The Genealogist's U.S. History Pocket Reference: Quick Facts & Timelines of American History to Help Understand Your Ancestors
192
The Genealogist's U.S. History Pocket Reference: Quick Facts & Timelines of American History to Help Understand Your Ancestors
192eBook
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Overview
Use The Genealogist's U.S. History Pocket Reference to find:
• Timelines, charts, quick lists and maps of major events.
• Popular foods, songs and books of each era.
• Timelines of wars and other military events.
• Dates for federal, state and special censuses.
• Immigration data including major ports and countries of origin.
...and so much more! Stash this indispensable book in your computer case, tote bag or, yes, your pocket, and take it with you wherever you research.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781440325380 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 03/20/2013 |
| Sold by: | Penguin Group |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 192 |
| Sales rank: | 987,190 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Colonial America to 1763
About the Era
The late 16th and early 17th centuries were an era of seagoing exploration. Men whose names now fill history books were among the first Europeans to set foot upon the North American continent: Hudson, Coronado, de Soto, La Salle, Joliet, Raleigh, Drake and Marquette. While the Spanish sought gold, the French and Dutch were eager to build a fur trade empire. The English, alone, sought a New World where colonies could be established based on religious tolerance.
America Before the Europeans
More than 10,000 years ago, America was settled by indigenous peoples crossing the land bridge from northeast Asia. They were primarily nomads, hunters and foragers.
One of the greatest cultures to arise was the Anasazi. Many of their cliff dwellings in the southwest still stand, with the most famous being Mesa Verde in present-day Colorado.
On the eastern part of the continent, Native Americans known as the Mound Builders constructed earthworks that were probably burial mounds or temples. These people lived on the eastern edge of the great prairies. Mound Builders were comprised of two groups: Woodland and Mississippian.
Woodland mounds were built as late as the 18th century, with the most noted in southern Ohio, built by the Hopewell culture. The Mississippians began mound building about 700 C.E. in the central and lower Mississippi River. The Cahokia Mounds in Illinois (near St. Louis) are the best known remnants of this culture.
TRIVIA: Amerigo Vespucci coined the phrase Mundus Novus — New World. German cartographer Martin Waldseemuller used Vespucci's first name to label the new region.
First Settlements in America
1607: Jamestown
1620: Plymouth
1630: Boston
1634: St. Mary's
1635: Hartford
1636: Providence
Important Documents of the Era
First Virginia Charter, 1606: A document from King James I to the Virginia Company assigning land rights to colonists for the purpose of propagating the Christian religion.
Mayflower Compact, 1620: First governing document of Plymouth Colony, made between the Separatists (seeking religious freedom) and the Strangers (seeking commercial gain).
Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629: Royal Charter granted to the New England Company, whose goal was to change the emphasis of the colony from trade to religion.
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639: Established the basics of government in Connecticut.
Connecticut Colony Charter, 1662: Royal charter granted to the colony by King Charles II.
First Thanksgiving Proclamation: June 20, 1676.
Great Law of Pennsylvania, 1682: Imprisonment for debt was eliminated, death sentence abolished except for treason and murder.
The Albany Plan, 1754: Proposed by Benjamin Franklin at the Albany Congress, it was an early attempt at forming a union of the colonies "under one government as far as might be necessary for defense and other general important purposes" during the French and Indian War.
Events That Shaped the Era
1584 Sir Walter Raleigh discovers Virginia
1587 Sir Walter Raleigh sends 117 people to Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina
1590 Roanoke settlers vanish, leaving the word croatoan carved into a tree
1599 Acoma Massacre in New Mexico
1607 Settlers arrive at Jamestown
1613 Dutch fur traders arrive on Manhattan Island
1619 Dutch traders import African slaves at the request of Virginia tobacco planters House of Burgesses established
1624 Virginia becomes a royal colony
1630 Puritans found Massachusetts Bay Colony
1634 Maryland settled
1640s Five Iroquois Nations go to war over fur trade
1651 First Navigation Act passed (restricted trade with the Dutch)
1659 Quakers executed in Boston
1663 Carolina proprietorship granted
1673 Marquette and Joliet explore Mississippi
1681 La Salle claims Louisiana for France
1682 William Penn founds Pennsylvania
1688 Antislavery protests in America
1692 Salem witchcraft trials
1699 Wool Act (restricted trade on textiles)
1704 Attack on Deerfield, Mass., by French and Indians
1705 Slavery defined in Virginia (Virginia Slave Code)
1713 Treaty of Utrecht (in part, ended French-backed Indian attacks)
1718 Spanish mission established along San Antonio River in Texas
1733 Molasses Act (imposed a tax on colonists who imported molasses from non-British colonies) Slaves offered freedom in Spanish Florida
1734 Great Awakening (A wave for religious revival that began in New England, ignited by Jonathan Edwards)
1747 First issue of Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack
1747–1748 Record snowfalls in much of the United States
1750 Iron Act (sought to restrict manufacturing in the Colonies)
1751 Currency Act (sought to regulate paper money issued by the colonies)
1760 Slaves comprise 20 percent of American population
The Puebloan Revolution
After long-lasting conflict between Pueblo peoples and the Spanish, a coordinated uprising took place in 1680, at dozens of settlements in the Southwest. Indians destroyed buildings and churches, killing more than 400 Spaniards. Santa Fe was burned, driving the Spanish back to El Paso.
This was the first instance of native peoples working together to drive out Spanish colonists. The Spanish worked for more than 20 years to reassert control over the Rio Grande Pueblos, but were unsuccessful. During the winter of 1700, the Hopi sacked a church at Awatovi, killing the men and kidnapping the women and children.
The Witchcraft Trials
The Salem witchcraft trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. On May 27, 1692, a special Court of Oyer and Terminer was established to hear the cases.
The first, that of Bridget Bishop, alleged that Bishop had employed spells and charms against several men. Once rebuffed by the men, their loved ones suffered inexplicable injury. On June 10, Bishop became the first of 19 Salem residents to hang for the crime of witchcraft. By September, the frenzy against alleged witches was so widespread that more than 100 accused witches and wizards were awaiting trial. Several residents of Massachusetts fled to New Amsterdam (New York).
Pressure from prominent religious leaders, such as Cotton Mather, caused Governor Phipps to dissolve the Court in late October. The last three people tried were pardoned in May 1693. On December 17, 1696, the General Court adopted a resolution calling for a day of fasting and repentance for the trials.
Wars of the Era
The Pequot War, 1634–1638: Pequot tribe against an alliance of the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies. Culmination of a series of economic and territorial conflicts.
Opechancanough vs. Virginia Colonists, 1664: Opechancanough launched an assault on English colonists in Virginia. At least 400 colonists were killed.
Battle for New Netherland, 1664: Dutch leader Peter Stuyvesant lost New Netherland (New York) to England in the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
King Philip's War, 1675: Began as a result of English pressures to control Native Americans in New England. "Philip" (the Wampanoag leader named Metacomet or Metacom) was drawn and quartered and his followers sold into slavery.
Bacon's Rebellion, 1676: Virginia settlers, led by Nathaniel Bacon, rebelled against government policy toward Indians and successfully attacked Indian settlements.
King William's War, 1689: The first of the French and Indian Wars, this war grew out of a European conflict. French and Americans (aided by their Indian allies) staged raids against Montreal and Quebec, New York and New England. The Treaty of Ryswick returned all territory to pre-war status.
Leisler's Rebellion, 1689: After James II was overthrown in England, colonists removed royal governors in several colonies. Led by Jacob Leisler, who became governor of New York.
Queen Anne's War, 1702: English colonists in the Carolinas attacked Spanish territory in Florida in an attempt to seize the fort at St. Augustine. French Canadians raided English settlements in New England and English colonists invaded Quebec. This conflict was called the Abnaki War in Maine, where French Canadians gathered Abnakis who attacked English settlements in Maine.
Tuscarora, 1711: Tuscarora Indians attacked white settlers in retaliation for white raids on Tuscarora villages.
Stono Rebellion, 1739: South Carolina slaves rebel, killing whites and urging other slaves to join them.
French and Indian War, 1754: In Europe, known as the Seven Years' War. Major conflict related to territory. The British wanted to take over French-held lands in America as well as the fur trade. The war ended in 1763, with the Treaty of Paris.
Pontiac's Rebellion, 1763: Pontiac, an Ottawa Indian chief, led an attack on Detroit. The conflict ended when the Indians failed to receive French aid.
Inventions
1659: Horse-drawn water pump
1712: Automated water pump
1714: Mercury thermometer with temperature scale
1717: Swim fins
1730: Octant
1742: Franklin Stove
1749: Lightning rod
1752: Flexible urinary catheter
1761: Harmonica
Famous People of the Era
Captain John Smith (1580–1631): One of the leaders at Jamestown
Powhatan (Wahunsonacock): The main political and military power facing the early colonists; father of Pocahontas
Pocahontas (c. 1595–1617) : Aided Jamestown colonists; later married tobacco planter John Rolfe
Squanto (b. circa 1580): Aided the Plymouth colonists by teaching them native methods of growing corn
John Carver (1576–1621): First governor of Plymouth Colony
William Bradford (1590–1657): Governor of Plymouth Colony and its chief historian
William Brewster (1566–1644): Pilgrim leader and preacher, arrived on the Mayflower
Edward Winslow (1595–1655): Diplomat who negotiated treaty with Massasoit and established fur trading
Myles Standish (1584–1656): Professional soldier, military advisor for the Plymouth Colony
William Penn (1644–1718): Founder of Pennsylvania, noted for championing democracy and religious freedom
Gen. Edward Braddock (1695–1755): Commander-in-chief for the 13 Colonies during the time of the French and Indian War
George Washington (1732-1799): Senior American aide to Gen. Braddock during the French and Indian War
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790): American author (Poor Richard's Almanack) and inventor
Social Classes in Virginia
Field hands: African slaves, working primarily in tobacco fields; work was from sunup to sundown with Sunday off
House Servants: African slaves who worked in the household as cooks, laundresses, manservants, blacksmiths, coopers or other skilled jobs
Free Blacks: A small part of the population; could own property but did not have all the rights of whites
Farmers: Worked small farms with the aid of family members and possibly one to two slaves
Middling: Colonial version of the middle class; worked in trades such as blacksmithing, silversmithing and printing; were also in professional occupations such as merchants, lawyers and doctors
Gentry: The top of the colonial social structure; they were the wealthiest, owned large tracts of land and served in local government
TRIVIA: Women typically married in their late teens or early twenties and bore children every two years throughout their childbearing years. Families averaged between six and eight children.
Mortality
Half of all Europeans who settled in America before 1640 died within their first year in America. A quarter of all children born in the colonies before 1640 died before reaching age one. During this time, half of all marriages ended in the death of one partner before the couple's seventh wedding anniversary.
In Virginia, the prevalent diseases in the 17th century were smallpox, plague, beriberi, malaria and yellow fever. The prevailing diseases in New England were said to be typhoid fever, tuberculosis, pneumonia and scurvy.
In 1610, 338 out of 398 colonists of Jamestown died; in 1621, half the population of Massachusetts perished.
The high mortality rate was largely due to epidemics, which were usually introduced by ships' crews at seaports and which then swept through the colonies, decimating the colonists and, to an even greater extent, the American Indians. The predominating epidemics of the 17th century were smallpox and measles; that of the 18th century, yellow fever.
The smallpox epidemics were finally controlled by inoculation of smallpox virus from active cases, although the practice was opposed by the public. In a smallpox epidemic in 1721, the Reverend Cotton Mather successfully, but secretly, inoculated his own son.
Medical Treatments
For bloodletting:
"Make your incision large and not too deepe, That bloud have speedy issue with the fume, So that from sinewes you all hurt do keepe, Nor may you (as I toucht before) presume, In sixe ensuing houres at all to sleep." From Regimen Salerni
For Hair Loss:
"Take a good number of bees that be labouring to make honey, dry them and make them to powder. Then be put in common oyle and mingle them together and with ointment anoint the place you will have hair and certainly it will come without pain." From Natura Exenterata
Books of the Era
• A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Noate as Hath Happened in Virginia by Captain John Smith, 1608
• Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales, 1609
• The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles by Captain John Smith, 1624
• History of Plymouth Plantation, 1620–47 by William Bradford, 1647
• Exposition of the Creed by John Pearson, 1659
• An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke, 1690
• The London Spy by Ned Ward, 1703
• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, 1719
• Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, 1722
• Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, 1726
• The History of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, 1749
• Candide by Voltaire, 1759
• The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne, 1759
TRIVIA: In 1650, Anne Bradstreet became the first female poet ever published in both England and America, with her book of poetry, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America.
Colonial Colleges
1636: Harvard
1693: William and Mary
1701: Yale
1746: College of New Jersey (Princeton)
1754: King's (Columbia)
1755: College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania)
Songs Of The Era
• "Barbara Allen"
• "The Bold Soldier"
• "Death of Wolfe"
• "The Deceived Maid"
• "The Girl I Left Behind Me"
• "Greensleeves"
• "The Nightingale"
• "Silkie"
Popular Foods of the Era
• Apple Tansey
• Carolina Fish Muddle
• Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Dumplings
• Welsh Rabbit
• Tidewater Chili
• Fish House Punch
• Yankee Codfish in Gravy
• Flummery
• Hasty Pudding
Recipe From the Era
THOMAS JEFFERSON'S CATFISH SOUP
5 whole(s) (1 ¼ pounds each) catfish or other mild fish, cleaned
1 slice(s) (½-inch-thick) ham
2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
3 sprig(s) parsley
1 sprig(s) marjoram
2 sprig(s) tarragon
3 sprig(s) chervil
6 whole(s) black peppercorns
1 teaspoon(s) salt
1 cup(s) heavy cream
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoon(s) finely minced parsley
Beurre Manié:
3 tablespoon(s) flour
2 tablespoon(s) butter
Directions:
Coarsely chop four of the catfish. Place in a large saucepan with the ham, chopped onions, herbs, peppercorns, salt and two quarts of water. Bring to a boil and simmer 30 minutes. Pass through a food mill into a clean saucepan. Fillet the remaining catfish and cut the fillets into bite-sized pieces. Reserve. Make the beurre manié: Knead the butter and flour together until combined. Just prior to serving, return the fish broth to the stove and add the fish fillets. Bring just to the simmer and cook gently for one minute. Add the heavy cream and the beurre manié and simmer briefly. Turn the heat off under the soup. Meanwhile, break up the egg yolks in a separate bowl. Temper the yolks by adding slowly two cups of the soup to the yolks in the bowl, stirring the yolks constantly, and then returning the yolk mixture to the soup. Serve immediately, garnished with the minced parsley
Most Popular Names
MALE
John William Edward Richard Thomas Samuel Joseph
FEMALE
Abigail Susanna Mary Elizabeth Sarah Hannah Rebecca Ruth Anne Martha
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Table of Contents
Introduction,
How to Use This Book,
1 Colonial America to 1763,
2 Revolutionary America 1763 to 1783,
3 An Expanding Nation 1783 to 1830,
4 Growth, War and Reconstruction 1830 to 1870,
5 Industrial Revolution, War and Depression 1870 to 1933,
6 New Deal and World War II 1933 to 1945,
Appendix,