Portugal began the first wave of the Atlantic slave trade when they began to to take slaves from Africa to Brazil to work on plantations. The first wave did not last very long at all before the second wave began.

The second wave of the slave trade began when other countries began to take slaves from Africa to the new world. Britain became the largest trader of slaves, bringing them to the colonies to work. The difference between slaves in Africa and the new world is the fact that in Africa, only people who were prisoners of war, while in America, almost any “black” person could be enslaved, which was simply unfair to the Africans.

Traders would follow a particular route to pick up slaves, going south from Europe down the coast of Africa. There, they would pick up their “cargo” and sail west to the new world, either north to the 13 colonies or south to Brazil. Then, they would return directly to Europe.

Cotton Mather was born in 1663 in Boston, Massachusetts. Cotton Mather, his father, and his grandfather were all Puritan ministers at a church in Boston. Witchcraft was very prominent in the 17th century. People would blame many events on supernatural causes and on witches.

All Cotton Mather wanted was for the colonies to return to their high moral standards and not be subject to witchcraft. His teachings and books were used to persecute many people accused of witchcraft. Mather did not want to get rid of the people being accused of being witches; Rather, he just wanted the witches to stop being witches, and for the people to stop believing in witchcraft. What actually happened was that other men took his books and misunderstood them. They built a courthouse specifically for the Salem Witch Trials, and successfully condemned twenty women to die before the Governor stopped them. He pardoned any “witches” that were in the process of a witch trial, and let them go free.

Cotton Mather did not intend to start the Salem Witch trials. He would not have supported them. The people simply misunderstood his books and thought that he preached persecution of the witches. Anybody could accuse somebody of witchcraft. Twenty times, those people were judged to be witches. People frown on Cotton Mather because they blame him for the witch trials, when, in reality, he did not start them. Eventually, the people went back to their high moral standards in a movement called the Great Awakening.

Virginia was the first colony, founded in 1607. It was the location of Jamestown, the first English settlement in America

New York was the second colony to be founded, in 1626. New York supported itself with the fur trade, and was originally owned by the dutch, before it surrendered to England.

Massachusetts was founded in 1630. It is home to one of the most famous American cities, Boston. Most of the leaders of Massachusetts were puritan, but they tolerated any mono-theistic religion.

Maryland was established in 1633 as a Catholic retreat colony, where Catholics could go to get away from protestants. It was established by Lord Baltimore, and that is where its capital city gets its name.

Rhode Island was founded when Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson both separately got banished from Massachusetts.

Connecticut was established by a Puritan minister. The Pequot war was fought on Connecticut soil. It was also one of the first colonies to make their government distinct from England.

New Hampshire was founded in 1638 and named after Hampshire county in England. It was one of the last states to join the Revolutionary War.

Delaware was a region in Pennsylvania until the revolutionary war. Delaware was named after the Delaware river, and was the first colony to become a state.

The Carolina’s were given to 8 Lords from England to govern over. It was later split into two states.

New Jersey was originally founded by the dutch. When England was at war with the Netherlands, they claimed the land of New Jersey for themselves.

Pennsylvania was established by William Penn in 1682. It was a very democratic colony. He was a Quaker. Pennsylvania means “Penn’s Woods”

Georgia was founded in 1732, and was the last of the 13 colonies. It was founded to be a place of refuge for people in debt. The colony started slow because there were many strict laws the people did not like, but these were repealed, and so the colony began to expand faster.

Note: This Essay is an edit from a portion of this one from 4th Grade History

When Pascal was young, his family moved to Paris where his father bought bonds (he gave money to the government, and would get it back over time, with a little bit of interest) and used income from that to make a living. Then the French government decided not to pay back the bonds, due to the thirty years war, leaving Pascal’s father very poor. His father left Paris, leaving Blaise behind, but later returned, and the government gave him a job collecting taxes. This is where Pascal got his idea for his calculator. His father had to do lots of addition, and avoid mistakes. The punishment for a miscalculation is severe, and if it were to take place, the people might pay the wrong amount, and the government would get the wrong amount of money. Pascal’s calculator solved this problem.

Elizabeth was the sister to Bloody Mary. She was a protestant, unlike her sister. Her reign is sometimes referred to as the Golden age of England. She was known as the virgin queen, because she never married. She used the fact that she was single to her advantage to bribe other nation, because they princes knew that if they were to wage war with England, all chance of a marriage with a prince of said nation would be lost. The defeat of the Spanish Armada was the biggest military event that happened during Elizabeth’s reign. Sir Walter Raleigh and Shakespeare were just a few of the important figures who lived during Elizabeth’s reign. Elizabeth was one of the greatest monarchs of the English nation, and will be remembered for many a decade to come.

After the short reign of her cousin, Lady Jane Grey, Mary was put upon the throne of England. She was, perhaps, the most morbid of all the catholic rulers of England, earning her her nickname, Bloody Mary. She was a staunch catholic, and wanted England to to be only catholic as well. During her reign, protestants were persecuted more than ever. Mary had a relatively short reign (really long compared to Lady Jane Grey) of 5 years, during which, catholics prospered and protestants suffered. Finally, Bloody Mary died to the Flu, and her half sister Elizabeth I succeeded her.