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Why did Britain pass the Tea Act?

While the East India Company held a monopoly in most of the British Empire, it struggled in the colonies because colonial merchants sold illegally smuggled tea from competitors, such as the Dutch. British Prime Minister Frederick North initiated the Tea Act under the assumption that colonists would welcome cheap prices on legal tea. Instead, many Americans viewed it as an act of tyranny.\nThough the Tea Act imposed no new taxes, the colonists opposed it because the duty tax on tea entering the colonies remained in place, while the tax on tea entering England was removed. The act was also desig..

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What was education like in the 1930s?

In rural communities in the 1930s, one-room schoolhouses were still common. However, the modern high-school and elementary-school systems were developing in suburban and urban areas. The student-centric Activity Movement contributed to the rise of professional educators: people who studied and developed effective teaching methods. In previous years, teaching responsibilities typically fell to the best-educated person in the community, regardless of experience in educational development.\nThe years between 1900 and 1940 were a period of explosive growth for women in higher education. In 1900, l..

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Who are some popular U.S. vice presidents?

A number of vice presidents also ran for president unsuccessfully, including Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale and Al Gore. The only vice president to never be elected to the office was Gerald Ford, who was chosen to replace Spiro Agnew after his resignation. While the vice presidency was a relatively powerless position through much of the 19th century, the powers of the office expanded greatly after World War II.

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What are the accomplishments of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado?

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado was born into a noble family in Salamanca, Spain, in 1510. Being a younger son, he was not entitled to any inheritance, so he decided to seek his fortune in New Spain or present day Mexico in 1535. He worked as an assistant to the Spanish viceroy Antonio de Mendoza, with whom his family had ties with. Coronado soon married into a rich family.By the 1530s, stories about the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola began to circulate. These cities were supposedly encountered by another explorer, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. These stories were later confirmed by Spanish mis..

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What was a federal scout during the Civil War?

Both the Union and the Confederacy had scouts who served similar roles, but the term "federal" means that the scout was working for the Union. Some scouts wore military uniforms and simply rode ahead of the rest of the troops to make sure the way was clear. They also looked for secure locations to camp or tried to find the best battle positions.\nOther scouts were more similar to modern undercover spies. Some even wore Confederate uniforms and tried to learn secrets about Confederate strategies and plans, which they would then report back to Union military leaders. Many scouts served in both r..

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What was uneven distribution of wealth during the 1920s?

This uneven distribution caused prices to go up on products as the factories put them out en masse, but the everyday laborer was increasingly unable to buy the products. The top 1 percent of Americans each had a wealth equal to the bottom 42 percent combined. That same 1 percent controlled 34 percent of all savings. During this period leading up to the Great Depression, the prices of farm products fell about 40 percent, making things very hard for farmers. Many farmers had to leave their farms or rent out portions to be able to pay the mortgage on their farms.

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What are the pros and cons of slavery?

Throughout history, slaves have provided their owners with a pool of labor that can be exploited without cost. In ancient Rome, large populations of war prisoners became slaves who were put to work building enormous public works projects or as domestic servants. In the Americas, slaves gave farmers a reservoir of plantation workers who harvested labor-intensive crops such as sugar cane and cotton. This allowed owners to maximize their profits without dealing with the cost, inconvenience and inconsistencies involved with other labors sources, according to PBS.org.\nFor the slaves, however, ther..

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What are some facts from the history of Southwestern Indians?

Southwestern Indian tribes are typified by their ancestral link to the land in Arizona, New Mexico and parts of southern Colorado. The Navajo, Hopi, Apache, Pueblo and Zuni are the present day remnants of this area's diverse native cultural history. The tribes in this area were predominantly agricultural with some hunter/gatherer practices used for the benefit of the tribe when weather and resources permitted.\nNative religions of the Southwestern Indians were either shamanistic or animistic, and all tribes had rituals and rites of passage to mark developmental milestones and changes in t..

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What were the effects of the Monroe Doctrine?

The Monroe Doctrine was crafted by John Quincy Adams at a time when Spanish colonies in Latin America had begun to declare their independence. When President James Monroe declared the doctrine in his 1823 annual address to Congress, all foreign powers were given notice that any attempt to regain control of their former colonies would be viewed as a hostile act. The doctrine also had implications on North American soil. Russia was claiming vast swaths of land reaching as far south as modern-day Oregon. The candor of the doctrine made it clear that any foreign power would be prevented from expan..

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What was Great Britain's policy of Salutary Neglect?

Many scholars and historians feel that these years of neglect by the British Empire played a large role in the American Revolution. Even though the original government set up in the colonies was made to model the government in Britain, it still gave the colonies more independence than would normally have been granted to a colony.

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