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Plymouth Colony
In 1620, the first group of Puritans, called the Pilgrims, to cross the Atlantic in their ship, the Mayflower, established the Plymouth Colony in America. This was the first colony established in New England. The Pilgrims had sought refuge in America due to the lack of religious freedom in England. In America, they were able to form their own government and follow their own religions. The Mayflower Compact was the Pilgrims agreement to form a new government and follow its laws. -
Massachusetts Bay Colony
A man named John Winthrop had led a larger group of Puritans to America after the Pilgrims had come. Winthrop and his group of Puritans had formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Their first city was named Boston, which is the capitol of Massachusetts today. These Puritans had created a republic as their form of government, where the people (only men at this time) chose government officials. As settlers moved around, more colonies began to form. -
City Upon a Hill
In 1630, John Winthrop delivered his "City Upon a Hill" speech to his Puritan group. He spoke of how his new colony was better than all other colonies and all Native American tribes. His colony would be the "City Upon a Hill" upon which all other colonies and tribes would look up to, for they were inferior to Winthrop and his group. Winthrop also spoke of how his people were One under God. -
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French and British Compete for Native American Allies
The British and French had competed in Europe for years before they competed in the Americas. Both countries attempted to befriend the Native Americans to make alliances with them in wars. The French were significantly friendlier to the Natives than the British. The British were very violent and hostile towards the Natives, often taking their land forcefully and holding segregation between the British and the Natives. The French did the opposite of this to make alliances with the Natives. -
George Washington Comes Into Play
Virginian Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, sent troops to capture the French Fort Duquesne in the Ohio County. Washington was winning until the French counterattacked. This defeat sparked the French and Indian War, which took place in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and West Indies. -
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The French and Indian War
Caused by George Washington's defeat at the French Fort Duquesne, this war was a battle between the French and the Natives against the British and the Colonists over who was in control of the Ohio County. The French prevailed in the beginning but soon were at the disadvantage when the British cut off French supplies from going to the Americas. This caused some Indians to switch sides. Then, in 1760, the British captured Montreal. The Treaty of Paris sealed the British victory. -
Salutary Neglect
Wars in Great Britain and Europe caused the colonies to grow and prosper at the expense of their royal governors. Britain attempted to fix this by taxing the colonists to give better salaries to the royal governors. Britain expected the colonists to obey these tax laws but the colonists saw themselves as equal to the British political body. Britain followed the policy of Solitary Neglect for the colonists so when Britain imposed a heavy tax on the colonists, they rejected it. -
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Unfair Laws and Taxing Without Representation
Britain's debt had doubled due to the French and Indian War. In order to pay it back, Parliament had started taxing the colonies significantly more than they had before. They also enforced the Sugar Act in 1764. They also created two more acts in 1765: the Quartering Act, and the Stamp Act. These acts forced the colonists to house troops from the F+A War and caused them to pay significantly more taxes than before, and it imposed a tax on almost all printed material. This angered the colonists. -
The Boston Massacre
On March 5, 1770, a group of colonists gathered in Boston, MA. they ended up throwing snowballs, rocks, and sticks at a group of British soldiers in protest of the laws and taxes Parliament imposed on the colonies. The soldiers had told the people to back off until one of them fired upon the violent colonists. Once one person fired, the rest assumed the command to "fire!" had been stated. They all fired upon the colonists. Five colonists had been killed and three were injured/maimed. -
The Invention of the Cotton Gin
In Georgia, 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. By 1820, thirty-four times the amount of cotton was produced than its invention in 1793. Cotton became the South's leading product. This caused slavery to increase drastically due to the requirement of more laborers to produce the increasing amount of cotton. This caused slavery to be significantly more prominent in the south than the north due to the farming in the south and industry in the north. -
The Whiskey Rebellion
A high tax on whiskey reminded farmers of the immense taxes from the Britain monarchy so they attacked tax collectors in opposition. Washington and Hamilton demonstrated the power of the new nation by shutting down the rebellion. Hamilton sent 12k militiamen to the rebellion, which was swiftly ended. This rebellion fueled a disagreement between the political parties at the time. It also described the increasing division in political parties in America, which still haunts us to this day. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
Laws imposed by the federalists to control immigration. The Alien Acts allowed the President to arrest and/or deport anyone who isn't an American citizen that criticized Federal law. The Sedition Acts caused it to be a crime for non-citizens or illegals to criticize the Federal Government. Federalists used these acts to prevent Democratic-Republicans from expressing their points of view. Juries could free anyone of Sedition of they had been proven right. -
The Louisiana Purchase
Slave rebels in the Carribean had defeated a large portion of Napoleon's army. The lack of military in the Louisiana Territory and lack of funds to fight Britain caused Napoleon to sell the Louisiana Territory. In 1803, President Jefferson purchased this land spanning from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, doubling the size of America at the time. He had purchased the 828k square miles of land for only $15mil. That's only $18.12 per square mile of land! -
Francis Cabot Lowell Creates the Lowell Mills
In 1811, Francis Cabot Lowell organized a company called the Boston Associates, whose first mill was built in Waltham Massachusetts two years later. At this new facility, all operations regarding the manufacturing of cloth took place, instead of only the production of thread. More factories were built along the Merrimack River in the 1820's. The factories employed young, single women from farming areas for low wages. Many people worked at the factories due to the low skill requirements. -
Tariff of 1816
After the War of 1812 had ended, British goods began to stream into America once again. This damaged American manufacturers, so Congress passed the Tariff of 1816, which increased the tax on imported goods from 20% to 25%. This tariff encouraged American citizens to purchase goods produced in the U.S. This tariff aided the industry, but greatly hurt the farmers. -
Construction of the Erie Canal
Canals are artificial waterways construction for inland irrigation. The most popular of these during the 1800's was the Erie Canal. Having been completed in 1825, this canal stretched from Lake Erie to he Hudson River across New York State. The canal lowered the cost of shipping a ton of freight overland from Buffalo to NYC from $100 to only $4. NYC became America's greatest commercial center due to the construction of the Erie Canal. Its population sextupled in forty years (124k to 800k). -
Invention of the Electric Telegraph
In 1837, Samuel F.B. Morse invented the electric telegraph. This new piece of technology used electric pulses to travel extremely long distances along metal wires as coded signals. This was the invention of "Morse Code," named after its inventor. This invention revolutionized communication around America. Instead of having to wait for messages to send using a horse or ship, they were now sent nearly instantly. The country had 50k miles of telegraph lines within 23 years of its creation.
