1.
Thirteen Colonies
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The Thirteen Colonies were a group of British colonies on the east coast of North America founded in the 17th and 18th centuries that declared independence in 1776 and formed the United States. The Thirteen Colonies had very similar political, constitutional, and legal systems and they were part of Britains possessions in the New World, which also included colonies in present-day Canada and the Caribbean, as well as East and West Florida. However, the Thirteen Colonies had a degree of self-government and active local elections. In the 1750s, the colonies began collaborating with each other instead of dealing directly with Britain, Colonial decisions were subject to approval by the governor and the home government. There were also substantial populations of African slaves in some of the colonies, especially Virginia, the Carolinas, the names of the colonies were chosen by the founders and proprietors, subject to royal approval, and given in the founding charters. Nine of the thirteen chose to include in their names the term Province of, later residents tended to drop the ambiguous terminology, as in the map shown in the article Province of New Jersey, which is labeled simply East Jersey and West Jersey. In July 1776, they formed a new nation called the United States of America, the new nation achieved that goal by winning the American Revolutionary War with the aid of France, the Netherlands, and Spain. The American flag features thirteen horizontal stripes which represent these original thirteen colonies, besides these thirteen colonies, Britain had another dozen in the New World. Those in the British West Indies, Newfoundland, the Province of Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Bermuda, and East and West Florida remained loyal to the crown throughout the war. The British crown had recently acquired those lands, and many of the issues facing the Thirteen Colonies did not apply to them, especially in the case of Quebec. Contemporary documents usually list the thirteen colonies of British North America in geographical order, the consolidation collapsed after the Glorious Revolution of 1688–89, and the nine former colonies re-established their separate identities in 1689. Massachusetts Bay Colony Settled in 1630 by Puritans from England, the colonial charter was revoked in 1684, and a new charter was issued in 1691 establishing an enlarged Province of Massachusetts Bay. Province of Maine Settled in 1622, the Massachusetts Bay Colony claimed the Maine territory in the 1650s, then limited to present-day southernmost Maine. Parts of Maine east of the Kennebec River were also part of New York in the half of the 17th century. These areas were made part of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the charter of 1691. Plymouth Colony Settled in 1620 by the Pilgrims, plymouth was merged into the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the charter of 1691. Saybrook Colony Founded in 1635 and merged with Connecticut Colony in 1644, New Haven Colony Settled in late 1637. New Netherland Extensive region centered about New Amsterdam at the tip of Manhattan Island
2.
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
3.
Unicameralism
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In government, unicameralism is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multicameralism, many multicameral legislatures were created to give separate voices to different sectors of society. Multiple chambers allowed for guaranteed representation of different social classes, ethnic or regional interests, where these factors are unimportant, in unitary states with limited regional autonomy, unicameralism often prevails. Unicameral legislatures are also common in official Communist states such as the Peoples Republic of China, similarly, many formerly Communist states, such as Ukraine, Moldova and Serbia, have retained their unicameral legislatures, though others, such as Romania and Poland, adopted bicameral legislatures. Both the former Russian SFSR and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were bicameral, the two chambers were the Soviet of Nationalities and the Soviet of the Union. The Russian Federation retained bicameralism after the dissolution of the USSR, the principal advantage of a unicameral system is more efficient lawmaking, as the legislative process is much simpler and there is no possibility of deadlock. Proponents of unicameralism have also argued that it costs, even if the number of legislators stay the same, since there are fewer institutions to maintain. There is also the risk that important sectors of society may not be adequately represented, approximately half of the worlds sovereign states are currently unicameral, including both the most populous and the least populous. Many subnational entities have unicameral legislatures, and all of the Brazilian states. In the United Kingdom, the devolved Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, Congress of Deputies of Second Spanish Republic was unicameral between 1931 and 1936. Dissolved at the end of Spanish Civil War, the actual Spanish Parliament is bicameral, Supreme Assembly of Uzbekistan was unicameral before being replaced in 2005 by the current, bicameral Supreme Assembly. National Assembly of Cameroon was unicameral before being replaced in 2013 by the current, chamber of Peoples Representative of Equatorial Guinea was unicameral before being replaced in 2013 by the current, bicameral Parliament of Equatorial Guinea. National Assembly of Kenya was the unicameral legislature before becoming the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Kenya in 2013. National Assembly of Ivory Coast was the unicameral legislature before becoming the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Ivory Coast in 2016. Nebraskas state legislature is also unique in the sense that it is the state legislature that is entirely nonpartisan. In 1999, Governor Jesse Ventura proposed converting the Minnesota Legislature into a unicameral chamber. Although debated, the idea was never adopted, if those constitutional changes had been approved, Puerto Rico could have switched to a unicameral legislature as early as 2015
4.
First Continental Congress
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It was called in response to The passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament. The Intolerable Acts had punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, the Congress was attended by 56 delegates. The Pennsylvania delegation was appointed by the colonial assembly, Georgia declined to send delegates because they were hoping for British assistance with Native American problems on their frontier and did not want to upset the British. The Congress met briefly to consider options, including a boycott of British trade, rights and grievances. The Congress also called for another Continental Congress in the event that their petition was unsuccessful in halting enforcement of the Intolerable Acts. Their appeal to the Crown had no effect, and so the Second Continental Congress was convened the following year to organize the defense of the colonies at the onset of the American Revolutionary War, the delegates also urged each colony to set up and train its own militia. The Congress met from September 5 to October 26,1774, peyton Randolph presided over the proceedings, Henry Middleton took over as President of the Congress for the last few days, from October 22 to October 26. Charles Thomson, leader of Philadelphia Committee of Correspondence, was selected to be Secretary of the Continental Congress, the delegates who attended the Congress were not of one mind concerning why they were there. Their ultimate goal was to develop a solution to the difficulties. Radicals, such as Patrick Henry, Roger Sherman, Samuel Adams, to counter these ideas, Galloway put forward a Plan of Union, which suggested an American legislative body be formed, with some authority, and whose consent would be required for imperial measures. In the end, the voices of reconciliation and compromise carried the day and it requested that local Committees of Safety enforce the boycott and regulate local prices for goods. These resolutions adopted by the Congress did not acknowledge the power of Parliament even to regulate trade. Furthermore, they did not repudiate control by the royal prerogative, the Congress had two primary accomplishments. The first was a compact among the colonies to boycott British goods beginning on December 1,1774, the West Indies were threatened with a boycott unless the islands agreed to nonimportation of British goods. Imports from Britain dropped by 97 percent in 1775, compared with the previous year, Committees of observation and inspection were to be formed in each colony for enforcement of the Association. All of the colonial Houses of Assembly approved the proceedings of the congress with the exception of New York, if the Intolerable Acts were not repealed, the colonies would also cease exports to Britain after September 10,1775. The boycott was successfully implemented, but its potential for altering British colonial policy was cut off by the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, the colonists were forced to quarter British soldiers, and feed them. The second accomplishment of the Congress was to provide for a Second Continental Congress to meet on May 10,1775, however, letters appear to have been sent only to Quebec
5.
Congress of the Confederation
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A unicameral body with legislative and executive function, it comprised delegates appointed by the legislatures of the several states. Each state delegation had one vote, the membership of the Second Continental Congress automatically carried over to the Congress of the Confederation when the latter was created by the ratification of the Articles of Confederation. It had the secretary as the Second Continental Congress, namely Charles Thomson. The Congress of the Confederation opened in the last stages of the American Revolution, combat ended in October 1781, with the surrender of the British after the Siege and Battle of Yorktown. The British, however, continued to occupy New York City, while the American delegates in Paris, named by the Congress and this formally ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the thirteen former colonies, which on July 4,1776, had declared independence. On March 1,1781, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were signed by delegates of Maryland at a meeting of the Second Continental Congress, as historian Edmund Burnett wrote, There was no new organization of any kind, not even the election of a new President. The Congress still called itself the Continental Congress, some modern historians would later refer to the Continental Congress after the ratification of the Articles as the Congress of the Confederation or the Confederation Congress. The Congress had little power and without the threat of a war against the British. Nonetheless the Congress still managed to pass important laws, most notably the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the War of Independence saddled the country with an enormous debt. In 1784, the total Confederation debt was nearly $40 million, of that sum, $8 million was owed to the French and Dutch. Of the domestic debt, government bonds, known as loan-office certificates, composed $11.5 million, certificates on interest indebtedness $3.1 million, the certificates were non-interest bearing notes issued for supplies purchased or impressed, and to pay soldiers and officers. Rhode Island and Virginia rejected the 1781 impost plan while New York rejected the 1783 revised plan, without revenue, except for meager voluntary state requisitions, Congress could not even pay the interest on its outstanding debt. Meanwhile, the states failed, or refused, to meet the requisitions requested of them by Congress. The Confederation Congress itself endorsed the Call and issued one on its own further inviting the states to send delegates. After meeting in secret all summer in the Old Pennsylvania State House now having acquired the nickname and new title of Independence Hall, from the famous action here eleven years earlier. The Confederation Congress received and submitted the new Constitution document to the states, the Congress of the Confederation continued to conduct business for another month after setting the various dates. Pell oversaw the meeting and adjourned the Congress sine die, rather than having a fixed capital, the Congress of the Confederation met in numerous locations which may be considered United States capitals. The Congress of the Confederation initially met at the Old Pennsylvania State House, party Politics in the Continental Congress
6.
Peyton Randolph
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Peyton Randolph was a planter and public official from the Colony of Virginia. He served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, president of Virginia Conventions, Randolph was born in Tazewell Hall Williamsburg, Virginia to a prominent family. His parents were Sir John Randolph, the son of William Randolph, and Susanna Beverley and his father died when he was 16. Randolph attended the College of William & Mary, and later studied law at Middle Temple at the Inns of Court in London and he lived his adulthood in Williamsburg, Va. Randolph returned to Williamsburg and was appointed Attorney General of the Colony of Virginia the next year and he served several terms in the Virginia House of Burgesses, beginning in 1748. It was Randolphs dual roles as attorney general and as burgess that would lead to a conflict of interest in 1751. The new governor, Robert Dinwiddie, had imposed a fee for the certification of land patents, the House selected Peyton Randolph to represent their cause to Crown authorities in London. In his role as general, though, he was responsible for defending actions taken by the governor. Randolph left for London, over the objections of Governor Dinwiddie, Randolph resumed his post on his return at the behest of Wythe as well as officials in London, who also recommended the Governor drop the new fee. In 1765 Randolph found himself at odds with a burgess, Patrick Henry. The House appointed Randolph to draft objections to the act, and this was accomplished at a meeting of the House in which most of the members were absent, and over which Randolph was presiding in the absence of the Speaker. Randolph resigned as attorney in 1766, as fellow Burgesses elected him as their Speaker upon the death of his relative. Sitting as the General Court, they also appointed Randolph one of the executors of the former speakers estate, as friction between Britain and the colonies progressed, Randolph grew to favor independence. In 1769 the House of Burgesses was dissolved by the Governor, Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt, in 1773, Randolph chaired the Virginia committee of correspondence. The next Governor, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, also dissolved the House of Burgesses in 1774 when it showed solidarity with Boston, Massachusetts, on March 21,1775 he was president of the Second Virginia Convention in Richmond that debated independence. The House of Burgesses was called back by Lord Dunmore one last time in June 1775 to address British Prime Minister Lord Norths Conciliatory Resolution, Randolph, who was a delegate to the Continental Congress, returned to Williamsburg to take his place as Speaker. Randolph indicated that the resolution had not been sent to the Congress, the House of Burgesses rejected the proposal, which was also later rejected by the Continental Congress. Randolph was thus the last Speaker of the House of Burgesses, Edmund Pendleton would succeed Randolph as president of the later conventions
7.
Samuel Huntington (Connecticut politician)
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Samuel Huntington was a jurist, statesman, and Patriot in the American Revolution from Connecticut. As a delegate to the Continental Congress, he signed the Declaration of Independence, Samuel was born to Nathaniel and Mehetabel Huntington on July 16,1731 in Windham, Connecticut. His house is now currently accessible off of Route 14 and he was the fourth of ten children, but the oldest son. He had an education in the common schools, then was self-educated. When Samuel was 16 he was apprenticed to a cooper, and his education came from the library of Rev. Ebenezer Devotion and books borrowed from local lawyers. In 1754 Samuel was admitted to the bar, and moved to Norwich and he married Martha Devotion in 1761. They remained together until her death in 1794, while the couple would not have children, when his brother died they adopted their nephew and niece. They raised Samuel H. Huntington and Frances as their own, after brief service as a selectman, Huntington began his political career in earnest in 1764 when Norwich sent him as one of their representatives to the lower house of the Connecticut Assembly. He continued to be returned to that each year until 1774. In 1775 he was elected to the house, the Governors Council. In addition to serving in the legislature, he was appointed Kings attorney for Connecticut in 1768 and in 1773 was appointed to the supreme court. He was chief justice of the Superior Court from 1784 until 1787, Huntington was an outspoken critic of the Coercive Acts of the British Parliament. As a result, the assembly elected him in October 1775 to become one of their delegates to the Second Continental Congress, in January 1776 he took his place with Roger Sherman and Oliver Wolcott as the Connecticut delegation in Philadelphia. He voted for and signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation and he suffered from an attack of smallpox while in Congress. While not known for learning or brilliant speech, Huntingtons steady hard work. As a result, when John Jay left to become minister to Spain, the President of Congress was a mostly ceremonial position with no real authority, but the office did require Huntington to handle a good deal of correspondence and sign official documents. He spent his time as president urging the states and their legislatures to support the levies for men, supplies, the Articles of Confederation were finally ratified during his term. Huntington remained as President of Congress until July 9,1781, in 1782, Connecticut again named him as a delegate, but his health and judicial duties kept him from accepting
8.
Charles Thomson
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Charles Thomson was an Irish-born Patriot leader in Philadelphia during the American Revolution and the secretary of the Continental Congress throughout its existence. Thomson was born in Gorteade townland, Maghera parish, County Londonderry, Ireland, after the death of his mother in 1739, his father emigrated to the British colonies in America with Charles and two or three brothers. The father died at sea, and the boys were separated in America. Charles was cared for by a blacksmith in New Castle, Delaware, in 1750 he became a tutor in Latin at the Philadelphia Academy. During the French and Indian War, Thomson was an opponent of the Pennsylvania proprietors American Indian policies and he was allied with Benjamin Franklin, the leader of the anti-proprietary party, but the two men parted politically during the Stamp Act crisis in 1765. Thomson became a leader of Philadelphias Sons of Liberty and he was married to the sister of Benjamin Harrison V, another signer, as delegate, of the Declaration of Independence. Thomson was a leader in the crisis of the early 1770s. John Adams called him the Samuel Adams of Philadelphia, Thomson served as the secretary of the Continental Congress through its entirety. Through those 15 years, the Congress saw many delegates come and go, along with John Hancock, president of the Congress, Thomsons name appeared on the first published version of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776. Thomsons role as secretary to Congress was not limited to clerical duties, according to biographer Boyd Schlenther, Thomson took a direct role in the conduct of foreign affairs. Fred S. Rolater has suggested that Charles Thomson was essentially the Prime Minister of the United States, Thomson is also noted for designing, with William Barton, the Great Seal of the United States. The Great Seal played a prominent role in the January 14,1784, britains representatives in Paris initially disputed the placement of the Great Seal and Congressional President Thomas Mifflins signature, until mollified by Benjamin Franklin. But Thomsons service was not without its critics, such brawls on the floor were not uncommon, and many of them were promoted by argument over Thomsons recordings. Political disagreements prevented Thomson from getting a position in the new government created by the United States Constitution, Thomson resigned as secretary of Congress in July 1789 and handed over the Great Seal, bringing an end to the Continental Congress. He spent his years at Harriton House in Bryn Mawr. He also published a synopsis of the four evangelists in 1815, in retirement, Thomson also pursued his interests in agricultural science and beekeeping. According to Thomas Jefferson, writing to John Adams, Thomson became senile in his old age and it is at most but the life of a cabbage, surely not worth a wish. In 1853 JW Randolph and Company republished the work incorporating various materials from the Estate provided by Jeffersons literary executor Thomas Jefferson Randolph
9.
Independence Hall
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Independence Hall is the building where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted. It is now the centerpiece of the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the building was completed in 1753 as the colonial legislature for the Province of Pennsylvania. It became the meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1783 and was the site of the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787. The building is part of Independence National Historical Park and is listed as a World Heritage Site, by the spring of 1729 the citizens of Philadelphia were petitioning to be allowed to build a state house. Two thousand pounds were committed to the endeavor, by October 1730 they had begun purchasing lots on Chestnut Street. By 1732, even though Hamilton had acquired the deed for Lot no.2 from surveyor David Powell, dr. John Kearsley and Hamilton disagreed on a number of issues concerning the state house. Kearsley, who is credited with the designs of both Christ Church and St. Peters Church, had plans for the structure of the building, the two men also disagreed on the buildings site, Kearsley suggested High Street, now Market Street, and Hamilton favored Chestnut Street. Lawrence said nothing on the matter, matters reached a point where arbitration was needed. On August 8,1733, Hamilton brought the matter before the House of Representatives and he explained that Kearsley did not approve of Hamilton’s plans for the location and architecture of the state house and went on to insist the House had not agreed to these decisions. In response to this, Hamilton, on August 11, showed his plans for the house to the House. Ground was broken for construction soon after, Independence Hall is a red brick building designed in the Georgian style. It consists of a building with belltower and steeple, attached to two smaller wings via arcaded hyphens. The highest point to the tip of the spire is 168 ft. The State House was built between 1732 and 1751, designed by Edmund Woolley and Andrew Hamilton, and built by Woolley and its construction was commissioned by the Pennsylvania colonial legislature which paid for construction as funds were available, so it was finished piecemeal. It was initially inhabited by the government of Pennsylvania as its State House. In 1753 Thomas Stretch erected a giant clock at the buildings west end that resembled a tall clock, the 40-foot-tall limestone base was capped with a 14-foot wooden case surrounding the clocks face, which was carved by Samuel Harding. The giant clock was removed about 1830, the clock’s dials were mounted at the east and west ends of the main building connected by rods to the clock movement in the middle of the building. The acquisition of the clock and bell by the Pennsylvania Colonial Assembly is closely related to the acquisition of the Liberty Bell
10.
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
11.
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
12.
Lee Resolution
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The resolution is named for Richard Henry Lee of Virginia who proposed it to Congress, after receiving instructions from the Virginia Convention and its President, Edmund Pendleton. Some sources indicate Lee used, almost verbatim, the language from the instructions in his resolution, on June 11 Congress decided to establish three committees to develop the resolutions parts, and appointed a Committee of Five to prepare a document to explain the reasons for independence. The independence portion of the resolution was the first approved by Congress, news of its adoption was published that evening in the Pennsylvania Evening Post and the next day in the Pennsylvania Gazette. The text of the document formally announcing this action, the United States Declaration of Independence, was approved on July 4th,1776 which is celebrated as Independence Day, however, the document wasnt signed by all delegates of the United States until August 2nd. The committee drafting a plan of confederation, chaired by John Dickinson, long debates would follow on such issues as sovereignty, the exact powers to be given the confederate government, whether to have a judiciary, and voting procedures. Although in use from time, it would be almost four years before final ratification by all states. Over the next five weeks it would be reviewed and amended by Congress, the formal version of the plan of treaties was adopted on September 17. Alliance with France was considered if the war with England was to be won. When the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, few colonists in British North America openly advocated independence from Great Britain, support for independence grew steadily in 1776, especially after the publication of Thomas Paines pamphlet Common Sense in January of that year. In accordance with instructions, on June 7, Richard Henry Lee proposed the resolution to Congress. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances and that a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation. Voting on the first clause of Lees resolution was postponed for three weeks while advocates of independence worked to build support in the colonial governments for the resolution. Meanwhile, a Committee of Five was appointed to prepare a formal declaration so that it would be ready when independence, the committee prepared a declaration of independence, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, and presented it to Congress on June 28,1776. The declaration was set aside while the resolution of independence was debated for several days, the vote on the independence section of the Lee resolution had been postponed until Monday, July 1st, when it was taken up by the Committee of the Whole. At the request of South Carolina, the resolution was not acted upon until the day in the hope of securing unanimity. A trial vote had been tested on the 1st where it was found that South Carolina and Pennsylvania were in the negative, the vote was held on July 2nd, with critical changes happening between Monday and Tuesday. So Lees resolution of independence was approved by twelve of the thirteen colonies, the evening of July 2, the Pennsylvania Evening Post reported, This day the CONTINENTAL CONGRESS declared the UNITED COLONIES FREE and INDEPENDENT STATES. The Pennsylvania Gazette followed suit the day with its own brief report, Yesterday
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.
Olive Branch Petition
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Congress had already authorized the invasion of Canada over a week previously, but the petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and beseeched the king to prevent further conflict. However, the petition was followed by the July 6 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, the Second Continental Congress convened in May 1775, and most delegates followed John Dickinson in his quest to reconcile with King George III of Great Britain. However, a small group of delegates led by John Adams believed that war was inevitable. This decision allowed John Dickinson and his followers to pursue whatever means they chose for reconciliation and it was during this time that the idea of the Olive Branch Petition was approved by the delegates. John Dickinson was the author of the Petition, though Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, John Rutledge. Dickinson claimed that the colonies did not want independence but that they wanted to negotiate trade. Dickinson suggested that the King draw up a plan or agreement to settle trade disputes. The letter was approved on July 5, then signed and sent to London on July 8,1775 in the care of Richard Penn and Arthur Lee. Dickinson had hoped that word of the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord combined with the Humble Petition would inspire the king to at least negotiate with the colonists, the petition was undermined by a confiscated letter from John Adams to a friend, expressing his discontentment with it. Adams wrote that war was inevitable, and he thought that the Colonies should have raised a navy. This letter arrived in Great Britain at about the time as the petition. On August 21, Penn and Lee provided a copy to Lord Dartmouth, however, the King refused to see them or to look at the petition which originated from what he considered an illegal and illegitimate assembly of rebels. And all Our obedient and loyal subjects, to use their utmost endeavours to withstand, the proclamation had been written before Dartmouth had received the petition, the King refused to receive it and the proclamation effectively served as his answer. The Olive Branch Petition still served an important purpose in American independence, the King’s rejection gave Adams and others the opportunity to push for independence. Full text of the petition at WikiSource
15.
Benjamin Franklin
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Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin was a polymath and a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman. As a scientist, he was a figure in the American Enlightenment. As an inventor, he is known for the rod, bifocals. He facilitated many civic organizations, including Philadelphias fire department and the University of Pennsylvania, Franklin earned the title of The First American for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity, initially as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies. As the first United States Ambassador to France, he exemplified the emerging American nation, in the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat. To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin the most accomplished American of his age, Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at the age of 23. He became wealthy publishing this and Poor Richards Almanack, which he authored under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, after 1767, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the British policies. He pioneered and was first president of The Academy and College of Philadelphia which opened in 1751 and he organized and was the first secretary of the American Philosophical Society and was elected president in 1769. Franklin became a hero in America as an agent for several colonies when he spearheaded an effort in London to have the Parliament of Great Britain repeal the unpopular Stamp Act. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations. His efforts proved vital for the American Revolution in securing shipments of crucial munitions from France, during the Revolution, he became the first US Postmaster General. He was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics, from 1785 to 1788, he served as governor of Pennsylvania. He initially owned and dealt in slaves but, by the 1750s, he argued against slavery from an economic perspective, Franklins father, Josiah Franklin, was a tallow chandler, a soap-maker and a candle-maker. Josiah was born at Ecton, Northamptonshire, England on December 23,1657, the son of Thomas Franklin, a blacksmith-farmer, and Jane White. His mother, Abiah Folger, was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on August 15,1667, to Peter Folger, a miller and schoolteacher, and his wife, Mary Morrill, Josiah Franklin had seventeen children with his two wives. He married his first wife, Anne Child, in about 1677 in Ecton and emigrated with her to Boston in 1683, after her death, Josiah was married to Abiah Folger on July 9,1689 in the Old South Meeting House by Samuel Willard. Benjamin, their child, was Josiah Franklins fifteenth child and tenth
16.
John Hancock
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John Hancock was an American merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first, before the American Revolution, Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies, having inherited a profitable mercantile business from his uncle. Hancock began his career in Boston as a protégé of Samuel Adams. As tensions between colonists and Great Britain increased in the 1760s, Hancock used his wealth to support the colonial cause and he became very popular in Massachusetts, especially after British officials seized his sloop Liberty in 1768 and charged him with smuggling. Although the charges against Hancock were eventually dropped, he has often described as a smuggler in historical accounts. Hancock was one of Bostons leaders during the crisis led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775. He served more than two years in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, and as president of Congress, was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence, Hancock returned to Massachusetts and was elected governor of the Commonwealth, serving in that role for most of his remaining years. He used his influence to ensure that Massachusetts ratified the United States Constitution in 1788, according to the Gregorian calendar, John Hancock was born on January 23,1737, according to the Julian calendar then in use, the date was January 12,1736. He was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in a part of town eventually became the separate city of Quincy. He was the son of the Reverend John Hancock of Braintree and Mary Hawke Thaxter, as a child, Hancock became a casual acquaintance of young John Adams, whom the Reverend Hancock had baptized in 1735. The Hancocks lived a life, and owned one slave to help with household work. After Hancocks father died in 1744, John was sent to live with his uncle and aunt, Thomas Hancock, Thomas Hancock was the proprietor of a firm known as the House of Hancock, which imported manufactured goods from Britain and exported rum, whale oil, and fish. Thomas Hancocks highly successful business made him one of Bostons richest and he and Lydia, along with several servants and slaves, lived in Hancock Manor on Beacon Hill. The couple, who did not have any children of their own, after graduating from the Boston Latin School in 1750, Hancock enrolled in Harvard College and received a bachelors degree in 1754. Upon graduation, he began to work for his uncle, just as the French, Thomas Hancock had close relations with the royal governors of Massachusetts and secured profitable government contracts during the war. John Hancock learned much about his uncles business during these years and was trained for eventual partnership in the firm, Hancock worked hard, but he also enjoyed playing the role of a wealthy aristocrat and developed a fondness for expensive clothes. From 1760 to 1761, Hancock lived in England while building relationships with customers and suppliers, upon returning to Boston, Hancock gradually took over the House of Hancock as his uncles health failed, becoming a full partner in January 1763. He became a member of the Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew in October 1762, which connected him with many of Bostons most influential citizens
17.
House of Burgesses
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The Virginia House of Burgesses /ˈbɜːrdʒəsɪz/ was the first legislative assembly of elected representatives in North America. From 1619 to 1776, the branch of the legislature of Virginia was the House of Burgesses. Jamestown remained the capital of the Virginia colony until 1699, when the government was moved to Williamsburg, in 1776 the colony became the independent Commonwealth of Virginia and the House of Burgesses became the House of Delegates. Originally a synonym of burgher or bourgeois, the word came to mean a borough representative in local or parliamentary government. The Colony of Virginia was founded by an English stock company, early governors provided the stern leadership and harsh judgments required for the colony to survive its early difficulties. To encourage settlers to come to Virginia, in 1618–1619, the Virginia Companys leaders drew up a great charter, emigrants who paid their own way to Virginia would receive fifty acres of land. They would not be mere tenants, civil authority would control the military. A council of burgesses, representatives chosen by the inhabitants of the colony for their government, the House of Assembly was created at the same time in Bermuda and held its first session in 1620. A handful of Polish craftsmen, brought to the colony to supply skill in the manufacture of pitch, tar, potash and they downed tools in protest, but returned to work after being declared free and enfranchised, apparently by agreement with the Virginia Company. On July 30,1619, the first European-style legislative assembly in the Americas convened for a meeting at the church on Jamestown Island. Together, the House of Burgesses and the Council would be the Virginia General Assembly, the Houses first session of July 30,1619, accomplished little, being cut short by an outbreak of malaria. By 1624, the government in London had heard enough about the problems of the colony. Virginia became a colony and the governor and council would be chosen by the king. Nonetheless, the form of government of the colony was retained. In 1634, the General Assembly divided the colony into eight shires for purposes of government, administration, by 1643, the expanding colony had 15 counties. All of the county offices, including a board of commissioners, judges, sheriff, constable, only the members of the House of Burgesses were elected by a vote of the people. Women had no right to vote, while all free men originally were given the right to vote, by 1670 only property owners were allowed to vote. In 1652, the forces of Oliver Cromwell forced the colony to submit to their takeover of the English government
18.
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
19.
Henry Middleton
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Henry Middleton was a planter and public official from South Carolina. A member of the legislature, during the American Revolution he attended the Continental Congress. He left Congress before it declared independence, back in South Carolina, he served as president of the provincial congress and senator in the newly created state government. After his capture by the British in 1780, he accepted defeat, Henry Middleton was born in 1717 near Charleston, Province of South Carolina, to Arthur Middleton and Susan Amory, on the family plantation, The Oaks. Henrys father Arthur Middleton was a planter who had served as an acting governor of South Carolina. Henry was educated in England before returning to South Carolina to inherit his fathers plantation and he became one of the largest landowners in the colony, owning 50,000 acres and about 800 slaves. Middleton married Mary Williams in 1741, with whom he would have five sons, after Mary’s death in 1761, Middleton would go on to marry twice more, second to Maria Henrietta Bull and third to Lady Mary McKenzie. Middleton served in a variety of offices in South Carolina. He was a justice of the peace and a member of the Commons House of Assembly, where he was elected speaker in 1747,1754 and he was a member of provincial council, but resigned in 1770 in opposition to British policy. In 1774, at the outset of the American Revolution, Middleton was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress and he served as that bodys president during the last few days of the First Continental Congress, following the departure of Peyton Randolph. Middleton opposed declaring independence from Great Britain, and resigned from the Second Continental Congress in February 1776 when more radical delegates began pushing for independence. He was succeeded in Congress by his son, Arthur Middleton, after Middletons return to South Carolina, he was elected president of the provincial congress and, beginning on November 16,1775, served on the council of safety. In 1776, he and his son Arthur helped frame a temporary state constitution, in 1779, he became a state senator in the new government. When Charleston was captured by the British in 1780, Middleton accepted defeat, Middleton died on June 13,1784 in Charleston. His grandson, also named Henry, had a career in politics. He was Governor of South Carolina, U. S. Representative, some of Middletons children married into prominent families. Daughter Henrietta married Governor Edward Rutledge, Sarah was the first wife of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and his descendants include the politician Baldur von Schirach, through the latters mother Emma Middleton Lynah Tillou. Biographic sketch at U. S. Congress website Middleton Place
20.
Province of Georgia
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The Province of Georgia was one of the Southern colonies in British America. It was the last of the thirteen original American colonies established by Great Britain in what became the United States. In the original grant, a strip of the province extended to the Pacific Ocean. The colonys corporate charter was granted to General James Oglethorpe on April 21,1732, by George II, the charter was finalized by the Kings privy council on June 9,1732. Oglethorpe envisioned a colony which would serve as a haven for English subjects who had imprisoned for debt. General Oglethorpe imposed very strict laws that many colonists disagreed with, Oglethorpe disagreed with slavery and thought a system of smallholdings more appropriate than the large plantations common in the colonies to the north. However, land grants were not as large as most colonists would have preferred, Oglethorpe envisioned the province as a location for the resettlement of English debtors and the worthy poor. Another motivation for the founding of the colony was as a buffer state, Oglethorpe imagined a province populated by sturdy farmers that could guard the border, because of this, the colonys charter prohibited slavery. Oglethorpes original plan had called for Georgia to be established as a home for those who had been imprisoned as debtors. Thirty-five families, numbering one hundred and twenty persons, were selected, on the 16th of November,1732, the emigrants embarked at Gravesend on the ship Anne. Arriving January 13th in the harbor of Charleston, S. C and they set sail the day following. Into Port Royal, some eighty miles southward, to be conveyed in small vessels to the river Savannah, Oglethorpe continued up the river to scout a location suitable for settlement. A Yamacraw Indian village had occupied the site, but Oglethorpe arranged for the Indians to move, the day is still celebrated as Georgia Day. The original charter specified the colony as being between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers, up to their headwaters, and then extending westward to the south seas. The area within the charter had previously been part of the grant of the Province of Carolina. The Privy Council approved the establishment charter on June 9,1732, on January 7,1755, Georgia officially ceased to be a proprietary colony and became a crown colony. From 1732 until 1758, the minor divisions were districts. In 1758, without Indian permission, the Province of Georgia was divided into eight parishes by the Act of the Assembly of Georgia on March 15, the Town and District of Savannah was named Christ Church Parish
21.
Lyman Hall
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Lyman Hall, physician, clergyman, and statesman, was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia. Hall County is named after him, Lyman Hall was the son of John and Mary Hall and graduated from Yale College in 1747, a tradition his seven siblings would repeat. In 1749, he was called to the pulpit of Stratfield Parish and he continued to preach for two more years, filling vacant pulpits, while he studied medicine and taught school. In 1752, he married Abigail Burr of Fairfield, Connecticut, however, in 1757, he was married again to Mary Osborne. When these settlers moved to the Midway District – now Liberty County – in Georgia, Hall soon became one of the leading citizens of the newly founded town, Sunbury. On the eve of the American Revolution, St. Johns Parish and he was admitted to a seat in Congress in 1775. He was one of the three Georgians to sign the Declaration of Independence, and one of three doctors to sign the Declaration of Independence, in January 1779, Sunbury was burned by the British. Halls family fled to the North, where remained until the British evacuation in 1782. Hall then returned to Georgia, settling in Savannah, in January 1783, he was elected an early governor of the state – a position that he held for one year. While governor, Hall advocated the chartering of a university, believing that education, particularly religious education. His efforts led to the chartering of the University of Georgia in 1785, at the expiration of his term as governor, he resumed his medical practice. In 1790, Hall moved to a plantation in Burke County, Georgia, on the Carolina border, halls widow, Mary Osborne, survived later dying in November 1793. Elementary schools in Liberty County, Georgia and in Hall County, Signers Monument, a granite obelisk in front of the courthouse in Augusta, Georgia, memorializes Hall and the other two Georgians who signed the Declaration of Independence. His remains were re-interred there from his grave on his plantation in Burke County. Lyman Hall is portrayed in the 1969 Broadway musical 1776 and in the 1972 film of the name by Jonathan Moore. It was written by Edmund Burke, a member of the British Parliament, Hall then walks over to the tally board and changes Georgias vote from Nay to Yea. In BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE GRADUATES OF YALE COLLEGE, 1745-1763, new York, Henry Holt & Company. Dr. Lyman Street Hall, Connecticuts Contribution to Colonial Georgia, correspondence, The Hartford Courant, Mar.16,1910, p.16
22.
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
23.
Albany Congress
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The Albany Congress, also known as, The Conference of Albany was a meeting of representatives sent by the legislatures of seven of the thirteen British North American colonies. Delegates did not have the goal of creating an American nation, rather, they were colonists with the more limited mission of pursuing a treaty with the Mohawk and other major Iroquois tribes. The Albany Congress was the first time in the 18th century that colonial representatives met to discuss some manner of formal union. In the 1680s, the British Government created the Dominion of New England as a government on the colonies between the Delaware River and Penobscot Bay, it was dissolved in 1689. Jacob Leisler summoned an intercolonial congress, which met in New York on 1 May 1690, to plan concerted action against the French, because of differences in threat, he attracted only the colonies as far south as Maryland. The Albany delegates spent most of their time debating Benjamin Franklins Albany Plan of union to create a level of colonial government. The delegates voted approval of a plan called for a union of 11 colonies. Each colonial assembly would send 2 to 7 delegates to a grand council, the Union would have jurisdiction over Native affairs. The plan was rejected by the legislatures, which were jealous of their powers, and by the Colonial Office. Much of the elements of the plan were later the basis for the American governments established by the Articles of Confederation of 1777, franklin speculated that had the 1754 plan been adopted, the colonial separation from England might not have happened so soon. The Congress and its Albany Plan have achieved status as presaging the formation of the United States of America in 1776. It is often illustrated with Franklins famous snake cartoon, Join, Benjamin Franklins plan to unite the colonies exceeded the scope of the congress, which had been called to plan a defense to the French and Indian threat. The original plan was debated by all who attended the conference including the young Philadelphia lawyer Benjamin Chew. Numerous modifications were proposed by Thomas Hutchinson, who later became Governor of Massachusetts. The delegates passed the plan unanimously and they submitted it with their recommendations, but the legislatures of the seven colonies rejected it, as it would have removed some of their existing powers. The plan was never sent to the Crown for approval, although it was submitted to the British Board of Trade, the Plan of Union proposed to include all the British North American colonies although none of the colonies south of Maryland sent representatives to the Albany Congress. It called for a Grand Council to be selected by the colonial legislatures, twenty-one representatives of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire attended the Congress. James DeLancey, Governor of New York, as host governor was the Chairman, peter Wraxall served as Secretary to the Congress
24.
Stamp Act Congress
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All nine of the attending delegations were from the Thirteen Colonies that eventually formed the United States of America. The Congress met in the now known as Federal Hall. Members of six of the nine delegations signed petitions addressed to Parliament, in the aftermath of the French and Indian War, the British Parliament sought to increase revenues from its overseas colonies, where the cost of stationing troops had become significant. Parliament first passed the Sugar and Currency Acts in 1764, specifically aimed at raising money for the Crown and these acts had brought protests from colonial legislatures, but had skirted the idea of direct taxation by structuring their revenues as trade-related excise duties. Prime Minister George Grenville noted at the time of the Sugar Acts passage that a stamp tax might also be necessary, immediately raising concern, with the Stamp Act of 1765, Parliament attempted to raise money through direct taxation on the colonies for the first time. The act required that all sorts of printed material carry a stamp to show that the tax had been paid, use of the stamped paper was required for newspapers, books, court documents, commercial papers, land deeds, almanacs, dice, and playing cards. The revenue was to finance the operations of the empire, including the cost of stationing troops in the colonies. Nine colonies ultimately selected delegates to attend the congress, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, all of the delegates selected were members of their colonial legislative bodies. The methods by which delegates were selected were in some cases unorthodox, in Delaware, then known as the Three Lower Counties of the Penn proprietors, assembly members held informal meetings in each of the three counties, in each case selecting the same three delegates. In New York, the assembly had been prorogued and was judged unlikely to be summoned by Lieutenant Governor Colden to consider the Massachusetts letter. The assemblys committee of correspondence, consisting of its New York City delegates, discussed the letter, Governor William Franklin was upset at this action, but took no action beyond protesting the unusual meeting. The colonies that were not represented at the congress did not send delegates for a variety of reasons, the Virginia and Georgia assemblies were deliberately prevented from meeting by their governors. Nova Scotia declined to send delegates, despite significant economic connections to Massachusetts, dominated by financial interests connected to England, the assembly never even considered a protest resolution against the Stamp Act. Quebec, Newfoundland, and East and West Florida did not have colonial assemblies, and proper only for the consideration of Parliament. Communications being slow, by the time Parliament was informed about its existence, delegates began to arrive in New York in late September, and a preliminary meeting was held by four delegations on September 30, what was discussed then is not known. The first session of the Congress was held on October 7 and it elected Timothy Ruggles, a conservative Massachusetts delegate, as its chairman, narrowly rejecting James Otis, whom John Adams described as the soul of the body. John Cotton, the deputy secretary of the Massachusetts General Court, had been retained by the Massachusetts delegation to make a record, was chosen as the bodys secretary. The selection of Ruggles as a delegate had been engineered by Massachusetts Governor Francis Bernard in the hopes of limiting the effectiveness of the congress
25.
Continental Association
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The Continental Association, often known simply as the Association, was a system created by the First Continental Congress in 1774 for implementing a trade boycott with Great Britain. The Association aimed to alter Britains policies towards the colonies without severing allegiance, the boycott became operative on December 1,1774. The Association was fairly successful while it lasted, trade with Great Britain fell sharply, and the British responded with the New England Restraining Act of 1775. The outbreak of the American Revolutionary War effectively superseded the attempt to boycott British goods, the British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in 1774 to reform colonial administration in British America and, in part, to punish the Province of Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. Many American colonists saw the Coercive Acts as a violation of the British Constitution, as they had done during the 1760s—most effectively during the Stamp Act crisis of 1765—colonists turned to economic boycotts to protest what they saw as unconstitutional legislation. The word boycott had not yet coined, colonists referred to their economic protests as, depending upon the specific activity, non-importation, non-exportation. On May 13,1774, the Boston Town Meeting, with Samuel Adams acting as moderator, passed a resolution called for an economic boycott in response to the Boston Port Act. Paul Revere, who served as messenger, carried the Boston resolutions to New York. Adams also promoted the boycott through the committees of correspondence. The First Continental Congress was convened at Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia on September 5,1774, twelve colonies were represented at the Congress. On October 20,1774, Congress created the Association, based on the earlier Virginia Association, the Association signified the increasing cooperation between the colonies. The Association alleged that this system was calculated for enslaving these colonies, and, with them. This was a recognition of the need and demand for American goods abroad, all American colonists were to direct their agents abroad to also comply with these restrictions, as would all ship owners. The Association set forth policies by which the colonists would endure the scarcity of goods, merchants were restricted from price gouging. Local committees of inspection were to be established in the colonies by which compliance would be monitored, any individual observed to violate the pledges in the Articles would be condemned in print and ostracised in society as the enemies of American liberty. Colonies would also cease all trade and dealings with any other colony that failed to comply with the bans and these delegates signed the Association in Congress. Many local signings also took place, the Continental Association went into effect on December 1,1774. The ban did succeed for the time it was in effect, however, the British retaliated by blocking colony access to the North Atlantics fisheries
26.
Petition to the King
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The Petition to the King was a petition sent to King George III by the First Continental Congress in 1774, calling for repeal of the Intolerable Acts. Following the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, because the war had plunged the British government deep into debt, Parliament enacted a series of measures to increase tax revenue from the colonies. Many colonists in the Americas, however, developed a different conception of their role within the British Empire, in particular, because the colonies were not directly represented in Parliament, colonists argued that Parliament had no right to levy taxes upon them. After colonists destroyed thousands of pounds of British-taxed tea during the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in 1774, punishing the colonies for their actions. These punitive Acts were vehemently opposed by the colonists, leading the newly formed Continental Congress to seek redress with King George III, in an attempt to reach a common understanding. The goal of the address was to persuade the King to revoke unpopular policies such as the Coercive Acts, which were imposed on the Colonies by the British Parliament. The committee appointed to prepare the Address consisted of Richard Henry Lee, John Adams, Thomas Johnson, Patrick Henry, and John Rutledge, with Lee designated as the committee chairman. The Congress resumed the consideration of the address to his Majesty, on October 25,1774, the petition came before Congress in its draft form. After the document was debated over and formally amended, it was approved to be engrossed. The petition, when written, was not divided into formal parts, however, the structure of the document allows it to be classified into sections, including an introduction, the list of grievances, reasons for attention, and a conclusion. On November 2, the petition departed Philadelphia on board the ship Britannia, however, a storm forced the ship to return to port, delaying the delivery of the petition. It was later discovered that the paper was unfit to be presented, the second copy left port on November 6 on board the ship Mary and Elizabeth, captained by N. Falconer. It was confirmed on November 14 that the document successfully arrived in London, in Britain, a number of London merchants expressed interest in joining the Americans when the petition was presented, although Benjamin Franklin advised against the proposition. However, Franklin wrote two days later that the petition could not be presented to Parliament until after the Christmas recess. On January 19,1775, the petition was presented to the House of Commons by Lord North and it came down among a great did not Heap of letters of Intelligence from Governors and officers in America, Newspapers, Pamphlets, Handbills, etc. Because the petition was intermingled with other documents, and given the increasing turmoil of the times. Likewise, the King never gave the Colonies a formal reply to their petition and it was not until January 17 or 18,1775 that the papers were officially released by Charles Thomson, for publication. Three drafts of the Petition to the King survive to this day, one written by Patrick Henry, one written by Henry Lee, the Henry draft is written with very few corrections on its four portfolio pages
27.
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
28.
Bank of North America
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It was based upon a plan presented by US Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris on May 17,1781 that created the Nations first de facto central bank. When shares in the bank were sold to the public, the Bank of North America became the countrys first initial public offering and it was succeeded in its role as central bank by the First Bank of the United States in 1791. In May 1781 Alexander Hamilton revealed that he had recommended Morris for the position the previous summer when the constitution of the executive was being solidified, Second, he proceeded to lay out a proposal for a National Bank. Morris, who had corresponded with Hamilton previously on the subject of funding the war, immediately drafted a proposal based on Hamiltons suggestion. Morris persuaded Congress to charter the Bank of North America, the first private bank in the United States. When Robert Morris became superintendent of finance in February 1781, continental currency had ceased to be issued, on April 30,1781, Alexander Hamilton sent Morris a letter. The original charter called for the disbursement of 1,000 shares priced at $400 each, benjamin Franklin purchased one share for 0. 1% ownership as a sign of good faith to Federalists and the new bank and Hamilton made public endorsement of the establishment under his pseudonym. William Binghams first daughter, Ann Louisa Baring was born the day before the bank opened and she was also the granddaughter of Thomas Willing, a primary shareholder and the original President of the bank offices at Philadelphia. Using a gift/loan from France, Robert Morris purchased 63. 3% of the shares for the government. Robert Morris deposited large quantities of gold and silver coin and bills of exchange obtained through loans from the Netherlands and he then issued new paper currency backed by this supply. By 1783, Congress and several states including Massachusetts enacted legislation, within three years, the Bank was considered a creditworthy institution. John Nixon was the first director of the Bank of Pennsylvania, Morris subscribed £10,000 sterling to fund it. It was not a bank in the ordinary sense but an organization formed for the purpose of financing supplies for the army, in 1782, the Bank of North America superseded the Bank of Pennsylvania. Serving from 1792 to 1808, Nixon succeeded the first president of the Bank of North America, Thomas Willing, Nixon was in turn succeeded by John Morton, who served as President until 1822. William Frederick Havemeyer was its president from 1851 to 1861 and brought it successfully through the crisis of 1857, after it had become a National Bank in 1865, a president of the same name presided over its liquidation in 1908. The Bank of Pennsylvania was re-established in 1793, with a charter from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and branches were opened in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Reading, and Easton. Wachovia operated a branch at the northwest corner of S. 6th and Chestnut Sts. in Philadelphia, diagonally opposite Independence Hall and this branch is the longest continuously operating branch bank in the States, operating in that location since 1781. Following Wells Fargos acquisition of Wachovia, Wells Fargo adopted Charter #1, the Bank of North America along with the First Bank of the United States and the Bank of New York were the first shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange
29.
Land Ordinance of 1785
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The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress of the Confederation on May 20,1785. It set up a system whereby settlers could purchase title to farmland in the undeveloped west. Congress at the time did not have the power to raise revenue by direct taxation, the Ordinance set up a survey system that eventually covered over three-fourths of the area of the continental United States. The earlier Ordinance of 1784 was a written by Thomas Jefferson calling for Congress to take action. The land west of the Appalachian Mountains, north of the Ohio River, however, the 1784 resolution did not define the mechanism by which the land would become states, or how the territories would be governed or settled before they became states. The Ordinance of 1785 put the 1784 resolution in operation by providing a mechanism for selling and settling the land, the 1785 ordinance laid the foundations of land policy until passage of the Homestead Act in 1862. The Land Ordinance established the basis for the Public Land Survey System, the initial surveying was performed by Thomas Hutchins. After he died in 1789, responsibility for surveying was transferred to the Surveyor General, Land was to be systematically surveyed into square townships, six miles on a side. Each of these townships were sub-divided into thirty-six sections of one mile or 640 acres. These sections could then be subdivided for re-sale by settlers. The ordinance was also significant for establishing a mechanism for funding public education, section 16 in each township was reserved for the maintenance of public schools. Many schools today are located in section sixteen of their respective townships. In later States, section 36 of each township was also designated as a school section, the Point of Beginning for the 1785 survey was where Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia met, on the north shore of the Ohio River near East Liverpool, Ohio. There is a marker just north of the site, at the state line where Ohio State Route 39 becomes Pennsylvania Route 68. After debate and amendment, the ordinance was reported to Congress April 26,1785 and it required surveyors “to divide the said territory into townships seven miles square, by lines running due north and south, and others crossing these at right angles. — The plats of the townships, respectively, shall be marked into sections of one square, or 640 acres. ”This is the first recorded use of the terms “township” and “section. ”On May 3,1785. The sections were to be numbered starting at 1 in the southeast, the surveys were to be performed under the direction of the Geographer of the United States. Henry Bouquet to the forks of the Muskingum, in what is now Coshocton County and it formed part of his plan for military colonies north of the Ohio, as a protection against Indians
30.
Northwest Ordinance
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The Northwest Ordinance was an act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States, passed July 13,1787. The upper Mississippi River formed the Territorys western boundary and it was based upon but more conservative than Thomas Jeffersons proposed ordinance of 1784. The 1787 law relied on a central government, which was assured under the new Constitution that took effect in 1789. In August 1789, it was replaced by the Northwest Ordinance of 1789 and it was also precedent setting legislation with regard to American public domain lands. This division helped set the stage for competition over admitting free and slave states. The territory was acquired by Great Britain from France following victory in the Seven Years War, Great Britain took over the Ohio Country, as its eastern portion was known, but a few months later closed it to new European settlement by the Royal Proclamation of 1763. The Crown tried to restrict settlement of the thirteen colonies between the Appalachians and the Atlantic, which raised tensions among those who wanted to move west. With the colonials victory in the American Revolutionary War and signing of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the territories were subject to overlapping and conflicting claims of the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Virginia dating from their colonial past. The British were active in some of the area until after the Louisiana Purchase. The region had long been desired for expansion by colonists, the states were encouraged to settle their claims by the US governments de facto opening of the area to settlement following the defeat of Great Britain. Jeffersons proposal to create a domain through state cessions of western lands was derived from earlier proposals dating back to 1776. The Congress of the Confederation modified the proposal, passing it as the Land Ordinance of 1784 and this ordinance established the example that would become the basis for the Northwest Ordinance three years later. The 1784 ordinance was criticized by George Washington in 1785 and James Monroe in 1786, Monroe convinced Congress to reconsider the proposed state boundaries, a review committee recommended repealing that part of the ordinance. Other events such as the reluctance of states south of the Ohio River to cede their western claims resulted in a narrowed geographic focus, when passed in New York in 1787, the Northwest Ordinance showed the influence of Jefferson. It called for dividing the territory into gridded townships, so once the lands were surveyed, they could be sold to individuals. This would provide both a new source of government revenue and an orderly pattern for future settlement. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established the concept of fee simple ownership and this was called the first guarantee of freedom of contract in the United States. These territories were to be administered directly by Congress, with the intent of their admission as newly created states
31.
George III of the United Kingdom
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He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire until his promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of Britains American colonies were soon lost in the American War of Independence, further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. In the later part of his life, George III had recurrent, although it has since been suggested that he had the blood disease porphyria, the cause of his illness remains unknown. After a final relapse in 1810, a regency was established, on George IIIs death, the Prince Regent succeeded his father as George IV. Historical analysis of George IIIs life has gone through a kaleidoscope of changing views that have depended heavily on the prejudices of his biographers and the sources available to them. Until it was reassessed in the half of the 20th century, his reputation in the United States was one of a tyrant. George was born in London at Norfolk House and he was the grandson of King George II, and the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. As Prince George was born two months prematurely and he was unlikely to survive, he was baptised the same day by Thomas Secker. One month later, he was baptised at Norfolk House. His godparents were the King of Sweden, his uncle the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, George grew into a healthy but reserved and shy child. The family moved to Leicester Square, where George and his younger brother Prince Edward, Duke of York, Family letters show that he could read and write in both English and German, as well as comment on political events of the time, by the age of eight. He was the first British monarch to study science systematically and his religious education was wholly Anglican. At age 10 George took part in a production of Joseph Addisons play Cato and said in the new prologue, What. It may with truth be said, A boy in England born, historian Romney Sedgwick argued that these lines appear to be the source of the only historical phrase with which he is associated. Georges grandfather, King George II, disliked the Prince of Wales, however, in 1751 the Prince of Wales died unexpectedly from a lung injury, and George became heir apparent to the throne. He inherited one of his fathers titles and became the Duke of Edinburgh, now more interested in his grandson, three weeks later the King created George Prince of Wales. Georges mother, now the Dowager Princess of Wales, preferred to keep George at home where she could imbue him with her moral values
32.
Intolerable Acts
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The Intolerable Acts were the American Patriots term for a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. They were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance of throwing a large tea shipment into Boston Harbor in reaction to being taxed by the British, in Great Britain, these laws were referred to as the Coercive Acts. The acts took away Massachusetts self-government and historic rights, triggering outrage and they were key developments in the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775. The Patriots viewed the acts as a violation of the rights of Massachusetts. As tensions escalated, the American Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775, relations between the Thirteen Colonies and the British Parliament slowly but steadily worsened after the end of the Seven Years War in 1763. The war had plunged the British government deep into debt, many colonists, however, had developed a different conception of the British Empire. Under the British Constitution, they argued, a British subjects property could not be taken from him without his consent. After the Townshend Acts, some colonial essayists took this line of thinking even further and this question of the extent of Parliaments sovereignty in the colonies was the issue underlying what became the American Revolution. On December 16,1773, a group of Patriot colonists associated with the Sons of Liberty destroyed several tons of tea in Boston, Massachusetts and this made British tea less expensive, which Parliament thought would be a welcome change in the colonies. In addition, there was added a small tax on which the colonists were not allowed to give their consent, again, Parliament taxed the colonists without their representation. News of the Boston Tea Party reached England in January 1774, Parliament responded by passing four laws. Three of the laws were intended to directly punish Massachusetts and this was for destruction of private property, to restore British authority in Massachusetts, and to otherwise reform colonial government in America. Whatever may be the consequences, we must risk something, if we do not, the Massachusetts Government Act provoked even more outrage than the Port Act because it unilaterally took away Massachusetts charter and brought it under control of the British government. Under the terms of the Government Act, almost all positions in the government were to be appointed by the governor, Parliament. The act also limited the activities of town meetings in Massachusetts to one meeting a year. Colonists outside Massachusetts feared that their governments could now also be changed by the legislative fiat of Parliament, george Washington called this the Murder Act because he believed that it allowed British officials to harass Americans and then escape justice. Many colonists believed the act was unnecessary because British soldiers had given a fair trial following the Boston Massacre in 1770. The Quartering Act applied to all of the colonies, and sought to create an effective method of housing British troops in America
33.
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
34.
Battles of Lexington and Concord
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The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19,1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy, and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen of its colonies on the mainland of British America. In late 1774 the Suffolk Resolves were adopted to resist the enforcement of the made to the Massachusetts colonial government by the British parliament following the Boston Tea Party. The colonial assembly responded by forming a Patriot provisional government known as the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, the rebel government exercised effective control of the colony outside of British-controlled Boston. In response, the British government in February 1775 declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion, through effective intelligence gathering, Patriot colonials had received word weeks before the expedition that their supplies might be at risk and had moved most of them to other locations. They also received details about British plans on the night before the battle and were able to notify the area militias of the British expedition. The first shots were fired just as the sun was rising at Lexington, the militia were outnumbered and fell back, and the regulars proceeded on to Concord, where they broke apart into companies to search for the supplies. At the North Bridge in Concord, approximately 400 militiamen engaged 100 regulars from three companies of the Kings troops at about 11,00 am, resulting in casualties on both sides. The outnumbered regulars fell back from the bridge and rejoined the body of British forces in Concord. The British forces began their march to Boston after completing their search for military supplies. Gunfire erupted again between the two sides and continued throughout the day as the regulars marched back towards Boston, upon returning to Lexington, Lt. Col. Smiths expedition was rescued by reinforcements under Brigadier General Hugh Percy, a future duke of Northumberland known as Earl Percy. The combined force, now of about 1,700 men, marched back to Boston under heavy fire in a tactical withdrawal, the accumulated militias blockaded the narrow land accesses to Charlestown and Boston, starting the Siege of Boston. Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his Concord Hymn, described the first shot fired by the Patriots at the North Bridge as the shot heard round the world, Gages plan was to avoid conflict by removing military supplies from Whig militias using small, secret, and rapid strikes. This struggle for supplies led to one British success and several rebel successes in a series of nearly bloodless conflicts known as the Powder Alarms. Gage considered himself to be a friend of liberty and attempted to separate his duties as Governor of the colony, edmund Burke described Gages conflicted relationship with Massachusetts by saying in Parliament, An Englishman is the unfittest person on Earth to argue another Englishman into slavery. The colonists had been forming militias since the 17th century, initially for local defense against Indian attacks and these forces also saw action in the French and Indian War between 1754 and 1763 when they fought alongside British regulars. Under provincial law, all towns were obligated to form militia companies composed of all males 16 years of age and older, the militias were formally under the jurisdiction of the provincial government, but New England militia companies elected their own officers
35.
Patriot (American Revolution)
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Patriots were those colonists of the Thirteen Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution and in July 1776 declared the United States of America an independent nation. Their rebellion was based on the philosophy of republicanism, as expressed by spokesmen such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams. They were opposed by the Loyalists who instead supported continued British rule, as a group, Patriots represented a wide array of social, economic and ethnic backgrounds. The critics of British rule called themselves Whigs after 1768, identifying members of the British Whig party. The Oxford English Dictionary third definition of Patriot is A person actively opposing enemy forces occupying his or her country, a member of a resistance movement, originally used of those who opposed and fought the British in the American War of Independence. The earliest citation is a 1773 letter by Benjamin Franklin, in Britain at the time, patriot had a negative connotation, and was used, says Samuel Johnson as a negative epithet for a factious disturber of the government. During the Revolution these persons became known primarily as Loyalists, afterward, many emigrated north to the remaining British territories in what is now modern Canada. There they called themselves the United Empire Loyalists, many Patriots were active before 1775 in groups such as the Sons of Liberty. The most prominent leaders of the Patriots are referred to today by Americans as the Founding Fathers, the Patriots came from many different backgrounds. Among the most active of the Patriots group were highly educated, however, without the support of the ordinary men and women, such as farmers, lawyers, merchants, seamstresses, homemakers, shopkeepers, and ministers, the struggle for independence would have failed. With a white population of about 2.5 million, that makes about 380,000 to 500,000 Loyalists, the great majority of them remained in America, since only about 80,000 Loyalists left the United States 1775–1783. They went to Canada, Britain, Florida or the West Indies, to understand how people made the choice between being a Patriot or a Loyalist, historians have compared the motivations and personalities of leading men on each side. Labaree has identified eight characteristics that differentiated the two groups, psychologically, Loyalists were older, better established, and more likely to resist innovation than the Patriots. Men who were alienated by physical attacks on Royal officials took the Loyalist position, most men who wanted to find a compromise solution wound up on the Loyalist side, while the proponents of immediate action became Patriots. Some Loyalists were procrastinators who believed that independence was bound to some day, but wanted to postpone the moment. Loyalists were cautious and afraid of anarchy or tyranny that might come from mob rule, Patriots made an effort to use. Finally, Labaree argues that Loyalists were pessimists who lacked the Patriots confidence that independence lay ahead, the Patriot faction came to reject taxes imposed by legislatures in which the tax-payer was not represented. No taxation without representation, was their slogan, referring to the lack of representation in the British Parliament, the British countered there was virtual representation, that is, all members of Parliament represented the interests of all the citizens of the British Empire
36.
Continental Army
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The Continental Army was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Congress on June 14,1775, the Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and troops that remained under control of the individual states or were otherwise independent. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war, most of the Continental Army was disbanded in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris ended the war. The 1st and 2nd Regiments went on to form the nucleus of the Legion of the United States in 1792 under General Anthony Wayne and this became the foundation of the United States Army in 1796. The Continental Army consisted of soldiers from all 13 colonies, and after 1776, when the American Revolutionary War began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19,1775, the colonial revolutionaries did not have an army. As tensions with Great Britain increased in the leading to the war. Training of militiamen increased after the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774, colonists such as Richard Henry Lee proposed forming a national militia force, but the First Continental Congress rejected the idea. On April 23,1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized the raising of an army consisting of 26 company regiments. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut soon raised similar, on July 18,1775, the Congress requested all colonies form militia companies from all able bodied effective men, between sixteen and fifty years of age. It was not uncommon for men younger than sixteen to enlist as most colonies had no requirement of consent for those under twenty-one. Four major-generals and eight brigadier-generals were appointed by the Second Continental Congress in the course of a few days, after Pomeroy did not accept, John Thomas was appointed in his place. As the Continental Congress increasingly adopted the responsibilities and posture of a legislature for a sovereign state, as a result, the army went through several distinct phases, characterized by official dissolution and reorganization of units. Soldiers in the Continental Army were citizens who had volunteered to serve in the army, early in the war the enlistment periods were short, as the Continental Congress feared the possibility of the Continental Army evolving into a permanent army. The army never numbered more than 17,000 men, turnover proved a constant problem, particularly in the winter of 1776–77, and longer enlistments were approved. Major General Philip Schuylers ten regiments in New York were sent to invade Canada, the Continental Army of 1776, reorganized after the initial enlistment period of the soldiers in the 1775 army had expired. Despite attempts to broaden the recruiting base beyond New England, the 1776 army remained skewed toward the Northeast both in terms of its composition and of its geographical focus. This army consisted of 36 regiments, most standardized to a battalion of 768 men strong and formed into eight companies. Enlistment terms extended to three years or to the length of the war to avoid the crises that depleted forces
37.
Militia (United States)
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The militia of the United States, as defined by the US Congress, has changed over time, complicating its meaning. During colonial America, all able-bodied men of certain ages were eligible for the militia, individual towns formed local independent militias for their own defense. The year before the US Constitution was ratified, The Federalist Papers detailed the founders vision of the militia, the new Constitution empowered Congress to regulate this national military force, leaving significant control in the hands of each State government. Unorganized militia – composing the Reserve Militia, every able-bodied man of at least 17 and under 45 years of age, the term militia derives from Old English milite meaning soldiers, militisc meaning military and also classical Latin milit-, miles meaning soldier. The Modern English term militia dates to the year 1590, with the meaning now obsolete. The spelling of millitia is often observed in written and printed materials from the 17th century through the 19th century, the early colonists of America considered the militia an important social institution, necessary to provide defense and public safety. During the French and Indian Wars, town militia formed a pool for the Provincial Forces. The legislature of the colony would authorize a certain level for the seasons campaign. In September 1755, George Washington, then adjutant-general of the Virginia militia, upon a frustrating and futile attempt to call up the militia to respond to a frontier Indian attack. And what added to his mortification was, that the laws gave him no power to correct these evils, either by enforcing discipline, or compelling the indolent, the militia system was suited for only to times of peace. It provided for calling out men to repel invasion, but the powers granted for effecting it were so limited, see New Hampshire Provincial Regiment for a history of a Provincial unit during the French and Indian War. This was far short of the wanted, that the council recommended an immediate application to the New England governments to make up the deficiency. They recommended to the militia to form themselves into companies of minute-men and these minute-men were to consist of one quarter of the whole militia, to be enlisted under the direction of the field-officers, and divide into companies, consisting of at least fifty men each. The privates were to choose their captains and subalterns, and these officers were to form the companies into battalions, and chose the field-officers to command the same. Hence the minute-men became a distinct from the rest of the militia. More attention than formerly was likewise bestowed on the training and drilling of militia, the American Revolutionary War began near Boston, Massachusetts with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, in which a group of local militias constituted the American side. On April 19,1775, a British force 800 strong marched out of Boston to Concord intending to destroy Patriot arms, at 5,00 in the morning at Lexington, they met about 70 armed militiamen whom they ordered to disperse, but the militiamen refused. Firing ensued, it is not clear which side opened fire, eight militiamen were killed and ten wounded, whereupon the remainder took flight
38.
George Washington
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George Washington was an American politician and soldier who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is popularly considered the driving force behind the nations establishment and came to be known as the father of the country, both during his lifetime and to this day. Washington was widely admired for his leadership qualities and was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. Washingtons incumbency established many precedents still in use today, such as the system, the inaugural address. His retirement from office two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment now limits the president to two elected terms and he was born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia to a family of wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves, which he inherited. In his youth, he became an officer in the colonial militia during the first stages of the French. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress commissioned him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, in that command, Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776 but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles, retook New Jersey, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause and his strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies, after victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism. Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which devised a new form of government for the United States. Following his election as president in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation and he supported Alexander Hamiltons programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank. In avoiding war with Great Britain, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795 and he remained non-partisan, never joining the Federalist Party, although he largely supported its policies. Washingtons Farewell Address was a primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism. He retired from the presidency in 1797, returning to his home, upon his death, Washington was eulogized as first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen by Representative Henry Lee III of Virginia. He was revered in life and in death, scholarly and public polling consistently ranks him among the top three presidents in American history and he has been depicted and remembered in monuments, public works, currency, and other dedications to the present day. He was born on February 11,1731, according to the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar was adopted within the British Empire in 1752, and it renders a birth date of February 22,1732. Washington was of primarily English gentry descent, especially from Sulgrave and his great-grandfather John Washington emigrated to Virginia in 1656 and began accumulating land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson, Georges father Augustine
39.
The Crown
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The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their sub-divisions, although the term is not only a metonym for the State. The Crown is a sole that represents the legal embodiment of executive, legislative. These monarchies are united by the union of their monarch. The concept of the Crown developed first in the Kingdom of England as a separation of the crown and property of the nation state from the person. The concept spread through English and later British colonisation and is now rooted in the lexicon of the other 15 independent realms. In this context it should not be confused with any physical crown, the concept of the Crown took form under the feudal system. Though not used this way in all countries that had this system, in England, all rights, land, for instance, was granted by the Crown to lords in exchange for feudal services and they, in turn, granted the land to lesser lords. One exception to this was common socage—owners of land held as socage held it only to the Crown. The Crown as ultimate owner of all property also owns any property which has become bona vacantia, the monarch is the living embodiment of the Crown and, as such, is regarded as the personification of the state. He office cannot exist without the office-holder, the Crown also represents the legal embodiment of executive, legislative, and judicial governance. While the Crowns legal personality is usually regarded as a sole, it can, at least for some purposes. Historically, the Crown was considered to be indivisible, two judgments—Ex parte Indian Association of Alberta and Ex parte Quark —challenged that view. The Crown in each of the Commonwealth realms is a similar, because both Canada and Australia are federations, there are also crowns in right of each Canadian province and each Australian state. The Succession to the Crown Law 2013 defined the Crown, for the purposes of implementing the Perth Agreement in Jersey law, as the Crown in right of the Bailiwick of Jersey. Legislation in the Isle of Man also defines the Crown in right of the Isle of Man as being separate from the Crown in right of the United Kingdom and this constitutional concept is also worded as the Crown in right of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The reserve powers of the Crown for each territory are no longer considered to be exercisable on the advice of the UK government, often cases are brought by the Crown according to the complaint of a claimant. The title of the case follows the pattern of R v Y. Thus R v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union is R v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, where Miller is Gina Miller, in Scotland, criminal prosecutions are undertaken by the Lord Advocate in the name of the Crown
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Silas Deane
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Silas Deane was an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, then as the first foreign diplomat from the United States to France. Near the end of the war, Congress charged Deane with financial impropriety, after the war, Deane lived in Ghent and London and died under mysterious circumstances while attempting to return to America. Silas Deane was born on January 4,1738 in Groton, Connecticut to blacksmith Silas Deane, the younger Silas was able to obtain a full scholarship to Yale and graduated in 1758. In April 1759, he was hired to tutor a young Edward Bancroft in Hartford, in 1761, Deane was admitted to the bar and practiced law for a short time outside of Hartford before moving to Wethersfield, Connecticut and establishing a thriving business as a merchant. Deane married twice, both times to wealthy widows from Wethersfield, in 1763, he married Mehitable Webb after assisting her with the settlement of her first husbands estate. They had one son, Jesse, born in 1764, in 1770, Deane married Elizabeth Evards, granddaughter of Connecticut Governor Gurdon Saltonstall of the Massachusetts Saltonstall family. Elizabeth died in 1777 while Silas was in France, while a member of Congress, Deane used his influence to obtain a commission in the Continental Army for his stepson Samuel B. Webb, who had accompanied him to Philadelphia, Deane excelled in the committee work of Congress, helping to coordinate the attack on Fort Ticonderoga and to establish the United States Navy. A dispute arose between Deane and fellow Connecticut delegate Roger Sherman about the appointment of Israel Putnam as a general under Washingtons command. This dispute led the Connecticut legislature to replace Deane as a delegate to Congress, on March 2,1776, Congress appointed Deane as a secret envoy to France with the mission of inducing the French government to grant financial aid to the colonies. He began negotiating with French Foreign Minister Comte de Vergennes as soon as he arrived in Paris, Deane organized the shipment of arms and munitions to the colonies with the assistance of Beaumarchais, the playwright and outspoken supporter of American independence. Deane also tacitly approved the plot of Scotsman James Aitken to destroy Royal Navy stores and dockyards in Portsmouth and Plymouth, England, on behalf of the Continental cause. Deane recruited the services of a number of soldiers to the cause, including Lafayette, Baron Johann de Kalb, Thomas Conway, Casimir Pulaski. For a variety of reasons, many of the officers were unpopular in America. On February 6,1778, Deane and the commissioners signed the Treaties of Amity and Commerce and of Alliance. On March 4,1778, Deane received a letter from James Lovell containing the order from Congress. Lovell only mentioned giving a report to Congress about European affairs, France sent Deane back home aboard a warship carrying the first French ambassador to the United States
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