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Western Reserve

Western Reserve

The Connecticut Western Reserve was land claimed by Connecticut in the Northwest Territory in what is now northeastern Ohio.

History

Although forced to surrender the Pennsylvania portion (Westmoreland County) of its sea-to-sea land grant following the Yankee-Pennamite Wars and the intercession of the federal government, Connecticut held fast to its right to the lands between the 41st and 42nd-and-2-minutes parallels that lay west of the Pennsylvania border. Within the state of Ohio, the claim was a 120 mile (190 km) strip between Lake Erie and a line just below Youngstown, Akron, New London and Willard, about three miles south of the present-day U.S. Highway 224. Beyond Ohio the claim included parts of what would become Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California. In her deed of cession (the states gave up their western claims in exchange for federal assumption of their American Revolutionary War debt) dated September 13, 1786, Connecticut retained more than three million acres (12,000 km²) in Ohio. In 1796, Connecticut sold that land to investors, who formed the Connecticut Land Company. However, the Indian title to the reserve had not been extinguished. Clear title was not obtained until the Greenville Treaty in 1795 and the Treaty of Fort Industry in 1805. The west end of the reserve included the 500,000 acre (2,000 km²) Firelands or "Sufferers Lands" reserved for residents of several New England towns destroyed by British-set fires during the Revolutionary War. The land company arranged for the surveying of the balance of the land into townships five miles square. To this day, the townships of the Western Reserve differ in size from those of most of the rest of the state, which are six miles square. The following year, a team from the land company led by Moses Cleaveland traveled to the Reserve to prepare surveys. The group also founded Cleveland, which would become the largest city in the region. (The arbitrary decision to drop the "a" in the name of the community was done by a printer early in the settlement's existence; Cleveland taking less room on a printed page than Cleaveland.) Over the next few years, settlers began trickling into the territory. Youngstown was founded in 1796, Warren in 1798 and Ashtabula in 1799. In 1800, the Northwest Territory established Trumbull County. Because Warren was made the county seat, the city calls itself "the historical capital of the Western Reserve." Later, several more counties would be carved out of the territory.

Architecture

Architecture in the Western Reserve mimicked that of the New England towns where settlers came from. Many of the buildings were designed in the Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival style. Towns such as Hudson and Gates Mills, Ohio exemplify the mixture of these styles and traditional New England town planning.

Culture

Early settlers called the territory "New Connecticut," but that name was later discarded in favor of "Western Reserve." The latter name is still used to describe the northeastern corner of Ohio. Western Reserve University, which merged with the Case Institute of Technology to form Case Western Reserve University, is an example of that tie to the past. The Western Reserve Historical Society works to preserve history and historical items relevant to the area.

Sources


- Hatcher, Harlan, Western Reserve: The Story of New Connecticut in Ohio, Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1949. (2nd edition, Cleveland: World Publishing, 1966). (2nd edition paperback, Kent State University Press, 1991, ISBN 0873384490).
- [http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~maggieoh/western.html Taylor Upton, Harriet, History of the Western Reserve], New York: Lewis Publishing Co., 1910.
- [http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/ohc/history/path/groups/clandco.shtml Ohio Historical Society -- Connecticut Western Reserve]

See also


- Connecticut Colony
- Greater Cleveland
- Northeast Ohio
- Ohio Lands

External links


- [http://www.wrhs.org/ Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio]
- [http://www.cslib.org/westernreserve.htm Research Guide to Connecticut's "Western Lands" or "Western Reserve"]

References

The following publications are in the collection of the Connecticut State Library (CSL):
- The Public Records of the State of Connecticut [HistRef ConnDoc G25 1776-]. This multi-volume set contains the record of transactions of the Connecticut General Assembly. Each volume covers a given time period and has an index. Researchers interested in the Western Lands should consult these volumes to gain knowledge of the legislative actions and petitions granted by the Connecticut General Assembly.
- Burke, Thomas Aquinas. Ohio Lands: A Short History. [Columbus, OH]: Auditor of State, c1997 [CSL call number HistRef HD 243 .O3 B87 1997].
- Cherry, Peter Peterson. The Western Reserve and Early Ohio. Akron, OH: R. L. Fouse, 1921 [CSL call number F 495 .C52].
- Fedor, Ferenz. The Yankee Migration to the Firelands. s.l.: Fedor, 1976? [CSL call number F 497 .W5 F43 1976].
- Mathews, Alfred. Ohio and Her Western Reserve, With a Story of Three States Leading to the Latter, From Connecticut, by Way of Wyoming, Its Indian Wars and Massacre. New York: D. Appleton, 1902 [CSL call number F 491 .M42].
- Mills, William Stowell. The Story of the Western Reserve of Connecticut. New York: Printed for the author by Brown & Wilson Press [ca. 1900] [CSL call number F 497 .W5 M6].
- Peters, William E. Ohio Lands and Their Subdivision. Athens, OH: W. E. Peters, 1918 [CSL call number F 497 .W5 P47 1918].
- Rice, Harvey. Pioneers of the Western Reserve. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1883 [CSL call number: F 497 .W5 R5 1883].
- Upton, Harriet Taylor. History of the Western Reserve. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1910 [CSL call number: F 497 .W5 U7].
- Wickham, Gertrude Van Rensselaer. Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve. [s.l.]: Whipporwill, [197- ] [CSL call number F 497 .W5 W63 1970z]. Category:Historical regions and territories of the United States Category:Ohio history Category:Connecticut history Category:Greater Cleveland
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Northwest Territory

:For other geographical names that use the term Northwest, see Northwest. Northwest The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and the Territory North West of the Ohio, was a government and region within the early United States. Passed by the Continental Congress on July 13,1787, the Northwest Ordinance provided for the administration of the territories and set rules for admission as a state. On August 7, 1789, the U.S. Congress affirmed the Ordinance with slight modifications under the Constitution. The territory included all the land of the United States west of Pennsylvania and northwest of the Ohio River. It covered all of the modern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as well as the eastern part of Minnesota. The area covered more than 260,000 square miles (673,000 km²)

History

European exploration of the region began with French fur traders in the seventeenth century. The French explorer Jean Nicolet was the first recorded entry into the region in 1634. The French exercised control from a number of widely separated posts throughout the region. France ceded the territory to Britain in the Treaty of Paris (1763) which ended the French and Indian Wars. However, facing armed opposition by Native Americans (see Pontiac's Rebellion), the British issued the Proclamation of 1763 which prohibited white settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains in an attempt to appease the Native Americans. But this action angered American colonists interested in expansion and was a contributing factor to the American Revolution. Britain ceded the area north of the Ohio River and west of the Appalachians to the United States at the end of the American Revolutionary War with the Treaty of Paris (1783), but the British continued to maintain a presence in the region for many years. In the Jay Treaty of 1795, British subjects agreed to leave the Great Lakes region, but that treaty was never fully implemented. The United States' claim to the region was not fully realized until the 1814 Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. Several states (Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut) had competing claims on the territory. Other states, such as Maryland, refused to ratitify the U.S. Constitution so long as these states were allowed to keep their western territory, fearing that those states could continue to grow and tip the balance of power in their favor under the proposed system of federal government. As a concession in order to obtain ratification, these states ceded their claims on the territory to the U.S. government: New York in 1780, Virginia in 1784, Massachusetts and Connecticut in 1785. So the majority of the territory became public domain land owned by the U.S. government. Virginia and Connecticut reserved the land of two areas to use as compensation to military veterans: The Virginia Military District and the Connecticut Western Reserve. In this way, the United States included territory and people outside any of the states. The Land Ordinance of 1785 established a standardized system for surveying the land into saleable lots, although Ohio had already been partially surveyed several times using different methods, resulting in a patchwork of land surveys in Ohio. The rest of the Northwest Territory was divided into roughly uniform square townships and sections, which facilitated land sales and development. Difficulties with Native American tribes and with British trading outposts presented continuing obstacles for American expansion until military campaigns of Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne against the Native Americans culminated with victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 and the Treaty of Greenville of 1795. Jay's Treaty in 1794 temporarily helped to smooth relations with British traders in the region, where British citizens outnumbered American citizens throughout the 1780s. Ongoing disputes with the British over the region was a contributing factor to the War of 1812. Britain irrevocably ceded claim to the Northwest Territory with the Treaty of Ghent in 1814. When the territory was created, it was inhabited by about 45,000 Native Americans and 2,000 traders, mostly French and British. Officially, American settlement began at Marietta, Ohio on April 7, 1788. Arthur St. Clair formally established the government on July 15, 1788 at Marietta. His original plan called for the organization of five initial counties: Washington (Ohio east of the Scioto River), Hamilton (Ohio between the Scioto and the Miami Rivers), Knox (Indiana), St. Clair (Illinois and Wisconsin), and Wayne (Michigan). In 1800 the Indiana Territory was carved out, reducing the Northwest Territory to the size of Ohio, to prepare for statehood. The Northwest Territory went out of existence when Ohio was admitted as a state on March 1, 1803.

Law and government

Main article: Northwest Ordinance At first the territory had a modified form of martial law. The governor was also the senior army officer within the territory and he combined legislative and executive authority. But, a supreme court was established, and he shared legislative powers with the court. County governments were organized as soon as the population was sufficient, and these assumed local administrative and judicial functions. Washington County was the first of these, at Marietta in 1788. Hamilton County at Cincinnati followed in 1790. (These areas later became part of Ohio.) As soon as the number of settlers exceeded 5,000 the Territorial Legislature was to be created, and this happened in 1798. The full mechanisms of government were put in place, as outlined in the Northwest Ordinance. A bicameral legislature consisted of a House of Representatives and a Council. The first House had 22 representatives, two elected by each district (county at the time). The House then nominated 10 citizens to be Council members. The nominations were sent to the U.S. Congress, which appointed five of them as the Council. This assembly became the legislature of the Territory, although the Governor retained veto power. Article VI of the Articles of Compact within the Northwest Ordinance prohibited the owning of slaves within the Northwest Territory. However, territorial governments evaded this law by use of indenture laws[http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/publications/terrslavery.html]. The Articles of Compact prohibited legal discrimination on the basis of religion within the territory. The township formula created by Thomas Jefferson was first implemented in the Northwest Territory through the Land Ordinance of 1785. The square surveys of the Northwest Territory would become a hallmark of the midwest, as sections, townships, counties (and states) were laid out scientifically and land was sold quickly and efficiently (although not without some speculative aberrations).

Leadership

Arthur St. Clair was the Territory's only governor. The original supreme court was made up of John Cleves Symmes, James Mitchell Varnum, and Samuel Holden Parsons. There were three Secretaries: Winthrop Sargent (July 9, 1788-May 31, 1798); William Henry Harrison (June 29, 1798-December 31, 1799); and Charles Willing Byrd (January 1, 1800- January 15, 1803). In 1798 the territory became eligible to send a non-voting member to the U.S. Congress. The Assembly elected this representative. Representatives were:
- William Henry Harrison 1799-1800
- William McMillan 1800-1801
- Paul Fearing 1801-1803

See also


- Northwest Ordinance
- Northwest Indian War
- State cessions
- Southwest Territory
- Illinois-Wabash Company
- Zane's trace

External links


- [http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/5.htm Text of the Northwest Ordinance]
- [http://www.ohiohistory.org/onlinedoc/northwest/exjournal The Territory's Executive Journal] Category:Historical regions and territories of the United States Category:Michigan history Category:Indiana history Category:Ohio history Category:Illinois history Category:Wisconsin history

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the northeast of the United States. It was the first and eastern-most state in the Midwest admitted to the Union under the Northwest Ordinance. Its U.S. postal abbreviation is OH; its old-style abbreviation is O. Ohio is an Iroquois word meaning "great water." The name refers to the Ohio River that forms its southern border. The U.S. Navy has named several ships USS Ohio in honor of this state.

History

USS Ohio in lower Manhattan]] Ohio, the region north of the Ohio River and south of the Great Lakes, was originally controlled by various native tribes. At the time of European colonization, the Iroquois federation of the New York area claimed the region including the modern territory of Ohio as a hunting ground. However, locally, the region was populated by several other peoples, principally the Miamis, Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Ottawas, and Eries. During the 18th century, the French set up a system of trading posts to control the fur trade in the region. In 1754, France and Great Britain fought a war known in the United States as the French and Indian War. As a result of the Treaty of Paris, the French ceded control of Ohio and the old Northwest to Great Britain. Britain soon passed the Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited the American colonists from settling in Ohio Country. British control of the region ended with the American victory in the American Revolution, after which the British ceded claims to Ohio and the territory in the West to the Mississippi River to the United States. The United States created the Northwest Territory in 1787 under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, also known as the Freedom Ordinance because for the first time slavery would be prohibited from an entire American region. The states of the Midwest would be known as free states, in contradistinction to those states south of the Ohio River known as slave states, and later, as Northeastern states abolished slavery in the coming two generations, the free states would be known as Northern States. The Northwest Territory originally included areas that had previously been known as Ohio Country and Illinois Country. As Ohio prepared for statehood, Indiana Territory was created, reducing the Northwest Territory to approximately the size of present-day Ohio plus the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula. Under the Northwest Ordinance, any of the states to be formed out of the Northwest Territory would be admitted as a state once the population exceeded 60,000. Although Ohio's population numbered only 45,000 in December 1801, Congress determined that the population was growing rapidly and Ohio could begin the path to statehood with the assumption that it would exceed 60,000 residents by the time it would become a state. On February 19, 1803, President Jefferson signed an act of U.S. Congress that recognized Ohio as the 17th state. The current custom of Congress declaring an official date of statehood did not begin until 1812, with Louisiana's admission. So, on August 7, 1953 (the year of Ohio's 150th anniversary), President Eisenhower signed an act that officially declared March 1, 1803 the date of Ohio's admittance into the Union. In 1835, Ohio fought a mostly bloodless boundary war with Michigan over the Toledo Strip known as the Toledo War. Congress intervened and, as a condition for admittance as a state of the Union, Michigan was forced to accept the western two-thirds of the Upper Peninsula in exchange for giving up its claim to the Toledo Strip. See also: Articles on Ohio history

Law and Government

Ohio's capital is Columbus, located close to the center of the state. See: Government of Ohio

Geography

Government of Ohio See: List of Ohio counties, List of cities in Ohio, List of villages in Ohio, List of Ohio townships, Ohio public lands Ohio public lands Being centrally located in the northeastern corner of the United States' Midwest region, Ohio is located on Lake Erie, is connected by major highways and borders several states. Ohio's southern border is defined by the Ohio River (with the border being at the 1793 low-water mark on the north side of the river), and much of the northern border is defined by Lake Erie. It borders Pennsylvania on the east, Michigan in the northwest near Toledo, Ontario, Canada across Lake Erie to the north, Indiana to the west, Kentucky on the south, and West Virginia on the southeast. Much of Ohio features glaciated plains, with an exceptionally flat area in the northwest being known as the Great Black Swamp. This glaciated region in the northwest and central state is bordered to the east and southeast first by a belt known as the glaciated Allegheny Plateau, and then by another belt known as the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. Most of Ohio is of low relief, but the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau features rugged hills and forests. The rugged southeastern quadrant of Ohio, stretching in an outward bow-like arc along the Ohio River from the West Virginia Panhandle to the outskirts of Cincinnati, forms a distinct socio-economic unit. Known somewhat erroneously as Ohio's "Appalachian Counties" (they are actually in the Allegheny Plateau), this area's coal mining legacy, dependence on small pockets of old manufacturing establishments, and even distinctive regional dialect set this section off from the rest of the state and, unfortunately, create a limited opportunity to participate in the generally high economic standards of Ohio. Significant rivers within the state include the Cuyahoga River, Great Miami River, Maumee River, Muskingum River, and Scioto River. The rivers in the northern part of the state drain into the northern Atlantic Ocean via Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River, and the rivers in the southern part of the state drain into the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio and then the Mississippi. Grand Lake St. Mary's in the west central part of the state was constructed as a supply of water for canals in the canal-building era of 1820–1850. For many years this body of water, over 20 square miles, was the largest artificial lake in the world. It should be noted that Ohio's canal-building projects were not the economic fiasco that similar efforts were in other states. Some cities, such as Dayton, owe their industrial emergence to location on canals, and as late as 1910 interior canals carried much of the bulk freight of the state.

Economy

Ohio is a major producer of machines, tires and rubber products, steel, processed foods, tools, and other manufactured goods. This is not immediately obvious because Ohio specializes in producers goods (goods used to make other goods, such as machine tools, industrial chemicals, and plastic moldings). Nevertheless, there are well known Ohio consumer items including some Procter & Gamble products, Smuckers jams and jellies, and DayGlo. Ohio is the site of the invention of the airplane, resulting from the experiments of the Wright brothers in Dayton. Production of aircraft in the USA is now centered elsewhere, but a large experimental and design facility, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has been located near Dayton and serves in the co-ordination of production of US military aircraft. On the base are located Wright Hill and Huffman Prairie, where many of the earliest aerodynamic experiments of the Wright brothers were performed. Ohio today also has many aerospace, defense, and NASA parts and systems suppliers scattered throughout the state. As part of the Corn Belt, agriculture also plays an important role in the state's economy. There is also a small commercial fishing sector on Lake Erie, and the principal catch is yellow perch. In addition, Ohio's historical attractions, varying landscapes, and recreational opportunities are the basis for a thriving tourist industry. Over 2,500 lakes and 70,000 kilometers of river landscapes are a paradise for boaters, fishermen, and swimmers. Of special historical interest are the Native American archaeological sites—including grave mounds and other sites. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Ohio's total state product in 2003 was $403 billion. Per capital personal income in 2003 was $30,129, 25th in the nation. Ohio's agricultural outputs are soybeans, dairy products, corn, tomatoes, hogs, cattle, poultry and eggs. Its industrial outputs are transportation equipment, fabricated metal products, machinery, food processing, and electric equipment.

Demographics

As of 2004, Ohio's population was estimated to be 11,459,011 people. This includes about 390,000 foreign-born (3.4%). The racial makeup of the state is:
- 85.0% White
- 11.5% Black
- 1.9% Hispanic
- 1.2% Asian
- 0.2% Native American
- 1.4% Mixed race The 5 largest ancestry groups in Ohio are German (25.2%), Irish (12.7%), African (11.5%), English (9.2%), American (8.5%). German is the largest reported ancestry in most of the counties in Ohio, especially in the northwest. Ohioans of American and British ancestry are present throughout the state as well, particularly in the south-central part of the state. The cities of Cleveland and Cincinnati are heavily black. 6.6% of Ohio's population were reported as under 5, 25.4% under 18, and 13.3% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.4% of the population.

Religion

Ohio is mostly Protestant. There are large numbers of Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Pentecostals. Other notable Protestant groups include the nation's largest Amish population, and the headquarters of the United Church of Christ, which is in Cleveland. There are sizeable Jewish communities in the Cleveland and Cincinnati areas. The religious affiliations of the people of Ohio are:
- Christianity – 82%
  - Protestant – 62%
    - Baptist – 15%
    - Methodist – 11%
    - Lutheran – 5%
    - Presbyterian – 4%
    - Pentecostal – 4%
    - United Church of Christ – 2%
    - Amish/Pietist – 1%
    - Other Protestant – 20%
  - Roman Catholic – 19%
  - Other Christian – 1%
- Judaism – 1.3%
- Other Religions – less than 1%
- Non-Religious – 16%

Political demographics and history

Politically, Ohio is considered a swing state, although state politics are dominated by Republicans. The mixture of urban and rural areas, and the presence of both large blue-collar industries and significant white-collar commercial districts leads to a balance of conservative and liberal population that (together with the state's 20 electoral votes, more than most swing states) makes the state very important to the outcome of national elections. Ohio was the deciding state in the 2004 presidential election between George W. Bush and John Kerry. Bush narrowly won the state's 20 electoral votes by a margin of 2 percentage points and 50.8% of the vote. The state supported Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, some argue because of a defection of Republican voters to Ross Perot, but supported Republican George Bush in 2000 and 2004. Ohio was also a deciding factor in the 1948 presidential election when Democrat Harry S. Truman defeated Republican Thomas Dewey (who had won the state four years earlier) and in the 1976 presidential election when Democrat Jimmy Carter defeated Republican Gerald Ford by a slim margin in Ohio and took the election. Ohio's demographics cause many to consider the state as a microcosm of the nation as a whole. Interestingly, a Republican presidential candidate has never won the White House without winning Ohio, and Ohio has gone to the winner of the election in all but two contests since 1892, backing only losers Thomas E. Dewey in 1944 (Ohio's John Bricker was his running mate) and Richard M. Nixon in 1960. Consequently, the state is very important to the campaigns of both major parties. Ohio had 20 electoral votes in the Electoral College in 2004. (See also U.S. Electoral College.) The most solidly Democratic areas of the state are in the northeast, including Cleveland, Youngstown, and other industrial areas. Specifically, the core of this region includes eight counties stretching east along Lake Erie from Erie County to the Pennsylvania border and south to Mahoning County. Southwestern Ohio, especially the suburbs of Cincinnati, Warren County, Butler County, and Clermont County is particularly Republican. Ohio is known as the "Modern Mother of Presidents," having sent eight of its native sons to the White House. Seven of them were Republicans, and the other was a member of the Whig Party. See also:
- Ohio Democratic Party
- Ohio Republican Party

Important cities and towns

See: List of cities in Ohio

Education

Colleges and universities


- 13 state universities
  - Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio
  - Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio
  - Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
  - Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
  - Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
  - Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
  - Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
  - Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio
  - University of Akron, Akron, Ohio
  - University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
  - University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio
  - Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio (Fairborn, Ohio)
  - Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio :(note: the University of Dayton is not one of Ohio's state universities; it is a private, Roman Catholic university run by the Society of Mary)
- 24 state university branch and regional campuses
- 46 liberal arts colleges and universities
- 6 free-standing state-assisted medical schools
  - Medical University of Ohio (formerly Medical College of Ohio)
  - Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
  - Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health
  - Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine
  - University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
  - Wright State University School of Medicine
- 1 private medical school
  - Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
- 15 community colleges
- 8 technical colleges
- over 24 independent non-profit colleges See List of Ohio colleges

Professional sports teams

Ohio is home to many professional sports teams, including six major professional sports league franchises. Ohio is currently the only state to have teams in each of the major leagues where no one city or metro area could lay claim to the "Grand Slam."

Transportation

Many major east-west transportation corridors go through Ohio. One of those pioneer routes, known in the early 1900's as "Ohio Market Route 3", was chosen in 1913 to become part of the historical Lincoln Highway which was America's first transcontinental road, connecting New York City to San Francisco. In Ohio, the Lincoln Highway linked many towns and cities together, including Canton, Mansfield, Lima, and Van Wert. The arrival of the Lincoln Highway to Ohio was a major influence on the development of the state. Upon the advent of the federal numbered highway system in 1928, the Lincoln Highway through Ohio became U.S. Highway 30. Ohio has a highly developed network of roads and interstate highways. Major east-west through routes include the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/I-90) in the north, I-76 through Akron to Pennsylvania, U.S. 30 (the Lincoln Highway) a bit further south through Canton, Mansfield, Lima, and Van Wert, I-70 through Columbus and Dayton, and the Appalachian Highway (Ohio 32) running from West Virginia to Cincinnati. Major north-south routes include I-75 in the west through Toledo, Dayton, and Cincinnati, I-71 through the middle of the state from Cleveland through Columbus and Cincinnati into Kentucky, and I-77 in the eastern part of the state from Cleveland down into West Virginia. The north-south routes except for I-75 are less important to non-local traffic than the east-west routes because, due to the presence of Lake Erie, they do not go through.

State symbols


- State animal: White-tailed Deer
- State bird: Cardinal
- State capital: Columbus
- State flower: Scarlet Carnation
- State wildflower: Large white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
- State insect: Ladybird Beetle
- State song: "Beautiful Ohio"
- State rock song: "Hang On Sloopy"
- State tree: Ohio Buckeye
- State fossil: Trilobite genus Isotelus
- State drink: Tomato juice
- State reptile: Black racer snake
- State gemstone: Ohio Flint
- State motto: "With God all things are possible"
- Unofficial Motto: "So much to discover" adopted as part of state bicentennial campaign

See also


- List of people from Ohio

External links


- [http://www.ohio.gov/ State of Ohio Official Website]
- [http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/ Supreme Court of Ohio Official Website]
- [http://www.house.state.oh.us/ Ohio House of Representatives Official Website]
- [http://www.senate.state.oh.us/ Ohio Senate Official Website]
- [http://www.ohiodems.org/ Ohio Democratic Party]
- [http://www.ohiogop.org/ Ohio Republican Party]
- [http://www.ohionewsnow.com/ Ohio News Network]
- [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39000.html U.S. Census Bureau]
- [http://obit.obitlinkspage.com/oh.htm Ohio Obituary Links Page]
- [http://www.genealogybuff.com/oh/ GenealogyBuff.com - Ohio Library of Files]
- Category:States of the United States ko:오하이오 주 ja:オハイオ州 simple:Ohio th:มลรัฐโอไฮโอ

Westmoreland County, Connecticut

Westmoreland County, Connecticut was a county in Connecticut in the present day area of Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, until it was ceded to Pennsylvania in 1784, of which it now forms the northeastern corner. It briefly seceded to become the State of Westmoreland. It has no relationship to the current Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

External links


- [http://www.wilkes.edu/about/history/name.asp]
- [http://www.cslib.org/SusqSettlers.htm Connecticut's "Susquehannah Settlers"]

References

The following printed resources are in the collection of the Connecticut State Library (CSL)
- Boyd, J. P. The Susquehannah Company, 1753-1803. [CSL call number: F157 .W9 B69 1931]
- Henry, William (ed.). Documents Relating to the Connecticut Settlement in the Wyoming Valley. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 1990 [CSL call number: F157 .W9 D63 1990 v1, 2].
- Joyce, Mary Hinchcliffe. Pioneer Days in the Wyoming Valley. Philadelphia: 1928 [CSL call number: F157 .W9 J89].
- Smith, William. An Examination of the Connecticut Claim to Lands in Pennsylvania: With an Appendix, Containing Extracts and Copies Taken from Original Papers. Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1774 [CSL call number: Wells Collection F157 .W9 S55].
- Stark, S. Judson. The Wyoming Valley: Probate Records... Wilkes-Barre, PA: Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, 1923 [CSL call number: F157 .W9 S72].
- Warfle, Richard Thomas. Connecticut's Western Colony; the Susquehannah Affair. (Connecticut Bicentennial Series, #32). Hartford, CT: American Revolutionary Bicentennial Commission of Connecticut, 1979 [CSL call number: Conn Doc Am35 cb num 32].
- Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Wilkes-Barre (the "Diamond City"), Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Wilkes-Barre, PA: The Committee on Souvenir and Program, 1906 [CSL call number: F159 .W6 W65 1906]. Category:Defunct U.S. counties Category:Connecticut history Category:Pennsylvania history

41st parallel north

The 41st parallel of north latitude forms the northern border of the U.S. states of Colorado and part of Utah, and the southern border of Wyoming and the panhandle of Nebraska. The 41st parallel was also one of the principal baselines used for surveying a portion of lands in Ohio. This marked the southern boundary of the Connecticut Western Reserve and the Firelands using the western boundary with Pennsylvania as the principal meridian. It also served as the baseline for a later survey of Ohio land north of the Greenville Treaty line up to the Fulton line which was the original boundary between Michigan and Ohio under the Northwest Ordinance (see the Toledo Strip). The later survey used the boundary with Indiana as the meridian. Category:Lines of latitude

U.S. Highway 224

U.S. Highway 224 is a spur of U.S. Highway 24. It currently runs for 287 miles (462 km) from New Castle, Pennsylvania at U.S. Highway 422 to Huntington, Indiana at U.S. Highway 24. It passes through the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. It goes through the cities of Youngstown, Ohio, Akron, Ohio, and Findlay, Ohio.

See also


- List of United States Highways 24-2 24-2 24-2 24-2

Western claims

The state cessions are those areas of the then-"western" United States that the separate states ceded to the federal government in the 1780s (more or less) by the new 13 states of that union—in some cases in exchange for federal assumption of the colonies' American Revolutionary War debts. Not all states (seven of the 13) had western land claims, so the state cessions were also key to getting the "landless" states to sign the U.S. Constitution--they had been fearful that a Virginia which reached to the Mississippi would quickly overwhelm the states which were limited to their land overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the western land claims were ceded between 1781 and 1787, with only Georgia holding out until the 19th century. The cessions were not entirely selfless, but the states' reasonably graceful cessions of their often-conflicting claims between their current extents and the Mississippi River prevented early, perhaps catastrophic, rifts among the states of the young Republic and allowed the settlement of the Upper Midwest and the expansion of the U.S. into the center of the North American continent. The state cessions comprise 236,825,600 acres (958,399 km2), or 10.4 percent of current United States territory.

Landed states

New York

:Date ceded: 1781 :Claims, cessions and dispute resolutions: Ceded claims west of Lake Ontario, sold Erie Triangle to Pennsylvania, stopped squabbling over what would become Vermont.

Virginia

:Date ceded: 1784 :Claims and cessions: Ceded its territory north and west of the Ohio River (and east of the Mississippi), the land which was to be come the Northwest Territory. The land south and east of the Ohio was not ceded and was then called Kentucky County, Virginia. It was organized and admitted as Kentucky in 1792, after multiple attempts to agree upon a state constitution that was also acceptable to Virginia and the Congress.

North Carolina

:Year ceded: 1784 :Year accepted by Congress: 1790 :Claims and cessions: Ceded what became the Southwest Territory, quickly transformed and admitted as Tennessee (1796).

Massachusetts

:Date ceded: 1786 :Claims and cessions: Ceded swath between present north and south border-latitudes across present-day Michigan and Wisconsin, to which it was entitled by its interpretation of its original sea-to-sea grant from the British crown.

Connecticut

:Dates ceded: 1787 :Claims and cessions: Ceded land from western border to Mississippi River, but held back Connecticut Western Reserve in Ohio Country.

South Carolina

:Date ceded: 1787 :Claims and cessions: Claimed narrow 12-mile strip from western tip to Mississippi, running above Georgia and what would later become Mississippi and Alabama. Surrendered land to Georgia and U.S. gov't. However, the claim was for land between the headwaters of the Savannah River and the North Carolina boundary, but since the Savannah headwaters actually began in North Carolina, "the strip did not exist in reality."

Georgia

:Date ceded: April 26, 1802, 15 years after all other cessions made :Claims: Yazoo lands, between 31 to 35 degrees north latitude to Mississippi River :Cost to U.S. government, unique among the "cessions": $1.25 million

Landless states

right Note: These states may have had western (or other) land claims during their colonial eras, but by the 1780s, were generally out of the expansion business. # Pennsylvania: Original grant land between 39th and 42nd north latitude for 5 degrees; had claims to Erie Triangle, which was ceded 1781-1785 to the federal government by New York and Massachusetts. The U.S. government, in turn, sold it back to Pennsylvania in 1788. # New Hampshire: Claimed New Hampshire Grants/Vermont, but had no legal standing. # Rhode Island # Delaware # Maryland # New Jersey

See also


- Thirteen Colonies
- Sea-to-sea grants
- Yankee-Pennamite Wars
- Yazoo Lands
- Mason-Dixon Line
- Northwest Territory
- Ohio Country
- Illinois Country
- Historic regions of the United States
- United States territorial acquisitions

External links


- [http://www.geog.umn.edu/faculty/squires/courses/5361/Lectures/Private_Land_Ownership/state_claims.JPG Map of state claims (1)]
- [http://www.utep.edu/kc3312/clymer/images/big17.jpg Map of state claims (2)]
- [http://media.maps101.com/SUB/HGIFS/USAH052-H.gif Map of state claims (3)]
- [http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/31/32716/figures/DIVI118.jpg Map of state claims (4)]
- [http://www.oldmilford.com/images/westernclaims-big.jpg Map of state claims (5)]
- [http://www.ohwy.com/history%20pictures/maps/land-claims.jpg Map of state claims (6)]
- [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/united_states_1783_1803.jpg Map of state claims (7)] Category:History of United States expansionism

American Revolutionary

The American Revolution is the series of events, ideas, and changes that resulted in the political separation of thirteen colonies in North America from the British Empire and the creation of the United States of America. The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) was one part of the revolution, but the revolution began before the first shot was fired at Lexington and Concord and continued after the British surrender at Yorktown. "The Revolution was effected before the War commenced," wrote John Adams. "The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people." The precise nature and extent of the revolution is a matter of interpretation. It is generally agreed that the revolution originated around the time of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), and ended with the election of George Washington as the first President of the United States in 1789. Beyond that, interpretations vary. At one end of the spectrum is the view that the American Revolution was not "revolutionary" at all; that it did not radically transform colonial society, but 'simply replaced a distant government with a local one'. The opposite view is that the American Revolution was a unique and radical event, producing significant changes that had a profound impact on world history. Most current interpretations fall somewhere in-between these two positions. 1789, and the orange region was claimed by Spain. Note that this map does not show the bulk of British North America of that time.]]

Origins

In the early 1760s, Great Britain possessed a vast empire on the North American continent. In addition to the thirteen British colonies, victory in the Seven Years' War had given Great Britain claim over New France (Canada), Spanish Florida, and the Native American lands east of the Mississippi River. A war against France's former Indian allies—Pontiac's Rebellion—had, if not conquered, at least 'pacified' the western frontier. At this time, most white colonists in America considered themselves loyal subjects of the British Crown, with the same rights and obligations as Englishmen in Britain

Government

Main article: Colonial government in America Colonial government in America]

Philosophy and radical thought

The Enlightenment elevated natural philosophy, and began to replace arguments born of tradition and authority with those based upon observation and independent reasoning. The implications of the earlier scientific revolution began to have a greater effect on everyday life and in the conscious thought of men everywhere. Increased publication and communications between like-minded people opened up new areas to question and consideration. The early works of thinkers like John Locke became the analysis of men like Montesquieu. The "deist" views of several of the Founding Fathers of the United States, and their views on the proper form of government have roots in this European Enlightenment, and were a source for ideas regarding separation of church and state and other liberties. In addition, the ideas of "social contract" and the "Law of Nature" espoused by John Locke and others, gained wide acceptance in thought.

Religious trends

The Great Awakening was the American extension to the earlier religious revivals in Europe. It called into question the authority of established religious institutions; especially, but not exclusively, the Church of England, whose authority many of the colonists had come to New England to escape. The revival placed emphasis upon individual conscience and experience as the source of value in religious experience. Socially, there was also a strong element of 'class' revolt: God worked through grace that was given to every man or woman, regardless of station or level of education. This was a direct challenge to upper-class, aristocratic assumptions about the deference due to authority— it was a model of revolutionary thought to come; it was also the first event that swept through all the colonies, from New England to the Carolinas, as a generally common experience.

Road to rebellion

After the French and Indian War and Pontiac's Rebellion, the British government sought to overhaul its expansive North American possessions. In order to make the Empire more stable and profitable, new economic and land distribution policies were implemented. Specifically, the new British policies included the understandable desire of the crown that the colonists would shoulder a greater share of the burdens of war and the cost of their own defense, as well as the curtailment of smuggling with the colonies of the West Indies, the payment of royal tariffs and the exclusive trade with the British homeland. Colonial resentment of these new policies grew steadily throughout the decade, and had a significant impact on the emergence of "Americanism" and the outbreak of the American Revolution.

Economic disputes, 1760-70

The British national debt had risen to alarming levels during the war years and so in 1760 the Crown began a series of economic initiatives designed to extract more revenue from the colonies. These policies were 'justifiable', the reasoning went, because the colonists were enjoying the benefits of the peace that had been won. the Crown In theory, Great Britain already regulated the economies of the colonies through the Navigation Acts, but widespread evasion of these laws had long been tolerated. Now, through the use of open-ended search warrants (Writs of Assistance), strict enforcement became the practice. In 1761, Massachusetts lawyer James Otis argued that the writs violated the constitutional rights of the colonists. He lost the case, but John Adams later wrote, "American independence was then and there born." In 1763, Patrick Henry argued the Parson's Cause case. Clerical pay had been tied to the price of tobacco by Virginia legislation. When the price of tobacco skyrocketed after a bad crop in 1758, the Virginia legislature passed the Two-Penny Act to stop clerical salaries from inflating as well. In 1763, King George III vetoed the Two-Penny Act. Patrick Henry defended the law in court and argued "that a King, by disallowing Acts of this salutary nature, from being the father of his people, degenerated into a Tyrant and forfeits all right to his subjects' obedience." In 1764, British Prime Minister George Grenville's Sugar Act and Currency Act created economic hardship in the colonies. Protests led to the boycott of British goods, and to the emergence of the popular slogan "no taxation without representation," in which colonists argued that only their colonial assemblies, and not Parliament, could levy taxes on them. Committees of correspondence were formed in the colonies to coordinate resistance to paying the taxes. In previous years, the colonies had shown little inclination towards collective action. Grenville's policies were bringing them together. A milestone in the Revolution occurred in 1765, when Grenville passed the Stamp Act as a way to finance the quartering of troops in North America. The Stamp Act required all legal documents, permits, commercial contracts, newspapers, pamphlets, and playing cards in the colonies to carry a tax stamp. Colonial protest was widespread. Secret societies known as the Sons of Liberty were formed in every colony, and used propaganda, intimidation, and mob violence to prevent the enforcement of the Stamp Act. The furor culminated with the "Stamp Act Congress", which sent a formal protest to Parliament in October of 1765. Parliament responded by repealing the Stamp Act, but pointedly declared its legal authority over the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.” declared its legal authority was designed to inflame opposition to the military occupation of Boston.]] The sequel was not long in coming. In 1767, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, placing taxes on a number of common goods imported into the colonies, including glass, paint, lead, paper, and tea. In response, colonial leaders organized boycotts of these British imports. The Liberty, a ship belonging to colonial merchant John Hancock, was suspected of smuggling and was seized by customs officials in Boston on June 10, 1768. Angry protests on the street led customs officials, fearing for their safety, to report to London that Boston was in a state of insurrection. British troops began to arrive in Boston in October of 1768. Tensions continued to mount; culminating in the "Boston Massacre" on March 5, 1770, when British soldiers of the 29th Regiment of Foot fired into an angry mob, killing five. Revolutionary agitators like Samuel Adams used the event to stir up popular resistance, but after the trial of the soldiers, who were defended by John Adams, tensions diminished. The Townshend Acts were repealed in 1770 after much protesting, and it was still theoretically possible that further bloodshed in the colonies might be avoided. However, the British government had left one tax from the Townshend Acts in place as a symbolic gesture of their right to tax the colonies—the tax on tea. For the revolutionaries, who stood firm on the principle that only their colonial representatives could levy taxes on them, it was still "one tax too many". This resulted in the Boston Tea Party.

Western land dispute

The Proclamation of 1763 sought to limit the conflicts between Native Americans and the English settlers by restricting settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. However, groups of settlers, led for example by Daniel Boone, continued to move into the region beyond the Proclamation Line and fought violently with the Shawnees and other peoples inhabiting the area. Furthermore, the Quebec Act of 1774 extended Quebec's boundaries to the Ohio River, reestablished French civil law, and instituted toleration for Roman Catholics in that territory, an action which horrified some colonials, who had come to New England to establish their own protestant sects. Proposals to post British regulars to man forts in the west further disquieted Americans eager to occupy Indian land. protestant

Crises, 1772-75


- Gaspée Affair
- Tea Act of 1773.
- Boston Tea Party - December 16, 1773
- "Intolerable Acts" of 1774.
- The First Continental Congress convened on September 5, 1774 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and endorsed the Suffolk Resolves, which declared the Intolerable Acts to be unconstitutional, called for the people to form militias, and for Massachusetts to form a revolutionary government. Joseph Galloway's Plan of Union is defeated.
- Battle of Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775
- Second Continental Congress convenes on May 10, 1775. :
- Olive Branch Petition -- July 5, 1775, one final attempt by the Continental Congress to appeal to King George to redress their grievances and avoid more bloodshed. The King refuses even to receive the petition.

Choosing sides

1775) originally appeared during the French and Indian War, but was recycled to encourage the American colonies to unite against British rule.]] The American revolutionaries, known as Patriots (or Whigs or rebels), included many shades of opinion. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and George Washington represented a socially conservative faction that would later take shape as the Federalist party and are traditionally characterized as preoccupied with preserving the wealth and power of the "better sorts" of colonial society. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine are usually portrayed as representing the less economically affluent side of society, and political equality. Among other dissenting minorities, a party known as the "anti-federalists", led by George Mason, considered the Constitution of the United States to be a dangerously flawed document, one which would cause greater tyranny than either Parliament or the British Crown; they walked out of the Constitutional Convention without signing it. A great many American colonists remained loyal to the British Crown; these became known as Loyalists (or 'Tories', or 'King's men'). Loyalists were often of the same well-to-do social circle that produced the right wing of the Patriots (for example Thomas Hutchinson); however, the Scottish highlanders of the Mohawk Valley and the frontiersmen of Georgia included a large number of poorer King's men. Some Loyalists were American Indians, notably Joseph Brant, who led a mixed band of Indians and white farmers and laborers in the Loyalist cause. After the war, United Empire Loyalists became a central component of the populations of the Abaco islands (in the Bahamas), the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Ontario, and Freetown, Sierra Leone, where many of them fled to escape persecution in the colonies.

Class differences among the Patriots

Just as there were rich and poor Loyalists, the Patriots were a 'mixed lot', and often had different aims for the revolution. Wealthy Patriots viewed independence as a means of freeing themselves from British taxation and limitations on taking western land, but had every intention of remaining in control of the resulting nation. Many craftsmen, small merchants and small farmers, however, were looking at independence as a means of reducing the power and privilege of the elite. Wealthy Patriots knew that they needed the support of the lower classes, but were fearful of their more radical democratic aims. John Adams (an elite more by education than by wealth) attacked Thomas Paine's Common Sense for the "absurd democratical notions" it proposed.

Women

Common Sense] The boycott of British goods would have been entirely unworkable without the willing participation of American women: women made the bulk of household purchases, and the boycotted items were largely household items such as tea and cloth. And as cloth was still a basic necessity, for the boycott to work, women would have to return to spinning and weaving, skills that had fallen into disuse. In 1769, the women of Boston produced 40,000 skeins of yarn, and 180 women in Middletown, Massachusetts wove 20,522 yards of cloth. As the Revolution progressed and economic disruption deepened, women participated directly in the food riots and tar and feathering that was the people's response to price gouging by merchants, Loyalist and Patriot alike. On July 24, 1777, Thomas Boyleston, a Patriot merchant who was withholding coffee and sugar from the market waiting for prices to rise, was confronted by a crowd of 100 or more women, who seized the keys to his warehouse and distributed the coffee themselves while a large crowd of men stood by and watched, dumbfounded.

Writing the state constitutions

By 1776, the colonies had overthrown their existing government, closing courts and driving British agents and governors from their homes, and they had elected conventions and "legislatures" that existed outside of any legal framework whatsoever— new constitutions were desperately needed in each colony to replace the superseded royal charters. On January 5, 1776, New Hampshire ratified the first state constitution, six months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Then, in May, 1776, Congress voted to suppress all forms of crown authority, to be replaced by locally created authority. Virginia, South Carolina, and New Jersey created their constitutions before July 4. Rhode Island and Connecticut simply took their existing royal charters and deleted all references to the crown. The new states had to decide not only what form of government to create, they first had to decide how to select those who would craft the constitutions and how the resulting document would be ratified. This would be just the start of a process that would pit conservatives against radicals in each state. In states where the wealthy exerted firm control over the process, such as Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New York and Massachusetts, the result was constitutions that featured:
- substantial property qualifications for voting and even more substantial requirements for elected positions (though New York and Maryland lowered property qualifications);
- bicameral legislatures, with the upper house as a check on the lower;
- strong governors, with veto power over the legislature and substantial appointment authority;
- few or no restraints on individuals holding multiple positions in government;
- the continuation of state-established religion. In states where the less affluent had organized sufficiently to have significant power, especially Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Vermont, the resulting constitutions embodied:
- universal manhood suffrage, or minimal property requirements for voting or holding office (New Jersey went so far as to enfranchise women, a radical step that they retracted 25 years later); Vermont
- strong, unicameral legislatures;
- relatively weak governors, without veto powers, and little appointing authority;
- prohibition against individuals holding multiple government posts;
- disestablishment of religion. Naturally, the fact that conservatives or radicals held sway in a state did not mean that the side with less power accepted the result quietly. In Pennsylvania, the propertied class was horrified by their new constitution (Benjamin Rush called it "our state dung cart"), while in Massachusetts, voters twice rejected the constitution that was presented for ratification; it was ultimately ratified only as a result of the legislature tinkering with the third vote. The radical provisions of Pennsylvania's constitution were to last only fourteen years— in 1790, conservatives gained power in the state legislature, called a new constitutional convention, and wrote a new constitution that substantially reduced universal white-male suffrage, gave the governor veto power and patronage appointment authority, and added an upper house with substantial wealth qualifications to the unicameral legislature. Thomas Paine called it a constitution unworthy of America.

War for independence, 1775-83

Benjamin Rush Main article: American Revolutionary War Thomas Paine produced a pamphlet entitled Common Sense arguing that the only solution to the problems with Britain would be republicanism and independence from Great Britain.
- United States Declaration of Independence
- Articles of Confederation Articles of Confederation

America after the war


- Shays' Rebellion - 1786
- Northwest Indian War (1785-1795)
- The Constitutional Convention of 1787 The American Revolution entrenched several noteworthy innovations: the separation of church and state, which ended the special privileges of the Anglican Church in the South and the Congregationalist Church in New England; a discourse of liberty, individual rights and equality which would prove highly appealing in Europe; the idea that government should be by consent of the governed (including the right of rebellion against tyranny); the delegation of power through written constitutions; and the notion that colonial peoples of the Americas could become self-governing nations in their own rights.

The impact on British North America

For tens of thousands of inhabitants of the Thirteen Colonies, the victory of the revolutionaries was followed by exile. Approximately fifty thousand United Empire Loyalists fled to the remaining British colonies in North America, such as the Province of Quebec, concentrating in the Eastern Townships, and also Upper Canada (now known as Ontario), as well as in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia - where their presence would result in the creation of New Brunswick. Thus, the seeds of the French-English duality in British North America, which has been arguably the most prominent political and cultural feature of what would one day become Canada were sown.

Revolution beyond America

The American Revolution was the first wave of the Atlantic Revolutions that would also take hold in the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and the Latin American wars of liberation. Aftershocks would also be felt in Ireland in the 1798 rising, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and in the Netherlands. The Revolution had a strong immediate impact in Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, and France. Many British and Irish Whigs had been openly indulgent to the Patriots in America, and the Revolution was the first lesson in politics for many European radicals who would later take on active roles during the era of the French Revolution. Jefferson's Declaration had [http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap3a.html an immediate impact] on the French Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789. The American Revolution affected the rest of the world. The thinkers of the Enlightenment only wrote that common people had the right to overthrow unjust governments. The American Revolution was a case of practical success, which provided the rest of the world with a 'working model'. The American Revolution set an example to the people in Europe and other parts of the world. It encouraged the people to realize they had rights independent of the sovereign; it promoted republicanism to overthrow monarchs. It incited people to fight for their rights, and it showed them that it was possible to win even against the world's foremost power, Great Britain. Nowhere was the influence more profound than in Latin America, where American writings and the model of a colony that actually broke free and thrived decisively shaped the struggle for independence. Historians of Latin America have identified many links to the U.S. model . See [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=0QghsDsSCB4C&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=jefferson&prev=http://books.google.com/books%3Fq%3Djefferson%2Bindependence%2Blatin%2Bamerica&sig=v0afdyhrNgB42XLqhBEB9IQhCDU John Lynch, "The Origins of Spanish American Independence," in Cambridge History of Latin America Vol. 3 (1985), pp 45-46]

Legacy and interpretations


- American exceptionalism, Exceptionalism

See also


- British colonization of the Americas
- Founding Fathers of the United States
- Industrial Revolution
- List of important people in the era of the American Revolution
- Second American Revolution
- Timeline of United States revolutionary history (1760-1789)

Further reading

Origins: :
- Bailyn, Bernard. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Harvard University Press, 1967. ISBN 0674443012. :
- Hawke, David. The Colonial Experience. Bobbs-Merrill, 1966. ISBN 0023518308. :
- Miller, John C. Origins of the American Revolution. Little, Brown, 1943; reprinted Stanford University Press, 1959. ISBN 0804705933; 1991 paperback edition: ISBN 0804705941. :
- Nash, Gary B. The Urban Crucible: The Northern Seaports and the Origins of the American Revolution. Harvard University Press, 1986. ISBN 0674930592. :
- Nash, Gary B. The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America. Viking, 2005. ISBN 0670034207. :
- Wood, Gordon S. The Radicalism of the American Revoluiton: How a Revolution Transformed a Monarchical Society into a Democratic One Unlike Any That Had Ever Existed. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. ISBN 0679404937.
- Purcell, L. Edward. "Who Was Who in the American Revolution" (1993)

External links


- [http://www.americanrevolution.com The American Revolution at americanrevolution.com] - historical information, documents, pictures, and more
- [http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/ PBS Television Series] ja:アメリカ独立戦争 ko:미국 독립전쟁 Category:American Revolution Category:Rebellions in the United States Category:The Enlightenment Category:Revolutions

September 13

September 13 is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years). There are 109 days remaining in the year.

Events


- 509 BC - The temple of Jupiter on Rome's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the ides of September.
- 122 - The building of Hadrian's Wall begins.
- 533 - Belisarius and the Roman Empire defeat Gelimer and the Vandals at the Battle of Ad Decimium near Carthage, North Africa.
- 604 - Pope Sabinianus is consecrated.
- 1440 - Gilles de Rais is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by the Bishop of Nantes.
- 1609 - Henry Hudson reaches the river that will later be named after him - the Hudson River.
- 1743 - England, Austria and Savoy-Sardinia sign the Treaty of Worms (1743).
- 1759 - Battle of the Plains of Abraham: British defeat French near Quebec City in the Seven Years' War, known in the United States as the French and Indian War
- 1788 - The United States Constitutional Convention sets the date for the country's first presidential election, and New York City becomes the temporary capital of the U.S.
- 1791 - King Louis XVI of France accepts the new constitution
- 1813 - The British fail to capture Baltimore, Maryland. Turning point in the War of 1812.
- 1847 - Mexican-American War: Six teenage military cadets known as Niños Héroes die defending Chapultepec Castle in the Battle of Chapultepec. American General Winfield Scott captures Mexico City in the Mexican-American War.
- 1862 - Union soldiers find Robert E. Lee's battle plans in a field outside Frederick, Maryland.
- 1898 - Hannibal Williston Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film
- 1899 - Henry Bliss is the first person in the United States to be killed in an automobile accident.
- 1900 - Filipino resistance fighters defeat a larger American column in the Battle of Pulang Lupa, during the Philippine American War.
- 1906 - First airplane flight in Europe
- 1914 - During World War I, South African troops open hostilities in German SW Afica (Namibia) with an assault on the Ramansdrift police station.
- 1922 - The temperature (in the shade) at Al 'Aziziyah, Libya reaches a world record 136.4 °F (58 °C).
- 1923 - Military coup in Spain - Miguel Primo de Rivera takes over, setting up a dictatorship.
- 1939 - Canada enters World War II.
- 1940 - German bombs damage Buckingham Palace.
- 1940 - Italy invades Egypt.
- 1943 - Chiang Kai-shek elected president of the Republic of China.
- 1948 - Margaret Chase Smith is elected senator, and becomes the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate.
- 1953 - Nikita Khrushchev appointed secretary-general of the Soviet Union.
- 1956 - The dyke around the Dutch polder East Flevoland is closed.
- 1965 - Baseball: Willie Mays becomes the fifth member of the 500 home run club with a home run at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas.
- 1968 - Albania leaves the Warsaw Pact.
- 1970 - First running of the New York City Marathon.
- 1971 - State police and National Guardsmen storm New York's Attica Prison to end a prison revolt. 42 people die in the assault.
- 1971 - Frank Robinson becomes the 11th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.
- 1978 - Italy's Men's Soccer Team Captain Fabio Cannavaro is born in Napoli, Italy.
- 1978 - Jose Theodore, Goalie for the Montreal Canadiens NHL Franchise is born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
- 1979 - South Africa grants independence to the "homeland" of Venda (not recognized outside South Africa).
- 1985 - The Super Mario Bros. video game is released by Nintendo.
- 1987 - Goiânia accident: A radioactive object is stolen from an abandoned hospital in Goiânia, Brazil, contaminating many people in the following weeks and leading some to die from radiation poisoning.
- 1988 - Hurricane Gilbert is the strongest recorded hurricane in the Western Hemisphere (based on barometric pressure).
- 1989 - Largest anti-Apartheid march in South Africa, led by Desmond Tutu.
- 1991 - A concrete beam weighing 55 tons fell in the Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Canada.
- 1993 - Public unveiling of the Oslo Accords, an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement initiated by Norway.
- 1993 - Norwegian parliamentary election, 1993.
- 1994 - Ulysses probe passes the Sun's south pole.
- 1996 - After surviving for six days, U.S. rapper/actor Tupac Shakur dies after being shot four times in a drive by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- 1999 - Bomb explodes in Moscow, Russia. At least 119 people are killed.
- 2001 - Civilian airplane traffic in the U.S., which had been grounded following the September 11, 2001 attacks, is allowed to resume.
- 2004 - The anime InuYasha finishes its run in Japan with episode 167.
- 2005 - The Israeli's abandon the Gaza Strip.
- 2005 - Major Japanese Pop group Do As Infinity announces their disbanding.

Births


- 1087 - John II Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor (d. 1143)
- 1502 - John Leland, English antiquarian (d. 1552)
- 1520 - William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, English statesman (d. 1598)
- 1604 - William Brereton, English soldier and politician (d. 1661)
- 1739 - Grigori Potemkin, Russian statesman (d. 1791)
- 1