BC to AD

Dred Scott was born into slavery in 1799. Scott was owned by a Missourian named Peter Blow. Blow tried his hand at being a surplus farmer but his talent proved insufficient to his desire. He decided to cut his loses and in turn sold his slaves, Scott among them. Scott was sold to army surgeon, Dr. John Emerson. Throughout the 1830's, Emerson and Scott traveled all over the North and South as the doctor plied his trade. In 1843, Emerson died. Scott attempted to buy his freedom from Emerson's widow, but she refused. It was then Scott decided to sue for his freedom. With the aid of his former owner Peter Blow, and northern abolitionists, Scott sued Mrs. Emerson for his freedom. Scott's lawyers argued that having spent time in free states, he was entitled to his freedom. The argument was not unfounded. Missouri case law contained several cases in which slaves obtained their freedom due to their proximity to free states. When the case went to trial in the summer of 1847, the j...

Tensions in the British colonies had been escalating since the victory in the French and Indian War. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Since the war’s conclusion, the British government imposed new taxes in order to resolve its war debt. Taxes on goods, such as molasses and paper, took a heavy toll on the New England economy. Protests erupted throughout the colony. In response, the British sent two regiments of regulars to Boston to quell the popular dissent. The night of March 5, 1770 was an unseasonably cold in the snow covered city of Boston. A lone sentry patrolled in front of the Boston Custom House. The faint sound of an argument echoed across the square. The argument was between a local wig merchant and a British lieutenant over a late payment. The sentry, Private Hugh White, ran over and chastised the merchant for yelling at the officer. The merchant began to yell at White; at which point, the private struck the merchant in the head with hi...

Fannie Coralie Perkins was born in Boston, Massachusetts on April 10, 1880. She spent most of her childhood in Worcester, graduating from Classical High School in 1898. She attended Mount Holyoke College, earning a Bachelor's in Chemistry and Physics. After graduation, she began teaching and changed her name to Francis. In 1910, she graduated from Columbia University with a Master's in Political Science. She then went on chair the New York Consumer League in 1911. That year would prove to be a pivotal year in Francis's life. On March 25, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in downtown Manhattan erupted into flames. Francis joined the gather crowd as they looked up in horror at the conflagration. She watched as countless women and girls jumped to their deaths in order to escape the burning building. After that day she swore that she would do everything in her power to never let something like that from ever happening again. Already attuned to the politics of the day, she lobbi...

The first inhabitants of Florida were the native peoples that occupied the peninsula since the end of the Ice Age. The first Europeans to explore the peninsula were Spanish. Conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon explored much of the land mass in his search for the fabled Fountain of Youth. The peninsula was further explored by Hernando de Soto. Pedro Menendez de Aviles established the first permanent settlement, St. Augustine, in 1565. As the Spanish colonized into Florida further, they converted many native peoples to Catholicism. In 1763, Spain ceded the colony to Great Britain in return of the Cuban city of Havana. After Great Britain's defeat in the American War of Independence, Florida was granted back to Spain. The newly established United States desired to expand into new lands. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, doubling the size of the United States overnight. However Florida remained elusive. Throughout the 1810's, American...

After an abysmal presidency, Ulysses S. Grant refused to run for a third term in 1876. He asked his Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish to run in his stead, but he also refused. In a highly contested convention, the Republicans chose Ohio governor, Rutherford B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler to run for President and Vice President in the fall election. As the Republicans held their convention that summer, the Democrats were meeting in St. Louis to choose their presidential ticket. They chose New York Governor, Samuel Tilden, and Thomas A. Hendricks to run. The Election of 1876 was proving to be a much more important than previously thought by political insiders. Tilden prove to be the most popular Democratic candidate since before the Civil War. He had made his name in the tough world of antebellum New York politics. A protege of Martin Van Buren, he was chosen to be governor of the state in 1874. As governor, he took on the corrupt Tammany political machine. When he was chosen t...

Before it was colonized, the territory of Texas was inhabited by several tribes of native peoples. In 1528, Texas was explored by the first Europeans under the direction of Spanish explorer, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. During the 17th century, Catholic Spanish missionaries spread throughout the newly incorporated territory. Spain held the territory until Mexico claimed it after their revolution in 1821. After Mexico successfully won their independence from Spain, they sought to populate their newly acquired, vast holdings. The Mexican legislature passed laws opening up Texas to foreign settlement. Throughout the 1820's, settlers from the United States flooded over the border seeking new economic opportunities. One of the first groups of Americans to cross into Texas was lead by Virginian Stephen F. Austin. He established a permanent settlement on the edge of the Brazos River in 1822. Initially there was peace and prosperity in the Mexican territory, however, the new Anglo-sett...