Читать книгу The Handy American History Answer Book - David L Hudson - Страница 10
ОглавлениеWho were the first people to inhabit North America?
There is no sure answer to this question, but many historians or paleontologists believe the first people to inhabit what is present-day North America crossed near the Bering Sea, which connects Asia with Alaska. There is a piece of land known as the Bering Strait, which is less than sixty miles long. Many believe that during the Ice Age—sometime between 34,000 B.C.E. and 30,000 B.C.E.—many people crossed the Bering Sea or Bering Strait when it was a land mass to reach North America. While scientists agree that the first people crossed the Bering Strait during the Ice Age, they do not know the identity of these first peoples.
Most scholars also agree that there were several discrete, and perhaps isolated, movements of various peoples from Asia to the Americas. The migrations might have been prompted by population increases in the tribes of central Asia, which impelled some to move eastward in search of food sources—animals. As game moved across the Bering Strait, hunters followed.
Who are the Native Americans?
Native Americans is a term often used to describe American Indians, widely believed to be the first peoples to inhabit the Americas, including North America. Some historians have claimed that at one time there were sixty million Native Americans living on the continent. Their population declined dramatically when they came into contact with Europeans and diseases or epidemics Europeans transmitted.
Around 5,000 B.C.E., the disappearance of large game animals in both North and South America produced a series of regional developments, culminating in the emergence of several great civilizations, including the Inca, Maya, and Aztec.
Is there much evidence of these early peoples?
Not much, as it was so long ago. However, archaeologists have found numerous artifacts dating back to at least 12,000 or 10,000 B.C.E. in parts of North America. For example, artifacts from that time period have been found in Alaska, Oregon, and New Mexico.
Who are the Anasazi?
The Anasazi refer to an ancient Pueblo Indian tribe that inhabited parts of the southwestern United States during 10,000 to 5,000 B.C.E. Anasazi is roughly translated to “ancient ones.” This ancient Pueblo culture featured adobe buildings and beautiful baskets. They are sometimes referred to as the “Basket Makers.” The ancient Pueblo peoples were also known for their mastery of pottery.
What were mounds?
Mounds, also known as earthworks, were man-made piles of land and/or rocks created by early Indians in the United States. There is evidence of mounds in Louisiana and Florida dating back to at least 3,000 B.C.E. There is a mound complex known as Watson Brake in Louisiana that is believed to be the oldest mound complex in North America. Historians date this complex to around 3,500 B.C.E.
The Escalante pueblo in Colorado is an example of ruins left behind by the Anasazi people, who occupied it in the twelfth century.
What was the environment of the first Americans?
The original people of North America lived in many different types of environments. On the eastern side of North America, Native Americans lived in woodlands, hunting elk and deer. On the grass plains of the Midwest, Native Americans hunted camel and other mammals—some of whom are extinct on this continent. In the desert regions of the Southwest, Native Americans relied on the gathering of seeds and smaller animals. In the Arctic north, there was much more hunting and fishing.
What were the first crops developed by the early Indian cultures?
The earliest crops were squash and chili in the southwestern United States. The Native Americans also developed corn, or maize, as an early crop. They then started cultivating various types of beans.
THE FIRST EUROPEANS TO REACH AMERICA
Who was the first European to reach North America?
Many believe the first European to reach North America was a Norse explorer named Leif Ericsson (970–1020), who arguably reached North America around 1,000 B.C.E.—more than 400 years before Christopher Columbus. He established a small Norse settlement known as Vinland in what is now modern-day Newfoundland in Canada. Ericksson was born in Iceland and was the son of the famous explorer Erik the Red (950–1003).
About 1001, Ericsson set out from Greenland with a crew of thirty-five men and probably landed on the southern end of Baffin Island, due north of the province of Quebec. The expedition likely made it to Labrador, Newfoundland (on the northeastern North American mainland), and later landed on the coast of what is today Nova Scotia or Newfoundland, Canada; this landfall may have been at L’Anse aux Meadows (on Newfoundland Island). Ericson and his crew spent the winter of 1001–1002 at a place he called Vinland, which was described as well wooded and produced fruit, especially grapes. He returned to Greenland in the spring of 1002.
Who was Christopher Columbus?
Christopher Columbus, or Christoforo Columbo (1451–1506), was an Italian-born explorer best known for his multiple voyages to the Americas, or the so-called “New World.” Columbus studied maps and had a fascination for seafaring exploration. He initially approached King John II of Portugal about funding his explorations to the New World that Columbus knew existed. King John rejected his proposals after asking several of his expert advisors, who cautioned that the distance to this new land had been underestimated by Columbus. The explorer again asked King John, but the king became more interested in explorations to Africa, as Portugese explorer Bartolomeu Dias (1451–1500) had just sailed by the southernmost point of the African continent. King John wanted to focus exploratory activities in that region.
How did America get its name?
America is derived from the name of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), who took part in several early voyages to the New World. Vespucci had been a merchant in service of the Medici family in Florence. He later moved to Spain, where he worked for the company that outfitted the ships for Christopher Columbus’s (1451–1506) second and third voyages. He sailed with the Spaniards on several expeditions (in 1497, 1499, 1501, and 1503).
Though scholars today question his role as an explorer, in a work by German mapmaker Martin Waldseemüller (c. 1470–c. 1520) published in 1507, the author credited Vespucci with realizing that he had actually arrived in a New World—not in the Far East, as other explorers (including Columbus) had believed. Thus, Waldseemüller suggested the new lands be named America after Amerigo Vespucci. For his part, Waldseemüller was led to believe this by Vespucci himself, who had written to Lorenzo de Medici in 1502 or 1503, relaying his discovery of a new continent and vividly describing it.
The designation “America” was used again in 1538 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator (Gerhard Kremer; 1512–1594). Today the term in the singular refers to either continent in the Western Hemisphere and sometimes specifically to the United States. In the plural, it refers to all the lands of the Western Hemisphere, including North and South America and the West Indies.
Columbus then presented his plans to the monarchs of Spain—King Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452-1516) and Queen Isabella of Castile (1451-1504). They eventually approved Columbus’s exploits. They designated Columbus with the title “Admiral of the Seas,” although it is speculated that they expected him to not be successful and return to Spain.
Where did Christopher Columbus first land in the New World?
Columbus set sail from Palos, in southwest Spain, on August 3, 1492, and he sighted land on October 12 that year. Going ashore, he named it San Salvador, alternately called Watlings Island (a present-day island in the Bahamas). With his fleet of three vessels, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, Columbus then continued west and south, sailing along the north coast of Cuba and Haiti (which he named Hispaniola). When the Santa Maria ran aground, Columbus left a colony of about forty men on the Haitian coast where they built a fort, which, being Christmastime, they named La Navidad (“Christmas” in Spanish).
In January 1493, Columbus set sail for home, arriving back in Palos on March 15 with a few “Indians” (Native Americans), as well as some belts, aprons, bracelets, and gold. News of his successful voyage spread rapidly, and Columbus journeyed to Barcelona, Spain, where he was triumphantly received by Ferdinand and Isabella.
On his second voyage, which he undertook on September 25, 1493, he sailed with a fleet of seventeen ships and some fifteen hundred men. In November he reached Dominica, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Upon returning to Haiti (Hispaniola), Columbus found the colony at La Navidad had been destroyed by natives. In December 1493, he made a new settlement at Isabella (present-day Dominican Republic, the eastern portion of Hispaniola), which became the first European town in the New World. Before returning to Spain in 1496, Columbus also landed in Jamaica.
Although famed explorer Christopher Columbus made multiple treks to the New World, he never actually landed in North America.
On his third voyage, which he began in May 1498, Columbus reached Trinidad, just off the South American coast. On his fourth and last trip, he reached the island of Martinique before arriving on the North American mainland at Honduras (in Central America). It was also on this voyage, in May 1502, that he sailed to the Isthmus of Panama—finally believing himself to be near China. But Columbus suffered many difficulties and in November 1504 returned to Spain for good. He had, of course, never found the westward sea passage to the Indies in the Far East. Nevertheless, the Caribbean islands he discovered came to be known collectively as the West Indies. And the native peoples of North and South America came to be known collectively as “Indians.”
Why does controversy surround Christopher Columbus?
History wrongly billed Columbus as “the discoverer” of the New World. The native peoples living in the Americas before the arrival of Christopher Columbus truly discovered these lands. It is more accurate to say that Columbus was the first European to discover the New World, and there he encountered its native peoples.
But it was for his treatment of these native peoples that Columbus is a controversial figure. Columbus was called back from the New World twice (on his second and third voyages) for investigation regarding his dealings with the Native Americans, including charges of cruelty. The first inquiry (1496–1497) turned out favorably for the explorer. His case was heard before the Spanish king, and charges were dismissed. However, troublesome rumors continued to follow Columbus, and in 1500 he and two of his brothers (Bartholomeo and Diego) were arrested and sent back to Spain in chains.
Though later released and allowed to continue his explorations (making one final trip to the New World), Columbus never regained his former stature, lost all honor, and died in poverty in the Spanish city of Valladolid in 1506.
SPANISH CONQUERORS AND EXPLORERS
Who were the Conquistadors?
Conquistador is the Spanish word for conqueror. The Spaniards who arrived in North and South America in the late 1400s and early 1500s were just that—conquerors of the American Indians and their lands. In many cases, the Spaniards were the first Europeans to arrive in these lands, where they encountered native inhabitants including the Aztec of Mexico, the Maya of southern Mexico and Central America, and the Inca of western South America. By the mid–1500s these native peoples had been conquered, their populations decimated by the conquistadors. The conquest happened in two ways: First, the Spaniards rode on horseback and carried guns, while their native opponents were on foot and carried crude weapons, such as spears and knives; second, the European adventurers brought illnesses (such as smallpox and measles) to which the native populations of the Americas had no immunities, causing the people to become sick and die.
By 1535 conquistadors such as Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475–1541), Hernéan Cortés (1485–1547), and Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475–1519) had claimed the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and much of the West Indies (Caribbean islands) for Spain.
Who was Ponce de León?
Juan Ponce de León (1474–1521) was a Spanish conquistador who explored Puerto Rico for the Spanish crown and who also ventured into modern-day Florida. De León became the first governor of Puerto Rico and the first Spanish explorer to “discover” Florida. De León actually named the “Sunshine State” La Florida, translated as “Flowery Land.”
De León traveled to Florida in search of the mythical Fountain of Youth. De León had traveled with Christopher Columbus in his second (1493) mission to the New World. During Columbus’s missions, the Spanish established a colony called Hispaniola. De León would later serve in a leading capacity in that region under Governor Nicolas de Ovando.
Ovando later named De León governor of Puerto Rico in 1509. Spanish King Ferdinand II convinced De León to explore other lands, leading De León to his voyage to Florida. He led an expedition of three ships—including the Santiago, the San Christobal, and the Santa Maria—on the mission.
A tiny town in Holmes County, Florida, called Ponce de León, is named after the famous explorer.
What areas of present-day America did Hernando de Soto explore?
Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto (c. 1500–1542) ventured throughout the Southeast before he caught fever and died along the banks of the Mississippi River.
Having been part of a brutal expedition that crushed the Inca Empire (in present-day Peru), in 1536 de Soto returned to Spain a hero. But he sought to return to the New World and got his wish when King Charles I (1500–1558) appointed him governor of Cuba and authorized him to conquer and colonize the region that is now the southeastern United States.
Arriving in Florida in the winter of 1539, de Soto and an army of about six hundred men headed north during the following spring and summer. In search of gold and silver, they traveled through present-day Georgia, North and South Carolina, and the Great Smoky Mountains, and into Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. After defeating the Choctaw leader Tuscaloosa in October 1540 in south-central Alabama, the Spaniards headed north and west into Mississippi. They crossed the Mississippi River on May 21, 1540, and de Soto died later that same day. Since he had shown no mercy in his conquests of the native peoples, de Soto’s troops sunk his body in the river so it would not be discovered and desecrated by the Indians. Then his army continued on without him; under the direction of Luis de Moscoso, they reached Mexico in 1541.
Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto was the first European to see the Mississippi River, which he discovered in 1541, as portrayed in this 1853 painting by William Henry Powell.
Did the Europeans introduce anything besides disease to the Americas?
The European explorers brought with them many things that were previously unknown in the Americas. When Christopher Columbus landed at Hispaniola in 1492, he carried with him horses and cattle. These were the first seen in the Western Hemisphere; the American Indians had no beasts of burden prior to the Europeans’ arrival. In subsequent trips, Europeans introduced horses and livestock (including cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, and chickens) throughout South and North America. They later carried plants from Europe and the East back to the Americas, where they took hold. These included rice, sugar, indigo, wheat, and citrus fruits—all of which became established in the Western Hemisphere and became important crops during colonial times. With the exception of indigo (which was used as a fabric dye), these nonindigenous crops remain important to the countries of North and South America.
What was the claim to fame of Balboa?
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475–1519) was a Spanish explorer best known for laying claim as the first European to lead an expedition to see the Pacific Ocean. He set sail for the New World, eventually landing in modern-day Colombia. He established the first colonial settlement established by the conquistadors in mainland America at Santa Maria la Antigua del Darren. Balboa became governor of the area. He also crossed the Isthmus of Panama and “discovered” the South Sea.
Were the Spaniards the first Europeans to reach North America after the Vikings?
No, that distinction goes to explorer John Cabot (c. 1451–1498), who in 1497 sailed westward from Bristol, England, in search of a trade route to the East. Cabot’s story began in 1493, when Columbus returned to Spain from his New World voyage, claiming to have reached Asia. From the accounts of the trip, Cabot, who was himself a navigator, believed it was unlikely Columbus had traveled that far. He did, however, believe it was possible (as did subsequent explorers) to find a route—a northwest passage—that ran north of the landmass Columbus had discovered and by which Asia could be reached. In 1495 the Italian Cabot—born Giovanni Caboto—took his family to England, and in March 1496, appealed to King Henry VII (1457–1509) for his endorsement to pursue the plan. For his part, King Henry, well aware of the claims made by the Spanish and Portuguese who had sponsored their own explorations, was eager to find new lands to rule. Accordingly, he granted a patent authorizing Cabot’s expedition.
Later that year, Cabot set sail, but problems aboard the ship and foul weather forced him to turn back. On May 20, 1497, he sailed again, in a small ship christened “Matthew.” The crew of twenty included Cabot’s son, Sebastian. On June 24, they sighted land, and Cabot went ashore. While he saw signs of human habitation, he encountered no one. From reports of the trip, scholars believe Cabot reached the coasts of present-day Maine, Nova Scotia, and probably Newfoundland. He then sailed home, returning to England on August 6, 1497. He reported to the king six days later and was given both a reward and authorization for a more sizeable expedition, undertaken in May 1498. Cabot set sail with five ships in his command, but the expedition was not heard from again.
What were the Spanish holdings in the New World?
New Spain comprised many of the Spanish possessions in the New World during the colonial period. At its height, New Spain included what are today the southwestern United States; all of Mexico; Central America to the Isthmus of Panama; Florida; much of the West Indies (islands in the Caribbean); and the Philippines (in the Pacific Ocean). The viceroyalty (province governed by a representative of the monarch) was governed from the capital at Mexico City beginning in 1535. In 1821, a Mexican rebellion ended Spanish rule there, and the colonial empire of New Spain dissolved. By 1898, after Spain lost the Spanish–American War, Spain had ceded all its possessions in North America. Its last holdings were the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.
During the colonial period, Spain also claimed other territories in the New World—in northern and western South America. Most of these holdings fell under the viceroyalty of Peru, which was administered separately from the viceroyalty of New Spain. These possessions were also lost by Spain by the end of the 1800s.
What were the French holdings in the New World?
The French possessions in North America, called New France, consisted of the colonies of Canada, Acadia, and Louisiana. The first land claims were made in 1534 by French explorer Jacques Cartier (1491–1557) as he sailed the St. Lawrence River in eastern Canada. In 1604, Sieur de Monts (Pierre du Gua; c. 1568–c. 1630) established a settlement at Acadia (in present-day Nova Scotia, Canada), and French claims later extended the region to include what are today the province of New Brunswick, Canada, and the eastern part of Maine. After founding Quebec in 1608, explorer Samuel de Champlain (c. 1567–1635) penetrated the interior (present-day Ontario) as far as Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, extending French land claims westward.
In 1672, French-Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet (1645–1700) and French missionary Jacques Marquette (1637–1675) became the first Europeans to discover the upper part of the Mississippi River. Ten years later, French explorer Sieur de La Salle (1643–1687) followed the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, claiming the river valley for France and naming it Louisiana. While the French expanded their North American claims, the majority of French settlers lived in Canada. France lost Canada to Great Britain in the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763). Louisiana changed hands numerous times before it was finally sold to the United States in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase; it was France’s last claim on the North American mainland. French culture and influence in these areas remains prevalent today.
In 1635, the French also claimed the West Indies islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe (and its small surrounding islands, including Saint Barthélemy). In 1946, the French government changed the status of these islands from colonies to “overseas departments.”
Who was the proprietor of French-owned Louisiana in the early eighteenth century?
Antoine Crozat (1655–1738) was a wealthy French businessman (merchant) who effectively ruled French-owned Louisiana in the early eighteenth century. In 1712, French King Louis XIV gave Crozat a trade monopoly in the Louisiana territory. The monopoly lasted until 1717.
What was the “Lost Colony”?
It was the second English colony established in America. Set up in 1587 on Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina, by 1590 it disappeared without a trace. Theories surround the disappearance, though it is not known for certain what happened. Some speculate the colonists fell victim to disease. Others have posited that perhaps some hostile Indians killed the colonists.
Roanoke Island had also been the site of the first English colony, set up in 1585 by about 100 men sent there by Sir Walter Raleigh (1554–1618). Raleigh had perceived the island to be a good spot for English warships (that were then fighting the Spanish) to be repaired and loaded with new supplies. But the plan was unsuccessful: The land wasn’t sufficiently fertile to support both the colonists and the Indians living nearby, and because the surrounding sea proved too shallow, ships could not get close enough to the island. The colonists returned to England in 1586. In the meantime, Raleigh dispatched a second group of colonists from England. They arrived at Roanoke just days after the original settlers left. Seeing that the site had been abandoned, all but fifteen of the colonists opted to return to England.
In the spring of 1587, Raleigh sent a third group of colonists to America, but these ships were headed for areas near Chesapeake Bay, farther north (in present-day Virginia). Reaching the Outer Banks in July, the ships’ commander refused to take the colonists to their destination and instead left them at Roanoke Island. The colonists’ 10 leader, John White, who had also been among the first settlers at Roanoke, returned to England for supplies in August 1587. However, a war between England and Spain prevented his return until three years later. Arriving back at Roanoke in August 1590, he expected to be met by family members and the hundred or so settlers (including some women and children). Instead, he discovered the colony had been abandoned.
The only clue White found was the word CROATOAN engraved on a tree. The Croatoan, or Hatteras, were friendly Indians who lived on an island south of Roanoke Island. White set out to see if the colonists had joined the Indians, but bad weather prevented the search, and his expedition returned to England instead.
Two theories explain what might have become of the lost colonists. Since the shore of Chesapeake Bay was their original destination, the colonists might have moved there but, encountering resistance, perished at the hands of the Indians. Other evidence suggests that the colonists became integrated with several Indian tribes living in North Carolina. Either way, no European ever saw them again.
What was Jamestown?
Jamestown, Virginia, is considered the first permanent English colony in the New World. In April 1607, a group of settlers under the auspices of the Virginia Company arrived at the James River and created the Jamestown settlement. They arrived by three ships: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. The settlers searched in vain for gold and suffered through what historian Robert V. Remini calls “the starving season.”
Led by military leader Captain John Smith (1579–1631), the colonists managed to survive. The colonists interacted with a powerful Indian chief named Wahunsonacock, or Powhatan (?–1618). Relations were uneasy at times, but the colonists and the Indians managed to carve out a largely peaceful existence. This was helped by the marriage of Powhatan’s daughter, Pocahontas (1595–1617) to English planter John Rolfe (1585–1622), the first recorded interracial marriage in North America. Rolfe was best known for successfully cultivating tobacco.
Born to Eleanor and Ananias Dare on August 18, 1587, Virginia Dare was the first person born to English parents in the New World. She disappeared along with the rest of the Roanoke colony.
After whom was the colony of Jamestown named?
It was named after the English king at the time, James I (1566–1635), the first of the Stuart kings. He was King James VI of Scotland before the Scottish and English crowns were united. His mother was Mary, Queen of Scots. He succeeded Elizabeth I (1533–1603), who was also known as the Virgin Queen. Because Elizabeth I had no children, the crown passed to James. King James disliked tobacco and even wrote a treatise entitled A Counterblaste to Tobacco (1604), in which he called tobacco a “filthy habit.”
What happened to John Rolfe?
He traveled back to Virginia after losing Pocahontas. He began farming and working on his plantation. He remarried Jane Pierce, with whom he had a daughter. Unfortunately, Rolfe died in 1622 after an attack by Native Americans. It is unknown whether Rolfe died directly during the attack or from an illness contracted shortly afterward.
What was the Jamestown Massacre?
The Jamestown Massacre, or the Indian Massacre of 1622, was an attack by the Powhatan Indians on the Jamestown colony that led to more than 340 deaths suffered by the colony. Relations between the Indians and the colonists were generally good when Chief Powhatan was alive. However, after Chief Powhatan’s death in 1618, his half-brother, Chief Opechancanough (1554–1646), led a series of attacks upon the colony. Under his reign, Opechancanough participated in the Second and Third Anglo-Powhatan Wars.
What happened to Chief Opechancanough?
Chief Opechancanough lived more than ninety years. Some historians list his age as more than one hundred. During the Third Anglo-Powhatan War, begun in 1644, the colonists captured him. A soldier assigned to guard the chief allegedly shot and killed him.
How did Pocahontas die?
Most historians believe Pocahontas contracted smallpox, causing her death at only twenty-two. In 1716, Rolfe and Pocahontas traveled to England, where Pocahontas was treated very well. In 1717, the couple boarded a ship and planned to return to Virginia. En route to Jamestown, Pocahontas became very ill. She was taken ashore and died a few days later. She was buried in Gravesend’s St. George Church.
What legislative body was created in Jamestown?
The Virginia House of Burgesses was created in Jamestown, becoming the first legislative body of elected members in North America. It held its first meeting on July 30, 1619. It was the governing body of the colony of Virginia until it was replaced by the Virginia House of Delegates in 1776.
Were the Pilgrims explorers?
The Pilgrims were early settlers who sought religious freedom and self-government in the New World. Since theirs was a religious journey, they described themselves as pilgrims. In fact, they were Separatists, Protestants who separated from the Anglican Church to set up their own church. In 1609, they fled their home in Scrooby, England, settling in Holland. Fearing their children would lose contact with their own culture (becoming assimilated into the Dutch culture), the group decided to voyage to America to establish their own community. In 1620, they arrived on the rocky western shore of Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts. Their transatlantic crossing aboard the Mayflower took sixty-six days. Two babies were born during the passage, bringing the number of settlers to 102. Only some thirty-five were Pilgrims; the rest were merchants. On November 21, 1620, the Pilgrims drafted the Mayflower Compact, an agreement by which the forty-one signatories (the men aboard the Mayflower) formed a body politic authorized to enact and enforce laws for the community. The Compact’s members elected religious leader John Carver (1576–1621) governor. Although their colonial charter from the London Company specified they were to settle in Virginia, the Compact’s members decided to establish their colony at Cape Cod, well outside the company’s jurisdiction. By December 25, 1620, the Pilgrims had chosen the site for their settlement and began building at New Plymouth.
During the first year, the Pilgrims faced many hardships: thirty-five more colonists arrived aboard the Fortune, straining already limited resources; sicknesses such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and scurvy claimed many lives, including that of Governor Carver; and the merchants in the group challenged the purity of the settlement. Having secured a new patent from the Council of New England in June 1621, the lands of New Plymouth Colony were held in common by both the Pilgrims and the merchants. However, this communal system of agriculture proved unsuccessful. In 1624, William Bradford (1590–1657), who succeeded Carver as governor, granted each family its own parcel of land. The Wampanoag Indians, who had previously occupied the land settled by the Pilgrims, proved friendly and helpful advisers in agricultural matters. In 1626, the Pilgrims bought out the merchants’ shares, claiming the colony for themselves. Although inexperienced at governing before arriving in America, and despite a lack of formal education, the Pilgrims successfully governed themselves according to the Scriptures. Plymouth Colony remained independent until 1691, when it became part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony—founded by the Puritans.
A reconstructed village designed to be historically accurate as to what the settlement of Plymouth looked like is run by the Plimoth Plantation museum in Massachusetts. It serves as an education center for people to learn both about the Pilgrims and the native peoples they encountered.
How were the Puritans different from the Pilgrims?
The Puritans who founded Massachusetts Bay Colony were, like the Pilgrims, religious Protestants (both sects “protested” against the Anglican church). But while the Pilgrims separated from the church, the Puritans wished to purify it. Their religious movement began in England during the 1500s, and they were influenced by the teachings of reformer John Calvin (1509–1564). They also had strong feelings about government, maintaining that people can only be governed by a contract (such as a constitution) that limits a ruler’s powers. When King James I (1566–1625) ascended the throne of England, he was the first ruler of the House (royal family) of Stuart. The Stuart monarchs, particularly James’s successor, King Charles I (1600–1649), tried to enforce absolute adherence to the High Church of Anglicanism and viewed the Puritan agitators as a threat to the crown’s authority.
Persecuted by the throne, groups of Puritans fled England for the New World. One group was granted a corporate charter for the Massachusetts Bay Company (1629). Unlike other such contracts, which provided the framework to establish colonies in America, this one did not require its stockholders to hold their meetings in England. Stockholders who made the voyage across the Atlantic would become voting citizens in their own settlement; the board of directors would form the legislative assembly; and the company president, Puritan leader John Winthrop (1588–1649), would become governor. In 1630, they settled in present-day Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, establishing a Puritan Commonwealth. By 1643, more than twenty thousand Puritans arrived in Massachusetts during what was called the Great Migration. Puritans also settled in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Virginia during the colonial period.
What were the Salem Witch Trials?
The Salem Witch trials were a series of trials in colonial Massachusetts in 1692 and 1693 that resulted in the execution of many women (and one man) accused of witchcraft. The trials did not occur only in Salem but also in surrounding towns. Many of those charged were women who were a little different, who did not subscribe to the tenets of the Puritan Church and who were all outcasts of some sort. Some of the women wore black clothing and allegedly lived an immoral lifestyle.
The Salem Witch Trials today are seen as a form of mass hysteria, of community judgment gone overboard, and as exemplifying the lack of due process and fair trial procedures. For example, Bridget Bishop (1632–1692) was the first person charged in the Salem Witch Trials. She was indicted and tried on June 2, 1692, and executed on June 10. Much of the testimony of people who claimed to have been afflicted by the defendants was very dubious.
Who was Roger Williams?
Roger Williams (1603–1683) was an English theologian best known for his early defense of religious freedom and for the principle of separation of church and state. Williams learned under the great English jurist Sir Edward Coke (1552–1634). Williams later traveled to the Puritan colony of Massachusetts. However, Williams ran afoul of authorities in Salem, particularly after he questioned the close ties between the Puritan church and the Church of England. He was charged and convicted of heresy and sedition. He managed to escape to a new land that he called Providence, where he believed God had guided him to establish a new church and community. Williams is considered the founder of Rhode Island. He also opposed slavery and believed in treating Indian tribes with respect for their cultures.
Who was Anne Hutchinson?
Anne Hutchinson (1591–1643) was a Puritan religious leader who was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for her dissident religious views. She preached a so-called “covenant of grace,” emphasizing the importance of individual communication with God and the importance of divine grace. This offended many orthodox Puritans, who adhered to a view that emphasized the importance of religious figures and of good works. Hutchinson was referred to as an antinomian, a person who believes that one can achieve salvation through grace alone. Gender bias also played a role in Hutchinson’s treatment, as she ruffled the feathers of some male religious leaders. After being expelled from the colony in 1638, she fled to Rhode Island. She and her family were killed by Siwanoy Indians in the so-called “Hutchinson Massacre.”
Who was Thomas Hooker?
Thomas Hooker (1586–1647) was a religious leader in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who inspired jealousy and ire among other religious leaders. A popular preacher, Hooker left the Massachusetts Colony rather than face expulsion. He and a group of his followers formed the colony of Connecticut; Hooker is called “the Father of Connecticut.” He contributed greatly to the written founding document of the Connecticut colony, “the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut,” a progenitor to later written constitutions. Some consider it the first written constitution in colonial America. The Orders provided for expanded suffrage and more freedom than existed in Massachusetts.
What were the Dutch colonial holdings?
New Netherlands was the only Dutch colony on the North American mainland. It consisted of lands surrounding the Hudson River (in present-day New York) and, later, the lower Delaware River (in New Jersey and Delaware). Explorers from the Netherlands first settled the area around 1610. In 1624, the colony of New Netherlands was officially founded by the Dutch West India Company. On behalf of the company, in 1626 Dutch colonial official Peter Minuit (1580–1638) purchased the island of Manhattan from the American Indians for an estimated $24 in trinkets. The colonial capital of New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) was established there. The Dutch held the colony until 1664, when it was conquered by the English under the direction of King Charles II’s brother James II, the Duke of York (1633–1701). The English sought the territory since New Netherlands separated its American holdings. While under British control, the area was divided into two colonies: New Jersey and New York.
An etching depicting English explorer Henry Hudson meeting Indians at Sandy Hook, New York, in 1609.
What were the Swedish colonial holdings?
The Swedish possessions consisted of a small colony called New Sweden, established in 1638 at Fort Christina (present-day Wilmington), Delaware. The Swedes gradually extended the settlement from the mouth of the Delaware Bay (south of Wilmington) northward along the Delaware River as far as present-day Trenton, New Jersey. The settlers were mostly fur traders, although there was farming in the colony as well. In 1655, the territory was taken by the Dutch in a military expedition led by Director-General of New Netherlands, Peter Stuyvesant (c. 1610–1672). For nine years, the territory was part of the Dutch colonial claims called New Netherlands. In 1664, the English claimed it and the rest of New Netherlands. Delaware was set up as a British proprietary colony and remained so until the outbreak of the American Revolution (1775–1783).
During the colonial period, the Netherlands also claimed the West Indies islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (the present-day Netherlands Antilles), which were administered separately from New Netherlands on the North American mainland.
Who was Henry Hudson?
Henry Hudson (1560–1611) was an English-born explorer whose most notable exploits were carried out under the banner of the Dutch East India Company. Hudson sailed mainly in North America, originally to find a passage in the Northwest that would take him to present-day China. Unsuccessful in those attempts, Hudson did discover many areas in North America in the present-day New York region. For the Dutch East India Company, he established Dutch claim to many lands in New York. The Hudson River, which runs through eastern New York, bears his name.
What are the origins of slavery in America?
The roots of slavery in North America date back to about 1400, when the Europeans arrived in Africa. At first, the result of African contact with Europeans was positive, opening trade routes and expanding markets. Europeans profited from Africa’s rich mineral and agricultural resources and for a while abided by local laws governing their trade; Africans benefited from new technologies and products brought by the Europeans. But the relationship between the two cultures soon turned disastrous as the Europeans cast their attention on a decidedly different African resource—the people themselves. As the Portuguese in West and East Africa began trading in human lives and the Dutch in South Africa clashed with the native people who—once displaced by the wars—became servants and slaves, other Europeans began calculating the profits that could be made in the slave trade.
By the end of the 1400s, Europeans had landed in the New World. Soon Europe’s established and emerging powers vied to control territories in the new lands of North and South America and the West Indies. The Spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch, English, and Swedes all made claims in the Western Hemisphere and began setting up colonies.
By the mid–1600s, triangular patterns of trade emerged. The most common route began on Africa’s West Coast, where ships picked up slaves. The second stop was the Caribbean islands—predominately the British and French West Indies—where the slaves were sold to plantation owners and traders, who used the profits to purchase sugar, molasses, tobacco, and coffee. These raw materials were then transported north to the third stop, New England, where a rum industry was thriving. There, ships were loaded with the spirits before traders made the last leg of their journey back across the Atlantic to Africa’s West Coast, where the process began again. Other trade routes operated as follows: 1) manufactured goods were transported from Europe to the African coast; slaves to the West Indies; and sugar, tobacco, and coffee back to Europe, where the route began again; and 2) lumber, cotton, and meat were transported from the colonies to southern Europe; wine and fruits to England; and manufactured goods to the colonies, where the route began again. There were as many possible routes as there were ports and demand for goods.
The tragic result of the triangular trade was the transport of an estimated ten million Africans. Sold into slavery, these human beings were often chained below deck and allowed only brief—if any—periods of exercise during the transatlantic crossing, which came to be called the Middle Passage. Conditions for the slaves were brutal, improving only slightly when traders realized that should slaves perish during the long journey across the ocean, it would adversely affect their profits upon arrival in the West Indies. After Caribbean economies crashed at the end of the 1600s, many slaves were sold to plantation owners on the North American mainland, initiating another tragic trade route. The slave trade was abolished in the 1800s, putting an end to the forced migration of Africans to the Western Hemisphere.
When did the first Africans arrive in the British colonies of North America?
In 1619, a Dutch ship carrying twenty Africans landed at Jamestown, Virginia. They were put to work as servants, not as slaves. Though they had fewer rights than their white counterparts, they were able to gain their freedom and acquire property, which prompted the development of a small class of “free Negroes” in colonial Virginia. For example, there is record of one Anthony Johnson arriving in Virginia in 1621 as a servant. He was freed one year later, and about thirty years after that he imported five servants 18 himself, receiving from Virginia 250 acres of land for so doing.
Who founded Pennsylvania?
William Penn (1644–1718), a prominent English real estate magnate and son of a British admiral, founded the province of Pennsylvania with the permission of King Charles II in 1681. He later founded the city Philadelphia, Greek for “brotherly love.” Penn, a Quaker, wanted to found a colony in which Quakers could live in peace and not be prosecuted. Penn sometimes referred to his plan as the “Holy Experiment.” King Charles II named the area Pennsylvania after Penn’s father. Penn created a charter of liberties that included freedoms later found in the U.S. Bill of Rights—individual liberties such as the right to an impartial trial and trial by jury.
In what publication did William Penn establish an early constitution?
Penn wrote Frame for Government, a detailed plan for the government of Pennsylvania. It provides for a representative body of officials who accept or reject legislation from the council of the government. It provided for freedom of worship and limited the death penalty to only the most violent of crimes. It also provided for a bicameral form of government and is viewed as an important precursor to American democracy.
Who were the Carolinas named after?
Both North Carolina and South Carolina were named after English King Charles II (1630–1685). The two were initially one British territory or province. However, in 1712 the two officially split into separate British provinces. By 1729, both provinces became royal colonies.
Who founded the colony of Georgia?
General James Oglethorpe (1696–1785) founded the colony of Georgia with the permission of King George II of England—for whom the colony was named. Oglethorpe petitioned to create this colony to house many who were imprisoned for debt in England and also for some Protestants persecuted for their religious beliefs. Oglethorpe landed in South Carolina and moved his settlers to present-day Savannah, Georgia, in 1733. The colony of Georgia served as a buffer of sorts between the English colonies to the north and the Spanish-held Florida.
William Penn was the founder of Pennsylvania, as well as the city of Philadelphia.
What were the different types of early colonial governments?
The three forms of early colonial government were royal, corporate, and proprietary. A royal colony was one where the English government set up a royal governor, who directly ruled the colony in the name of the Crown. Several early American colonies were royal colonies, including Georgia, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York.
Corporate colonies were colonies established by a trading company that received permission from the Crown to set up a colony in the form of a charter. Connecticut and Rhode Island were corporate colonies.
Proprietary colonies were colonies established by one or two landowners who served as the primary ruler of such lands. Pennsylvania was an example of a proprietary colony, as William Penn was granted the province by charter. The Carolinas were other examples of proprietary colonies.
What was Bacon’s Rebellion?
Bacon’s Rebellion was an armed uprising of Virginia settlers beginning in 1674 against the rule of Colonial Governor William Berkeley (1605–1677). The rebellion was named after Nathaniel Bacon (1647–1676), a Cambridge graduate who had to leave England after marrying a woman who had been betrothed to someone else. Bacon settled in Jamestown, where he worked with Governor Berkeley. However, Governor Berkeley favored reconciliation and appeasement with Native American tribes. Bacon, whose farm had been attacked by Native Americans, wanted to respond by attacking the Native Americans. This difference culminated in Bacon’s being in armed rebellion against Governor Berkeley. In 1676, Bacon and his followers issued a Declaration of the People of Virginia to the governor, criticizing Berkeley for failing to protect settlers from the Native Americans and for corruption in his government. Bacon’s forces actually burned Jamestown to the ground in September 1676. English forces were dispatched from overseas to quell the rebellion. Bacon died of dysentery in October 1676 before facing the English forces. After Bacon’s death, the rebellion floundered. Governor Berkeley re-established control and had many of the members of the rebellion hanged for their conduct.
However, British officials were not pleased with Berkeley’s performance and ordered him to return home.
What was the First Great Awakening?
The First Great Awakening was a religious movement in the American colonies, particularly in Massachusetts and other parts of New England, that led to a renewed revitalization in personal commitment to religion. Ministers such as Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) and George Whitefield (1714–1770) led revivals at their churches, urging their parishioners to dedicate themselves to a renewed sense of personal responsibility and morality. Edwards delivered one of the best-known sermons in American history known as “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Whitefield traveled the colonies preaching with messianic zeal, urging that all achieve salvation by confessing their sins and accepting God. The First Great Awakening was a major social event that transformed numerous Protestant denominations and posed a serious threat to the traditional Puritan church structure.
Protestant preacher and major theologian of his day, Jonathan Edwards was one of the key figures in the First Great Awakening in the eighteenth century.
Were there other Great Awakenings?
Yes, there have been at least two others. The Second Great Awakening started around 1790 and lasted throughout much of the first half of the nineteenth century. The Third and Fourth Awakenings (occurring in the latter part of the nineteenth century and from 1960 to 1980, respectively) are often viewed by historians as more hypothetical and indicative of the promotion of an agenda by certain Protestant leaders. Each Great Awakening has been marked by a return to piety and a call by Protestant denominations to return to a purer form of Christianity marked by proselytizing and social activism, such as support for the abolition of slavery and prohibition of alcohol.
Which colony first passed an anti-slavery law?
Rhode Island passed an anti-slavery law in 1652—the first by any colony in North America. However, the demand for inexpensive labor remained great, and the law largely remained unenforced. Rhode Island did not pass an anti-slavery law with real force until the 1780s.
What Boston judge wrote against slavery in 1700?
Boston judge Samuel Sewall (1652–1730) wrote an anti-slavery piece called The Selling of Joseph. He termed slavery an “atrocious crime” and said that “liberty is in real value next unto life: none ought to part with it themselves or deprive others of it.” Sewall based many of his objections to slavery on Biblical principles. Sewall is also known for his participation in the Salem Witch Trials, for which he later apologized. Sewell served for many years as chief justice of the leading Massachusetts court. Sewall has been called the only abolitionist in early eighteenth-century Massachusetts.
What anti-slavery law was passed in Virginia in 1670?
The Virginia assembly passed a law prohibiting lifelong slavery for those African slaves who became Christians before arriving in the colony. The bill was inspired by those who believed it was unlawful to enslave fellow Christians. However, the Virginia assembly later repealed the law in 1682.
What is the official church of Maryland?
In May 1692, the Anglican Church was declared the official church of the Maryland colony. This is somewhat counterintuitive, as Maryland was originally set up as a haven for Catholics. However, most of the inhabitants of the colony were Protestants. The Anglican Church remained the official church of Maryland until 1776.
Maryland was not the only colony with strong ties and allegiance to the Anglican Church; it had a stronghold in several colonies. For example, South Carolina passed a law in 1704 providing that non-Anglicans could not hold positions in the assembly. The British parliament rejected the law two years later.
What was King Philip’s War?
King Philip’s War was a conflict between several Native American tribes and English colonists in New England. The war was fought between 1675 and 1678 in present-day Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maine. The war is named after an Indian chief named Metacom, or King Philip (1639–1676), leader of the Wampanoag. The conflict allegedly began when a farmer killed an Indian who was stealing his cattle. Metacom believed this amounted to murder and demanded retribution. When the local colonists denied his claim, Metacom took matters into his own hands, killing the farmer and several other settlers.
During the conflict, the Wampanoag were assisted by several other tribes, including the Nipmuck, Podunk, Narragansett, and Nashaway. However, some Native American tribes served as allies to the colonists, including the Mohegan and Pequot tribes. Metacom died during the conflict at the hands of an Indian named John Alderman, who had converted to Christianity. The conflict was bloody, leading to the death of more than three thousand Indians.
What was Queen Anne’s War?
Queen Anne’s War, also known as the Third Indian War, was the North American component of the larger conflict known as the War of the Spanish Succession. It took place between 1702 and 1713. The larger conflict featured Spain and France battling against England. Different Indian tribes fought on each side. The war was fought on several fronts, including in Carolina, Florida, New England, and Newfoundland, Canada.
The British got the best of the military conflicts overall and ultimately obtained certain French settlements during the treaty that ended the conflict. The treaty, however, failed to resolve the interests of different Indian tribes, nor did it result in a significant defeat for the French, who maintained an active presence in North America.
Queen Anne (1665–1814) ruled England from 1702 to 1707 and was the last monarch of the House of Stuart. Queen Anne’s War involved England’s territorial disputes in North America with France and Spain.
What was the War of Jenkins’s Ear?
The War of Jenkins’s Ear refers to a military conflict between Great Britain and Spain that technically lasted from 1739 to 1748. It is so named because Robert Jenkins, an English captain, had his ear cut off by Spanish officials who boarded his vessel in 1731. The war was largely fought by ships, but in 1742 the Spanish attempted to invade the colony of Georgia. General Oglethorpe successfully defeated the Spanish at two successive battles at Bloody Marsh and Gully Hole Creek to repel the invaders.
What was King George’s War?
King George’s War was the North American component of the War of Austrian Succession and a conflict sometimes referred to as the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It was fought between 1744 and 1748 between French and British colonial interests. The war failed to solve the tensions and enmities between the two powers, which resulted in the fourth French and Indian War a decade later. Much of the conflict occurred in New England, particularly Massachusetts.
What was the Siege of Louisbourg?
The Siege of Louisbourg was a key battle in King George’s War in which New England colonial forces captured Louisbourg, a French stronghold in present-day Cape Breton Island in North America. A significant British success, the victory helped Britain bargain to obtain peace. However, the British ceded Louisbourg back to the French in the 1848 treaty that ended the war.
What was the French and Indian War?
The French and Indian War was the name for the armed conflict of the Seven Years’ War between Great Britain and France fought on North American soil. Some of the Seven Years’ War was waged in other parts of the world, including Europe. The war was waged between 1754 and 1763. The war featured Great Britain and a couple of Indian tribes—the Iriquois, Catawba, and Cherokee against France and a host of Indian tribes. On North America, the war was fought from Virginia up into present-day Canada. Great Britain far outnumbered the French, leading to the French enlisting the aid of numerous Indian tribes.
The war featured the emergence of a young military leader from Virginia named George Washington (1732–1799), who led a group of Virginia militia into armed conflict. The war finally ended with the 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.
