1.
United States Senate
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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. S. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states represented, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The Senate chamber is located in the wing of the Capitol, in Washington. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House, in the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise, there was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a Peoples House directly elected by the people, the other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the people of the United States equally, the Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation. First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate, the name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders. James Madison made the comment about the Senate, In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people. An agrarian law would take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation, landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority, the senate, therefore, ought to be this body, and to answer these purposes, the people ought to have permanency and stability. The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that states consent, the District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two senators, but they are officials of the D. C. city government. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming and this means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures
2.
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
3.
William Bingham
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William Bingham was an American statesman from Philadelphia. He was a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788, William Bingham was born on March 8,1752 in Philadelphia. He graduated from the College of Philadelphia in 1768, Bingham first travelled to Europe in 1773, and upon returning to America joined the Philadelphia Society. Sent by the Committee of Secret Correspondence to Martinico, to reside ostensibly as a merchant, and establish communications through that colony with Silas Deane and he departed America aboard the frigate Reprisal on July 3,1776. By the end of the American Revolution, Bingham was regarded as one of the richest men in Pennsylvania, having made his fortune through joint ownership of privateers and trading. He became a land developer, purchasing lands in upstate New York and 2 million acres in Maine. With his son-in-law Alexander Baring, he helped broker the Louisiana Purchase, Bingham was director of several other enterprises. He maintained shipping ventures after the Revolutionary war, through his house called Bingham, Inglis. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and Useful Arts. During the 1780s, Bingham marshaled the Second Troop of Philadelphia Light Horse and they were glamourously clad and saw little action. William Jackson was first major and later became Binghams land agent, Bingham escorted President-elect George Washington through Pennsylvania with his troop on his April 1789 journey from Valley Forge to New York City to assume the presidency. During the provisional government of the United States at Philadelphia, he wrote the by-laws for the national Bank of North America and he saw the national debt as beneficial in that it attracted interest into the affairs of the government. During the first presidency, Treasurer Alexander Hamilton sought Bingham as his mentor in managing taxes, tariffs, in America, he represented Pennsylvania as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788. In 1790 and 1791 he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and he later served in the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1793 through 1794. He built roads and a bridge from Philadelphia to Lancaster, Pennsylvania called the Lancaster Pike and he was an active supporter of John Adams and when Adams was elected President, Bingham served as the Senates President pro tem in the Fourth Congress. On March 4,1797, with the start of the Fifth Congress he administered the oath of office to Vice President Thomas Jefferson and he was criticized by Jeffersonian politicians for extravagance, ostentation and dissipation. In 1813, nearly ten years after his death, John Quincy Adams said that the Presidency, the Capital, the several Bingham estates were renowned for hosting many prominent aristocrats from Europe as well as Federalist meetings. At the Bingham estate, Federalists agreed to hold preliminary votings before propositions were brought before Congress publicly and he was also a land surveyor, and looked to develop areas currently a part of Southern New York, and Northern Pennsylvania
4.
Toxteth
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Toxteth is an inner city area of Liverpool, England. Historically in Lancashire, Toxteth is located to the south of the city, Toxteth is bordered by Liverpool City Centre, Edge Hill, Wavertree, the district lies within the borders of the ancient township of Toxteth Park. Industry and commerce are confined to the docks on its western border, Toxteth is primarily residential, with a mixture of old terraced housing, post-World War II social housing and a legacy of large Victorian houses. In the 18th and 19th centuries, as Liverpool expanded the ancient park of Toxteth was gradually urbanised, large Georgian houses were built in the Canning area, followed in the Victorian era by more grand houses, especially along the tree-lined Princes Road/Avenue boulevard and around Princes Park. The district quickly became home to the slave merchants of Liverpool. Now, some of these streets of terraces are boarded up, two of the citys largest parks, Sefton Park and Princes Park, are located in or around Toxteth. Sefton Park was created by the Corporation of Liverpool in 1872, inspired partly by Birkenhead Park, across the River Mersey. Sefton Park has a large glass Palm House, which contains a statue of William Rathbone V unveiled in 1887, and originally had many features including an aviary. There is some ambiguity as to the origin of the name, one theory is that the etymology is Tokis landing-place. Before the time of the Norman Conquest, Toxteth was divided into two manors of equal size, one was owned by Bernulf and the other by Stainulf. After the conquest, part was granted by Count Roger of Poitou to the ancestor of the Earl of Sefton, from this time to about 1604, the land formed part of West Derby forest. In 1327, Toxteth was granted to Henry, Earl of Lancaster, over the years, various leases and grants were made and the park was owned by Adam, son of William de Liverpool, in 1338. In 1385, William de Liverpool had licence to take two cartloads of gorse weekly from the park for 12d, in 1383 a grant was made to William Bolton and Robert Baxter, in 1394 the lease was resigned and handed over to Richard de Molyneux. The park finally came into the hands of Sir Thomas Stanley in 1447, the parkland descended within the Stanley family until 1596, when it was sold by William Stanley, Earl of Derby, to Edmund Smolte and Edward Aspinwall. In 1604, the Earl sold it to Richard Molyneux of Sefton at a cost of £1,100, the estate descended from this time until 1972 with the death of the 7th Earl. The ancient township of Toxteth contains the village of Smeedon or Smithdown and it stretches over an area of three miles along the River Mersey and two miles inland, the highest point being on the corner of Smithdown Lane and Lodge Lane. A brook ran from the end of the area, near the boundary of Parliament Street. At some time in history the creeks were filled in, the Dingle is now in the area where the old northern creek was situated, and St Michaels Hamlet is situated around the southern creek
5.
Liverpool
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Liverpool is a major city and metropolitan borough in North West England.24 million people in 2011. Liverpool historically lay within the ancient hundred of West Derby in the south west of the county of Lancashire and it became a borough from 1207 and a city from 1880. In 1889 it became a county borough independent of Lancashire, Liverpool sits on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary and its growth as a major port is paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, raw materials such as coal and cotton, the city was also directly involved in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was home to both the Cunard and White Star Line, and was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic and others such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City includes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, tourism forms a significant part of the citys economy. Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton, matches between the two being known as the Merseyside derby, the world-famous Grand National horse race takes place annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city. The city is home to the oldest Black African community in the country. Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians and colloquially as Scousers, a reference to scouse, the word Scouse has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect. Pool is a place name element in England from the Brythonic word for a pond, inlet, or pit, cognate with the modern Welsh. The derivation of the first element remains uncertain, with the Welsh word Llif as the most plausible relative and this etymology is supported by its similarity to that of the archaic Welsh name for Liverpool Llynlleifiad. Other origins of the name have suggested, including elverpool. The name appeared in 1190 as Liuerpul, and it may be that the place appearing as Leyrpole, in a record of 1418. King Johns letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, the original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape, Bank Street, Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street, Moor Street, in the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, in 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. Since Roman times, the city of Chester on the River Dee had been the regions principal port on the Irish Sea
6.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
7.
Kingdom of Great Britain
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The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially Great Britain, was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800. It did not include Ireland, which remained a separate realm, the unitary state was governed by a single parliament and government that was based in Westminster. Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714, the early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. On 1 January 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, the name Britain descends from the Latin name for the island of Great Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons via the Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Edward IV of Englands daughter Cecily and James III of Scotlands son James. The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Acts of Union state that England and Scotland were to be United into one Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain. However, both the Acts and the Treaty also refer numerous times to the United Kingdom and the longer form, other publications refer to the country as the United Kingdom after 1707 as well. The websites of the UK parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the BBC, additionally, the term United Kingdom was found in informal use during the 18th century to describe the state. The new state created in 1707 included the island of Great Britain, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, both in existence from the 9th century, were separate states until 1707. However, they had come into a union in 1603. Each of the three kingdoms maintained its own parliament and laws and this disposition changed dramatically when the Acts of Union 1707 came into force, with a single unified Crown of Great Britain and a single unified parliament. Ireland remained formally separate, with its own parliament, until the Acts of Union 1800, legislative power was vested in the Parliament of Great Britain, which replaced both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In practice it was a continuation of the English parliament, sitting at the location in Westminster. Newly created peers in the Peerage of Great Britain were given the right to sit in the Lords. Despite the end of a parliament for Scotland, it retained its own laws. As a result of Poynings Law of 1495, the Parliament of Ireland was subordinate to the Parliament of England, the Act was repealed by the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782. The same year, the Irish constitution of 1782 produced a period of legislative freedom, the 18th century saw England, and after 1707 Great Britain, rise to become the worlds dominant colonial power, with France its main rival on the imperial stage
8.
Philadelphia
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In 1682, William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. Philadelphia was one of the capitals in the Revolutionary War. In the 19th century, Philadelphia became an industrial center. It became a destination for African-Americans in the Great Migration. The areas many universities and colleges make Philadelphia a top international study destination, as the city has evolved into an educational, with a gross domestic product of $388 billion, Philadelphia ranks ninth among world cities and fourth in the nation. Philadelphia is the center of activity in Pennsylvania and is home to seven Fortune 1000 companies. The Philadelphia skyline is growing, with a market of almost 81,900 commercial properties in 2016 including several prominent skyscrapers. The city is known for its arts, culture, and rich history, Philadelphia has more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city. Fairmount Park, when combined with the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the watershed, is one of the largest contiguous urban park areas in the United States. The 67 National Historic Landmarks in the city helped account for the $10 billion generated by tourism, Philadelphia is the only World Heritage City in the United States. Before Europeans arrived, the Philadelphia area was home to the Lenape Indians in the village of Shackamaxon, the Lenape are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government. They are also called Delaware Indians and their territory was along the Delaware River watershed, western Long Island. Most Lenape were pushed out of their Delaware homeland during the 18th century by expanding European colonies, Lenape communities were weakened by newly introduced diseases, mainly smallpox, and violent conflict with Europeans. Iroquois people occasionally fought the Lenape, surviving Lenape moved west into the upper Ohio River basin. The American Revolutionary War and United States independence pushed them further west, in the 1860s, the United States government sent most Lenape remaining in the eastern United States to the Indian Territory under the Indian removal policy. In the 21st century, most Lenape now reside in the US state of Oklahoma, with communities living also in Wisconsin, Ontario. The Dutch considered the entire Delaware River valley to be part of their New Netherland colony, in 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina and quickly spread out in the valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their defeat of the English colony of Maryland
9.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
10.
Federalist Party
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The Federalist Party was the first American political party. It existed from the early 1790s to 1816, its remnants lasted into the 1820s, the Federalists called for a strong national government that promoted economic growth and fostered friendly relationships with Great Britain, as well as opposition to revolutionary France. The party controlled the government until 1801, when it was overwhelmed by the Democratic-Republican opposition led by Thomas Jefferson. The Federalist Party came into being between 1792 and 1794 as a coalition of bankers and businessmen in support of Alexander Hamiltons fiscal policies. These supporters developed into the organized Federalist Party, which was committed to a fiscally sound, the only Federalist president was John Adams, although George Washington was broadly sympathetic to the Federalist program, he remained officially non-partisan during his entire presidency. Federalist policies called for a bank, tariffs, and good relations with Great Britain as expressed in the Jay Treaty negotiated in 1794. Hamilton developed the concept of implied powers and successfully argued the adoption of that interpretation of the United States Constitution, the Jay Treaty passed, and the Federalists won most of the major legislative battles in the 1790s. They held a strong base in the cities and in New England. After the Democratic-Republicans, whose base was in the rural South, won the election of 1800. They recovered some strength by their opposition to the War of 1812. On taking office in 1789, President Washington nominated New York lawyer Alexander Hamilton to the office of Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton wanted a strong national government with financial credibility. James Madison was Hamiltons ally in the fight to ratify the new Constitution, Political parties had not been anticipated when the Constitution was drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1788, even though both Hamilton and Madison played major roles. Parties were considered to be divisive and harmful to republicanism, No similar parties existed anywhere in the world. By 1790 Hamilton started building a nationwide coalition and his attempts to manage politics in the national capital to get his plans through Congress, then, brought strong responses across the country. In the process, what began as a capital faction soon assumed status as a faction and then, finally. The Federalist Party supported Hamiltons vision of a centralized government. In foreign affairs, they supported neutrality in the war between France and Great Britain, the majority of the Founding Fathers were originally Federalists. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and many others can all be considered Federalists and these Federalists felt that the Articles of Confederation had been too weak to sustain a working government and had decided that a new form of government was needed
11.
Founding Fathers of the United States
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Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin were members of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay were authors of the The Federalist Papers, Jay, Adams and Franklin negotiated the Treaty of Paris that would end the American Revolutionary War. Washington was Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and was President of the Constitutional Convention, according to the CIA, Washington, Jay and Franklin helped define the powers of the Executive Branch All held additional important roles in the early government of the United States. The term Founding Fathers is sometimes used to refer to the Signers of the version of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Of the 55 Framers, only 39 were signers of the Constitution, a further subset of Founding Founders includes those who signed the Continental Association or the Articles of Confederation. The phrase Founding Fathers is a twentieth century appellation and was first coined by Warren G. Harding in 1916, the First Continental Congress met briefly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1774 and consisted of fifty-six delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies that became the United States of America. On the list of attendees was George Washington, who would soon be out of military retirement to command the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Also in attendance was Patrick Henry, and John Adams, who were elected by their respective colonial assemblies, other notable delegates included Samuel Adams from Massachusetts, John Dickinson from Pennsylvania and New Yorks John Jay. This congress in addition to formulating appeals to the British crown, when the Second Continental Congress came together on May 10,1775, it was, in effect, a reconvening of the First Congress. Many of the same 56 delegates who attended the first meeting participated in the second, notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin and Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, John Hancock of Massachusetts, and John Witherspoon of New Jersey. Hancock was elected Congress President two weeks into the session when Peyton Randolph was summoned back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses, Thomas Jefferson replaced Randolph in the Virginia congressional delegation. The second Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, Witherspoon was the only active clergyman to sign the Declaration. He also signed the Articles of Confederation and attended the New Jersey convention that ratified the Federal Constitution, the newly founded country of the United States had to create a new government to replace the British Parliament. The Americans adopted the Articles of Confederation, a declaration that established a government which was made up of a one-house legislature. Its ratification by all thirteen colonies gave the second Congress a new name, the Congress of the Confederation, later, the Constitutional Convention took place during the summer of 1787, in Philadelphia. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the Convention, the result of the Convention was the United States Constitution. The Founding Fathers represented a cross-section of 18th-century American leadership, almost all of them were well-educated men of means who were leaders in their communities. Many were also prominent in national affairs, virtually every one had taken part in the American Revolution, at least 29 had served in the Continental Army, most of them in positions of command
12.
American Revolution
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The British responded by imposing punitive laws on Massachusetts in 1774 known as the Coercive Acts, following which Patriots in the other colonies rallied behind Massachusetts. Tensions escalated to the outbreak of fighting between Patriot militia and British regulars at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the conflict then developed into a global war, during which the Patriots fought the British and Loyalists in what became known as the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress determined King George IIIs rule to be tyrannical and infringing the rights as Englishmen. The Patriot leadership professed the political philosophies of liberalism and republicanism to reject monarchy and aristocracy, Congress rejected British proposals requiring allegiance to the monarchy and abandonment of independence. The British were forced out of Boston in 1776, but then captured and they blockaded the ports and captured other cities for brief periods, but failed to defeat Washingtons forces. After a failed Patriot invasion of Canada, a British army was captured at the Battle of Saratoga in late 1777, a combined American–French force captured a second British army at Yorktown in 1781, effectively ending the war in the United States. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 formally ended the conflict, confirming the new nations complete separation from the British Empire. The United States took possession of all the territory east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes, with the British retaining control of Canada. Among the significant results of the revolution was the creation of a new Constitution of the United States. Historians typically begin their histories of the American Revolution with the British victory in the French and Indian War in 1763, the lands west of Quebec and west of a line running along the crest of the Allegheny mountains became Indian territory, temporarily barred to settlement. For the prior history, see Thirteen Colonies, in 1764, Parliament passed the Currency Act to restrain the use of paper money which British merchants saw as a means to evade debt payments. Parliament also passed the Sugar Act, imposing customs duties on a number of articles, none did and Parliament passed the Stamp Act in March 1765 which imposed direct taxes on the colonies for the first time. All official documents, newspapers, almanacs, and pamphlets—even decks of playing cards—were required to have the stamps, the colonists did not object that the taxes were high, but because they had no representation in the Parliament. Benjamin Franklin testified in Parliament in 1766 that Americans already contributed heavily to the defense of the Empire, stationing a standing army in Great Britain during peacetime was politically unacceptable. London had to deal with 1,500 politically well-connected British officers who became redundant, in 1765, the Sons of Liberty formed. They used public demonstrations, boycott, violence, and threats of violence to ensure that the British tax laws were unenforceable, in Boston, the Sons of Liberty burned the records of the vice admiralty court and looted the home of chief justice Thomas Hutchinson. Several legislatures called for united action, and nine colonies sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York City in October 1765, moderates led by John Dickinson drew up a Declaration of Rights and Grievances stating that taxes passed without representation violated their rights as Englishmen. Colonists emphasized their determination by boycotting imports of British merchandise, the Parliament at Westminster saw itself as the supreme lawmaking authority throughout all British possessions and thus entitled to levy any tax without colonial approval
13.
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
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.
Alexander Hamilton
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Alexander Hamilton was an American statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton was the author of the economic policies of the George Washington administration. He took the lead in the funding of the debts by the Federal government, as well as the establishment of a national bank, a system of tariffs. His vision included a central government led by a vigorous executive branch. This was challenged by Virginia agrarians Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who formed a rival party and they favored strong states based in rural America and protected by state militias as opposed to a strong national army and navy. They denounced Hamilton as too friendly toward Britain and toward monarchy in general, Hamilton was born out of wedlock in Charlestown, to a married mother of British and French Huguenot ancestry and a Scottish father. His father, James A. Hamilton, was the son of laird Alexander Hamilton of Grange. Orphaned as a child by his mothers death and his fathers abandonment, Hamilton was taken in by an older cousin and he was recognized for his intelligence and talent, and sponsored by a group of wealthy local men to travel to New York City to pursue his education. Hamilton attended Kings College, choosing to stay in the Thirteen Colonies to seek his fortune, discontinuing his studies before graduating when the college closed its doors during British occupation of the city, Hamilton played a major role in the American Revolutionary War. At the start of the war in 1775, he joined a militia company, in early 1776, he raised a provincial artillery company, to which he was appointed captain. He soon became the aide to General Washington, the American forces commander-in-chief. Hamilton was dispatched by Washington on numerous missions to convey plans to his generals, after the war, Hamilton was elected as a representative to the Congress of the Confederation from New York. He resigned to practice law, and founded the Bank of New York, Hamilton was among those dissatisfied with the weak national government. He led the Annapolis Convention, which successfully influenced Congress to issue a call for the Philadelphia Convention in order to create a new constitution, Hamilton became the leading cabinet member in the new government under President Washington. These programs were funded primarily by a tariff on imports, to overcome localism, Hamilton mobilized a nationwide network of friends of the government, especially bankers and businessmen, which became the Federalist Party. A major issue in the emergence of the American two-party system was the Jay Treaty and it established friendly trade relations with Britain, to the chagrin of France and the supporters of the French Revolution. Hamilton played a role in the Federalist party, which dominated national. In 1795, he returned to the practice of law in New York and he tried to control the policies of President Adams
17.
Albert Gallatin
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Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin was a Swiss-American politician, diplomat, ethnologist and linguist. He served as a Representative, Senator, United States Ambassador and was the longest-serving United States Secretary of the Treasury, in 1831, he helped found the University of the City of New York, now New York University. Born in Geneva in present-day Switzerland, Gallatin immigrated to America in the 1780s and was naturalized in Morgantown and he ultimately settled in western Pennsylvania. He was politically active against the Federalist Party program and was elected to the United States Senate in 1793, however, he was removed from office by a 14–12 party-line vote after a protest raised by his opponents suggested he did not meet the required nine years of citizenship. Two years later, he was elected to the House of Representatives and he also helped found the House Committee on Finance and often engineered withholding of finances by the House as a method of overriding executive actions to which he objected. He was secretary from 1801 until February 1814, under both Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, holding the longest tenure in office in American history. Gallatin never wanted the position and was humiliated when forced to withdraw from the race because he lacked popular support, in 1826 and 1827, he served as Ambassador to Great Britain and negotiated several useful agreements, such as a ten-year extension of the joint occupation of Oregon. Gallatin settled in New York City after his return to the US and it was intended to offer university education to the working and merchant classes as well as the wealthy. He became president of the National Bank in New York City and his last great endeavor was founding the American Ethnological Society in 1842 and serving as its president until 1848. With his studies of the languages of Native Americans, he has called the father of American ethnology. At his death in 1849, Gallatin was the last surviving member of the Jefferson Cabinet, Gallatin was born in Geneva, Switzerland, to wealthy Jean Gallatin and his wife, Sophie Albertine Rollaz. Gallatins family had influence in Switzerland, and many family members held distinguished positions in the magistracy, military. Gallatins father, a merchant, died in 1765, followed by his mother in April 1770. Now orphaned, Gallatin was taken into the care of Mademoiselle Pictet, in January 1773, Gallatin was sent to boarding school. The democratic spirit of the United States attracted him and he decided to emigrate, in April 1780, he secretly left Geneva with his classmate Henri Serre. Carrying letters of recommendation from eminent Colonials that the Gallatin family procured, the men left France in May, sailing on an American ship. They reached Cape Ann on July 14 and arrived in Boston the next day, bored with monotonous Bostonian life, the men set sail with a Swiss female companion, to the settlement of Machias, located on the northeastern tip of the Maine frontier. At Machias, Gallatin operated a bartering venture, in which he dealt with a variety of goods and he enjoyed the simple life and the natural environment surrounding him
18.
French and Indian War
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The French and Indian War comprised the North American theater of the worldwide Seven Years War of 1754–1763. At the start of the war, the French North American colonies had a population of roughly 60,000 European settlers, the outnumbered French particularly depended on the Indians. Following months of localised conflict, the nations declared war on each other in 1756. The name French and Indian War, used mainly in the United States, British and European historians use the term the Seven Years War, as do English speaking Canadians. French Canadians call it La guerre de la Conquête or the Fourth Intercolonial War, fighting took place primarily along the frontiers between New France and the British colonies, from Virginia in the south to Newfoundland in the north. It began with a dispute over control of the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, called the Forks of the Ohio, and the site of the French Fort Duquesne. The dispute erupted into violence in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in May 1754, in 1755, six colonial governors in North America met with General Edward Braddock, the newly arrived British Army commander, and planned a four-way attack on the French. None succeeded, and the effort by Braddock proved a disaster, he lost the Battle of the Monongahela on July 9,1755. In 1755, the British captured Fort Beauséjour on the border separating Nova Scotia from Acadia, orders for the deportation were given by William Shirley, Commander-in-Chief, North America, without direction from Great Britain. The Acadians, both captured in arms and those who had sworn the loyalty oath to His Britannic Majesty, were expelled. Native Americans were likewise driven off their land to make way for settlers from New England, after the disastrous 1757 British campaigns, the British government fell. France concentrated its forces against Prussia and its allies in the European theatre of the war, between 1758 and 1760, the British military launched a campaign to capture the Colony of Canada. They succeeded in capturing territory in surrounding colonies and ultimately the city of Quebec, though the British later lost the Battle of Sainte-Foy west of Quebec, the French ceded Canada in accordance with the Treaty of Paris. The outcome was one of the most significant developments in a century of Anglo-French conflict, France ceded its territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain. It ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to its ally Spain, in compensation for Spains loss to Britain of Florida. Frances colonial presence north of the Caribbean was reduced to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the conflict is known by multiple names. In British America, wars were often named after the sitting British monarch, such as King Williams War or Queen Annes War. As there had already been a King Georges War in the 1740s, British colonists named the war in King Georges reign after their opponents
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Stamp Act 1765
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Printed materials included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. Like previous taxes, the tax had to be paid in valid British currency. The purpose of the tax was to pay for troops stationed in North America after the British victory in the Seven Years War and its North American theater of the French. The Americans said that there was no military need for the soldiers there were no foreign enemies on the continent. They suggested that it was actually a matter of British patronage to surplus British officers, the Stamp Act was very unpopular among colonists. A consensus considered it a violation of their rights as Englishmen to be taxed without their consent—consent that only the colonial legislatures could grant and their slogan was No taxation without representation. Colonial assemblies sent petitions and protests, the Stamp Act Congress held in New York City was the first significant joint colonial response to any British measure, it petitioned Parliament and the King. Local protest groups led by merchants and landowners established connections through Committees of Correspondence. Protests and demonstrations initiated by a new organization called the Sons of Liberty often turned violent. Very soon, all stamp tax distributors were intimidated into resigning their commissions, opposition to the Stamp Act was not limited to the colonies. British merchants and manufacturers, whose exports to the colonies were threatened by colonial boycotts, the Act was repealed on March 18,1766 as a matter of expedience, but Parliament affirmed its power to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever by also passing the Declaratory Act. There followed a series of new taxes and regulations, likewise opposed by the colonists, the British victory in the Seven Years War, known in America as the French and Indian War, had been won only at a great financial cost. During the war, the British national debt increased more than fourfold, the primary reason for retaining such a large force was that demobilizing the army would put 1,500 officers out of work, many of whom were well-connected in Parliament. Stationing 10,000 troops to separate American Indians and frontiersmen was one role, the outbreak of Pontiacs Rebellion in May 1763 apparently reinforced the logic of this decision, as it was an American Indian uprising against the British expansion. The main reason to send 10,000 troops deep into the wilderness was to provide billets for the officers who were part of the British patronage system. John Adams said, Revenue is still demanded from America, and appropriated to the maintenance of swarms of officers and pensioners in idleness and luxury. George Grenville became prime minister in April 1763 after the failure of the short-lived Bute Ministry, raising taxes in Britain was out of the question, since there had been virulent protests in England against the Bute ministrys 1763 cider tax, with Bute being hanged in effigy. The Grenville ministry therefore decided that Parliament would raise revenue by taxing the American colonists without their consent
20.
Pennsylvania General Assembly
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The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the state legislature of the U. S. state of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg, in colonial times, the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. Since the Constitution of 1776, written by American revolutionaries, the legislature has been known as the General Assembly, the General Assembly became a bicameral legislature in 1791. This is why today, Pennsylvania is the only U. S. state that has not yet completed a comprehensive codification of its general statutory law, Pennsylvania is currently undertaking its first official codification process in the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. As of 2014, members base pay was $85,356, republicans hold a 31-19 majority in the Senate and a 120-83 majority in the House. The Pennsylvania general elections are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years, a vacant seat must be filled by special election, the date of which is set by the presiding officer of the respective house. Senators must be at least 25 years old, and Representatives at least 21 years old and they must be citizens and residents of the state for a minimum of four years and reside in their districts for at least one year. No one who has been expelled from the General Assembly may be elected. Legislative districts are drawn every ten years, following the U. S. Census, districts are drawn by a five-member commission, of which four members are the majority and minority leaders of each house. The fifth member, who chairs the committee, is appointed by the other four, if the leadership cannot decide on a fifth member, the State Supreme Court may appoint him or her. While in office, legislators may not hold civil office, even if a member resigns, the Constitution states that he or she may not be appointed to civil office for the duration of the original term for which he or she was originally elected. The General Assembly convenes at noon on the first Tuesday of January, both houses adjourn on November 30 in even-numbered years, when the terms of all members of the House and half the members of the Senate expire. Neither body can adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other, the governor may call a special session in order to press for legislation on important issues. Most recently, a session was called for the purpose of property tax reform. The Assembly meets in the Pennsylvania State Capitol, which was completed in 1906, under the Pennsylvania Constitution, the Assembly must meet in the City of Harrisburg and can move only if given the consent of both chambers. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Turzai President pro tem of the Senate, Joseph B
21.
Committee of Safety (American Revolution)
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In Massachusetts, as affairs drew toward a crisis, it became usual for towns to appoint three committees, of correspondence, of inspection, and of safety. Committees of correspondence were public functionaries of a type first appearing in England and this was done in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York 1763-4. On 21 November 1772 a town meeting at Faneuil Hall, Boston, until late in 1774 it remained the real executive of the town and largely of the province. The Boston committee, by legal town-meeting, was made the executive of Boston, the organization of the committees was at once enormously extended, almost every town, city, or county had one. Pursuant to First Continental Congress resolution 11, committees of inspection were to be formed in every county, city, hundreds of committees of inspection were formed following the First Continental Congresss declaration of the Continental Association, a boycott of British goods, in October 1774. In New York City, it was called the Committee of Observation or Committee of Sixty, initially, the focus of the committees was on enforcing the Non-importation Agreements, which aimed to hinder the import of British manufactured goods. Kathleen Burk writes, It is significant that the Committees believed that they derived their authority from the Continental Congress, Committees of Safety were a later outcome of the committees of correspondence. The network of committees were also vital for reinforcing a sense of purpose. For ordinary people, they were community forums where personal loyalties were revealed, tested, was certainly not an activity for the faint of heart. The members of these groups exposed ideological dissenters, usually people well-known in the communities in which they lived, although the committees attempted as best they could to avoid physical violence, they administered revolutionary justice as they alone defined it. They worked out their own procedures, interrogated people suspected of undermining the American cause. By mid-1775 the committees increasingly busied themselves with identifying, denouncing, the strengthening of the committees of correspondence in the 1770s also marked the creation of what Gordon S. Wood terms a new kind of popular politics in America. Wood writes that the rhetoric of liberty now brought to the surface long-latent political tenancies, ordinary people were no longer willing to trust only wealthy and learned gentlemen to represent them. Various artisan, religious, and ethnic groups now felt that their interests were so distinct that only people of their kind could speak for them. In 1774 radicals in Philadelphia demanded that seven artisans and six Germans be added to the committee of the city. The development of coalition and interest-group politics greatly alarmed both royal officials and more conservative Patriots, very few records of committees of safety survive. Committee activities are attested primarily through newspapers and published material, by 1775, the committees had become counter-governments that gradually replaced royal authority and took control of local governments. They regulated the economy, politics, morality, and militia of their individual communities, in North Carolina in December 1776, they came under the control of a more powerful central authority, the Council of Safety
22.
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
23.
American Revolutionary War
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From about 1765 the American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented a culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the authority which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. On December 16,1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, these became known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees, British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec, on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4. Sir William Howe began a British counterattack, focussing on recapturing New York City, Howe outmaneuvered and defeated Washington, leaving American confidence at a low ebb. Washington captured a Hessian force at Trenton and drove the British out of New Jersey, in 1777 the British sent a new army under John Burgoyne to move south from Canada and to isolate the New England colonies. However, instead of assisting Burgoyne, Howe took his army on a campaign against the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Burgoyne outran his supplies, was surrounded and surrendered at Saratoga in October 1777, the British defeat in the Saratoga Campaign had drastic consequences. Giving up on the North, the British decided to salvage their former colonies in the South, British forces under Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis seized Georgia and South Carolina, capturing an American army at Charleston, South Carolina. British strategy depended upon an uprising of large numbers of armed Loyalists, in 1779 Spain joined the war as an ally of France under the Pacte de Famille, intending to capture Gibraltar and British colonies in the Caribbean. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, in 1781, after the British and their allies had suffered two decisive defeats at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, Cornwallis retreated to Virginia, intending on evacuation. A decisive French naval victory in September deprived the British of an escape route, a joint Franco-American army led by Count Rochambeau and Washington, laid siege to the British forces at Yorktown. With no sign of relief and the situation untenable, Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781, Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tory majority in Parliament, but the defeat at Yorktown gave the Whigs the upper hand
24.
United States Secretary of the Treasury
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This position in the Federal Government of the United States is analogous to the Minister of Finance in many other countries. The Secretary of the Treasury is a member of the Presidents Cabinet, nominees for The Secretary of the Treasury undergo a confirmation hearing before the United States Senate Committee on Finance before being confirmed by the United States Senate. The Secretary of the Treasury is a member of the U. S. National Security Council. The Secretary along with the Treasurer must sign Federal Reserve notes before they can become legal tender, the Secretary also manages the United States Emergency Economic Stabilization fund. Most of the Departments law enforcement agencies such as the U. S. Customs Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, secret Service were reassigned to other Departments in 2003 in conjunction with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. The Secretary of the Treasury salary is $205,700 annually,2 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury M. Peter McPherson served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from August 17,1988, to September 15,1988. 4 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Kenneth W. Dam served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from December 31,2002,5 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert M. Kimmitt served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from June 30,2006, to July 9,2006. 7 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from January 25,2013, as of April 2017, there are eleven living former Secretaries of the Treasury, the oldest being George P. Shultz. The most recent Secretary of the Treasury to die was Lloyd M. Bentsen, United States Department of the Treasury
25.
George Washington in the American Revolution
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George Washington commanded the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War, and was the first President of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. Because of his role in the founding of the United States. His devotion to republicanism and civic virtue made him a figure among early American politicians. Washington played a military and political role in the American Revolution. His involvement began as early as 1767, when he first took political stands against the acts of the British Parliament, after the war broke out with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, his role became military with his appointment as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He appeared before the Second Continental Congress in military uniform, signaling that he was prepared for war, Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, the next day it selected Washington as commander-in-chief. At the end of the year in both 1775 and 1776, he had to deal with expiring enlistments, since the Congress had only authorized the existence for single years. In 1777 Washington was again defeated in the defense of Philadelphia, Washingtons activities from late 1778 to 1780 were more diplomatic and organizational, as his army remained outside New York, watching Sir Henry Clintons army that occupied the city. His attention was drawn to the frontier war, which prompted the 1779 Continental Army expedition of John Sullivan into upstate New York. When General Clinton sent the turncoat General Benedict Arnold to raid in Virginia, the arrival of Lord Cornwallis in Virginia after campaigning in the south presented Washington with an opportunity to strike a decisive blow. The army was disbanded after peace in 1783, and Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief on December 23,1783. Born into a well-to-do Virginia family near Fredericksburg in 1732, Washington was schooled locally until the age of 15, the early death of his father when he was 11 eliminated the possibility of schooling in England, and his mother rejected attempts to place him in the Royal Navy. Thanks to the connection by marriage of his half-brother Lawrence to the wealthy Fairfax family, Washington was appointed surveyor of Culpeper County in 1749 and its investors also included Virginias Royal Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, who appointed Washington a major in the provincial militia in February 1753. Washington played a key role in the outbreak of the French and Indian War and he closely observed British military tactics, gaining a keen insight into their strengths and weaknesses that proved invaluable during the Revolution. He demonstrated his toughness and courage in the most difficult situations, including disasters and he developed a command presence—given his size, strength, stamina, and bravery in battle, he appeared to soldiers to be a natural leader and they followed him without question. Washington learned to organize, train, and drill, and discipline his companies, from his observations, readings and conversations with professional officers, he learned the basics of battlefield tactics, as well as a good understanding of problems of organization and logistics. He gained an understanding of strategy, especially in locating strategic geographical points. He developed a negative idea of the value of militia, who seemed too unreliable, too undisciplined
26.
Continental Navy
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The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War, and was formed in 1775. The main goal of the navy was to intercept shipments of British matériel, the initial fleet consisted of converted merchantmen because of the lack of funding, manpower, and resources, with exclusively designed warships being built later in the conflict. The vessels that made it to sea met with success only rarely. The fleet did serve to highlight a few examples of Continental resolve and it provided needed experience for a generation of officers who went on to command conflicts which involved the early American navy. With the war over and the Federal government in need of all available capital, the Continental Navy is the first establishment of what is now the United States Navy. The original intent was to intercept the supply of arms and provisions to British soldiers, George Washington had already informed Congress that he had assumed command of several ships for this purpose, and individual governments of various colonies had outfitted their own warships. The measure in the Continental Congress was met with much derision, John Adams later recalled, The opposition. Represented as the most wild, visionary, mad project that had ever been imagined and it was an infant taking a mad bull by his horns. During this time, however, the issue arose of Quebec-bound British supply ships carrying desperately needed provisions that could benefit the Continental Army. The Continental Congress appointed Silas Deane and John Langdon to draft a plan to seize ships from the convoy in question, on June 12,1775, the Rhode Island General Assembly, meeting at East Greenwich, passed a resolution creating a navy for the colony of Rhode Island. The same day, Governor Nicholas Cooke signed orders addressed to Captain Abraham Whipple, commander of the sloop Katy, the first formal movement for the creation of a Continental navy came from Rhode Island, because its merchants widespread shipping activities had been severely harassed by British frigates. On August 26,1775, Rhode Island General Assembly passed a resolution that there be a single Continental fleet funded by the Continental Congress, the resolution was introduced in the Continental Congress on October 3,1775 but was tabled. In the meantime, George Washington had begun to acquire ships, Hannah was commissioned and launched on September 5,1775 from the port of Beverly, Massachusetts, after being sold by the future General John Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts. On this day, Congress authorized the purchase of two vessels to be armed for a cruise against British merchant ships, these ships became Andrew Doria and Cabot. The first ship in commission was the USS Alfred which was purchased on November 4, on November 10,1775, the Continental Congress passed a resolution calling for two battalions of Marines to be raised for service with the fleet. John Adams drafted its first governing regulations, which were adopted by Congress on November 28,1775, when it came to selecting commanders for ships, Congress tended to be split evenly between merit and patronage. Among those who were selected for political reasons were Esek Hopkins, Dudley Saltonstall, however, Abraham Whipple, Nicholas Biddle, and John Paul Jones managed to be appointed with backgrounds in marine warfare. On December 22,1775, Esek Hopkins was appointed the naval commander-in-chief, Saltonstall, Biddle, Hopkins, and Whipple were commissioned as captains of the Alfred, Andrew Doria, Cabot, and Columbus, respectively
27.
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
28.
Constitutional Convention (United States)
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The Constitutional Convention took place from May 25 to September 17,1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the Convention, the result of the Convention was the creation of the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States. Most of the time during the Convention was spent on deciding these issues, while the powers of legislature, executive, once the Convention began, the delegates first agreed on the principles of the Convention, then they agreed on Madisons Virginia Plan and began to modify it. A Committee of Detail assembled during the July 4 recess eventually produced a draft of the constitution. Most of the draft remained in place, and can be found in the final version of the constitution. After the final issues were resolved, the Committee on Style produced the final version, before the Constitution was drafted, the nearly 4 million inhabitants of the 13 newly independent states were governed under the Articles of Confederation, created by the Second Continental Congress. It soon became evident to all that the chronically underfunded Confederation government. As the Articles of Confederation could only be amended by unanimous vote of the states, in addition, the Articles gave the weak federal government no taxing power, it was wholly dependent on the states for its money, and had no power to force delinquent states to pay. Once the immediate task of winning the American Revolutionary War had passed, the states began to look to their own interests, another impetus for the convention was Shays Rebellion. A political conflict between Boston merchants and rural farmers over issues such as property seizures for tax debts had broken out into an open rebellion. This rebellion was led by a former Revolutionary War captain, Daniel Shays, himself a farmer with tax debts. The rebellion took months for Massachusetts to put down completely, in September 1786, at the Annapolis Convention, delegates from five states called for a Constitutional Convention in order to discuss possible improvements to the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia on May 14,1787, Rhode Island, fearing that the Convention would work to its disadvantage, boycotted the Convention and, when the Constitution was put to the states, initially refused to ratify it. James Madison arrived first, and soon most of the Virginia delegation arrived, while waiting for the other delegates, the Virginia delegation produced the Virginia Plan, which was designed and written by James Madison. On May 25, the delegations convened in the Pennsylvania State House, George Washington was unanimously elected president of the Convention, and it was agreed that the discussions and votes would be kept secret until the conclusion of the meeting. Although William Jackson was elected as secretary, his records were brief, Madisons Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, supplemented by the notes of Robert Yates, remain the most complete record of the Convention. Throughout the debate, delegates constantly referred to precedents from history in support of their position, most commonly, they referred to the history of England, in particular the Glorious Revolution, classical history, and recent precedents from Holland and Germany. Outside the Convention in Philadelphia, there was a convening of the Society of the Cincinnati
29.
Debtors' prison
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A debtors prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. Through the mid 19th century, debtors prisons were a way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe. Increasing access and lenience throughout the history of law have made prison terms for unaggravated indigence illegal over most of the world. In this case the crime is not indigence, but disobeying the order to appear before the court. During Europes Middle Ages, debtors, both men and women, were locked up together in a single, large cell until their families paid their debt, debt prisoners often died of diseases contracted from other debt prisoners. Conditions included starvation and abuse from other prisoners, if the father of a family was imprisoned for debt, the family business often suffered while the mother and children fell into poverty. Unable to pay the debt, the father often remained in prison for many years. Some debt prisoners were released to become serfs or indentured servants until they paid off their debt in labor, article 1 of Protocol 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits the imprisonment of people for breach of a contract. Turkey and the United Kingdom have signed but never ratified Protocol 4, greece and Switzerland have neither signed nor ratified this protocol. In the late Middle Ages, and at the beginning of the modern era and this served to standardize the coercive arrest, and got rid of the many arbitrary sanctions that were not universal. In some areas the debtor could sell or redistribute their debt, in most of the cities, the towers and city fortifications functioned as jails. For certain sanctions there were designated prisons, hence some towers being called debtors prison, the term Schuldturm, outside of the Saxon constitution, became the catchword for public law debtor’s prison. In the early era, the debtor’s detainment or citizen’s arrest remained valid in Germany. This practice was particularly disgraceful to an identity, but had different rules than criminal trials. It was more similar to the enforcement of sentences e. g. the debtor would be able to work off their debt for a certain amount of days. The North German Confederation eliminated debtors prisons on May 29,1868, in England during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,10,000 people were imprisoned for debt each year. A prison term did not alleviate a persons debt, however, in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the later United Kingdom, debtors prisons varied in the amount of freedom they allowed the debtor. Life in these prisons, however, was far from pleasant, some debtor prisoners were even less fortunate, being sent to prisons with a mixture of vicious criminals and petty criminals, and many more were confined to a single cell
30.
United States Congress
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The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D. C, both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Members are usually affiliated to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party, Congress has 535 voting members,435 Representatives and 100 Senators. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members in addition to its 435 voting members and these members can, however, sit on congressional committees and introduce legislation. Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a single constituency, known as a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by using the United States Census results. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, currently, there are 100 senators representing the 50 states. Each senator is elected at-large in their state for a term, with terms staggered. The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process—legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers, however, the Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers. The Senate ratifies treaties and approves presidential appointments while the House initiates revenue-raising bills, the House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before a person can be forcibly removed from office. The term Congress can also refer to a meeting of the legislature. A Congress covers two years, the current one, the 115th Congress, began on January 3,2017, the Congress starts and ends on the third day of January of every odd-numbered year. Members of the Senate are referred to as senators, members of the House of Representatives are referred to as representatives, congressmen, or congresswomen. One analyst argues that it is not a solely reactive institution but has played a role in shaping government policy and is extraordinarily sensitive to public pressure. Several academics described Congress, Congress reflects us in all our strengths, Congress is the governments most representative body. Congress is essentially charged with reconciling our many points of view on the public policy issues of the day. —Smith, Roberts, and Wielen Congress is constantly changing and is constantly in flux, most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent
31.
Lancashire
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Lancashire is a non-metropolitan ceremonial county in north west England. The county town is Lancaster although the administrative centre is Preston. The county has a population of 1,449,300, people from Lancashire are known as Lancastrians. The history of Lancashire begins with its founding in the 12th century, in the Domesday Book of 1086, some of its lands were treated as part of Yorkshire. The land that lay between the Ribble and Mersey, Inter Ripam et Mersam, was included in the returns for Cheshire, when its boundaries were established, it bordered Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire, and Cheshire. Lancashire emerged as a commercial and industrial region during the Industrial Revolution. Liverpool and Manchester grew into its largest cities, dominating global trade, the county contained several mill towns and the collieries of the Lancashire Coalfield. By the 1830s, approximately 85% of all cotton manufactured worldwide was processed in Lancashire, Accrington, Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley, Bury, Chorley, Colne, Darwen, Manchester, Nelson, Oldham, Preston, Rochdale and Wigan were major cotton mill towns during this time. Blackpool was a centre for tourism for the inhabitants of Lancashires mill towns, the detached northern part of Lancashire in the Lake District, including the Furness Peninsula and Cartmel, was merged with Cumberland and Westmorland to form Cumbria. Lancashire lost 709 square miles of land to other counties, about two fifths of its area, although it did gain some land from the West Riding of Yorkshire. Today the county borders Cumbria to the north, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south and North and West Yorkshire to the east, with a coastline on the Irish Sea to the west. The county palatine boundaries remain the same with the Duke of Lancaster exercising sovereignty rights, including the appointment of lords lieutenant in Greater Manchester, the county was established in 1182, later than many other counties. During Roman times the area was part of the Brigantes tribal area in the zone of Roman Britain. The towns of Manchester, Lancaster, Ribchester, Burrow, Elslack, in the centuries after the Roman withdrawal in 410AD the northern parts of the county probably formed part of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a successor entity to the Brigantes tribe. During the mid-8th century, the area was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, in the Domesday Book, land between the Ribble and Mersey were known as Inter Ripam et Mersam and included in the returns for Cheshire. Although some historians consider this to mean south Lancashire was then part of Cheshire and it is also claimed that the territory to the north formed part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It bordered on Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire, and Cheshire, the county was divided into hundreds, Amounderness, Blackburn, Leyland, Lonsdale, Salford and West Derby. Lonsdale was further partitioned into Lonsdale North, the part north of the sands of Morecambe Bay including Furness and Cartmel
32.
Oxford, Maryland
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Oxford is a waterfront town and former colonial port in Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 651 at the 2010 census, Oxford is one of the oldest towns in Maryland. By 1669 one of the first houses was built for Innkeeper Francis Armstrong, Oxford first appears on a map completed in 1670, and published in 1671. In 1694, Oxford and a new town called Anne Arundel were selected as the ports of entry for the entire Maryland province. Until the American Revolution, Oxford enjoyed prominence as a shipping center surrounded by wealthy tobacco plantations. It is overshadowed by the Tench Tilghman Monument, a stone spire approximately 10 feet tall, the monument is the tallest monument found at the Oxford cemetery. The cemetery itself was used in the sequence of the 1988 feature film, Claras Heart, starring Whoopi Goldberg. The American Revolution marked the end of Oxfords glory, gone were the British ships with their variety of imported goods, and tobacco was replaced by wheat as a cash crop. Businesses went bankrupt, cattle grazed in the streets, and the population dwindled, business was booming, houses were going up everywhere, and tourists and boaters were arriving in droves. In the early part of the 20th century, the oyster beds played out, the packing houses closed, other businesses went bankrupt, Oxford became a sleepy little town inhabited mainly by watermen who still worked the waters of the Tred Avon River. Oxford is host to the oldest privately operated ferry service still in use in the United States. The original ferry service, known today as the Oxford-Bellevue Ferry, was established in 1683, the ferry links Oxford with Bellevue, Maryland, crossing the 3/4 mile width of the Tred Avon River during a 7-10 minute trip. Oxford today is still a town, but is enjoying a new resurgence based on tourism. Its quiet charm, fresh air, summer breezes, and clean water provide a haven from the hustle and bustle of city life for boaters, weekend visitors, the film Failure to Launch was filmed in part here. The town is served by the Oxford Volunteer Fire Company and they have two engines, a truck, tanker, command unit, brush unit, two BLS units and a boat. They often respond to all of Talbot County as part of the Mutual Aid system, on average, they respond to over 100 calls per year. Barnaby House, Billie P. Hall, Jena, Otwell, Oxford Historic District, dobson are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Oxford is located at 38°4112 North, 76°1015 West on the bank of the Tred Avon river, near its mouth
33.
Charles Willing
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Charles Willing was a Philadelphia merchant, trader and politician, twice he served as Mayor of Philadelphia, from 1748 until 1749 and again in 1754. Charles Willing was born in Bristol, England on May 18,1710 and his wifes grandfather, Edward Shippen, and his eldest son, Thomas Willing, also served as mayors of Philadelphia. Thomas was also a Delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania, Charles Willing died on November 30,1754 in Philadelphia and is buried in Christ Church Burial Ground along with his wife. Biography and portrait at University of Pennsylvania Charles Willing at Find a Grave
34.
Thomas Willing
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Thomas Willing was an American merchant, a Delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania and the first president of the First National Bank of the United States. Thomas completed preparatory studies in Bath, England, then studied law in London at the Inner Temple, in 1749, after studying abroad in England, he returned to Philadelphia, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits, in partnership with Robert Morris, until 1793. A member of the council in 1755, he became an alderman in 1759, associate justice of the city court on October 2,1759. Willing then became Mayor of Philadelphia in 1763, in 1767, the Pennsylvania Assembly, with Governor Thomas Penns assent, had authorized a Supreme Court justice to sit with local justices of the peace in a system of Nisi Prius courts. Governor Penn appointed two new Supreme Court justices, John Lawrence and Thomas Willing, Willing served until 1767, the last under the colonial government. A member of the committee of correspondence in 1774 and of the committee of safety in 1775, as a member of the Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776, he voted against the Declaration of Independence. Later, however, he subscribed £5,000 to supply the revolutionary cause, after the war, he became president of the Bank of North America, preceding John Nixon, and then the first president of the Bank of the United States from 1791 to 1807. In August,1807, he suffered a stroke. In 1763, Willing married Anne McCall, daughter of Samuel McCall, Willing died in 1821 in Philadelphia, where he is interred in Christ Church Burial Ground. Willing was the grandfather of John Brown Francis, who was a governor, maria later married the Marquis de Blaisel in 1826. Stephen Simpson, an outspoken journalist and fierce critic of the First National Bank, List of wealthiest historical figures List of richest Americans in history Notes Sources Wright, Robert E. Thomas Willing, Philadelphia Financier and Forgotten Founding Father. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
35.
William White (bishop of Pennsylvania)
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William White was the first and fourth Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States, the first bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, and the second United States Senate Chaplain. He also served as the first and fourth President of the House of Deputies for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Born in Philadelphia, White began his education at Philadelphia College, taking his B. A. in 1765, in 1770, he sailed for England on the ship Britannia, for his ordination as a deacon, which took place in the Chapel Royal at St Jamess Palace. In 1781, after theological studies, he received a Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Rector of St. Peters and of Christ Church for 57 years, White also served as Chaplain of the Continental Congress from 1777 to 1789, and subsequently as Chaplain of the Senate. Though an Anglican cleric who was sworn to the king in his ceremony, White, like all but one of his fellow Anglican clerics in Philadelphia. After the war, White wrote The Case of The Episcopal Churches in the United States Considered, among the innovations he proposed was including lay people in the churchs decision making bodies. Thus, at the founding General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 1785, Bishop White participated in the consecration of most American Episcopal bishops during the countrys first two decades. He also consecrated two African-Americans as deacons and then priests, Absalom Jones of Philadelphia, and William Levington of New York, although Bishop White did not travel extensively through his diocese, he did support missionary priests, including Simon Wilmer, William Meade and Jackson Kemper. The elderly Bishop White made only one trip to the parts of his diocese. In 1825 he traveled with Rev, Kemper to western Pennsylvania confirming 212 and consecrating three buildings. On that trip, with permission of Bishop Moore of Virginia, he also visited Wheeling Wheeling in what later became West Virginia to confirm parishioners. White also took a role in creating several charitable and educational institutions, usually by organizing Presbyterians, Methodists. Rev. White founded the Episcopal Academy, to educate the sons of Philadelphias Episcopalians, in 1795 Bishop White raised funds to create a school for black and Native American children. He also helped to create a Magdalen Society in Philadelphia in 1800 for unhappy females who have been seduced from the paths of virtue and are desirous of returning to a life of rectitude and this was the first institution of this kind in the United States. Seixas, now known as the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, Bishop White served as the schools president for the next 16 years. The bishop and his friend and neighbor Benjamin Rush were among the few prominent citizens who remained to tend the ill when many other wealthy inhabitants fled to the countryside, as the bishop aged, arranging for his successor became divisive in the diocese. Rev. Benjamin Allen arrived from Virginia to lead the dioceses most evangelical congregation, St. Pauls and also founded another congregation, St. Andrews, Bishop White questioned certain aspects of lay leadership at the revival meetings
36.
Christ Church, Philadelphia
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Christ Church is an Episcopal church in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1695 as a parish of the Church of England, in 1785, its rector, William White, became the first Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. From 1754 to 1810, the churchs 196-foot tower and steeple was the tallest structure in North America, Christ Church was founded in 1695 by members of the Church of England, who built a small wooden church on the site by the next year. When the congregation outgrew this structure some twenty years later, they decided to erect a new church, the most sumptuous in the colonies. The main body of the church was constructed between 1727 and 1744, and the steeple was added in 1754, making it the tallest building in North America at the time, at 60 meters. Christ Church is considered one of the nations most beautiful surviving 18th-century structures, a monument to colonial craftsmanship and a handsome example of Georgian architecture. Modeled on the work in London of Christopher Wren, it features a symmetrical, classical façade with arched windows and a simple yet elegant interior with fluted columns and wooden pews. Although the architect of the church is unknown, its construction was supervised by John Kearsley, a physician, the church was rebuilt in 1777 by Robert Smith, and the interior was altered in 1883 by Thomas U. The baptismal font in which William Penn was baptized is still in use at Christ Church, another baptismal font and the communion table were crafted by Philadelphia cabinetmaker Jonathan Gostelowe, who served on the vestry in the 1790s. Christ Churchs congregation included 15 signers of the Declaration of Independence, American Revolutionary War leaders who attended Christ Church include George Washington, Robert Morris, Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross. Brass plaques mark the pews where these individuals once sat, at the convening of the First Continental Congress in September 1774, Rector Jacob Duché was summoned to Carpenters Hall to lead the opening prayers. During the war, the Reverend William White, rector of Christ Church, in September 1785, clerical and lay deputies from several states met in Christ Church and organized as a general convention, of which White was chosen president. He prepared a constitution for the church as well as an address to the archbishops and bishops of the Church of England. White was also responsible for the liturgy and offices of the first American Book of Common Prayer. At the convention of the Diocese of Pennsylvania in 1786, he was elected its first bishop and sailed for England with Dr. Samuel Provoost of New York, seeking consecration. After passage of an enabling act by Parliament, White and Provoost were consecrated in early 1787 by the archbishops of Canterbury. Bishop White returned to Philadelphia that Easter Sunday, White was the first Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania and served the congregations of Christ Church and St. Peters Church for decades. White is buried in the churchs chancel, Christ Church is a National Historic Landmark and a unique historic site that continues its original function as an Episcopal parish
37.
Seven Years' War
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The Seven Years War was a war fought between 1754 and 1763, the main conflict occurring in the seven-year period from 1756 to 1763. It involved every European great power of the time except the Ottoman Empire and spanned five continents, affecting Europe, the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines. The conflict split Europe into two coalitions, led by the Kingdom of Great Britain on one side and the Kingdom of France on the other. Meanwhile, in India, the Mughal Empire, with the support of the French, faced with this sudden turn of events, Britain aligned herself with Prussia, in a series of political manoeuvres known as the Diplomatic Revolution. Conflict between Great Britain and France broke out in 1754–1756 when the British attacked disputed French positions in North America, meanwhile, rising power Prussia was struggling with Austria for dominance within and outside the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe. In 1756, the major powers switched partners, realizing that war was imminent, Prussia preemptively struck Saxony and quickly overran it. The result caused uproar across Europe, because of Austrias alliance with France to recapture Silesia, which had been lost in a previous war, Prussia formed an alliance with Britain. Reluctantly, by following the diet, most of the states of the empire joined Austrias cause. The Anglo-Prussian alliance was joined by smaller German states, Sweden, seeking to re-gain Pomerania joined the coalition, seeing its chance when virtually all of Europe opposed Prussia. Spain, bound by the Pacte de Famille, intervened on behalf of France, the Russian Empire was originally aligned with Austria, fearing Prussias ambition on the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but switched sides upon the succession of Tsar Peter III in 1762. Naples, Sicily, and Savoy, although sided with the Franco-Spanish alliance, like Sweden, Russia concluded a separate peace with Prussia. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris between France, Spain and Great Britain and the Treaty of Hubertusburg between Saxony, Austria and Prussia, in 1763. The Native American tribes were excluded from the settlement, a subsequent conflict, Prussia emerged as a new European great power. Although Austria failed to retrieve the territory of Silesia from Prussia its military prowess was noted by the other powers. The involvement of Portugal, Spain and Sweden did not return them to their status as great powers. France was deprived of many of its colonies and had saddled itself with heavy war debts that its inefficient financial system could barely handle. Spain lost Florida but gained French Louisiana and regained control of its colonies, e. g. Cuba and the Philippines, France and Spain avenged their defeat in 1778 when the American Revolutionary War broke out, with hopes of destroying Britains dominance once and for all. The Seven Years War was perhaps the first true world war, having taken place almost 160 years before World War I and it was characterized in Europe by sieges and the arson of towns as well as open battles with heavy losses
38.
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
39.
Aaron Lopez
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Aaron Lopez, born Duarte Lopez, was a Portuguese Jewish merchant and philanthropist. Through his varied commercial ventures, he became the wealthiest person in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1761 and 1762, Lopez unsuccessfully sued the Colony of Rhode Island for citizenship. Duarte Lopez was born in 1731 in Lisbon, Portugal and he belonged to a family of conversos who professed Catholicism while they continued to practice Judaism in secret. In 1750 Lopez married a woman named Anna, and within two years the couple had a daughter, Catherine, aarons older brother José had left Portugal years earlier, reclaimed his Jewish identity, and taken the name Moses. Moses was naturalized in 1740 and granted a license by the General Assembly to make potash in 1753, in 1752 Duarte and his family moved to Newport, where they lived as Jews and became Aaron, Abigail, and Sarah. Lopez established himself as a shopkeeper in Newport shortly after his arrival, by 1755 he was buying and selling goods throughout Rhode Island and dealing with agents in Boston and New York. One of Lopezs early business interests was the trade in spermaceti, Lopez built a candle-making factory in Newport in 1756. By 1760, a dozen competitors had built similar plants in New England, whalers couldnt supply the factories with enough spermaceti to meet the demand, and the price of whale oil was climbing. In 1761, Lopez joined eight other merchants to form a trust to control the price, Lopez expanded his trade beyond the North American coastline and by 1757 had major interests in the West Indian trade. He also sent ships to Europe and the Canary Islands, between 1761 and 1774, Lopez was involved in the slave trade. By the beginning of the American Revolution, Lopez owned or controlled 30 vessels, by the early 1770s, Lopez had become the wealthiest person in Newport, his tax assessment was twice that of any other resident. The reason he was successful was that his business interests were so diverse and he manufactured spermaceti candles, ships, barrels, rum, and chocolate. He had business interests in the production of textiles, clothes, shoes, hats, in the mid-1770s, with growing tensions between Britain and its American colonies, Lopezs fortunes began to decline. The Continental Association enforced a boycott against trade with Britain, in October 1775, the British navy anchored outside Newports harbor and the population began to evacuate the city. In early 1776 Lopez relocated to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, then to Providence, Boston, historian Marilyn Kaplan describes Lopezs losses during the American Revolution as monumental. Lopez supported a number of causes in Newport. He purchased books for the Redwood Library and Athenaeum and he contributed lumber to help build the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and he donated land to establish Leicester Academy in Leicester, Massachusetts. Lopez was a contributor who helped build the Touro Synagogue
40.
Privateer
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A privateer was a private person or ship that engaged in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Captured ships were subject to condemnation and sale under prize law, a percentage share usually went to the issuer of the commission. Since robbery under arms was common to trade, all merchant ships were already armed. During war, naval resources were auxiliary to operations on land so privateering was a way of subsidizing state power by mobilizing armed ships, the letter of marque of a privateer would typically limit activity to one particular ship, and specified officers. Typically, the owners or captain would be required to post a performance bond, in the United Kingdom, letters of marque were revoked for various offences. Some crews were treated as harshly as naval crews of the time, some crews were made up of professional merchant seamen, others of pirates, debtors, and convicts. Some privateers ended up becoming pirates, not just in the eyes of their enemies, william Kidd, for instance, began as a legitimate British privateer but was later hanged for piracy. The investors would arm the vessels and recruit large crews, much larger than a merchantman or a vessel would carry. Privateers generally cruised independently, but it was not unknown for them to form squadrons, a number of privateers were part of the English fleet that opposed the Spanish Armada in 1588. Privateers generally avoided encounters with warships, as such encounters would be at best unprofitable, for instance, in 1815 Chasseur encountered HMS St Lawrence, herself a former American privateer, mistaking her for a merchantman until too late, in this instance, however, the privateer prevailed. The United States used mixed squadrons of frigates and privateers in the American Revolutionary War, the practice dated to at least the 13th century but the word itself was coined sometime in the mid-17th century. England, and later the United Kingdom, used privateers to great effect and these privately owned merchant ships, licensed by the crown, could legitimately take vessels that were deemed pirates. The increase in competition for crews on armed merchant vessels and privateers was due, in a large part, because of the chance for a considerable payoff. Whereas a seaman who shipped on a vessel was paid a wage and provided with victuals. This proved to be a far more attractive prospect and privateering flourished as a result, during Queen Elizabeths reign, she encouraged the development of this supplementary navy. Over the course of her rule, she had allowed Anglo-Spanish relations to deteriorate to the point where one could argue that a war with the Spanish was inevitable. By using privateers, if the Spanish were to take offense at the plundering of their ships, some of the most famous privateers that later fought in the Anglo-Spanish War included the Sea Dogs. In the late 16th century, English ships cruised in the Caribbean and off the coast of Spain, at this early stage the idea of a regular navy was not present, so there is little to distinguish the activity of English privateers from regular naval warfare
