Category: United States History Series

Podcast - Stories of American History, Podcast - United States History Timeline, United States History Series

A Busy Week During the Revolutionary War

The members of the Council of Indian Affairs wished to discourage the tribes of the Iroquois League from allying with Britain during their war of independence from Britain. They extended an invitation to the League to meet with them in Philadelphia. A delegation of chiefs traveled to New York, arriving there by May 16. They continued to Philadelphia, arriving there on May 25, 1776, and requested to meet with the Congress. The Congress voted to meet with them on May 27 at 11:00 AM. Continue reading A Busy Week During the Revolutionary War

Podcast - Stories of American History, Podcast - United States History Timeline, Timeline of United States History, United States History Series

The Road to Independence – Forming Local Governments

By mid-May 1776 the movement for independence from Great Britain had coalesced across the colonies. Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” which had been published in January and advocated independence sold thousands of copies. Colonial assemblies in eight of the colonies had passed resolutions advocating independence. The discovery that Britain had contracted to use German mercenaries to fight against them, a practice generally employed against foreign enemies, had encouraged the movement. On May 11, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the “Resolution for the Formation of Local Governments.” The resolution stated, “Congress recommends to the colonial assemblies and conventions, where no government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs have been hitherto established, to adopt such government as shall . . . best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular, and America in general.”
Many members of Congress hoped that the resolution would help persuade those supporters of independence in Pennsylvania to gain the upper hand. Many considered Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia key to independence.
The process of becoming a nation independent of Britain had passed another step. Continue reading The Road to Independence – Forming Local Governments

Podcast - Stories of American History, United States History Series

Podcast – The First Thirteen Colonies

This is the story of the first 13 American colonies, from the time of their first settlement until the eve of the French and Indian War. This was the beginning of the colonial era when the process of creating America as we know it began. The history of the 13 colonies is the beginning of the United States History as many of our traditions, laws and much of our culture began. Continue reading Podcast – The First Thirteen Colonies

Podcast - Stories of American History, Podcast - United States History Timeline, Timeline of United States History, United States History Series

Britain Hires German Mercenaries

To help buttress their Army the British imported large numbers of German mercenary troops to fight. Prince William of Hesse-Hanau had agreed to send troops to America in early February. On April 20, 1776, Prince Frederick Karl August, prince of the German principality of Waldeck, agreed to send 670 infantrymen to America. Continue reading Britain Hires German Mercenaries

Sample Chapter, United States History Series

Classification of the Colonies

The classifications of the colonies the British established in the New World consisted of 3 types, proprietary, charter and crown colonies.
Proprietary Colonies
Most of the colonies began life as a proprietary colony. Theoretically, the Crown owned all the land in the colony. Under the proprietary system, the monarch granted a man, or group of men via a charter, the rights to manage a defined region of land. The man, or group, were known as proprietors and the group was called a corporation. He/they had the right to appoint governors, set up courts, organize assemblies and otherwise manage the colony. This was the earliest type of colony. Many of the proprietors did not live in, or even visit, the colony they managed. This type of colony proved inefficient, and most were later converted to royal colonies. Continue reading Classification of the Colonies

Podcast - United States History Timeline, Timeline of United States History, United States History Series

Battle of Block Island

Commodore Essex Hopkins, on his mission to the British fort on Nassau, had captured the HMS Bolton and Hawke on April 5, 1776.
After capturing the HMS Hawke and Bolton, the ships of the Continental Navy were overloaded with spoils from Nassau. Since they had captured two British ships, Admiral Hopkins had taken crew members from the American ships and used them to man the captured ships. Thus, the Continental Navy’s ships were undermanned. Continue reading Battle of Block Island

Podcast - United States History Timeline, Timeline of United States History, United States History Series

1776 – The Week of February 1 – 7

King George Appointed Admiral Richard Howe as Commander of North American Operations on February 2, 1776. After completing his studies at Eton Coollege, he entered the British Navy in 1740 at the age of 14. He rose in rank, attaining the rank of Rear Admiral in 1765. Sympathetic to the colonies, Howe had opposed many of the provisions of the Stamp Act. He collaborated with Benjamin Franklin, whom he had become acquainted with while Franklin lived in London, with a peace plan that failed. Continue reading 1776 – The Week of February 1 – 7

Podcast - Stories of American History, Timeline of United States History, United States History Series

1776 – The Events of January 18 – 24

On January 18, officials from the Georgia Provincial Congress arrested Georgia’s Royal Governor James Wright. Wright had been the governor of Georgia since 1760, having previously served as South Carolina’s representative to the Crown and as South Carolina’s attorney. His problems began with the Stamp Act, passed by Parliament in 1765. He managed to be the only royal official to successfully import and sell the stamps despite the efforts of the local Sons of Liberty to stop him. On January 12 a small British fleet had arrived in Savannah’s harbor. The fleet had intentions of purchasing a load of rice to take to Boston’s besieged troops. Delegates for the Georgia Provincial Congress had arrived and decided they did not want Wright to purchase the rice and had him arrested. Continue reading 1776 – The Events of January 18 – 24

Podcast - Stories of American History, United States History Series

Podcast – Columbus’ Crew Imprisoned, Released and the Return to Spain

About a month after Columbus’ ships departed Hispaniola a fierce storm blew up. Heavy winds tossed the ships on tall, angry waves. The storm’s intensity increased. Columbus, fearing that the ships would perish in the storm, prepared a written account of the voyage, rolled it up, sealed it with wax and stuck it in a bottle, which he corked and sealed with more wax. He hoped that if the ships sank, some account of the voyage would be found, he tossed the bottle into the raging seas. Continue reading Podcast – Columbus’ Crew Imprisoned, Released and the Return to Spain

United States History Series

Democracy in America – The Early Documents

By the time the Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution, the colonies had a long history of self-government. Many of the members of the Constitutional Convention had drafted similar documents for their states in the tumultuous months during the early phases of the Revolution. This collection of American documents includes the colonial charters and constitutions of the original colonies. The book includes histories of these documents as well as the full text of each one. Many of these early documents directly influenced the history of United States government from the earliest days of settlement. Continue reading Democracy in America – The Early Documents

United States History Series

A History of United States Presidential Elections: Book 2

The issue of slavery loomed ever larger in American politics as the middle of the Nineteenth Century passed. The Republican Party, birthed to destroy the institution, inaugurated its first candidate in 1856. Four years later Abraham Lincoln gained the nomination. The Democratic Party, committed to preserving and expanding slavery, nominated Stephen A. Douglas. Abraham Lincoln won the presidency, casting the nation into a bloody civil war. Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the Emaciation Proclamation did not end slavery, but it led to its demise at war’s end. A History of United States Presidential Elections – Book 2, covers the critical pre Civil War years from 1856 until 1865. Continue reading A History of United States Presidential Elections: Book 2