in workshops. Such feelings of benevolence may have been of value to slave owners themselves as it allowed them to focus on a component in the human traffic of slavery. In general, it was common for older slaves to be given freedom. Legislation under the early Roman Empire put limits on the number of slaves that could be freed in wills, freeing slaves could serve the pragmatic interests of the owner. The prospect of manumission worked as an incentive for slaves to be industrious, Roman slaves were paid a wage with which they could save up to, in effect, buy themselves. Manumission contracts found in abundance at Delphi specify in detail the prerequisites for liberation. Manumission was not always charitable or altruistic, in one of the stories in the Arabian Nights, in the Sir Richard Francis Burton translation, a slave owner threatens to free his slave for lying to him. The slave says, thou shall not manumit me, for I have no handicraft whereby to gain my living, greek slaves were generally not permitted to become citizens on being manumitted, being merely allowed to remain as a metic. Even in freedom, the ex-slave could be bound to some continuing duty to the master and were required to live nearby the former master. Breaches of these conditions could lead to beatings, prosecution at law, sometimes extra payments were specified by which a freed slave could liberate himself from these residual duties. But ex-slaves were able to own property outright, and their children were free of all constraint, under Roman law, a slave had no personhood and was protected under law mainly as his or her masters property. In ancient Rome, a slave who had been manumitted was a libertus, a freed slave customarily took his or her former owners family name, that is, the nomen of his or her masters gens. The former owner became his or her patron, as a client, the freed person retained certain obligations to his or her master, who in turn owed mutual favors. A freed slave could also acquire multiple patrons, a freed slave became a citizen
30.
American Antiquarian Society
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The American Antiquarian Society, located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and national research library of pre-twentieth century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in the United States with a national focus and its main building, known as Antiquarian Hall, is a U. S. National Historic Landmark in recognition of this legacy. The mission of the AAS is to collect, preserve and make available for all printed records of what is now known as the United States of America. This includes materials from the first European settlement through the year 1876, the AAS offers programs for professional scholars, pre-collegiate, undergraduate and graduate students, educators, professional artists, writers, genealogists, and the general public. AAS has many collections available, including A New Nation Votes. The collections of the AAS contain over three million books, pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, graphic arts materials and manuscripts, Historic materials from all fifty U. S. states, most of Canada and the British West Indies are included in the AAS repository. One of the more famous volumes held by the Society is a copy of the very first book printed in America, AAS also has one of the largest collections of newspapers printed in America through 1876, with more than two million issues in its collection. On the initiative of Isaiah Thomas, the AAS was founded on October 24,1812 through an act of the Massachusetts General Court and it was the third historical society established in America, and the first to be national in its scope. Isaiah Thomas started the collection with approximately 8,000 books from his personal library, the first library building was erected in 1820 in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1853, the Society moved its collections to a building at the corner of Highland Street. This building was abandoned and another new building was constructed. Designed by Winslow, Bigelow & Wadsworth, the Georgian Revival building was completed in 1910 and stands on the corner of Park Avenue, there have been several additions to this building to accommodate the growing collection, the most recent of which was completed in 2003. AAS was presented with the 2013 National Humanities Medal by President Obama in a ceremony at the White House, as part of AASs mission as a learned society, it offers a variety of public lectures and seminars. One topic to which AAS dedicates significant academic energies is printing technology, since Isaiah Thomas was a newspaper man himself, he collected a large number of printed materials. With regard to printing, paper making, edition setting, and reprinting and it was not until the late eighteenth century that paper-making material began to evolve from a hand-woven cloth to an industrial pulp. The American Antiquarian Societys membership includes scholars, writers, journalists, filmmakers, collectors, worcesters best kept secret, The American Antiquarian Society belongs to everyone. The American Antiquarian Society, 1812–2012, A Bicentennial History 454 pp. Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. the Society, 1843– American Antiquarian Society Homepage Common-Place free online scholarly history journal focused on early US Republic
31.
Free people of color
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The term free people of color, in the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, at first specifically referred to persons of mixed African and European descent who were not enslaved. The term was used in the French colonies, including La Louisiane and settlements on Caribbean islands, such as Saint-Domingue, Guadeloupe. Freed African slaves were included in the term affranchis, but historically they were considered as distinct from the people of color. In these territories and major cities, particularly New Orleans, and those held by the Spanish. These colonial societies classified mixed-race people in a variety of ways, generally related to visible features, racial classifications were numerous in Latin America. It included persons of mixed race as well as freed African slaves and they were also important in forming an educated class of people of color in French colonies of the Caribbean islands. When French settlers and traders first arrived in these colonies, the men frequently took Native American women as their concubines or common-law wives, when African slaves were imported to the colony, the colonists took African women as concubines or wives. In the period of French and Spanish rule, men tended to marry later after becoming financially established, the free people of color developed formal arrangements for placées, which the young womens mothers negotiated. Under the system of plaçage, often the mothers negotiated a kind of dowry or property transfer to their daughters, including freedom for them and their children, and education for the children. The French Creole men often paid for education of their natural children from these relationships, especially if they were sons. Over time, free people of developed as a separate class between the colonial French and Spanish and the mass of enslaved black African workers. They often achieved education and some measure of wealth, they spoke French and practiced Catholicism, at one time the center of their residential community in New Orleans was the French Quarter. Many were artisans who owned property and their own businesses and they formed a social category distinct from both whites and slaves, and maintained their own society into the period after United States annexation. Free people of color were also an important part of the history of the Caribbean during the period of slavery, initially descendants of French men and African slaves, and often marrying within their own mixed-race community, some achieved wealth and power. By the late century, most free people of color in Saint-Domingue were native born. Free people of color were leaders in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, in Saint-Domingue, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and other French Caribbean colonies before slavery was abolished, the free people of color were known as gens de couleur libres, and affranchis. Comparable groups became an important part of the populations of British Jamaica, the Spanish Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Claiborne, appointed by Thomas Jefferson as governor of the Territory of Orleans, formally accepted delivery of the French colony on 20 December 1803. Free men of color had been members of the militia for decades during both Spanish and French rule of the colony of Louisiana and they volunteered their services and pledged their loyalty to Claiborne and to their newly adopted country
32.
Abolitionism
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Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery, whether formal or informal. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism is a movement to end the African and Indian slave trade. An abolitionist movement only started in the late 18th century, however, soon after his death in 1785, they joined with William Wilberforce and others in forming the Clapham Sect. Massachusetts ratified a constitution that declared all men equal, freedom suits challenging slavery based on this principle brought an end to slavery in the state, Vermont, which existed as an unrecognized state from 1777 to 1791, abolished adult slavery in 1777. In other states, such as Virginia, similar declarations of rights were interpreted by the courts as not applicable to Africans, during the following decades, the abolitionist movement grew in northern states, and Congress regulated the expansion of slavery in new states admitted to the union. France abolished slavery within the French Kingdom in 1315, Haiti achieved independence from France in 1804 and brought an end to slavery in its territory. The northern states in the U. S. all abolished slavery by 1804, the United Kingdom and the United States outlawed the international slave trade in 1807, after which Britain led efforts to block slave ships. In Eastern Europe, groups organized to abolish the enslavement of the Roma in Wallachia and Moldavia and it was declared illegal in 1948 under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The last country to abolish slavery was Mauritania, where it was officially abolished by presidential decree in 1981. In 1315, Louis X, king of France, published a decree proclaiming that France signifies freedom and this prompted subsequent governments to circumscribe slavery in the overseas colonies. Some cases of African slaves freed by setting foot on the French soil were recorded such as example of a Norman slave merchant who tried to sell slaves in Bordeaux in 1571. He was arrested and his slaves were freed according to a declaration of the Parlement of Guyenne which stated that slavery was intolerable in France, born into slavery in Saint Domingue, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas became free when his father brought him to France in 1776. As in other New World colonies, the French relied on the Atlantic slave trade for labour for their sugar plantations in their Caribbean colonies. In addition, French colonists in Louisiane in North America held slaves, particularly in the South around New Orleans, Louis XIVs Code Noir regulated the slave trade and institution in the colonies. It gave unparalleled rights to slaves and it includes the right to marry, gather publicly, or take Sundays off. Although the Code Noir authorized and codified cruel corporal punishment against slaves under certain conditions and it also forced the owners to instruct them in the Catholic faith, implying that Africans were human beings endowed with a soul, a fact that was not seen as evident until then. It resulted in a far higher percentage of blacks being free in 1830 and they were on average exceptionally literate, with a significant number of them owning businesses, properties, and even slaves. Other free people of colour, such as Julien Raimond, spoke out against slavery, during the Age of Enlightenment, many philosophers wrote pamphlets against slavery and its moral and economical justifications, including Montesquieu in The Spirit of the Laws or in the Encyclopédie
33.
Liberia
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Liberia /laɪˈbɪəriə/, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its west, Guinea to its north and it covers an area of 111,369 square kilometres and has a population of 4,503,000 people. English is the language and over 20 indigenous languages are spoken. The countrys capital and largest city is Monrovia, forests on the coastline are composed mostly of salt-tolerant mangrove trees, while the more sparsely populated inland has forests opening onto a plateau of drier grasslands. The climate is equatorial, with significant rainfall during the May–October rainy season, Liberia possesses about forty percent of the remaining Upper Guinean rainforest. It was an important producer of rubber in the early 20th century, the Republic of Liberia began as a settlement of the American Colonization Society, who believed African Americans would face better chances for freedom in Africa than in the United States. The country declared its independence on July 26,1847, the U. S. did not recognize Liberias independence until during the American Civil War on February 5,1862. The African American settlers carried their culture with them to Liberia, Liberia maintained and kept its independence during the European colonial era. In addition, President William Tubman encouraged economic changes, internationally, Liberia was a founding member of the League of Nations, United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity. Five years of rule by the Peoples Redemption Council and five years of civilian rule by the National Democratic Party of Liberia were followed by the First. These resulted in the deaths and displacement of more than half a million people, a peace agreement in 2003 led to democratic elections in 2005. Recovery proceeds but about 85% of the population live below the poverty line. The Pepper Coast, also known as the Grain Coast, has been inhabited by peoples of Africa at least as far back as the 12th century. Mende-speaking people expanded westward from the Sudan, forcing many smaller ethnic groups southward toward the Atlantic Ocean, the Dei, Bassa, Kru, Gola and Kissi were some of the earliest documented peoples in the area. This influx was compounded by the decline of the Western Sudanic Mali Empire in 1375, additionally, as inland regions underwent desertification, inhabitants moved to the wetter coast. These new inhabitants brought skills such as spinning, cloth weaving, iron smelting, rice and sorghum cultivation. Shortly after the Mane conquered the region, the Vai people of the former Mali Empire immigrated into the Grand Cape Mount County region, the ethnic Kru opposed the influx of Vai, forming an alliance with the Mane to stop further influx of Vai. People along the coast built canoes and traded with other West Africans from Cap-Vert to the Gold Coast, arab traders entered the region from the north, and a long-established slave trade took captives to north and east Africa
34.
Obelisk
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An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. These were originally called tekhenu by their builders, the Ancient Egyptians, the Greeks who saw them used the Greek obeliskos to describe them, and this word passed into Latin and ultimately English. Ancient obelisks are monolithic, that is, they consist of a single stone, though this technological capacity exists today, most modern obelisks are made of several stones, some, like the Washington Monument, are buildings. The term stele is used for other monumental, upright. Obelisks were prominent in the architecture of the ancient Egyptians, who placed them in pairs at the entrance of temples. The word obelisk as used in English today is of Greek rather than Egyptian origin because Herodotus, a number of ancient Egyptian obelisks are known to have survived, plus the Unfinished Obelisk found partly hewn from its quarry at Aswan. These obelisks are now dispersed around the world, and fewer than half of them remain in Egypt, the earliest temple obelisk still in its original position is the 68-foot 120-metric-ton red granite Obelisk of Senusret I of the XIIth Dynasty at Al-Matariyyah in modern Heliopolis. The obelisk symbolized the sun god Ra, and during the religious reformation of Akhenaten was said to be a petrified ray of the Aten. It was also thought that the god existed within the structure, Benben was the mound that arose from the primordial waters Nu upon which the creator god Atum settled in the creation story of the Heliopolitan creation myth form of Ancient Egyptian religion. The Benben stone is the top stone of the Egyptian pyramid and it is also related to the Obelisk. The pyramid and obelisk might have inspired by previously overlooked astronomical phenomena connected with sunrise and sunset. The Ancient Romans were strongly influenced by the form, to the extent that there are now more than twice as many obelisks standing in Rome as remain in Egypt. All fell after the Roman period except for the Vatican obelisk and were re-erected in different locations. The largest standing and tallest Egyptian obelisk is the Lateran Obelisk in the square at the west side of the Lateran Basilica in Rome at 105.6 feet tall, not all the Egyptian obelisks in the Roman Empire were set up at Rome. Herod the Great imitated his Roman patrons and set up a red granite Egyptian obelisk in the hippodrome of his new city Caesarea in northern Judea and this one is about 40 feet tall and weighs about 100 metric tons. It was discovered by archaeologists and has been re-erected at its former site and this one stood 95 feet tall and weighing 380 metric tons. Its lower half reputedly also once stood in Istanbul but is now lost, the Istanbul obelisk is 65 feet tall. Rome is the capital of the world
35.
Monrovia
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Monrovia /mənˈroʊviə/ is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, Monrovia had a population of 1,010,970 as of the 2008 census, with 29% of the total population of Liberia, Monrovia is the countrys most populous city. The ex-Caribbean slaves came to Liberia to live a life, to be free. The first ex-Caribbean slaves who came to Liberia were from Barbados, another group of settlers, some 350 ex-Caribbean slaves, came from Saint Kitts and Nevis. The last two groups of settlers from the Caribbean islands were some 483 from Grenada and some 400 from Saint Lucia, Monrovia is Liberias cultural, political and financial hub. The body that administers the government of Greater Monrovia District is the Monrovia City Corporation, founded on April 25,1822, Monrovia was the second permanent Black American settlement in Africa after Freetown, Sierra Leone. Monrovias economy is shaped primarily by its harbour and its role as the location of Liberias government offices and it is the worlds poorest city according to TheRichest. Monrovia is named in honor of U. S. President James Monroe, a prominent supporter of the colonization of Liberia, along with Washington, D. C. it is one of two national capitals to be named after a U. S. President. They landed at Sherbro Island in present-day Sierra Leone, many settlers died in the landing. In January 7,1822, a second ship rescued the settlers and took them to Cape Mesurado, of the 4,000 residents,2,500 were Americo-Liberian. By 1926, ethnic groups from Liberias interior began migrating to Monrovia in search of jobs, in 1979, the Organisation of African Unity held their conference in the Monrovia area, with then president William R. Tolbert as chairman. During his term, Tolbert improved public housing in Monrovia and decreased by 50% the tuition fees at the University of Liberia, a military coup led by Samuel Doe ousted the Tolbert government in 1980, with many members being executed. The city was damaged in the First and Second Liberian Civil Wars, notably during the siege of Monrovia, with many buildings damaged. Major battles occurred between Samuel Does government and Prince Johnsons forces in 1990 and with the NPFLs assault on the city in 1992. A legacy of the war is a population of homeless children and youths. In 2002, Leymah Gbowee organized the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace with local women praying and singing in a market in Monrovia. This movement helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003 and the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia, in 2014, the city was affected by the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak. The Ebola virus epidemic in Liberia was declared over on 3 September 2015, Monrovia lies along the Cape Mesurado peninsula, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mesurado River, whose mouth forms a large natural harbor
36.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
37.
OCLC
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The Online Computer Library Center is a US-based nonprofit cooperative organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the worlds information and reducing information costs. It was founded in 1967 as the Ohio College Library Center, OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the largest online public access catalog in the world. OCLC is funded mainly by the fees that libraries have to pay for its services, the group first met on July 5,1967 on the campus of the Ohio State University to sign the articles of incorporation for the nonprofit organization. The group hired Frederick G. Kilgour, a former Yale University medical school librarian, Kilgour wished to merge the latest information storage and retrieval system of the time, the computer, with the oldest, the library. The goal of network and database was to bring libraries together to cooperatively keep track of the worlds information in order to best serve researchers and scholars. The first library to do online cataloging through OCLC was the Alden Library at Ohio University on August 26,1971 and this was the first occurrence of online cataloging by any library worldwide. Membership in OCLC is based on use of services and contribution of data, between 1967 and 1977, OCLC membership was limited to institutions in Ohio, but in 1978, a new governance structure was established that allowed institutions from other states to join. In 2002, the structure was again modified to accommodate participation from outside the United States. As OCLC expanded services in the United States outside of Ohio, it relied on establishing strategic partnerships with networks, organizations that provided training, support, by 2008, there were 15 independent United States regional service providers. OCLC networks played a key role in OCLC governance, with networks electing delegates to serve on OCLC Members Council, in early 2009, OCLC negotiated new contracts with the former networks and opened a centralized support center. OCLC provides bibliographic, abstract and full-text information to anyone, OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat—the OCLC Online Union Catalog, the largest online public access catalog in the world. WorldCat has holding records from public and private libraries worldwide. org, in October 2005, the OCLC technical staff began a wiki project, WikiD, allowing readers to add commentary and structured-field information associated with any WorldCat record. The Online Computer Library Center acquired the trademark and copyrights associated with the Dewey Decimal Classification System when it bought Forest Press in 1988, a browser for books with their Dewey Decimal Classifications was available until July 2013, it was replaced by the Classify Service. S. The reference management service QuestionPoint provides libraries with tools to communicate with users and this around-the-clock reference service is provided by a cooperative of participating global libraries. OCLC has produced cards for members since 1971 with its shared online catalog. OCLC commercially sells software, e. g. CONTENTdm for managing digital collections, OCLC has been conducting research for the library community for more than 30 years. In accordance with its mission, OCLC makes its research outcomes known through various publications and these publications, including journal articles, reports, newsletters, and presentations, are available through the organizations website. The most recent publications are displayed first, and all archived resources, membership Reports – A number of significant reports on topics ranging from virtual reference in libraries to perceptions about library funding
38.
Google Books
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Books are provided either by publishers and authors, through the Google Books Partner Program, or by Googles library partners, through the Library Project. Additionally, Google has partnered with a number of publishers to digitize their archives. The Publisher Program was first known as Google Print when it was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2004, the Google Books Library Project, which scans works in the collections of library partners and adds them to the digital inventory, was announced in December 2004. But it has also criticized for potential copyright violations. As of October 2015, the number of scanned book titles was over 25 million, Google estimated in 2010 that there were about 130 million distinct titles in the world, and stated that it intended to scan all of them. Results from Google Books show up in both the universal Google Search as well as in the dedicated Google Books search website, if Google believes the book is still under copyright, a user sees snippets of text around the queried search terms. All instances of the terms in the book text appear with a yellow highlight. The four access levels used on Google Books are, Full view, Books in the domain are available for full view. In-print books acquired through the Partner Program are also available for full view if the publisher has given permission, usually, the publisher can set the percentage of the book available for preview. Users are restricted from copying, downloading or printing book previews, a watermark reading Copyrighted material appears at the bottom of pages. All books acquired through the Partner Program are available for preview and this could be because Google cannot identify the owner or the owner declined permission. If a search term appears many times in a book, Google displays no more than three snippets, thus preventing the user from viewing too much of the book. Also, Google does not display any snippets for certain reference books, such as dictionaries, Google maintains that no permission is required under copyright law to display the snippet view. No preview, Google also displays search results for books that have not been digitized, in effect, this is similar to an online library card catalog. Google also stated that it would not scan any in-copyright books between August and 1 November 2005, to provide the owners with the opportunity to decide which books to exclude from the Project. It can let Google scan the book under the Library Project and it can opt out of the Library Project, in which case Google will not scan the book. If the book has already been scanned, Google will reset its access level as No preview and this information is collated through automated methods, and sometimes data from third-party sources is used. This information provides an insight into the book, particularly useful when only a view is available
39.
Virginia Historical Society
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It is a private, non-profit organization, supported almost entirely by private contributions. In 2004, it was designated the state historical society of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Virginia Historical Society features award-winning exhibitions and programming that are entertaining, one of the largest historical societies in the country, the VHS has more than 25,000 square feet of exhibition gallery space and the largest display of Virginia artifacts on permanent view. The VHS is the museum with all of Virginia’s history under one roof — all centuries, regions. The mission of the Virginia Historical Society is to people to America’s past through the unparalleled story of Virginia. By collecting, preserving, and interpreting the Commonwealth’s history, the society links past with present, after the Civil War, the institution was renamed the Virginia Historical Society to reflect a primarily historical focus as it became more active in publishing historical material. The society gained its first permanent headquarters building in Richmond in 1893, the societys journal, the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, has published on a quarterly basis without interruption since 1893. In the 1950s, increasing resources allowed the addition of a professional staff, over the next several decades the societys collections grew. The publications program also increased as the VHS gained a significant role in the academic community, in 1959, the society relocated from its headquarters in the Lee House on Franklin Street to Battle Abbey on the Boulevard. To accommodate the society, a wing was added to the west side of the previously expanded Battle Abbey. In 1992, the society opened the Center for Virginia History, increasing its display, the VHS offers a wide array of educational programs, especially for students and teachers. These include outreach programs that take place in classrooms, guided tours of exhibitions. The VHS offers three members-only evening lectures and 12–20 noontime lectures every year that are open to the public, audio and videos of past lectures are accessible on the web site. The 54, 000-square-foot Charles F. Bryan, Jr. wing, completed in 2006, the RBHC seeks to acquire company records from important and representative businesses from around the commonwealth. In addition, the VHS has developed business history programs for scholars, businesspeople, students, and the general public. It was a blend of three romantic English Tudor designs, and, for its time, was a modern home complete with seven full baths, central heat, modern kitchen. Now owned and operated by the Virginia Historical Society as a museum, the gardens and grounds of Virginia House provide a rich tapestry of texture and color throughout the year. Today, close to 1,000 types of plants thrive throughout formal
