1.
John Trumbull
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John Trumbull was an American artist during the period of the American Revolutionary War and was notable for his historical paintings. His Declaration of Independence was used on the reverse of the two-dollar bill, Trumbull was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1756, to Jonathan Trumbull and his wife Faith Trumbull. His father served as Governor of Connecticut from 1769 to 1784, both sides of his family were descended from early Puritan settlers in the state. The young Trumbull entered the 1771 junior class at Harvard College at age fifteen, due to a childhood accident, Trumbull lost use of one eye, which may have influenced his detailed painting style. As a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, Trumbull rendered a service at Boston by sketching plans of the British works. He witnessed the Battle of Bunker Hill and he was appointed second personal aide to General George Washington, and in June 1776, deputy adjutant-general to General Horatio Gates. He resigned from the army in 1777 after a dispute over the dating of his officer commission, in 1780 he traveled to London, where he studied under Benjamin West. At Wests suggestion, Trumbull painted small pictures of the War of Independence and he painted about 250 in his lifetime. On September 23,1780, British agent Major John André was captured by Continental troops in North America, after news reached Great Britain, outrage flared and Trumbull was arrested, as having been an officer in the Continental Army of similar rank to André. He was imprisoned for seven months in Londons Tothill Fields Bridewell, after being released, Trumbull returned to the United States. In 1784, following the British recognition of the United States independence, while working in his studio, Trumbull painted Battle of Bunker Hill and Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec. Both works are now in the Yale University Art Gallery, in 1785 Trumbull went to Paris, where he made portrait sketches of French officers for the Surrender of Lord Cornwallis. With the assistance of Thomas Jefferson, serving there as the US minister, while in Paris, Trumbull is credited with having introduced Jefferson to the Italian painter Maria Cosway, they became lifelong intimate friends. Trumbulls painting became widely known due to an engraving of it by Asher Brown Durand. All now hang in rotunda of the United States Capitol, congress reportedly authorized only funds sufficient to purchase these four paintings. Trumbulls The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar,1789, in 1831 Trumbull sold a series of 28 paintings and 60 miniature portraits to Yale University for an annuity of $1,000. This is by far the largest single collection of his works, the collection was originally housed in a neoclassical art gallery designed by Trumbull on Yales Old Campus, along with portraits by other artists. His portraits include full lengths of General Washington and George Clinton, New York also bought his full-length paintings of Alexander Hamilton and John Jay
2.
Declaration of Independence (Trumbull)
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It was based on a much smaller version of the same scene, presently held by the Yale University Art Gallery. Trumbull painted many of the figures in the picture from life, the oil-on-canvas work was commissioned in 1817, purchased in 1819, and placed in the rotunda in 1826. The painting is incorrectly described as the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The painting shows 42 of the 56 signers of the Declaration and he also depicted several participants in the debate who did not sign the document, including John Dickinson, who declined to sign. Trumbull also had no portrait of Benjamin Harrison V to work with, the Declaration was debated and signed over a period of time when membership in Congress changed, so the men in the painting had actually never all been in the same room at the same time. Thomas Jefferson seems to be stepping on John Adams foot in the painting, however, upon closer examination of the painting, it can be seen that their feet are merely close together. This part of the image was depicted on the two-dollar bill version. Key to figures, Four men seated on the far left,1, Seated at the table on the left,4. Benjamin Harrison Seated together to the right of Harrison and in front of the figures,6. George Clinton Five figures standing together on the left,9, arthur Middleton Three seated figures in the back between the two sets of standing figures,14. George Walton Set of three figures standing together in the back,23, george Clymer Ten figures seated,17. Francis Hopkinson Five figures standing in front,30, Benjamin Franklin Four background figures seated together near the right corner of the room,35. Samuel Huntington Two figures standing in the corner of the room,39. Oliver Wolcott Two foreground figures at the table,42. John Hancock Three figures standing at right,43, edward Rutledge Two figures seated at far right,46. Its first use was on the side of the $100 National Bank Note issued in 1863. The depiction was engraved by Frederick Girsch of the American Bank Note Company, the same steel engraving was used on the 24¢ stamp issued as part of the 1869 pictorial series of definitive U. S. postage stamps. Trumbulls painting is depicted on the reverse of the two-dollar bill
3.
Second Continental Congress
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The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the spring of 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It succeeded the First Continental Congress, which met between September 5,1774 and October 26,1774, also in Philadelphia, the second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4,1776. When the Second Continental Congress came together on May 10,1775 it was, in effect, many of the same 56 delegates who attended the first meeting were in attendance at the second, and the delegates appointed the same president and secretary. Notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and John Hancock of Massachusetts, within two weeks, Randolph was summoned back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses, he was replaced in the Virginia delegation by Thomas Jefferson, who arrived several weeks later. Henry Middleton was elected as president to replace Randolph, but he declined, Hancock was elected president on May 24. Delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies were present when the Second Continental Congress convened, Georgia had not participated in the First Continental Congress and did not initially send delegates to the Second Continental Congress. On May 13,1775, Lyman Hall was admitted as a delegate from the Parish of St. Johns in the Colony of Georgia, not as a delegate from the colony itself. The Second Continental Congress would meet on May 10,1775, by the time the Second Continental Congress met, the American Revolutionary War had already started with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Congress was to charge of the war effort. For the first few months of the struggle, the Patriots had carried on their struggle in an ad-hoc and they had seized arsenals, driven out royal officials, and besieged the British army in the city of Boston. On July 6,1775 Congress approved a Declaration of Causes outlining the rationale, on July 8, Congress extended the Olive Branch Petition to the British Crown as a final attempt at reconciliation. However, it was received too late to do any good, silas Deane was sent to France as a minister of the Congress. American ports were reopened in defiance of the British Navigation Acts, the Congress had no authority to levy taxes, and was required to request money, supplies, and troops from the states to support the war effort. Individual states frequently ignored these requests, Congress was moving towards declaring independence from the British Empire in 1776, but many delegates lacked the authority from their home governments to take such a drastic action. Advocates of independence in Congress moved to have reluctant colonial governments revise instructions to their delegations, on May 10,1776, Congress passed a resolution recommending that any colony lacking a proper government should form such. The resolution of independence was delayed for weeks as revolutionaries consolidated support for independence in their home governments. The records of the Continental Congress confirm that the need for a declaration of independence was intimately linked with the demands of international relations, on June 7,1776, Richard Henry Lee offered a resolution before the Continental Congress declaring the colonies independent. He also urged Congress to resolve to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances, Lee argued that independence was the only way to ensure a foreign alliance, since no European monarchs would deal with America if they remained Britains colonies
4.
United States Declaration of Independence
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Instead they formed a new nation—the United States of America. John Adams was a leader in pushing for independence, which was passed on July 2 with no opposing vote cast, a committee of five had already drafted the formal declaration, to be ready when Congress voted on independence. The term Declaration of Independence is not used in the document itself, John Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document, which Congress would edit to produce the final version. The next day, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, but Independence Day is actually celebrated on July 4, the date that the Declaration of Independence was approved. After ratifying the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms and it was initially published as the printed Dunlap broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The source copy used for printing has been lost. Jeffersons original draft, complete with changes made by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, the best known version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is popularly regarded as the official document, is displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D. C. This engrossed copy was ordered by Congress on July 19, the sources and interpretation of the Declaration have been the subject of much scholarly inquiry. Having served its purpose in announcing independence, references to the text of the Declaration were few in the following years. Abraham Lincoln made it the centerpiece of his rhetoric, and his policies and this has been called one of the best-known sentences in the English language, containing the most potent and consequential words in American history. The passage came to represent a standard to which the United States should strive. Believe me, dear Sir, there is not in the British empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose, and in this, I think I speak the sentiments of America. By the time that the Declaration of Independence was adopted in July 1776, relations had been deteriorating between the colonies and the mother country since 1763. Parliament enacted a series of measures to increase revenue from the colonies, such as the Stamp Act of 1765, Parliament believed that these acts were a legitimate means of having the colonies pay their fair share of the costs to keep them in the British Empire. Many colonists, however, had developed a different conception of the empire, the colonies were not directly represented in Parliament, and colonists argued that Parliament had no right to levy taxes upon them. This tax dispute was part of a divergence between British and American interpretations of the British Constitution and the extent of Parliaments authority in the colonies. In the colonies, however, the idea had developed that the British Constitution recognized certain fundamental rights that no government could violate, after the Townshend Acts, some essayists even began to question whether Parliament had any legitimate jurisdiction in the colonies at all
5.
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
6.
Province of Massachusetts Bay
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The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in British North America and, from 1776, one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7,1691, by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The charter took effect on May 14,1692, and included the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Plymouth Colony, the Province of Maine, Marthas Vineyard, Nantucket, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The modern Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the successor, Maine has been a separate U. S. state since 1820. The name Massachusetts comes from the Massachusett, an Algonquian tribe, the name has been translated as at the great hill, at the place of large hills, or at the range of hills, with reference to the Blue Hills, and in particular, Great Blue Hill. Colonial settlement of the shores of Massachusetts Bay began in 1620 with the founding of the Plymouth Colony, over the next ten years there was a major migration of Puritans to the area, leading to the founding of a number of new colonies in New England. By the 1680s the number of colonies had stabilized at five, in addition to Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay was the most populous and economically significant, housing a sizable merchant fleet. The colonies at times struggled against the Indian population, which had suffered a decline in population prior to the arrival of the first permanent settlers. In the 1630s the Pequot tribe was destroyed, and King Philips War in the 1670s resulted in the expulsion, pacification. The latter war was costly to the colonists of New England. Massachusetts and Plymouth were both somewhat politically independent from England in their days, but this situation changed after the restoration of Charles II to the English throne in 1660. Charles sought closer oversight of the colonies, and to introduce and enforce economic control over their activities, the Navigation Acts passed in the 1660s were widely disliked in Massachusetts, where merchants often found themselves trapped and at odds with the rules. These issues and others led to the revocation of the first Massachusetts Charter in 1684, when James was deposed in the 1688 Glorious Revolution, Massachusetts political leaders conspired against Andros, arresting him and other English authorities in April 1689. This led to the collapse of the Dominion, as the other colonies then quickly reasserted their old forms of government, the Plymouth colony had never had a royal charter, so its governance had always been on a somewhat precarious footing. Massachusetts, however, was placed into constitutional anarchy by the uprising, provincial agents traveled to London where Increase Mather, representing the old colony leaders, petitioned new rulers William and Mary to restore the old colonial charter. When King William learned that this result in a return to the predominantly entrenched religious rule. Instead, the Lords of Trade decided to solve two problems at once by combining the two colonies, accordingly, on October 7,1691, they issued a charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and appointed Sir William Phips its governor. Although the effect of change has been subject to debate among historians
7.
Thomas Jefferson
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Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Previously, he was elected the second Vice President of the United States, Jefferson was primarily of English ancestry, born and educated in colonial Virginia. He graduated from the College of William & Mary and briefly practiced law and he became the United States Minister to France in May 1785, and subsequently the nations first Secretary of State in 1790–1793 under President George Washington. Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the First Party System, as President, Jefferson pursued the nations shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies. He also organized the Louisiana Purchase, almost doubling the countrys territory, as a result of peace negotiations with France, his administration reduced military forces. Jeffersons second term was beset with difficulties at home, including the trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr, American foreign trade was diminished when Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act of 1807, responding to British threats to U. S. shipping. In 1803, Jefferson began a process of Indian tribe removal to the newly organized Louisiana Territory. Jefferson mastered many disciplines, which ranged from surveying and mathematics to horticulture and he was a proven architect in the classical tradition. Jeffersons keen interest in religion and philosophy earned him the presidency of the American Philosophical Society and he shunned organized religion, but was influenced by both Christianity and deism. He was well versed in linguistics and spoke several languages and he founded the University of Virginia after retiring from public office. He was a letter writer and corresponded with many prominent and important people throughout his adult life. His only full-length book is Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson owned several plantations which were worked by hundreds of slaves. Most historians now believe that, after the death of his wife in 1782, he had a relationship with his slave Sally Hemings and fathered at least one of her children. Various modern scholars are more critical of Jeffersons private life, pointing out the discrepancy between his ownership of slaves and his political principles, for example. Presidential scholars, however, consistently rank Jefferson among the greatest presidents, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13,1743, at the family home in Shadwell in the Colony of Virginia, the third of ten children. He was of English and possibly Welsh descent and was born a British subject and his father Peter Jefferson was a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen, his mother was Jane Randolph. Peter Jefferson moved his family to Tuckahoe Plantation in 1745 upon the death of a friend who had named him guardian of his children, the Jeffersons returned to Shadwell in 1752, where Peter died in 1757, his estate was divided between his sons Thomas and Randolph. Thomas inherited approximately 5,000 acres of land, including Monticello and he assumed full authority over his property at age 21
8.
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
9.
Benjamin Franklin
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Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin was a polymath and a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman. As a scientist, he was a figure in the American Enlightenment. As an inventor, he is known for the rod, bifocals. He facilitated many civic organizations, including Philadelphias fire department and the University of Pennsylvania, Franklin earned the title of The First American for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity, initially as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies. As the first United States Ambassador to France, he exemplified the emerging American nation, in the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat. To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin the most accomplished American of his age, Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at the age of 23. He became wealthy publishing this and Poor Richards Almanack, which he authored under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, after 1767, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the British policies. He pioneered and was first president of The Academy and College of Philadelphia which opened in 1751 and he organized and was the first secretary of the American Philosophical Society and was elected president in 1769. Franklin became a hero in America as an agent for several colonies when he spearheaded an effort in London to have the Parliament of Great Britain repeal the unpopular Stamp Act. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations. His efforts proved vital for the American Revolution in securing shipments of crucial munitions from France, during the Revolution, he became the first US Postmaster General. He was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics, from 1785 to 1788, he served as governor of Pennsylvania. He initially owned and dealt in slaves but, by the 1750s, he argued against slavery from an economic perspective, Franklins father, Josiah Franklin, was a tallow chandler, a soap-maker and a candle-maker. Josiah was born at Ecton, Northamptonshire, England on December 23,1657, the son of Thomas Franklin, a blacksmith-farmer, and Jane White. His mother, Abiah Folger, was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on August 15,1667, to Peter Folger, a miller and schoolteacher, and his wife, Mary Morrill, Josiah Franklin had seventeen children with his two wives. He married his first wife, Anne Child, in about 1677 in Ecton and emigrated with her to Boston in 1683, after her death, Josiah was married to Abiah Folger on July 9,1689 in the Old South Meeting House by Samuel Willard. Benjamin, their child, was Josiah Franklins fifteenth child and tenth
10.
Province of Pennsylvania
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The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was founded in English North America by William Penn on March 4,1681 as dictated in a royal charter granted by King Charles II. The name Pennsylvania, which translates roughly as Penns Woods, was created by combining the Penn surname with the Latin word sylvania, the Province of Pennsylvania was one of the two major Restoration colonies, the other being the Province of Carolina. The colonial government, established in 1683 by Penns Frame of Government, consisted of an appointed Governor, the proprietor, a 72-member Provincial Council, and a larger General Assembly. The General Assembly, also known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, was the largest and most representative branch of government, succeeding Frames of Government, also known as the Charter of Privileges, were produced in 1683,1696 and 1701. The fourth Frame remained in effect until the American Revolution and he was an early advocate of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful treaties with the Lenape Indians. Under his direction, the city of Philadelphia was planned and developed, the province was divided first into 5 counties, plus the three lower counties on Delaware Bay. Philadelphia County is present-day Philadelphia City, montgomery County was west of Bucks and northwest of Philadelphia, and extended along the Schuylkill River to the area presently known as Minersville, in Schuylkill County. Chester County extended along the border of Pennsylvania from Marcus Hook to the western border of the province. The remainder of the province, which is now North Central and their borders remain unchanged to this day. William Penn and his fellow Quakers heavily imprinted their religious values on the early Pennsylvanian government, the Charter of Privileges extended religious freedom to everyone monotheists and government was initially open to all Christians. Until the French and Indian War Pennsylvania had no military, few taxes, among the first groups were the Mennonites, who founded Germantown in 1683, and the Amish, who established the Northkill Amish Settlement in 1740. 1751 was an year for the colony. Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the British American colonies, and The Academy and College of Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin founded both of these institutions along with Philadelphias Union Fire Company fifteen years earlier in 1736. Likewise in 1751, the Pennsylvania State House ordered a new bell which would become known as the Liberty Bell for the new tower being built in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. William Penn had mandated fair dealings with Native Americans and this led to significantly better relations with the local Native tribes than most other colonies had. The Quakers had previously treated Indians with respect, bought land from them voluntarily, according to Voltaire, the Shackamaxon Treaty was the only treaty between Indians and Christians that was never sworn to and that was never broken. The Quakers also refused to provide any assistance to New Englands Indian wars, in 1737, the Colony exchanged a great deal of its political goodwill with the native Lenape for more land. This purchase has become known as the Walking Purchase, although the document was most likely a forgery, the Lenape did not realize that
11.
Roger Sherman
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Roger Sherman was an early American lawyer and statesman, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. Thomas Jefferson said this of him, That is Mr. Sherman, of Connecticut, Sherman was born into a farm family located in Newton, Massachusetts, near Boston. His father was William and mother Mehetabel Sherman, mehetabels father was Benjamin Wellington and her mother was Elizabeth Sweetman, whose christening date was March 4,1687, and she died on April 12,1776. William and Mehetabel had seven children, William Jr. Mehetabel, Roger, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, Josiah, William married Rebecca Cutler on July 15,1714. Josiah was Chaplain of the 7th Connecticut from January 1 to December 6,1777, the part of Stoughton where Sherman grew up became part of Canton in 1797. Shermans education did not extend beyond his fathers library and grammar school, and his early career was spent as a shoe-maker. However, he had an aptitude for learning, and access to a library owned by his father, as well as a Harvard-educated parish minister, the Rev. Samuel Dunbar. In 1743, due to his fathers death, Sherman moved with his mother and siblings to New Milford, Connecticut and he very quickly introduced himself in civil and religious affairs, rapidly becoming one of the towns leading citizens and eventually town clerk of New Milford. Due to his skill he became county surveyor of New Haven County in 1745. Roger Sherman was married two times and had a total of fifteen children with thirteen reaching adulthood, Sherman married Elizabeth on November 17,1749. She was born August 31,1726, in Stoughton, her father was Deacon Joseph Hartwell and her mother was Mary Hartwell, who was born on October 4,1697 and they were married by Samuel Dunbar and had seven children. Elizabeth died on October 19,1760, Sherman married Rebecca Prescott on May 12,1763. She was born on May 20,1742, in Danvers, Essex County, the first Mehitabel and Oliver both died in infancy. A son, Roger Sherman Jr. a 1787 graduate of Yale College served in the Connecticut General Assembly in 1810–1811, following the death of Rebecca Sherman, Baldwin married another of Roger Shermans daughters, Elizabeth Sherman Burr. His daughter, Mehitabel Sherman Barnes married Jeremiah Evarts, who served as treasurer and his daughter Martha Sherman married Jeremiah Day, who was President of Yale University from 1817 to 1846. Another daughter, Sarah Sherman, married Samuel Hoar, who was a member of the Massachusetts state legislature, grandfathers before Henry Sherman were Thomas, John, and Thomas Sherman. Henry Sherman born about 1512, married Agnes around 1539 died October 14,1580, in Dedham, referred to as Captain John Sherman Joseph Sherman, grandfather, born on May 14,1650, married Elizabeth Winship on April 12,1776. Robert Morris, who did not sign the Articles of Association, John Dickinson also signed three, the Continental Association, the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution
12.
Connecticut Colony
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The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut, originally known as the River Colony, was an English colony located in North America that became the U. S. state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3,1636 as a settlement for a Puritan congregation, after early struggles with the Dutch, the English permanently gained control of the region in 1637. The colony was later the scene of a war between the English and Pequot Indians known as the Pequot War. Two other English settlements in the state of Connecticut were merged into the Colony of Connecticut, Saybrook Colony in 1644. Governor John Haynes of the Massachusetts Bay Colony led 100 people to present-day Hartford in 1636 and he and Thomas Hooker, a prominent Puritan minister, are often considered the founders of the Connecticut colony. Hooker delivered a sermon to his congregation on May 31,1638, on the principles of government, the Rev. John Davenport and merchant Theophilus Eaton led the founders of the New Haven Colony, which was absorbed into Connecticut Colony in the 1660s. In the colonys early years, the governor could not serve consecutive terms, thus, for twenty years, the governorship often rotated between John Haynes and Edward Hopkins, both of whom were from Hartford. George Wyllys, Thomas Welles, and John Webster, also Hartford men, Winthrop was also instrumental in obtaining the colonys 1662 charter, which incorporated New Haven into Connecticut. His son Fitz-John Winthrop also governed the colony for ten years, major John Mason was the military leader of the early colony, the commander in the Pequot War, a magistrate, founder of Windsor, Saybrook, and Norwich, and Deputy Governor under Winthrop. Roger Ludlow was an Oxford-educated lawyer and former Deputy Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who petitioned the General Court for rights to settle the area, Ludlow led the March Commission in settling disputes over land rights. He is credited as drafting the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut in collaboration with Hooker, Winthrop, Ludlow was the first Deputy Governor of Connecticut. William Leete of Guilford served as governor of New Haven Colony before the merger into Connecticut. He is the man to serve as governor of both New Haven and Connecticut. Robert Treat of Milford served as governor of the colony, both prior to and after its inclusion in Sir Edmund Andross Dominion of New England and his father Richard Treat was one of the original patentees of the colony. The original colonies along the Connecticut River and in New Haven were established by separatist Puritans who were connected with the Massachusetts and they held Calvinist religious beliefs similar to the English Puritans, but they maintained that their congregations needed to be separated from the English state church. They had emigrated to New England during the Great Migration, the American Revolution cut off imports from Britain, and stimulated a manufacturing sector that made heavy use of the entrepreneurship and mechanical skills of the people. In the second half of the 18th century, difficulties arose from the shortage of farmland, periodic money problems. In agriculture there was a shift from grain to animal products, Connecticuts domestic architecture included a wide variety of house forms
13.
Continental Association
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The Continental Association, often known simply as the Association, was a system created by the First Continental Congress in 1774 for implementing a trade boycott with Great Britain. The Association aimed to alter Britains policies towards the colonies without severing allegiance, the boycott became operative on December 1,1774. The Association was fairly successful while it lasted, trade with Great Britain fell sharply, and the British responded with the New England Restraining Act of 1775. The outbreak of the American Revolutionary War effectively superseded the attempt to boycott British goods, the British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in 1774 to reform colonial administration in British America and, in part, to punish the Province of Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. Many American colonists saw the Coercive Acts as a violation of the British Constitution, as they had done during the 1760s—most effectively during the Stamp Act crisis of 1765—colonists turned to economic boycotts to protest what they saw as unconstitutional legislation. The word boycott had not yet coined, colonists referred to their economic protests as, depending upon the specific activity, non-importation, non-exportation. On May 13,1774, the Boston Town Meeting, with Samuel Adams acting as moderator, passed a resolution called for an economic boycott in response to the Boston Port Act. Paul Revere, who served as messenger, carried the Boston resolutions to New York. Adams also promoted the boycott through the committees of correspondence. The First Continental Congress was convened at Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia on September 5,1774, twelve colonies were represented at the Congress. On October 20,1774, Congress created the Association, based on the earlier Virginia Association, the Association signified the increasing cooperation between the colonies. The Association alleged that this system was calculated for enslaving these colonies, and, with them. This was a recognition of the need and demand for American goods abroad, all American colonists were to direct their agents abroad to also comply with these restrictions, as would all ship owners. The Association set forth policies by which the colonists would endure the scarcity of goods, merchants were restricted from price gouging. Local committees of inspection were to be established in the colonies by which compliance would be monitored, any individual observed to violate the pledges in the Articles would be condemned in print and ostracised in society as the enemies of American liberty. Colonies would also cease all trade and dealings with any other colony that failed to comply with the bans and these delegates signed the Association in Congress. Many local signings also took place, the Continental Association went into effect on December 1,1774. The ban did succeed for the time it was in effect, however, the British retaliated by blocking colony access to the North Atlantics fisheries
14.
Articles of Confederation
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Its drafting by a committee appointed by the Second Continental Congress began on July 12,1776, and an approved version was sent to the states for ratification on November 15,1777. The Articles of Confederation came into force on March 1,1781, a guiding principle of the Articles was to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. The federal government received only those powers which the colonies had recognized as belonging to king, the Articles formed a war-time confederation of states, with an extremely limited central government. Actually the adoption of the Articles made no change in the federal government. That body was now taken over as the Congress of the Confederation, as the governments weaknesses became apparent, especially after Shays Rebellion, individuals began asking for changes to the Articles. Their hope was to create a national government. Initially, some states met to deal with their trade and economic problems, however, as more states became interested in meeting to change the Articles, a meeting was set in Philadelphia on May 25,1787. It was quickly realized that changes would not work, and instead the entire Articles needed to be replaced, on March 4,1789, the general government under the Articles was replaced with the federal government under the Constitution. The new Constitution provided for a stronger federal government by establishing a chief executive, courts. The Articles of Confederation would bear some resemblance to it, over the next two decades, some of the basic concepts it addressed would strengthen and others would weaken, particularly the degree of deserved loyalty to the crown. It was an era of constitution writing—most states were busy at the task—and leaders felt the new nation must have a written constitution, during the war, Congress exercised an unprecedented level of political, diplomatic, military and economic authority. It adopted trade restrictions, established and maintained an army, issued fiat money, created a military code, to transform themselves from outlaws into a legitimate nation, the colonists needed international recognition for their cause and foreign allies to support it. The monarchies of France and Spain in particular could not be expected to aid those they considered rebels against another legitimate monarch, foreign courts needed to have American grievances laid before them persuasively in a “manifesto” which could also reassure them that the Americans would be reliable trading partners. Without such a declaration, Paine concluded, “he custom of all courts is against us, Congress then created three overlapping committees to draft the Declaration, a Model Treaty, and the Articles of Confederation. The committee met repeatedly, and chairman John Dickinson presented their results to the Congress on July 12,1776, there were long debates on such issues as sovereignty, the exact powers to be given the confederate government, whether to have a judiciary, and voting procedures. Under the Articles, the states retained sovereignty over all governmental functions not specifically relinquished to the national government, the individual articles set the rules for current and future operations of the United States government. Article XIII stipulated that their provisions shall be observed by every state. John Dickinsons and Benjamin Franklins handwritten drafts of the Articles of Confederation are housed at the National Archives in Washington, after the war, nationalists, especially those who had been active in the Continental Army, complained that the Articles were too weak for an effective government
15.
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
16.
Robert R. Livingston (chancellor)
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Robert R Livingston was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat from New York, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was known as The Chancellor, after the high New York state legal office he held for 25 years and he was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, along with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Roger Sherman. Livingston was the eldest son of Judge Robert Livingston and Margaret Beekman Livingston and he had nine brothers and sisters, all of whom wed and made their homes on the Hudson River near the family seat at Clermont Manor. Livingston graduated from Kings College, renamed Columbia University following the American Revolution, Livingston was known for continually quarreling with his relatives. Livingston was appointed Recorder of New York City in October 1773 and he was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, although he was recalled by his state before he could sign the final version of the document. However, he sent his cousin, Philip Livingston, to sign the document in his place, in 1777-1801, Livingston was the first Chancellor of New York, then the highest judicial officer in the state. He became universally known as The Chancellor, retaining the title as a nickname even after he left the office, Livingston was also U. S. Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1781 to 1783 under the Articles of Confederation. In 1789 as Chancellor of New York, Livingston administered the oath of office to George Washington at Federal Hall in New York City. In 1789 Livingston joined the Jeffersonian Republicans, in opposition to his former colleagues John Jay and he formed an uneasy alliance with his previous rival George Clinton, along with Aaron Burr, then a political newcomer. He opposed the Jay Treaty and other Federalist initiatives, in 1798 Livingston ran for Governor of New York on the Democratic-Republican ticket, but was defeated by incumbent Governor John Jay. Minister to France from 1801 to 1804, Livingston negotiated the Louisiana Purchase, after the signing of the Louisiana Purchase agreement in 1803, Livingston made this memorable statement, We have lived long but this is the noblest work of our whole lives. The United States take rank this day among the first powers of the world, in 1811 Fulton and Livingston became members of the Erie Canal Commission. Livingston was a Freemason, and in 1784 he was appointed the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York, the Grand Lodges library in Manhattan bears his name. The Bible Livingston used to administer the oath of office to President Washington is owned by St. John’s Lodge No. 1, and is used today when the Grand Master is sworn in, and, by request. After his death, Livingston was buried at St. James Episcopal Churchyard in Hyde Park, the engraved image of Livingston is taken from a Gilbert Stuart oil painting of 1794. Review of a 1960 biography by George Dangerfield Livingston County, Kentucky, the Robert Livingston high rise building at 85 Livingston St. in Brooklyn, NY is named for him. In the 2008 HBO miniseries, John Adams, Livingston is portrayed by actor Alex Draper, Livingston also appears in the Broadway musical 1776, where he is appointed to the committee for drafting the Declaration of Independence
17.
Province of New York
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The majority of this land was soon reassigned by the Crown, leaving territory that included the valleys of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, and Vermont. The territory of western New York was Iroquois land, also disputed between the English colonies and New France, and that of Vermont was disputed with the Province of New Hampshire, the province resulted from the Dutch Republic surrender of Provincie Nieuw-Nederland to the Kingdom of England in 1664. Immediately after, the province was renamed for James, Duke of York, the colony was one of the Middle Colonies, and ruled at first directly from England. British claims on any part of New York ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1783, after the American Revolution, the former colony became the State of New York. This British crown colony was established upon the former Dutch colony of New Netherland, with its core being York Shire, in what today is typically known as Downstate New York. The Province of New York was divided into counties on November 1,1683, by New York Governor Thomas Dongan, Albany County. Also claimed the area, later disputed, that is now Vermont, in addition, as there was no fixed western border to the colony, Albany County technically extended to the Pacific Ocean. Most of this land, which was Indian land for most of the history, has now been ceded to other states. Cornwall County, that part of Maine between the Kennebec River and the St. Croix River from the Atlantic Ocean to the St. Lawrence River, ceded to the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1692. Dukes County, the Elizabeth Islands, Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket Island east of Long Island, Dutchess County, now Dutchess and Putnam counties. Kings County, the current Kings County, Brooklyn, New York County, the current New York County, Manhattan. Orange County, now Orange and Rockland counties, Queens County, now Queens and Nassau counties. Richmond County, the current Richmond County, Staten Island, Suffolk County, the current Suffolk County. Ulster County, now Ulster and Sullivan counties and part of what is now Delaware, Westchester County, now Bronx and Westchester counties. On March 24,1772, Tryon County was formed out of Albany County and it was renamed Montgomery County in 1784, with a later division to Herkimer County around Little Falls. Charlotte County was formed out of Albany County and it was renamed Washington County in 1784. In 1617 officials of the Dutch West India Company in New Netherland created a settlement at present-day Albany, New Amsterdam surrendered to Colonel Richard Nicholls on August 27,1664, he renamed it New York. On September 24 Sir George Carteret accepted the capitulation of the garrison at Fort Orange, the capture was confirmed by the Treaty of Breda in July 1667
18.
Louisiana Purchase
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The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the Louisiana territory by the United States from France in 1803. The U. S. paid fifty million francs and a cancellation of debts worth eighteen million francs for a total of sixty-eight million francs, the Louisiana territory included land from fifteen present U. S. states and two Canadian provinces. Its non-native population was around 60,000 inhabitants, of whom half were African slaves, the Kingdom of France controlled the Louisiana territory from 1699 until it was ceded to Spain in 1762. Napoleon in 1800, hoping to re-establish an empire in North America, however, Frances failure to put down the revolt in Saint-Domingue, coupled with the prospect of renewed warfare with the United Kingdom, prompted Napoleon to sell Louisiana to the United States. The Americans originally sought to purchase only the city of New Orleans and its adjacent coastal lands. The Louisiana Purchase occurred during the term of the third President of the United States, before the purchase was finalized, the decision faced Federalist Party opposition, they argued that it was unconstitutional to acquire any territory. Constitution did not contain provisions for acquiring territory, but he asserted that his constitutional power to negotiate treaties was sufficient. Throughout the second half of the 18th century, Louisiana was a pawn on the chessboard of European politics and it was controlled by the French, who had a few small settlements along the Mississippi and other main rivers. Following French defeat in the Seven Years War, Spain gained control of the territory west of the Mississippi, the United States controlled the area east of the Mississippi and north of New Orleans. The main issue for the Americans was free transit of the Mississippi to the sea, as the lands were being gradually settled by a few American migrants, many Americans, including Jefferson, assumed that the territory would be acquired piece by piece. The risk of power taking it from a weakened Spain made a profound reconsideration of this policy necessary. New Orleans was already important for shipping goods to and from the areas of the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains. Pinckneys Treaty, signed with Spain on October 27,1795, gave American merchants right of deposit in New Orleans, Americans used this right to transport products such as flour, tobacco, pork, bacon, lard, feathers, cider, butter, and cheese. The treaty also recognized American rights to navigate the entire Mississippi, in 1798 Spain revoked this treaty, prohibiting American use of New Orleans, and greatly upsetting the Americans. In 1801, Spanish Governor Don Juan Manuel de Salcedo took over from the Marquess of Casa Calvo, Napoleon Bonaparte had gained Louisiana for French ownership from Spain in 1800 under the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, but the treaty was kept secret. Louisiana remained nominally under Spanish control, until a transfer of power to France on November 30,1803, another ceremony was held in St. Louis a few months later, in part because during winter conditions the news of the New Orleans formalities did not reach Upper Louisiana. The March 9–10,1804, event is remembered as Three Flags Day, James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston had traveled to Paris to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans in January 1803. Their instructions were to negotiate or purchase control of New Orleans and its environs, the Louisiana Purchase was by far the largest territorial gain in U. S. history
19.
Thirteen Colonies
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The Thirteen Colonies were a group of British colonies on the east coast of North America founded in the 17th and 18th centuries that declared independence in 1776 and formed the United States. The Thirteen Colonies had very similar political, constitutional, and legal systems and they were part of Britains possessions in the New World, which also included colonies in present-day Canada and the Caribbean, as well as East and West Florida. However, the Thirteen Colonies had a degree of self-government and active local elections. In the 1750s, the colonies began collaborating with each other instead of dealing directly with Britain, Colonial decisions were subject to approval by the governor and the home government. There were also substantial populations of African slaves in some of the colonies, especially Virginia, the Carolinas, the names of the colonies were chosen by the founders and proprietors, subject to royal approval, and given in the founding charters. Nine of the thirteen chose to include in their names the term Province of, later residents tended to drop the ambiguous terminology, as in the map shown in the article Province of New Jersey, which is labeled simply East Jersey and West Jersey. In July 1776, they formed a new nation called the United States of America, the new nation achieved that goal by winning the American Revolutionary War with the aid of France, the Netherlands, and Spain. The American flag features thirteen horizontal stripes which represent these original thirteen colonies, besides these thirteen colonies, Britain had another dozen in the New World. Those in the British West Indies, Newfoundland, the Province of Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Bermuda, and East and West Florida remained loyal to the crown throughout the war. The British crown had recently acquired those lands, and many of the issues facing the Thirteen Colonies did not apply to them, especially in the case of Quebec. Contemporary documents usually list the thirteen colonies of British North America in geographical order, the consolidation collapsed after the Glorious Revolution of 1688–89, and the nine former colonies re-established their separate identities in 1689. Massachusetts Bay Colony Settled in 1630 by Puritans from England, the colonial charter was revoked in 1684, and a new charter was issued in 1691 establishing an enlarged Province of Massachusetts Bay. Province of Maine Settled in 1622, the Massachusetts Bay Colony claimed the Maine territory in the 1650s, then limited to present-day southernmost Maine. Parts of Maine east of the Kennebec River were also part of New York in the half of the 17th century. These areas were made part of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the charter of 1691. Plymouth Colony Settled in 1620 by the Pilgrims, plymouth was merged into the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the charter of 1691. Saybrook Colony Founded in 1635 and merged with Connecticut Colony in 1644, New Haven Colony Settled in late 1637. New Netherland Extensive region centered about New Amsterdam at the tip of Manhattan Island
20.
Halifax Resolves
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The Halifax Resolves was a name later given to the resolution adopted by North Carolina on April 12,1776. The adoption of the resolution was the first official action in the American Colonies calling for independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution, the Halifax Resolves helped pave the way for the presentation to Congress of the United States Declaration of Independence less than three months later. The creation and ratification of the resolves was the result of a movement in the colonies advocating separation from Britain. These separatists, or American Whigs, sought to mobilize support for a much discussed. Advocates of independence sought to revise the instructions to each congressional delegation. The resolution of April 12,1776 became known as the Halifax Resolves because the Fourth Provincial Congress of North Carolina had met in the town of Halifax, North Carolina. The 83 delegates present unanimously adopted the resolves, which encouraged delegates to the Continental Congress from all the colonies to finally push for independence, the adoption of the Halifax Resolves was the first official action in the colonies calling for independence from Britain. The Halifax Resolves only empowered North Carolinas three delegates to the Second Continental Congress to join with those from other colonies to independence from British rule. With the passage of the resolves, North Carolina became the first colony to permit their delegates to vote in favor of independence. Every year, on April 12, the Halifax Historic District, interpreters in period costumes provide guided tours of historic buildings, demonstrate historic crafts and teach about colonial activities. Occasionally, reenactors portray revolutionary-era soldiers and demonstrate the use of weapons during the Halifax Day events
21.
Lee Resolution
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The resolution is named for Richard Henry Lee of Virginia who proposed it to Congress, after receiving instructions from the Virginia Convention and its President, Edmund Pendleton. Some sources indicate Lee used, almost verbatim, the language from the instructions in his resolution, on June 11 Congress decided to establish three committees to develop the resolutions parts, and appointed a Committee of Five to prepare a document to explain the reasons for independence. The independence portion of the resolution was the first approved by Congress, news of its adoption was published that evening in the Pennsylvania Evening Post and the next day in the Pennsylvania Gazette. The text of the document formally announcing this action, the United States Declaration of Independence, was approved on July 4th,1776 which is celebrated as Independence Day, however, the document wasnt signed by all delegates of the United States until August 2nd. The committee drafting a plan of confederation, chaired by John Dickinson, long debates would follow on such issues as sovereignty, the exact powers to be given the confederate government, whether to have a judiciary, and voting procedures. Although in use from time, it would be almost four years before final ratification by all states. Over the next five weeks it would be reviewed and amended by Congress, the formal version of the plan of treaties was adopted on September 17. Alliance with France was considered if the war with England was to be won. When the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, few colonists in British North America openly advocated independence from Great Britain, support for independence grew steadily in 1776, especially after the publication of Thomas Paines pamphlet Common Sense in January of that year. In accordance with instructions, on June 7, Richard Henry Lee proposed the resolution to Congress. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances and that a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation. Voting on the first clause of Lees resolution was postponed for three weeks while advocates of independence worked to build support in the colonial governments for the resolution. Meanwhile, a Committee of Five was appointed to prepare a formal declaration so that it would be ready when independence, the committee prepared a declaration of independence, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, and presented it to Congress on June 28,1776. The declaration was set aside while the resolution of independence was debated for several days, the vote on the independence section of the Lee resolution had been postponed until Monday, July 1st, when it was taken up by the Committee of the Whole. At the request of South Carolina, the resolution was not acted upon until the day in the hope of securing unanimity. A trial vote had been tested on the 1st where it was found that South Carolina and Pennsylvania were in the negative, the vote was held on July 2nd, with critical changes happening between Monday and Tuesday. So Lees resolution of independence was approved by twelve of the thirteen colonies, the evening of July 2, the Pennsylvania Evening Post reported, This day the CONTINENTAL CONGRESS declared the UNITED COLONIES FREE and INDEPENDENT STATES. The Pennsylvania Gazette followed suit the day with its own brief report, Yesterday
22.
Richard Henry Lee
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Richard Henry Lee was an American statesman from Virginia best known for the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies independence from Great Britain. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation, and his resolution for independency of June 1776 led to the United States Declaration of Independence and he was a member of the Lee family, a historically influential family in Virginia politics. He was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia to Col. Thomas Lee and he was raised and came from a line of military officers, diplomats, and legislators. His father, Thomas Lee, was the governor of Virginia before his death in 1750, Lee spent most of his early life in Stratford, Virginia with his family at Stratford Hall. In 1748, at 16, Lee left Virginia for Yorkshire, England, to complete his education at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. Both of his parents died in 1750 and, in 1753, after touring Europe, in 1757, Lee was appointed justice of the peace in Westmoreland County. In 1758 he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, an early advocate of independence, Lee became one of the first to create Committees of Correspondence among the many independence-minded Americans in the various colonies. This resolution was signed by four brothers of George Washington as well as Gilbert Campbell, in August 1774, Lee was chosen as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Lee had returned to Virginia by the time Congress voted on and adopted the Declaration of Independence, Lee was elected the sixth President of Congress under the Articles of Confederation on November 30,1784, in the French Arms Tavern, Trenton, New Jersey. On January 11,1785, Congress convened in the old New York City Hall, although, he was not paid a salary for his office as president, his household expenses were paid by Congress in the amount of $12,203.13. Lees Congress was most active in 1785, passing numerous legislation and his most pressing issue, however, was to settle the states territorial disputes over the Northwest Territory. Throughout his term, Lee remained steadfast that the release of states’ territorial claims on the Northwest Territory would enable the government to fund itself with land sales. He believed that the urgency of this measure was paramount because borrowing more foreign money was no longer prudent, the sale of these vast federal lands, he concluded, was the nations only hope to pay off the war debt and adequately fund federal government. On May 3,1785, William Grayson of Virginia made a motion seconded by James Monroe to change “seven miles square” to “six miles square”, and the current US Survey system was born. The states relinquished their right to this test tract of land, and this either required troops to eject the Native Americans or capital to purchase their land fairly, insuring the peaceful sale and settlement. With the states no longer in control of the lands and no federal magistrates or troops to enforce the laws, Lees plan to fill the federal treasury with the proceeds of land sales failed, but the survey system developed under the Land Ordinance of 1785 is still used today. Anne died December 12,1768 at Chantille, Westmoreland Co, the couple had six children, four of whom survived infancy, Elizabeth Virginia Lee, who died in infancy. Thomas Lee, resided at Park Gate from 1790 to 1805, Col. Ludwell Lee, Esq. who married Flora Lee, daughter of Hon. Philip Ludwell Lee, Sr. Esq. and Elizabeth Steptoe, who married secondly, Philip Richard Fendall I
23.
British Empire
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The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It originated with the possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the population at the time. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread, during the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, after the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century. In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain, the British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. In Britain, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies, during the 19th Century, Britains population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, which caused significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Benjamin Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britains economic lead, subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military, financial and manpower resources of Britain, although the British Empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the worlds pre-eminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War, Britains colonies in Southeast Asia were occupied by Imperial Japan, despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the decline of the empire. India, Britains most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger movement in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. The transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire, fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Kingdom is now one of 16 Commonwealth nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms, that share a monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was ever heard of his ships again
24.
Massachusetts
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It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, and New York to the west. The state is named for the Massachusett tribe, which inhabited the area. The capital of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England is Boston, over 80% of Massachusetts population lives in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, a region influential upon American history, academia, and industry. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution, during the 20th century, Massachusetts economy shifted from manufacturing to services. Modern Massachusetts is a leader in biotechnology, engineering, higher education, finance. Plymouth was the site of the first colony in New England, founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, in 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of Americas most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials. In 1777, General Henry Knox founded the Springfield Armory, which during the Industrial Revolution catalyzed numerous important technological advances, in 1786, Shays Rebellion, a populist revolt led by disaffected American Revolutionary War veterans, influenced the United States Constitutional Convention. In the 18th century, the Protestant First Great Awakening, which swept the Atlantic World, in the late 18th century, Boston became known as the Cradle of Liberty for the agitation there that led to the American Revolution. The entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts has played a commercial and cultural role in the history of the United States. Before the American Civil War, Massachusetts was a center for the abolitionist, temperance, in the late 19th century, the sports of basketball and volleyball were invented in the western Massachusetts cities of Springfield and Holyoke, respectively. Many prominent American political dynasties have hailed from the state, including the Adams, both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also in Cambridge, have been ranked among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world. Massachusetts public school students place among the top nations in the world in academic performance, the official name of the state is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. While this designation is part of the official name, it has no practical implications. Massachusetts has the position and powers within the United States as other states. Massachusetts was originally inhabited by tribes of the Algonquian language family such as the Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Mahican, and Massachusett. While cultivation of crops like squash and corn supplemented their diets, villages consisted of lodges called wigwams as well as longhouses, and tribes were led by male or female elders known as sachems. Between 1617 and 1619, smallpox killed approximately 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans, the first English settlers in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims, arrived via the Mayflower at Plymouth in 1620, and developed friendly relations with the native Wampanoag people. This was the second successful permanent English colony in the part of North America that later became the United States, the event known as the First Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World which lasted for three days
25.
Connecticut
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Connecticut is the southernmost state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Connecticut is also often grouped along with New York and New Jersey as the Tri-State Area and it is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital city is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport, the state is named for the Connecticut River, a major U. S. river that approximately bisects the state. The word Connecticut is derived from various anglicized spellings of an Algonquian word for long tidal river, Connecticut is the third smallest state by area, the 29th most populous, and the fourth most densely populated of the 50 United States. It is known as the Constitution State, the Nutmeg State, the Provisions State, and it was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States. Connecticuts center of population is in Cheshire, New Haven County, Connecticuts first European settlers were Dutch. They established a small, short-lived settlement in present-day Hartford at the confluence of the Park, initially, half of Connecticut was a part of the Dutch colony New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware rivers. The first major settlements were established in the 1630s by England, the Connecticut and New Haven Colonies established documents of Fundamental Orders, considered the first constitutions in North America. In 1662, the three colonies were merged under a charter, making Connecticut a crown colony. This colony was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, the Connecticut River, Thames River, and ports along the Long Island Sound have given Connecticut a strong maritime tradition which continues today. The state also has a history of hosting the financial services industry, including insurance companies in Hartford. As of the 2010 Census, Connecticut features the highest per-capita income, Human Development Index, and median household income in the United States. Landmarks and Cities of Connecticut Connecticut is bordered on the south by Long Island Sound, on the west by New York, on the north by Massachusetts, and on the east by Rhode Island. The state capital and third largest city is Hartford, and other cities and towns include Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury, Norwalk, Danbury, New Britain, Greenwich. Connecticut is slightly larger than the country of Montenegro, there are 169 incorporated towns in Connecticut. The highest peak in Connecticut is Bear Mountain in Salisbury in the northwest corner of the state, the highest point is just east of where Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York meet, on the southern slope of Mount Frissell, whose peak lies nearby in Massachusetts. At the opposite extreme, many of the towns have areas that are less than 20 feet above sea level. Connecticut has a maritime history and a reputation based on that history—yet the state has no direct oceanfront
26.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
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Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania /ˌpɛnsᵻlˈveɪnjə/, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle, Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest, the 5th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The states five most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, the state capital, and its ninth-largest city, is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania has 140 miles of shoreline along Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary. The state is one of the 13 original founding states of the United States, it came into being in 1681 as a result of a land grant to William Penn. Part of Pennsylvania, together with the present State of Delaware, had earlier been organized as the Colony of New Sweden and it was the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, on December 12,1787. Independence Hall, where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were drafted, is located in the states largest city of Philadelphia, during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the south central region of the state. Valley Forge near Philadelphia was General Washingtons headquarters during the winter of 1777–78. Pennsylvania is 170 miles north to south and 283 miles east to west, of a total 46,055 square miles,44,817 square miles are land,490 square miles are inland waters, and 749 square miles are waters in Lake Erie. It is the 33rd largest state in the United States, Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Cities include Philadelphia, Reading, Lebanon and Lancaster in the southeast, Pittsburgh in the southwest, the tri-cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, the northeast includes the former anthracite coal mining communities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston City, and Hazleton. Erie is located in the northwest, the state has 5 regions, namely the Allegheny Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Erie Plain. Straddling two major zones, the majority of the state, with the exception of the corner, has a humid continental climate. The largest city, Philadelphia, has characteristics of the humid subtropical climate that covers much of Delaware. Moving toward the interior of the state, the winter climate becomes colder, the number of cloudy days increase. Western areas of the state, particularly locations near Lake Erie, can receive over 100 inches of snowfall annually, the state may be subject to severe weather from spring through summer into fall. Tornadoes occur annually in the state, sometimes in large numbers, the Tuscarora Nation took up temporary residence in the central portion of Pennsylvania ca. Both the Dutch and the English claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their lands in America
28.
Virginia
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Virginia is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, as well as in the historic Southeast. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, the capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond, Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealths estimated population as of 2014 is over 8.3 million, the areas history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony, slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colonys early politics and plantation economy. Although the Commonwealth was under one-party rule for nearly a century following Reconstruction, the Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World. The state government was ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States in both 2005 and 2008 and it is unique in how it treats cities and counties equally, manages local roads, and prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginias economy changed from agricultural to industrial during the 1960s and 1970s. Virginia has an area of 42,774.2 square miles, including 3,180.13 square miles of water. Virginias boundary with Maryland and Washington, D. C. extends to the mark of the south shore of the Potomac River. The southern border is defined as the 36° 30′ parallel north, the border with Tennessee was not settled until 1893, when their dispute was brought to the U. S. Supreme Court. The Chesapeake Bay separates the portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginias Eastern Shore. The bay was formed from the river valleys of the Susquehanna River. Many of Virginias rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James, the Tidewater is a coastal plain between the Atlantic coast and the fall line. It includes the Eastern Shore and major estuaries of Chesapeake Bay, the Piedmont is a series of sedimentary and igneous rock-based foothills east of the mountains which were formed in the Mesozoic era. The region, known for its clay soil, includes the Southwest Mountains around Charlottesville. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a province of the Appalachian Mountains with the highest points in the state. The Ridge and Valley region is west of the mountains and includes the Great Appalachian Valley, the region is carbonate rock based and includes Massanutten Mountain. The Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains are in the southwest corner of Virginia, in this region, rivers flow northwest, with a dendritic drainage system, into the Ohio River basin
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John Locke
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John Locke FRS was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the Father of Liberalism. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Sir Francis Bacon and his work greatly affected the development of epistemology and political philosophy. His writings influenced Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers and his contributions to classical republicanism and liberal theory are reflected in the United States Declaration of Independence. Locke was the first to define the self through a continuity of consciousness and he postulated that, at birth, the mind was a blank slate or tabula rasa. This is now known as empiricism, an example of Lockes belief in Empiricism can be seen in his quote, whatever I write, as soon as I discover it not to be true, my hand shall be the forwardest to throw it into the fire. This shows the ideology of science in his observations in that something must be capable of being tested repeatedly, challenging the work of others, Locke is said to have established the method of introspection, or observing the emotions and behaviours of one’s self. Locke was born on 29 August 1632, in a thatched cottage by the church in Wrington, Somerset. He was baptised the same day, soon after Lockes birth, the family moved to the market town of Pensford, about seven miles south of Bristol, where Locke grew up in a rural Tudor house in Belluton. In 1647, Locke was sent to the prestigious Westminster School in London under the sponsorship of Alexander Popham, after completing studies there, he was admitted to Christ Church, Oxford, in the autumn of 1652 at the age of twenty. The dean of the college at the time was John Owen, although a capable student, Locke was irritated by the undergraduate curriculum of the time. He found the works of philosophers, such as René Descartes. Locke was awarded a degree in February 1656 and a masters degree in June 1658. In 1666, he met Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, Cooper was impressed with Locke and persuaded him to become part of his retinue. Locke had been looking for a career and in 1667 moved into Shaftesburys home at Exeter House in London, in London, Locke resumed his medical studies under the tutelage of Thomas Sydenham. Sydenham had an effect on Lockes natural philosophical thinking – an effect that would become evident in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Lockes medical knowledge was put to the test when Shaftesburys liver infection became life-threatening, Locke coordinated the advice of several physicians and was probably instrumental in persuading Shaftesbury to undergo surgery to remove the cyst. Shaftesbury survived and prospered, crediting Locke with saving his life, Shaftesbury, as a founder of the Whig movement, exerted great influence on Lockes political ideas. Locke became involved in politics when Shaftesbury became Lord Chancellor in 1672, following Shaftesburys fall from favour in 1675, Locke spent some time travelling across France as tutor and medical attendant to Caleb Banks
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Local mean time
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Local mean time is a form of solar time that corrects the variations of local apparent time, forming a uniform time scale at a specific longitude. This measurement of time was used for use during the 19th century before time zones were introduced beginning in the late 19th century, it still has some uses in astronomy. Local mean time was used from the early 19th century, when local solar time or sundial time was last used until standard time was adopted on various dates in the several countries, each town or city kept its own meridian. This led to a situation where locations one degree of longitude apart had times four minutes apart. This became a problem in the mid 19th century when railways needed clocks that were synchronized between stations, at the time as people needed to match their clock to the time tables. Standard time means that the time is used throughout some region—usually. The difference between local time and local apparent time is the equation of time
31.
History of slavery
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The history of slavery spans nearly every culture, nationality, and religion from ancient times to the present day. However the social, economic, and legal positions of slaves were vastly different in different systems of slavery in different times and places, Slavery is rare among hunter-gatherer populations, as it is developed as a system of social stratification. Slavery was known in the very oldest civilizations such as Sumer in Mesopotamia which dates back as far as 3500 BC, the Byzantine–Ottoman wars and the Ottoman wars in Europe resulted in the taking of large numbers of Christian slaves. Slavery became common within much of Europe and the British Isles during the Dark Ages, the Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, British, Arabs and a number of West African kingdoms played a prominent role in the Atlantic slave trade, especially after 1600. During the 1983–2005 Second Sudanese Civil War people were taken into slavery, evidence emerged in the late 1990s of systematic slavery in cacao plantations in West Africa, see the chocolate and slavery article. Evidence of slavery predates written records, and has existed in many cultures, however, slavery is rare among hunter-gatherer populations. Mass slavery requires economic surpluses and a population density to be viable. Due to these factors, the practice of slavery would have only proliferated after the invention of agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution, about 11,000 years ago. Such institutions were a mixture of debt-slavery, punishment for crime, the enslavement of prisoners of war, child abandonment, French historian Fernand Braudel noted that slavery was endemic in Africa and part of the structure of everyday life. During the 16th century, Europe began to outpace the Arab world in the export traffic, the Dutch imported slaves from Asia into their colony in South Africa. In 1807 Britain, which extensive, although mainly coastal, colonial territories on the African continent, made the international slave trade illegal. In Senegambia, between 1300 and 1900, close to one-third of the population was enslaved, in early Islamic states of the Western Sudan, including Ghana, Mali, Segou, and Songhai, about a third of the population was enslaved. In Sierra Leone in the 19th century about half of the population consisted of slaves. In the 19th century at least half the population was enslaved among the Duala of the Cameroon, the Igbo and other peoples of the lower Niger, the Kongo, among the Ashanti and Yoruba a third of the population consisted of slaves. The population of the Kanem was about a third slave and it was perhaps 40% in Bornu. Between 1750 and 1900 from one- to two-thirds of the population of the Fulani jihad states consisted of slaves. The population of the Sokoto caliphate formed by Hausas in northern Nigeria and it is estimated that up to 90% of the population of Arab-Swahili Zanzibar was enslaved. Roughly half the population of Madagascar was enslaved, the Anti-Slavery Society estimated that there were 2,000,000 slaves in the early 1930s Ethiopia, out of an estimated population of between 8 and 16 million
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John Dunlap
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John Dunlap was the printer of the first copies of the United States Declaration of Independence and one of the most successful American printers of his era. Dunlap was born in Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1757, when he was ten years old, he went to work as an apprentice to his uncle, William Dunlap, a printer and bookseller in Philadelphia. In 1766, William Dunlap left the business in the care of his nephew, John eventually bought the business, and at first made a living by printing sermons and probably broadsides and handbills too. In November 1771, Dunlap began the publication of the Pennsylvania Packet, or General Advertiser, in 1773 he married Elizabeth Hayes Ellison. During the American Revolutionary War, Dunlap became an officer in the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry and he continued in the First City Troop after the war, rising to the rank of major, and leading Pennsylvanias cavalry militia to help suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. In 1776, Dunlap secured a printing contract for the Continental Congress. In July 1776, fighting between the American colonists and the British forces had been going on for nearly a year, on July 2, the Second Continental Congress voted to secede. Two days later, they approved the wording of a public declaration regarding their decision. That evening John Hancock ordered Dunlap to print broadside copies of the declaration, Dunlap printed perhaps 200 broadsides, since known as the Dunlap broadsides, which were the first published versions of the Declaration. Dunlap also printed items for Pennsylvanias revolutionary government, in 1784, Dunlaps paper became a daily with a new title, the North American and United States Gazette. It was not the first daily in the United States—the Pennsylvania Evening Post beat him to the punch in 1783—but it became the first successful daily, Dunlaps major financial success came from real estate speculation. During the American Revolution, he bought property confiscated from Loyalists who refused to take Pennsylvanias new loyalty oath, after the war, he bought land in Kentucky. By 1795, when he was forty-eight, he was able to retire with a sizable estate, retirement did not agree with him, however, according to his friend, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Dunlap became a drunkard in his final years. American National Biography Online, February 2000
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Charles Thomson
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Charles Thomson was an Irish-born Patriot leader in Philadelphia during the American Revolution and the secretary of the Continental Congress throughout its existence. Thomson was born in Gorteade townland, Maghera parish, County Londonderry, Ireland, after the death of his mother in 1739, his father emigrated to the British colonies in America with Charles and two or three brothers. The father died at sea, and the boys were separated in America. Charles was cared for by a blacksmith in New Castle, Delaware, in 1750 he became a tutor in Latin at the Philadelphia Academy. During the French and Indian War, Thomson was an opponent of the Pennsylvania proprietors American Indian policies and he was allied with Benjamin Franklin, the leader of the anti-proprietary party, but the two men parted politically during the Stamp Act crisis in 1765. Thomson became a leader of Philadelphias Sons of Liberty and he was married to the sister of Benjamin Harrison V, another signer, as delegate, of the Declaration of Independence. Thomson was a leader in the crisis of the early 1770s. John Adams called him the Samuel Adams of Philadelphia, Thomson served as the secretary of the Continental Congress through its entirety. Through those 15 years, the Congress saw many delegates come and go, along with John Hancock, president of the Congress, Thomsons name appeared on the first published version of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776. Thomsons role as secretary to Congress was not limited to clerical duties, according to biographer Boyd Schlenther, Thomson took a direct role in the conduct of foreign affairs. Fred S. Rolater has suggested that Charles Thomson was essentially the Prime Minister of the United States, Thomson is also noted for designing, with William Barton, the Great Seal of the United States. The Great Seal played a prominent role in the January 14,1784, britains representatives in Paris initially disputed the placement of the Great Seal and Congressional President Thomas Mifflins signature, until mollified by Benjamin Franklin. But Thomsons service was not without its critics, such brawls on the floor were not uncommon, and many of them were promoted by argument over Thomsons recordings. Political disagreements prevented Thomson from getting a position in the new government created by the United States Constitution, Thomson resigned as secretary of Congress in July 1789 and handed over the Great Seal, bringing an end to the Continental Congress. He spent his years at Harriton House in Bryn Mawr. He also published a synopsis of the four evangelists in 1815, in retirement, Thomson also pursued his interests in agricultural science and beekeeping. According to Thomas Jefferson, writing to John Adams, Thomson became senile in his old age and it is at most but the life of a cabbage, surely not worth a wish. In 1853 JW Randolph and Company republished the work incorporating various materials from the Estate provided by Jeffersons literary executor Thomas Jefferson Randolph
34.
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
35.
Article One of the United States Constitution
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Article One of the United States Constitution establishes the legislative branch of the federal government, the United States Congress. The Congress is a legislature consisting of a House of Representatives. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, Section 1 is a vesting clause that bestows federal legislative power exclusively to Congress. Similar clauses are found in Articles II and III, the former confers executive power upon the President alone, and the latter grants judicial power solely to the federal judiciary. These three articles create a separation of powers among the three branches of the federal government and this separation of powers, by which each department may exercise only its own constitutional powers and no others, is fundamental to the idea of a limited government accountable to the people. The separation of powers principle is particularly noteworthy in regard to the Congress, the Constitution declares that the Congress may exercise only those legislative powers herein granted within Article I. It also, by implied extension, prohibits Congress from delegating its authority to either of the other branches of government. That the power assigned to each branch must remain with that branch, although not specifically mentioned in the Constitution, Congress has also long asserted the power to investigate and the power to compel cooperation with an investigation. The Supreme Court has affirmed these powers as an implication of Congresss power to legislate, since the power to investigate is an aspect of Congresss power to legislate, it is as broad as Congresss powers to legislate. However, it is limited to inquiries that are in aid of the legislative function. The courts are highly deferential to Congresss exercise of its investigation powers, Congress has the power to investigate that which it could regulate, and the courts have interpreted Congresss regulatory powers broadly since the Great Depression. Section Two provides for the election of the House of Representatives every second year, since Representatives are to be chosen. At the time of its creation, the Constitution did not explicitly give citizens an inherent right to vote, rather, it provided that those qualified to vote in elections for the largest chamber of a states legislature may vote in Congressional elections. Since the Civil War, several amendments have been enacted that have curbed the states broad powers to set voter qualification standards. The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, the Nineteenth Amendment prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on sex. The Twenty-fourth Amendment prohibits the revocation of voting due to the non-payment of a poll tax. The Twenty-sixth Amendment prohibits the denial of the right of US citizens, eighteen years of age or older, in the 1960s, the Supreme Court started to view voting as a fundamental right covered by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. There is no requirement that a Representative reside within the district in which he or she represents, although this is usually the case, there have been occasional exceptions
36.
Article Two of the United States Constitution
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Article Two of the United States Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government, which carries out and enforces federal laws. It includes the President, the Vice President, the Cabinet, executive departments, independent agencies, and other boards, commissions, the executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. Similar clauses are found in Article I and Article III, the former bestows federal legislative power exclusively to Congress, and the latter grants judicial power solely to the Supreme Court. These three articles create a separation of powers among the three branches of the federal government, the Presidents executive power is subject to two important limitations. First, the President lacks executive authority explicitly granted to Congress, hence the President cannot declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, or regulate commerce, even though executives had often wielded such authority in the past. In these instances, Congress retained portions of the power that the Continental Congress had wielded under the Articles of Confederation. Nor were they retained by the U. S. Congress as leftovers from the Articles of Confederation, government considers itself at war with a foreign political entity. By U. S. law, the limitation on that power is a requirement to notify specific members of Congress within 48 hours after the beginning of military operations. Once proper legal notification is given to the members of Congress, military action can continue. Second, specific constitutional provisions may check customary executive authority, notwithstanding his executive power, the President cannot make treaties or appointments without the advice and consent of the Senate. Likewise, the Presidents pardon power is limited to offenses against the United States and does not extend to impeachments or violations of state law. As treaties are by U. S. law official agreements with foreign governments recognized as only after Senate ratification. Additionally, since official treaties are specifically created under and by constitutional U. S. S. as far as presidential appointments, as with treaties a person is not officially and legally appointed to a position until their appointment is approved by the Senate. And again, the President nominates people for positions at his pleasure. Senate consent occurs when a supermajority of votes to approve. The head of the Executive Branch is the President, although also named in this first clause, the Vice President is not constitutionally vested with any executive power. Nonetheless, the Constitution dictates that the President and Vice President are to be elected at the time, for the same term. The framers intent was to preserve the independence of the branch should the person who was Vice President succeed to the duties of the presidency
37.
Article Three of the United States Constitution
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Article Three of the United States Constitution establishes the judicial branch of the federal government. The judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court of the United States, the judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The number of justices is fixed by statute at nine, the one chief justice, proposals to divide the Supreme Court into separate panels have been made, but all have failed. Since all such proposals have failed, the Supreme Court has never ruled on the constitutionality of such a division, however, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes wrote, the Constitution does not appear to authorize two or more Supreme Courts functioning in effect as separate courts. The Supreme Court is the federal court that is explicitly mandated by the Constitution. During the Constitutional Convention, a proposal was made for the Supreme Court to be the federal court. This proposal was rejected in favor of the provision that exists today, under this provision, the Congress may create inferior courts under both Article III, Section 1, and Article I, Section 8. The Article III courts, which are known as constitutional courts, were first created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. Article I courts, which are known as legislative courts, consist of regulatory agencies. Article III courts are the ones with judicial power. However, cases not requiring judicial determination may come before Article I courts, other cases, such as bankruptcy cases, have been held not to involve judicial determination, and may therefore go before Article I courts. Similarly, several courts in the District of Columbia, which is under the jurisdiction of the Congress, are Article I courts rather than Article III courts. This article was expressly extended to the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico by the U. S. Congress through Federal Law 89-571,80 Stat,764, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966. This transformed the article IV United States territorial court in Puerto Rico, created in 1900, Supreme Court for every sitting member over the age of 70½, up to a maximum of six. The Constitution is silent when it comes to judges of courts which have been abolished, the Judiciary Act of 1801 increased the number of courts to permit the Federalist President John Adams to appoint a number of Federalist judges before Thomas Jefferson took office. When Jefferson became President, the Congress abolished several of these courts, Judicial code of 1911 abolished circuit riding and transferred the circuit courts authority and jurisdiction to the district courts. The Constitution provides that judges shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, the term good behavior is interpreted to mean that judges may serve for the remainder of their lives, although they may resign or retire voluntarily. A judge may also be removed by impeachment and conviction by congressional vote, Three other judges, Mark W. Delahay, George W. English, and Samuel B
38.
Article Five of the United States Constitution
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Article Five of the United States Constitution describes the process whereby the Constitution, the nations frame of government, may be altered. Altering the Constitution consists of proposing an amendment or amendments and subsequent ratification, the vote of each state carries equal weight, regardless of a states population or length of time in the Union. Additionally, Article V temporarily shielded certain clauses in Article I from being amended and it also shields the first clause of Article I, Section 3, which provides for equal representation of the states in the Senate, from being amended, though not absolutely. Thirty-three amendments to the United States Constitution have been approved by the Congress, twenty-seven of these amendments have been ratified and are now part of the Constitution. The first ten amendments were adopted and ratified simultaneously and are known collectively as the Bill of Rights, six amendments adopted by Congress and sent to the states have not been ratified by the required number of states and are not part of the Constitution. Four of these amendments are still open and pending, one is closed and has failed by its own terms. All totaled, approximately 11,539 measures to amend the Constitution have been proposed in Congress since 1789, Article V provides two methods for amending the nations frame of government. The first method authorizes Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, to propose Constitutional amendments, the second method requires Congress, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, to call a convention for proposing amendments. When the 1st Congress considered a series of amendments, it was suggested that the two houses first adopt a resolution indicating that they deemed amendments necessary. Instead, both the House and the Senate proceeded directly to consideration of a joint resolution, thereby implying that both bodies deemed amendments to be necessary. Also, when proposed by James Madison, the amendments were designed to be interwoven into the relevant sections of the original document. Instead, they were approved by Congress and sent to the states for ratification as supplemental additions appended to it, both these precedents have been followed ever since. Regarding the amendment process crafted during the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Madison,43, wrote, It guards equally against that extreme facility which would render the Constitution too mutable, and that extreme difficulty which might perpetuate its discovered faults. It moreover equally enables the General and the State Governments to originate the amendment of errors, as they may be pointed out by the experience on one side, each time the amendment process has been initiated since 1789, the first method has been used. All 33 amendments submitted to the states for ratification originated in the Congress, three times in the 20th century, concerted efforts were undertaken by proponents of particular amendments to secure the number of applications necessary to summon an Article V Convention. Once approved by Congress, the joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment does not require Presidential approval before it out to the states. Thus the president has no function in the process. In Hollingsworth v. Virginia, the Supreme Court affirmed that it is not necessary to place constitutional amendments before the President for approval or veto
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First Amendment to the United States Constitution
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It was adopted on December 15,1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was originally proposed to assuage Anti-Federalist opposition to Constitutional ratification, initially, the First Amendment applied only to laws enacted by the Congress, and many of its provisions were interpreted more narrowly than they are today. Beginning with Gitlow v. New York, the Supreme Court applied the First Amendment to states—a process known as incorporation—through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court overturned English common law precedent to increase the burden of proof for defamation and libel suits, commercial speech, however, is less protected by the First Amendment than political speech, and is therefore subject to greater regulation. The Free Press Clause protects publication of information and opinions, in Near v. Minnesota and New York Times v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protected against prior restraint—pre-publication censorship—in almost all cases. The Petition Clause protects the right to all branches and agencies of government for action. In addition to the right of assembly guaranteed by this clause, eight of the other thirteen states made similar pledges. However, these declarations were generally considered mere admonitions to state legislatures, after a brief debate, Masons proposal was defeated by a unanimous vote of the state delegations. For the constitution to be ratified, however, nine of the thirteen states were required to approve it in state conventions, opposition to ratification was partly based on the Constitutions lack of adequate guarantees for civil liberties. Constitution was eventually ratified by all thirteen states and this language was greatly condensed by Congress, and passed the House and Senate with almost no recorded debate, complicating future discussion of the Amendments intent. The First Amendment, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights, was submitted to the states for ratification on September 25,1789, and adopted on December 15,1791. In Reynolds v. United States the Supreme Court used these words to declare that it may be accepted almost as a declaration of the scope. Congress was deprived of all power over mere opinion, but was left free to reach actions which were in violation of social duties or subversive of good order. In these two sentences is found the distinction between what properly belongs to the church and what to the State. Originally, the First Amendment applied only to the federal government, Massachusetts, for example, was officially Congregationalist until the 1830s. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, in the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect a wall of separation between church and State. That wall must be high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach, in Torcaso v. Watkins, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution prohibits states and the federal government from requiring any kind of religious test for public office
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Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
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State and local governments are limited to the same extent as the federal government from infringing this right per the incorporation of the Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment was based partially on the right to keep, in the twenty-first century, the amendment has been subjected to renewed academic inquiry and judicial interest. In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that held the amendment protects an individual right to possess. Despite these decisions, the debate between various organizations regarding gun control and gun rights continues, there are several versions of the text of the Second Amendment, each with capitalization or punctuation differences. Differences exist between the drafted and ratified copies, the copies on display, and various published transcriptions. The importance of these differences has been the source of debate regarding the meaning and interpretation of the amendment, one version was passed by the Congress, and a slightly different version was ratified. Ultimately, the Catholic James II was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution, and his successors, the text of the English Bill of Rights of 1689 includes language protecting the right of Protestants against disarmament by the Crown. This document states, That the Subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and it also contained text that aspired to bind future Parliaments, though under English constitutional law no Parliament can bind any later Parliament. The statement in the English Bill of Rights concerning the right to arms is often quoted only in the passage where it is written as above. By causing severall good Subjects being Protestants to be disarmed at the time when Papists were both Armed and Imployed contrary to Law. That the Subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law. The historical link between the English Bill of Rights and the Second Amendment, which both codify an existing right and do not create a new one, has been acknowledged by the U. S. Supreme Court. The English Bill of Rights includes the proviso that arms must be as allowed by law and this has been the case before and after the passage of the Bill. Before and after the English Bill of Rights, the government could always disarm any individual or class of individuals it considered dangerous to the peace of the realm. The fifth and last auxiliary right of the subject, that I shall at present mention, is that of having arms for their defence, suitable to their condition and degree, which is also declared by the same statute 1 W. & M. st.2. Some in the United States have preferred the rights argument arguing that the English Bill of Rights had granted a right, the need to have arms for self-defence was not really in question. Without a regular army and police force, it had been the duty of men to keep watch and ward at night and to confront. Every subject had an obligation to protect the peace and assist in the suppression of riots
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Third Amendment to the United States Constitution
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The Third Amendment to the United States Constitution places restrictions on the quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owners consent, forbidding the practice in peacetime. The Third Amendment was introduced in Congress in 1789 by James Madison as a part of the United States Bill of Rights, in response to Anti-Federalist objections to the new Constitution. Congress proposed the amendment to the states on September 28,1789, and by December 15,1791, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson announced the adoption of the amendment on March 1,1792. The amendment is one of the least controversial of the Constitution and is rarely litigated, to date, it has never been the primary basis of a Supreme Court decision, though it was the basis of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit case Engblom v. Carey. After the Boston Tea Party, the Quartering Act of 1774 was enacted, One of the Intolerable Acts that pushed the colonies toward revolution, it authorized British troops to be housed wherever necessary, including in private homes. The quartering of troops was cited as one of the grievances in the United States Declaration of Independence. George Mason, a Constitutional Convention delegate and the drafter of Virginias Declaration of Rights, after a brief debate, Masons proposal was defeated by a unanimous vote of the state delegations. For the constitution to be ratified, however, nine of the thirteen states were required to approve it in state conventions, opposition to ratification was partly based on the Constitutions lack of adequate guarantees for civil liberties. Several state conventions specifically proposed a provision against the quartering of troops in private homes, at the 1788 Virginia Ratifying Convention, Patrick Henry stated, One of our first complaints, under the former government, was the quartering of troops among us. This was one of the reasons for dissolving the connection with Great Britain. Here we may have troops in time of peace and they may be billeted in any manner — to tyrannize, oppress, and crush us. However, the amendment ultimately passed Congress almost unchanged and by unanimous vote, Congress reduced Madisons proposed twenty amendments to twelve, and these were submitted to the states for ratification on September 25,1789. By the time the Bill of Rights was submitted to the states for ratification, many Federalists, who had previously opposed a Bill of Rights, now supported the Bill as a means of silencing the Anti-Federalists most effective criticism. Many Anti-Federalists, in contrast, now opposed it, realizing that the Bills adoption would greatly lessen the chances of a constitutional convention. Anti-Federalists such as Richard Henry Lee also argued that the Bill left the most objectionable portions of the Constitution, such as the judiciary and direct taxation. On November 20,1789, New Jersey ratified eleven of the amendments, rejecting Article II. On December 19 and 22, respectively, Maryland and North Carolina ratified all twelve amendments, in February through June 1790, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island ratified eleven of the amendments, though all three rejected the amendment on Congressional pay raises. Virginia initially postponed its debate, but after Vermont was admitted to the Union in 1791, Vermont ratified on November 3,1791, approving all twelve amendments, and Virginia finally followed on December 15,1791
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Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
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The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. The Fourth Amendment was introduced in Congress in 1789 by James Madison, along with the amendments in the Bill of Rights. Congress submitted the amendment to the states on September 28,1789, by December 15,1791, the necessary three-fourths of the states had ratified it. On March 1,1792, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson announced the adoption of the amendment, the amendment was held to apply to the states in Mapp v. Ohio. Under the Fourth Amendment, search and seizure should be limited in scope according to information supplied to the issuing court. The exclusionary rule is one way the amendment is enforced, established in Weeks v. United States, this rule holds that evidence obtained through a Fourth Amendment violation is generally inadmissible at criminal trials. Evidence discovered as a result of an illegal search may also be inadmissible as fruit of the poisonous tree. Like many other areas of American law, the Fourth Amendment finds its roots in English legal doctrine. Sir Edward Coke, in Semaynes case, famously stated, The house of one is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defence against injury. Entick filed suit in Entick v Carrington, argued before the Court of Kings Bench in 1765, during what scholar William Cuddihy called the colonial epidemic of general searches, the authorities possessed almost unlimited power to search for anything at any time, with very little oversight. In 1756, the colony of Massachusetts enacted legislation that barred the use of general warrants and this represented the first law in American history curtailing the use of seizure power. The act also permitted the use of a general warrant known as a writ of assistance, allowing tax collectors to search the homes of colonists and seize prohibited and uncustomed goods. A crisis erupted over the writs of assistance on December 27,1760 when the news of King George IIs death on October 23 arrived in Boston. All writs automatically expired six months after the death of the King and would have had to be re-issued by George III, in mid-January 1761, a group of over 50 merchants represented by James Otis petitioned the court to have hearings on the issue. During the five-hour hearing on February 23,1761, Otis vehemently denounced British colonial policies, however, the court ruled against Otis. Future US President John Adams, who was present in the courtroom when Otis spoke, the governor overturned the legislation, finding it contrary to English law and parliamentary sovereignty. Seeing the danger general warrants presented, the Virginia Declaration of Rights explicitly forbade the use of general warrants, by 1784, eight state constitutions contained a provision against general warrants. George Mason, a Constitutional Convention delegate and the drafter of Virginias Declaration of Rights, after a brief debate, Masons proposal was defeated by a unanimous vote of the state delegations
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