East Coast History
The center of American power. The birthplace of the Constitution. New York and Washington D.C. anchor the eastern corridor of the United States as two of the world's most important cities.
Recommended Reading
- Thomas J. Misa - A Nation of Steel: The Making of Modern America, 1865-1925 (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology)
- Barra Foundation - Philadelphia: A 300-Year History
- John DeFerrari - Lost Washington, D.C. (The History Press)
- Selwyn Raab - Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires
- David Healey - 1812: Rediscovering Chesapeake Bay's Forgotten War
- Edmund Morris - Theodore Rex
- Catherine Clinton - Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom
Virginia Places -- "Chesapeake Bay Geology"
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. Its history is fairly recent -- it has only existed in present form for 10,000 years.
Timeline
- c.10000 B.C. - First people arrive on what is now the East Coast of the United States.
- c.1450-1600 - The Iroquois Confederation is formed, uniting 5 tribes near Lake Erie and Lake Huron.
- 1626 - Manhattan Island purchased from Lenape tribe. New Amsterdam (now New York) had been founded a year earlier.
- 1735 - The trial of John Peter Zenger in New York establishes important precedents for free speech and press.
- 1776 - The Declaration of Independence is signed on July 4th and sent to King George.
- 1776 - The Battles of Trenton and Princeton are fought and won in a surprise attack by George Washington's troops.
- 1787 - The Constitutional Convention is held in Philadelphia, resulting in the current United States Constitution.
- 1792 - Twenty-four stock brokers sign the Buttonwood Agreement, creating what is now known as the New York Stock Exchange.
- 1807 - The first steamboat line is opened between New York City and Albany.
- 1825 - The Erie Canal cements New York state's position as a central commercial power.
- 1863 - The New York Draft Riots are the largest civil disturbance in United States history.
- 1870 - Atlantic City, New Jersey opens its boardwalk for the first time, in an effort to establish its credentials as a resort town.
- 1875-1880 - Large scale steel production begins in Pittsburgh. The area becomes a center of American industry over the proceeding decades.
- 1911 - Triangle Shirtwaist Fire kills 146 female workers, mainly Jewish and Italian immigrants.
- 2001 - Terrorist attacks topple the World Trade Center on September 11.
ERAS:
Pre-Contact - Colonial - Revolutionary - Antebellum - Civil War - Gilded Age - Depression/World War II - Modern
PEOPLE:
American Indian - Anglo/Scottish - Black - Hispanic - Women - Asian - LGBT - Irish - Jewish - Children