Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Timeline 1780-1789
1780
12 May. After 40 days of siege, General Benjamin Lincoln surrenders Charles Town (Charleston), South Carolina, to the British forces commanded by General Henry Lincoln.
2 October. After being captured with Benedict Arnold's plans for the surrender of West Point, the headquarters of the Continental army, British spy Major John Andre is hanged. Having escaped on 25 September after hearing of Andre's capture, Arnold later becomes a brigadier general in the British army.
Delaware makes it illegal to enslave imported Africans.
Pennsylvania passes an Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery - on March 1
A freedom clause in the Massachusetts constitution is interpreted as an abolishment of slavery.
Massachusetts enfranchises all men, but not women, regardless of race.
1781
17 January. At the battle of Cowpens, South Carolina, General Daniel Morgan defeats the British forces of Colonel Banastre Tarleton, an important victory for the Americans.
Articles of Confederation : March 1, 1781
10 June. Reinforced by troops under General Anthony Wayne, American forces under the Marquis de Lafayette help to fend off raids by Benedict Arnold and Cornwallis in Virginia.
6 September. Benedict Arnold and his troops attack and destroy parts of New London, Connecticut.
28 September After French Admiral de Grasse defeats the British fleet under Admiral Thomas Graves and gains control of Chesapeake Bay, the siege of Yorktown begins as 9,000 American and 7,000 French troops under General George Washington and Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, converge on the city.
General Cornwallis signs the surrender papers on October 19, thus ending the last major battle of the Revolutionary War.
Articles of Capitulation; October 18, 1781
The Bank of North America is established by the Continental Congress to lend money to the fledgling Revolutionary government
Jury Decides in Favor of "Mum Bett" Freeman, August 22, 1781
Ann Lee leads her Shaker colleagues in a missionary tour of New England lasting two years
Slaves in Williamsburg, Virginia, rebel and burn several buildings
1782
Deborah Sampson, disguised as a man, enlists in the 4th Massachusetts Regiment as Robert Shurtleff. She is one of many women who fight in the American Revolution. Letter by Paul Revere in support of a military pension for Deborah Sampson Gannett.
Contract Between the King and the Thirteen United States of North America, signed at Versailles July 16, 1782
Mercy Otis Warren: "TO A YOUNG GENTLEMAN, RESIDING IN FRANCE." An instructional poem in which Warren offers advice to her son about avoiding the temptations young men from America may encounter when they are away from home.
1782-83
Some 40,000 Loyalists flee from British America to the previously French colonies, in particular Nova Scotia
1783
Treaty of Paris ends the Revolutionary War.
The Supreme Court of Massachusetts abolishes slavery in that state.
Letitia Cunningham, worried about the public debt, published in Philadelphia, THE CASE OF THE WHIGS WHO LOANED THEIR MONEY ON THE PUBLIC FAITH FAIRLY STATED. INCLUDING A MEMENTO FOR CONGRESS TO REVIEW THEIR ENGAGEMENTS, AND TO ESTABLISH THE HONOUR AND HONESTY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
1783-5
Noah Webster's "BLUE-BACKED SPELLER" (A GRAMMATICAL INSTITUTE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE) helps to standardize spelling and to distinguish British from American English that eventually will sell more than 60 million copies.
1784
Beginning of the China Trade, as the American Ship Empress of China, sailing from New York, arrives at Canton, China. The ship will return with exotic goods, including silks and tea, spurring large numbers of American merchants to enter the trade.
Hannah Adams (1755-1831) writes AN ALPHABETICAL COMPENDIUM OF THE VARIOUS SECTS. Boston: B. Edes and Sons, 1784. Adams, the first American woman to earn a living by writing, produces her most significant work, a reference to modern religions intended to "avoid giving the least preference of any denomination over another." Revised editions would appear in 1791, 1801, and 1817 as A DICTIONARY OF ALL RELIGIONS, and the work is an indispensable resource in registering the changes in religious views in America from 1784 to 1817.
Americanus, Ovid [pseud.]. LESSONS FOR LOVERS. TO WHICH IS ADDED THE THUNDERSTORM, A POEM. Supposed to be written by the late celebrated Miss A***, now Mrs. L***. Philadelphia: Robert Bell, 1784.
Treaty With the Six Nations : 1784.
Phillis Wheatley writes her final publication, "LIBERTY AND PEACE: A POEM." Wheatley had married John Peters, a free black Bostonian, in 1778. Their union was marked by constant financial difficulties, and after her husband was jailed for debt, Wheatley found herself without friends to help her. She supported herself and her family as a laundress in a boardinghouse that catered to blacks. This poem, her last attempt to regain public notice, was unsuccessful. Sick and overworked, Wheatley died on December 5.
1785
Martha Ballard begins her diary on January 1, 1785.
Congress relocates to New York City, temporary capital of the U.S.
Thomas Jefferson is appointed minister to France, replacing Benjamin Franklin.
Treaty With the Wyandot, etc.; January 21
Treaty With The Cherokee; November 28
Mercy Otis Warren writes SANS SOUCI, a biting satire of elite society in Boston after the Revolution. This social critique of fashion and manners uses many of Mercy Otis Warren's literary hallmarks, though she never claimed authorship.
1786
A Petition by Rachel Lovell Wells, 1786
Treaty With the Chocktaw; January 3
Treaty With the Chickasaw; January 10
Treaty With the Shawnee; January 31
Americans suffer from post-war economic depression including a shortage of currency, high taxes, nagging creditors, farm foreclosures and bankruptcies.
Congress adopts a decimal coinage system based on the Spanish milled dollar.
In Massachusetts, angry representatives from 50 towns meet to discuss money problems including the rising number of foreclosures, the high cost of lawsuits, heavy land and poll taxes, high salaries for state officials, and demands for new paper money as a means of credit. To prevent debtors from being tried and put in prison, ex-Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays, who is now a bankrupt farmer, leads an armed mob and prevents the Northampton Court from holding a session.
Susanna Haswell Rowson (c. 1762-1824) writes VICTORIA. Rowson's first novel is published by subscription. It is a tale of seduction, in which a woman is tricked into a sham marriage, becomes pregnant, is abandoned, and goes insane before dying.
Publication in London of An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African, by Thomas Clarkson. Quickly reprinted in the United States, it is the single most influential antislavery work of the late 18th century.
1787
The Federal Convention convenes in Philadelphia, although only seven states are represented. Several provisions of James Madison's Virginia Plan become part of the U. S. Constitution, including a bicameral legislature, a federal judiciary branch, and an executive branch. The Constitution is approved on 17 September and then is sent to the states for ratification. A large group of representatives from the newly independent colonies, including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and others meet at the Philadelphia State House to discuss the future of the country and to draft a document reflecting Revolutionary ideals. This becomes the Constitutional Convention.
Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance which establishes formal procedures for transforming territories into states. It provides for the eventual establishment of three to five states in the area north of the Ohio River, to be considered equal with the original 13.
The Ordinance includes a Bill of Rights that guarantees freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury, public education and a ban on slavery in the Northwest. Quakers flocked to the new territory, believing their prayers had been answered.
Philadelphia free blacks establish the Free African Society in Philadelphia, the first independent black organization and a mutual aid society.
The ratified U.S. Constitution allows a male slave to count as three-fifths of a man in determining representation in the House of Representatives. The Constitution sets 1808 as the earliest date for the national government to ban the slave trade. No vote is given to women.
Mercy Warren to Catherine Macaulay, 28 September 1787
October 1787-May 1788. The Federalist Papers appear in New York newspapers under the pseudonym Publius. The letters are written by James Madison (1731-1836), Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), and John Jay (1745-1829).
Rhode Island outlaws the slave trade.
A pamphlet describing a public trial is published in Philadelphia, THE TRIAL OF ALICE CLIFTON, FOR THE MURDER OF HER BASTARD-CHILD, AT THE COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER AND GENERAL GAOL DELIVERY, HELD AT PHILADELPHIA, ON WEDNESDAY THE 18TH DAY OF APRIL, 1787.
1788
The constitution of the United States is ratified by the states, but it is immediately agreed that amendments will be desirable
Hannah More (1745-1833) publishes in Philadelphia, SLAVERY, A POEM.
Jews are permitted to hold federal office.
Pennsylvania amends law to forbid removal of blacks from the state.
1789
George Washington (1732–1799) is unanimously elected the first president of the United States on April 30. and is inaugurated on Wall Street in New York. He serves two consecutive four-year terms.
Gershom Mendes Seixas, prayer leader of New York's Jewish congregation, is invited to Washington's inaugural.
The first American novel, William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy, seeks "to expose the dangerous Consequences of Seduction and to set forth the advantages of female Education."
Alexander Hamilton becomes secretary of the treasury in the administration of George Washington, whose federalist views he shares
Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745-c. 1801): THE INTERESTING NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF OLAUDAH EQUIANO, OR GUSTAVUS VASSA, THE AFRICAN. This narrative is an autobiography about being forced from Africa as an adolescent into slavery. In one of the first slave narratives, Equiano transcends the inhumanity of bondage and writes an insightful narrative.
Mercy Warren. Letter signed, dated Plimouth [Massachusetts], 20 September 1789, to Catharine Macaulay
Georgetown University, the first Catholic college in the U.S., is founded by Father John Carroll.
The first inaugural ball occurs in honor of President Washington.
In France, the French Revolution begins with the fall of the Bastille in Paris, an event witnessed by the American ambassador, Thomas Jefferson.
The U.S. Army is established by Congress. Totaling 1000 men, it consists of one regiment of eight infantry companies and one battalion of four artillery companies.
Quakers reconcile with the American government by congratulating Washington on his election as president, at the same time reaffirming that they "can take no part in any warlike measures on any occasion or under any power"
Susanna Haswell Rowson writes "A TRIP TO PARNASSUS" criticizing in verse the contemporary stage. She also publishes POEMS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS AND THE INQUISITOR. In a loosely related collection of scenes from domestic life, Rowson expresses her opposition to the excessively contrived, idealized fiction of the day.
Treaty With the Wyandot, etc.; January 9
Treaty With the Six Nations; January 9
Susanna Haswell Rowson writes Mary; OR, THE TEST OF HONOUR. Rowson depicts a spirited heroine who demonstrates that her moral sense is superior to that of the wealthy aristocrat who refuses to let his son marry her.
See
Yale Law School, The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. New Haven, CT.
Burt, Daniel S., editor. THE CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: AMERICA'S LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE COLONIAL ERA TO MODERN TIMES. Houghton Mifflin Internet.
HISTORY MATTERS. American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, CUNY) and the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University). Internet. http://historymatters.gmu.edu
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Hey, It's Okay Tuesday!
I got this idea from Glamour magazine. They have a section called Hey, It’s Okay and will list a bunch of things to be okay about. You're welcome to join in and do something like this on your blog. Doesn't have to be on a Tuesday either. Just make sure you link up and that the post you link up is a Hey, It's Okay Post.
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To have NOT gone to Old Navy on Saturday to get the $1 flip flops. It sounds like an unnecessary headache due to all the crowds that flock there. You can buy them for a couple bucks more at Target.
To have finally watched The Silence of the Lambs. I had seen clips of the movie but never the whole thing. I liked it. I’m going to be creeped out by old men who resemble Anthony Hopkins though.
To appreciate all the links in my sidebar. My newest is For Your Boy where you can find all sorts of fabulous things for the little man in your life. I loved the blue monster jacket and the raincoats! Be sure to check it out!
To have my blog up over at Bloglovin. I have a little icon at the bottom of my blog if it’s easier for you to follow me on there.
To be glad we're having a "cold" front this week. It's in the 80s! I'll take that over the 100s.
To have two giveaways at the moment. You can win a pair of glasses from Firmoo here and a $50 gift certificate to Novica here.
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To have NOT gone to Old Navy on Saturday to get the $1 flip flops. It sounds like an unnecessary headache due to all the crowds that flock there. You can buy them for a couple bucks more at Target.
To have finally watched The Silence of the Lambs. I had seen clips of the movie but never the whole thing. I liked it. I’m going to be creeped out by old men who resemble Anthony Hopkins though.
To appreciate all the links in my sidebar. My newest is For Your Boy where you can find all sorts of fabulous things for the little man in your life. I loved the blue monster jacket and the raincoats! Be sure to check it out!
To have my blog up over at Bloglovin. I have a little icon at the bottom of my blog if it’s easier for you to follow me on there.
To be glad we're having a "cold" front this week. It's in the 80s! I'll take that over the 100s.
To have two giveaways at the moment. You can win a pair of glasses from Firmoo here and a $50 gift certificate to Novica here.
Barefoot Summer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Denise Hunter lives in Indiana with her husband Kevin and their three sons. In 1996, Denise began her first book, a Christian romance novel, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she's been writing ever since. Her books often contain a strong romantic element, and her husband Kevin says he provides all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!
MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK: The story really touched home with me having experienced the untimely death of my own brother. In this story we are introduced to the mourning Madison McKinley and the boy who has loved her since high school, Beckett O'Reilly. As the story unfolds we come to know our two main characters - Beckett, who is tender, loving "bad boy" image holder, and Madison who is experiencing a deep hurt from the death of her twin brother, Michael. Within the confines of the story we witness God's healing hand upon Madison as she deals with her twin's death. Going beyond the richly drawn spiritual challenges, the romance is touching. In Barefoot Summer, there isn't one dull moment; one scene is particularly hard-hitting, tying the title into a moving piece of truth and is also a demonstration of how, even when life looks hopeless, we have to take that first baby step of faith. It is the perfect summer read. I really loved this book and actually I read it in one evening. I could not put it down. The characters reached out and had me from the first page of the story. This is a must read. If you are headed out on vacation this summer be sure this book is with you.
Disclaimer: "I received this book from Litfuse for free in exchange for an honest review."
Timeline 1770-1779
1770
Population of the colonies is 2,210,000
Boston Massacre. British troops fire point blank into an unruly crowd in Boston, Massachusetts, killing five and injuring 6. Escaped slave, Crispus Attucks, is killed & is one of the first colonists to die in the war for independence. After the incident, the new Royal Governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, at the insistence of Sam Adams, withdraws British troops out of Boston to nearby harbor islands. The captain of the British soldiers, Thomas Preston, is then arrested along with eight of his men & charged with murder.
27-year-old Thomas Jefferson begins constructing a mansion on a hilltop in Charlottesville, calling it Monticello ('little mountain')
The Townshend Acts are repealed by the British. All duties on imports into the colonies are eliminated except for tea. Also, the Quartering Act is not renewed.
Trial begins for the British soldiers arrested after the Boston Massacre. Colonial lawyers John Adams & Josiah Quincy successfully defend Captain Preston and six of his men, who are acquitted. Two other soldiers are found guilty of manslaughter, branded, then released.
Phillis Wheatley writes "An Elegiac Poem, on the Death of That Celebrated Divine, and Eminent Servant of Jesus Christ, the Reverend and Learned George Whitefield." Wheatley's moving tribute to the leading minister of the religious revivalist movement of the 1740s-1750s, known as the Great Awakening, earns her the attention of Boston's literary elite and establishes her as a literary prodigy.
Jane Fenn Hoskens (1694-c. 1750) writes The Life and Spiritual Sufferings of that Faithful Servant of Christ. Jane Hoskens is a public preacher among the Quakers. Like other traveling ministers, Hoskens believes her mission is to share the Quaker gospel with the largest possible audience, and she depends on other Quaker women for a female support network.
1772
British customs schooner, the Gaspee, runs aground off Rhode Island in Narragansett Bay. Colonists from Providence row out to the schooner & attack it, set the British crew ashore, then burn the ship. In September, a 500 pound reward is offered by the English Crown for the capture of those colonists, who would then be sent to England for trial. The announcement that they would be sent to England further upsets many American colonists.
A Boston town meeting assembles, called by Sam Adams. During the meeting, a 21 member committee of correspondence is appointed to communicate with other towns & colonies. A few weeks later, the town meeting endorses three radical proclamations asserting the rights of the colonies to self-rule.
James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw's writes the first autobiographical slave narrative.
Samson Occom (1732-1792) writes "A Sermon Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul, an Indian Who Was Executed at New Haven." The first publication in America by a Native American is a sermon warning of the evils of alcohol, based on an incident in which an Indian killed a white man while drunk. Occom also condemns racial intolerance, which he says corrupts the minds of both whites & Indians.
1773
About 8000 Bostonians gather to hear Sam Adams tell them Royal Governor Hutchinson has repeated his command not to allow the ships out of the harbor until the tea taxes are paid. That night, the Boston Tea Party occurs as 50 colonial activists disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians then board the ships & dump all 342 containers of tea into the harbor. These colonials are also angered by the East India Company's monopoly on the tea trade.
Virginia House of Burgesses appoints an eleven member committee of correspondence to communicate with the other colonies regarding common complaints against the British. Members of that committee include, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry & Richard Henry Lee. Virginia is followed a few months later by New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut & South Carolina.
Virginia Resolutions Establishing A Committee of Correspondence; March 12
Resolutions of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Agreeing to the Virginia Proposal; May 28
The Philadelphia Resolutions; October 16
Association of the Sons of Liberty in New York; December 15
Frontiersman Daniel Boone leaves his Yadkin River North Carolina home to begin exploring Kentucky & within the next 2 years, with a party of thirty men, Boone constructed a nearly 300 mile passage, aptly called the "Wilderness Road," through a natural gap in the Cumberland Mountains. Until the middle of the next century, almost 100,000 pioneers would migrate into the new territories of Kentucky, western Tennessee,
New England Yearly Meeting directs that Quakers owning slaves will be disowned.
The first separate black church in America is founded in South Carolina.
Bridget Richardson Fletcher (1726-1770) writes Hymns and Spiritual Songs. This posthumously published collection, presumed to be written by a Massachusetts woman, includes verses in uniform ballad stanzas that are suitable for singing but unimpressive as poetry. The book's editor condescendingly asks readers "to make allowances for the many inaccuracies of a female pen."
Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814) writes The Adulateur. The Boston poet, dramatist, and historian makes her most noted contribution as a writer of political satires in dramatic form. Published in the manner of all her plays--anonymously in newspapers or as broadsides & not meant to be performed--the drama attacks the colonial government & especially Thomas Hutchinson. To avoid libel & sedition laws, Warren writes anonymously & masks her targets with thinly veiled pseudonyms.
Slaves in Massachusetts unsuccessfully petition the government for their freedom.
Phillis Wheatley writes Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. After being freed by the Wheatley family in 1772, the poet takes a trip financed by her former owners to England, where she is celebrated by the nobility & in literary circles. Though she had not been able to secure a publisher for her work in America, a British publisher is eager to print this defining collection of her poems. It is the first published poetry collection by an African American. Included is "On Being Brought from Africa to America."
1774
Boston Port Act causes British forces to occupy the town & close the port. Great Britain : Parliament - The Boston Port Act : March 31, 1774
English Parliament passes the first of a series of Coercive Acts (called Intolerable Acts by Americans) in response to the rebellion in Massachusetts.
The Boston Port Act effectively shuts down all commercial shipping in Boston harbor, until Massachusetts pays the taxes owed on the tea dumped in the harbor & also reimburses the East India Company for the loss of the tea.
Bostonians at a town meeting call for a boycott of British imports in response to the Boston Port Bill. May 13, General Thomas Gage, commander of all British military forces in the colonies, arrives in Boston & replaces Hutchinson as Royal governor, putting Massachusetts under military rule. He is followed by the arrival of four regiments of British troops.
The English Parliament enacts the next series of Coercive Acts, which include the Massachusetts Regulating Act and the Government Act virtually ending any self-rule by the colonists there. Instead, the English Crown & the Royal governor assume political power formerly exercised by colonists. Also enacted; the Administration of Justice Act which protects royal officials in Massachusetts from being sued in colonial courts, & the Quebec Act establishing a centralized government in Canada controlled by the Crown and English Parliament. The Quebec Act greatly upsets American colonists by extending the southern boundary of Canada into territories claimed by Massachusetts, Connecticut & Virginia.
The English Parliament passes a new version of the 1765 Quartering Act requiring all of the American colonies to provide housing for British troops in occupied houses & taverns and in unoccupied buildings. In September, Massachusetts Governor Gage seizes that colony's arsenal of weapons at Charlestown.
Circular Letter of the Boston Committee of Correspondence; May 13
Proceedings of Farmington, Connecticut, on the Boston Port Act; May 19
Great Britain : Parliament - The Administration of Justice Act; May 20
Great Britain : Parliament - The Massachusetts Government Act; May 20
Letter from the New York Committee of Fifty-One to the Boston Committee of Correspondence; May 23
Letter from Lieutenant-Governor Colden to the Earl of Dartmouth; June 1
Great Britain : Parliament - The Quartering Act; June 2
Proceedings of the Inhabitants of Philadelphia; June 18
The Association of the Virginia Convention; August 1-6
Great Britain : Parliament - The Quebec Act: October 7
The First Continental Congress of fifty-five representatives (except from the colony of Georgia) meets in Philadelphia to discuss relations with Britain, the possibility of independence, & the hope of a peaceful solution. King George III scorns the thought of reconciliation & declares the colonies to be in a state of open rebellion. Attendees include George Washington, Patrick Henry, Sam Adams, & John Hancock.
Many Quakers feel great sympathy for the democratic, if not revolutionary, sentiments of their fellow colonists. They are constrained, however, because many view their stance on peace as extending to opposing revolution. Quakers at this time tend to believe that when one's conscience does not force one to oppose a government, one should be obedient to it. This extends not just to a refusal to serve in the militias but also to refusing to use the currency printed by the new American government. This leads their fellow Americans to view Quakers as British sympathizers.
Janet Schaw (c. 1735-c. 1801) keeps a journal as she travels which becomes Journal of a Lady of Quality; Being a Narrative of a Journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina, and Portugal, in the Years 1774 to 1776. Published in 1921, this collection of letters by the Scottish-born travel writer includes a travel account, diary, & literary opinions.
Mercy Otis Warren writes "The Squabble of the Sea Nymphs; or, The Sacrifice of the Tuscaroroes." The poem commemorates the Boston Tea Party while critiquing the role of the British and the colonial government.
Elizabeth Sampson Ashbridge’s work Some Account of the Fore-Part of the Life of Elizabeth Ashbridge is published. She had died in 1755. Written from 1746 to 1753, it is one of the most readable & interesting of the Quaker journals & among the earliest autobiographies by an American woman.
"The Peculiar Circumstances of the Times" a letter from Mercy Warren, dated 29 December 1774, to Catharine Macaulay. Warren described the impact of the closing of the port of Boston and of the Coercive Acts.
October 25: Fifty-one "patriotic ladies" gather in Edenton to announce in writing their boycott of East Indian tea as long as it is taxed by the British. This protest, known as the Edenton Tea Party, is one of the first political activities in this country staged by women.
Flora MacDonald, famous for saving the life of Bonnie Prince Charlie, arrives in Wilmington, North Carolina. After urging her fellow Highland Scots to fight for England & then suffering financial & personal loss during the Revolutionary War, she leaves the state in 1778.
Anonymous. A dialogue, between a southern delegate, and his spouse, on his return from the grand Continental congress…inscribed to the married ladies of America, by their most sincere, and affectionate friend, and servant, Mary V .V. [pseud.]. This is a Tory satire in verse which may or may not have been penned by a woman. [New York]: [James Rivington?], 1774.
Connecticut, Rhode Island, & Georgia prohibit the importation of slaves. And Virginia takes action against slave importation.
1775
New England Restraining Act is endorsed by King George III, requiring New England colonies to trade exclusively with England & also bans fishing in the North Atlantic.
The first shot of the American Revolution is fired in a skirmish between redcoats & militiamen at Lexington, on the road to Concord resulting in the Battles of Concord & Lexington, Seige of Boston, & Bunker Hill. Black minutemen participate in the fighting.
Resolutions of the Provincial Congress of Virginia; March 23
Patrick Henry - Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death Speech to the Virginia General Assembly; March 23
The Mecklenburgh Resolutions; May 20
The Charlotte Town, North Carolina Resolves; May 31
A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, Now Met in Congress at Philadelphia, Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms.; July 6
Resolution of Secrecy Adopted by the Continental Congress, November 9
Delegates from the states reassemble in Philadelphia, with hostilities against the British already under way in Massachusetts & select George Washington as commander of the army
Francis Salvador, the first Jew to hold elective office in America, is elected to the South Carolina Provincial Congress.
Take the Money and Run: April/May 1775 -- Rachel Revere to Paul Revere
An American Post Office is established with Ben Franklin as Postmaster General.
The slave population in the colonies is nearly 500,000. In Virginia, the ratio of free colonists to slaves is nearly 1:1. In South Carolina it is approximately 1:2.
Georgia takes action against slave importation.
The first abolition society is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery (PAS) is the world's first antislavery society and the first Quaker anti-slavery society. Benjamin Franklin becomes Honorary President of the Society in 1787. Thomas Paine speaks out against slavery & joins the PAS with Benjamin Rush.
In July, George Washington announces a ban on the enlistment of free blacks & slaves in the colonial army. By the end of the year, he reverses the ban, ordering the Continental Army to accept the service of free blacks.
In November, Virginia Royal Governor John Murray, Lord Dunmore, issues a proclamation announcing that any slave fighting on the side of the British will be liberated.
The American Navy is established by Congress. The next day, Congress appoints a secret committee to seek help from European nations.
Anna Young Smith (1756-1780) writes "An Elegy to the Memory of the American Volunteers." The Philadelphia poet's only published poem is a tribute to the American heroes at Lexington and Concord.
The Group, as lately acted, and to be re-acted to the wonder of all superior intelligences, nigh head-quarters at Amboyne. Boston: Edes and Gill, 1775. Mercy Otis Warren writes The Group which criticizes the Massachusetts Government Act, one of the Intolerable Acts, which suspended the existing provincial government.
In Salem, Massachusettes, E. Russell publishes A Cry for Boston by a Young lady, who was late a resident in that unhappy town, An humble intercession for the distressed town of Boston, now almost deserted by its former rightful inhabitants, many of whom have fled, chusing to take refuge in the woods and caves, for the sake of liberty, rather than to live in splendor and affluence among slaves and tyrants; which place is at present under the government of a lawless British soldiery ... who, under the sanction of martial law, exercise every cruelty that can possibly be invented by the most uncultivated savages or fiercest barbarians, on the remaining miserable inhabitants, who are obliged to dwell there contrary to the faith of that perfidious arch-traitor and truce-breaking T. Gage…Now published by the earnest request of a great number of its late inhabitants.
1776
Ann Lee founds the Shaker settlement in America in the woods of Watervliet, Niskeyuna, New York.
British evacuate Boston.
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) drafts the Declaration of Independence which is adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4.
On 27 August, the colonial army suffers a serious defeat at the Battle of Long Island.
On 16 September, having already decided to remove the army from New York City, Washington repels the British forces of General Howe in the Battle of Harlem Heights.
On 21 September, fire spreads over New York, destroying from 300-1,000 buildings. Early in the morning of this day, Nathan Hale is captured by the British & executed as a spy the next day, September 22. According to an 1848 memoir by a friend, his last word were these: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
Abigail Adams' "Remember the Ladies" letter to John Adams, 31 March 1776. Massachusetts Historical Society. She declares that women, "will not hold ourselves bound by any laws which we have no voice."
In Common Sense Thomas Paine moved many to the cause of independence with his pamphlet. In a direct, simple style, he cried out against King George III & the monarchical form of government.
George Washington raises on Prospect Hill a new American flag, the British red ensign on a ground of thirteen stripes – one for each colony
Congress appoints Jefferson, Franklin & Silas Deane to negotiate treaties with European governments. Franklin & Deane then travel to France seeking financial & military aid.
In North Carolina, the Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers) denounces slavery & appoints a committee to aid Friends in emancipating their slaves. Forty slaves are freed, but the courts declare them still enslaved & resell them.
Jewish population: between 1,000 and 2,500 (.04-.10 percent of the total population.)
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, forbids its members from holding slaves.
Delaware prohibits the importation of African slaves.
July 2: New Jersey gives "all inhabitants" of adult age with a net worth of 50 pounds the right to vote. Women property holders have the vote until 1807, when the state limited the vote to "free, white males."
Friends from New England, the south & rural areas overwhelmingly supported the colonists' cause with the stronghold of British sympathy in the Society being in Philadelphia & New York. Six members of the Religious Society of Friends are disowned for joining the British forces, whilst between four & five hundred are expelled from their meetings for participating in the American cause.
Phillis Wheatley writes "To His Excellency General Washington" celebrating George Washington upon his appointment as the head of the army.
1776-1781
Virginia General Assembly restricts the vote to adult white men.
1777
The US Congress agrees the final version of the Articles of Confederation, defining the terms on which states join the Union. Under the Articles, Congress is the sole authority of the new national government.
Congress adopts a new flag for independent America – the stars & stripes.
Marquis de Lafayette, a 19 year old French aristocrat, arrives in Philadelphia & volunteers to serve without pay. Congress appoints him as a major general in the Continental Army. Lafayette will become one of Gen. Washington's most trusted aides.
Mary Katherine Goddard, the Baltimore printer publishes the first copy of the Declaration of Independence, including the names of all the signers.
Vermont is the first of the thirteen colonies to abolish slavery & enfranchise all adult males.
New York enfranchises all free propertied men regardless of color or prior servitude.
1778
On June 28, Mary McCauly (“Molly Pitcher”), wife of an American gunner, brings water to the troops at the Battle of Monmouth Court House. Legend claims that she takes her husband's place after he collapses.
Virginian Hannah Lee Corbin declares that widows should be allowed to vote & not be taxed without representation.
Ratification of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with France 1778
Ben Franklin is appointed to be the American diplomatic representative in France.
Frances Slocum, a 5 year old Quaker girl, is kidnapped from her home in Pennsylvania, by Native Americans. (See her story in this blog.)
John Adams is appointed by Congress to negotiate peace with England.
Treaty With the Delawares; September 17
Rhode Island forbids the removal of slaves from the state.
Virginia prohibits the importation of slaves.
Sarah Wister (1761-1804) writes a journal, which becomes one of the most valued looks into the daily life of a typical Quaker teenager of the period.Molly Gutridge (fl. 1778) who lived in Marblehead, Massachusetts, writes A New Touch on the Times. This poetic broadside describes three things about American life during the Revolutionary War: the absence of men & the hardships borne by women as a result; the economic troubles of life during war; and the faith that God had placed these hardships on Americans but will someday reward the new nation
1779
Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820) writes "On the Equality of the Sexes," a description of women's involvement in history & literature. The essay traces women's contributions to public events in the world just as the new American nation debates the limitations of women's sphere. Murray finishes her essay before Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) completes her Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792); Murray's account would be published in 1790.
See
Yale Law School, The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. New Haven, CT.
Burt, Daniel S., editor. THE CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: AMERICA'S LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE COLONIAL ERA TO MODERN TIMES. Houghton Mifflin Internet.
HISTORY MATTERS. American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, CUNY) and the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University). Internet. http://historymatters.gmu.edu
Population of the colonies is 2,210,000
Boston Massacre. British troops fire point blank into an unruly crowd in Boston, Massachusetts, killing five and injuring 6. Escaped slave, Crispus Attucks, is killed & is one of the first colonists to die in the war for independence. After the incident, the new Royal Governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, at the insistence of Sam Adams, withdraws British troops out of Boston to nearby harbor islands. The captain of the British soldiers, Thomas Preston, is then arrested along with eight of his men & charged with murder.
27-year-old Thomas Jefferson begins constructing a mansion on a hilltop in Charlottesville, calling it Monticello ('little mountain')
The Townshend Acts are repealed by the British. All duties on imports into the colonies are eliminated except for tea. Also, the Quartering Act is not renewed.
Trial begins for the British soldiers arrested after the Boston Massacre. Colonial lawyers John Adams & Josiah Quincy successfully defend Captain Preston and six of his men, who are acquitted. Two other soldiers are found guilty of manslaughter, branded, then released.
Phillis Wheatley writes "An Elegiac Poem, on the Death of That Celebrated Divine, and Eminent Servant of Jesus Christ, the Reverend and Learned George Whitefield." Wheatley's moving tribute to the leading minister of the religious revivalist movement of the 1740s-1750s, known as the Great Awakening, earns her the attention of Boston's literary elite and establishes her as a literary prodigy.
Jane Fenn Hoskens (1694-c. 1750) writes The Life and Spiritual Sufferings of that Faithful Servant of Christ. Jane Hoskens is a public preacher among the Quakers. Like other traveling ministers, Hoskens believes her mission is to share the Quaker gospel with the largest possible audience, and she depends on other Quaker women for a female support network.
1772
British customs schooner, the Gaspee, runs aground off Rhode Island in Narragansett Bay. Colonists from Providence row out to the schooner & attack it, set the British crew ashore, then burn the ship. In September, a 500 pound reward is offered by the English Crown for the capture of those colonists, who would then be sent to England for trial. The announcement that they would be sent to England further upsets many American colonists.
A Boston town meeting assembles, called by Sam Adams. During the meeting, a 21 member committee of correspondence is appointed to communicate with other towns & colonies. A few weeks later, the town meeting endorses three radical proclamations asserting the rights of the colonies to self-rule.
James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw's writes the first autobiographical slave narrative.
Samson Occom (1732-1792) writes "A Sermon Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul, an Indian Who Was Executed at New Haven." The first publication in America by a Native American is a sermon warning of the evils of alcohol, based on an incident in which an Indian killed a white man while drunk. Occom also condemns racial intolerance, which he says corrupts the minds of both whites & Indians.
1773
About 8000 Bostonians gather to hear Sam Adams tell them Royal Governor Hutchinson has repeated his command not to allow the ships out of the harbor until the tea taxes are paid. That night, the Boston Tea Party occurs as 50 colonial activists disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians then board the ships & dump all 342 containers of tea into the harbor. These colonials are also angered by the East India Company's monopoly on the tea trade.
Virginia House of Burgesses appoints an eleven member committee of correspondence to communicate with the other colonies regarding common complaints against the British. Members of that committee include, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry & Richard Henry Lee. Virginia is followed a few months later by New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut & South Carolina.
Virginia Resolutions Establishing A Committee of Correspondence; March 12
Resolutions of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Agreeing to the Virginia Proposal; May 28
The Philadelphia Resolutions; October 16
Association of the Sons of Liberty in New York; December 15
Frontiersman Daniel Boone leaves his Yadkin River North Carolina home to begin exploring Kentucky & within the next 2 years, with a party of thirty men, Boone constructed a nearly 300 mile passage, aptly called the "Wilderness Road," through a natural gap in the Cumberland Mountains. Until the middle of the next century, almost 100,000 pioneers would migrate into the new territories of Kentucky, western Tennessee,
New England Yearly Meeting directs that Quakers owning slaves will be disowned.
The first separate black church in America is founded in South Carolina.
Bridget Richardson Fletcher (1726-1770) writes Hymns and Spiritual Songs. This posthumously published collection, presumed to be written by a Massachusetts woman, includes verses in uniform ballad stanzas that are suitable for singing but unimpressive as poetry. The book's editor condescendingly asks readers "to make allowances for the many inaccuracies of a female pen."
Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814) writes The Adulateur. The Boston poet, dramatist, and historian makes her most noted contribution as a writer of political satires in dramatic form. Published in the manner of all her plays--anonymously in newspapers or as broadsides & not meant to be performed--the drama attacks the colonial government & especially Thomas Hutchinson. To avoid libel & sedition laws, Warren writes anonymously & masks her targets with thinly veiled pseudonyms.
Slaves in Massachusetts unsuccessfully petition the government for their freedom.
Phillis Wheatley writes Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. After being freed by the Wheatley family in 1772, the poet takes a trip financed by her former owners to England, where she is celebrated by the nobility & in literary circles. Though she had not been able to secure a publisher for her work in America, a British publisher is eager to print this defining collection of her poems. It is the first published poetry collection by an African American. Included is "On Being Brought from Africa to America."
1774
Boston Port Act causes British forces to occupy the town & close the port. Great Britain : Parliament - The Boston Port Act : March 31, 1774
English Parliament passes the first of a series of Coercive Acts (called Intolerable Acts by Americans) in response to the rebellion in Massachusetts.
The Boston Port Act effectively shuts down all commercial shipping in Boston harbor, until Massachusetts pays the taxes owed on the tea dumped in the harbor & also reimburses the East India Company for the loss of the tea.
Bostonians at a town meeting call for a boycott of British imports in response to the Boston Port Bill. May 13, General Thomas Gage, commander of all British military forces in the colonies, arrives in Boston & replaces Hutchinson as Royal governor, putting Massachusetts under military rule. He is followed by the arrival of four regiments of British troops.
The English Parliament enacts the next series of Coercive Acts, which include the Massachusetts Regulating Act and the Government Act virtually ending any self-rule by the colonists there. Instead, the English Crown & the Royal governor assume political power formerly exercised by colonists. Also enacted; the Administration of Justice Act which protects royal officials in Massachusetts from being sued in colonial courts, & the Quebec Act establishing a centralized government in Canada controlled by the Crown and English Parliament. The Quebec Act greatly upsets American colonists by extending the southern boundary of Canada into territories claimed by Massachusetts, Connecticut & Virginia.
The English Parliament passes a new version of the 1765 Quartering Act requiring all of the American colonies to provide housing for British troops in occupied houses & taverns and in unoccupied buildings. In September, Massachusetts Governor Gage seizes that colony's arsenal of weapons at Charlestown.
Circular Letter of the Boston Committee of Correspondence; May 13
Proceedings of Farmington, Connecticut, on the Boston Port Act; May 19
Great Britain : Parliament - The Administration of Justice Act; May 20
Great Britain : Parliament - The Massachusetts Government Act; May 20
Letter from the New York Committee of Fifty-One to the Boston Committee of Correspondence; May 23
Letter from Lieutenant-Governor Colden to the Earl of Dartmouth; June 1
Great Britain : Parliament - The Quartering Act; June 2
Proceedings of the Inhabitants of Philadelphia; June 18
The Association of the Virginia Convention; August 1-6
Great Britain : Parliament - The Quebec Act: October 7
The First Continental Congress of fifty-five representatives (except from the colony of Georgia) meets in Philadelphia to discuss relations with Britain, the possibility of independence, & the hope of a peaceful solution. King George III scorns the thought of reconciliation & declares the colonies to be in a state of open rebellion. Attendees include George Washington, Patrick Henry, Sam Adams, & John Hancock.
Many Quakers feel great sympathy for the democratic, if not revolutionary, sentiments of their fellow colonists. They are constrained, however, because many view their stance on peace as extending to opposing revolution. Quakers at this time tend to believe that when one's conscience does not force one to oppose a government, one should be obedient to it. This extends not just to a refusal to serve in the militias but also to refusing to use the currency printed by the new American government. This leads their fellow Americans to view Quakers as British sympathizers.
Janet Schaw (c. 1735-c. 1801) keeps a journal as she travels which becomes Journal of a Lady of Quality; Being a Narrative of a Journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina, and Portugal, in the Years 1774 to 1776. Published in 1921, this collection of letters by the Scottish-born travel writer includes a travel account, diary, & literary opinions.
Mercy Otis Warren writes "The Squabble of the Sea Nymphs; or, The Sacrifice of the Tuscaroroes." The poem commemorates the Boston Tea Party while critiquing the role of the British and the colonial government.
Elizabeth Sampson Ashbridge’s work Some Account of the Fore-Part of the Life of Elizabeth Ashbridge is published. She had died in 1755. Written from 1746 to 1753, it is one of the most readable & interesting of the Quaker journals & among the earliest autobiographies by an American woman.
"The Peculiar Circumstances of the Times" a letter from Mercy Warren, dated 29 December 1774, to Catharine Macaulay. Warren described the impact of the closing of the port of Boston and of the Coercive Acts.
October 25: Fifty-one "patriotic ladies" gather in Edenton to announce in writing their boycott of East Indian tea as long as it is taxed by the British. This protest, known as the Edenton Tea Party, is one of the first political activities in this country staged by women.
Flora MacDonald, famous for saving the life of Bonnie Prince Charlie, arrives in Wilmington, North Carolina. After urging her fellow Highland Scots to fight for England & then suffering financial & personal loss during the Revolutionary War, she leaves the state in 1778.
Anonymous. A dialogue, between a southern delegate, and his spouse, on his return from the grand Continental congress…inscribed to the married ladies of America, by their most sincere, and affectionate friend, and servant, Mary V .V. [pseud.]. This is a Tory satire in verse which may or may not have been penned by a woman. [New York]: [James Rivington?], 1774.
Connecticut, Rhode Island, & Georgia prohibit the importation of slaves. And Virginia takes action against slave importation.
1775
New England Restraining Act is endorsed by King George III, requiring New England colonies to trade exclusively with England & also bans fishing in the North Atlantic.
The first shot of the American Revolution is fired in a skirmish between redcoats & militiamen at Lexington, on the road to Concord resulting in the Battles of Concord & Lexington, Seige of Boston, & Bunker Hill. Black minutemen participate in the fighting.
Resolutions of the Provincial Congress of Virginia; March 23
Patrick Henry - Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death Speech to the Virginia General Assembly; March 23
The Mecklenburgh Resolutions; May 20
The Charlotte Town, North Carolina Resolves; May 31
A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, Now Met in Congress at Philadelphia, Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms.; July 6
Resolution of Secrecy Adopted by the Continental Congress, November 9
Delegates from the states reassemble in Philadelphia, with hostilities against the British already under way in Massachusetts & select George Washington as commander of the army
Francis Salvador, the first Jew to hold elective office in America, is elected to the South Carolina Provincial Congress.
Take the Money and Run: April/May 1775 -- Rachel Revere to Paul Revere
An American Post Office is established with Ben Franklin as Postmaster General.
The slave population in the colonies is nearly 500,000. In Virginia, the ratio of free colonists to slaves is nearly 1:1. In South Carolina it is approximately 1:2.
Georgia takes action against slave importation.
The first abolition society is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery (PAS) is the world's first antislavery society and the first Quaker anti-slavery society. Benjamin Franklin becomes Honorary President of the Society in 1787. Thomas Paine speaks out against slavery & joins the PAS with Benjamin Rush.
In July, George Washington announces a ban on the enlistment of free blacks & slaves in the colonial army. By the end of the year, he reverses the ban, ordering the Continental Army to accept the service of free blacks.
In November, Virginia Royal Governor John Murray, Lord Dunmore, issues a proclamation announcing that any slave fighting on the side of the British will be liberated.
The American Navy is established by Congress. The next day, Congress appoints a secret committee to seek help from European nations.
Anna Young Smith (1756-1780) writes "An Elegy to the Memory of the American Volunteers." The Philadelphia poet's only published poem is a tribute to the American heroes at Lexington and Concord.
The Group, as lately acted, and to be re-acted to the wonder of all superior intelligences, nigh head-quarters at Amboyne. Boston: Edes and Gill, 1775. Mercy Otis Warren writes The Group which criticizes the Massachusetts Government Act, one of the Intolerable Acts, which suspended the existing provincial government.
In Salem, Massachusettes, E. Russell publishes A Cry for Boston by a Young lady, who was late a resident in that unhappy town, An humble intercession for the distressed town of Boston, now almost deserted by its former rightful inhabitants, many of whom have fled, chusing to take refuge in the woods and caves, for the sake of liberty, rather than to live in splendor and affluence among slaves and tyrants; which place is at present under the government of a lawless British soldiery ... who, under the sanction of martial law, exercise every cruelty that can possibly be invented by the most uncultivated savages or fiercest barbarians, on the remaining miserable inhabitants, who are obliged to dwell there contrary to the faith of that perfidious arch-traitor and truce-breaking T. Gage…Now published by the earnest request of a great number of its late inhabitants.
1776
Ann Lee founds the Shaker settlement in America in the woods of Watervliet, Niskeyuna, New York.
British evacuate Boston.
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) drafts the Declaration of Independence which is adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4.
On 27 August, the colonial army suffers a serious defeat at the Battle of Long Island.
On 16 September, having already decided to remove the army from New York City, Washington repels the British forces of General Howe in the Battle of Harlem Heights.
On 21 September, fire spreads over New York, destroying from 300-1,000 buildings. Early in the morning of this day, Nathan Hale is captured by the British & executed as a spy the next day, September 22. According to an 1848 memoir by a friend, his last word were these: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
Abigail Adams' "Remember the Ladies" letter to John Adams, 31 March 1776. Massachusetts Historical Society. She declares that women, "will not hold ourselves bound by any laws which we have no voice."
In Common Sense Thomas Paine moved many to the cause of independence with his pamphlet. In a direct, simple style, he cried out against King George III & the monarchical form of government.
George Washington raises on Prospect Hill a new American flag, the British red ensign on a ground of thirteen stripes – one for each colony
Congress appoints Jefferson, Franklin & Silas Deane to negotiate treaties with European governments. Franklin & Deane then travel to France seeking financial & military aid.
In North Carolina, the Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers) denounces slavery & appoints a committee to aid Friends in emancipating their slaves. Forty slaves are freed, but the courts declare them still enslaved & resell them.
Jewish population: between 1,000 and 2,500 (.04-.10 percent of the total population.)
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, forbids its members from holding slaves.
Delaware prohibits the importation of African slaves.
July 2: New Jersey gives "all inhabitants" of adult age with a net worth of 50 pounds the right to vote. Women property holders have the vote until 1807, when the state limited the vote to "free, white males."
Friends from New England, the south & rural areas overwhelmingly supported the colonists' cause with the stronghold of British sympathy in the Society being in Philadelphia & New York. Six members of the Religious Society of Friends are disowned for joining the British forces, whilst between four & five hundred are expelled from their meetings for participating in the American cause.
Phillis Wheatley writes "To His Excellency General Washington" celebrating George Washington upon his appointment as the head of the army.
1776-1781
Virginia General Assembly restricts the vote to adult white men.
1777
The US Congress agrees the final version of the Articles of Confederation, defining the terms on which states join the Union. Under the Articles, Congress is the sole authority of the new national government.
Congress adopts a new flag for independent America – the stars & stripes.
Marquis de Lafayette, a 19 year old French aristocrat, arrives in Philadelphia & volunteers to serve without pay. Congress appoints him as a major general in the Continental Army. Lafayette will become one of Gen. Washington's most trusted aides.
Mary Katherine Goddard, the Baltimore printer publishes the first copy of the Declaration of Independence, including the names of all the signers.
Vermont is the first of the thirteen colonies to abolish slavery & enfranchise all adult males.
New York enfranchises all free propertied men regardless of color or prior servitude.
1778
On June 28, Mary McCauly (“Molly Pitcher”), wife of an American gunner, brings water to the troops at the Battle of Monmouth Court House. Legend claims that she takes her husband's place after he collapses.
Virginian Hannah Lee Corbin declares that widows should be allowed to vote & not be taxed without representation.
Ratification of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with France 1778
Ben Franklin is appointed to be the American diplomatic representative in France.
Frances Slocum, a 5 year old Quaker girl, is kidnapped from her home in Pennsylvania, by Native Americans. (See her story in this blog.)
John Adams is appointed by Congress to negotiate peace with England.
Treaty With the Delawares; September 17
Rhode Island forbids the removal of slaves from the state.
Virginia prohibits the importation of slaves.
Sarah Wister (1761-1804) writes a journal, which becomes one of the most valued looks into the daily life of a typical Quaker teenager of the period.Molly Gutridge (fl. 1778) who lived in Marblehead, Massachusetts, writes A New Touch on the Times. This poetic broadside describes three things about American life during the Revolutionary War: the absence of men & the hardships borne by women as a result; the economic troubles of life during war; and the faith that God had placed these hardships on Americans but will someday reward the new nation
1779
Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820) writes "On the Equality of the Sexes," a description of women's involvement in history & literature. The essay traces women's contributions to public events in the world just as the new American nation debates the limitations of women's sphere. Murray finishes her essay before Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) completes her Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792); Murray's account would be published in 1790.
See
Yale Law School, The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. New Haven, CT.
Burt, Daniel S., editor. THE CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: AMERICA'S LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE COLONIAL ERA TO MODERN TIMES. Houghton Mifflin Internet.
HISTORY MATTERS. American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, CUNY) and the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University). Internet. http://historymatters.gmu.edu
Monday, July 1, 2013
We Went To Disney World Part Four: Animal Kingdom and Epcot
So we decided to head to Animal Kingdom when it opened.
So did most of the people vacationing with us.
When the gates opened, it seemed everyone was headed to the same exact spot we were: the safari ride. I was beginning to get nervous that maybe we’d have to wait awhile but no, the line moved quickly thanks to the many numbers of safari vehicles headed out.
Why do the safari first thing?
BECAUSE IT’S HOT AS SIN!
It’s best to do it in the morning because the heat isn’t as bad and the animals are generally more active.
These hippos didn’t get the memo:
(And again, I apologize for the size of the photos. Does anyone know what is up with the uploader thing? I clicked on medium photos in the past and it made the pictures smaller. I tried clicking on small and they still come out this huge. So I'm guessing the Blogger uploader is broken. Sorry. On the plus, the photos are so large, you can see our pores!)
Still, we saw a lot of other alert animals.
Then we headed into the Dinoland area.
Natalie got to ride the tiny dinosaurs. The ride is basically like the Dumbo one. Only in a triceratops form. Natalie gave her ride a kiss on the head. She becomes attached to many inanimate objects.
Then we went on the Dinosaur ride, which takes you into the dark, jostles you around, and tries to freak you out by having dinosaurs pop out. I think I was more afraid than Natalie was. I’m sorry, but when it’s pitch black and something jumps at you, I dare you not to flinch. (My kids didn’t. Maybe something is wrong with them. Maybe something is wrong with ME. I mean, I knew it was a pretend ride. Clearly the giant t-rex isn’t real.)
Anyway, it was a fun ride. I recommend going on it. It was before 11 when we went and we only had to wait like 20 minutes to get on.
Natalie made a friend afterwards, meaning the dinosaur ride did not traumatize her in the least. (She also kissed this dinosaur. Thank goodness I’m not a germophobe.)
And then Tommy got to ride Expedition Everest, which he loved. Natalie could have gone on it but was wary about the Yeti. So she’ll do it the next time we go. I did not even debate going on it because I’m a wuss. No, thank you. I’ll stick to the rides where pretend dinosaurs pop out at me, thanks.
Then it was off to Epcot!
Yes, I brought a stroller even though Natalie is 6. Why? Because she whines that her “feet hurt” and she can’t “possibly move anymore.” So this made things easier. She rode in her stroller and waved to people as we passed. I would not be surprised if she became a Disney princess when she was older. She has the wave down.
We went to the Nemo area:
We did that Talking With Crush show. It was hilarious. It’s also nice because they let the kids sit up front. It meant I got a break from Natalie. Win! Tommy stayed back with me. He’s shy. He was mainly obsessed with finding out how Crush knew the answers to the questions when he was a cartoon. He kept glancing behind him, which freaked out the people behind us. They kept checking their faces, thinking they had a booger or food stuck to them. Nope. My kid was just curious on how the whole thing worked.
Then we did this. Well, Natalie did. And yes, she kissed it. “Bye bye, nice shark. Love you!”
After that it was off to ride Soarin’.
And yes, Natalie had to get a stuffed Bruce, after sitting in his mouth and kissing it. (And seriously, how many photos will Natalie's eyes be shut in? Geez, kid.)
Soarin’ is a blast. Natalie’s favorite part was when they showed the Golden Gate Bridge. She shouted, “It’s the Full House home! Full House! Hello! It’s Natalie!”
Then we headed off to England where Natalie was affronted that Tommy marched into the phone booth first. “I thought it was LADIES FIRST!”
After that it was off to Paris, because Mommy needed a croissant.
This place housed delicious French fare:
All these items counted as snacks on our meal plan. A baguette, a jambon thingy, and a chocolate croissant was in the bag. I wanted more, but I ran out of hands. I also wanted the 12 dollar glass of champagne but was worried people would think I was some drunk. Would it have looked weird had I sat there sipping a champagne with carbs surrounding me? Hmmm.
The kids weren’t pleased with the French food.
“This cheese tastes weird,” Tommy grumbled when I gave him a bite.
“This bread is too hard,” Natalie whined when I gave her a piece of the baguette.
“This chocolate does not taste like Hershey’s chocolate kisses,” Tommy complained when he tried the chocolate croissant.
My kids don’t have a proper palette.
I basically had to eat it all. But it was okay, because I was doing a lot of walking and pushing a princess wannabe around. Surely that had to burn a lot of calories.
Natalie was more interested in playing in the fountain than eating. While I stuffed my face, she played near the water.
With my stomach full, we headed to Germany:
We left after that, because Natalie was beginning to get upset.
“All I want!” she had shouted at me, “Is to be near the water! I am tired of SITTING!” (And waving, I guess, though she didn’t mention that part.)
Oh well, excuse me. I’d have LOVED to be pushed around.
(A few days later we returned and finished the countries, plus we did Test Track. We designed the following car, which Natalie named Starry. She wanted to take it home with us. She was annoyed that they didn’t offer a way to make a stuffed car out of it. “I designed that with all my heart,” she pouted.)
Next Post: My Birthday, where we did Enchanted Tales with Belle and ate at Be Our Guest!
(If you are getting Disney-ed out, I promise, I’m nearly done.)
So did most of the people vacationing with us.
When the gates opened, it seemed everyone was headed to the same exact spot we were: the safari ride. I was beginning to get nervous that maybe we’d have to wait awhile but no, the line moved quickly thanks to the many numbers of safari vehicles headed out.
Why do the safari first thing?
BECAUSE IT’S HOT AS SIN!
It’s best to do it in the morning because the heat isn’t as bad and the animals are generally more active.
These hippos didn’t get the memo:
(And again, I apologize for the size of the photos. Does anyone know what is up with the uploader thing? I clicked on medium photos in the past and it made the pictures smaller. I tried clicking on small and they still come out this huge. So I'm guessing the Blogger uploader is broken. Sorry. On the plus, the photos are so large, you can see our pores!)
Still, we saw a lot of other alert animals.
Then we headed into the Dinoland area.
Natalie got to ride the tiny dinosaurs. The ride is basically like the Dumbo one. Only in a triceratops form. Natalie gave her ride a kiss on the head. She becomes attached to many inanimate objects.
Then we went on the Dinosaur ride, which takes you into the dark, jostles you around, and tries to freak you out by having dinosaurs pop out. I think I was more afraid than Natalie was. I’m sorry, but when it’s pitch black and something jumps at you, I dare you not to flinch. (My kids didn’t. Maybe something is wrong with them. Maybe something is wrong with ME. I mean, I knew it was a pretend ride. Clearly the giant t-rex isn’t real.)
Anyway, it was a fun ride. I recommend going on it. It was before 11 when we went and we only had to wait like 20 minutes to get on.
Natalie made a friend afterwards, meaning the dinosaur ride did not traumatize her in the least. (She also kissed this dinosaur. Thank goodness I’m not a germophobe.)
And then Tommy got to ride Expedition Everest, which he loved. Natalie could have gone on it but was wary about the Yeti. So she’ll do it the next time we go. I did not even debate going on it because I’m a wuss. No, thank you. I’ll stick to the rides where pretend dinosaurs pop out at me, thanks.
Then it was off to Epcot!
Yes, I brought a stroller even though Natalie is 6. Why? Because she whines that her “feet hurt” and she can’t “possibly move anymore.” So this made things easier. She rode in her stroller and waved to people as we passed. I would not be surprised if she became a Disney princess when she was older. She has the wave down.
We went to the Nemo area:
We did that Talking With Crush show. It was hilarious. It’s also nice because they let the kids sit up front. It meant I got a break from Natalie. Win! Tommy stayed back with me. He’s shy. He was mainly obsessed with finding out how Crush knew the answers to the questions when he was a cartoon. He kept glancing behind him, which freaked out the people behind us. They kept checking their faces, thinking they had a booger or food stuck to them. Nope. My kid was just curious on how the whole thing worked.
Then we did this. Well, Natalie did. And yes, she kissed it. “Bye bye, nice shark. Love you!”
After that it was off to ride Soarin’.
And yes, Natalie had to get a stuffed Bruce, after sitting in his mouth and kissing it. (And seriously, how many photos will Natalie's eyes be shut in? Geez, kid.)
Soarin’ is a blast. Natalie’s favorite part was when they showed the Golden Gate Bridge. She shouted, “It’s the Full House home! Full House! Hello! It’s Natalie!”
Then we headed off to England where Natalie was affronted that Tommy marched into the phone booth first. “I thought it was LADIES FIRST!”
After that it was off to Paris, because Mommy needed a croissant.
This place housed delicious French fare:
All these items counted as snacks on our meal plan. A baguette, a jambon thingy, and a chocolate croissant was in the bag. I wanted more, but I ran out of hands. I also wanted the 12 dollar glass of champagne but was worried people would think I was some drunk. Would it have looked weird had I sat there sipping a champagne with carbs surrounding me? Hmmm.
The kids weren’t pleased with the French food.
“This cheese tastes weird,” Tommy grumbled when I gave him a bite.
“This bread is too hard,” Natalie whined when I gave her a piece of the baguette.
“This chocolate does not taste like Hershey’s chocolate kisses,” Tommy complained when he tried the chocolate croissant.
My kids don’t have a proper palette.
I basically had to eat it all. But it was okay, because I was doing a lot of walking and pushing a princess wannabe around. Surely that had to burn a lot of calories.
Natalie was more interested in playing in the fountain than eating. While I stuffed my face, she played near the water.
With my stomach full, we headed to Germany:
We left after that, because Natalie was beginning to get upset.
“All I want!” she had shouted at me, “Is to be near the water! I am tired of SITTING!” (And waving, I guess, though she didn’t mention that part.)
Oh well, excuse me. I’d have LOVED to be pushed around.
(A few days later we returned and finished the countries, plus we did Test Track. We designed the following car, which Natalie named Starry. She wanted to take it home with us. She was annoyed that they didn’t offer a way to make a stuffed car out of it. “I designed that with all my heart,” she pouted.)
Next Post: My Birthday, where we did Enchanted Tales with Belle and ate at Be Our Guest!
(If you are getting Disney-ed out, I promise, I’m nearly done.)
Winter In Full Bloom
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Best-selling and award-winning author, Anita Higman, has over thirty books published (several coauthored) for adults and children. She’s been a Barnes & Noble “Author of the Month” for Houston and has a BA degree, combining speech communication, psychology, and art. Anita loves good movies, exotic teas, and brunch with her friends.
CBA best-selling and award-winning author, Anita Higman, has over thirty books published (several co-authored) for adults and children, and she has four books coming out in 2013. She won a 2011 RWA Readers Choice Award (first place) and has been honored in the past as a Barnes & Noble “Author of the Month” for Houston. Her latest coauthored book, Love Finds You Under the Mistletoe, was on the Nielsen’s best-seller list for five weeks for religious adult fiction and #6 on the CBA best-seller list for fiction (January, 2011). Anita’s novella in the compilation, Once Upon a Christmas Eve, was given a four-star review in Romantic Times Magazine. Some of Ms. Higman’s publishers are Guideposts/Summerside Press, Moody, Barbour Publishing, McGraw-Hill, Roman & Littlefield, Lillenas Drama, Abingdon Press, Standard Publishing, Bethany House, and Simon & Schuster/Howard Publishing.A few of Anita’s books are Love Finds You in Humble Texas, Another Stab at Life, The Celestial Helix, The Love Song (co-authored), Pokeweed and Mrs. Gasp, Who Will I be For the Rest of My Life? (co-authored), and Big Book of Holidays and Holy Days. She also has contributions in twelve nonfiction compilations. One of Ms. Higman’s co-authored books entitled, A Tribute to Early Texas, has a foreword by Elmer Kelton and has won a San Antonio Conservation Society Citation as well as a Westerners International Book Award. She was named a Favorite New Author in the 15th Annual Heartsong Presents Awards, and in the 16th Annual Heartsong Presents Awards her co-authored novel, Castles in the Air, was one of the winners in the Favorite Contemporary Romance category. Also Anita contributed to an animation script that won a Gold Remi Award. Her novel, Love Finds You in Humble Texas, was chosen by Crossings Book Club and is now available in hardback and large print editions. Anita and the novel, Love Finds You in Humble Texas were featured on The Harvest Show, a Christian program with eight million regular viewers.
Ms. Higman has won two awards for her contribution to literacy and has raised thousands of dollars for literacy with her book, I Can Be Anything, while serving on the board of directors of Literacy Advance of Houston. Anita Higman has written for radio, ezine, and advertising. She also cohosts a monthly blogtalkradio show at www.InFaithNetwork.com which is a part of Reader’s Entertainment Radio and reaches an audience of 80,000. She has a BA degree combining speech communication, psychology, and art from Southern Nazarene University, and she is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers as well as The Writer’s View.
MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK: This book is due to be released on August 1st and if you have the chance you need to pre- order yours today. It is an amazing story. Lily, finds out she has a twin who lives in Austrailia and heads off down under to find her and bring her home. Her adventures in Austrailia catch the reader in a web and you cannot put this book down until it is finished. What a great read as you travel with Lily to find her sister, a new love, a relationship with a cold mother, on her struggle with the past , on her road to a relationship with God, and finding a family between the confines of Texas and Austrailia. I would recommend this book to anyone. Be prepared to laugh out loud and cry silent tears as the story unfolds before you. Higman is a master wordsmith and storyteller. This was the first book I have read of hers and I cannot wait to read others. She does not disappoint.
DISCLAIMER: I received this book free for an unbiased review from Netgalley and Moody Publishers.
Timeline 1760-1769
1760
George III becomes king of England, Ireland and the colonies
1.5 million colonists living in America.
British General Lord Jeffrey Amherst (1717-1797) captures Montreal and ends French resistance in Canada.
New York requires that all physicians and surgeons pass a test and be licensed to practice medicine.
Benjamin Franklin invents the first bifocal lenses for eye glasses.
New Jersey prohibits the enlistment of slaves in the militia without their master's permission.
The Bray School for African-American children is established in Williamsburg.
College of William and Mary students petition for better food; they ask for salt and fresh meat for dinner, and desserts 3 times a week.
Thomas Jefferson (1723-1826) enters the College of William and Mary in Virginia.
Much of Boston is destroyed by a raging fire.
1761
George Washington inherits the plantation Mount Vernon in Virginia from his half-brother Lawrence.
The first liturgy for the Evening Services for Rosh-Hashanah and Yom Kippur are published in New York.
Abigail Adams (1744-1818) keeps her correspondence and the Letters of Mrs. Adams, the Wife of John Adams, which would be published in the 1840s. Her letters, starting in 1761 and ending in 1814, span the Revolutionary and Early Federal eras. Adams displays a rather strong feminist bent throughout.
1762
England declares war on Spain, which had been planning to ally itself with France and Austria. The British then successfully attack Spanish outposts in the West Indies and Cuba.
Elizabeth Eliza Lucas Pinckney’s letters are collected into The Letterbook of Eliza Lucas Pinckney, 1739-1762, containing details of her life, including her changing politics; ideas on slave education; voracious reading habits; an happy marriage; and her devotion to her children. As a married woman, Eliza manages her father's large plantation holdings, pioneers large-scale cultivation of indigo in South Carolina, and develops into a fervent patriot. The collection would be published in 1972.
1763
The Treaty of Paris is signed by France and Britain, ending the French and Indian War. England now owns all the territory from the eastern coastline west to the Mississippi.
In Virginia, Patrick Henry presents the theory of a mutual compact between the governed and the ruler.
In North Carolina, A group of white men from Edgecombe, Granville, and Northampton Counties petitions the General Assembly to repeal a 1723 law that heavily taxes free African Americans upon marriage. The petitioners state that the tax leaves blacks and mixed-race people “greatly impoverished and many of them rendered unable to support themselves and families with the common necessaries of life.”
Ottawa Native Americans under Chief Pontiac begin all-out warfare against the British west of Niagara, destroying several British forts and conducting a siege against the British at Detroit. In August, Pontiac's forces are defeated by the British near Pittsburgh. The siege of Detroit ends in November, but hostilities between the British and Chief Pontiac continue for several years.
The Proclamation of 1763, signed by King George III of England, prohibits any English settlement west of the Appalachian mountains and requires those already settled in those regions to return east in an attempt to ease tensions with Native Americans.
The synagogue building of Congregation Jeshuat Israel of Newport, Rhode Island, (later known as the Touro Synagogue), the oldest synagogue building still in use in America, is dedicated.
1764
The Sugar Act is passed by the British, forbidding American importation of foreign rum and taxing imported molasses, wine, silk, coffee, and a number of other luxury items. Parliament, desiring revenue from its North American colonies, passed the first law specifically aimed at raising colonial money for the Crown. The act increased duties on non-British goods shipped to the colonies. It doubles the duties on foreign goods reshipped from England to the colonies and also forbids the import of foreign rum and French wines. Great Britain : Parliament - The Sugar Act; September 29
The English Parliament passes a measure to reorganize the American customs system to better enforce British trade laws, which have often been ignored in the past. A court is established in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that will have jurisdiction over all of the American colonies in trade matters.
Currency Act. This act prohibited American colonies from issuing their own legal tender, paper money. This act threatens to destabilize the entire colonial economy of both the industrial North and agricultural South, thus uniting the colonists against it. Great Britain : Parliament - The Currency Act; April 19
American colonists responded to the Sugar Act and the Currency Act with protest. In Massachusetts, participants in a town meeting cried out against taxation without proper representation in Parliament, and suggested some form of united protest throughout the colonies. By the end of the year, many colonies were practicing nonimportation, a refusal to use imported English goods. Petition from the Massachusetts House of Representatives to the House of Commons; November 3
Boston lawyer James Otis publishes The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved. And Boston merchants begin to boycott British luxury goods.
Petition of the Virginia House of Burgesses to the House of Commons: December 18, 1764
1765
The Stamp Act is passed by the British, taxing all colonial newspapers, advertisements, leases, licenses, pamphlets, and legal documents. This was Parliament's first direct tax on the American colonies, this act, like those passed in 1764, was enacted to raise money for Britain. It taxed newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, broadsides, legal documents, dice, and playing cards. Issued by Britain, the stamps were affixed to documents or packages to show that the tax had been paid. For the first time in 150 years, the Americans will pay tax not to their own local legislatures in America, but directly to England. Great Britain : Parliament - The Stamp Act, March 22
The British further angered American colonists with the Quartering Act, which required the colonies to provide barracks and supplies to British troops. Great Britain : Parliament - The Quartering Act; May 15
Patrick Henry presents seven Virginia Resolutions to the House of Burgesses claiming that only the Virginia assembly can legally tax Virginia residents, saying, "If this be treason, make the most of it."
Resolves of the Pennsylvania Assembly on the Stamp Act, September 21
Resolutions of the Congress of 1765; October 19
New York Merchants Non-importation Agreement; October 31
Connecticut Resolutions on the Stamp Act: December 10
Growing resentment amongst the predominantly Scottish frontier settlers in Pennsylvania is turned towards the Indians and those Quakers still on good terms with them. The Paxton Boys, a vigilante group, kill the remaining Conestoga Indians of Lancaster County and then march on Philadelphia. The Quakers had removed a band of Moravian Indians there and many of the citizens of Philadelphia came to their defence. Many Quakers took up arms, forgetting their scruples about violence, and the meetinghouse was used as a barracks. Peaceful solutions prevail, however, and Benjamin Franklin heads a delegation which manages to mollify the Paxton Boys sufficiently that they leave without the Indian scalps.
1766
In North Carolina, the Moravians establish Salem in present-day Forsyth County.
The first medical school in America is founded, in Philadelphia.
Mary Katherine Goddard and her widowed mother become publishers of the Providence Gazette newspaper and the annual West's Almanack, making her the first woman publisher in America. In 1775, Goddard became the first woman postmaster in the country (in Baltimore), and in 1777 she became the first printer to offer copies of the Declaration of Independence that included the signers' names. In 1789 Goddard opened a Baltimore bookstore, probably the first woman in America to do so.
Sons of Liberty, an underground organization opposed to the Stamp Act, is formed in a number of colonial towns. Its members use violence and intimidation to eventually force all of the British stamp agents to resign and also stop many American merchants from ordering British trade goods.
A mob in Boston attacks the home of Thomas Hutchinson, Chief Justice of Massachusetts, as Hutchinson and his family narrowly escape.
The Stamp Act Congress convenes in New York City, with representatives from nine of the colonies. The Congress prepares a resolution to be sent to King George III and the English Parliament. The petition requests the repeal of the Stamp Act and the Acts of 1764. The petition asserts that only colonial legislatures can tax colonial residents and that taxation without representation violates the colonists' basic civil rights.
In New York City, violence breaks out as a mob burns the royal governor in effigy, harasses British troops, then loots houses.
King George III signs a bill repealing the Stamp Act after much debate in the English Parliament, which included an appearance by Ben Franklin arguing for repeal and warning of a possible revolution in the American colonies if the act was enforced by the British military. Great Britain : Parliament - An Act Repealing the Stamp Act; March 18 And on the same day, it repealed the act, the English Parliament passes the Declaratory Act stating that the British government has total power to legislate any laws governing the American colonies in all cases whatsoever.
Great Britain : Parliament - The Declaratory Act; March 18
Violence breaks out in New York between British soldiers and armed colonists, including Sons of Liberty members. The violence erupts as a result of the continuing refusal of New York colonists to comply with the Quartering Act. In December, the New York legislature is suspended by the English Crown after once again voting to refuse to comply with the Act.
1767
The Townshend Act, named for the British secretary of the treasury, are passed, taxing the colonists on imported paper, glass, lead, and tea. Items taxed also included imports such as paints. The Act also establishes a colonial board of customs commissioners in Boston. Great Britain : Parliament - The Townshend Act, November 20
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon complete a four-year survey to establish the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland—The Mason Dixon Line.
The Virginia House of Burgess boycotts the British slave trade in protest of the Townsend Acts. Georgia and the Carolinas follow suit.
Anonymous: The Female American; or, The Adventures of Unca Eliza Winkfield. An adventure story depicting Virginia settlers, relations with the Indians, and the heroine's education in England, shipwreck, and work as a missionary.Anne Catherine Hoof Greene begins publishing The Maryland Gazette. Following the death of her husband, widow Anne Green (c. 1720-1775) quickly takes over the printing of the weekly newspaper of the colony, with the help of her son, William. The masthead reads "Anne Catharine Green & Son," and, by the end of the year, she would be acknowledged as the "printer to the province of Maryland"--a position formerly held by her late husband.
1768
Samuel Adams of Massachusetts writes a Circular Letter opposing taxation without representation and calling for the colonists to unite in their actions against the British government. The letter is sent to assemblies throughout the colonies and also instructs them on the methods the Massachusetts general court is using to oppose the Townshend Acts. England's Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Hillsborough, orders colonial governors to stop their own assemblies from endorsing Adams' circular letter. Hillsborough also orders the governor of Massachusetts to dissolve the general court if the Massachusetts assembly does not revoke the letter. By month's end, the assemblies of New Hampshire, Connecticut and New Jersey have endorsed the letter.
Massachusetts Circular Letter to the Colonial Legislatures; February 11, 1768 and Circular Letter to the Governors in America; April 21, 1768
British warship armed with 50 cannons sails into Boston harbor after a call for help from custom commissioners who are constantly being harassed by Boston agitators. In June, a customs official is locked up in the cabin of the Liberty, a sloop owned by John Hancock. Imported wine is then unloaded illegally into Boston without payment of duties. Following this incident, customs officials seize Hancock's sloop. After threats of violence from Bostonians, the customs officials escape to an island off Boston, then request the intervention of British troops.
The governor of Massachusetts dissolves the general court after the legislature defies his order to revoke Adams' circular letter. In August, in Boston and New York, merchants agree to boycott most British goods until the Townshend Acts are repealed. Boston Non-Importation Agreement, August 1, 1768
In September, at a town meeting in Boston, residents are urged to arm themselves. Resolutions of the Boston Town Meeting; September 13, 1768 Later in September, English warships sail into Boston Harbor, then two regiments of English infantry land in Boston and set up permanent residence to keep order.
Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson (1737-1801) writes a poem "The Dream of the Patriotic Philosophical Farmer." arguing for an American embargo on British goods. The Philadelphian was the hostess of the most distinguished literary salon in colonial America.
Milcah Martha Moore writes "The Female Patriots. Address'd to the Daughters of Liberty in America, 1768"
1769
A set of resolutions written by George Mason is presented by George Washington to the Virginia House of Burgesses. The Virginia Resolves oppose taxation without representation, the British opposition to the circular letters, and British plans to possibly send American agitators to England for trial. Ten days later, the Royal governor of Virginia dissolves the House of Burgesses. However, its members meet the next day in a Williamsburg tavern and agree to a boycott of British trade goods, luxury items and slaves.
Daniel Boone (1734-1820) was born near Reading, Pennsylvania. After moving through Virginia into North Carolina, Daniel Boone agreed with the Transylvania Company to establish a road for colonists to travel into Kentucky and beyond. On a hunting trip over the Cumberland Mountains in 1769, Boone found a route which came to be known as the Cumberland Gap.
Charleston Non-Importation Agreement; July 22
See
Yale Law School, The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. New Haven, CT.Burt, Daniel S., editor. THE CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: AMERICA'S LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE COLONIAL ERA TO MODERN TIMES. Houghton Mifflin Internet.
HISTORY MATTERS. American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, CUNY) and the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University). Internet. http://historymatters.gmu.edu
George III becomes king of England, Ireland and the colonies
1.5 million colonists living in America.
British General Lord Jeffrey Amherst (1717-1797) captures Montreal and ends French resistance in Canada.
New York requires that all physicians and surgeons pass a test and be licensed to practice medicine.
Benjamin Franklin invents the first bifocal lenses for eye glasses.
New Jersey prohibits the enlistment of slaves in the militia without their master's permission.
The Bray School for African-American children is established in Williamsburg.
College of William and Mary students petition for better food; they ask for salt and fresh meat for dinner, and desserts 3 times a week.
Thomas Jefferson (1723-1826) enters the College of William and Mary in Virginia.
Much of Boston is destroyed by a raging fire.
1761
George Washington inherits the plantation Mount Vernon in Virginia from his half-brother Lawrence.
The first liturgy for the Evening Services for Rosh-Hashanah and Yom Kippur are published in New York.
Abigail Adams (1744-1818) keeps her correspondence and the Letters of Mrs. Adams, the Wife of John Adams, which would be published in the 1840s. Her letters, starting in 1761 and ending in 1814, span the Revolutionary and Early Federal eras. Adams displays a rather strong feminist bent throughout.
1762
England declares war on Spain, which had been planning to ally itself with France and Austria. The British then successfully attack Spanish outposts in the West Indies and Cuba.
Elizabeth Eliza Lucas Pinckney’s letters are collected into The Letterbook of Eliza Lucas Pinckney, 1739-1762, containing details of her life, including her changing politics; ideas on slave education; voracious reading habits; an happy marriage; and her devotion to her children. As a married woman, Eliza manages her father's large plantation holdings, pioneers large-scale cultivation of indigo in South Carolina, and develops into a fervent patriot. The collection would be published in 1972.
1763
The Treaty of Paris is signed by France and Britain, ending the French and Indian War. England now owns all the territory from the eastern coastline west to the Mississippi.
In Virginia, Patrick Henry presents the theory of a mutual compact between the governed and the ruler.
In North Carolina, A group of white men from Edgecombe, Granville, and Northampton Counties petitions the General Assembly to repeal a 1723 law that heavily taxes free African Americans upon marriage. The petitioners state that the tax leaves blacks and mixed-race people “greatly impoverished and many of them rendered unable to support themselves and families with the common necessaries of life.”
Ottawa Native Americans under Chief Pontiac begin all-out warfare against the British west of Niagara, destroying several British forts and conducting a siege against the British at Detroit. In August, Pontiac's forces are defeated by the British near Pittsburgh. The siege of Detroit ends in November, but hostilities between the British and Chief Pontiac continue for several years.
The Proclamation of 1763, signed by King George III of England, prohibits any English settlement west of the Appalachian mountains and requires those already settled in those regions to return east in an attempt to ease tensions with Native Americans.
The synagogue building of Congregation Jeshuat Israel of Newport, Rhode Island, (later known as the Touro Synagogue), the oldest synagogue building still in use in America, is dedicated.
1764
The Sugar Act is passed by the British, forbidding American importation of foreign rum and taxing imported molasses, wine, silk, coffee, and a number of other luxury items. Parliament, desiring revenue from its North American colonies, passed the first law specifically aimed at raising colonial money for the Crown. The act increased duties on non-British goods shipped to the colonies. It doubles the duties on foreign goods reshipped from England to the colonies and also forbids the import of foreign rum and French wines. Great Britain : Parliament - The Sugar Act; September 29
The English Parliament passes a measure to reorganize the American customs system to better enforce British trade laws, which have often been ignored in the past. A court is established in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that will have jurisdiction over all of the American colonies in trade matters.
Currency Act. This act prohibited American colonies from issuing their own legal tender, paper money. This act threatens to destabilize the entire colonial economy of both the industrial North and agricultural South, thus uniting the colonists against it. Great Britain : Parliament - The Currency Act; April 19
American colonists responded to the Sugar Act and the Currency Act with protest. In Massachusetts, participants in a town meeting cried out against taxation without proper representation in Parliament, and suggested some form of united protest throughout the colonies. By the end of the year, many colonies were practicing nonimportation, a refusal to use imported English goods. Petition from the Massachusetts House of Representatives to the House of Commons; November 3
Boston lawyer James Otis publishes The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved. And Boston merchants begin to boycott British luxury goods.
Petition of the Virginia House of Burgesses to the House of Commons: December 18, 1764
1765
The Stamp Act is passed by the British, taxing all colonial newspapers, advertisements, leases, licenses, pamphlets, and legal documents. This was Parliament's first direct tax on the American colonies, this act, like those passed in 1764, was enacted to raise money for Britain. It taxed newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, broadsides, legal documents, dice, and playing cards. Issued by Britain, the stamps were affixed to documents or packages to show that the tax had been paid. For the first time in 150 years, the Americans will pay tax not to their own local legislatures in America, but directly to England. Great Britain : Parliament - The Stamp Act, March 22
The British further angered American colonists with the Quartering Act, which required the colonies to provide barracks and supplies to British troops. Great Britain : Parliament - The Quartering Act; May 15
Patrick Henry presents seven Virginia Resolutions to the House of Burgesses claiming that only the Virginia assembly can legally tax Virginia residents, saying, "If this be treason, make the most of it."
Resolves of the Pennsylvania Assembly on the Stamp Act, September 21
Resolutions of the Congress of 1765; October 19
New York Merchants Non-importation Agreement; October 31
Connecticut Resolutions on the Stamp Act: December 10
Growing resentment amongst the predominantly Scottish frontier settlers in Pennsylvania is turned towards the Indians and those Quakers still on good terms with them. The Paxton Boys, a vigilante group, kill the remaining Conestoga Indians of Lancaster County and then march on Philadelphia. The Quakers had removed a band of Moravian Indians there and many of the citizens of Philadelphia came to their defence. Many Quakers took up arms, forgetting their scruples about violence, and the meetinghouse was used as a barracks. Peaceful solutions prevail, however, and Benjamin Franklin heads a delegation which manages to mollify the Paxton Boys sufficiently that they leave without the Indian scalps.
1766
In North Carolina, the Moravians establish Salem in present-day Forsyth County.
The first medical school in America is founded, in Philadelphia.
Mary Katherine Goddard and her widowed mother become publishers of the Providence Gazette newspaper and the annual West's Almanack, making her the first woman publisher in America. In 1775, Goddard became the first woman postmaster in the country (in Baltimore), and in 1777 she became the first printer to offer copies of the Declaration of Independence that included the signers' names. In 1789 Goddard opened a Baltimore bookstore, probably the first woman in America to do so.
Sons of Liberty, an underground organization opposed to the Stamp Act, is formed in a number of colonial towns. Its members use violence and intimidation to eventually force all of the British stamp agents to resign and also stop many American merchants from ordering British trade goods.
A mob in Boston attacks the home of Thomas Hutchinson, Chief Justice of Massachusetts, as Hutchinson and his family narrowly escape.
The Stamp Act Congress convenes in New York City, with representatives from nine of the colonies. The Congress prepares a resolution to be sent to King George III and the English Parliament. The petition requests the repeal of the Stamp Act and the Acts of 1764. The petition asserts that only colonial legislatures can tax colonial residents and that taxation without representation violates the colonists' basic civil rights.
In New York City, violence breaks out as a mob burns the royal governor in effigy, harasses British troops, then loots houses.
King George III signs a bill repealing the Stamp Act after much debate in the English Parliament, which included an appearance by Ben Franklin arguing for repeal and warning of a possible revolution in the American colonies if the act was enforced by the British military. Great Britain : Parliament - An Act Repealing the Stamp Act; March 18 And on the same day, it repealed the act, the English Parliament passes the Declaratory Act stating that the British government has total power to legislate any laws governing the American colonies in all cases whatsoever.
Great Britain : Parliament - The Declaratory Act; March 18
Violence breaks out in New York between British soldiers and armed colonists, including Sons of Liberty members. The violence erupts as a result of the continuing refusal of New York colonists to comply with the Quartering Act. In December, the New York legislature is suspended by the English Crown after once again voting to refuse to comply with the Act.
1767
The Townshend Act, named for the British secretary of the treasury, are passed, taxing the colonists on imported paper, glass, lead, and tea. Items taxed also included imports such as paints. The Act also establishes a colonial board of customs commissioners in Boston. Great Britain : Parliament - The Townshend Act, November 20
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon complete a four-year survey to establish the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland—The Mason Dixon Line.
The Virginia House of Burgess boycotts the British slave trade in protest of the Townsend Acts. Georgia and the Carolinas follow suit.
Anonymous: The Female American; or, The Adventures of Unca Eliza Winkfield. An adventure story depicting Virginia settlers, relations with the Indians, and the heroine's education in England, shipwreck, and work as a missionary.Anne Catherine Hoof Greene begins publishing The Maryland Gazette. Following the death of her husband, widow Anne Green (c. 1720-1775) quickly takes over the printing of the weekly newspaper of the colony, with the help of her son, William. The masthead reads "Anne Catharine Green & Son," and, by the end of the year, she would be acknowledged as the "printer to the province of Maryland"--a position formerly held by her late husband.
1768
Samuel Adams of Massachusetts writes a Circular Letter opposing taxation without representation and calling for the colonists to unite in their actions against the British government. The letter is sent to assemblies throughout the colonies and also instructs them on the methods the Massachusetts general court is using to oppose the Townshend Acts. England's Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Hillsborough, orders colonial governors to stop their own assemblies from endorsing Adams' circular letter. Hillsborough also orders the governor of Massachusetts to dissolve the general court if the Massachusetts assembly does not revoke the letter. By month's end, the assemblies of New Hampshire, Connecticut and New Jersey have endorsed the letter.
Massachusetts Circular Letter to the Colonial Legislatures; February 11, 1768 and Circular Letter to the Governors in America; April 21, 1768
British warship armed with 50 cannons sails into Boston harbor after a call for help from custom commissioners who are constantly being harassed by Boston agitators. In June, a customs official is locked up in the cabin of the Liberty, a sloop owned by John Hancock. Imported wine is then unloaded illegally into Boston without payment of duties. Following this incident, customs officials seize Hancock's sloop. After threats of violence from Bostonians, the customs officials escape to an island off Boston, then request the intervention of British troops.
The governor of Massachusetts dissolves the general court after the legislature defies his order to revoke Adams' circular letter. In August, in Boston and New York, merchants agree to boycott most British goods until the Townshend Acts are repealed. Boston Non-Importation Agreement, August 1, 1768
In September, at a town meeting in Boston, residents are urged to arm themselves. Resolutions of the Boston Town Meeting; September 13, 1768 Later in September, English warships sail into Boston Harbor, then two regiments of English infantry land in Boston and set up permanent residence to keep order.
Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson (1737-1801) writes a poem "The Dream of the Patriotic Philosophical Farmer." arguing for an American embargo on British goods. The Philadelphian was the hostess of the most distinguished literary salon in colonial America.
Milcah Martha Moore writes "The Female Patriots. Address'd to the Daughters of Liberty in America, 1768"
1769
A set of resolutions written by George Mason is presented by George Washington to the Virginia House of Burgesses. The Virginia Resolves oppose taxation without representation, the British opposition to the circular letters, and British plans to possibly send American agitators to England for trial. Ten days later, the Royal governor of Virginia dissolves the House of Burgesses. However, its members meet the next day in a Williamsburg tavern and agree to a boycott of British trade goods, luxury items and slaves.
Daniel Boone (1734-1820) was born near Reading, Pennsylvania. After moving through Virginia into North Carolina, Daniel Boone agreed with the Transylvania Company to establish a road for colonists to travel into Kentucky and beyond. On a hunting trip over the Cumberland Mountains in 1769, Boone found a route which came to be known as the Cumberland Gap.
Charleston Non-Importation Agreement; July 22
See
Yale Law School, The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. New Haven, CT.Burt, Daniel S., editor. THE CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: AMERICA'S LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE COLONIAL ERA TO MODERN TIMES. Houghton Mifflin Internet.
HISTORY MATTERS. American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, CUNY) and the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University). Internet. http://historymatters.gmu.edu
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