The Handy American History Answer Book. David L. Hudson
Treaty of Paris in 1763. The treaty was a magnificent victory for Great Britain and an ignoble loss for France, ceding Louisiana to Spain and the rest of her North American holdings to Great Britain. However, Great Britain suffered severe financial losses incurred during the French and Indian War. This led to increased taxation on the colonies, which ultimately led to the American Revolution or the Revolutionary War.
What was the Stono Rebellion?
The Stono Rebellion was a slave rebellion that began on September 9, 1739, about twenty miles from Charleston, South Carolina. Twenty slaves broke into a store, stole guns, and killed the storeowners. They left the heads of the storeowners on the front porch of the store. They then moved south, killing other whites along the way. A large group of white planters confronted the group and subdued them with a larger force. Historians estimate that approximately twenty-one whites and forty-two blacks were killed in the rebellion and its suppression. The rebellion is named the Stono Rebellion because it took place near the Stono River. It is sometimes called Cato’s Rebellion. Scholar and former federal appeals court Judge Leon Higginbotham writes in In the Matter of Color: Race and the American Legal Process (1978): “The Stono Rebellion was the most serious outbreak of the colonial period.”
The next year South Carolina enacted the 1740 Slave Code. The South Carolina general assembly stated: “the extent of … power over … slaves ought to be settled and limited by positive law so that the slave may be kept in subjection and obedience.” The preamble to the law provided that slaves were “subject of property in the hands of particular persons.” The law also prohibited teaching slaves how to read and write, a common feature of slave laws in the colonies.
FAMOUS AMERICAN INDIAN LEADERS
Who was Squanto?
Squanto (1585–1621) was an American Indian of the Patuxet Tribe who is best known for his amicable relations with Pilgrim leaders in the early seventeenth century. Squanto befriended the Pilgrims during their first brutal winter in the New World. He helped teach the Pilgrims to grow corn and how to better hunt and fish in the area. Squanto was able to communicate effectively with the Pilgrims because he had been trained in English and had been to England years earlier. A testament to Squanto’s good works can be seen in how Massachusetts colonial leaders felt when he died. William Bradford wrote of his passing: “His death was a great loss.”
Who was Samoset?
Samoset (1590–1653) was an American Indian who made early contact with the Pilgrims in Massachusetts in 1621. Samoset surprised the Pilgrims at Plymouth by coming into the Pilgrims’ camp and greeting them in English. He likely was helpful in ensuring peace between the Pilgrims with the Indian leader Massasoit (1581–1661), the leader of the Wampanoag Confederacy.
Who was Neolin?
Neolin, or the “Delaware prophet,” was an eighteenth-century Indian leader who urged his people to reject European goods and influences, which he viewed as corrupting. He urged Indians to return to their original or traditional way of living. One of his followers was Pontiac (1720–1769), an Ottawa war chief who organized a military effort against British occupation of the Great Lakes area.
Tamanend negotiates a peaceful treaty with William Penn in this 1772 oil painting by Benjamin West.
Who was Tamanend?
Tamanend (1625–1701) was an Indian leader who advocated for peaceful relations with European settlers in the Pennsylvania and Delaware area in the seventeenth century. He helped bring about peaceful relations with Pennsylvania leader William Penn, who believed strongly in good relations with the Indians. Tamanend is also known as “the Patron Saint of America” for his good works and efforts on behalf of peace.
EARLY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
What American college was founded in October 1636?
Harvard College—later named Harvard University—was founded in October 1636 by the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was initially called the New College. In 1638, the college was named after a Charleston, Massachusetts, minister named John Harvard (1607–1638), who left his library of more than four hundred books and half of his estate to the school. Harvard is the first institution of higher learning in the United States. It provided a sound education in the classics. It is associated with Congregationalism.
What was the second college founded in what became the United States?
The second oldest college in what became known as the United States is William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, founded in February 1693. It was named after the reigning British rulers, King William III and Queen Mary II. The original plans for the college were made in 1618, which would have made it the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. The first president of the University (sometimes called the founder of the college) was James Blair (1656–1743), a Scottish-born clergy of the Church of England.
What was King William’s School?
King William’s School was a preparatory school founded in 1696 in Maryland. It was designed as a sort of feeder school to William & Mary, the institution of higher learning founded five years earlier. It later became St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1784. Today the school has two campuses—one in Annapolis and the other in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
What college was founded in October 1701?
Yale College was founded in October 1701 in Saybrook, Connecticut, a town at the mouth of the Connecticut River. It was originally known as the Collegiate School of Saybrook. However, in 1716 the college moved to its current location in New Haven. In 1718, it was renamed Yale University after wealthy merchant Elihu Yale (1649–1721). Yale amassed a fortune working for the British East India Company and later helped religious leader Cotton Mather fund the college. Like Harvard, Yale is affiliated with the religion of Congregationalism.
What was Princeton’s original name?
Princeton University was originally known as the College of New Jersey, founded in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1746. It moved to Newark in 1747 and then to its current location in Princeton in 1756. It was renamed Princeton University in the late nineteenth century. Jonathan Dickinson (1688–1747) was the college’s first president, but he died shortly after assuming the post. Its most prominent early president was John Witherspoon (1723–1794), who signed the Declaration of Independence and served as president from 1768 until his death.
Why did the British colonies in America become discontented with the government of King George III?
King George III (1738–1820, r. 1760–1820) was one of Great Britain’s longest-ruling monarchs. While he enjoyed successes during his reign, such as leading England’s victory in the Seven Years’ War and, later, the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, his tight grip on the American colonies caused the settlers there to bristle. The king supported a number of economic burdens imposed upon the Colonies by the British Parliament because the Americans were proving financially successful, and their taxes helped England. At least until the Americans rebelled.
What was the Stamp Act?
The Stamp Act of 1765 was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament upon the American colonies. Under it, the colonies had to pay taxes on much printed paper created in London. Basically, the colonists had to pay taxes on everything written or printed. The measure was a revenue-generated measure designed to pay expenses associated with British troops stationed in North America to protect