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Written Expressly for Rapid Reference: Maryland

In 1634 the first settlement was made at St. Mary's, near the mouth of the Potomac. The charter gave the freemen a voice in making the laws, and the Assembly passed (1649) the family Toleration Act, granting freedom of conscience to all. The colonists also acted justly toward the natives. Maryland became, like Rhode Island, a refuge for the persecuted; but the Protestants, having obtained a majority, deprived the Catholics of their rights, and declared them outside the protection of the law. This brought on civil war, and finally, in 1691, Lord Baltimore was deprived of his proprietorial rights, and Maryland converted into a royal province. Under the fourth Lord Baltimore, 1715, the government was recovered, and religious toleration re-established.

1636.-Rogers Williams settled Rhode Island. The settlement was made at Providence. From the first he put into practice his favorite idea of freedom of conscience. In 1647, a set of laws were agreed on guaranteeing freedom of worship to all. This was the first legal declaration of conscience ever adopted in Europe or America.

1638.-The Swedes made their first permanent settlement in Delaware on a tract lying near Wilmington, which was named New Sweden. These settlements were afterwards conquered by the Dutch, and ultimately came into the possession of England.

1664.-Peter Stuyvesant, the last of the four Dutch governors of New Amsterdam, was forced to surrender the colony to an English fleet in September of that year. The colony was named New York in honor of the Duke of York.

In 1626 the Dutch bought the island of Manhattan from the Indians for $24.00, nearly one-tenth of a cent per acre.

1660.-The Navigation Act, which had been passed in 1651, was now enforced. By virtue of this act, the commerce of the colony of Virginia should be carried on in English vessels, and the tobacco shipped to England. This, with other oppressive measures, gave rise to parties in the colony, and occasioned much disquietude and turmoil.

1663.-Lord Clarendon and other noblemen received from Charles II. a grant of a large tract of land south of Virginia. It was named Carolina in honor of the King. Two permanent settlements were established, Abbemarle Colony and Carteret Colony (1670). In 1729 the two provinces seperated, and continued royal provinces until the Revolution.

1673.-The Mississippi valley was explored by Jesuit missionaries. They traversed all the great lakes, and in 1688 founded St. Mary's, the oldest settlement in Michigan. Father Marquette floated in a birch-bark canoe down the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi (1673) and thence to the mouth of the Arkansas River. La Salle, another Jesuit, in 1682, followed the Mississippi as far as the Gulf of Mexico, and named the country bordering on it Louisiana, in honor of Louis XIV of France.

1682.-William Penn, an English Quaker, established the first settlement in Pennsylvania (Penn's Woods). To this grant, which was obtained from Charles II., the Duke of York added the present State of Delaware. In 1683 Penn purchased land of the Swedes, whereon he laid out the city of Philadelphia. The colony flourished, Penn entered into friendly relations with the Indians and treated them with justice. The three countries, comprising Delaware, set up for themselves; but Pennsylvania and Delaware continued under one governor until the Revolution. Penn returned to England in 1684; and after his death in 1718 his heirs ruled the colony by deputies until 1779 when they sold their claims to the State for $500,000.

1689.-King William's war broke out. England and France having become involved in war the contest spread to their respective colonies in America. The Indians were enlisted on both sides, and terrible attrocities were perpetrated. The Canadian and Maine Indians sided with the French, and the Iriquois, or Five Nations of New York, with the English. The war lasted eight years, and by the treaty of Ryswick both parties retained the same territory that they held when the outbreak occurred.

1692.-The Salem witchcraft delusion broke out this year, and while it lasted all persons seemed to have lost their minds. Clergymen, magistrates and even the Governor's wife were implicated, as well as the commonest people. After fifty-five persons had been tortured and twenty hanged, the people realized the folly of the delusion.

1702.-Queen Anne's war broke out. England declared war against France and Spain and the contest was taken up by their colonies in America. Massacres, among them the bloody massacre of Deerfield, Mass., bloody but fruitless expeditions and untold sufferings marked this contest, which lasted eleven years. The struggle was terminated by the peace of Utrecht, by which Acadia was ceded to England.

1732.-George Washington was born February 22.

1733.-Georgia was settled by Oglethorpe, at Savannah, February 12. Oglethorpe, an English officer, received a grant of land from George II., and named it Georgia, in honor of the donor. Oglethorpe made peace with the Indians, and under his wise rule the colony prospered greatly. In 1752, the charter was surrendered to the crown, and Georgia remained a royal province until the Revolution. It was the last of the thirteen colonies that was settled.

1744.-King George's War broke out. England and France having become engaged in hostilities, the quarrel was transferred to their colonies. Louisburg, in Cape Breton, was captured by English and colonial troops, but at the conclusion of peace 1748, at Aix-La-Chapelle, it was restored to France. 1754-1763.-The French and English both laid claim to the territory west of the Alleghany Mountains, along the Ohio River. On the night of May 28, 1754, the war began; the first gun, it is said, having been fired by George Washington, who was then second in command. In 1755, the French were driven from Acadia; and on July 9 of that year Braddock, the English general, was disgracefully defeated and mortally wounded, at the Battle of Monongahela, the wreck of the army being saved by Washington, who acted as his aide-de-camp, and against whose advice Braddock had acted. September 8, the British defeated Dieskau at Lake George; August 14, 1756, the French under Montcalm captured Fort Oswego; August 9, 1757, Fort William Henry was captured by Montcalm; July 8, 1758, Abercrombie was repulsed at Fort Ticonderoga; July 26, Louisburg surrendered to Amherst and Wolfe; November 25, Fort du Quesne was captured by the English ; in 1759, Ticonderoga and Crown Point were abandoned by the French; the same year Niagara surrendered to the English, and on September 18, the city and garrison of Quebec surrendered to General Wolfe. In 1763, peace was signed at Paris, the English acquiring all the territory from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico east of the Mississippi, except two small stations to the south of Newfoundland.

1765.-The English Parliament had all along treated the colonists with injustice. The latter were compelled, by virtue of the Navigation Act, to send their products to England, and they were forbidden to manufacture anything for themselves. But the immediate cause of the Revolution was the attempt of England to tax the colonies, although the latter had no representation in Parliament. The colonists held that "taxation without representation was tyranny."

In 1765, the Stamp Act was passed, whereby stamps should be purchased from the British government to be placed on all legal documents, pamphlets, newspapers, etc., which measure was actively resisted by the colonists. Nine of the colonies sent delegates to New York, where they drew up a Declaration of Rights and a petition to the King and Parliament. The English government repealed the Act (1766), but still asserted its right to tax the colonies.

1768. In this year the so-called Mutiny Act was passed, whereby soldiers were quartered on the people of the colonies without the consent of the latter. The colonists regarded this move as an attempt to enslave them. The New York and Massachusetts assemblies led in their opposition to the measure. The assemblies of nearly all the other colonies refused to accept the principle of Parliamentary taxation without representation.

1770.-On March 5, the "Boston Massacre" took place. A fight occurred between General Gage's soldiers and the citizens, in which two citizens were wounded and three killed. The country people came to the support of the townsmen, and peace was restored only with great difficulty.

1773.-The English Government rescinded the taxes, except that on tea, which was merely nominal, and which was allowed to remain, in order to uphold the principle of taxation. But it was the principle and not the taxes that the colonists were fighting; and December 16, a body of men disguised as Indians boarded some English vessels in Boston harbor, and threw three hundred and forty-two chests of tea into the water.

1774.-The colonies were now on the verge of armed rebellion. A continental union was talked of everywhere, and a militia, termed "Minute Men," were formed. On September 5, the first Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. Every colony except Georgia was represented. The Congress sustained Massachusetts in her resistance to Parliament, declared that obedience was not due to the recent act of Parliament, refused to hold further intercourse with England, and virtually raised the standard of rebellion.

1775.-On April 19, the Battle of Lexington, the first of the War for Independence, was fought, The Americans did not attack: they simply refused to lay down their arms and disperse; Major Pitcairn ordered his soldiers to fire on them, and seven of the "Minute Men" were killed, The whole region around was immediately up in arms, the British were assailed from behind, trees, fences, buildings, and rocks, and before they had effected their retreat to Boston they had lost three hundred men.

1775.-Bunker Hill, the first regular battle of the Revolution, was fought, June 17, 1775. The Americans inflicted a severe defeat on the British, but were finally compelled to retire, after having exhausted their ammunition. At the close of the battle General Warren fell.

1775.-Ticonderoga was captured by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold. Large quantities of stores and ammunition, then much needed by the Americans, were secured. So adroitly was the surprise planned, that the Americans did not lose a single man.

1775.-May 10, the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia. It voted to raise twenty thousand men, and appointed George Washington commander-in-chief. It also drew up a petition to the King which the latter refused to receive, and so precluded all hope of a reconciliation.

1775.-During the summer General Montgomery led an army into Canada by way of Lake Champlain, and after capturing St. Johns and Montreal, he laid siege to Quebec. On the morning of the 31 of December, while endeavoring to carry the city by assault, he was killed at the first fire. The assault and subsequent blockade being unsuccessful, the Americans retreated from Canada the following spring.

1776. The evacuation of Boston by the British troups under Lord Howe occurred March 17; and on the following day General Washington entered the city amid general rejoicing.

1776.-On June 28, the English fleet attacked Fort Moultrie. The fire from Moultrie's guns shattered the fleet in an incredibly short time; while General Clinton's land troops that led the attack in the rear suffered as badly. The fleet sailed away for New York, to the great delight of the colonists, as this was the first encounter with the English navy during the war. It was in this battle that the famous Sergeant Jasper so highly distinguished himself.

1776.-On July 4, was promulgated the immortal "Declaration of Independence." Richard Henry Lee, in a previous session, had moved that "The United Colonies are, and ought to be, free and independent States." The motion was adopted, and a committee composed of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston, was appointed to draft a "DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE." At 2.30 P. M. the report of the Committee was adopted, and the thirteen colonies thereby cast off their allegiance to Great Britain, and under the title of the "United States," declared themselves free and independent.

1776.-Battle of Long Island, August 27. The British, thirty thousand strong, under Howe and Clinton, engaged Putnam, about nine thousand men, in Brooklyn. The Americans, after fighting with unflinching gallantry, and losing two thousand of their number, were defeated. The rest escaped during the darkness of the night, while Howe was awaiting the arrival of the English fleet.

1776.-General Howe, having crossed to New York, defeated a portion of Washington's army at White Plains. He then sent, November 16, a force of Hessians to capture Fort Washington, which they effected after a bloody resistance.

1776. The battle of Trenton, December 26. After the battle of Long Island, Washington crossed to New Jersey in order to prevent the British from seizing Philadelphia. His troops were starved, ragged and without shoes, the tracks of their bloody feet being traceable along the frozen ground. Sometimes the van of the pursuing army was in sight of Washington's rear. He crossed the Delaware in boats, while Howe deferred his attack on Philadelphia until the river would freeze over. On December 25, Christmas night, Washington, divining that the Hessians would be absorbed in festivities, crossed the Delaware on the ice, in a driving sleet storm, with 2,400 picked men, fell on the Hessian camp while men and officers were engaged in card-playing and wine-drinking, slew their Commander, Rall, captured a thousand prisoners, and escaped back over the Delaware, with the loss of two men killed and two frozen to death. The effect of this coup on the drooping spirits of the Americans was great, and produced a marked change throughout the colony.

1777.-On January 3, Washington fought the Battle of Princeton, inflicting a severe defeat on the British. Had Cornwallis attacked at nightfall, as he was advised to do, he would have probably defeated Washington, but he answered, "He could catch the fox in the morning." Washington, leaving his camp-fires burning to deceive the enemy, swung around Cornwallis by country roads and attacked the British near Princeton, won the victory, took three hundred prisoners, and was back in safety at Morristown Heights before Cornwallis realized that he had been outgeneraled. Colonel Monroe, afterwards President of the United States, distinguished himself in this battle.

1777. Battle of Brandywine, September 11. The Americans, who had taken up their position at Chad's Ford, were attacked simultaneously in front and rear by the British, and notwithstanding the valorous resistance of Sullivan, Lafayette, Wayne and Pulaski, were defeated. Philadelphia, as a result, fell into the hands of the British.

1777.-October 4, Washington attacked the enemy at Germantown, but owing to a dense fog the Americans retreated in the moment of victory. The battles of Saratoga were fought, on Sept. 19th, and Oct. 7th, between the forces of Generals Gates and Burgoyne. On the 17th, Burgoyne surrendered his army of over six thousand men, together with a splendid artillery train, and all his amunitions and baggage. The despair consequent on the defeats of Germantown and Brandywine, was dissipated, and confidence was again restored. The British, unable longer to hold possession of the forts on the Lakes, retreated to Isleaux-Noix and St. Johns.

1778.-On Feb. 6th, France acknowledged American independence, and a treaty was signed at Paris. Among other things, the articles of the treaty stipulated that: if Britain in consequence of the alliance should enter into hostilities with France, both countries should mutually assist each other, that the independence of America should be maintained; that if France should conquer any of the British West India islands, they should remain her property, that neither France nor America should lay down their arms, until the independence of America was formally acknowledged, and that neither of the contracting parties should conclude peace without the consent of the other.

1778.-The battle of Monmouth, fought June 28, between the forces of Clinton and Washington. The fight lasted all day, and in the night the British stole away to New York. The

1778.-July 1, of this year a band of Indians and Tories, numbering fifeen hundred, entered the beautiful valley of Wyoming, along the Susquehanna. They were commanded by Col. John Butler. The inhabitants of the settlement were mostly old men, women and boys, the able-bodied men having gone to the war. women and children hastened for refuge to an ancient fort, near the present site of the city of Wilkesbarre, while the old men and boys prepared for the defence. They were quickly defeated, and all night were subjected by the savages to the most attrocious tortures. The women and children were also tomahawked or perished in the flames and the entire settlement was destroyed. Those who escaped, fled into the wilderness.

1779. On the night of July 15, Gen. Wayne, with a force of only eight hundred men, performed one of the most brilliant achievements of the war, in the capture of Stoney Point. Having obtained the countersign from a negro, who was accustomed to sell strawberries at the fort, he marched under his guidance, encountering many difficulties, passed the unsuspecting sentinel, who was kept chatting by the negro, and had nearly reached the picket before discovered. Wayne's assault was irresistable, and the British surrendered after having lost six hundred men, in killed, wounded and missing. The fort contained a large amount of military stores.

1779.-Aug. 22, General Sullivan, owing to the attrocities which the Indians had kept up in the Susquehanna and Mohawk valleys, led an expedition into the Genessee country, and on the 29th fought a battle near the present town of Elmira with the Indians and their Tory allies. The latter were defeated and fled, and Sullivan destroyed the whole region, with its rich cornfields, orchards and villages. 1779.-Sept. 23, Captain Paul Jones with the Bon Homme Richard, captured the British ship Serapis, off the north-east coast of England, after a desperate fight, in which the ships were lashed together and the men fought hand to hand. The Richard being old and rotten was in a sinking condition, whereupon Jones transferred his crew to the captured frigate, and sailed for the Texel.

1780.- May 12, Charleston surrendered to General Clinton, after a siege of forty days.

1780.-On August 16, Gen. Gates who had been appointed to take command of the troops of the south, marched to meet Cornwallis near Camden. By a curious coincidence, both generals had chosen the same night to make their attack. The consequence was that each came on the other unexpectedly in the woods. The battle was resumed at day break; but the American militia demoralized by the fighting in the brush in the darkness, broke and dispersed. The Continentals, however, under the brave Baron de Kalb, stood firm; and fought till the last over the body of their chief, who had fallen, having been pierced by eleven wounds. This disaster laid South Carolina and Georgia again at the feet of the royal army, and all further resistance to British rule in the South ceased.

1780.-Gen. Arnold, whose services at Quebec and Saratoga had compelled the admiration of the American people, was stationed at Philadelphia, while his wound was healing. There he married a Tory lady. His conduct was so arrogant and odious that he was mobbed by the populace; and on being convicted of charges of oppression, was reprimanded by Washington, but in exceedingly gentle terms. His pride being hurt, and being in need of money, he entered into a conspiracy to surrender West Point, then the key to the North, and the most important point in the United States. Major Andre, who carried out the negotiations on the British side, was captured at Tarrytown, and hanged as a spy, while Arnold escaped to England, lived on an English pension, despised by the British officers, shunned by all decent people, and died in London the death of a traitor. Tarleton

1781.-Battle of Cowpens, January 17.-Gen. Greene, who had succeeded Gen. Gates, found an army of only two thousand ragged and starving men. attacked part of this force at Cowpens.