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Battle of Rhode Island
The Battle of Rhode Island (29 August 1778), also known as the Siege of Newport or the Battle of Quaker Hill, was fought during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). It marked the first attempt at cooperation between the American and...
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Map of the African Slave Trade, c. 1750
By c. 1750, Africa stood at the center of three major slave-trading systems, the transatlantic, trans-Saharan, and Indian Ocean trades, each connecting African societies to wider global economies. These networks operated simultaneously but...
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The Portuguese Colonization of Cape Verde
The Portuguese colonization of the Cape Verde (Cabo Verde) Islands began from 1462. Initially envisaged as a base to give mariners direct access to West African trade, the Central Atlantic islands soon became a major hub of the Atlantic slave...
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Ten Great Native American Mound Sites
The Native Americans of Pre-Colonial North America built thousands of mounds across the continent which served various purposes and sometimes reached heights over 100 feet. Many of the mound sites were thriving urban centers – such as Cahokia...
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Causes of the American Civil War - Spoiler Alert: It Was All About Slavery
There was actually only one cause for the American Civil War: slavery. All the events leading to the Civil War, understood as steps moving steadily up the conflict, had slavery as the underlying cause for upset and increasing division between...
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Jay Treaty
The Jay Treaty, formally known as the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, was a controversial treaty signed by representatives of the United States and Great Britain in...
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Tobacco & Colonial American Economy
The most important cash crop in Colonial America was tobacco, first cultivated by the English at their Jamestown Colony of Virginia in 1610 CE by the merchant John Rolfe (l. 1585-1622 CE). Tobacco grew in the wild prior to this time and was...
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Berlin Conference 1884-5 - Establishing the Rules of the Scramble for Africa
The Berlin Conference, also known as the Berlin West Africa Conference, was held between November 1884 and February 1885. Imperial powers, notably Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Germany, met to thrash out their competing claims for control...
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The Spread of Islam in Ancient Africa
Following the conquest of North Africa by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century CE, Islam spread throughout West Africa via merchants, traders, scholars, and missionaries, that is largely through peaceful means whereby African rulers either tolerated...
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XYZ Affair
The XYZ Affair was a diplomatic incident that occurred in 1797-98, involving diplomats from the United States and Revolutionary France. Amidst rising tensions between the two nations, President John Adams sent envoys to Paris to negotiate...