1.
National Register of Historic Places
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The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal governments official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 established the National Register, of the more than one million properties on the National Register,80,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts, each year approximately 30,000 properties are added to the National Register as part of districts or by individual listings. For most of its history the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service and its goals are to help property owners and interest groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, coordinate, identify, and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, their recognition of significance provides some financial incentive to owners of listed properties, protection of the property is not guaranteed. During the nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics of history and preservation, as well as the public and politicians. Occasionally, historic sites outside the proper, but associated with the United States are also listed. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts, the Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties, district, site, structure, building, or object. National Register Historic Districts are defined geographical areas consisting of contributing and non-contributing properties, some properties are added automatically to the National Register when they become administered by the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, National Military Parks/Battlefields, National Memorials, on October 15,1966, the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices. Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Registers creation, approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. To administer the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior, hartzog, Jr. established an administrative division named the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation. Hartzog charged OAHP with creating the National Register program mandated by the 1966 law, ernest Connally was the Offices first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register, the first official Keeper of the Register was William J. Murtagh, an architectural historian. During the Registers earliest years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed, and underfunded. A few years later in 1979, the NPS history programs affiliated with both the U. S. National Parks system and the National Register were categorized formally into two Assistant Directorates. Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation, from 1978 until 1981, the main agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service of the United States Department of the Interior. In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs, jerry L. Rogers was selected to direct this newly merged associate directorate
2.
Forkland, Alabama
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Forkland is a town in Greene County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 649, Forkland has one site on the National Register of Historic Places, St. Johns-In-The-Prairie, and two sites nearby, Rosemount and Thornhill. Forkland is located in southern Greene County at 32°38′52″N 87°52′2″W, between the Black Warrior River 4 miles to the east and the Tombigbee River 2 miles to the west, the Black Warrior joins the Tombigbee 9 miles to the south of Forkland, just north of Demopolis. U. S. Route 43 passes through Forkland, leading north 14 miles to Eutaw, the county seat, and south 10 miles to Demopolis. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, Forkland has an area of 3.5 square miles, of which 0.01 square miles. As of the census of 2000, there were 629 people,245 households, the population density was 180.2 people per square mile. There were 309 housing units at a density of 88.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 10. 65% White,89. 19% Black or African American,32. 7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10. 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the family size was 3.32. In the town, the population was out with 31. 8% under the age of 18,6. 8% from 18 to 24,26. 1% from 25 to 44,24. 5% from 45 to 64. The median age was 34 years, for every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.3 males, the median income for a household in the town was $18,698, and the median income for a family was $22,115. Males had an income of $24,375 versus $16,544 for females. The per capita income for the town was $9,314. About 29. 5% of families and 31. 5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38. 2% of those under age 18 and 31. 0% of those age 65 or over. com
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
William Nichols (architect)
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William Nichols, Sr. was an English-born architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his early Neoclassical-style buildings in the American South. He is best known for designing early statehouses for North Carolina, Alabama, William Nichols was born in 1780 in Bath, a center for English Palladian and Adam-style architecture in the 18th century. He was brought up in a family of builders, learning the trade through them, Nichols emigrated to North Carolina in 1800, initially settling in the New Bern area. He married Mary Rew in 1805 and had taken his first apprentice by 1806 and his earliest commissions in the area remain unclear, although several buildings have been suggested as candidates. He applied for American citizenship in 1813, and in 1815, following the death of his first wife, in 1818 Nichols was employed as state architect of North Carolina. This made him responsible for new buildings and for repairs. His most important commission during this time, however, was a remodeling of the old North Carolina State House. Incorporating Palladian and early Greek Revival elements, it included a new central rotunda surmounted by a dome, the Senate chamber and House of Commons both included galleries supported by Ionic columns. Widely admired at the time, it drew the praise of fellow architect Ithiel Town, another of his jobs was the 1825 remodeling of the Governors Palace at the end of Fayetteville Street in Raleigh, which included the addition of a monumental Ionic portico. It was abandoned following the Civil War and eventually demolished, Nichols was involved in numerous private projects during this time, as well as projects at the University of North Carolina. Nichols relocated to Alabama in 1827, after receiving a commission from the legislature there to become the new state architect, the new capitol building was cruciform in plan, the second and third floors resting upon a high rusticated stone basement. The main eastern facade featured a gabled pseudo-portico with Ionic columns, the ground level contained main entrances, with identical north and south one-story porticoes supported by Doric columns, each column carved from a single shaft of sandstone. A dome surmounted the central rotunda and was topped by a lantern that admitted light into the space, while working on the Alabama statehouse, Nichols also designed the original campus for the newly established University of Alabama. Influenced by Thomas Jeffersons plan at the University of Virginia, the featured a 70-foot wide, 70-foot high domed rotunda building that served as the library. This building and all but one of Nichols structures were burned to the ground by the Union Army on April 4,1865, in 1833, with a letter of recommendation from his friend, Alabama Governor John Gayle, Nichols applied for the post of state architect for Mississippi. Although he didnt receive the job at the time, he was summoned to Jackson in 1835 to fill the post. The configuration and ornament on the new building reflected his earlier statehouses in North Carolina and Alabama, Nichols went on to design the Mississippi Governors Mansion, completed in 1842, and the Lyceum at the University of Mississippi, completed in 1848. He died on December 12,1853, and was interred in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Lexington, the Old Mississippi State Capitol is the only one of Nichols three statehouses to survive
5.
Plantations in the American South
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A plantation is an area of land or water where one crop is specifically planted for widespread commercial sale. The crops grown include cotton, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar cane, sisal, oil seeds, oil palms, rubber trees, protectionist policies and natural comparative advantage have sometimes contributed to determining where plantations were located. Among the earliest examples of plantations were the latifundia of the Roman Empire, Plantation agriculture grew rapidly with the increase in international trade and the development of a worldwide economy that followed the expansion of European colonial empires. Like every economic activity, it has changed over time, Industrial plantations are established to produce a high volume of wood in a short period of time. Plantations are grown by state forestry authorities and/or the paper and wood industries, christmas trees are often grown on plantations as well. In southern and southeastern Asia, teak plantations have replaced the natural forest. Industrial plantations are managed for the commercial production of forest products. Individual blocks are usually even-aged and often consist of just one or two species and these species can be exotic or indigenous. Forest genetic resources are the basis for genetic alteration, selected individuals grown in seed orchards are a good source for seeds to develop adequate planting material. Wood production on a plantation is generally higher than that of natural forests. In 2000, while plantations accounted for 5% of global forest, in the first year, the ground is prepared usually by the combination of burning, herbicide spraying, and/or cultivation and then saplings are planted by human crew or by machine. The saplings are usually obtained in bulk from industrial nurseries, which may specialize in breeding in order to produce fast growing disease-. In the first few years until the canopy closes, the saplings are looked after, after the canopy closes, with the tree crowns touching each other, the plantation is becoming dense and crowded, and tree growth is slowing due to competition. This stage is termed pole stage, when competition becomes too intense, it is time to thin out the section. There are several methods for thinning, but where topography permits, the most popular is row-thinning, many trees are removed, leaving regular clear lanes through the section so that the remaining trees have room to expand again. The removed trees are delimbed, forwarded to the forest road, loaded onto trucks, a typical pole stage plantation tree is 7–30 cm in diameter at breast height. Such trees are not suitable for timber, but are used as pulp for paper and particleboard. As the trees grow and become dense and crowded again, the process is repeated
6.
Alabama
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Alabama is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Alabama is the 30th-most extensive and the 24th-most populous of the U. S. states. At nearly 1,500 miles, Alabama has one of the nations longest navigable inland waterways, Alabama is nicknamed the Yellowhammer State, after the state bird. Alabama is also known as the Heart of Dixie and the Cotton State, the state tree is the longleaf pine, and the state flower is the camellia. The largest city by population is Birmingham, which has long been the most industrialized city, the oldest city is Mobile, founded by French colonists in 1702 as the capital of French Louisiana. From the American Civil War until World War II, Alabama, like many states in the southern U. S. suffered economic hardship, like other southern states, Alabama legislators disenfranchised African Americans and many poor whites at the turn of the century. Following World War II, Alabama grew as the economy changed from one primarily based on agriculture to one with diversified interests. The state economy in the 21st century is based on management, automotive, finance, manufacturing, aerospace, mineral extraction, healthcare, education, retail, in the Alabama language, the word for a person of Alabama lineage is Albaamo. The word Alabama is believed to have come from the Alabama language, the words spelling varies significantly among historical sources. As early as 1702, the French called the tribe the Alibamon, other spellings of the name have included Alibamu, Alabamo, Albama, Alebamon, Alibama, Alibamou, Alabamu, Allibamou. Sources disagree on the words meaning, some scholars suggest the word comes from the Choctaw alba and amo. The meaning may have been clearers of the thicket or herb gatherers, the state has numerous place names of Native American origin. However, there are no correspondingly similar words in the Alabama language, an 1842 article in the Jacksonville Republican proposed it meant Here We Rest. This notion was popularized in the 1850s through the writings of Alexander Beaufort Meek, experts in the Muskogean languages have not found any evidence to support such a translation. Indigenous peoples of varying cultures lived in the area for thousands of years before the advent of European colonization, trade with the northeastern tribes by the Ohio River began during the Burial Mound Period and continued until European contact. The agrarian Mississippian culture covered most of the state from 1000 to 1600 AD, with one of its major centers built at what is now the Moundville Archaeological Site in Moundville, Alabama. This is the second-largest complex of the classic Middle Mississippian era, after Cahokia in present-day Illinois, Analysis of artifacts from archaeological excavations at Moundville were the basis of scholars formulating the characteristics of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Contrary to popular belief, the SECC appears to have no links to Mesoamerican culture
7.
Greek Revival architecture
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The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture, the term was first used by Charles Robert Cockerell in a lecture he gave as Professor of Architecture to the Royal Academy of Arts, London in 1842. With a newfound access to Greece, or initially the books produced by the few who had actually been able to visit the sites, archaeologist-architects of the period studied the Doric and Ionic orders. This was especially the case in Britain, Germany and the United States, Greek Revival architecture took a different course in a number of countries, lasting until the Civil War in America and even later in Scotland. Despite the unbounded prestige of ancient Greece amongst the elite of Europe. The monuments of Greek antiquity were known chiefly from Pausanias and other literary sources, visiting Ottoman Greece was difficult and dangerous business prior to the period of stagnation beginning with the Great Turkish War. Few Grand Tourists called on Athens during the first half of the 18th century and it would take until the expedition funded by the Society of Dilettanti of 1751 by James Stuart and Nicholas Revett before serious archaeological inquiry began in earnest. Access to the originals in Greece itself only became easier after the Greek War of Independence ended in 1832, Lord Byrons participation, following James Stuarts travels to Greece in the early 1750s, intellectual curiosity quickly led to a desire to emulate. Stuart was commissioned after his return from Greece by George Lyttelton to produce the first Greek building in England, arguably the greatest British exponent of the style was Decimus Burton. In London twenty three Greek Revival Commissioners churches were built between 1817 and 1829, the most notable being St. Pancras church by William and Henry William Inwood. Such was the popularity of the Doric in Edinburgh that the city now enjoys a striking visual uniformity, nevertheless, Greek continued to be in favour in Scotland well into the 1870s in the singular figure of Alexander Thomson, known as Greek Thomson. In Germany, the Greek revival is predominantly found in two centres, Berlin and Munich, the earliest Greek building was the Brandenburg Gate by Carl Gotthard Langhans, who modelled it on the Propylaea. Ten years after the death of Frederick the Great, the Berlin Akademie initiated a competition for a monument to the king that would promote morality, similarly, in Munich von Klenzes Glyptothek and Walhalla were the fulfilment of Gillys vision of an orderly and moral German world. The purity and seriousness of the style was intended as an assertion of German national values and partly intended as a riposte to France. By comparison, the Greek revival in France was never popular with either the state or the public, what little there is started with Charles de Waillys crypt in the church of St Leu-St Gilles, and Claude Nicolas Ledouxs Barriere des Bonshommes. It would take until Laboustres Neo-Grec of the Second Empire for the Greek revival to flower briefly in France, the style was especially attractive in Russia, if only because they shared the Eastern Orthodox faith with the Greeks. The historic centre of Saint Petersburg was rebuilt by Alexander I of Russia, the Saint Petersburg Bourse on Vasilievsky Island has a temple front with 44 Doric columns. Leo von Klenzes expansion of the palace that is now the Hermitage Museum is another example of the style, following the Greek War of Independence, Romantic Nationalist ideology encouraged the use of historically Greek architectural styles in place of Ottoman or pan-European ones
8.
James Innes Thornton
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James Innes Thornton was a prominent Alabama, USA, planter and politician. Thornton was born on October 28,1800, at Fall Hill near Fredericksburg, Virginia, to Francis Thornton IV and his father was a successful physician, politician and planter who was second cousin to George Washington and held great prominence in the local community. His mother was the daughter of a wealthy Scottish merchant who had arrived in Virginia around the time of the American Revolution, Thornton was largely educated by private itinerant educators who would reside at the Thornton family estate. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1820 and moved to Huntsville, Alabama, Thorntons strong familial ties encouraged an endeavor into politics fueled by a successful law practice and considerable wealth from the plantation he had developed upon arriving in the state. Thornton proved to be successful and respected in his political office. He served for ten years as Secretary of State lasting through five Governors, in 1824, Thornton began to actively develop a large plot of land he had acquired in Greene County, Alabama. A significant reason for his emigration to the Deep South, like many men from prominent Virginia families, was to expand his wealth far beyond what was feasible in Virginia. In 1825, he married his first wife, Mary Ann Glover, Thorntons business prowess resulted in his plantation which he named Thornhill becoming one of the most successful in the region. The house is believed to be a derivation of the name of William Thornton the first of Thorntons ancestors in America. The main house at Thornhill was completed in the Greek Revival style in 1833, there is strong evidence to indicate that both buildings were designed by the Alabama architect William Nichols, who served as State Architect during Thorntons tenure in government. Thornhill is considered one of the most significant antebellum plantation complexes in Alabama, the plantation buildings were recorded in the 1930s by the Historic American Buildings Survey. The main house and one of the cabins have been recreated in miniature as an example of plantation architecture for the American Museum in Britain near Bath. This move established Thorntons family and their wealth around the Fredericksburg area, over time, the family estates were divided among more and more branches which diminished the individual wealth of family members but maintained their overall economic and political strength. Their marriages and familial connections brought three Presidents into his family George Washington, James Madison and Zachary Taylor, though many had improved their positions through advantageous marriage, it is likely that Thornton and his brother were more prudent in seeking to establish themselves in the booming cotton regions. Thorntons first marriage was to Mary Ann Glover, a native of Alabama who was the daughter of Allen Glover, the Glovers had been a moderately affluent South Carolina family who, by the time of Thorntons marriage, had acquired vast land and slave holdings. Smith was connected to the Innes family through their Scottish lines, smiths brother, Murray Forbes Smith, brought great economic backing to Thornton through his cotton brokerage set up in Mobile. Through Smith, Thornton was the uncle of Alva Vanderblit Belmont, Thorntons last marriage was to Sarah Williams Gould, the daughter William Proctor Gould and Eliza Williams Chotard. She was the widow of Samuel Merritt Gowdey, Sarah Gould Thornton outlived her husband, dying in 1885
9.
Fall Hill
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Fall Hill is a plantation located near the falls on the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Though the Thornton family has lived at Fall Hill since the early 18th century, the land on which Fall Hill is located is part of an 8,000 acres land patent obtained by Francis Thornton I around 1720. The present-day town of Fredericksburg, Virginia is located on that original patent, the mansion at Fall Hill is a Georgian two-story home with a central hall and two large rooms on either side. Its roof is hipped and there are interior chimneys at each end, the outside walls are randomly glazed Flemish bond brickwork. In keeping with the Georgian design of the exterior, second floor window openings are smaller than those of the first floor. The home was remodeled around 1830 and, as a result of replacements to door and window frames, doors and sashes, the original parts of the exterior are the walls, roof. During this remodeling, two windows on the front of the house were bricked over on both the first and second floors, Doric columns on the porches on the west front and south end were added in the 19th century. More recently, a larger Doric porch on the east front was removed, during renovations, Greek Revival fireplace mantels were installed in the northwest and southwest rooms. These have since removed to expose the original segmental fireplace openings. The grounds surrounding the house contain many old trees in a variety of species. There are a number of walks around the park-like grounds. A hillside west of the house provides a view of nearby Fredericksburg, the land on which Fall Hill was established is believed to have been included in a grant of 8,000 acres in Spotsylvania County patented by Francis Thornton I around 1720. Thornton belonged to one of Virginias distinguished Colonial families, upon settling in the area, Thornton established a home at The Falls, a plantation at the foot of Fall Hill within the present-day town of Fredericksburg. The family ran a grist mill on the Rappahannock River and it is said that Francis Thornton III built the house on Fall Hill in order to escape the heat of the house at The Falls laying lower in elevation near the river. Francis Thornton III married Frances Gregory, daughter of Mildred Washington Gregory, aunt and he served as a burgess, a trustee of Fredericksburg, and Colonel of the Spotsylvania militia. In 1749, Fall Hill was inherited by Colonel Thorntons son, however, he and his wife, Ann Thompson, maintained their primary residence at The Falls. The present mansion at Fall Hill is believed to have built by Francis Thornton V probably around 1790 when he married Sally Innes. This belief is supported by evidence in the design of the houses common to the period
10.
Fredericksburg, Virginia
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Fredericksburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 24,286, the city population was estimated at 28,118 in 2015. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Fredericksburg with neighboring Spotsylvania County for statistical purposes, located near where the Rappahannock River crosses the Fall Line, Fredericksburg was a prominent port in Virginia during the colonial era. Fredericksburg is home to major commercial centers including Central Park and Spotsylvania Towne Centre. Major employers include the University of Mary Washington, Mary Washington Healthcare, many Fredericksburg-area residents commute to work by car, bus, and rail to Washington and Richmond, as well as Fairfax, Prince William, and Arlington counties. At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that became Fredericksburg were a Siouan-speaking tribe called the Manahoac, english colonists recorded the name of the Manahoac village there as Mahaskahod. Located on the Rappahannock River near the head of navigation at the fall line, the land on which the city was founded was part of a tract patented in 1671. The Virginia General Assembly established a fort on the Rappahannock in 1676, in 1714, Lt. Gov. Named for Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of King George II, the colonial towns streets bore the names of members of the royal family. The county court was moved to Fredericksburg in 1732, and the served as county seat until 1780. In 1781, Fredericksburg was incorporated as a town, with its own court, council and it received its charter as a city in 1879, and under Virginia law was separated from Spotsylvania County. The city adopted its present city manager/council form of government in 1911, the city has close associations with George Washington, whose family moved to Ferry Farm in Stafford County just off the Rappahannock River opposite Fredericksburg in 1738. Washingtons mother Mary later moved to the city, and his sister Betty lived at Kenmore, other significant early residents include the Revolutionary War generals Hugh Mercer and George Weedon, naval war hero John Paul Jones, and future U. S. president James Monroe. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in Fredericksburg, during the 19th century, Fredericksburg sought to maintain its sphere of trade, but with limited success. It promoted the development of a canal on the Rappahannock and construction of a turnpike, by 1837, a north-south railroad, which became the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, linked the town to Richmond, the state capital. A much-needed railroad joining the town to the region to the west was not finished until after the Civil War. During the Civil War, Fredericksburg gained strategic importance due to its location midway between Washington and Richmond, the capitals of the Union and the Confederacy. During the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 11–15,1862, the town sustained significant damage from bombardment, a Second Battle of Fredericksburg was fought in and around the town on May 3,1863, in connection with the Chancellorsville campaign. The battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House were fought nearby in May 1864, after the war, Fredericksburg recovered its former position as a center of local trade and slowly grew beyond its prewar boundaries
11.
Washington and Lee University
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Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts university in Lexington, Virginia, United States. The campus is approximately 50 miles from Roanoke, Virginia,140 miles from Richmond, Virginia, Washington and Lee was founded in 1749 as a small classical school named Augusta Academy by Scots-Irish Presbyterian pioneers, though the University has never claimed any sectarian affiliation. In 1796, George Washington endowed the academy with a gift of stock. In gratitude, the school was renamed for the first United States President, Washington and Lee is the ninth-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the second-oldest in Virginia. The University consists of three units, The College, the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics. The University hosts 24 intercollegiate athletic teams compete as part of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference of the NCAA Division III. The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 by Scots-Irish Presbyterian pioneers and soon named Augusta Academy, in 1776, it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of revolutionary fervor. The academy moved to Lexington in 1780, when it was chartered as Liberty Hall Academy, the academy granted its first bachelors degree in 1785. Liberty Hall is said to have admitted its first African-American student when John Chavis and he is believed to be the first black student to enroll in higher education in the United States, although he did not receive a degree. Washington and Lee enrolled its next African-American student in 1966 in the law school, in 1796, George Washington endowed the academy with $20,000 in James River Canal stock, at the time one of the largest gifts ever given to an educational institution in the United States. Washingtons gift continues to provide nearly $1.87 a year toward every students tuition, the gift rescued Liberty Hall from near-certain insolvency. In gratitude, the changed the schools name to Washington Academy. An 8-foot tall statue of George Washington, carved by Matthew Kahle, the current statue is made of bronze, the original wooden statue was restored and now resides in the universitys library. The campus took its current architectural form in the 1820s when a merchant, Jockey John Robinson. For the dedication celebration in 1824, Robinson supplied a huge barrel of whiskey, but according to a contemporary history, the rabble broke through the barriers and created pandemonium, which ended only when college officials demolished the whiskey barrel with an axe. A justice of the Virginia State Supreme Court, Alex, M. Harman, Jr. re-created the episode in 1976 for the dedication of the new law school building by having several barrels of Scotch imported. Robinson also left his estate to Washington College, the estate included between 70 and 80 slaves. Until 1852, the institution benefited from their labor and, in some cases
12.
Huntsville, Alabama
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Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County, the city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsvilles population was 180,105 as of the 2010 census, the Huntsville Metropolitan Areas population was 417,593 in 2010 to become the 2nd largest in Alabama. Huntsville metros population reached 441,000 by 2014, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Huntsville to its Americas Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2010 list. The first settlers of the area were Muscogee-speaking people, the Chickasaw traditionally claim to have settled around 1300 after coming east across the Mississippi. The 1805 Treaty with the Chickasaws and the Cherokee Treaty of Washington of 1806 ceded native claims to the United States Government, the area was subsequently purchased by LeRoy Pope, who named the area Twickenham after the home village of his distant kinsman Alexander Pope. Twickenham was carefully planned, with streets laid out on the northeast to southwest direction based on the Big Spring. However, due to anti-British sentiment during this period, the name was changed to Huntsville to honor John Hunt, both John Hunt and LeRoy Pope were Freemasons and charter members of Helion Lodge #1, the oldest Lodge in Alabama. In 1811, Huntsville became the first incorporated town in Alabama, however, the recognized birth year of the city is 1805, the year of John Hunts arrival. The citys sesquicentennial anniversary was held in 1955, and the bicentennial was celebrated in 2005, Huntsvilles quick growth was from wealth generated by the cotton and railroad industries. Many wealthy planters moved into the area from Virginia, Georgia, in 1819, Huntsville hosted a constitutional convention in Walker Allens large cabinetmaking shop. The 44 delegates meeting there wrote a constitution for the new state of Alabama, in accordance with the new state constitution, Huntsville became Alabamas first capital when the state was admitted to the Union. This was a designation for one legislative session only, and the capital was then moved to Cahawba, then to Tuscaloosa. In 1855, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad was constructed through Huntsville, Huntsville initially opposed secession from the Union in 1861, but provided many men for the Confederacys efforts. The 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment, led by Col. Egbert J. Jones of Huntsville, distinguished itself at the Battle of Manassas/Bull Run, the first major encounter of the American Civil War. The Fourth Alabama Infantry, which contained two Huntsville companies, were the first Alabama troops to fight in the war and were present when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox in April 1865. Eight generals of the war were born in or near Huntsville, Huntsville was the control point for the Western Division of the Memphis &Charleston, and by controlling this railroad the Union had a direct connection to Charleston South Carolina. During the first occupation, the Union officers occupied many of the homes in the city while the other men camped on the outskirts
13.
Greene County, Alabama
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Greene County is a county in the U. S. state of Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,045, making it the least populous county in Alabama. Its name is in honor of Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island, Greene County was established on December 13,1819. It is the least populated county in Alabama, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 660 square miles, of which 647 square miles is land and 13 square miles is water. 81. 5% were Black or African American,17. 4% White,0. 2% Native American,0. 2% Asian,0. 3% of some other race and 0. 5% of two or more races. As of the census of 2000, there were 9,974 people,3,931 households, the population density was 15 people per square mile. There were 5,117 housing units at a density of 8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 19. 09% White,80. 34% Black or African American,0. 12% Native American,0. 08% Asian,0. 10% from other races,0. 58% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 30. 80% of all households were made up of individuals and 12. 30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.16. In the county, the population was out with 29. 20% under the age of 18,8. 90% from 18 to 24,25. 10% from 25 to 44,22. 10% from 45 to 64. The median age was 36 years, for every 100 females there were 88.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.00 males, the median income for a household in the county was $19,819, and the median income for a family was $24,604. Males had an income of $25,707 versus $19,051 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,686, about 29. 90% of families and 34. 30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 44. 10% of those under age 18 and 31. 60% of those age 65 or over
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Demopolis, Alabama
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Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, Alabama, United States. The population was 7,483 at the time of the 2010 United States Census, the city lies at the confluence of the Black Warrior and Tombigbee rivers. It is situated atop a cliff composed of the Demopolis Chalk Formation, known locally as White Bluff and it is at the center of Alabamas Canebrake region and is also within the Black Belt. The name, meaning in Greek the Peoples City or City of the People, was chosen to honor the democratic ideals behind the endeavor, first settled in 1817, it is one of the oldest continuous settlements in Alabama. It was incorporated on December 11,1821, organizing themselves first in Philadelphia, French expatriates petitioned the U. S. Congress to sell them property for land to colonize. Following advice obtained from experienced Western pioneers, they determined that Alabama would provide a climate for cultivating these crops. By July 14,1817, a party of pioneers had settled at White Bluff on the Tombigbee River, at the present site of Demopolis, founding the Vine. Most prominent and wealthiest among the immigrants was Count Lefebvre Desnouettes, considered Napoleons best friend, he had ridden in Napoleons carriage during his failed invasion of Russia. Most of these expatriates had little interest in life and sold their shares in the colony. By 1818, the colony consisted of only 69 settlers, due to a variety of adversities, their pioneering efforts were not the great success for which they had hoped. They learned that their land grants began less than a mile to the east of their newly cleared land. After abandoning the settlement of Demopolis, they established two other towns, Aigleville and Arcola. A land company was formed in 1819 with the purpose of purchasing the land and laying off of a town. George Strother Gaines was named as the spokesman and he bought the town site atop White Bluff as soon as it offered for sale. Commissioners for the company were George Strother Gaines, James Childress, Walter Crenshaw, Count Charles Lefebvre Desnouettes, the commissioners were responsible for overseeing the survey of the site, lot sales, and the early operations of the town. The commissioners laid off the site into streets, blocks, and lots, the Demopolis Town Square, encompassing one city block, was established in 1819. The first lots were sold beginning on April 22,1819, when Count Desnouettes died in 1822, Allen Glover was appointed to replace him. As other commissioners retired they were succeeded by David E. Moore, William H. Lyon, Thomas McGee, the streets were laid off utilizing a grid plan, using Philadelphia as a model
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Rosemount (Forkland, Alabama)
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Rosemount is a historic plantation house near Forkland, Alabama. The Greek Revival style house was built in stages between 1832 and the 1850s by the Glover family, the house has been called the Grand Mansion of Alabama. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 27,1971, Allen Glover, of Demopolis, gave the 3, 000-acre property to his son, Williamson Allen Glover, in the early 1830s. The main block of the house, designed in 1832 by state architect and this main block, with three floors and a mezzanine, was built in 1835. Williamson Allen Glover continued to expand the rear and interior of the house, through successive additions and reconfigurations and he went on to raise a total of sixteen children in the mansions twenty rooms. The exterior of the features a Carolina-type monumental two-story Ionic portico, east and west side porches, and a continuous cornice with dentils above the second story. The house plan forms a T-shape, to advantage of the cross-ventilation that this plan affords. The cupola houses a room that measures 16 feet by 25 feet. The cupola functioned as a look-out over the plantation and, along with the great halls, additionally there was a detached kitchen, now destroyed, that was later moved and attached to the house. The house passed through different families over the years, going through periods of disrepair and later. A massive restoration was begun around 2005 and the exterior was completely finished, the mansion has remained empty since and is slowly being overtaken by vegetation. Glover Mausoleum, built for Williamson Glovers father and also listed on the NRHP
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Dumfries, Virginia
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Dumfries, officially the Town of Dumfries, is a town in Prince William County, Virginia. The population was 4,961 at the 2010 United States Census, Dumfries is located at 38°34′4″N 77°19′29″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has an area of 1.6 square miles. The town is situated 78 miles north of the state capital and it is 25 miles/40 km south of central Washington, D. C. Dumfries history began as early as 1690 when Richard Gibson erected a gristmill on Quantico Creek, a customhouse and warehouse followed in 1731, and many others cropped up along the estuary by 1732. The Town of Dumfries was formally established on 60 acres of land at the head of the harbor of Quantico Creek and he named the town after his birthplace, Dumfries, Scotland. After much political maneuvering, the General Assembly established Dumfries as the first of seven townships in the county, Dumfries received its charter on May 11,1749, making it the oldest continuously chartered town in Virginia. Thus the foundations for the establishment of a town, which in 1749 received its charter from the Colonial government in Williamsburg, Virginia. The elements of the seal are contained within the pattern formed by the frame of a hawser rope or cable. Within these frames are found items which are consistent with a town of maritime background and they are overlaid on a chart of the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River, with Dumfries indicated at the head of Quantico Creek. The navigational aids of the sextant and compass rose complete the maritime motif, the two water fowl relate to the wetlands of Quantico Creek. The dock with fishnet, pilings, ships block and line further the theme of a port of call. The thistle indicates the Scottish founders of the town, with the name of Dumfries, taken by John Graham, the supporters of the shield are, on the left, a Piscataway brave, of the Powhatan Confederacy, the predominant tribe along the Potomac, in this area. On the right, a Colonial militiaman of 1775, when Colonel Henry Lee was company Commander. The shield in its upper quadrant, displays a sailing vessel of the period, and below the leaf, the first commodity, overlaid with shafts of wheat. When Dumfries became the leading port in Colonial America receiving tobacco from the upland, it rivaled New York, Philadelphia. Dumfries peaked in size and importance in 1763, for about 15 years Dumfries was a thriving port when several factors brought about its demise, the Revolutionary War, erosion and siltation, and the shift in the main shipping commodity. The Dumfries Cemetery contains burials of some of the Dumfries pioneers, alexander Henderson built a house known as the Henderson House which still stands on a hill in Dumfries, as well as owning various land in Prince William Forest Park
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Boligee, Alabama
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Boligee is a town in Greene County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 328, down from 369 in 2000, although Boligee appeared on the 1880 U. S. Census, according to the 1930 U. S. Census it did not incorporate until 1926, though another source cited 1927. Boligee has one listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Boligee is located at 32°45′50″N 88°1′33″W, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 4.0 square miles, all land. As of the census of 2000, there were 369 people,150 households, the population density was 93.3 people per square mile. There were 179 housing units at a density of 45.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 10. 57% White,88. 89% Black or African American,1. 90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 27. 3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10. 0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.99. In the town, the population was out with 35. 2% under the age of 18,14. 6% from 18 to 24,19. 8% from 25 to 44,18. 7% from 45 to 64. The median age was 25 years, for every 100 females there were 69.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 60.4 males, the median income for a household in the town was $15,000, and the median income for a family was $16,146. Males had an income of $23,750 versus $21,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $7,909, about 41. 4% of families and 44. 9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 63. 3% of those under age 18 and 10. 3% of those age 65 or over. Emma Didlake, United States veteran William P. G. Harding, American banker and managing director of the War Finance Corporation Charles Hays, brad Hubbert, Played in the 1967 American Football League All-Star game. Below are photographs taken in Boligee as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey
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Plantation
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A plantation is an area of land or water where one crop is specifically planted for widespread commercial sale. The crops grown include cotton, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar cane, sisal, oil seeds, oil palms, rubber trees, protectionist policies and natural comparative advantage have sometimes contributed to determining where plantations were located. Among the earliest examples of plantations were the latifundia of the Roman Empire, Plantation agriculture grew rapidly with the increase in international trade and the development of a worldwide economy that followed the expansion of European colonial empires. Like every economic activity, it has changed over time, Industrial plantations are established to produce a high volume of wood in a short period of time. Plantations are grown by state forestry authorities and/or the paper and wood industries, christmas trees are often grown on plantations as well. In southern and southeastern Asia, teak plantations have replaced the natural forest. Industrial plantations are managed for the commercial production of forest products. Individual blocks are usually even-aged and often consist of just one or two species and these species can be exotic or indigenous. Forest genetic resources are the basis for genetic alteration, selected individuals grown in seed orchards are a good source for seeds to develop adequate planting material. Wood production on a plantation is generally higher than that of natural forests. In 2000, while plantations accounted for 5% of global forest, in the first year, the ground is prepared usually by the combination of burning, herbicide spraying, and/or cultivation and then saplings are planted by human crew or by machine. The saplings are usually obtained in bulk from industrial nurseries, which may specialize in breeding in order to produce fast growing disease-. In the first few years until the canopy closes, the saplings are looked after, after the canopy closes, with the tree crowns touching each other, the plantation is becoming dense and crowded, and tree growth is slowing due to competition. This stage is termed pole stage, when competition becomes too intense, it is time to thin out the section. There are several methods for thinning, but where topography permits, the most popular is row-thinning, many trees are removed, leaving regular clear lanes through the section so that the remaining trees have room to expand again. The removed trees are delimbed, forwarded to the forest road, loaded onto trucks, a typical pole stage plantation tree is 7–30 cm in diameter at breast height. Such trees are not suitable for timber, but are used as pulp for paper and particleboard. As the trees grow and become dense and crowded again, the process is repeated
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Josiah Gorgas
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Josiah Gorgas was one of the few Northern-born Confederate generals and was later president of the University of Alabama. In this effort he worked closely with the Fraser, Trenholm shipping company that brought in shipments of ordnance by means of blockade runners. He kept diaries during the Civil War which are now a subject of study for historians. Josiah Gorgas was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and he was graduated from West Point in 1841 and was assigned to the Ordnance Department. He served in the Mexican-American War and was promoted to captain in 1855, in 1853, he married Amelia Gayle, daughter of former Alabama governor John Gayle. Gorgas served in arsenals in different parts of the country before the Civil War broke out, early in his career, Gorgas served at Watervliet Arsenal near Troy, New York, and at the Detroit Arsenal. Following the Mexican-American War, Gorgas served in Pennsylvania and in November 1851 was transferred to Fort Monroe in Virginia, there he began his association with the Tredegar Iron Company, which would become an important Southern foundry once the Civil War began. Gorgas went on to serve at the Mount Vernon Arsenal north of Mobile and he was commanding the Frankford Arsenal when he resigned from the United States Army on March 21,1861. Having served in nearly every arsenal in the nation he was the choice for the position. In this capacity, he worked to create an armaments industry almost from scratch, the South had no foundry except the Tredegar Iron Works. There were no rifle works except small arsenals in Richmond, and Fayetteville, North Carolina, in the procurement of arms Gorgas also corresponded with Charles Prioleau, who headed Trenholms Liverpool office, arranging for the shipping of arms and other supplies to the Confederacy. Most of the arms sent to the Confederacy departed from Liverpool, during the summer of 1861, Gorgas stockpiled supplies and prepared his first load of cargo while the Trenholm company procured a suitable ship for the voyage. A1,200 ton iron-hulled steamer, the Bermuda, was chosen to make the voyage, Gorgas established armories and foundries, found alternative sources for saltpeter, and created a huge gunpowder mill at the Augusta Arsenal. Thanks to his efforts, the Southern armies never lacked weapons, on November 10,1864, Gorgas was promoted to brigadier general. After the war, Gorgas purchased an interest in the Brierfield Furnace in Bibb County, near Ashby in Alabama, the other directors appointed him to manage the iron works and he moved his family to the furnace site. Due to high operating and management costs he was forced to lease the iron works after just a couple of years in operation, in 1870 Gorgas accepted a position at the newly established University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. His position there was marked by discord with the Board of Trustees, in 1878, he was elected 8th president of the University of Alabama. When he was forced to resign due to ill health, the created the position of librarian for him
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American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
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Secession in the United States
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Threats and aspirations to secede from the United States, or arguments justifying secession, have been a feature of the countrys politics almost since its birth. Some have argued for secession as a right and others as from a natural right of revolution. In Texas v. White, the United States Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession unconstitutional and this movement collapsed in 1865 with the defeat of Confederate forces by Union armies in the American Civil War. A2008 Zogby International poll found that 22% of Americans believed that any state or region has the right to peaceably secede, a 2014 Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 24% of Americans supported their state seceding from the union if necessary, 53% opposed the idea. Republicans were somewhat more supportive than Democrats, mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing. A design to them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government. He observed that the case can be made that no result of the war was more important than the destruction, once, however, during the founding era, many a public figure. Declared that the states could interpose their powers between their citizens and the power of the government, and talk of secession was not unknown. But according to McDonald, to avoid resorting to the violence that had accompanied the Revolution, in effect, the Constitution completed and perfected the Revolution. Whatever the intentions of the Founders, threats of secession and disunion were a constant in the discourse of Americans preceding the Civil War. Disunion connoted the dissolution of the failure of the Founders efforts to establish a stable. For many Americans in the North and the South, disunion was a nightmare, and yet, for many other Americans, disunion served as the main instrument by which they could achieve their political goals. In late 1777 the Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation for ratification by the individual states, the confederation government was administered de facto by the Congress under the provisions of the approved draft of the Articles until they achieved ratification—and de jure status—in early 1781. In 1786 delegates of five called for a convention of delegates in Philadelphia to amend the Articles—which would require unanimous consent of the thirteen states. The delegates to the Philadelphia Convention convened and deliberated from May to September 1787, instead of pursuing their official charge they returned a draft Constitution, proposed for constructing and administering a new federal—later also known as national—government. In effect, the delegates proposed to abandon and replace the Articles of Confederation rather than amend them, one explanation was that the Articles of Confederation simply failed to protect the vital interests of the individual states. Necessity then, rather than legality, was the factor in abandoning the Articles
Media related to Thornhill Plantation at Wikimedia Commons
