U.S. History and Constitution
This lens is meant to educate people about U.S. History and the Constitution. I am using the High School Core Area Standards for United States History and the Constitution published in January 2005 by the South Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
The lens will present an overview of the social, cultural, economic, and political History of the United States. Here is how the standards document explains it:
"The focus of United States History and the Constitution is the Story of the American people from the period of the Mesoamerica civilizations to the present day--a span that includes the early Native Americans, the establishment of various European colonies, the creation of the United States as a new nation during the American Revolution, the territorial Expansion toward the West, the American Civil War and Reconstruction, the industrialization and immigration of the late nineteenth century, and the nation's developing role in world affairs in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries."
I intend to provide links regarding each subject area to provide the best informatio in the subject area. I also encourage viewers to contact me with link suggestions.
Settlement of North America
American Colonial Regions and their religious, social, political, and economic differences.
Starting in the late 16th century, the English, the French, the Spanish, and the Dutch began to colonize eastern North America. The first English attempts, notably the Lost Colony of Roanoke, ended in failure, but successful colonies were soon established. The colonists who came to the New World were by no means a homogeneous band, but rather came from a variety of different social and religious groups who settled in different locations on the seaboard. The Dutch of New Netherland, the Quakers of Pennsylvania, the Puritans of New England, the gold-hungry settlers of Jamestown, and the convicts of Georgia each came to the new continent for vastly different reasons, and they created colonies with very different social, religious, political and economic structures.
Historians typically recognize four regions in the lands that later became the eastern United States. Listed from north to south, they are: New England, the Middle Colonies, the Chesapeake Bay Colonies and the Southern Colonies. Some historians add a fifth region, the frontier, which had certain unifying features no matter what sort of colony it sprang from. The colonies of New France (later British Quebec) and Spanish Florida adjoined these regions, but developed separately for many years.
Source: Wikipedia--Colonial America
Historians typically recognize four regions in the lands that later became the eastern United States. Listed from north to south, they are: New England, the Middle Colonies, the Chesapeake Bay Colonies and the Southern Colonies. Some historians add a fifth region, the frontier, which had certain unifying features no matter what sort of colony it sprang from. The colonies of New France (later British Quebec) and Spanish Florida adjoined these regions, but developed separately for many years.
Source: Wikipedia--Colonial America
General Settlement Links
- Archiving Early America
- Here at Archiving Early America, you will discover a wealth of resources -- a unique array of primary source material from 18th Century America. Scenes and portraits from original newspapers, maps and writings come to life on your screen just as they appeared to this country's forebears more than two centuries ago.
- 13 Originals
- Charters of the 13 colonies
New England
Religion and Freedom critical to founding
New England is a region of the United States located in the northeastern corner of the country. It is comprised of the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The region's most populous city, as well as its business and cultural center, is Boston.New England is the oldest clearly-defined region of the United States, unique among U.S. geographic regions in that it is also a former political entity. While the region was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples, English Pilgrims, fleeing religious persecution in Europe, arrived nearly four hundred years ago, at the beginning of the 17th century. In the 18th century, it was one of the first regions of the original North American British colonies to demonstrate ambitions of independence from the British Crown, although it would later oppose the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain. In the 19th century, it played a prominent role in the movement to abolish slavery in the United States, became a source of some of the first examples of American literature and philosophy, and showed the first signs of the effects of the Industrial Revolution in North America.
A person from New England is referred to as a New Englander or a Yankee.
Together, the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions are generally referred to as the Northeastern region of the United States. New England is also a part of the greater U.S.-Canada Atlantic Northeast region.
Sources
Wikipedia--New England
The Flag of New England
New England Link
Religion, Politics, and Freedom
- NewEnglandTowns.org
- NewEnglandTowns.org brings together historic accounts of New England places that not only tell us about times gone by, but also offer hints and revelations for the modern visitor. Searching for a scenic getaway? Want to visit ancestral towns and villages in search of genealogy and family history? Looking for the best fall foliage? Like the bustle of city life? Or cottages overlooking the ocean? New England has had all these things and more for generations.
- New England Articles of Confederation
- A document uniting the New England colonies in a confederation
- Charter of New England
- original charter
- New England Confederation Alliance
- The online resource consolidating websites, blogs, and forums that advocates state sovereignty for the New England states.
Middle Colonies
a.k.a. New Netherland
The Middle Colonies were a part of the original Thirteen Colonies that would later become The United States of America. The region was originally New Netherland, which was later divided into the western half of Connecticut (which today is part of New England), New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Today, these areas are described as the Mid-Atlantic States.
The Middle Colonies were the most ethnically and religiously diverse of the thirteen original colonies because of the influence of their Dutch origins. This influence included tolerance and cosmopolitanism, and resulted in New Netherland's success as the commercial center of the eastern North American colonies. This was evidenced by the fact that they had more agriculture than the New England colonies. The Middle Colonies were also known as the "bread basket" colonies because of their large grain export. It was also the mid-Atlantic colonies that expanded into other areas of commerce before the others.
There were many brick buildings in the Middle Colonies due to the amount of clay along the riverbanks. The Dutch built houses that were usually two-and-a-half to three stories high with steep roofs. The Germans were the first in the colonies to use stoves rather than fireplaces to heat their homes. Many streets were paved, and many people had their shops and homes in the same building. The wealthy would have their portraits painted. Homes in the country could be made of logs and chinked with moss or mud.
Source
Wikipedia--Middle Coloies
The Middle Colonies were the most ethnically and religiously diverse of the thirteen original colonies because of the influence of their Dutch origins. This influence included tolerance and cosmopolitanism, and resulted in New Netherland's success as the commercial center of the eastern North American colonies. This was evidenced by the fact that they had more agriculture than the New England colonies. The Middle Colonies were also known as the "bread basket" colonies because of their large grain export. It was also the mid-Atlantic colonies that expanded into other areas of commerce before the others.
There were many brick buildings in the Middle Colonies due to the amount of clay along the riverbanks. The Dutch built houses that were usually two-and-a-half to three stories high with steep roofs. The Germans were the first in the colonies to use stoves rather than fireplaces to heat their homes. Many streets were paved, and many people had their shops and homes in the same building. The wealthy would have their portraits painted. Homes in the country could be made of logs and chinked with moss or mud.
Source
Wikipedia--Middle Coloies
MIdlinks
Links about the Middle Colonies
- Virtual Tour of New Netherland
- Welcome to New Netherland. If you are a first-time visitor, you are about to enter a lost world. Then again, you may soon discover that you've been here before. In fact, you may live here. New Netherland was a colony founded by the Dutch on the east coast of North America in the seventeenth century, which vanished when the English wrested control of it in 1664, turning its capital, New Amsterdam, into New York City. It extended from Albany, New York, in the north to Delaware in the south. It encompassed parts of what are now the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Delaware.
Chesapeake Bay Colonies
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Virginia and Maryland. The Chesapeake Bay's watershed covers 64,299 mi² (166 534 km²) in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. More than 150 rivers and streams drain into the Bay.
The main stem of the Bay itself is 189 miles (304 km) long, from the Susquehanna River in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south. At its narrowest point near Annapolis, Maryland, the Bay is 4 miles (6.4 km) wide; at its widest point, near the mouth of the Potomac River, it is 30 miles (50 km) wide. Total shoreline for the Bay is 11,684 miles (18 804 km), and the surface area of the Bay and its major tributaries is 4,479 mi² (11 600 km²).
The narrowest point of the Bay is spanned by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel spans a 23 mile (37 km) section of the Bay at near its mouth.
Source
Wikipedia--Chesapeake Bay
The main stem of the Bay itself is 189 miles (304 km) long, from the Susquehanna River in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south. At its narrowest point near Annapolis, Maryland, the Bay is 4 miles (6.4 km) wide; at its widest point, near the mouth of the Potomac River, it is 30 miles (50 km) wide. Total shoreline for the Bay is 11,684 miles (18 804 km), and the surface area of the Bay and its major tributaries is 4,479 mi² (11 600 km²).
The narrowest point of the Bay is spanned by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel spans a 23 mile (37 km) section of the Bay at near its mouth.
Source
Wikipedia--Chesapeake Bay
Bay Links
- Exploring the Chesapeake-Then and Now
- National geographic article
Southern Colonies
The Southern Colonies were the Province of North Carolina, Province of South Carolina, and Province of Georgia. Their economy was supported by plantations, mostly run by slaves, except for Georgia, where most plantations were run by debtors. Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia also traded with Great Britain, slave ships from Africa, and the Caribbean. Their cash crops were, in North-to-South order, tobacco, cotton, and indigo. Colony and Dominion of Virginia and Province of Maryland are sometimes considered part of the Southern Colonies.
Source
Wikipedia--Southern Colonies
Source
Wikipedia--Southern Colonies
South Links
- The New Georgia Encyclopedia
- The New Georgia Encyclopedia provides an authoritative source of information about people, places, events, institutions, and many other topics relating to the state.
On this site you will find articles and images on nearly every aspect of Georgia as well as convenient links to other Web sites related to the history, culture, and life of the state. - North Carolina Literature
- writing on NC authors
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