Colonial Punishments
Flirting in public. Shaving on Sunday. Complaining that a minister’s sermon was boring. Today, all of those acts sound harmless. But they were crimes in colonial America, and those who…
1735
By 1735, Britain had established 13 thriving colonies on the eastern coast of North America. But the colonists were chafing under British rule—they wanted more freedom. In August, that desire…
1718
In this year, two settlements were founded that would later become important U.S. cities. The year also saw the death of Blackbeard, a notorious pirate who had terrorized ships off…
The Dutch in America
The Dutch – people from the Netherlands – came to America in two waves. The first wave came at the very beginning of the period of European settlement. These Dutch…
The Founding of St. Augustine
Some Americans believe that the first permanent European settlement in the present-day United States was the English village at Jamestown, Virginia. But 42 years before the founding of Jamestown, the…
Pocahontas
In 1608, Captain John Smith, one of the leaders of the English settlement at Jamestown in Virginia, was captured by Indians. According to a book Smith wrote in later years,…
the Founding of Harvard College
Just six years after the Puritans founded Massachusetts Bay Colony, they decided to start a “schoale or colledge” near Boston. When John Harvard, a clergyman dying of tuberculosis, wrote a…
Clara Barton
She was called the “angel of the battlefield” by those who saw her caring for wounded and dying soldiers during the Civil War. Her role there made her a national…
Stonewall Jackson
Stonewall Jackson died two years before the end of the Civil War, but he is remembered as one of the greatest commanders. He was Robert E. Lee’s right-hand man, famous…
Frederick Douglass
In 1841, at an antislavery meeting in Massachusetts, a tall young African-American named Frederick Douglass stood up to speak. He knew about slavery, for he had been born a slave…
George G. Meade
Early on the morning of June 28, 1863, General George Gordon Meade was awakened by a messenger with a letter from Abraham Lincoln. The President, the letter said, had appointed…
The City of Philadelphia
Philadelphia is the birthplace of the United States. In 1776, representatives from the thirteen colonies met there to discuss the revolt against England. The delegates signed the Declaration of Independenceon…
Boston
Every year, more than two million people take a two-mile walk into history along Boston’s Freedom Trail. Among the highlights are the cobblestoned site where British troops fired on colonists…
Brooklyn Bridge
One of the greatest engineering feats of the 19th century, the Brooklyh Bridge opened with fireworks and fanfare on May 24, 1883. It connected New York State’s two largest cities,…
Baltimore
Baltimore’s fine harbor has always been the heart of the city. Shipping and shipbuilding thrived there before the Revolution. In the 1800s, sleek sailing ships called Baltimore clippers carried the…
Santa Fe
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the United States. It was founded in the winter of 1609-1610 by Spanish settlers from Mexico as the center of Spain’s royal…
New Orleans
New Orleans is one of the most picturesque and interesting cities in the US In the section known as the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carre (old square), the pastel-colored…
Seattle
Near the center of the city, on the site of the 1962 World’s Fair, stands the Space Needle. From the top of this tower, visitors can admire the magnificent setting…
Dallas
The shining skyscrapers of Dallas are visible from far across the praries of northeastern Texas. Considered the financial center of the Southwest, Dallas is the home of banks, oil companies,…
Amy Tan
In Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, a group of Chinese-American women meets regularly to play mah-jongg, a Chinese game played with small ivory tiles. The women all came…