...Based upon the merciless rule of England and its unjust treatment of the 13 colonies, to imprison America’s founders is not only groundless, but unlawful. The men being held captive, George Washington, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Hancock; are American, therefore free from punishment of crimes that occurred on American soil. The charges against these revolutionists are without proper evidence and support. It is a travesty in the name of justice to misinterpret the intensions of these men without first acknowledging the possibility of their innocence in collaboration with the causes and events leading up to the initial incarceration. This was not a revolution of desperate lower class minorities with nothing to lose. The people behind the revolution were wealthy, educated, opinionated politicians; all of whom, in agreement of the fact that there was no other option rather than to risk everything for the freedom they rightfully deserved. George...
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...Over the course of his lifetime he was a painter, saddle maker, watchmaker, silversmith, upholsterer, Revolutionary War Soldier, politician, an inventor, an archeologist, taxidermist, a scientist, a dentist, and a family man. Although now less recognizable than most of his contemporaries, such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, he was just as brilliant. Peale was born on April 15th, 1741, in Maryland to Charles and Margaret Peale. His Father was a convicted felon. He had one brother named James. Throughout the course of his life, Peale married three women who altogether bore him seventeen children, nine of whom he named after famous painters....
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... |made between the king and his subjects that he would govern | | | |England and its people in accordance with the customs of feudal| | | |law. ("History Learning Site ", 2000-2013). | | |Mayflower Compact |Mayflower Compact is one if the first governing document of |The Mayflower Compact called for equality amongst people and the provision of | | |Plymouth Colony. It was religious persecution by king James of |equitable access to rights and resources. The Constitution follows the same | | |England. ("Totally History Mayflower Compact ", 2012). |structures and provides citizens with inalienable rights that...
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...Thomas Jefferson By: Jamie M. Narron American History I Instructor Dr. Alan Lamm Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 at Shadwell, his family’s farm in Albemarle County, Virginia. Thomas was the third child in the family of 10 children, six girls and 4 boys. His father, Peter Jefferson had many jobs during his life; he served as a surveyor, sheriff, colonel of militia, and member of the House of Burgess. His mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, came from the one of the oldest families in Virginia. [1] Thomas grew up as any normal young colony boy would. His interest included hunting, fishing, horseback riding, and canoeing. All the children learned to play the violin and to appreciate music. Peter Jefferson taught Thomas to read and write, and to keep the farm accounts. [1] At the age of nine Thomas began his studies in local schools, and went to live with a nearby Scottish clergyman, who taught him Latin, Greek, and French. [1] At the age of fourteen Thomas Jefferson’s father passed away. Thomas being the oldest son became the head of the family. His inheritance included Shadwell with its 30 slaves and more than 2, 500 acres of land. John Harvey, Thomas’s guardian, managed the estate. [1] After Thomas’s father died, he entered the school of the Reverend James Maury, near Charlottesville. Thomas Jefferson was a remarkable genius, he enjoyed a large number of pursuits ranging from reading the works of Greek and Roman authors, and he read these in their own...
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...Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1773 his birth place was Charlottesville, Virginia right outside the western edge of Great Britain’s empire. Thomas Jefferson was born into one of the most prominent families in Virginia. Jane Randolph Jefferson his mother, was a member of the Randolph clan. Peter Jefferson his father was a very skilled farmer and cartographer who created the first accurate map of the Province of Virginia. Thomas Jefferson was the 3rd born out of ten siblings. When Thomas Jefferson was a young boy his favorite activities were playing in the woods, practicing the violin and reading. At the age of nine his formal education started by studying Latin and Greek at a local private school run by William Douglas. At the age of 14, in 1757, he took up more study of the classical languages and literature and mathematics by James Maury. In 1760 Jefferson left home to attend the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. Three years at William and...
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...American Revolutionary War Helen Dunlap COM/150 29 January 2012 Lisa Pope The American Revolutionary War was an event that lasted from 1775 to 1783. This war has begun as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the former 13 United British colonies, but ended in a global war between several European palatable powers. For about a decade, tension had been mounting between Great Britain and the American Colonies. The British government had passed a series of laws in an attempt to take control over the colonies. Americans had become so used to having control over their own local government so they objected to the new laws and protested against being tax without their consent. This was the sudden and unfair taxation of the colonists that led to the Revolutionary War. The American Revolution was the result of a series of social, political, and intellectual transformations in early American society and government, collectively referred to as the American Enlightenment. Americans rejected the oligarchies common in aristocratic Europe at the time, championing instead the development of republicanism based on the Enlightenment understanding of liberalism. Among the significant results of the revolution was the creation of a democratic elected representative government responsible to the will have of the people. However, sharp political debates erupted over the appropriate level of democracy desirable in the new government, with a number of Founders. Seventeen sixty-three...
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...Most Americans nowadays like to think that they have the American Revolution pretty well figured out. Conventional wisdom starts the saga in 1763 when Britain, saddled with debt at the close of the Seven Years' War, levied new taxes that prompted her American colonists to resist, and then to reject, imperial rule. Having declared independence and defeated the British, American patriots then drafted the constitution that remains the law of the land to this day. With George Washington's inauguration as president in 1789, the story has a happy ending and the curtain comes down. This time-honored script renders the road from colonies to nation clear, smooth, and straight, with familiar landmarks along the way, from Boston's Massacre and Tea Party through Lexington and Concord, then on to Bunker Hill and Yorktown before reaching its destination: Philadelphia in 1787, where the Founders invented a government worthy of America's greatness. Those Founders are equally familiar. Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison, Sam and John Adams, Patrick Henry and Alexander Hamilton: in the popular mind this band of worthies, more marble monuments than mere mortals, guides America towards its grand destiny with a sure and steady hand. "[F]or the vast majority of contemporary Americans," writes historian Joseph Ellis, the birth of this nation is shrouded by "a golden haze or halo."(1) So easy, so tame, so much "a land of foregone conclusions" does America's Revolution...
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...Thomas Jefferson author of the declaration of independence was born April 3, 1743 in Virginia. Jefferson was the third president of the united states and founder of the university of virginia. Thomas Jefferson was the son of Peter Jefferson, a successful planter and surveyor. His mother Jane Randolph was a member of one of the most families in virginia. Jefferson inherited land from his father and started building monticello at age 26. Three years later he married Martha Wayles Skelton. During this marriage he had six kids, only two survived until adulthood. At the age of nine Jefferson began his formal studies. He did boarding school until the age of sixteen. In 1760 he enrolled at the college of William and Mary. During this time he took science, mathematics, rhetoric, philosophy, and literature. Jefferson looked up to William Small as a mentor. He also pursued legal studies with George Wythe. Jefferson was perhaps one of the best read lawyers upon his admission to the Virginia bar in April 1767. The study of law meant a lot to Jefferson. He felt that legal issues allowed him to consider many aspects of society, including its history, politics, culture, institutions, and the moral conscience of its people. During this time not many people could afford the education that he...
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...independence for Ghana or Canada. It was not until later on that the colonies realized that Britain would not easily hand over the land. What I find interesting is that only the Founding Fathers seemed to realize the great events taking place during their time. John Adams even instructed his wife to file and keep all of his records. It is as if he knew that hundreds of years from then, we the future Americans would look back at his notes and recognize his greatness. This makes me wonder why they were so sure of themselves. The Americans were at a disadvantage during the beginning of the war. How was it that they seem so certain that the war would end up in their favor? Ellis backs up my point by stating, “Men make history…, but they can never know the history that they are making (pg.4).” Every event in life can go two ways: really good or really bad. If the British were to take the...
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...That was the same year he returned to America to be the principal framer of the Massachusetts Constitution. By the early 1780s, Adams returned to Europe once again, accommodating in a diplomatic capacity. In 1783, he, along with John Jay and Benjamin Franklin helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris, which ended all aggression between America and Britain. After peace was met he would be vice president and eventually become president of America. When asked about the war and the revolution by Thomas Jefferson, Adams responded with “….What do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no part of the revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected from 1760–1775, in the course of fifteen years, before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington.” This shows that Adams believes that the war was not the cause of independence but it was the people coming together for their freedom. As far as religion goes John Adams was reared as a Congregationalist, but in adulthood became a Unitarian, which at the time held Protestant Christian views. He acknowledged the role religion played in public life and attended church services, but he was not committed to...
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...oppression, and the civic duty to act in concert in defense of the state. Academic inquiry into the purpose, scope, and effect of the amendment has been controversial and subject to numerous interpretations both by constitutional scholars and ordinary citizens. America has a long history of its citizens keeping and bearing arms. The earliest settlers from Virginia thru New England used their firearms to hunt for game to feed their families and protect them from attack from both two and four legged predators. Firearms in essence, changed the culture of guns in the Americas. Gun control is another of those pesky freedoms granted by the countries forefathers in the attempt to protect the citizenry from a tyrannical ruling government. Our founding fathers have provided many quotes regarding why they adopted the Second Amendment Here are but a few of them: (Guncite.Com) "A free people ought to be armed." - George Washington "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson "I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." - Thomas Jefferson "The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are...
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...The First and Second Continental Congress History-101 Dr. Robert Young May 22, 2014 From 1774 to 1789, the first Continental Congress served as the single government of the original 13 American colonies and later to become the United States of America. It was comprised of delegates from the colonies which met in 1774 to the reaction of the Coercive Acts which were a series of measures imposed by the British government on the colonies in response to their resistance to the new taxes imposed by the British. The American dream is built upon a foundation of struggles and gains, along with more struggles. A look back to early American history provides one with a timeline that seems endless and full of surprises. The First Continental Congress serves as one of those timeline markers and is a great example of the American way. Being one of the first meetings ever between the colonists, Congress laid one of the first bricks into the foundation of America. The First Continental Congress made its mark in history on September 5, 1774 in Philadelphia’s Carpenters Hall. The idea of such a meeting was advanced a year earlier by Benjamin Franklin, but failed to gain much support until after the Port of Boston was closed in response to the Boston Tea Party. Twelve of the thirteen colonies sent representatives to this secret meeting, “Georgia decided against roiling the waters; they were facing attacks from the restive Creek on their borders and desperately needed the support...
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...University of Phoenix Material Influences on the Constitution Table Write one or two paragraphs in each section. Include citations for your sources. Documents Summary What was its influence on the Constitution? Magna Carta Magna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum or The Great Charter of the Liberties of England, is an English charter, originally issued in Latin in the year 1215, translated into vernacular-French as early as 1219,[1] and reissued later in the 13th century in changed versions. The later versions excluded the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority that had been present in the 1215 charter. The charter first passed into law in 1225; the 1297 version, with the long title (originally in Latin) "The Great Charter of the Liberties of England, and of the Liberties of the Forest," still remains on the statute books of England and Wales. The 1215 charter required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties, and accept that his will was not arbitrary, for example by explicitly accepting that no "freeman" (in the sense of non-serf) could be punished except through the law of the land, a right which is still in existence today. Magna Carta was the principal document forced onto an English King by a group of his matters, the feudal barons, in an effort to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. It was followed and directly influenced by the Charter of Liberties in 1100, in which King Henry I had specified particular...
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...American Civil War History Paper The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a civil war between the United States (the "Union") and the Southern slave states of the newly-formed Confederate States of America under Jefferson Davis. The Union included all of the free states and the five slaveholding border states and was led by Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party, which opposed the expansion of slavery into territories owned by the United States. Republican victory in the presidential election of 1860 led seven Southern states to declare their secession from the Union even before Lincoln took office.[1] The Union rejected secession, regarding it as rebellion. Hostilities began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Lincoln responded by calling for a large volunteer army, then four more Southern states declared their secession. In the war's first year, the Union assumed control of the border states and established a naval blockade as both sides massed armies and resources. In 1862, battles such as Shiloh and Antietam caused massive casualties unprecedented in U.S. military history. In September 1862, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation made ending slavery in the South a war goal, which complicated the Confederacy's manpower shortages. In the East, Confederate commander Robert E. Lee won a series of victories over Union armies, but Lee's reverse at Gettysburg in early...
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...as a day that represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation. But July 4, 1776 wasn't the day that the Continental Congress decided to declare independence (they did that on July 2, 1776). It wasn’t the day we started the American Revolution either (that had happened back in April 1775). And it wasn't the day Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence (that was in June 1776). Or the date on which the Declaration was delivered to Great Britain (that didn't happen until November 1776). Or the date it was signed (that was August 2, 1776). So what did happen on July 4, 1776? The Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. They'd been working on it for a couple of days after the draft was submitted on July 2nd and finally agreed on all of the edits and changes. July 4, 1776, became the date that was included on the Declaration of Independence, and the fancy handwritten copy that was signed in August (the copy now displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.) It’s also the date that was printed on the Dunlap Broadsides, the original printed copies of the Declaration that were circulated throughout the new nation. So when people thought of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 was the date they remembered. In contrast, we celebrate Constitution Day on September 17th of each year, the anniversary of the date the Constitution...
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