1.
Portland, Maine
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Portland is the largest city in the U. S. state of Maine, with a population of 66,881 as of 2015. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to half a million people. The Old Port district is frequented by tourists, while Portland Head Light is also a destination, the city seal depicts a phoenix rising from ashes, which is a reference to the recoveries from four devastating fires. Portland was named for the English Isle of Portland, and the city of Portland, Oregon was in turn named after Portland, Native Americans originally called the Portland peninsula Machigonne. Portland, Maine was named for the English Isle of Portland, the first European settler was Capt. Christopher Levett, an English naval captain granted 6,000 acres in 1623 to found a settlement in Casco Bay. The settlement failed, and the fate of Levetts colonists is unknown, the explorer sailed from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony to meet John Winthrop in 1630, but never returned to Maine. Fort Levett in the harbor is named for him, the peninsula was first permanently settled in 1632 as a fishing and trading village named Casco. When the Massachusetts Bay Colony took over Casco Bay in 1658, in 1676, the village was destroyed by the Abenaki during King Philips War. During King Williams War, a party of French and Native allies attacked. On October 18,1775, Falmouth was burned in the Revolution by the Royal Navy under command of Captain Henry Mowat, following the war, a section of Falmouth called The Neck developed as a commercial port and began to grow rapidly as a shipping center. In 1786, the citizens of Falmouth formed a town in Falmouth Neck and named it Portland, after the isle off the coast of Dorset. Portlands economy was greatly stressed by the Embargo Act of 1807, which ended in 1809, and the War of 1812, in 1820, Maine became a state with Portland as its capital. In 1832, the capital was moved north to Augusta, in 1851, Maine led the nation by passing the first state law prohibiting the sale of alcohol except for medicinal, mechanical or manufacturing purposes. The law subsequently became known as the Maine law, as 18 states quickly followed, on June 2,1855, the Portland Rum Riot occurred. In 1853, upon completion of the Grand Trunk Railway to Montreal, the Portland Company manufactured more than 600 19th-century steam locomotives. Portland became a 20th-century rail hub as five rail lines merged into Portland Terminal Company in 1911. Following nationalization of the Grand Trunk system in 1923, Canadian export traffic was diverted from Portland to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the 20th century, icebreakers later enabled ships to reach Montreal in winter, drastically reducing Portlands role as a winter port for Canada. On June 26,1863, a Confederate raiding party led by Captain Charles Read, entered the harbor at Portland, more than 10,000 people were left homeless
2.
Neighborhoods in Portland, Maine
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Portland, Maine is home to many neighborhoods. Portlands Arts District is based around Congress Street in downtown Portland, the District includes the Portland Museum of Art, the Childrens Museum of Maine, the Maine College of Art and the State Theatre. It is a mixed use neighborhood with both apartments and commercial establishments, Back Cove is a neighborhood off of Portlands peninsula and downtown areas. With views of the Portland skyline across Back Cove, it borders the neighborhoods of Deering Center, North Deering, East Deering, Rosemont, Neighborhood boundaries are, Washington Avenue, Baxter Boulevard, Forest Avenue, and Canco Road. Within the boundaries of the Back Cove neighborhood are Woodfords Corner, Ocean Avenue, Payson Park, Cheverus High School, the map on Barry & Andersons _Deering, A Social and Architectural History_, p.15 is ambiguous as to the neighborhoods precise borders. Among Highlands most notable residents was conservative US Senator Ralph Owen Brewster. The neighborhood is almost entirely residential, but the largest institutional feature of the Highlands is the Maine Medical Centers Brighton Avenue Campus, the complex is now home of the New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland and also houses training facilities and an urgent care center. East Deering is the easternmost neighborhood of the city of Portland, the suburban neighborhood is situated between the Munjoy Hill and North Deering neighborhoods of the city, as well as the town of Falmouth. East Deering is a diverse place, featuring both public housing and more expensive single family homes. Much of the neighborhood has views of Casco Bay and nearby Mackworth Island East Deering was bisected by 295 in the 1960s, major landmarks in this neighborhood include the Burnham and Morrill Co. Baked Bean manufacturing plant, Martins Point, Presumpscot School, Payson Park, Payson Park, Presumpscot Elementary School, Bottos Bakery, and Martins Point peninsula are also in the neighborhood. The major throughways in East Deering are Washington Avenue and Veranda Street, Martins Point Bridge connects East Deering to Falmouth. East Bayside is a neighborhood in Portland, Maine and it is bordered by Franklin Street on the west, Washington Avenue on the east, to the north by Marginal Way, and the south by Congress Street. It was first developed a network in the early 19th century. By the 1820s the area was Portlands second seaport via the Back Coves ship channel, much of the debris from the great Portland fire of 1866 was deposited into Back Cove, significantly increasing the size of East Bayside. Maps produced around 1900 show an extension of the out to Marginal Way. The shoreline would not change again until the construction of the Interstate in 1974, the East End is a neighborhood on the far eastern end of Portlands peninsula. It is closely linked with Munjoy Hill and the Eastern Promenade, the East End Community School, located on North Street, serves the area
3.
Lighthouse
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Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, and safe entries to harbors, and can assist in aerial navigation. Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance, before the development of clearly defined ports, mariners were guided by fires built on hilltops. Since raising the fire would improve the visibility, placing the fire on a platform became a practice that led to the development of the lighthouse. In antiquity, the lighthouse functioned more as a marker to ports than as a warning signal for reefs and promontories. The most famous lighthouse structure from antiquity was the Pharos of Alexandria, coins from Alexandria, Ostia, and Laodicea in Syria also exist. The modern era of lighthouses began at the turn of the 18th century, advances in structural engineering and new and efficient lighting equipment allowed for the creation of larger and more powerful lighthouses, including ones exposed to the sea. The function of lighthouses shifted toward the provision of a warning against shipping hazards. The Eddystone Rocks were a major hazard for mariners sailing through the English Channel. The first lighthouse built there was a wooden structure, anchored by 12 iron stanchions secured in the rock. His lighthouse was the first tower in the world to have been exposed to the open sea. The civil engineer, John Smeaton, rebuilt the lighthouse from 1756–59, his tower marked a step forward in the design of lighthouses. He modelled the shape of his lighthouse on that of an oak tree and he pioneered the use of hydraulic lime, a form of concrete that will set under water, and developed a technique of securing the granite blocks together using dovetail joints and marble dowels. This profile had the advantage of allowing some of the energy of the waves to dissipate on impact with the walls. His lighthouse was the prototype for the lighthouse and influenced all subsequent engineers. One such influence was Robert Stevenson, himself a figure in the development of lighthouse design. His greatest achievement was the construction of the Bell Rock Lighthouse in 1810 and this structure was based upon Smeatons design, but with several improved features, such as the incorporation of rotating lights, alternating between red and white. Stevenson worked for the Northern Lighthouse Board for nearly fifty years during which time he designed and oversaw the construction and he also invented the movable jib and the balance crane as a necessary part for lighthouse construction. Alexander Mitchell designed the first screw-pile lighthouse – his lighthouse was built on piles that were screwed into the sandy or muddy seabed, construction of his design began in 1838 at the mouth of the Thames and was known as the Maplin Sands lighthouse, and first lit in 1841
4.
Portland Head Light
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Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The light station sits on a head of land at the entrance of the shipping channel into Portland Harbor. Completed in 1791, it is the oldest lighthouse in the state of Maine, construction began in 1787 at the directive of George Washington, and was completed on January 10,1791 using a fund of 1,500 dollars established by him. Whale oil lamps were used for illumination. That lens was updated with an DCB-224 aero beacon in 1991, the original plans called for the tower to be 58 feet tall. When the masons completed this task they climbed to the top of the tower and realized that it would not be visible beyond the headlands to the south, the tower was built of rubblestone, and Washington gave the masons four years to build it. While it was construction in 1789, the federal government was being formed and for a while it looked as though the lighthouse would not be finished. ”The tower was completed during 1790. The current keepers house was built in 1891, when Halfway Rock Light was built, Portland Head Light was considered less important and in 1883 the tower was shortened 20 feet and a weaker fourth-order Fresnel lens was added. The former height and second-order Fresnel lens was restored in 1885 following mariners complaints, the station has changed little except for the rebuilding of the whistle house in 1975 due to it being badly damaged in a storm. Today, Portland Head Light stands 80 feet above ground and 101 feet above water, the 224 airport style aerobeacon is visible for 24 nautical miles. The 400 watt metal halide lamp is rated for 20,000 hours and produces 36,000 lumens of light at 200,000 candlepower. The grounds, and keepers house are owned by the town of Cape Elizabeth, while the beacon and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Portland Head light on April 24,1973, reference number 73000121. Edward Hopper painted the lighthouse in 1927, the watercolor resides at Bostons Museum of Fine Arts. A snowy Portland Head Light was featured in the 1999 drama Snow Falling on Cedars, annie C. Maguire shipwreck Port of Portland, ME National Register of Historic Places listings in Cumberland County, Maine Portland Head Light - official site
5.
Charles J. Loring Jr.
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Charles Joseph Loring Jr. was a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces in World War II, and later in the United States Air Force in the Korean War. Loring rose to the rank of major and posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions on November 22,1952 above Kunwha. Born in Portland, Maine, Loring joined the U. S. Army in 1942 and was selected to undergo pilot training. He spent several months stationed in Puerto Rico before being transferred to duty in the United Kingdom in 1944, there, he flew 55 combat missions in P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft before being shot down and serving six months as a Nazi German prisoner of war. By the outset of the Korean War, Loring was working in a role in the United States. During a patrol on November 22,1952, Loring was leading a flight of F-80 Shooting Stars of the 80th Fighter-Bomber Squadron in an attack on a Chinese artillery position, during the run, his aircraft was struck by intense and accurate anti aircraft fire. Rather than abort the mission, Loring continued his run, aiming his disabled aircraft at the position and obliterating it. After his death, Loring was awarded the Medal of Honor, Charles Loring Jr. was born on October 2,1918 in Portland, Maine to Charles J. Loring Sr. and Irene Cronin Loring. He lived in the town throughout his life, attending Cheverus High School. He entered service in Portland at age 23, after the US entry into World War II, Loring enlisted in the United States Army in March 1942, and as a private joined the Army Air Corps. By May 1942, he had selected as an aviation cadet at the USAAC pre-flight school at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery. There, Loring completed primary, basic and advanced training courses. After graduating, Loring was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Army Reserve with a pilot rating. In December 1942, Loring was assigned to the 22nd Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group, Ninth Air Force at Losey Army Airfield in Juana Díaz, the unit flew anti-submarine patrols as part of a force defending the Panama Canal and Caribbean Sea areas. During this time, Loring primarily flew P-39 Airacobra and P-40 Warhawk fighter, after a stint of this duty, the 36th Fighter Group returned to the United States to Charleston Army Airfield in Charleston, South Carolina. There, Loring and the pilots of the unit trained with the P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft. It briefly moved to Scribner, Nebraska as part of flight training. In April 1944, Loring and the moved to England to fly missions against Nazi German targets
6.
Mount Washington (New Hampshire)
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Mount Washington, called Agiocochook by some Native American tribes, is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288.2 ft and the most prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather, the mountain is located in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, in the township of Sargents Purchase, Coös County, New Hampshire. While nearly the whole mountain is in the White Mountain National Forest, the Mount Washington Cog Railway ascends the western slope of the mountain, and the Mount Washington Auto Road climbs to the summit from the east. The mountain is popular with hikers, other common activities include glider flying, and annual cycle and running races such as the Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb and Road Race. Before European settlers arrived in the region, the mountain was known by various peoples as Kodaak Wadjo or Agiochook or Agiocochook. The Algonquians called it Waumbik, white rocks, the first European to mention the mountain was Giovanni da Verrazzano. Viewing it from the Atlantic Ocean in 1524, he described what he saw as high interior mountains, darby Field claimed to have made the first ascent of Mt. Washington in 1642. A geology party, headed by Manasseh Cutler, named the mountain in 1784, the Crawford Path, the oldest mountain hiking trail in the United States, was laid out in 1819 as a bridle path from Crawford Notch to the summit and has been in use ever since. Ethan Allen Crawford built a house on the summit in 1821, little occurred on the summit itself until the mid-19th century, when it was developed into one of the first tourist destinations in the nation, with construction of more bridle paths and two hotels. The Summit House opened in 1852, a 64-foot-long stone hotel anchored by four heavy chains over its roof, in 1853, the Tip-Top House was erected to compete. Rebuilt of wood with 91 rooms in 1872–1873, the Summit House burned in 1908, the Tip-Top House alone survived the fire, today it is a state historic site, recently renovated for exhibits. Other Victorian era tourist attractions include a coach road —now the Mount Washington Auto Road—and the Mount Washington Cog Railway, for forty years, an intermittent daily newspaper, called Among the Clouds, was published by Henry M. Burt at the summit each summer, until 1917. CNL officials said they were directing their efforts against other hotels that use the mountains name, patent and Trademark Office seeks registration of the trademark Mount Washington for any retail service, any restaurant service, and any entertainment service. The summit station of Mount Washington has a climate or tundra climate, although it receives an extremely high amount of precipitation. Lower elevations have a subarctic climate, the weather of Mount Washington is notoriously erratic. This is partly due to the convergence of several tracks, mainly from the Atlantic to the south, the Gulf region. The vertical rise of the Presidential Range, combined with its north-south orientation, low-pressure areas are more favorable to develop along the coastline in the winter due to the relative temperature differences between the Northeastern United States and the Atlantic Ocean. With these factors combined, hurricane-force wind gusts are observed from the summit of the mountain on average of 110 days per year
7.
New Hampshire
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New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, New Hampshire is the 5th smallest by land area and the 9th least populous of the 50 United States. Concord is the capital, while Manchester is the largest city in the state and in northern New England, including Vermont. It has no sales tax, nor is personal income taxed at either the state or local level. The New Hampshire primary is the first primary in the U. S. presidential election cycle and its license plates carry the state motto, Live Free or Die. The states nickname, The Granite State, refers to its extensive granite formations, the state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire by Captain John Mason. New Hampshire is part of the New England region and it is bounded by Quebec, Canada, to the north and northwest, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Massachusetts to the south, and Vermont to the west. New Hampshires major regions are the Great North Woods, the White Mountains, the Lakes Region, the Seacoast, the Merrimack Valley, the Monadnock Region, and the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee area. New Hampshire has the shortest ocean coastline of any U. S. coastal state, New Hampshire was home to the rock formation called the Old Man of the Mountain, a face-like profile in Franconia Notch, until the formation disintegrated in May 2003. Major rivers include the 110-mile Merrimack River, which bisects the lower half of the state north–south and ends up in Newburyport and its tributaries include the Contoocook River, Pemigewasset River, and Winnipesaukee River. The 410-mile Connecticut River, which starts at New Hampshires Connecticut Lakes and flows south to Connecticut, only one town – Pittsburg – shares a land border with the state of Vermont. The northwesternmost headwaters of the Connecticut also define the Canada–U. S, the Piscataqua River and its several tributaries form the states only significant ocean port where they flow into the Atlantic at Portsmouth. The Salmon Falls River and the Piscataqua define the southern portion of the border with Maine, the U. S. Supreme Court dismissed the case in 2002, leaving ownership of the island with Maine. New Hampshire still claims sovereignty of the base, however, the largest of New Hampshires lakes is Lake Winnipesaukee, which covers 71 square miles in the east-central part of New Hampshire. Umbagog Lake along the Maine border, approximately 12.3 square miles, is a distant second, Squam Lake is the second largest lake entirely in New Hampshire. New Hampshire has the shortest ocean coastline of any state in the United States, Hampton Beach is a popular local summer destination. It is the state with the highest percentage of area in the country. New Hampshire is in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, much of the state, in particular the White Mountains, is covered by the conifers and northern hardwoods of the New England-Acadian forests
8.
White Mountains (New Hampshire)
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The White Mountains are a mountain range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. They are part of the northern Appalachian Mountains and the most rugged mountains in New England, the range is heavily visited due to its proximity to Boston and, to a lesser extent, New York City and Montreal. Most of the area is land, including the White Mountain National Forest. Its most famous mountain is 6, 288-foot Mount Washington, which is the highest peak in the Northeastern U. S. Mount Washington is part of a line of summits, the Presidential Range, that are named after U. S. presidents and other prominent Americans. The White Mountains also include the Franconia Range, Sandwich Range, Carter-Moriah Range and Kinsman Range in New Hampshire, in all, there are 48 peaks within New Hampshire as well as one in Maine over 4,000 feet, known as the Four-thousand footers. The Whites are known for a system of alpine huts for hikers operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Appalachian Trail crosses the area from southwest to northeast. It is not clear where the name White Mountains came from, there is no record of what Native Americans called the range, although pre-Colonial names for many individual peaks are known. The name and similar such as White Hills or Wine Hills are found in literature from Colonial times. According to tradition, the mountains were first sighted from shipboard off the coast near the Piscataqua estuary, the highest peaks would often be snow-capped, appearing white. An alternate theory is that the granite of the summits looked white to observers. The White Mountains are a section of the larger New England province. The magma intrusions forming the White Mountains today were created 124 to 100 million years ago as the North American Plate moved westward over the New England hotspot, widespread evidence of glaciation may be seen in the U-shaped form of various notches, or mountain passes. Glacial cirques form the heads of Tuckerman Ravine on Mt. Washington, glacial striations are visible at numerous locations, including on the exposed rocks at the summit of Pine Mountain in Gorham. The Mount Washington Auto Road and the historic Mount Washington Cog Railway ascend the ranges highest peak, heavily visited Arethusa Falls, the second tallest waterfall in New Hampshire, lies on a southwest flank of Crawford Notch. The Old Man of the Mountain, a formation on Cannon Mountain that resembled the craggy profile of a mans face, was a White Mountain landmark until it fell in May 2003. It remains the symbol of New Hampshire. The range also includes a feature dubbed The Basin, consisting of a granite bowl,20 feet in diameter, fed by a waterfall. The areas around The Basin are popular spots for swimming in the ice-cold mountain-fed water, some of the earliest maps of the White Mountains were produced as tourist maps and not topographical maps
9.
USS Maine (ACR-1)
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USS Maine is an American naval ship that sank in Havana Harbor during the Cuban revolt against Spain, an event that became a major political issue in the United States. Commissioned in 1895, this was the first United States Navy ship to be named after the state of Maine, originally classified as an armored cruiser, she was built in response to the Brazilian battleship Riachuelo and the increase of naval forces in Latin America. She dispensed with full masts thanks to the reliability of steam engines by the time of her construction. Despite these advances, Maine was out of date by the time she entered service, due to her protracted construction period and changes in the role of ships of her type, naval tactics and technology. It took nine years to complete, and nearly three years for the armor plating alone, the general use of steel in warship construction precluded the use of ramming without danger to the attacking vessel. The potential for blast damage from firing end on or cross-deck discouraged en échelon gun placement, the changing role of the armored cruiser from a small, heavily armored substitute for the battleship to a fast, lightly armored commerce raider also hastened her obsolescence. Despite these disadvantages, Maine was seen as an advance in American warship design, Maine is best known for her loss in Havana Harbor on the evening of 15 February 1898. Sent to protect U. S. interests during the Cuban revolt against Spain, she exploded suddenly, without warning, the cause and responsibility for her sinking remained unclear after a board of inquiry investigated. Nevertheless, popular opinion in the U. S. fanned by inflammatory articles printed in the press by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. Became a rallying cry for action, which came with the Spanish–American War later that year, while the sinking of Maine was not a direct cause for action, it served as a catalyst, accelerating the approach to a diplomatic impasse between the U. S. and Spain. The cause of Maines sinking remains a subject of speculation, in 1898, an investigation of the explosion was carried out by a naval board appointed under the McKinley Administration. The consensus of the board was that Maine was destroyed by an explosion from a mine. However, the validity of this investigation has been challenged, George W. Melville, a chief engineer in the Navy, proposed that a more likely cause for the sinking was from a magazine explosion within the vessel. The Navys leading ordnance expert, Philip R. Alger, took this further by suggesting that the magazines were ignited by a spontaneous fire in a coal bunker. The coal used in Maine was bituminous coal, which is known for releasing firedamp, there is stronger evidence that the explosion of Maine was caused by an internal coal fire which ignited the magazines. This was a cause of the explosion, rather than the initial hypothesis of a mine. The ship lay at the bottom of the harbor until 1911, a cofferdam was then built around the wreck. The hull was patched up until the ship was afloat, then towed to sea, the Maine now lies on the sea-bed 3,600 feet below the surface
10.
USS Portland (CA-33)
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USS Portland, the lead ship of her class of cruiser, was the first ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Portland, Maine. Launched in 1932, she saw a number of training and goodwill cruises in the interwar period. In World War II, she saw extensive service beginning at the 1942 Battle of Coral Sea and she screened for Yorktown again in the Battle of Midway, picking up her survivors as well. She then supported the carrier Enterprise during the phase of the Guadalcanal Campaign later that year. The torpedo inflicted heavy damage which put her out of action for six months as she was repaired in Sydney, Australia and later San Diego and she was involved in the October 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf, engaging Japanese ships in the decisive Battle of Surigao Strait. She then conducted shore bombardments at Lingayen Gulf and Corregidor Island, following World War II, Portland accepted the Japanese surrender in the Caroline Islands and then undertook several Operation Magic Carpet cruises to bring U. S. troops home. She was decommissioned in 1946 and scrapped by 1962, in her extensive service she accrued 16 battle stars, making her one of the most decorated ships in the U. S. fleet. Ordered for the U. S. Navy in Fiscal Year 1930, Portland was originally designated as a light cruiser, because of her thin armor, and given the hull classification symbol CL-33. She was reclassified a cruiser, because of her 8-inch guns, with the symbol CA-33 on 1 July 1931. Portland was designed for a displacement of 10,258 long tons. However, Portland only displaced 9,800 long tons when completed, in 1943, a light tripod was added forward of the second funnel on the ship, and a prominent fire-control director was installed aft. Her four Parsons GT geared turbines drove a propeller shaft using steam provided by eight Yarrow boilers. Portlands power plant generated 107,000 shaft horsepower and she had a maximum speed of 32 knots. The ship reached, however,32.7 knots on sea trials and she rolled badly until fitted with bilge keels. Portland was designed for a range of 10,000 nautical miles at 15 knots, the ship was armed with a main battery of nine Mark 9 8/55 caliber guns arrayed in three triple mounts, a superfiring pair forward and one aft. She was armed with eight 5/25 caliber guns for anti-aircraft defense, in 1945, her anti-aircraft defenses were upgraded, receiving twenty four Bofors 40 mm guns which were arranged in four quad mounts and four twin mounts. Portland was also upgraded with seventeen Oerlikon 20 mm cannons and she was originally designed with 1 inch of armor for deck and side protection, but during construction her armor was increased. As completed, the ship was protected with 3.25 inches of armor which increased to 5 inches around the magazines
11.
War of 1812
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Historians in the United States and Canada see it as a war in its own right, but the British often see it as a minor theatre of the Napoleonic Wars. By the wars end in early 1815, the key issues had been resolved, the view was shared in much of New England and for that reason the war was widely referred to there as Mr. Madison’s War. As a result, the primary British war goal was to defend their North American colonies, the war was fought in three theatres. Second, land and naval battles were fought on the U. S. –Canadian frontier, Third, large-scale battles were fought in the Southern United States and Gulf Coast. With the majority of its land and naval forces tied down in Europe fighting the Napoleonic Wars, early victories over poorly-led U. S. armies demonstrated that the conquest of the Canadas would prove more difficult than anticipated. Despite this, the U. S. was able to inflict serious defeats on Britains Native American allies, both governments were eager for a return to normality and peace negotiations began in Ghent in August 1814. This brought an Era of Good Feelings in which partisan animosity nearly vanished in the face of strengthened American nationalism, the war was also a major turning point in the development of the U. S. military, with militia being increasingly replaced by a more professional force. The U. S. also acquired permanent ownership of Spains Mobile District, the government of Canada declared a three-year commemoration of the War of 1812 in 2012, intended to offer historical lessons and celebrate 200 years of peace across the border. At the conclusion of the commemorations in 2014, a new national War of 1812 Monument was unveiled in Ottawa. The war is remembered in Britain primarily as a footnote in the much larger Napoleonic Wars occurring in Europe, historians have long debated the relative weight of the multiple reasons underlying the origins of the War of 1812. This section summarizes several contributing factors which resulted in the declaration of war by the United States, as Risjord notes, a powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold national honour in the face of what they considered to be British insults such as the Chesapeake–Leopard Affair. The approaching conflict was about violations of American rights, but it was also vindication of American identity. Americans at the time and historians since often called it the United States Second War of Independence, in 1807, Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions via a series of Orders in Council to impede neutral trade with France, with which Britain was at war. The United States contested these restrictions as illegal under international law, the American merchant marine had come close to doubling between 1802 and 1810, making it by far the largest neutral fleet. Britain was the largest trading partner, receiving 80% of U. S. cotton, the British public and press were resentful of the growing mercantile and commercial competition. The United States view was that Britains restrictions violated its right to trade with others, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy expanded to 176 ships of the line and 600 ships overall, requiring 140,000 sailors to man. The United States believed that British deserters had a right to become U. S. citizens and this meant that in addition to recovering naval deserters, it considered any United States citizens who were born British liable for impressment. Aggravating the situation was the reluctance of the United States to issue formal naturalization papers and it was estimated by the Admiralty that there were 11,000 naturalized sailors on United States ships in 1805
12.
Havana
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Havana is the capital city, largest city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet, the sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay. King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City in 1592, walls as well as forts were built to protect the old city. The sinking of the U. S. battleship Maine in Havanas harbor in 1898 was the cause of the Spanish–American War. Contemporary Havana can essentially be described as three cities in one, Old Havana, Vedado and the suburban districts. The city is the center of the Cuban government, and home to various ministries, headquarters of businesses, the current mayor is Marta Hernández of the Communist Party of Cuba. In 2009, the city/province had the third highest income in the country, the city attracts over a million tourists annually, the Official Census for Havana reports that in 2010 the city was visited by 1,176,627 international tourists, a 20% increase from 2005. Old Havana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982, the city is also noted for its history, culture, architecture and monuments. As typical of Cuba, Havana also features a tropical climate, in May 2015, Havana was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, Doha, La Paz, Durban, Beirut, and Kuala Lumpur. Most native settlements became the site of Spanish colonial cities retaining their original Taíno names, an alternate theory is that Habana is derived from the Middle Dutch word havene, referring to a harbour, etymologically related to the English word haven. All attempts to found a city on Cubas south coast failed, however, an early map of Cuba drawn in 1514 places the town at the mouth of this river. The town that became Havana finally originated adjacent to what was then called Puerto de Carenas, the quality of this natural bay, which now hosts Havanas harbor, warranted this change of location. Pánfilo de Narváez gave Havana – the sixth town founded by the Spanish on Cuba – its name, the name combines San Cristóbal, patron saint of Havana. Shortly after the founding of Cubas first cities, the served as little more than a base for the Conquista of other lands. Havana began as a port, and suffered regular attacks by buccaneers, pirates. The first attack and resultant burning of the city was by the French corsair Jacques de Sores in 1555, ships from all over the New World carried products first to Havana, in order to be taken by the fleet to Spain. The thousands of ships gathered in the bay also fueled Havanas agriculture and manufacture, since they had to be supplied with food, water. On December 20,1592, King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City, later on, the city would be officially designated as Key to the New World and Rampart of the West Indies by the Spanish Crown
