Native American History

Native Americans of Rhode Island

• Maggie

Rhode Island Tribes Image: Native American Territories in the state of Rhode Island The Narragansett In the early seventeenth century, Narragansett Native Americans occupied most of Rhode Island, from Narragansett Bay on the east to the Pawcatuck River on the west. They were the largest and strongest chiefdom in New England. They escaped the great pestilence of 1617 that swept through southern New England, and the remnants of other tribes who had suffered joined them for protection, making the Narragansett a powerful tribe. The word Narragansett means the people at the small narrow point. They were of the Eastern Woodlands culture. They were made up of several sub-tribes, each with a chief (sachem). Their population was around 10,000 in the…

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Native American Women

Queen Weetamoo

• Maggie

Squaw Sachem of the Wampanoag Weetamoo was born in 1640 to the Sachem (chief) of the Pocassets, Corbitant, and one of his wives. Weetamoo’s name means sweet heart in the Pocasset language. She grew up in the Pocasset’s largest and main village, Mettapoisett, on the shores of Cape Cod. She had a younger sister, Wootonekanuske. Because Corbitant had no sons, Weetamoo was destined to become the next Sachem of the Pocassets. Since Weetamoo would one day become Sachem, she would endure a vision quest. At the age of fourteen, she was sent alone into the woods and fasted until her child soul was killed. She became a skilled hunter, swimmer, and fisherman. She also learned the duties of other girls…

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Thirteen Colonies

New York Colony

• Maggie

The Year: 1664 New York best illustrates the great melting pot that would become America. By 1646, the population along the Hudson River included Dutch, French, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, English, Scots, Irish, Germans, Poles, Bohemians, Portuguese and Italians. Image: Colonial New York on Manhattan Island The English In 1664, the English claimed New Netherland and renamed it New York, arguing that the Hudson Valley was part of Virginia as given by James I to two companies in 1606. This tract had been settled at both ends, they reasoned – on the James River and the New England coast – and why should a foreign power claim the central portion?
Thirteen Colonies

New Jersey Colony

• Maggie

The Year: 1664 Image: Map of Colonial New Jersey The early European settlement of New Jersey involved the Dutch and the Swedes. The Dutch West India Company worked to stimulate settlement in the area by granting large tracts of land to its members in New Netherland, which included the area that would become New Jersey. These grants were called patroonships. A patroon was a landholder who was granted one of these great estates in exchange for bringing fifty new settlers into the colony. In 1620, a trading post was established at the site of Bergen, New Jersey, which would later be developed as the first permanent white settlement in the area. Other Dutch enclaves followed at Fort Nassau and at…

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African Americans, Civil War Women, Educators

Sarah Mapps Douglass

• Maggie

African American Abolitionist and Teacher Sarah Mapps Douglass was born in Philadelphia on September 9, 1806, the daughter of renowned abolitionists Robert Douglass, Sr. and Grace Bustill Douglass. Like many prosperous families, the Douglasses educated Sarah and her brother Robert at home with private tutors. Image: Sarah Mapps Douglass: Faithful Attender of Quaker Meeting: View from the Back Bench by Margaret Hope Bacon Sarah’s grandfather, Cyrus Bustill, was a member of the Free African Society, the first African American charity organization. In 1803, he established a school for black children in his home. The Douglasses were among several free black families who formed the core of Philadelphia’s abolitionist movement. Grace Bustill Douglass ran a millinery store out of her home…

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Slavery in America

Slavery in New Jersey

• Maggie

Chattel Slavery Slavery was introduced into the colony of New Jersey in the 17th century, shortly after the Dutch first settled in the colony. The colonial system of slavery was a labor system known as chattel slavery, in which the slave was the personal property of his or her owner for life. Men and women brought from Africa, either directly or by way of the Caribbean Islands, were enslaved under this system. Children born to slave women were the property of their mother’s owner, and became slaves for life.
Slavery in America

Slavery in New York

• Maggie

1664 through the American Revolution Image: British New York Manhattan Island Slavery in English New York When the British took control of New York in 1664, the Duke of York proclaimed that no Christian could be held in slavery. This rule, and the principle behind it, became an issue later, when enslaved blacks wanted to convert to Christianity. The British were far harsher toward slaves than the Dutch had been. They eliminated most of the pathways to freedom and passed laws that greatly limited what enslaved people could do, whom they could gather with, and when they could be out on the streets. Many of these laws were rewritten often, suggesting that they did not work very well.
Native American History

Native Americans of New Jersey

• Maggie

The Lenni Lenape Image: Map of Lenapehoking The Lenape (Len-AH-pay) lived in an area they called Lenapehoking, which means Land of the Lenape. Their land included what is now New Jersey, along the Delaware River, the lower Hudson Valley and lower Manhattan Island when the Europeans arrived. As part of the Eastern Woodlands, Lenapehoking had many rivers, streams and lakes and was densely forested and rich in wildlife. In the 17th century, the Lenape or Lenni Lenape were organized bands of Native American peoples with shared cultures and languages. Their Algonquian language is known as either Lenape or Delaware.
Civil War Women, Diaries and Letters

Susan Blackford

• Maggie

Civil War Nurse in Virginia Susan and Charles Blackford agreed when Charles went to war that they would keep all letters that passed between them. Charles wrote home as often as possible, eager to preserve as much of his experiences as he could, realizing that impressions faded quickly. Susan recorded the events on the Virginia home front. Susan Leigh Colston was born in 1835 to one of Virginia’s first families, and she married the distinguished Charles Minor Blackford, a Virginia aristocrat. Charles enlisted in the Second Virginia Cavalry Regiment, Army of Northern Virginia, at the outset of the war. He left their home in Lynchburg, Virginia in June 1861. Image: Letters from Lee’s Army Most of Charles’ service was in…

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Colonial Women

Quaker Women

• Maggie

The Year: 1656 Image: Segregation The segregation of men and women in a Quaker meeting, as shown in this image, was linked to the idea of a role for each. The early history of attitudes toward gender in the Society of Friends, given the popular name Quakers, is particularly notable for providing for one of the largest and most equitable roles for women in the Christian tradition at the time. Their views of women have always been considered progressive. The Society of Friends originated in England in the seventeenth century and quickly spread to the English colonies. The most surprising aspect of Quakerism was the fact that ministry – the right to speak during a Quaker meeting – was open…

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