fandomhigh | World History in a Nutshell

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World History in a Nutshell

Okay, so today we're covering the very basics of US History, from it's colonization up to, and including, the Civil War.

First off, who can name the thirteen original colonies?

Jamestown, Virginia was originally founded in 1607 in order to gain wealth and also, to a lesser extent, to convert the natives to Christianity. It was the first permanent English settlement in the New World and it provided a source of fertile land and great wealth to England thanks to the tobacco crop. This is the one that the Pocahontas story comes from.

Most people know about the Massachusetts colony. It was created by separatist Puritans who came over on the Mayflower. Massachusetts was virtually independent of England. Its government was representative, although the franchise was restricted to church members. Non-Puritans were allowed to reside in the colony but were forbidden participation in the government.

Now, there are eleven colonies left and there are eleven of you, so I've assigned you all a colony. You've got five to ten minutes to look either in these books, or online and to come up with when the colony was founded, by whom and why. If you have any time left, then a couple of lines about any significant events which happened.

Lyra - New Hampshire
Molly - Maryland
Cameron - Connecticut
Blair - Rhode Island
Chad - Delaware
Evelyn - North Carolina
Sam - South Carolina
Jim - New Jersey
Dean -New York
Broots - Pennsylvania
Hermione - Georgia

Right, next up is the Revolutionary War, or the War of Independence. From 1775 to 1783, it was a war between Great Britain and the revolutionaries of the thirteen colonies. The casus belli – and who can tell me what that means – tend to be listed as: taxation without representation, threats of traditional rights and republican ideology. The first one of those you'll see on license plates if you go and visit DC, in order to protest their lack of representation in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

If you're interested in all the details about battles and everything, there are plenty of good books out there. For this class, we're going to skip ahead to 1781 and to Yorktown, Virginia, where General Cornwallis, an English military commander, surrendered to George Washington, which although it was not the end of the war, it was the beginning of the end. The Treat of Paris was signed on September 3rd, 1783 and Congress ratified it January 14th, 1784.

Our last stop on this whirlwind tour is the Civil War. Fought between 1861 and 1865, it was a sectional conflict between the federal government – the "Union" and eleven Southern slave states that declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America, led by President Jefferson Davis. The Union, led by President Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party, opposed the expansion of slavery and rejected any right of secession. Fighting commended on April 12, 1861 when Confederate forces attacked a federal military installation at Fort Sumter, South Carolina.

Again, we're not going to go into the details, although if you wanted to do such a thing, I'm available to talk to about it.

The North got the upper hand by September 1864, when they took control of Atlanta. The war officially ended at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9th, 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Following the Civil War was a period of Reconstruction, but instead of me telling you about it, I want to hear what you have to say. Go for it.

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Molly Hayes

Yasutora Sado

Sam Winchester

Evie Carnahan

Blair Sandburg

JC Broots

Dean Forrester

Hermione Granger

Cameron Mitchell

Lyra Belacqua

(feel free to delete the anon one, sorry!)

Discuss your colony and any questions about the very brief lecture.

It's a relief to be in a class where she doesn't have to take two sets of notes just to keep her history straight.

"North Carolina: - home of the first English colony in the Americas, Roanoke Island, whose settlers disappeared, which remains a mystery as to their ultimate fate--"

Evie has to wonder about that. "It was claimed in 1583 by Humphrey Gilbert but no settlement was attempted. It was colonized in spring of 1585, with that colony's inhabitants disappearing in 1587. The next permanent settlement was in 1663."

"Charles II gave the province to the Lords Proprietors, a group of noblemen who had helped restore Charles to the throne in 1670. The new province was named "Carolina" in honor and memory of him. In 1712, North Carolina became a separate colony. With the exception of the Earl of Granville's holdings, it became a royal colony seventeen years later."

Daniel nodded, smiling. "Good, Evie," he said. "Want to hazard a guess as to what you think could have happened to the lost colony?"

"There seems to be three main theories," Evie said, looking hesitant. "Spanish attack, absorption into the local Native population because of problems, or destruction by those same Natives." She looked thoughtful. "Time travel?"

"I would never rule out time travel," said Daniel, perfectly seriously.

"Or possibly aliens," Evie said equally seriously. "Although I think the archaeological evidence points to something occurring with the local natives, it's inconclusive as to what. Or why. They really couldn't have made very interesting targets, half of them were dying after a year alone in a new continent when the Governor left." She tilted her head. "Yes, I really do have to vote for time travel. Or aliens. Or both."

"Time travelling aliens? I like it," said Daniel, grinning.

Chad read from his scribbled notes.

"So, Delaware was first settled by the Dutch in 1631 with the trading post Zwaanendael," he added that merely because it was too cool a name to pass over. He scratched the back of his head before he continued. "But then they were all killed by Natives, so the Swedish came over in '38, but then the Dutch came back and built a fort in '51, which lead them to taking it back entirely in '55. Until the British James, the Earl of York, decided he wanted it, and took it from the Dutch in '64. But then he changed his mind, or something, because he gave it to William Penn in '82 because he didn't want it anymore, but Penn did want it so that he had a way to access the sea from Pennsylvania."

"Then, nothing much happened in Delaware, until it became America's first state much, much later. And then nothing much has since happened in Delaware either."

"Uhhh, that's James, the Duke of York," Chad added a moment after his conclusion. "Not Earl."

...Damn handwriting.

Daniel nodded and grinned. "If I remember correctly, the title of the Earl of York was merged with that of the Duke of York in the fourteenth century," he explained. He glanced around the room. "No one's from Delaware, who wants to defend their state?"

"Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 when Charles II of England granted a land charter to William Penn because he owed Penn's father money. Best reason to start a colony, ever. The state was the second state to ratify the constitution and the only un-married President came from there. Also, Gettysburg is nearby, but I think I went way too ahead in its history."

"Nope, it's fine," said Daniel. "I was just looking for events that happened and Gettysburg is a good one. So, who was the only un-married President then?"

You've got five to ten minutes to look either in these books, or online and to come up with when the colony was founded, by whom and why. If you have any time left, then a couple of lines about any significant events which happened.

"South Carolina was founded in the 1670's by English settlers from Barbados, who were following French Huguenots to the New World. The Carolina area was also founded by Scottish and Irish immigrants, but they generally stayed in the area that became North Carolina. Like Evie said, North and South Carolina separated in 1712. As for significant events, South Carolina was the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation and the first state to secede from the Union during the Civil War."

Lyra used the books more than the internet for her research.

"Um, New Hampshire was originally an English fishing settlement, but there was a lot of tension with the French, too. By the Revolution there was a lot of industry on the coast, but farmers in the interior, so there were conflicting interests there.

"Then nothing really happened until they got railroads, and then people started to holiday there. Oh, and they made paper and fabric and such there, too."

[ooc: sorry it took so long. this week has been muy hectic. i just wanted Lyra to ping in at least a little.]

I've heard that the English let the Americans win because it was too much of a hassle to keep them anymore.

Of course, that could just be the English point of view there...

"Really, it was a very silly system, expecting the Colonies not to export anything to anyone else. But it all worked out all right for the British, because after the war the merchants had adjusted to the loss of revenue from America. A shame about the lives lost, and that they couldn't have figured it out sooner, of course." Evie sighed.

Daniel grinned. "Isn't that pretty much the case with any war?" he asked.

"Well, yes. This just seems a bit more obvious than most, with a two month sea journey between the colony and the mother country."

"Ah, but think about how long the journeys would be between England and some of it's other colonies," pointed out Daniel.

"But most of those didn't have a large, settled population, at least not in comparison to America-- the West Indies, India, those outposts were small in the 1700's, and were in no way interested in governing themselves. Perhaps America should have shouldered more taxes, but really, enforcing that was more expense than it was worth." Evie shook her head. "And there wasn't equal representation for anyone in England, really. The working class didn't get the vote until the 1840's. So it wasn't just that."

"Well, it can be argued that it's still not equal representation now," pointed out Daniel.

"Well, perhaps not, but it was a major step forward, as it would be seventy years later in England." Evie shook her head. "Either way, the war didn't have much popular support in England, the longer it took. Once the economic stressors were adjusted for, the only impetus was pride, and that wasn't enough to compensate for the losses. And it really didn't end up effecting England much."

"Do you think it would have been different if America had been a major producer of, oh, tea, for example?" asked Daniel.

"Well, they were a major producer of molasses for rum, and tobacco. Both of which were important to England. But given enough time, the merchants found other customers for their wares, adjusted for price increases, and withdrew their support for a costly enterprise."

Daniel nodded, smiling. "Good," he said.

No, honestly. Anyone want to explain Reconstruction to me?

...

Sorry about completely flaking last week. College applications are eating what time is not being eaten by work.

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World History in a Nutshell

Sign in (10/23)

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The Colonies

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Revolutionary War

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Civil War and Reconstruction

Talk to Dr. Jackson/After class

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