“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and provide new Guards for their future security.”

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The Battle of Athens (1946)

The Battle of Athens (sometimes called the McMinn County War) was a rebellion led by citizens in Athens and Etowah, Tennessee, United States, against the local government in August 1946. The citizens,…

Hampton Roads

The Civil War Battle of Hampton Roads was the first engagement of ironclad warships, the USS Monitor nor the CSS Virginia.  While neither side could claim victory, the battle demonstrated the viability of ironclad technology and…

James Otis, Speech Against Writs of Assistance

February 24, 1761 INTRODUCTION By 1760 the British seemed poised for victory in the French and Indian War. But as the expense of the war weighed on the British treasury, Parliament eyed…

Battlefield Preservation

Save Tennessee Battlefields

Your help is needed to save two key tracts at Lookout Mountain and Franklin.
The first tract includes 301 acres that played an important role in the “Battle Above the Clouds” at Lookout Mountain. The second tract is a small but crucial parcel at the Franklin Battlefield, which adds a key piece of ground to the land the Trust already worked so hard to reclaim and restore. 

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The Aitken Bible

The Aitken Bible

The Aitken Bible and Congress Prior to the American Revolution, the only English Bibles in the colonies were imported either from Europe or England. Publication of the Bible was regulated by the British government, and an English language Bible could not be printed without a special license from the British…

Alexander Hamilton Stephens

Alexander Hamilton Stephens

Name in native languageAlexander H. StephensDate of birth11 February 1812Taliaferro CountyDate of death4 March 1883Atlanta, GAPlace of burialA. H. Stephens State ParkCountry of citizenshipUnited States of America (1812-1861-1883)Confederate States of America (1861-1865)EducationFranklin College later became The University of GeorgiaOccupationPoliticianPoliticianVice President of The Confederacy(1861-1865)50th Governor of Georgia(1882-1883), United States Congressman(1843-1845)Member of…

Daniel S. Donelson

Daniel S. Donelson

Daniel Smith Donelson (June 23, 1801 – April 17, 1863) was a Tennessee politician and soldier. The historic river port of Fort Donelson was named for him as a Brigadier in the Tennessee militia, early in the American Civil War, in which he went on to serve as a Confederate…

Alexander P. Stewart “Old Straight”

Alexander P. Stewart “Old Straight”

Alexander Peter Stewart “Old Straight” (October 2, 1821 – August 30, 1908) was a career United States Army officer, college professor, and general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.   Early life and career Stewart was born in Rogersville, Tennessee. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1842…

The Aitken Bible

The Aitken Bible and Congress Prior to the American Revolution, the only English Bibles in the colonies were imported either from Europe or England. Publication of the Bible was regulated…

Alexander Hamilton Stephens

Most famous for serving as the vice president of the Confederacy during the Civil War (1861-65), Alexander Hamilton Stephens was a near-constant force in state and national politics for a…

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EXPLORE biographies, battles, and events throughout America’s historical past

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Christopher Columbus: Not found in History today

Many people are surprised to learn that Christopher Columbus and his men enslaved native inhabitants of the West Indies, forced them to convert to Christianity, and subdued them with violence…

America, the New World

The discovery of America, the New World was made by Christopher Columbus 1451-1506 in 1492. America was named after Amerigo Vespucci in 1507. America, the New World opened up new…

Beaver Wars

Beaver Wars

The Beaver Wars, also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (French: Guerres franco-iroquoises), encompass a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in America. They were battles for economic welfare throughout the Saint Lawrence River valley in Canada and the lower Great Lakes region which pitted the Iroquois against the northern Algonquians and the Algonquians’ French allies.…

Antelope Hills Expedition

Antelope Hills Expedition

The Antelope Hills Expedition was a campaign from January 1858 to May 1858 by the Texas Rangers and members of other allied native American tribes against Comanche and Kiowa villages in the Comancheria. It began in western Texas and ending in a series of fights with the Comanche tribe on May 12, 1858 at a…

Comanche Wars

Comanche Wars

The Comanche Wars began in 1706 with raids by Comanche on Spanish colonies in New Mexico and continued until the last bands of Comanche surrendered to the United States in 1875 although a few Comanche warriors continued to fight in conflicts such as the Buffalo Hunters’ War in 1876 and 1877.[1] In the 18th century, the Comanche established…

Arikara War

Arikara War

The Arikara War was an armed conflict between the United States, their allies from the Sioux (or Dakota) tribe and Arikara Native Americans that took place in the summer of 1823, along the Missouri River in present-day South Dakota.[5] It was the first Indian war west of the Missouri fought by the U.S. Army and its only conflict ever with…

Nickajack Expedition

The last great battle of the Chickamauga wars. It was fought from late summer to fall of 1794 between American frontiersmen and the Chickamauga Cherokee.

Cherokee: Opening engagements

Henderson and frontiersmen thought the outbreak of the Revolution superseded the judgments of the royal governors. The Transylvania Company began recruiting settlers for the region they had “purchased”. As tensions…

Comanche Wars

The Comanche Wars began in 1706 with raids by Comanche on Spanish colonies in New Mexico and continued until the last bands of Comanche surrendered to the United States in 1875.

Database of Battles

From Native Indians, The American Revolution,
and American Civil War

Battle of Sewell’s Point

Coordinates: 36°57′17″N 76°19′36″W / 36.95472°N 76.32667°W The Battle of Sewell’s Point was an inconclusive exchange of cannon fire between the Union gunboat USS Monticello, supported by the USS Thomas Freeborn, and Confederate batteries on Sewell’s Point that took place on May 18, 19 and 21,…

The Battle of Gettysburg

In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Lee sought to capitalize on recent Confederate victories and defeat the Union…

Battle of White Marsh

Battle of White Marsh

Battle Summary General George Washington spent the weeks after his defeat at Germantown encamped with the Continental Army in various locations throughout Montgomery County, just north of British-occupied Philadelphia. In early November, the Americans established an entrenched position approximately 16 miles north of Philadelphia along the Wissahickon Creek and Sandy Run, primarily situated on several…

The Battle of Yorktown

The Battle of Yorktown

The Siege of Yorktown or Battle of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by General Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by General Lord Cornwallis. It proved to be the last major land battle of…

The Battle of Eutaw Springs

The Battle of Eutaw Springs

Background Seven years of British determination to bring South Carolina to her knees met failure. The spirit that had long resisted royal edict and church canon, the fierce desire and indomitable will to be masters of their own destinies, and the dauntless courage that had carved a new way of…

The Battle of Guilford Courthouse

The Battle of Guilford Courthouse

Overview On the bright, late winter day of March 15, 1781, the Revolutionary War came to a remote county seat in north central North Carolina. Guilford Courthouse, with its population of considerably fewer than 100, was on this day the temporary residence of 4,400 American soldiers and their leader, Maj.…

The Battle of Yorktown

In 1780, 5,500 French soldiers landed in Rhode Island to try to help their American allies in assaulting British-occupied New York City. The two armies met North of New York…

The Battles of Lexington and Concord

They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston.

Battle of White Marsh

The Battle of White Marsh (aka Battle of Edge Hill) was a battle fought in the area surrounding Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania. The battle, which took the form of a series…

The Battle of Quebec

The Battle of Quebec was an attempt on December 31, 1775, by American colonial forces to capture the city of Quebec, drive the British military from the Province of Quebec,…