Topic+1+Colonial+History+and+Education

**__ The Historical Period and Important Dates __**

** 1607 ** - Jamestown is founded in Virginia by the colonists of the London Company. By the end of the year, starvation and disease reduce the original 105 settlers to just 32 survivors. Capt. John Smith is captured by Native American Chief Powhatan and saved from death by the chief's daughter, Pocahontas. ** 1620 ** - November 9, the Mayflower ship lands at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with 101 colonists. On November 11, the ** [|Mayflower Compact] ** is signed by the 41 men, establishing a form of local government in which the colonists agree to abide by majority rule and to cooperate for the general good of the colony. The Compact sets the precedent for other colonies as they set up governments. media type="youtube" key="F69WgVtv_4U" height="204" width="253"
 * 1616 ** - Tobacco becomes an export staple for Virginia.
 * 1619 ** - The first session of the first legislative assembly in America occurs as the Virginia House of Burgesses convenes in Jamestown. It consists of 22 burgesses representing 11 plantations.


 * 1620 ** - The first public library in the colonies is organized in Virginia with books donated by English landowners.
 * 1630 ** - In March, John Winthropleads a Puritan migration of 900 colonists to Massachusetts Bay, where he will serve as the first governor. In September, Boston is officially established and serves as the site of Winthrop's government.
 * 1634 ** - First settlement in Maryland as 200 settlers, many of them Catholic, arrive in the lands granted to Roman Catholic Lord Baltimore by King Charles I.
 * 1635 ** - Boston Latin Schoolis established as the first public school in America.

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** December 16, 1773 ** - ** [|Boston Tea Party] ** occurs as colonial activists disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians then board the ships and dump all 342 containers of tea into the harbor. ** 1774 ** - September 5 to October 26, the First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia with 56 delegates, representing every colony, except Georgia. Attendants include Patrick Henry, George Washington, Sam Adams and John Hancock. ** July 5, 1775 ** - The Continental Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition which expresses hope for a reconciliation with Britain, appealing directly to the King for help in achieving this. In August, King George III refuses even to look at the petition and instead issues a ** [|proclamation] ** declaring the Americans to be in a state of open rebellion. ** July 6, 1775 ** - The Continental Congress issues a ** [|Declaration] ** on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms detailing the colonists' reasons for fighting the British and states the Americans are "resolved to die free men rather than live as slaves." ** January 9, 1776 ** - Thomas Paine's ** [|"Common Sense"] ** is published in Philadelphia. The 50 page pamphlet is highly critical of King George III and attacks allegiance to Monarchy in principle while providing strong arguments for American independence. It becomes an instant best-seller in America. "We have it in our power to begin the world anew...American shall make a stand, not for herself alone, but for the world," Paine states. ** December 11, 1776 ** - Washington takes his troops across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. The next day, over concerns of a possible British attack, the Continental Congress abandons Philadelphia for Baltimore.
 * 1636 ** - In June, Roger Williams founds Providence and Rhode Island.
 * 1636 ** - Harvard Collegefounded.[[image:Old_Harvard_College.jpg width="200" height="129" caption="Old Harvard College"]]
 * 1638 ** - The first colonial printing press is set up in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
 * 1652 ** - Rhode Island enacts the first law in the colonies declaring slavery illegal.
 * 1663 ** - King Charles II establishes the colony of Carolina and grants the territory to eight loyal supporters.
 * 1663 ** - Navigation Act of 1663 requires that most imports to the colonies must be transported via England on English ships.
 * 1664 ** - The Dutch New Netherland colony becomes English New York after Gov. Peter Stuyvesant surrenders to the British following a naval blockade.
 * 1681 ** - Pennsylvania is founded as William Penn, a Quaker, receives a Royal charter with a large land grant from King Charles II.
 * 1686 ** - King James II begins consolidating the colonies of New England into a single dominion depriving colonists of their local political rights and independence. Legislatures are dissolved and the King's representatives assume all of the judicial and legislative power.
 * 1692 ** - In May, hysteria grips the village of Salem, Massachusetts, as witchcraft suspects are arrested and imprisoned. A special court is then set up by the governor of Massachusetts. Between June and September, 150 persons are accused, with 20 persons, including 14 women, being executed. By October, the hysteria subsides, remaining prisoners are released and the special court is dissolved. Salem Witch Trials
 * 1693 ** - The College of William and Maryis founded in Williamsburg, Virginia.
 * 1700 ** - The Anglo population in the English colonies in America reaches 250,000.
 * 1704 ** - In April, the first enduring newspaper in America, The Boston News-Letter, is published.
 * 1706 ** - January 17, Benjamin Franklin is born in Boston.
 * 1727 ** - King George II ascends the English throne.
 * 1729 ** - ** [|Benjamin Franklin] ** begins publishing The Pennsylvania Gazette, which eventually becomes the most popular colonial newspaper.
 * 1731 ** - The first American public library is founded in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin.
 * 1732 ** - In June, Georgia, the 13th English colony, is founded.
 * 1732-1757 ** - Benjamin Franklin publishes Poor Richard's Almanac, containing weather predictions, humor, proverbs and epigrams, selling nearly 10,000 copies per year.
 * 1734 ** - In November, New York newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger is arrested and accused of seditious libel by the Governor. In December, the Great Awakening religious revival movement begins in Massachusetts. The movement will last ten years and spread to all of the American colonies.
 * 1735 ** - John Peter Zenger is brought to trial for seditious libel but is acquitted after his lawyer successfully convinces the jury that truth is a defense against libel.
 * 1743 ** - The American Philosophical Society is founded in Philadelphia by Ben Franklin and his associates.
 * 1756 ** - England declares war on France, as the French and Indian War in the colonies now spreads to Europe.
 * 1763 ** - The French and Indian War, known in Europe as the Seven Year's War, ends with the Treaty of Paris. Under the treaty, France gives England all French territory east of the Mississippi River, except New Orleans. The Spanish give up east and west Florida to the English in return for Cuba.
 * 1763 ** - The Proclamation of 1763, signed by King George III of England, prohibits any English settlement west of the Appalachian mountains and requires those already settled in those regions to return east in an attempt to ease tensions with Native Americans.
 * 1764 ** - In May, at a town meeting in Boston, James Otis raises the issue of taxation without representation and urges a united response to the recent acts imposed by England. In July, Otis publishes "The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved." In August, Boston merchants begin a boycott of British luxury goods.
 * 1765 ** - In March, the Stamp Act is passed by the English Parliament imposing the first direct tax on the American colonies, to offset the high costs of the British military organization in America. Thus for the first time in the 150 year old history of the British colonies in America, the Americans will pay tax not to their own local legislatures in America, but directly to England.
 * 1765 ** - In May, in Virginia, Patrick Henry presents seven Virginia Resolutions to the House of Burgesses claiming that only the Virginia assembly can legally tax Virginia residents, saying, "If this be treason, make the most of it." Also in May, the first medical school in America is founded, in Philadelphia.
 * 1770 ** - The population of the American colonies reaches 2,210,000 persons.
 * May 10, 1775 ** - The Second Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia, with John Hancock elected as its president. On May 15, the Congress places the colonies in a state of defense. On June 15, the Congress unanimously votes to appoint George Washington general and commander-in-chief of the new Continental Army.
 * July 3, 1775 ** - At Cambridge, Massachusetts, George Washington takes command of the Continental Army which now has about 17,000 men.
 * May 10, 1776 ** - The Continental Congress authorizes each of the 13 colonies to form local (provincial) governments.
 * July 4, 1776 ** -- Congress formally endorses Jefferson's Declaration  [[image:Declaration_Committee.jpg width="210" height="170" caption="Declaration Committee"]]

**__Massachusetts School Law of 1642__** Forasmuch as the good education of children is of singular behoof and benefit to any Common-wealth; and whereas many parents & masters are too indulgent and negligent of their duty in that kind. It is therfore ordered that the Select men of every town, in the severall precincts and quarters where they dwell, shall have a vigilant eye over their brethren & neighbours, to see, first that none of them shall suffer so much barbarism in any of their families as not to indeavour to teach by themselves or others, their children & apprentices so much learning as may enable them perfectly to read the English tongue, & knowledge of the Capital Lawes: upon penaltie of twentie shillings for each neglect therin. Also that all masters of families do once a week (at the least) catechize their children and servants in the grounds & principles of Religion, & if any be unable to do so much: that then at the least they procure such children or apprentices to learn some short orthodox catechism without book, that they may be able to answer unto the questions that shall be propounded to them out of such catechism by their parents or masters or any of the Select men when they shall call them to a tryall of what they have learned of this kind. And further that all parents and masters do breed & bring up their children & apprentices in some honest lawful calling, labour or employment, either in husbandry, or some other trade profitable for themselves, and the Common-wealth if they will not or cannot train them up in learning to fit them for higher employments. And if any of the Select men after admonition by them given to such masters of families shall find them still negligent of their duty in the particulars aforementioned, wherby children and servants become rude, stubborn & unruly; the said Select men with the help of two Magistrates, or the next County court for that Shire, shall take such children or apprentices from them & place them with some masters for years (boyes till they come to twenty one, and girls eighteen years of age compleat) which will more strictly look unto, and force them to submit unto government according to the rules of this order, if by fair means and former instructions they will not be drawn into it. In 1647 the Massachusetts Bay Colony enacted the "ye olde deluder Satan" Act, requiring every town having more than 50 families to establish a grammar school (a Latin school to prepare students for college). Shortly thereafter, all the other New England colonies, except Rhode Island, followed its example.
 * __ Early Education Legislation __**
 * __Ye Olde Deluder Satan Act __**



**__ Educators/Thinkers of the Period __** **__ Thomas Jefferson __** Author of the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, third president of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia -- voiced the aspirations of a new America as no other individual of his era. As public official, historian, philosopher, and plantation owner, he served his country for over five decades. Having attended the College of William and Mary, Jefferson practiced law and served in local government as a magistrate, county lieutenant, and member of the House of Burgesses in his early professional life. As a member of the Continental Congress, he was chosen in 1776 to draft the Declaration of Independence, which has been regarded ever since as a charter of American and universal liberties. The document proclaims that all men are equal in rights, regardless of birth, wealth, or status, and that the government is the servant, not the master, of the people. After Jefferson left Congress in 1776, he returned to Virginia and served in the legislature. Elected governor from 1779 to 1781, he suffered an inquiry into his conduct during his last year in office that, although finally fully repudiated, left him with a life-long pricklishness in the face of criticism. During the brief private interval in his life following his governorship, Jefferson wrote **Notes on the State of Virginia**. In 1784, he entered public service again, in France, first as trade commissioner and then as Benjamin Franklin's successor as minister. During this period, he avidly studied European culture, sending home to Monticello, books, seeds and plants, statues and architectural drawings, scientific instruments, and information. In 1790 he accepted the post of secretary of state under his friend George Washington. His tenure was marked by his opposition to the pro-British policies of Alexander Hamilton. In 1796, as the presidential candidate of the Democratic Republicans, he became vice-president after losing to John Adams by three electoral votes Jefferson was succeeded as president in 1809 by his friend James Madison, and during the last seventeen years of his life, he remained at Monticello. During this period, he sold his collection of books to the government to form the nucleus of the Library of Congress. Jefferson embarked on his last great public service at the age of seventy-six, with the founding of the University of Virginia. He spearheaded the legislative campaign for its charter, secured its location, designed its buildings, planned its curriculum, and served as the first rector. John Milton was born on December 9, 1608, in London, as the second child of John and Sara (neé Jeffrey). The family lived on Bread Street in Cheapside, near St. Paul's Cathedral. John Milton Sr. worked as a scrivener, a legal secretary whose duties included preparation and notarization of documents, as well as real estate transactions and moneylending. Milton's father was also a composer of church music, and Milton himself experienced a lifelong delight in music. The family's financial prosperity afforded Milton to be taught classical languages, first by private tutors at home, followed by entrance to St. Paul's School at age twelve, in 1620.
 * __John Milton __**

In 1625, Milton was admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge. While Milton was a hardworking student, he was also argumentative to the extent that only a year later, in 1626, he got suspended after a dispute with his tutor, William Chappell. During his temporary return to London, Milton attended plays, and perhaps began his first forays into poetry. At his return to Cambridge, Milton was assigned a new tutor, Nathaniel Tovey. Life at Cambridge was still not easy on Milton; he felt he was disliked by many of his fellow students and he was dissatisfied with the curriculum. It was at Cambridge that he composed "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity" on December 25, 1629.

In 1632, Milton took his M.A. //cum laude// at Cambridge, after which he retired to the family homes in London and Horton, Buckinghamshire, for years of private study and literary composition.1 His poem, " [|On Shakespeare] ", was published in the same year in the //Second Folio//. From this period hail also his "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso." Milton's //Comus//, a masque, was performed at Ludlow Castle in 1634, to be first published anonymously in 1637, music by the famed court composer [|Henry Lawes]. In April 1637, Milton was nearing the end of his studies when his mother died and was buried at Horton. Only a few months later, in August, Milton's friend Edward King died as well, by drowning. In November, upon his memory, Milton composed the beautiful elegy, //Lycidas//. It was published in a memorial volume at Cambridge in 1638. In the spring of 1642, Milton married Mary Powell, 17 years old to his 34, but the relationship was an unhappy one, and Mary left him to visit the family home briefly thereafter, and did not return. Matters were not improved when the Powells declared for the King in the Civil War which broke out in August. This prompted Milton to write his so-called 'Divorce Tracts' speaking for divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. In 1643, Milton published the //Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce//, which had its second, longer edition in early 1644. In 1644, Milton also published //The Judgement of Martin Bucer Concerning Divorce//. The 'Divorce Tracts' caused an uproar both in parliament and amidst the clergy, as well as with the general populace, which earned him the nickname "Milton the Divorcer."2 It is in reference to the attempted censorship of the same by the Stationers' Company, that Milton published his eloquent //Areopagitica//, an oration advocating freedom of the press, in late 1644.3 Milton had also had time to write a treatise //Of Education//, which prescribed a rigorous course of study for English youth. In 1645, Milton published //Tetrachordon// and //Colasterion//, and registered //Poems of Mr. John Milton, Both English and Latin//. In 1663, Milton remarried again, to Elizabeth Minshull, a match his daughters opposed. He spent his time tutoring students and finishing his life's work, the epic, //Paradise Lost//. Among the greatest works ever to be written in English, the feat is all the more remarkable for Milton's blindness — he would compose verse upon verse at night in his head and then dictate them from memory to his aides in the morning. //Paradise Lost// finally saw publication in 1667, in ten books. It was reissued in 1668 with a new title-page and additional materials. The book was met with instant success and amazement; even Dryden is reported to have said, "This man cuts us all out, and the ancients too." John Locke was born on August 29, 1632, in Warington, a village in Somerset, England. In 1646 he went to Westminster school, and in 1652 to Christ Church in Oxford. In 1659 he was elected to a senior studentship, and tutored at the college for a number of years. Still, contrary to the curriculum, he complained that he would rather be studying Descartes than Aristotle. In 1666 he declined an offer of preferment, although he thought at one time of taking up clerical work. In 1668 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1674 he finally graduated as a bachelor of medicine. In 1675 he was appointed to a medical studentship at the college. He owned a home in Oxford until 1684, until his studentship was taken from him by royal mandate. Locke's mentor was Robert Boyle, the leader of the Oxford scientific group. Boyle's mechanical philosophy saw the world as reducible to matter in motion. Locke learned about atomism and took the terms "primary and secondary qualities" from Boyle. Both Boyle and Locke, along with Newton, were members of the English Royal Society. Locke became friends with Newton in 1688 after he had studied Newton's //Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis//. It was Locke's work with the Oxford scientists that gave him a critical perspective when reading Descartes. Locke admired Descartes as an alternative to the Aristotelianism dominant at Oxford. Descartes' "way of ideas" was a major influence on Locke's //An Essay Concerning Human Understanding//. Locke's ideas on freedom of religion and the rights of citizens were considered a challenge to the King's authority by the English government and in 1682 Locke went into exile in Holland. It was here that he completed //An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, and published Epistola de Tolerantia// in Latin. The English government tried to have Locke, along with a group of English revolutionaries with whom he was associated, extradited to England. Locke's position at Oxford was taken from him in 1684. In 1685, while Locke was still in Holland, Charles II died and was succeeded by James II who was eventually overthrown by rebels (after more than one attempt). William of Orange was invited to bring a Dutch force to England, while James II went into exile in France. Known as the Glorious Revolution of 1688, this event marks the change in the dominant power in English government from King to Parliament. In 1688 Locke took the opportunity to return to England on the same ship that carried Princess Mary to join her husband William. The new government of England offered Locke the post of ambassador to Berlin or Vienna in recognition of his part in the revolution, however Locke declined the honorable position. In 1689 he became commissioner of appeals, and from 1696 to 1700 acted as commissioner of trade and plantations. In 1691 Locke responded to financial difficulties in the government by publishing //Some Considerations of the Consequences of Lowering of Interest//, and Raising the Value of Money, and in 1695 //Further Considerations// on the topic of money. In 1693 he published //Some Thoughts Concerning Education//, and in 1695 //The Reasonableness of Christianity//. He was later inspired to write two Vindications of this last work in response to some criticism. Locke invested a great deal of energy in theology in his later years, and among his work published post mortem are commentaries on the Pauline epistles, a //Discourse on Miracles//, a fragment of the //Fourth Letter for Toleration//, and //An Examination of Father Malebranche's Opinion of Seeing all things in God, Remarks on Some of Mr. Norris's Books//. After his death another chapter of //An Essay Concerning Human Understanding// // was published // // under the title The Conduct of the Understanding//.
 * __John Locke __**


 * __Links for American History and Early Education __**

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