1.
Thomas J. McKean
–
Thomas Jefferson McKean was an American engineer, soldier, politician, and farmer. A West Point graduate, he fought in the United States Army during the Seminole Wars, in the Mexican–American War, thomas J. McKean was born in 1810 in the borough of Burlington located in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. He entered the United States Military Academy in West Point in 1827, McKean was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 4th U. S. His service in the U. S Army consisted of several stints of garrison duty over the three years, during which he was promoted to second lieutenant on September 15,1833. McKean resigned from the U. S. Army the following year on March 31, after resigning in 1834, McKean took up work as a civil engineer. He then participated in the Seminole Wars in 1837–38, serving as adjutant of the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers, McKean resigned on March 31,1838, and returned to Pennsylvania and the profession of an engineer. In 1840 he relocated to Marion in the Iowa Territory, during the Mexican–American War, McKean volunteered for service, and enlisted as a private in the 15th U. S. He was quickly promoted to sergeant major on May 10, and fought in the Battle of Churubusco on August 20 and that June, McKean was appointed to the rank of brevet second lieutenant in the 2nd U. S. Dragoons, but he chose to decline the commission. After hostilities ended, he was discharged on August 7,1848, warner noted McKeans unusual situation of having been trained at West Point and served in other duties as an officer, but was as an enlisted man in combat while in Mexico. Following the war he returned to his life in Iowa. When the American Civil War began in 1861, McKean chose to follow his home state, on June 1 he was appointed the paymaster of the Union Army, and then led the cavalry of the Department of the Gulf beginning on September 18. McKean was briefly in charge of prisoner of war camps in Missouri, McKean commanded at Jefferson City, Missouri, from December to March 1862. He was then given command in the Army of the Tennessee on April 10. He fought in the Battle of Corinth in Mississippi on October 3–4, McKean then commanded numerous districts across Union-held departments throughout 1863,1864, and until July 10,1865. McKean was appointed to the rank of major general on March 13 for his war service. After the American Civil War ended in 1865, McKean returned home to Iowa and he was elected Marions mayor that year, and took up farming close to the city until 1869. He served as a delegate to the Republican convention in Chicago, Illinois, McKean was offered the position of pension agent of the eastern Iowa district in early 1870, but he declined it. That April he died in Marion, Iowa, and was buried in the citys Oak Shade Cemetery, list of American Civil War generals Eicher, John H. and Eicher, David J. Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press,2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3
2.
Charles Willson Peale
–
Charles Willson Peale was an American painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his paintings of leading figures of the American Revolution. Peale was born in 1741 in Chester, Queen Annes County, Maryland and he had a younger brother, James Peale. Charles became an apprentice to a saddle maker when he was thirteen years old, upon reaching maturity, he opened his own saddle shop, however, when his Loyalist creditors discovered he had joined the Sons of Liberty, they conspired to bankrupt his business. He was also, not very good at saddle making and he then tried fixing clocks and working with metals, but both of these endeavors failed as well. Finding that he had a talent for painting, especially portraiture, Peale studied for a time under John Hesselius, John Beale Bordley and friends eventually raised enough money for him to travel to England to take instruction from Benjamin West. Peale studied with West for three years beginning in 1767, afterward returning to America and settling in Annapolis, Maryland, there, he taught painting to his younger brother, James Peale, who in time also became a noted artist. Peales enthusiasm for the nascent national government brought him to the capital, Philadelphia, in 1776 and his estate, which is on the campus of La Salle University in Philadelphia, can still be visited. He also raised troops for the War of Independence and eventually gained the rank of captain in the Pennsylvania militia by 1776, while in the field, he continued to paint, doing miniature portraits of various officers in the Continental Army. He produced enlarged versions of these in later years and he served in the Pennsylvania state assembly in 1779–1780, after which he returned to painting full-time. Peale was quite prolific as an artist, while he did portraits of scores of historic figures, he is probably best known for his portraits of George Washington. The first time Washington sat for a portrait was with Peale in 1772, in January 2005, a full-length portrait of Washington at Princeton from 1779 sold for $21.3 million, setting a record for the highest price paid for an American portrait. One of his most celebrated paintings is The Staircase Group, a portrait of his sons Raphaelle and Titian. It is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Peale had a great interest in natural history, and organized the first U. S. scientific expedition in 1801. These two major interests combined in his founding of what became the Philadelphia Museum, later known as Peales American Museum and it housed a diverse collection of botanical, biological, and archaeological specimens. Most notably, the museum contained a variety of birds which Peale himself acquired. In 1792, Peale initiated a correspondence with Thomas Hall, of the Finsbury Museum, City Road, Finsbury, eventually, an exchange system was established between the two, whereby Peale sent American birds to Hall in exchange for an equal number of British birds. This arrangement continued until the end of the century, the Peale Museum was the first to display a mastodon skeleton that Peale found in New York State
3.
Governor of Pennsylvania
–
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the head of the executive branch of Pennsylvanias state government and serves as the commander-in-chief of the states military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce laws, and the power to approve or veto bills passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature. The governor may grant pardons except in cases of impeachment, there have been seven presidents and 46 governors of Pennsylvania, with two governors serving non-consecutive terms, totaling 55 terms in both offices. The longest term was that of the first governor, Thomas Mifflin, the shortest term belonged to John Bell, who served only 19 days as acting governor after his predecessor resigned. The current governor is Tom Wolf, whose term began on January 20,2015, Pennsylvania was one of the original thirteen colonies, and was admitted as a state on December 12,1787. Prior to declaring its independence, Pennsylvania was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain, the first Pennsylvania constitution in 1776 created the Supreme Executive Council as the states executive branch, with the President as its head. The president was chosen annually by the council, though no specific term dates. The original 1776 constitution created the position of vice-president, though no provision was made if the office of president became vacant, contemporary sources continue to label the chief executive in such times as the vice president, without any notion of succeeding to the presidency. One acting president, George Bryan, was recognized as a full-fledged governor. The 1838 constitution moved the start of the term to the third Tuesday of the January following the election, the 1874 constitution lengthened the term to four years, and prohibited governors from succeeding themselves. The current constitution of 1968 changed this to allow governors to two consecutive terms. There are no limits on the number of terms a governor may serve in total as long as there is a break after a second term. Under the 1968 constitution, Milton Shapp was the first governor to serve 2 terms, should both offices be vacant, the president pro tempore of the state senate becomes governor. The position of lieutenant governor was created in the 1874 constitution, prior to then, originally, the lieutenant governor could only act as governor, it was not until the 1968 constitution that the lieutenant governor could actually become governor in that fashion. The office of governor has been vacant for an extended period once, Governors and lieutenant governors are elected on the same ticket. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Pennsylvania except where noted, † Denotes those offices from which the governor resigned to take the governorship. Even when the first bill was proposed to purchase a home, rather, the home was and is designated as a residence. Even during the 79 years that Keystone Hall was used, it was simply as that
4.
Thomas Mifflin
–
Thomas Mifflin was an American merchant and politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Several of these activities qualify him to be counted among the Founding Fathers and he served as Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, President of the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council and the first Governor of Pennsylvania. Thomas Mifflin was born January 10,1744 in Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania and he was the son of John Mifflin and Elizabeth Bagnall. His great-grandfather John Mifflin, Jr. was born in Warminster, Wiltshire, England, Thomas Mifflin graduated from the College of Philadelphia in 1760, and joined the mercantile business of William Biddle. After returning from a trip to Europe in 1765, he established a business partnership with his brother, George Mifflin. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society, early in the Revolutionary War, Mifflin left the Continental Congress to serve in the Continental Army. He was commissioned as a major, then became George Washingtons aide-de-camp and and his leadership in the battles Trenton and Princeton led to a promotion to major general. In Congress, there was debate regarding whether an army was more efficient or if individual states should maintain their own forces. As a result of this debate the Congressional Board of War was created and he then rejoined the army but took little active role, following criticism of his service as quartermaster general. He was accused of embezzlement and welcomed an inquiry, however and he resigned his commission—by then, as a major general—but Congress continued to ask his advice even after accepting his resignation. Prior to Independence, Thomas Mifflin was a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly and he served two terms in the Continental Congress, including seven months as that bodys presiding officer. His most important duty as president was to accept on behalf of Congress the commission of General George Washington, who resigned in December 1783. Nonetheless, after the versions of the Treaty of Paris were exchanged in France on May 12,1784. Mifflin had just appointed Thomas Jefferson as a minister to France on May 7,1784, after serving as president, Thomas Mifflin was a delegate to the United States Constitutional Convention in 1787, as well as a signer of the Constitution. He served in the house of Pennsylvania General Assembly and he was a member of the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and on November 5,1788, he was elected President of the Council, replacing Benjamin Franklin. He was unanimously reelected to the Presidency on November 11,1789 and he presided over the committee that wrote Pennsylvanias 1790 State Constitution. That document did away with the Executive Council, replacing it with a single Governor, on December 21,1790 Mifflin became the last President of Pennsylvania and the first Governor of the Commonwealth. He held the office until December 17,1799, when he was succeeded by Thomas McKean
5.
Simon Snyder
–
Simon Snyder was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, serving three terms from 1808 to 1817. A Jeffersonian Democrat, he served three terms as speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives before becoming governor, the politician started his business career as a tanner and owner of a gristmill, his first electoral office was as justice of the peace. He led the state through the War of 1812, following the conclusion of his third term, he was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate. He died of fever in 1819 before he began to serve. He was the first governor elected in Pennsylvania who was of German descent, Snyder was born on November 5,1759 in Lancaster in the Province of Pennsylvania. Anton Schneider and Agnesa Krämer Schneider reared him in the Lutheran church and his father was a mechanic, and had immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1744 from Germany, part of a large wave of immigrants from there in the 18th century. After his fathers death in 1774 when Snyder was 15, the youth apprenticed to a tanner in York, Pennsylvania. He used his leisure time for study. In 1784, Snyder moved to Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, where he opened a gristmill and he was elected as justice of the peace, serving for twelve years. His residence still stands at 121 North Market Street and is now known as the Gov. Simon Snyder Mansion, in 1790, Snyder married Elizabeth Michael. Elizabeth died in 1794 and her husband was left to raise their young children. Snyder quickly remarried, as was common in those days, to Catherine Antes on July 12,1796 and he and his second wife had another five children together. Catherine Antes Snyder died on March 15,1810, in Selinsgrove and is buried at the First Reformed Church Memorial Garden in Lancaster, Snyder began his political career as a Justice of the Peace. In 1789 he was elected as a delegate to revise Pennsylvania’s state constitution in 1790, following this, he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving from 1797 to 1807. During this time, he was elected three times as the speaker of the House, in 1804, in 1805, and in 1807. While in the House, Snyder sought the governorship as a Jeffersonian Democrat in 1805, a lack of public recognition in comparison to the incumbent contributed to Snyders losing the election. Snyder sponsored the “Hundred-dollar Act, ” which embodied the arbitration principle and it provided for the trial of civil cases only when the amount in question was more than one hundred dollars. In 1808, the Jeffersonians united behind Snyder, and he won the election for governor, in 1812, Snyder suggested relocating the capital city of the commonwealth from Lancaster to its present, more central location in Harrisburg
6.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
–
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It also claims to be the oldest court in the United States and this discretion allows the Court to wield powerful influence on the formation and interpretation of Pennsylvania law. The original Pennsylvania constitutions, drafted by William Penn, established a Provincial Court under the control of his British governors, the General Assembly, however, espoused the principle of separation of powers and formally called for a third branch of government starting with the 1701 Judiciary Bill. In 1722, the appointed British governor needed the House to raise revenues, House leaders agreed to raise taxes in return for an independent Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania predates the United States Supreme Court by more than 100 years, interpreting the Pennsylvania Constitution, it was the first independent Supreme Court in the United States to claim the power to declare laws made by an elected legislative body unconstitutional. The court meets in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court consists of seven justices, each elected to ten year terms. Supreme Court judicial candidates may run on party tickets, the justice with the longest continuous service on the court automatically becomes Chief Justice. Prior to 2002, judicial candidates in Pennsylvania were prohibited from expressing their views on disputed legal or political issues. ”After the ten-year term expires, if the judge is retained, he/she serves another ten-year term. If the judge is not retained, the governor, subject to the approval of the State Senate, as of 2005, only one judge has failed to win retention. Justice Russell M. Nigro received a majority of no votes in the election of 2005 and was replaced by Justice Cynthia Baldwin, only one Supreme Court Justice, Rolf Larsen, has been removed from office by impeachment. In 1994, the State House of Representatives handed down articles of impeachment consisting of seven counts of misconduct, a majority of the State Senate voted against Larsen in five of the seven counts but only one charge garnered the two-thirds majority needed to convict. Under the 1874 Constitution and until the Pennsylvania state constitution of 1968, at the time, it was the longest term of any elected office in the United States. Superior Court of Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Unified Court System page on the Supreme Court
7.
Benjamin Chew
–
Chew was well known for his precision and brevity in making legal arguments as well as his excellent memory, judgment, and knowledge of statutory law. His primary allegiance was to the supremacy of law and constitution, the Penn family was the basis of his private practice, and he represented them for six decades. He had a personal friendship with George Washington, who is said to have treated Chew’s children “as if they were his own. Benjamin Chew was the son of Samuel Chew, a physician and first Chief Justice of Delaware and he was born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, at his fathers plantation of Maidstone. Benjamin Chews great-great-grandfather, John Chew, a merchant, arrived in Jamestown in 1622 on the ship Charitie, he was granted 1,600 acres of land in Charles River County. The young Chew took an interest in the field of law at an early age, the year before, Hamilton had won a landmark case in American jurisprudence by his eloquent pro bono defense of the publisher Peter Zenger. It established the precedent of truth as a defense against charges of libel. Chew was strongly influenced by Hamilton’s ideas about a free press, after Hamiltons death in August 1741, Chew sailed to London to study law at the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court. His friend John Dickinson was already studying in London, a frequent destination for aspiring generations of men from North America. Following his fathers death, Chew returned to Pennsylvania in 1744 and he began to practice law in Dover, Delaware, while supporting his siblings and stepmother. In 1747, at age 25, Chew also went against Quaker tradition when he took the Oath of Attorney in Pennsylvania, Chew moved to Philadelphia in 1754. He continued his legal responsibilities in both Delaware and Pennsylvania for the rest of his life, after early appointments in the Quaker-dominated government, following his second marriage he went into private practice in 1757, the following year joined the Anglican Church. He was taking a path to influence outside the Quaker elite. Chew wed Mary Galloway, his mothers niece, on June 13,1747, at West River and they had five daughters before Mary died. From 1754 to 1771, Chew and his family lived on Front Street in Philadelphia and he married again on September 12,1757, to Elizabeth Oswald, daughter of James and Mary Oswald. Elizabeth was the niece and heir to the estate of Captain Joseph Turner, Benjamin and Elizabeth had seven more daughters (Margaret, Juliana, Henrietta, Sophia, Maria, Harriet, and Catherine, and two sons. In 1758, Chew left the Quakers permanently and joined the Church of England, he and they worshipped there with their growing family, and later at St. Peters Church when they moved out to Germantown. This was part of a process of Anglicization that had begun when he was studying law at the Middle Temple in London, Chew greatly increased both wealth and property holdings when he married Elizabeth Oswald
8.
Edward Shippen
–
Edward Shippen was the second mayor of Philadelphia, although under William Penns charter of 1701, he was considered the first. He was appointed to a term by William Penn in 1701. In 1702, he was elected to a second one-year term and he was also a leader of the Province of Pennsylvania, and served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1699. Edward was born in Methley to his father, William, and his mother, Mary, Shippens father was settled in the village of his birth, Monk Fryston, before he migrated to Methley. Monk Fryston is closely linked to the village of Hillam, which was where the Shippen family had hailed from, one of Shippens grandsons was Continental Congressman William Shippen. A granddaughter was the wife of Philadelphia Mayor Charles Willing, whose daughter was Mary Willing Byrd, another grandson, Edward Shippen, III, was also a mayor of Philadelphia. Shippens great-great-granddaughter was Peggy Shippen, wife of Benedict Arnold, Shippen was married to Elizabeth Lybrand in 1671
9.
Samuel Huntington (statesman)
–
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
10.
John Hanson
–
John Hanson was a merchant and public official from Maryland during the era of the American Revolution. In 1779, Hanson was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress after serving in a variety of roles for the Patriot cause in Maryland and he signed the Articles of Confederation in 1781 after Maryland finally joined the other states in ratifying them. John Hanson was born in Port Tobacco Parish in Charles County in the Province of Maryland on April 3,1721, sources published prior to a 1940 genealogical study sometimes listed his birth date as April 13 or his year of birth as 1715. Hanson was born on a plantation called Mulberry Grove into a wealthy and his parents were Samuel and Elizabeth Hanson. Samuel Hanson was a planter who owned more than 1,000 acres, John Hanson was of English ancestry, his grandfather, also named John, came to Charles County, Maryland, as an indentured servant around 1661. In 1877, a writer named George Hanson placed John Hanson in his family tree of Swedish-Americans descended from four Swedish brothers who emigrated to New Sweden in 1642. This story was repeated over the next century, but scholarly research in the late 20th century showed that John Hanson was of English heritage. Little is known about Hansons early life, he was privately tutored as was customary among the gentry of his time. He followed his fathers path as a planter, slave owner and he was often referred to as John Hanson, Jr. to distinguish him from an older man of the same name. Hansons career in service began in 1750, when he was appointed sheriff of Charles County. In 1757 he was elected to represent Charles County in the house of the Maryland General Assembly. He was an opponent of the 1765 Stamp Act, chairing the committee that drafted the instructions for Marylands delegates to the Stamp Act Congress. In protest of the Townshend Acts, in 1769 Hanson was one of the signers of a resolution that boycotted British imports until the acts were repealed. Hanson changed course in 1769, apparently to pursue his business interests. He resigned from the General Assembly, sold his land in Charles County, there he held a variety of offices, including deputy surveyor, sheriff, and county treasurer. When relations between Great Britain and the became a crisis in 1774, Hanson became one of Frederick Countys leading Patriots. He chaired a meeting that passed a resolution opposing the Boston Port Act. In 1775, he was a delegate to the Maryland Convention, with hostilities underway, Hanson chaired the Frederick County Committee of Observation, part of the Patriot organization that assumed control of local governance
11.
Governor of Delaware
–
The Governor of Delaware is the head of the executive branch of Delawares state government and the commander-in-chief of the states military forces. There have been 70 people who have served as governor, over 73 distinct terms, additionally, Henry Molleston was elected, but died before he could take office. The shortest term is that of Dale E. Wolf, who served 18 days following his predecessors resignation, the current governor is John Carney, who took office on January 17,2017. For the period before independence, see the List of colonial governors of Pennsylvania, between 1681 and 1776, Delaware was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain, administered by colonial governors in Pennsylvania as the Lower Counties on Delaware. In 1776, soon after Delaware and the other Thirteen Colonies declared independence from Britain and it created the office of President of Delaware, a chief executive to be chosen by the legislature to serve a term of three years. The term was lengthened to four years by the 1831 constitution, the current constitution of 1897 allows governors to serve two terms. The 1776 constitution stated that if the presidency were vacant, the speaker of the council would be a vice-president. The offices of governor and lieutenant governor are elected at the same time, two have served as President of Pennsylvania. Four resigned to take other offices, three in the U. S. Congress and one to be President of Pennsylvania, all representatives and senators listed represented Delaware except where noted. As of January 2017, there are six former U. S. governors who are living at this time. The most recent death of a former U. S. governor of Delaware was that of David Buckson, the most recently serving U. S. governor of Delaware to die was Sherman W. Tribbitt, who died on August 14,2010. Delaware gubernatorial elections General Constitutions Specific Office of the Governor of Delaware
12.
John McKinly
–
Dr. John McKinly was an American physician and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He was a veteran of the French and Indian War, served in the Delaware General Assembly, was the first elected President of Delaware, McKinly was born in Ulster, Ireland and immigrated to Delaware in 1742. In 1761, he married Jane Jenny Richardson, a daughter of the Quaker miller and their home was at the northwest corner of 3rd and French Streets in Wilmington, now the location of an office building. They were members of the First Presbyterian Church, which is now known as the First and he established himself as a popular physician. In 1747 he was commissioned a lieutenant in the New Castle County militia, along with others, he built a bombproof battery and magazine at the site of the old Fort Christina, in an area known as the Rocks. It was proudly reported that it equaled if not exceeded, any on the continent for strength, eighteenth century Delaware was politically divided into loose factions known as the Court Party and the Country Party. The minority Country Party was largely Ulster-Scot, centered in New Castle County, McKinly, like most of the rest of population and the majority in the General Assembly, was associated with the Court Party and its moderate policies. However, his Ulster-Scots background and prominence in the Presbyterian Church community made him acceptable to many who normally associated themselves with the Country Party. McKinly was elected Sheriff of New Castle County in 1757, served 4 three-year terms as Chief Burgess of the town of Wilmington between 1758 and 1776 and he also represented New Castle County in the Assembly of the Delaware or Lower Counties from the 1771/72 session through the 1775/76 session. In the events leading up to the American Revolution, he became a member of the Delaware Committee of Correspondence in October 1773, meanwhile, he served as Brigadier General of the New Castle County militia. It consisted of five members from each county, McKinly was one of those representing New Castle County, and was elected President of the Committee. Then when Delaware elected its first House of Assembly in October 1776, he was elected to represent New Castle County in the 1776/77 session. On February 12,1777 the General Assembly elected him to be Delawares first Chief Magistrate or President, as President, he was immediately faced with an insurrection by Loyalists, particularly in Sussex County. There was also an immediate need to recruit new soldiers for the Delaware regiment in the Continental Army, however, events completely overtook him after the major British victory at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11,1777. In the course of doing so they found and captured the state treasury and they also found President McKinly at home in his bed, and they took him into captivity as well. He was kept as a prisoner of war on the Roebuck, many of the British wounded had been brought into Wilmington, and the people at least knew that they were safe from bombardment so long as any of their houses were turned into British hospitals. I sustained at this time some heavy losses of private property, when the British left Philadelphia in June 1778, McKinly was transferred to Flatbush, New York. He was finally paroled in August 1778, having been exchanged for William Franklin, Loyalist Governor of New Jersey, after his release, McKinly returned to his medical practice and remained active in Wilmington affairs
13.
George Read (signer)
–
George Read was an American lawyer and politician from New Castle in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Continental Congressman from Delaware, Constitutional Convention of 1787, President of Delaware, and a member of the Federalist Party, who served as U. S. Senator from Delaware and Chief Justice of Delaware, George Read was the son of John and Mary Read. Georges father was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of an Englishman of large fortune belonging to the family of Read of Berkshire, Hertfordshire, and Oxfordshire. As an original proprietor of Charlestown, John Read was appointed by the legislature of Maryland one of the commissioners to lay it out. He held various offices during his life, and in his later years resided on his plantation in New Castle County. George Read was born in Cecil County, Maryland, on September 18,1733, when he was an infant, the family moved to New Castle County, Delaware, settling near the village of Christiana. As he grew up, George Read joined Thomas McKean at the Rev. Francis Allisons Academy at New London, Pennsylvania and he was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1753 and a year later he returned home to establish a practice at New Castle, Delaware. They had five children, John, George Jr. William, John, and Mary and they lived on The Strand in New Castle and their house was in what is now the garden of the present Read House and Gardens, owned by the Delaware Historical Society. They were members of Immanuel Episcopal Church, in 1763 John Penn, the Proprietary Governor, appointed Read Crown Attorney General for the three Delaware counties and he served in that position until leaving for the Continental Congress in 1774. He also served in the Colonial Assembly of the Lower Counties for twelve sessions, eighteenth century Delaware was politically divided into loose factions known as the Court Party and the Country Party. The minority Country Party was largely Ulster-Scot, centered in New Castle County and he opposed the Stamp Act and similar measures of Parliament but supported anti-importation measures and dignified protests. He was quite reluctant to pursue the option of outright independence and he was frequently absent, and when the Congress voted on American Independence on July 2,1776, Read surprised many by voting against it. That meant that Rodney had to ride overnight to Philadelphia to break the deadlock in Delawares delegation for independence, however, when the Declaration of Independence was finally adopted, Read signed it despite his natural caution. Anticipating the Declaration of Independence, the General Assembly of the Lower Counties declared its separation from the British government on June 15,1776 in the New Castle Court House. Once the Declaration of Independence was actually adopted, the General Assembly called for elections to a Delaware constitutional convention to draft a constitution for the new state. Read was elected to this convention, became its President, and guided the passage of the McKean-drafted document, Read was then elected to the first Legislative Council of the Delaware General Assembly and was selected as the Speaker in both the 1776/77 and 1777/78 sessions. The British occupied Philadelphia and were in control of the Delaware River, Read tried, mostly in vain, to recruit additional soldiers and to protect the state from raiders from Philadelphia and off ships in the Delaware River
14.
New London Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
–
New London Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,631 at the 2010 census and it was the birthplace of U. S. The Rudolph and Arthur Covered Bridge and Linton Stephens Covered Bridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 11.9 square miles, all of it land. At the 2010 census, the township was 91. 9% non-Hispanic White,1. 4% Black or African American,0. 9% Asian,4. 9% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. As of the census of 2000, there were 4,583 people,1,365 households, the population density was 386.5 people per square mile. There were 1,390 housing units at a density of 117. 2/sq mi. The racial makeup of the township was 96. 68% White,0. 96% African American,0. 09% Native American,0. 65% Asian,0. 04% Pacific Islander,0. 89% from other races, and 0. 68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2. 38% of the population,8. 9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2. 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.36 and the family size was 3.60. In the township the population was out, with 37. 6% under the age of 18,5. 0% from 18 to 24,33. 3% from 25 to 44,19. 6% from 45 to 64. The median age was 34 years, for every 100 females there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males, the median income for a household in the township was $77,468, and the median income for a family was $79,929. Males had an income of $60,298 versus $37,727 for females. The per capita income for the township was $24,824, about 1. 4% of families and 2. 0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1. 0% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over
15.
Province of Pennsylvania
–
The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was founded in English North America by William Penn on March 4,1681 as dictated in a royal charter granted by King Charles II. The name Pennsylvania, which translates roughly as Penns Woods, was created by combining the Penn surname with the Latin word sylvania, the Province of Pennsylvania was one of the two major Restoration colonies, the other being the Province of Carolina. The colonial government, established in 1683 by Penns Frame of Government, consisted of an appointed Governor, the proprietor, a 72-member Provincial Council, and a larger General Assembly. The General Assembly, also known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, was the largest and most representative branch of government, succeeding Frames of Government, also known as the Charter of Privileges, were produced in 1683,1696 and 1701. The fourth Frame remained in effect until the American Revolution and he was an early advocate of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful treaties with the Lenape Indians. Under his direction, the city of Philadelphia was planned and developed, the province was divided first into 5 counties, plus the three lower counties on Delaware Bay. Philadelphia County is present-day Philadelphia City, montgomery County was west of Bucks and northwest of Philadelphia, and extended along the Schuylkill River to the area presently known as Minersville, in Schuylkill County. Chester County extended along the border of Pennsylvania from Marcus Hook to the western border of the province. The remainder of the province, which is now North Central and their borders remain unchanged to this day. William Penn and his fellow Quakers heavily imprinted their religious values on the early Pennsylvanian government, the Charter of Privileges extended religious freedom to everyone monotheists and government was initially open to all Christians. Until the French and Indian War Pennsylvania had no military, few taxes, among the first groups were the Mennonites, who founded Germantown in 1683, and the Amish, who established the Northkill Amish Settlement in 1740. 1751 was an year for the colony. Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the British American colonies, and The Academy and College of Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin founded both of these institutions along with Philadelphias Union Fire Company fifteen years earlier in 1736. Likewise in 1751, the Pennsylvania State House ordered a new bell which would become known as the Liberty Bell for the new tower being built in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. William Penn had mandated fair dealings with Native Americans and this led to significantly better relations with the local Native tribes than most other colonies had. The Quakers had previously treated Indians with respect, bought land from them voluntarily, according to Voltaire, the Shackamaxon Treaty was the only treaty between Indians and Christians that was never sworn to and that was never broken. The Quakers also refused to provide any assistance to New Englands Indian wars, in 1737, the Colony exchanged a great deal of its political goodwill with the native Lenape for more land. This purchase has become known as the Walking Purchase, although the document was most likely a forgery, the Lenape did not realize that
16.
British America
–
English America, and later British America, were the English, and later British, territories in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Guyana from 1607 to 1783. After that, British North America was used to describe the remainder of Britains continental North American possessions, the term British North America was first used informally in 1783, but it was uncommon before the Report on the Affairs of British North America, called the Durham Report. British America gained large amounts of new territory following the Treaty of Paris which ended Britains involvement in the Seven Years War, at the start of the American War of Independence in 1775, the British Empire included 20 colonies north and east of New Spain. East and West Florida were ceded to Spain in the Treaty of Paris which ended the American Revolution, all but one of the remaining colonies of British North America apart from the British West Indies united together from 1867 to 1873 forming the Dominion of Canada. The first such permanent settlement was founded at Jamestown by the Virginia Company whose investors expected to reap rewards from their speculative investments, Virginia Native Americans had established settlements long before the English settlers arrived, and there were an estimated 14,000 natives in the region. Native American political leadership sought to resettle the English colonizers from Jamestown to another location, other colonizers, both English and German, did join the Powhatans. The first colonizers were welcomed by the Indians with dancing, feasting, there were twenty British colonies in North America in 1775
17.
Philadelphia
–
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
18.
Laurel Hill Cemetery
–
Laurel Hill Cemetery is a cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that was the second major garden or rural cemetery in the United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998, one of only a few cemeteries to receive the distinction, located in Philadelphias East Falls section, the 74-acre cemetery overlooks the Schuylkill River. Laurel Hill contains more than 33,000 monuments and more than 11,000 family lots and its thousands of 19th- and 20th-century marble and granite funerary monuments include obelisks and elaborately sculpted hillside tombs and mausoleums. The property was acquired from businessman Joseph Sims, designed by Scottish-American architect John Notman, Laurel Hill introduced new landscape ideas and burial concepts and became a model for the rural cemetery movement. The cemetery was developed and completed between 1836 and 1839. S, during and after the American Civil War, Laurel Hill became the final resting place of hundreds of military figures, including 42 Civil War-era generals. The city later grew past Laurel Hill, but the cemetery retained its rural character, from its inception, Laurel Hill was intended as a civic institution designed for public use. In an era before public parks and museums, it was a cultural attraction where the general public could experience the art. Classical Revival, Gothic Revival, Egyptian Revival and other styles are rendered in a wide palette of materials, including marble, granite, cast-iron. Notable artists and architects, including Notman, Alexander Milne Calder, Laurel Hill became an immensely popular destination in its early years and required tickets for admission. Writer Andrew Jackson Downing reported “nearly 30,000 persons…entered the gates between April and December,1848. ”In 1978, the Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery, a 501 non-profit organization, was founded to support the cemetery. The mission of the Friends is to assist the Laurel Hill Cemetery Company in preserving and promoting the character of Laurel Hill. Today, Laurel Hill Cemetery stands as a repository of both art and historical artifacts. Its monuments embody the design, craftsmanship and iconography of 19th and 20th century American funerary art. Burials in the include, Robert Adams, Jr. U. S. Congressman from Pennsylvania Robert H. Foerderer, U. S, Congressman from Pennsylvania Adam Forepaugh, an entrepreneur, businessman, and circus owner Samuel Gibbs French, Confederate General has a cenotaph in his familys plot in Laurel Hill. Frank Furness, Medal of Honor recipient, architect Henry D. Gilpin, Congressman Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, first superintendent of the United States Coast Survey Joseph Hemphill, U. S. Congressman Alexander Henry, Civil War mayor of Philadelphia Henry Wilson Hodge, engineer Isaac Hull, Commodore, USN, captained Constitution to victory over HMS Guerriere Owen Jones, U. S. Congressman Harry Kalas, Philadelphia Phillies Hall of Fame broadcaster Elisha Kane, explorer William D. Kelley, Congressman William J. Kirkpatrick, composer Henry Charles Lea, historian Michael Leib, U. S
19.
Federalist Party
–
The Federalist Party was the first American political party. It existed from the early 1790s to 1816, its remnants lasted into the 1820s, the Federalists called for a strong national government that promoted economic growth and fostered friendly relationships with Great Britain, as well as opposition to revolutionary France. The party controlled the government until 1801, when it was overwhelmed by the Democratic-Republican opposition led by Thomas Jefferson. The Federalist Party came into being between 1792 and 1794 as a coalition of bankers and businessmen in support of Alexander Hamiltons fiscal policies. These supporters developed into the organized Federalist Party, which was committed to a fiscally sound, the only Federalist president was John Adams, although George Washington was broadly sympathetic to the Federalist program, he remained officially non-partisan during his entire presidency. Federalist policies called for a bank, tariffs, and good relations with Great Britain as expressed in the Jay Treaty negotiated in 1794. Hamilton developed the concept of implied powers and successfully argued the adoption of that interpretation of the United States Constitution, the Jay Treaty passed, and the Federalists won most of the major legislative battles in the 1790s. They held a strong base in the cities and in New England. After the Democratic-Republicans, whose base was in the rural South, won the election of 1800. They recovered some strength by their opposition to the War of 1812. On taking office in 1789, President Washington nominated New York lawyer Alexander Hamilton to the office of Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton wanted a strong national government with financial credibility. James Madison was Hamiltons ally in the fight to ratify the new Constitution, Political parties had not been anticipated when the Constitution was drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1788, even though both Hamilton and Madison played major roles. Parties were considered to be divisive and harmful to republicanism, No similar parties existed anywhere in the world. By 1790 Hamilton started building a nationwide coalition and his attempts to manage politics in the national capital to get his plans through Congress, then, brought strong responses across the country. In the process, what began as a capital faction soon assumed status as a faction and then, finally. The Federalist Party supported Hamiltons vision of a centralized government. In foreign affairs, they supported neutrality in the war between France and Great Britain, the majority of the Founding Fathers were originally Federalists. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and many others can all be considered Federalists and these Federalists felt that the Articles of Confederation had been too weak to sustain a working government and had decided that a new form of government was needed
20.
Democratic-Republican Party
–
The new party controlled the presidency and Congress, as well as most states, from 1801 to 1825, during the First Party System. It began in 1791 as one faction in Congress, and included many politicians who had opposed to the new constitution. They called themselves Republicans after their ideology Republicanism and they distrusted the Federalist commitment to republicanism. The party splintered in 1824 into the Jacksonian movement and the short-lived National Republican Party, the term Democratic-Republican is used especially by modern political scientists for the first Republican Party. It is also known as the Jeffersonian Republicans, historians typically use the title Republican Party. An Anti-Administration faction met secretly in the capital to oppose Hamiltons financial programs. Jefferson denounced the programs as leading to monarchy and subversive of republicanism, Jefferson needed to have a nationwide party to challenge the Federalists, which Hamilton was building up with allies in major cities. Foreign affairs took a role in 1794–95 as the Republicans vigorously opposed the Jay Treaty with Britain. Republicans saw France as more democratic after its revolution, while Britain represented the hated monarchy, the party denounced many of Hamiltons measures as unconstitutional, especially the national bank. The party was strongest in the South and weakest in the Northeast and it demanded states rights as expressed by the Principles of 1798 articulated in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions that would allow states to nullify a federal law. Above all, the party stood for the primacy of the yeoman farmers, Republicans were deeply committed to the principles of republicanism, which they feared were threatened by the supposed monarchical tendencies of the Hamiltonian Federalists. The party came to power in 1801 with the election of Jefferson in the 1800 presidential election, the Federalists—too elitist to appeal to most people—faded away, and totally collapsed after 1815. The Republicans dominated the First Party System, despite internal divisions, the party selected its presidential candidates in a caucus of members of Congress. They included Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, by 1824, the caucus system had practically collapsed. After 1800, the party dominated Congress and most state governments outside New England, by 1824, the party was split four ways and lacked a center, as the First Party System collapsed. The emergence of the Second Party System in the 1830s realigned the old factions, one remnant followed Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren into the new Democratic Party by 1828. Another remnant led by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay formed the National Republicans in 1828, the precise date of founding is disputed, but 1791 is a reasonable estimate, some time by 1792 is certain. The elections of 1792 were the first ones to be contested on anything resembling a partisan basis, in most states the congressional elections were recognized, as Jefferson strategist John Beckley put it, as a struggle between the Treasury department and the republican interest
21.
New Castle, Delaware
–
New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, six miles south of Wilmington, situated on the Delaware River. In 1900,3,380 people lived here, in 1910,3,351, according to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 5,285. The Dutch originally named the settlement Fort Casimir, but this was changed to Fort Trinity following its seizure by the colony of New Sweden on Trinity Sunday,1654, the Dutch conquered the entire colony of New Sweden the following year and rechristened the fort Nieuw-Amstel. As the settlement grew, Dutch authorities laid out a grid of streets and established the town common, in 1664, the English seized the entire New Netherland colony in the Second Anglo-Dutch War and changed the name of the town to New Castle. The Dutch regained the town in 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, in 1680, New Castle was conveyed to William Penn by the Duke of York by livery of seisin and was Penns landing place when he first set foot on American soil on October 27,1682. This transfer to Penn was contested by Lord Baltimore and the dispute was not resolved until the survey conducted by Mason and Dixon. The spire on top of the Court House, Delawares Colonial capitol, the Delaware River within this radius to the low water mark on the opposite shore is part of Delaware. Thus the Delaware Memorial Bridge was built as an intrastate span by Delaware, prior to the establishment of Penns Philadelphia, New Castle was center of government. Delaware formally broke from Pennsylvania in 1704, New Castle again became the seat of the colonial government, thriving with the various judges and lawyers that fueled the economy. Many smaller houses were torn down and replaced in this era, in February 1777, John McKinly was elected the first President of Delaware. McKinley was captured by the British and held prisoner for several months, New Castle remained the county seat until after the Civil War, when that status was transferred to Wilmington. Three signers of the Declaration of Independence were from New Castle — Thomas McKean, George Read, the 16-mile portage between the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay saved a 400-mile trip around the Delmarva Peninsula, so this brought passengers, goods, and business to New Castles port. In the years following the Revolution, a turnpike was built to travel between the two major waterways. The line traversed the Delmarva Peninsula, running to the Elk River, Maryland, from where passengers changed to packet boats for travel to Baltimore. The decline in New Castles economy had the long-range fortunate effect of preventing most residents from making any significant structural changes to their homes, so, the many buildings of historic New Castle look much as they did in the colonial and Federal periods. New Castle has a tradition, dating back to 1927, of tours of homes, churches. These tours, called A Day in Olde New Castle, are held on the third Saturday of May. Householders dress in costumes and an admittance fee is collected which is used toward the maintenance of the towns many historic buildings
22.
New Castle County, Delaware
–
New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U. S. state of Delaware. As of the 2010 census, the population was 538,479, New Castle County is included in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is named after the English city of Newcastle, New Castle County has the highest population and population density of any Delaware county, and it is the smallest county in the state by area. It has more people than the two counties, Kent and Sussex, combined. It is also the most economically developed of the three, matt Meyer was elected New Castle County Executive in 2016. New Castle County is home to two minor league teams, the Wilmington Blue Rocks and the Delaware 87ers which play in Newark. It also has an auto racing track in New Castle known as Airport Speedway. The first permanent European settlement on Delaware soil was Fort Christina, resulting from Peter Minuits 1638 expedition on the Swedish vessels Fogel Grip, the Swedes laid out the town at the site of modern-day Wilmington. They contracted with the Lenape Native Americans for land of Old Cape Henlopen north to Sankikans, however, a dispute ensued between the Swedes and the Dutch, who asserted a prior claim to that land. In 1640, New Sweden was founded a few south of Christina. In 1644, Queen Christina appointed Lt. Col. Johan Printz as Governor of New Sweden and she directed boundaries to be set and to reach Cape Henlopen north along the west side of Godyns Bay, up the South River, past Minquas Kill, to Sankikans. Printz settled on Tinicum Island, as the seat of government, Peter Stuyvesant, Governor of New Netherland, sailed up the South River in 1651. He purchased land from the Lenape that covered Minquas Kill to Bompties Hook, Stuyvesant began to build Fort Casimir. In 1654, Johan Risingh, Commissary and Councilor to the Governor Lt. Col. Printz, officially assumed Printzs duties, Fort Casimir surrendered and was renamed Fort Trinity in 1654. The Swedes had complete possession of the west side of the Delaware River, on June 21,1654, the Lenape met with the Swedes to reaffirm the purchase. Having learned of the fall of Fort Casimir, the Dutch sent Stuyvesant to drive the Swedes from both sides of the river and they allowed only Dutch colonists to settle in the area and on August 31,1655, the territory was converted back to Fort Casimir. Consequently, Fort Christina fell on September 15 to the Dutch, john Paul Jacquet was immediately appointed Governor, making New Amstel the capital of the Dutch-controlled colony. As payment for regaining the territory, the Dutch West India Company conveyed land from the side of Christina Kill to Bombay Hook
23.
American Revolution
–
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
24.
United States Declaration of Independence
–
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
25.
Articles of Confederation
–
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
26.
List of Governors of Delaware
–
The Governor of Delaware is the head of the executive branch of Delawares state government and the commander-in-chief of the states military forces. There have been 70 people who have served as governor, over 73 distinct terms, additionally, Henry Molleston was elected, but died before he could take office. The shortest term is that of Dale E. Wolf, who served 18 days following his predecessors resignation, the current governor is John Carney, who took office on January 17,2017. For the period before independence, see the List of colonial governors of Pennsylvania, between 1681 and 1776, Delaware was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain, administered by colonial governors in Pennsylvania as the Lower Counties on Delaware. In 1776, soon after Delaware and the other Thirteen Colonies declared independence from Britain and it created the office of President of Delaware, a chief executive to be chosen by the legislature to serve a term of three years. The term was lengthened to four years by the 1831 constitution, the current constitution of 1897 allows governors to serve two terms. The 1776 constitution stated that if the presidency were vacant, the speaker of the council would be a vice-president. The offices of governor and lieutenant governor are elected at the same time, two have served as President of Pennsylvania. Four resigned to take other offices, three in the U. S. Congress and one to be President of Pennsylvania, all representatives and senators listed represented Delaware except where noted. As of January 2017, there are six former U. S. governors who are living at this time. The most recent death of a former U. S. governor of Delaware was that of David Buckson, the most recently serving U. S. governor of Delaware to die was Sherman W. Tribbitt, who died on August 14,2010. Delaware gubernatorial elections General Constitutions Specific Office of the Governor of Delaware
27.
Ireland
–
Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
28.
Ulster-Scots
–
The Ulster Scots, commonly known as Scots-Irish outside of Ireland, are an ethnic group in Ireland, found mostly in the Ulster region and to a lesser extent in the rest of Ireland. Scotch-Irish is a term for Ulster Scots who emigrated to North America. The first major influx of border English and Lowland Scots into Ulster came in the first two decades of the 17th century, first, before the Plantations of Ireland and even before the Flight of the Earls, there was the 1606 independent Scottish settlement in east Down and Antrim. It was led by adventurers James Hamilton and Sir Hugh Montgomery, Montgomery was granted half of Conn ONeills land as a reward for helping him escape from prison. Hamilton forced himself in on this deal when he discovered it and, starting in 1609, Scots began arriving into state-sponsored settlements as part of the Plantation of Ulster. This scheme was intended to confiscate all the lands of the Gaelic Irish nobility in Ulster, under this scheme, a substantial number of Scots were settled, mostly in the south and west of Ulster, on confiscated land. Native Irish civilians were massacred in return, by 1642, native Irish were in de facto control of much of the island under a Confederate Ireland, with about a third under the control of the opposition. However, many Ulster-Scots Presbyterians joined with the Irish in rebellion, the war itself, part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, ended in the 1650s, with the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. At the head of the army, Oliver Cromwell conquered all of Ireland, after the Cromwellian war in Ireland was over, many of their soldiers settled permanently in eastern Ulster. Under the Act of Settlement 1652, all Catholic-owned land was confiscated and the British Plantations in Ireland, which had been destroyed by the rebellion of 1641, were restored. However, due to the Scots enmity to the English Parliament in the stages of the English Civil War. There was a generation of calm in Ireland until another war broke out in 1689, again due to political conflict closely aligned with ethnic, the majority of the Protestant colonists throughout Ireland but particularly in Ulster, fought on the Williamite side in the war against the Jacobites. Their victories at Derry, the Boyne and Aughrim are still commemorated by the Orange Order into the 21st century. Finally, another influx of Scots into northern Ireland occurred in the late 1690s. It was only after the 1690s that Scottish settlers and their descendants, for this reason, up until the 19th century, there was considerable disharmony between Dissenters and the ruling Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. Just a few generations after arriving in Ulster, considerable numbers of Ulster-Scots emigrated to the North American colonies of Great Britain, between 1717 and 1775, an estimated 200,000 migrated to what became the United States of America. In the United States Census of 2000,4.3 million Americans claimed Scotch-Irish ancestry, over the centuries, Ulster Scots culture has contributed to the unique character of the counties in Northern Ireland. The Ulster Scots Agency points to industry, language, music, sport, religion, in particular, the origin of country and Western music was extensively from Ulster Scots folk music
29.
Ballymoney
–
Ballymoney is a small town and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is currently served by Ballymoney Borough Council, the civil parish of Ballymoney is situated in the historic baronies of Dunluce Upper and Kilconway in County Antrim, and the barony of North East Liberties of Coleraine in County Londonderry. It had a population of 10,393 people in the 2011 Census, Ballymoney has expanded in recent years and a lot of new houses have been built. This is primarily as a result of high prices in the Coleraine/Portstewart/Portrush Triangle areas shifting first-time buyers to the less expensive Ballymoney area. Ballymoney is located on the road between Coleraine and Ballymena, with good road and rail connections to the main cities in Northern Ireland, Belfast. Conversely, it was revealed in 2013 that Ballymoney residents are likely to die from heart disease than anywhere else in Northern Ireland. The town hosts the Ballymoney Drama Festival, the oldest drama festival in Ireland, the town also hosts the Ballymoney Show, which is one of the oldest agricultural shows in Northern Ireland and was founded in 1902. For more information see The Troubles in Ballymoney, which includes a list of incidents in Ballymoney during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities, the Council is dominated by the Democratic Unionist Party. Sinn Féin is the second largest party with the Ulster Unionist Party, SDLP and it had a population of 10,393 people in the 2011 Census. Ballymoney is classified as a town by the NI Statistics. On Census day there were 9,021 people living in Ballymoney, for more details see, Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service Ballymoney is one of the oldest towns in Ireland with many buildings of historic note in the town centre. An old church dating from 1637 is the towns oldest surviving building. Another striking feature is the clock and Masonic hall, built in 1775 by the 6th Earl. The hall was used as a house, courthouse, town hall. The town hall was erected in 1866, J. B. Armour, cleric, educationalist and Home Rule activist. Christopher Beckett, Champion University Kayaker Patrick Boyle, novelist, stephen Carson, former Northern Ireland Under-21 international footballer, who plays for Coleraine in the IFA Premiership. Peter Chambers, rower, Silver medal in the lightweight four at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Karen Corr, pool and snooker player, Joey Dunlop, known as the King of the Road, was five times World Motorcycle Champion with 24 Ulster Grand Prix wins,13 North West 200 wins and 26 Isle of Man TT wins
30.
County Antrim
–
County Antrim ) is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland and one of the nine counties of the province of Ulster, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 3,046 square kilometres and has a population of about 618,000, County Antrim has a population density of 203 people per square kilometer /526 people per square mile. The majority of Belfast, the city of Northern Ireland, is in County Antrim. It is currently one of two counties of Ireland to have a majority of the population from a Protestant background, according to the 2001 census. The other is County Down to the south, a large portion of Antrim is hilly, especially in the east, where the highest elevations are attained. The range runs north and south, and, following this direction, the most remarkable cliffs are those formed of perpendicular basaltic columns, extending for many miles, and most strikingly displayed in Fair Head and the celebrated Giants Causeway. From the eastern coast the hills rise instantly but less abruptly, all are somewhat exposed to the easterly winds prevalent in spring. It is partially arable, and supports a small population, islandmagee is a peninsula separating Larne Lough from the North Channel. The valleys of the Bann and Lagan, with the shores of Lough Neagh. These two rivers, both rising in County Down, are the ones of importance. The latter flows to Belfast Lough, the former drains Lough Neagh, the fisheries of the Bann and of Lough Neagh are of value both commercially and to sportsmen, the small town of Toome, at the outflow of the river, being the centre. Immediately below this point lies Lough Beg, the Small Lake, County Antrim has a number of air, rail and sea links. Northern Irelands main airport, Belfast International Airport, at Aldergrove is in County Antrim, Belfast International shares its runways with the Royal Air Force base RAF Aldergrove, which otherwise has its own facilities. It is the fifth-largest regional air cargo centre in the UK, there are regular services to Great Britain, Europe and North America. The region is served by George Best Belfast City Airport, a mile east of Belfast city centre on the County Down side of the city. Two of Northern Irelands main ports are in County Antrim, Larne, ferries sail from Larne Harbour to destinations including Cairnryan and Troon in Scotland, and Fleetwood in England. The Port of Belfast is Northern Irelands principal maritime gateway, serving the Northern Ireland economy and it is a major centre of industry and commerce and has become established as the focus of logistics activity for Northern Ireland. Around two-thirds of Northern Irelands seaborne trade, and a quarter of that for Ireland as a whole, is handled at the port, the population of County Antrim was 615,384 according to recent census information, making it the most populous county in Northern Ireland
31.
Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Green
–
Immanuel on the Green is an historic church in New Castle, Delaware, listed as a contributing property in the New Castle Historic District. The church is situated near the center of New Castle at the northeast end of the Green, or town common, making it a prominent local landmark and tourist attraction. Operating continuously since 1689, it is the oldest Anglican parish in Delaware, the church building was constructed between 1703 and 1708 and enlarged in 1822. The interior and roof were rebuilt following a fire in 1980. Immanuel Church was founded in 1689 as the first Anglican parish in the state of Delaware. The first rector was the Rev. George Ross, who served from 1705 to 1708, the church itself was constructed between 1703 and 1708, with the first services taking place there even before the building was completed. The church gradually fell into disrepair after the American Revolution, in 1820, Philadelphia architect William Strickland undertook a major renovation and expansion of the building which included a new transept, bell tower, steeple, roof, and interior. The interior was remodeled in the 1850s in the Victorian style, Immanuel Church caught fire on February 1,1980 when embers from a nearby marsh fire landed on the roof. The roof, steeple, and interior of the building were completely destroyed, despite the severe damage, an outpouring of support from around the state that netted more than $2 million made it possible to rebuild the church. Restored to its 1822 appearance, the church was rededicated on December 18,1982, the current appearance of the building is mostly due to architect William Strickland, who was responsible for the transept and crenellated tower. The reconstructed roof, steeple, and interior also follow Stricklands design, several notable people are interred in the Immanuel Church cemetery, Gunning Bedford, Sr. Governor of Delaware C. Douglass Buck, U. S, senator John L. Gardner, Brigadier General George Read, signer of the Declaration of Independence George Read, Jr. first U. S. Attorney for Delaware George B. Representative Thomas Stockton, Governor of Delaware Nicholas Van Dyke, Sr, Governor of Delaware Nicholas Van Dyke, Jr. U. S. Senator Mary Borden McKean, wife of Thomas McKean, 2nd Governor of Pennsylvania
32.
Prime Minister of Spain
–
The current office is established under the Constitution of 1978. In practice, the Prime Minister is almost always the leader of the largest party in the Congress, since current constitutional practice in Spain calls for the King to act on the advice of his ministers, the Prime Minister is effectively the countrys chief executive. Mariano Rajoy Brey of the Peoples Party has been the minister since he was sworn in on December 21,2011. The Spanish head of government is known, in Spanish, as the Presidente del Gobierno, in Spain the head of the government is often called simply Presidente, meaning President. Before 1833 the figure was known as Secretario de Estado, a denomination used today for junior ministers, once a general election has been announced by the king, political parties nominate their candidates to stand for the presidency of the government-usually the party leader. Constitutionally, the Prime Minister and the cabinet are responsible to the monarch, on paper, the monarch is free to name anyone he sees fit as his prerogative to form a government. For this reason, the Prime Minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the Congress. By political custom established by Juan Carlos I since the ratification of the 1978 Constitution, however, there is no legal requirement for this. In theory, the largest party could end up not ruling if rival parties gather into a majority, the monarch is normally able to announce his nominee on the day following a general election. A simple majority confirms the nominee and his program, after the nominee is confirmed, the Speaker of the Congress formally reports to the king of the congressional confirmation. The king then appoints the candidate as the new President of the Government, the kings order of appointment is countersigned by the Speaker. If no overall majority was obtained on the first Vote of the Confidence, then the same nominee and program is resubmitted for a second vote within forty-eight hours. Following the second vote, if confidence by the Congress is still unreached, then the monarch again meets with political leaders and the Speaker, and submits a new nominee for a vote of confidence. If, within two months, no candidate has won the confidence of the Congress then the King dissolves the Cortes, the Kings royal decree is countersigned by the Speaker of the Congress. Once appointed, the President of the Government forms his government whose ministers are appointed and removed by the King on the presidents advice, conversely, nominating the party leader whose party maintains a plurality and who are already familiar with their party manifesto facilitates a smoother nomination process. In the event of coalitions, the leaders would customarily have met beforehand to hammer out a coalition agreement before their meeting with the King. Governments and the Cortes sit for a no longer than four years when the president tenders his resignation to the king and advises the king to dissolve the Cortes. It remains within the prerogative to dissolve the Cortes if, at the conclusion of the four years
33.
Lower Counties
–
Delaware Colony in the North American Middle Colonies consisted of land on the west bank of the Delaware River Bay. In the early 17th century the area was inhabited by Lenape, the first European settlers were the Swedes and the Dutch, but the land fell under English control in 1664. William Penn was given the deed to what was called the Lower Counties on the Delaware by the Duke of York. From the early Dutch settlement in 1631 to the rule by Pennsylvania in 1682. Because of this, Delaware became a heterogeneous society made up of individuals who were both religiously and culturally diverse. Hudson sailed into what now is the Delaware Bay and he would name it the South River, but this would later change after Samuel Argall discovered the river in 1610 after being blown off course. Argall would later rename the river Delaware, after Thomas West, Lord De La Warr, follow-up expeditions by Cornelius May in 1613 and Cornelius Hendrickson in 1614 mapped the shoreline of what would become Delaware for inclusion in the New Netherland colony. Initial Dutch settlement was centered up river at Fort Nassau at Big Timber Creek south of what is now Gloucester City, neither the Dutch nor the English showed any early interest in establishing any kind of settlement on this land. In 1631 the Dutch sent a group of men to build a fort inside Cape Henlopen on Lewes Creek to establish the Zwaanendael Colony. This first colony was established to take advantage of the whale population. A cultural misunderstanding with the Native Americans led to the massacre of the initial 28 colonists before a year was out, patroon David Pietersz. de Vries arrived shortly thereafter with an additional 50 settlers. In March 1638, the Swedish colony of New Sweden became the first permanent European settlement in Delaware, Minuit resented the company and was well aware of the spareness of Dutch occupation along the Zuyd river valley. Like the Dutch colony it aimed to squat, New Sweden was an affair, with Finns, Dutch. The first outpost of the Swedish settlement was named Fort Christina after Queen Christina of Sweden, Governor Johan Björnsson Printz administered the colony from 1643 to 1653. He was succeeded by Johan Classon Risingh, the last governor of New Sweden, the Dutch had never accepted the Swedish colony as legitimate and the struggle between the forces of the Dutch West India Company and the officials and backers of New Sweden was on going. In 1651, New Netherland Governor Peter Stuyvesant had removed Fort Nassau and had it reassembled down river of Fort Christina as Fort Casimir, Fort Beversreede, a short-lived attempt to establish a foothold at the end of the Great Minquas Path was abandoned. Three years later, the New Sweden colony attacked and seized the outpost, the struggle finally came to an end in September 1655. With the Second Great Northern War raging in Europe, Stuyvesant assembled a sufficient army and naval squadron to capture the Swedish forts, thus re-establishing control of the colony
34.
Sussex County, Delaware
–
Sussex County is a county located in the southern part of the U. S. state of Delaware, on the Delmarva Peninsula. As of the 2010 census, the population was 197,145, the first European settlement in the state of Delaware was founded by the Dutch in 1631 near the present-day town of Lewes on the Atlantic Coast. However, Sussex County was not organized until 1683 under English colonial rule, Sussex County is included in the Salisbury, MD-DE Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses much of central Delmarva. Archaeologists estimate that the first inhabitants of Sussex County, the southernmost county in Delaware, various indigenous cultures occupied the area, especially along the river and the coast, often having seasonal fishing villages. Historic Native Americans in Sussex County were members of Algonquian-speaking tribes, the people settled along the numerous bodies of water in the area where they were able to harvest fish, oysters, and other shellfish in the fall and winter. In the warmer months the women planted and cultivated crops, the men hunted deer and other small mammals, as larger game was not present in the area. There is no agreement on which European group was the first to settle in Sussex County, on an expedition for the Dutch West India Company, Henry Hudson recorded discovery in 1609 of what was later named the Delaware River. Attempting to following him, Samuel Argall, an English explorer, was blown off course in 1610 and landed in a bay which he named after the Governor of Virginia, Thomas West. In the first half of 1613, Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, a Dutch navigator, later it was found that what May had named Henlopen was Fenwick Island, protruding into the Atlantic Ocean. The name of the cape was moved to its present location just east of Lewes, Sussex County was the site of the first European settlement in Delaware, a Dutch trading post named Zwaanendael at the present site of Lewes. On June 3,1631, Dutch captain David Pietersen de Vries landed along the shores of the Delaware to establish a colony in the mid-Atlantic of the New World. The colony lasted only until 1632, when De Vries left, upon returning to Zwaanendael that December, he found the Indian tribes had killed his men and burned the colony. The Dutch set about settling the area once again, although the Dutch and Swedes returned to resettle the Delaware River region as early as 1638, much of the Delaware Bay area south of what is today the city of Newcastle was not settled until 1662. At that time, the city of Amsterdam made a grant of land at the Hoernkills to a party of Mennonites. A total of 35 men were to be included in the settlement, led by a Pieter Cornelisz Plockhoy of Zierikzee, and funded by a sizable loan from the city to get them established. This settlement, established in 1663, was organized in part by the Dutch to respond to threats from the English colony of Maryland to the west beginning to assert rights over the area. The English wrested control of New Netherland from the Dutch in 1664 and they destroyed the Mennonite settlement that same year, settlement in the area after the English ejected the Dutch was slow. Lord Baltimore encouraged Marylanders to move east to settle the area, but the land was far removed from other, more established settlements and did not appeal to many new settlers
35.
Caesar Rodney
–
Caesar Rodney was an American lawyer and politician from St. Jones Neck in Dover Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, east of Dover. Caesar Rodney was born in October 7,1728 on his familys farm, Byfield, on St. Jones Neck in East Dover Hundred, Kent County, Caesar was the eldest of son of eight children of Caesar and Elizabeth Crawford Rodney and grandson of William Rodney. William Rodney emigrated to the American colonies in 1681–82, along with William Penn, speaker of the Colonial Assembly of the Delaware Counties in 1704. Rodneys mother was the daughter of the Rev. Thomas Crawford, among the Rodney family ancestors were the prominent Adelmare family in Treviso, Italy, as attested by genealogy studies. Byfield was an 800-acre prosperous farm, worked by slaves, with the addition of other adjacent properties, the Rodneys were, by the standards of the day, wealthy members of the local gentry. At the age of 17 and upon the death of his father in 1746, Caesar was educated when he was 13 or 14 years old. He attended the Latin School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until his fathers death, Caesar was the only one of the Rodney children to receive anything approaching a formal education. Caesar was tormented throughout his life by asthma, and his years were plagued by a facial cancer. He experienced expensive, painful, and futile medical treatments on the cancer, Caesar would wear a green scarf to hide his disfigured face. The disease would kill him in eight years, Thomas Rodney described his brother at this time as having a great fund of wit and humor of the pleasing kind, so that his conversation was always bright and strong and conducted by wisdom. He always lived a bachelor, was esteemed, and was indeed very popular. We know he professed his love and affection for several Delaware ladies at various times, accordingly, he easily moved into the political world formerly occupied by his father and guardian. At age twenty-seven in 1755, he was elected Sheriff of Kent County and this was a powerful and financially rewarding position, in that it supervised elections and chose the grand jurors who set the county tax rate. During the French and Indian War, he was commissioned captain of the Dover Hundred company in Col. John Vinings regiment of the Delaware militia, from 1769 through 1777, he was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Lower Counties. Eighteenth-century Delaware was politically divided into factions known as the Court Party. The minority Country Party was largely Ulster-Scot, centered in New Castle County, in spite of being members of the Anglican, Kent County gentry, Rodney and his brother, Thomas Rodney, increasingly aligned themselves with the Country Party, a distinct minority in Kent County. As such, he worked in partnership with Thomas McKean from New Castle County. Rodney joined Thomas McKean as a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 and was a leader of the Delaware Committee of Correspondence and he began his service in the Assembly of Delaware in the 1761/62 session and continued in office through the 1775/76 session
36.
Stamp Act Congress
–
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
37.
John Rutledge
–
John Rutledge was the second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. S. He was the brother of Edward Rutledge, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Rutledge was the eldest child in a family in Charleston. His father was Scots-Irish immigrant John Rutledge, the physician and his mother, South Carolina–born Sarah, was of English descent. John had six siblings, Andrew, Thomas, Sarah, Hugh, Mary. John’s early education was provided by his father until the latters death, the rest of Rutledges primary education was provided by an Anglican priest. John took an early interest in law and often played lawyer with his brothers and sisters, when he was 17 years old, Rutledge began to read law under a man named James Parsons. Two years later, Rutledge sailed to England to further his studies at Londons Middle Temple, in the course of his studies, he won several cases in English courts. After finishing his studies, Rutledge returned to Charleston to begin a legal career. At the time, many new lawyers barely scraped together enough business to earn their livings, most new lawyers could only hope that they would win well-known cases to ensure their success. Rutledge, however, emerged almost immediately as one of the most prominent lawyers in Charleston, with his successful legal career, he was able to build on his mothers fortune. On May 1,1763, Rutledge married Elizabeth Grimké, Rutledge was very devoted to his wife, and Elizabeths death on July 6,1792, was a major cause of the illness that affected Rutledge in his later years. John and Elizabeth had 10 children, Martha Henrietta, Sarah, John, Edward James, Frederick Wilkes, William Spencer, Charles Wilson, Thomas, Elizabeth, in mid-1765 Rutledge was an important figure in the Stamp Act Congress. Rutledge chaired a committee that drew up a petition to the House of Lords attempting to persuade them to reject the Stamp Act, when the delegates returned to South Carolina after the Congress adjourned, they found the state in turmoil. The people had destroyed all the stamps they could find. When the Stamp Act went into effect on November 1,1765, dougal Campbell, the Charleston court clerk, refused to issue any papers without the stamps. Because of this, all processes in the entire state came to a standstill until news that the Stamp Act had been repealed reached South Carolina in early May 1766. After the Stamp Act conflict ended, Rutledge went back into private life, besides serving in the colonial legislature, he did not involve himself in politics
38.
Philip Livingston
–
Philip Livingston was an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He was a delegate for New York to the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1778, Philip graduated from Yale College in 1737 and returned to Albany to serve a mercantile apprenticeship with his father. Through his fathers influence, he also obtained clerkships in Albanys local government and he then settled in New York City and pursued a career in the import business, trading with the British sugar islands in the West Indies. During King Georges War, Livingston made his fortune provisioning and privateering and he also speculated heavily in real estate. He had a townhouse on Duke Street in Manhattan and also a forty-acre estate in Brooklyn Heights. He became a merchant, and served as an Alderman of the East Ward from 1754 through 1762, also in 1754, he went as a delegate to the Albany Congress. There, he joined delegates from other colonies to negotiate with Indians and discuss common plans for dealing with the French. Livingston became a promoter of efforts to raise and fund troops for the war. According to Cynthia A. Kiemer, he owned shares in six privateers and he served as a member of the provincial house of representatives from 1763 to 1769 and in 1768 served as Speaker. In October 1765, he attended the Stamp Act Congress, which produced the first formal protest to the crown as a prelude to the American Revolution. He joined New York Citys Committee of Correspondence to continue communication with leaders in the other colonies, when New York established the New York Provincial Congress in 1775, he was the President. He was selected as one of the delegates to the Continental Congress and his brother William, a prominent lawyer in New Jersey, was also a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to June 1776. In July 1775, Philip signed the Olive Branch Petition, an attempt to achieve an understanding with the Crown. When the British occupied New York City, Philip and his family fled to Kingston, after the Battle of Long Island, Washington and his officers met at Philip’s residence in Brooklyn Heights and decided to evacuate the island. The British subsequently used Philip’s Duke Street home as a barracks, after the adoption of the new New York State Constitution, he was appointed to the New York State Senate in 1777, while continuing to sit in the Continental Congress. Livingston suffered from dropsy and his health deteriorated in 1778 and he died suddenly while attending the sixth session of Congress in York, Pennsylvania, and is buried in the Prospect Hill Cemetery there. Livingston was a Presbyterian, and a Mason, on April 14,1740 he married Christina Ten Broeck, daughter of Dirck Ten Broeck and Margarita Cuyler. Christina was the sister of Abraham Ten Broeck and the great-granddaughter of Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck, through her maternal grandfather, after his death, she married Eilardus Westerlo
39.
Timothy Ruggles
–
Timothy Dwight Ruggles was an American military leader, jurist and politician. He was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress of 1765, Ruggles was born on October 20,1711 to Rev. Timothy Ruggles. He was grandson of Capt. Samuel Ruggles of Roxbury and Martha Woodbridge and he graduated from Harvard in 1732, studied law, and established himself in practice in Rochester. In 1735 he married Mrs. Bathsheba Newcomb, widow of William Newcomb and he was a military officer during the French and Indian War. After he refused to sanction the addresses sent by that body to Great Britain he was censured by the General Court of Massachusetts. He became one of the leading Tories of New England and he commanded the Loyal American Association and was a Mandamus Councillor appointed by General Gage in Boston. The Loyal American Association vowed to, - Not submit to rebellious assembly, - Enforce obedience to the King. - Defend each other if imperiled by unlawful assembly, - Use retaliation if any member or their property were injured. In 1775, he became a Loyalist and left Boston for Nova Scotia with the British troops and his estates were confiscated and he was named in the Massachusetts Banishment Act. In 1779 he received a grant of 10,000 acres of land in Wilmot, Nova Scotia, Ruggles left his daughter, Bathsheba Ruggles Spooner, behind in Massachusetts. On July 2,1778 she became the first woman executed in the newly independent United States of America, military history of Nova Scotia Catherine Cottreau-Robins. Timothy Ruggles - A Loyalist Plantation in Nova Scotia, 1784-1800
40.
George Read (U.S. statesman)
–
George Read was an American lawyer and politician from New Castle in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Continental Congressman from Delaware, Constitutional Convention of 1787, President of Delaware, and a member of the Federalist Party, who served as U. S. Senator from Delaware and Chief Justice of Delaware, George Read was the son of John and Mary Read. Georges father was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of an Englishman of large fortune belonging to the family of Read of Berkshire, Hertfordshire, and Oxfordshire. As an original proprietor of Charlestown, John Read was appointed by the legislature of Maryland one of the commissioners to lay it out. He held various offices during his life, and in his later years resided on his plantation in New Castle County. George Read was born in Cecil County, Maryland, on September 18,1733, when he was an infant, the family moved to New Castle County, Delaware, settling near the village of Christiana. As he grew up, George Read joined Thomas McKean at the Rev. Francis Allisons Academy at New London, Pennsylvania and he was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1753 and a year later he returned home to establish a practice at New Castle, Delaware. They had five children, John, George Jr. William, John, and Mary and they lived on The Strand in New Castle and their house was in what is now the garden of the present Read House and Gardens, owned by the Delaware Historical Society. They were members of Immanuel Episcopal Church, in 1763 John Penn, the Proprietary Governor, appointed Read Crown Attorney General for the three Delaware counties and he served in that position until leaving for the Continental Congress in 1774. He also served in the Colonial Assembly of the Lower Counties for twelve sessions, eighteenth century Delaware was politically divided into loose factions known as the Court Party and the Country Party. The minority Country Party was largely Ulster-Scot, centered in New Castle County and he opposed the Stamp Act and similar measures of Parliament but supported anti-importation measures and dignified protests. He was quite reluctant to pursue the option of outright independence and he was frequently absent, and when the Congress voted on American Independence on July 2,1776, Read surprised many by voting against it. That meant that Rodney had to ride overnight to Philadelphia to break the deadlock in Delawares delegation for independence, however, when the Declaration of Independence was finally adopted, Read signed it despite his natural caution. Anticipating the Declaration of Independence, the General Assembly of the Lower Counties declared its separation from the British government on June 15,1776 in the New Castle Court House. Once the Declaration of Independence was actually adopted, the General Assembly called for elections to a Delaware constitutional convention to draft a constitution for the new state. Read was elected to this convention, became its President, and guided the passage of the McKean-drafted document, Read was then elected to the first Legislative Council of the Delaware General Assembly and was selected as the Speaker in both the 1776/77 and 1777/78 sessions. The British occupied Philadelphia and were in control of the Delaware River, Read tried, mostly in vain, to recruit additional soldiers and to protect the state from raiders from Philadelphia and off ships in the Delaware River
41.
First Continental Congress
–
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
42.
Second Continental Congress
–
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the spring of 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It succeeded the First Continental Congress, which met between September 5,1774 and October 26,1774, also in Philadelphia, the second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4,1776. When the Second Continental Congress came together on May 10,1775 it was, in effect, many of the same 56 delegates who attended the first meeting were in attendance at the second, and the delegates appointed the same president and secretary. Notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and John Hancock of Massachusetts, within two weeks, Randolph was summoned back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses, he was replaced in the Virginia delegation by Thomas Jefferson, who arrived several weeks later. Henry Middleton was elected as president to replace Randolph, but he declined, Hancock was elected president on May 24. Delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies were present when the Second Continental Congress convened, Georgia had not participated in the First Continental Congress and did not initially send delegates to the Second Continental Congress. On May 13,1775, Lyman Hall was admitted as a delegate from the Parish of St. Johns in the Colony of Georgia, not as a delegate from the colony itself. The Second Continental Congress would meet on May 10,1775, by the time the Second Continental Congress met, the American Revolutionary War had already started with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Congress was to charge of the war effort. For the first few months of the struggle, the Patriots had carried on their struggle in an ad-hoc and they had seized arsenals, driven out royal officials, and besieged the British army in the city of Boston. On July 6,1775 Congress approved a Declaration of Causes outlining the rationale, on July 8, Congress extended the Olive Branch Petition to the British Crown as a final attempt at reconciliation. However, it was received too late to do any good, silas Deane was sent to France as a minister of the Congress. American ports were reopened in defiance of the British Navigation Acts, the Congress had no authority to levy taxes, and was required to request money, supplies, and troops from the states to support the war effort. Individual states frequently ignored these requests, Congress was moving towards declaring independence from the British Empire in 1776, but many delegates lacked the authority from their home governments to take such a drastic action. Advocates of independence in Congress moved to have reluctant colonial governments revise instructions to their delegations, on May 10,1776, Congress passed a resolution recommending that any colony lacking a proper government should form such. The resolution of independence was delayed for weeks as revolutionaries consolidated support for independence in their home governments. The records of the Continental Congress confirm that the need for a declaration of independence was intimately linked with the demands of international relations, on June 7,1776, Richard Henry Lee offered a resolution before the Continental Congress declaring the colonies independent. He also urged Congress to resolve to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances, Lee argued that independence was the only way to ensure a foreign alliance, since no European monarchs would deal with America if they remained Britains colonies
43.
Benjamin Franklin
–
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
44.
George Washington
–
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
45.
Perth Amboy, New Jersey
–
Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The City of Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area, Perth Amboy is known as the City by the Bay, referring to Raritan Bay. The Lenape Native Americans called the point on which the city is built Ompoge meaning level ground, when settled in 1684 the new city was dubbed New Perth in honor of James Drummond, Earl of Perth, one of the associates of a company of Scottish proprietaries. The Algonquian language name persisted, corrupted to Ambo, or Point Amboy, Perth Amboy Township was formed on October 31,1693, and was enlarged during the 1720s to encompass Perth Amboy city. Perth Amboy Township was incorporated as one of New Jerseys initial 104 townships through the Township Act of 1798 on February 21,1798, the township was replaced by Perth Amboy city on April 8,1844. Perth Amboy served as a capital of the Province of New Jersey from 1686 until 1776. In 1684, Perth Amboy became the capital of East Jersey and remained the capital until the union of East and West Jersey in 1702, a few of the buildings from this early period can still be seen today. Most notably, the Proprietary House, the home of William Franklin, St. Peters Church was founded in 1718 by the first Episcopal congregation in the state. Perth Amboy City Hall, first built as a courthouse in 1714, the Kearny Cottage, moved from its original location, is a remaining example of 18th Century vernacular architecture. This ferry became less important when the Outerbridge Crossing opened in 1928, in 1998, the Perth Amboy Ferry Slip was restored to its 1904 appearance. A replica of the office has been constructed and is used as a small museum. By the middle of the 19th century, immigration and industrialization transformed Perth Amboy, factories such as A. Hall and Sons Terra Cotta, Guggenheim and Sons and the Copper Works Smelting Company fueled a thriving downtown and employed many area residents. Growth was further stimulated by becoming the terminal for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Perth Amboy developed tightly knit and insular ethnic neighborhoods such as Budapest, Dublin, immigrants from Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Russia, and Austria quickly dominated the factory jobs. In 1903, the Perth Amboy Public Library became the first Carnegie library in the state, made possible through grants from Andrew Carnegie, in 1914, Perth Amboy had a baseball team called the Pacers, they only played for one season. In late August 1923 a violent riot by an estimated 6,000 persons shook Perth Amboy when the Ku Klux Klan attempted to organize a meeting in the city. The city was also a town in the 19th century and early 20th century. Since the early 1990s Perth Amboy has seen redevelopment, small businesses have started to open up, helped by the citys designation as an Urban Enterprise Zone
_and_Her_Daughter,_Maria_Louisa_by,_Charles_Willson_Peale_(1741_-_1827).jpg)
,_by_John_Trumbull.jpg)
