vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Territorial evolution of the United States
Date Event Change Map July 4 , 1776 Thirteen colonies of the Kingdom of Great Britain in North America collectively declared their independence as the United States of America , though several colonies had already individually declared independence : The Colony of Connecticut , becoming the State of Connecticut The Counties of New Castle , Kent , and Sussex , upon Delaware , commonly known as the Lower Counties of Delaware , which was Delaware Colony before their declaration of independence on June 15 , 1776 The Province of Georgia , becoming the State of Georgia The Province of Maryland , becoming the State of Maryland The Province of Massachusetts Bay , becoming the State of Massachusetts Bay The State of New Hampshire , which was the Province of New Hampshire before their declaration of independence on June 15 , 1776 The Province of New Jersey , becoming the State of New Jersey The Province of New York , becoming the State of New York The Province of North Carolina , becoming the State of North Carolina ; some believe the colony declared independence on May 20 , 1775 , but this is disputed The Province of Pennsylvania , becoming the State of Pennsylvania The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations , commonly known as Rhode Island , which was the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations before declaring independence on May 4 , 1776 The Province of South Carolina , becoming the State of South Carolina The Colony of Virginia , becoming the Commonwealth of Virginia The capital was not specifically established ; at the time , the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia . Many states had vaguely defined and surveyed borders ; these are not noted as contested in the maps unless there was an active dispute . The borders of North Carolina were particularly poorly surveyed , its border with South Carolina having been done in several pieces , none of which truly matched the spirit of the charter , and its border with Virginia was only surveyed roughly halfway inland from the sea . Several northeastern states had overlapping claims : Connecticut , Massachusetts , and New York all claimed land west of their borders , overlapping with each other and with a sizable claim by Virginia . Of the three , only Connecticut seriously pursued its claims , while Virginia is considered to have had the most legitimate claim to the vast northwest , dividing it into counties and maintaining some limited control . The entirety of the new United States was claimed by Great Britain . Of particular note are Machias Seal Island and North Rock , two small islands off the northeast coast which remain disputed up to the present .
Colonial history of the United States
The northern colonies experienced numerous assaults from the Wabanaki Confederacy and the French from Acadia during the four French and Indian Wars , particularly present - day Maine and New Hampshire , as well as Father Rale 's War and Father Le Loutre 's War . Siege
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were a group of British colonies on the east coast of North America founded in the 17th and 18th centuries that declared independence in 1776 and formed the United States of America . The Thirteen Colonies had very similar political , constitutional , and legal systems and were dominated by Protestant English - speakers . They were part of Britain 's possessions in the `` New World '' , which also included colonies in Canada , the Caribbean , and the Floridas .
American Revolution
Washington could not know that the British would not reopen hostilities after Yorktown . They still had 26,000 troops occupying New York City , Charleston , and Savannah , together with a powerful fleet . The French army and navy departed , so the Americans were on their own in 1782 -- 83 . The treasury was empty , and the unpaid soldiers were growing restive , almost to the point of mutiny or possible coup d'état . The unrest among officers of the Newburgh Conspiracy was personally dispelled by Washington in 1783 , and Congress subsequently created the promise of a five years bonus for all officers .
Colony of Virginia
The name `` Virginia '' is the oldest designation for English claims in North America . In 1584 , Sir Walter Raleigh sent Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to explore what is now the North Carolina coast , and they returned with word of a regional king ( weroance ) named Wingina , who ruled a land supposedly called Wingandacoa .
American Revolution
A minority of uncertain size tried to stay neutral in the war . Most kept a low profile , but the Quakers , especially in Pennsylvania , were the most important group to speak out for neutrality . As Patriots declared independence , the Quakers , who continued to do business with the British , were attacked as supporters of British rule , `` contrivers and authors of seditious publications '' critical of the revolutionary cause . Though the majority of Quakers attempted to remain neutral , a sizable number of Quakers in the American Revolution nevertheless participated to some degree .
American Revolution
The American Revolution has a central place in the American memory as the story of the nation 's founding . It is covered in the schools , memorialized by a national holiday , and commemorated in innumerable monuments . Thus , Independence Day ( July 4 ) is an annual national holiday . George Washington 's estate at Mount Vernon was one of the first national pilgrimages for tourists which attracted ten thousand visitors a year by the 1850s .
Loyalist (American Revolution)
John Hamilton ( died 1816 ) , commander of the Royal North Carolina Regiment , later British consul in Norfolk , Virginia Reuben Hankinson , Ensign , First New Jersey Volunteers , September 1780 Harpe brothers , North Carolina bandits and allegedly America 's first serial killers Joseph Harris , runaway mulatto slave of Henry King , of Hampton , Virginia ; smuggled supplies for the British John Howe ( 1754 -- 1835 ) , printer of the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News - Letter Thomas Hutchinson ( 1711 -- 1780 ) , last royal Governor of Massachusetts
Stamp Act 1765
Howard became the only prominent American to publicly support the Stamp Act in his pamphlet `` A Colonist 's Defence of Taxation '' ( 1765 ) . After the riots , Howard had to leave the colony , but he was rewarded by the Crown with an appointment as Chief Justice of North Carolina at a salary of ₤ 1,000 . New
Loyalist (American Revolution)
In areas under Patriot control , Loyalists were subject to confiscation of property , and outspoken supporters of the king were threatened with public humiliation such as tarring and feathering , or physical attack . It is not known how many Loyalist civilians were harassed by the Patriots , but the treatment was a warning to other Loyalists not to take up arms . In September 1775 , William Drayton and Loyalist leader Colonel Thomas Fletchall signed a treaty of neutrality in the interior community of Ninety Six , South Carolina . For actively aiding the British army when it occupied Philadelphia , two residents of the city were tried for treason , convicted , and executed by returning Patriot forces .
American Revolution
The result was a powerful crisis from 1776 to 1783 . The peace in 1783 left France financially prostrate , while the British economy boomed thanks to the return of American business . The crisis ended after 1784 thanks to the King 's shrewdness in outwitting Charles James Fox ( the leader of the Fox - North Coalition ) , and renewed confidence in the system engendered by the leadership of the new Prime Minister William Pitt . Historians conclude that loss of the American colonies enabled Britain to deal with the French Revolution with more unity and better organization than would otherwise have been the case . Britain turned towards Asia , the Pacific and later Africa with subsequent exploration leading to the rise of the Second British Empire .
Daughters of the American Revolution
Signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence ; Military veterans of the American Revolutionary War , including State navies and militias , local militias , privateers , and French or Spanish soldiers and sailors who fought in the American theater of war ; Civil servants of provisional or State governments , Continental Congress and State conventions and assemblies ; Signers of Oath of Allegiance or Oath of Fidelity and Support ; Participants in the Boston Tea Party ; Prisoners of war , refugees , and defenders of fortresses and frontiers ; doctors and nurses who aided Revolutionary casualties ; ministers ; petitioners ; and Others who gave material or patriotic support to the Revolutionary cause .
United States Declaration of Independence
The issue of Parliament 's authority in the colonies became a crisis after Parliament passed the Coercive Acts ( known as the Intolerable Acts in the colonies ) in 1774 to punish the Province of Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party of 1773 . Many colonists saw the Coercive Acts as a violation of the British Constitution and thus a threat to the liberties of all of British America . In September 1774 , the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia to coordinate a response . Congress organized a boycott of British goods and petitioned the king for repeal of the acts . These measures were unsuccessful because King George and the ministry of Prime Minister Lord North were determined not to retreat on the question of parliamentary supremacy . As the king wrote to North in November 1774 , `` blows must decide whether they are to be subject to this country or independent '' .
Voting rights in the United States
In the 1820s , New York State enlarged its franchise to white men by dropping the property qualification , but maintained it for free blacks . The Supreme Court of North Carolina had upheld the ability of free African Americans to vote in that state . In 1835 , because of fears of the role of free blacks after Nat Turner 's Slave Rebellion of 1831 , they were disenfranchised by decision of the North Carolina Constitutional Convention . At the same time , convention delegates relaxed religious and property qualifications for whites , thus expanding the franchise for them . Alabama entered the union in 1819 with universal white suffrage provided in its constitution .
Modern history
The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War , the first successful colonial war of independence . While the states had already rejected the governance of Parliament , through the Declaration the new United States now rejected the legitimacy of the monarchy to demand allegiance . The war raged for seven years , with effective American victory , followed by formal British abandonment of any claim to the United States with the Treaty of Paris . North
United States Declaration of Independence
In the campaign to revise Congressional instructions , many Americans formally expressed their support for separation from Great Britain in what were effectively state and local declarations of independence . Historian Pauline Maier identifies more than ninety such declarations that were issued throughout the Thirteen Colonies from April to July 1776 . These `` declarations '' took a variety of forms . Some were formal written instructions for Congressional delegations , such as the Halifax Resolves of April 12 , with which North Carolina became the first colony to explicitly authorize its delegates to vote for independence . Others were legislative acts that officially ended British rule in individual colonies , such as the Rhode Island legislature declaring its independence from Great Britain on May 4 , the first colony to do so . Many `` declarations '' were resolutions adopted at town or county meetings that offered support for independence . A few came in the form of jury instructions , such as the statement issued on April 23 , 1776 by Chief Justice William Henry Drayton of South Carolina : `` the law of the land authorizes me to declare ... that George the Third , King of Great Britain ... has no authority over us , and we owe no obedience to him . '' Most of these declarations are now obscure , having been overshadowed by the declaration approved by Congress on July 2 , and signed July 4 .
American Revolution
As early as 1651 , the English government had sought to regulate trade in the American colonies . On October 9 , the Navigation Acts were passed to ensure that trade enriched only Britain , barring trade with other nations . Some argue that the economic impact was minimal on the colonists , but the political friction which the acts triggered was more serious , as the merchants most directly affected were most politically active . King Philip 's War ended in 1678 , and much of it was fought without significant assistance from England . This contributed to the development of a unique identity , separate from that of Britain .
American Revolutionary War
Tens of thousands of slaves escaped during the war and joined British lines ; others simply moved off in the chaos . For instance , in South Carolina , nearly 25,000 slaves ( 30 % of the enslaved population ) fled , migrated or died during the disruption of the war . This greatly disrupted plantation production during and after the war . When they withdrew their forces from Savannah and Charleston , the British also evacuated 10,000 slaves belonging to Loyalists . Altogether , the British evacuated nearly 20,000 blacks at the end of the war . More than 3,000 of them were freedmen and most of these were resettled in Nova Scotia ; other blacks were sold in the West Indies .
American Revolution
By June , nine colonies were ready for independence ; one by one , the last four fell into line : Pennsylvania , Delaware , Maryland , and New York . Richard Henry Lee was instructed by the Virginia legislature to propose independence , and he did so on June 7 , 1776 . On June 11 , a committee was created to draft a document explaining the justifications for separation from Britain . After securing enough votes for passage , independence was voted for on July 2 . The Declaration of Independence was drafted largely by Thomas Jefferson and presented by the committee ; it was unanimously adopted by the entire Congress on July 4 , and each of the colonies became independent and sovereign . The next step was to form a union to facilitate international relations and alliances .
Colonial history of the United States
New Hampshire , New York , Virginia , North Carolina , South Carolina , Georgia , and eventually Massachusetts were crown colonies . The provincial colony was governed by commissions created at pleasure of the king . A governor and ( in some provinces ) his council were appointed by the crown . The governor was invested with general executive powers and authorized to call a locally elected assembly . The governor 's council would sit as an upper house when the assembly was in session , in addition to its role in advising the governor . Assemblies were made up of representatives elected by the freeholders and planters ( landowners ) of the province . The governor had the power of absolute veto and could prorogue ( i.e. , delay ) and dissolve the assembly . The assembly 's role was to make all local laws and ordinances , ensuring that they were not inconsistent with the laws of England . In practice , this did not always occur , since many of the provincial assemblies sought to expand their powers and limit those of the governor and crown . Laws could be examined by the British Privy Council or Board of Trade , which also held veto power of legislation .
Loyalist (American Revolution)
While men were out fighting for the crown , women served at home protecting their land and property . At the end of the war , many loyalist men left America for the shelter of England , leaving their wives and daughters to protect their land The main punishment for Loyalist families was the expropriation of property , but married women were protected under `` feme covert '' , which meant that they had no political identity and their legal rights were absorbed by their husbands . This created an awkward dilemma for the confiscation committees : confiscating the land of such a woman would punish her for her husband 's actions . In fact , many women were punished in this way . Grace Growden Galloway recorded the experience in her diary . Galloway 's property was seized by the Rebels and she spent the rest of her life fighting to regain it . It was returned to her heirs in 1783 , after she and her husband had died .
Thirteen Colonies
By spring 1775 , all royal officials had been expelled , and the Continental Congress hosted a convention of delegates for the 13 colonies . It raised an army to fight the British and named George Washington its commander , made treaties , declared independence , and recommended that the colonies write constitutions and become states . The Second Continental Congress assembled in May 1775 and began to coordinate armed resistance against Britain . It established a government that recruited soldiers and printed its own money . General Washington took command of the Patriot soldiers in New England and forced the British to withdraw from Boston . In 1776 , the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence from Britain . With the help of France and Spain , they defeated the British in the American Revolutionary War . In the Treaty of Paris ( 1783 ) , Britain officially recognized the independence of the United States of America .
American Revolution
Among the significant results of the revolution was the creation of a new Constitution of the United States . The new Constitution established a relatively strong federal national government that included an executive , a national judiciary , and a bicameral Congress that represented states in the Senate and the population in the House of Representatives . The Revolution also resulted in the migration of around 60,000 Loyalists to other British territories , especially British North America ( Canada ) .
American Revolution
The war finally ended in 1783 and was followed by a period of prosperity . The national government was still operating under the Articles of Confederation and was able to settle the issue of the western territories , which were ceded by the states to Congress . American settlers moved rapidly into those areas , with Vermont , Kentucky , and Tennessee becoming states in the 1790s .
Whiskey Rebellion
Under the authority of the recently passed federal militia law , the state militias were called up by the governors of New Jersey , Maryland , Virginia , and Pennsylvania . The federalized militia force of 12,950 men was a large army by American standards of the time , comparable to Washington 's armies during the Revolution . Relatively few men volunteered for militia service , so a draft was used to fill out the ranks . Draft evasion was widespread , and conscription efforts resulted in protests and riots , even in eastern areas . Three counties in eastern Virginia were the scenes of armed draft resistance . In Maryland , Governor Thomas Sim Lee sent 800 men to quash an antidraft riot in Hagerstown ; about 150 people were arrested . Photo
American Revolutionary War
Clinton returned to New York , leaving Charles Cornwallis in command in Charleston to oversee the southern war effort . In the interim , the war was carried on by Patriot militias who effectively suppressed Loyalists by winning victories in Fairfield County , Lincolnton , York County , Stanly County , and Lancaster County .
American Revolution
About 60,000 to 70,000 Loyalists left the newly founded republic ; some migrated to Britain . The remainder , known as United Empire Loyalists , received land and subsidies for resettlement in British colonies in North America , especially Quebec ( concentrating in the Eastern Townships ) , Prince Edward Island , and Nova Scotia . The new colonies of Upper Canada ( now Ontario ) and New Brunswick were expressly created by Britain for their benefit , where the Crown awarded land to Loyalists as compensation for losses in the United States . Britain wanted to develop the frontier of Upper Canada on a British colonial model . But about 80 % of the Loyalists stayed in the United States and became full , loyal citizens ; some of the exiles later returned to the U.S.
American Revolution
The colonists did not object that the taxes were high ; they were actually low . They objected to the fact that they had no representation in the Parliament , and thus no voice concerning legislation that affected them . Benjamin Franklin testified in Parliament in 1766 that Americans already contributed heavily to the defense of the Empire . He said that local governments had raised , outfitted , and paid 25,000 soldiers to fight France -- as many as Britain itself sent -- and spent many millions from American treasuries doing so in the French and Indian War alone . London had to deal with 1,500 politically well - connected British Army soldiers . The decision was to keep them on active duty with full pay , but they had to be stationed somewhere . Stationing a standing army in Great Britain during peacetime was politically unacceptable , so the decision was made to station them in America and have the Americans pay them . The soldiers had no military mission ; they were not there to defend the colonies because there was no threat to the colonies .
Constitutional Convention (United States)
Almost all of the fifty - five delegates had taken part in the Revolution , with at least twenty - nine having served in the Continental forces , most in positions of command . All but two or three had served in colonial or state government during their careers . The vast majority ( about 75 % ) of the delegates were or had been members of the Confederation Congress , and many had been members of the Continental Congress during the Revolution . Several had been state governors . Just two delegates , Roger Sherman and Robert Morris , would be signatories to all three of the nation 's founding documents : the Declaration of Independence , the Articles of Confederation , and the Constitution .
American Revolutionary War
The defeat at Saratoga caused considerable anxiety in Britain over foreign intervention . The North ministry sought reconciliation with the colonies by consenting to their original demands , although Lord North refused to grant independence . No positive reply was received from the Americans . French
Rhode Island
Rhode Island 's tradition of independence and dissent gave it a prominent role in the American Revolution . At approximately 2 a.m. on June 10 , 1772 , a band of Providence residents attacked the grounded revenue schooner Gaspee , burning it to the waterline for enforcing unpopular trade regulations within Narragansett Bay . Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown on May 4 , 1776 . It was also the last of the thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution on May 29 , 1790 , once assurances were made that a Bill of Rights would become part of the Constitution . During the Revolution , the British occupied Newport in December 1776 . A combined Franco - American force fought to drive them off Aquidneck Island . Portsmouth was the site of the first African - American military unit , the 1st Rhode Island Regiment , to fight for the U.S. in the unsuccessful Battle of Rhode Island of August 29 , 1778 . A month earlier , the appearance of a French fleet off Newport caused the British to scuttle some of their own ships in an attempt to block the harbor . The British abandoned Newport in October 1779 , concentrating their forces in New York City . An expedition of 5,500 French troops under Count Rochambeau arrived in Newport by sea on July 10 , 1780 . The celebrated march to Yorktown , Virginia in 1781 ended with the defeat of the British at the Siege of Yorktown and the Battle of the Chesapeake . National