The March of Liberty:
From Absolute Rule by One to Universal Suffrage for All.
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Circa 428-347 B.C.: Plato’s Republic (by a Classical Greek Philosopher). Describes an ideal City State governed by a Democratic Council Vote of it leading Citizens as opposed to the Absolute Rule of a Tyrant, which Athens had just suffered. Note: votes were not extended to Women or Slaves. Also debates virtue i.e. why should we do good things when evil people seem to prosper?

Why did Christianity become the dominant Religion of Europe? The Christian Church did not spread through the Roman Empire by accident. It preached non-violence: "turn the other cheek", "love thy neighbour as thy self", and "love thy enemy".
  • The classical world was brutal. The economy and technology of the time made it impossible to support a large scale Judicial and Prison system, so punishment was extremely harsh to terrorise criminals and rebels away from breaking the law. Like crucifixion and the coliseum: "bread and circuses" to keep the Citizens quiet. Every major city had a coliseum not just Rome! Food was often in short supply and brought from Egypt to Rome. Often there were revolts due to hunger and reacquisition of food supplies.
  • Slavery supported the Empire. The life expectancy of slaves in the mines, as oars-men on Trireme ships, and on the wheat and grape estates was generally 7 years due to poor health, diet, and over work. Acquiring slaves through the expansion into new provinces of the Empire through war drove the expansion of the empire due to the massive profits to be gained from selling the conquered tribesmen as Slaves. House slaves were more well off and often literate. Freedom could be earned, as could becoming a Citizen of Rome by for example serving 30 years in the Army. Later it became a universal right thus undermining it's value.
  • Barbarians were always testing frontiers and ultimately over ran the Empire. First settling peacefully on land given them e.g. the Lombard’s in Northern Italia, Magyars in Hungary, and the Bulgars in Thrace. Later Goths, Visigoths, Vandals, Angles, Saxons, and Jutes followed. Particularly in Italy, England, and North West Africa. Sic Gloria Transit Mundi: "We mourn for the glory that has past". Latin remained the Common Language in Western Europe for writing and the Church, but most common people and many Lords couldn't speak it.
  • Clearly a peaceful religion appealed to many people.
  • The Romans adopted many Gods including the Greek God's, giving them different names e.g. Zeus, the King of the Gods became Jupiter. Most of the planets carry the names of Roman Gods. All pre-Christian Roman Emperor's were regarded as Gods.
    Other popular competing god's included:
    • Dionysus, the Roman God of Wine.
    • The cult of the Bull, started in Syria, adopted by Parthia (Iran/Persia/Kurdistan: Rome's eastern "cold war" enemy, with an exceptionally strong cavalry). Popular among Roman Legionaries.
    • The Cult of Isis, a religion emanating from ancient Egypt.
    • Druidism, Celtic worship of Earth lines of force, and nature. Banned: due to starting rebellions. They built Stonehenge (Circa 3000-1000 B.C.) at the point where three Celtic Kingdoms meet. The Stones was brought from Wales, rolled on logs. It was used for Astronomy to know when the Equinox's where (important festivals to them), and when to plant for the harvest. Aylesbury, England also has a Stone Circle, said to be where mystic force lines meet. Druidism was confined to the British Isles and Gaul (modern France).
    • Judaism: crushed after the revolt by Zealots 66-73 A.D. resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Great Temple of King David, and Jews being forced out of Judea which was renamed Palestine in 150 A.D.
    • Woden a God of the Germanic Tribes after which Wednesday is named with Odin, King of the Norse Gods.
    • And later the Norse Gods: Odin, Thor, and Fri which some days of the week are named after. The first 8 months are also named after old Gods e.g. Janus, the God of Doors, looking back and forward. The Vikings were not entirely converted to Christianity until 1200 A.D. They often took slaves, abused coastal citizens in countries with in range of their longboats, and desecrated and plundered Church’s and Monasteries. Read On.
The Conversion of Europe to Christianity. Christianity took root in the Greek speaking Eastern Roman Empire very quickly due to the visits of some Disciples and the New Testament being written in Greek. And as a underground movement in Rome due to the preaching and Saint Peter (Simon Peter) and Saint Paul (Saul).
  • Christianity had been introduced through out the Roman Empire after Constantine (274-337 A.D.) became the first Christian Emperor. But died out in many places after the collapse of the Western Half. London was evacuated after the fall, and left empty, only being re-settled due to the safety its remaining Roman Walls provided. You can still see a small section near the Tower of London.
  • St. Augustine arrived in Canterbury, capital of the Celtic Kingdom of Kent in 597 A.D., from France. King Ethelbert had taken a French Catholic Wife who asked him to be baptised and to build Saint Martin's Church in Canterbury. Christianity then spread from there through much of England, through Missionaries and Royal Marriages between Kingdoms like Wessex (sex meaning Saxon) and Mercia. The different ethnic groups that settled in Britain can be identified by the ending of their towns names: -chester (Roman), -don, -ham... They often spook different languages although living close to one another.
  • York (Jorvik to the Vikings, and Eboracum to its Roman founders) has most of its Roman Walls intact. It was the most northerly city in the Empire and an important Viking Settlement. The famous York Minster is built on the site of the Roman Colonia: a settlement for retired legionaries who were given farmland, and were available for call up in case of a Rebellion. This can still be viewed. Other Roman Colonias include the German town of Köln on the Rhine (whose great Cathedral survived WWII), and the Austria Capital Vienna on the Danube.
  • York was the second most important Christian (Arch) Bishopric in England after Canterbury. Christianity having arrived via Scotland and Ireland in northern England. Due to St. Patrick (389?-461?) a Slave from Southwest England, who was the Second Bishop of Ireland. The council at Whitby Abbey (still partially standing) decided how the two traditions could be brought together.
  • Greek Missionaries converted Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro (southern Dalmatia, divided between Rome and Constantinople by the Roman Emperor Theodosius), and Kiev, capital of the Ukraine. Their Royal family was founded by Vikings as they controlled Kiev at the time as it was on the trade route to Constantinople. The first two King's had Norse names, then they took on Slavic names. Moscow was founded as a frontier fortress against the Mongol Horde of the 1300's. It fell to them as did Kiev very bloodily as they had killed emarasies sent to parlay the cities surrender. The Mongol's then went on to crush a united Polish-Hungarian army, but withdrew after the death of the Khan because of civil war. The more easterly territories remained under a splinter of the empire: The Empire of the Golden Horde. Centred on Astrakhan (on the north shore of the Caspian sea, still part of the Russian federation from 1556) and Kazan (400 miles east of Moscow, and captured by the Czar Ivan the Terrible, 1552). Moscow paid tribute to the Horde annually. But eventually there was a falling out of their leaders so Moscow refused to pay tribute in 1480, becoming effectively independent. The city built many Churches which gave in great prestige and generated a lot of wealth, thus allowing it to become the nucleus of the Russian state: a Third Rome!
  • The eastern alphabet Cyliric was invented by a Greek Monk named Cyril. Cyliric derives from the Greek Alphabet (Alpha-Beta) which in turn came from the Phoenician alphabet (modern day Lebanon and Syria). The Latin Alphabet of course also derives from the Greek Alphabet, and all other West European Alphabets from the Latin.
  • The Slavic (from Slave, as the Moslems took them as captives) Rus had originally also considered becoming Jewish, Catholic, or Moslem. But they said the Jewish God must be weak because he didn't protect their homeland: Judea, forcing them to flee to many countries in a Diaspora; the Catholic Priest's dress style did not appeal to them; and the Moslem's wouldn't allow Alcohol: no Vodka! So they choose to become Orthodox.
  • Other Eastern European States were converted to Christianity by the Germanic Teutonic Knights, where many German Colonists settled. The Knights were named after the Forest in Southern Germanic where two Consular Legions of the second Roman Emperor Augustus (after which a month is named) were wiped out and their standards seized! Thus preventing the Roman Empire ever expanding into modern day Germany.
  • The Vikings raiders were all converted by 1200 A.D. still having crosses on their flags.
  • Lithuania was the last country in Europe to become Christian in about 1450 A.D.
15th June 1215: Magna Carta (Latin, "Great Charter") – sealed by [the illiterate] King John of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou. A document of law forced on the King by his 25 Barons after:
  1. The lose of Normandy in northern France from which King William I, the Conqueror, invaded England in 1066, at the battle of Hastings. The Duchy having been founded 200 years before by Norsemen. The channel islands had been invaded 50 years prior.
  2. Ex-communication by the Pope and withdrawal of Communion for all England.
  3. Exorbitant taxes required to Ransom his brother Richard I, the Lion Heart, captured by the Austrians on his way back from the Crusades. A King's Ransom!
  • Presumably the Ransom money was used to build the Austro-Hungarian Empire which ultimately checked the Ottoman Turks at the gates of Vienna several centuries later, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453: the Capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (originally Byzantium the city's original Greek name, it was later named for the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine). It was the richest and largest and richest city in Europe, and a Second Rome, Capital of the Orthodox faith.
 Magna Carta forced King John to consult and share power with his Barons, and grant other rights and privileges. Including the right of Habeas Corpus, trial by jury.

1517: 95 Theses: On the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences - by Dr. Martin Luther who was a Monk in the loose German loose Confederation: the Holy Roman Empire (famously said to be neither Holy, Roman, or Empire).
  • King George I of England (1714-27) and elector of Hanover also came from this "Empire". Allowing the Crown to draw on German Hessian Mercenaries in the American Revolution. Also half the European colonists in the 13 colonies were of Germanic origin. African slaves made up 50% of the total population. The population went up 10 fold from 1700 to 1776 to 2.5 million against Britain’s 8 million. King George I spoke no English. The Colonist's even had a vote after independence to see whether English or German should become the country's language. Of course most Governors and the upper classes spoke English. New England might have broken away if German had been chosen.
  • Anyway Martin Luther was a devote Catholic Monk and walked 800 miles from the German states to Rome on pilgrimage. He went up the steps said to be brought from the Palace of Pontius Pilate: the Roman Governor of Judea who ordered the execution of Jesus on the insistence of the Jewish Temple Priests and mob because he dared to call himself the long awaited Messiah: "King of the Jews", and perform miracles on the Sabbath i.e. work. Luther went up the steps on his knees. This was said to cleanse someone you knew who had died of all their sins and guarantee them a place in heaven. But Luther doubted forgiveness could be earned so easily. He was a very penitent man, always praying and fasting even when weak through hunger. His Abbot ordered his to take up a teaching post instead.
  • After his trip to Rome Luther started having doubts about his Catholic faith. What gave the Pope the right to pass religious laws and judgement? After all there was no mention of the Pope (bishop of Rome) in the Bible! Also the Pope was involved in a great task of rebuilding St. Peters Church in Rome, originally begun in about 300 A.D. Its dome was built by Michelangelo and it became known as Saint Peter's Basilica. The Renaissance: rebirth of art funded it which was started by the rich northern Italian Trading Republics which flourished. Due to the Church withdrawing its objection to borrowing at interest: banking. Previously only Jews had been allowed to work as money lenders. Thus limiting the supply of capital. The Dome was copied by Saint Paul's Cathedral, built after the Great Fire of London (1666) to replace the old one by Sir Christopher Wren. It is where the post-reformation Royal Family Marry and get Crowned. Note: the Great Plague happened in 1665, forcing the Government to temporarily move to Oxford. The Roman Catholic Westminster Abbey of the old Norman-Catholic Kings still stands next to the Houses of Parliament with the tombs of many famous Kings. The United States Congress building also modelled its dome on these revolutionary designs.
  • The Pope sent churchmen round the German and other states collecting money to pay for the new Saint Peters by selling Indulgences. These guanteed you forgiveness from sin and place in heaven if you paid a sum according to your wealth. They had a saying: "For every penny in, a soul springs" when putting money in the collection box. Luther claimed the Bible did not support this practice. He claimed Christianity only came through the teachings of the Bible, and not by what a Pope decreed. He wrote the 95 Theses above, mainly preaching against the practice of Indulgences and the power and wealth of the Pope and many corrupt Churchmen beneath him.
  • Luther claimed the Bible should be in the Language of the common people i.e. German not Latin which no one understood including many priests. The Invention of the Printing Press by Gutenberg in 1438 with moveable type blocks made it practical to distribute his 95 Theses and a translated Bible far and wide. Soon many German Princes and Commoners became Protestant and ultimately protected Luther. The effect of the Printing Press was to allow new religious, political, and scientific ideas (such as in Astronomy) to be spread and learned in one's own language making for a lot more literate people.
  • Protestant Priests (Pasters or Vicars) were allowed to Marry. This had been allowed in the Catholic Church until about 1300. Then couples had been forceably separated, often leaving the Wife in poverty. Many Catholic Priests had taken to living with their Housekeepers in secret. And Communion consisted of Bread and Wine, instead of Bread alone as had been the case.
  • In opposition to Protestantism the Pope reluctantly sanctioned the inquisition in Spain against mainly Jews and Moors who had converted to Christianity in order to remain in a Christian Spain. Many were thought still to practice their original religion in private. Most died in poorly run prisons not from torture. Not stopped until the French Emperor Napoleon’s invasion of Spain about 1800. Also he raised up an elite Monastic Order called the Jesuit's who also studied modern science, principally to convert the New World.
1533-53, 1558-1685, 1688-date: The Rise of Protestantism in England.
  • King Henry VII (1485-1509) of the new house of Tudor (symbol: a Rose with interchanged Red and White petals) united the House of York (symbol: White Rose) with the House of Lancaster (symbol: Red Rose) who had just had a long Civil War: The War of the Roses.
  • His first Son Arthur married Catherine of Aragon (1501) but died before becoming King.
  • His second son then became King Henry VIII of England (1509-47): "The King is dead. Long live the King". He was a devote Catholic and at first horrified by Luther's break with Rome. The Pope gave him the Title: “defender of the faith”. F.D. in Latin, still found on British coins. Though now representing a different faith.
    1. Henry married Catherine of Aragon, a Spanish Princess. Thus maintaining the alliance with Spain. Which was also devoutly Catholic after a century’s long re-conquest against the Muslim North African Moors, aided by Crusaders from as far a field as Scotland. The last Moorish Kingdom: Granada fell in 1492. The same year Christopher Columbus, a Genoese seaman discovered the West Indies in the New World. He actually thought the world was a lot smaller, and had reached outlaying islands of India. Hence Native Americans becoming known as Indians.
      Catherine gave Henry a daughter: Mary Tudor (1516). She was brought up a devote Catholic by her Mother.
      But he wanted a Son, as Catherine aged he realised she couldn't bear him any more children. So he asked the Pope to annul the Marriage on the grounds that she had previously been married to his Brother who had died. The Pope refused so Henry broke with Rome, and encouraged Protestants in England. Closing all the Ancient Monasteries to gain Money and reduce the influence of the Catholic Church. They often helped the sick, and feed the poor. They were among the few who could read Latin. Catherine was sent back to Spain in 1533. And the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury became the top Priest.
    2. Henry then married Anne Boleyn who gave him another daughter: who would become Elizabeth (1533). Her mother was beheaded on charges of adultery, probably also because she didn't bear him a Son.
    3. His third wife Jane Seymour did bear him a Son, a last: Edward (1537).
  • Henry VIII (1485-1509) had six wife’s in all, two of whom where beheaded. But only three heirs. He became the head of the Church of England.
    1. King Edward VI (1547-53) continued the Protestant faith, but died.
    2. This allowed Queen Mary I (1553-8) to ascend to the Throne and restore Catholicism, She married Philip of Spain but had no heir, as he was seldom in the Country. Elizabeth was put under arrest and in constant danger of being executed.
    3. When Mary died Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) ascended to the Throne. Restoring Protestantism, and having the North American Colony of Virginia named after her. Her reign saw Sir Walter Raleigh bring back (the curse weed) Tobacco that supported the Virginia Colony economy (Jamestown being founded in 1607), and the Potato which made for a much more well feed population.
      Along with the Grand Banks Fisheries of Newfoundland being opened up by Bristol fishermen about 1450 and kept secret to prevent competition. Allowing salted fish to supplement the diet. Many scurmises followed between French and English Colonies in Newfoundland for control of this highly profitable trade.
      Elizabeth I had to put down a rebellion lead for the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots. This lead to English Catholic's eventually founding the Colony of Maryland of which Baltimore is the principle city to escape persecution and be free to practice their faith.
  • The British Queen Elizabeth II, also of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and many West Indian States remains the Head of the Church of England. The Queen is one of the most well travelled women on Earth having reigned from 1952. She has also probably meet more world leaders than anyone else in history.
  • The future King Charles III wants to be known as "defender of faith", not "defender of the faith". He had a keen interest in the environment and organic farming (owning the Duchy of Cornwall estate), and the inner cities.
1543: The Revolution of Heavenly Orbs - by Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543).
  • The ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras (Circa. 570-495 B.C) proved that the Earth was round and Aristarchus suggested that the Earth and Planets revolved around the Sun.
  • However Ptolemy an Egyptian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer believed that the Planets and Stars revolved around the Earth. He wrote this about 100 A.D., and the church accepted this 'geocentric' theory as it placed the Earth at the centre of the Universe!
  • Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) a Polish astronomer studied the sky from the top of a Cathedral. In 1543 he wrote his book 'The Revolution of Heavenly Orbs'. Published by a Lutheran printer. In it he said the Earth revolves round the Sun once a year. Spinning on it's axis once a day. A 'heliocentric' theory. This upset the church who stuck with their view.
  • Later the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) made careful measurements of 800 stars and the movement of Mars using an 'astrolabe'.
  • His pupil, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) a German astronomer and natural philosopher, took over his work. He discovered the Planets revolved in ellipses not circular orbits! Which further upset the Church. He is noted for formulating and verifying the three laws of planetary motion. These laws are now known as Kepler's laws:
    1. Kepler's First Law: the planets orbit the sun in elliptical paths, with the sun at one focus of the ellipse.
    2. Kepler's Second Law: the areas described in a planetary orbit by the straight line joining the centre of the planet and the centre of the sun are equal for equal time intervals; that is, the closer a planet comes to the sun, the more rapidly it moves.
    3. Kepler's Third Law: states that the ratio of the cube of a planet's mean distance, d, from the sun to the square of its orbital period, t, is a constant—that is, d3/t2 is the same for all planets.
  • Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) an Italian mathematician, scientist, and astronomer became one of the first people to build a telescope, using the new invention of lenses. By December 1609, Galileo had built a telescope of 20 times magnification. He observed the Milky way; lunar craters, mountains and valleys on the Moon; Sun spots; the phases of Venus; and the orbit of the inner planets in the solar system. He also observed the four largest satellites rotating around Jupiter, a completely separate planet. In physics, he discovered the laws of falling bodies and the motions of projectiles. In 1610 he wrote a book called the 'The Starry Messenger' which proved Copernicus correct. This upset the Church further and his book was seized, and he was forced to recant. In 1624 Galileo began a book he wished to call 'Dialogue on the Tides' in which he discussed the Ptolemaic and Copernican hypotheses in relation to the physics of tides. Banned by the Church in 1630. He was put on trial in 1633 for "grave suspicion of heresy" and sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his live.
    Galileo’s final book 'Discourses Concerning Two New Sciences' studying motion and the principles of mechanics was published at Leiden in 1638. The book opened a road that was to lead Newton to the law of universal gravitation that linked Kepler’s planetary laws with Galileo’s mathematical physics.
  • Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) invented 'the Calculus' (or 'Fluxions' as he referred to it) in 1666 a mathematical method that allowed the movements of the planets to be mathematically predicted, it also has many other scientific and engineering uses. It was used by the Space Programme in to 20th Century to chart the trajectories of robotic probes across the solar system. His famous bit off propaganda about the 'apple falling' allegedly gave him the idea for Gravity. A force the pulled the apple down, and acted on planets, moons, comets, and the sun.
    In 1667 he wrote the famous book 'Philosophiae Naturalis Principa Mathematica'. Some regard this as the start of the second great age of science. The first being the ancient Babylonians and Greeks. In it he states his three laws of motion:
    1. "A object remains, at rest or continues in its motion, unless acted on by another force."
    2. "The pull of an object (or Planet) is inversely squared to it distance."
    3. "Every Force has a equal and opposite reaction."
  • It should be noted that Baron Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) a German philosopher, mathematician, and statesman independently invented 'the Calculus' in 1675. Also known as 'Infinitesimal Calculus' as it manages to mathematically model differentials or integrals for infinitely small steps between numbers. Leibniz's system was published in 1684, Newton's in 1687, and the method of notation devised by Leibniz was universally adopted. In 1672 he also invented a calculating machine capable of multiplying, dividing, and extracting square roots, and he is considered a pioneer in the development of mathematical logic.
1588: The Spanish Armada: Queen Elizabeth I's Speech at Tilbury Docks.
  • Sir Francis Drake captained a Privateer that raided Spanish Colonies in the New World, circumnavigated the world in the Golden Hinde (1577-80). Bringing back much treasure to England. Including silver and spices.
  • King Philip II of Spain was outraged by the way Catherine of Aragon had been treated, England's abandonment of the "one true faith", English Piracy, and England sending troops (1585-87) to support the Protestant Dutch revolt against Spanish rule in the Netherlands. It was not until 1648, when the Spanish signed the Treaty of Münster, that the Dutch Republic of the United Provinces came into being.
  • In 1587 War became inevitable with Spain due to English Piracy. So Drake struck the first blow and attacked the Spanish Port of Cadiz. He sank or burnt 33 Spanish Ships and brought back 4 more ladened with provisions. This was known as "The Singeing of the King of Spain's beard" and delayed any invasion of England by a year.
  • Consequently Philip sent the Spanish Armada (1588). A vast fleet of Warships to pick up an Army in Flanders lead by the Duke of Parma and invade England.
  • Queen Elizabeth I speech before the Armada: "I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a King, and of a King of England, too..."
  • Drake lead the English Fleet of Plymouth, after first finishing his game of Bowls. So legend says. The smaller more manoeuvrable English Ships held the Spanish off for 9 days. The Spanish fleet sheltered in Calais but Drake sent in fire ships that sent panic thought the Armada with ships desperately trying to escape crashing into one another. Later a Great Storm wrecking nearly all their Ships which couldn't seek shelter in any English Ports because they were closed to them. So had to go round independent Scotland and Ireland. Many Spanish ship-wrecked sailors settled in these countries.
  • This Naval Victory broke the Maritime Power of Spain allowing England to:
    • Build Colonies to North America, and the highly profitable Sugar Islands in the West Indies.
    • Raid the Spanish Main with Privateers, from Port Royal, now submerged after an earth quake, eastern Jamaica. The Spanish held Florida to prevent the English using this as a base too. England couldn't be attacked because a Strong Navy protected it.
    • Set up the English (later British) East India Company in 1600.
1600: English East India Company chartered. By Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), to bring back Spices, Silk, and Tea from the East thus by-passing the Muslim and Italian Traders at a hansom return. Spices were in high demand as there was no refrigeration so meat often went off, and the taste had to be disguised.
  • Most Tea initially came from China as did Silk, and China Plates and Cups (made to a secret formulae out of white clay).
  • The East India Company founded the trading port of Madras in Southeastern India in 1639, with a Garrison to Protect it's interests. World War broke out with France from the High Seas, to North America, the West Indies, and India. This forced the British to defend their trade interests in Southern India, and capture the French ports in Southern India including Pondicherry. Thus ending the influence of the French East India Company.
  • The Portuguese acquired Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1534. In 1661 the Bombay territory was given to King Charles II of England as part of the wedding dowry for Catherine of Braganza, who was the Portuguese King's sister. In 1668 King Charles II leased the area to the English East India Company for a small sum of money.
  • Calcutta was founded in 1690 as an East India Company Trading Port in Bengal. The decaying Muslim Mughal Empire which had invaded Northern India some centuries earlier captured it in 1756. Clive of India, a Company Bookkeeper turned General recaptured it in 1757.
  • The British were also forced to fight the Muslim Tippoo Sultan of Mysore, with the aid of the independent Nizam of Hyderabad. This brought the expanding British territory into contact with the loose Hindu Maratha Confederacy backed by French Arms and Military Advisors. The British defeated them, then in time captured Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Empire. Eventually expanded into the Sikh Punjab (which had a modern army trained by Veterans of the American Civil War) and the Sind (in today's Southern Pakistan).
  • Many Indian troops served under the British. They were known as Sepoys. They were drawn from the Hindu Second Kshatriyas Warrior Caste, Muslim's, Sikh's, and Nepalese Gurkas still serving in the British Army (their country remaining independent). 1/3 of Nepal's income is drawn from Army Pensions.
  • India is a land of many religions, and Christianity had little impact their. Perhaps 3% becoming Christian drawn from Anglo-Indians (particularly in Calcutta), Christian run Schools, and the Hindu Lowest Harijan Untouchable Caste who had little to gain by remaining Hindu. They have to work as cleaners, and in sanitation. In a time before fresh running water, modern sewers and cleaning products. Or indeed knowledge of bacteria and how disease was spread. Therefore they might were have carried disease. Recently 1,000,000 Indian Untouchables converted on mass to Buddhism. A religion started by the Buddha a then Hindu of the Highest Brahman Priest Caste.
  • Conversions remained small (unlike in Latin America) because the Company was only interested in profit, not souls. And when the British Government took over control of India they found that the Garrison was mainly Indian, meaning Missionary work would upset the troops, and possibly lead to a rebellion. Hinduism (1,000 B.C), and Buddhism (born 563 B.C.) actually pre-date Christianity. And Muslim's are intensively educated in their faith from a young age in religious Schools known as Madrasas.
  • Two Wars followed in Afghanistan to check Russian influence and expansion.
  • Plus a buffer zone in Burma (Mynamar), where today the eastern Karen hilltribe are persecuted for converting to Christianity by the Buddhist Military Junta backed by Communist China. China today has between perhaps 100-200 million Christian's, some practicing in State approved Churches but most underground. The Falun Gong cult has perhaps 100 million members, but is heavily persecuted because it openly opposed the State. Its main practice is slow mediative group Chinese dance exercises. China has some history of Buddhism, but mainly followed non-religious Confucianism (respect for Family Values, and service to the State, 11th Century B.C.). 300 million Chinese Children are now learning English, and South Korea also.
  • What did the British do for India?
    • Import new Manufactured Goods to improve the standard of living and productivity.
    • Import modern scientific, and medical ideas.
    • Built a good railway and postal system. Which allowed food to be transported to famine hit regions, and troops to be more effectively placed for strategic call up.
    • Open up new farm land through irrigation projects.
    • End the Hindu practice of Sutti where by the Wife of a dead Maharaja threw herself on the funeral fire of her Husband.
    • Hunt down man eating Tigers.
    • End the lawlessness and Wars left by the decaying Mughal Empire in the north, and the many independent states in the south.
    • Left a legacy of Democracy.
    • Made English a Common language among the educated classes. In a country of many languages. For example: all Indian Doctors are now taught in English.
  • As an aside: The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as a Mausoleum for his Wife Arjumand Banu Bagam. Begun in 1632, and completed in 1643. There was originally meant to be a Black copy built opposite it. But this was never constructed.
  • Trade links were also set up with the only Japanese Shogun City open to trade with Europe: Nagasaki. For a period before Japan closed itself to Foreign influences. It is in Southern Japan and gained 100,000 (later to be persecuted) Christian Converts from the Japanese Religion Shinto: worship of the Emperor, Ancestors, and Nature.
1602: VOC: Dutch East India Company chartered. With a West India Company also. They founded:
  • New Amsterdam in 1624. In 1626 the Governor of the Colony, Peter Minuit, purchased Manhattan Island from the local Native Americans for trinkets valued at about $24. Peter Stuyvesant became Governor in 1647. It became New York in 1664 when a British Military Force of 400 Men and 4 Ships peaceably annexed it. It was named for King Charles II's (1660-85) younger brother: the future Catholic King James II (1685-88). The then Duke of York and Albany, and Lord High Admiral.
    The English Explorer John Cabot's Voyage of 1497 which charted Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, was given as claim to the city. Another English Explorer Henry Hudson actually discovered the Hudson River, New York while in the employ of the Dutch East Company in 1609 including the sites of present day New York City, and the State Capital Albany (first settled in 1614) up the Hudson River (once a thriving Fur Trading Post), at the point where the river divided.
  • Cape Town, South Africa in 1652 (by Jan van Riebeeck). The British captured it in 1795 because it was garrisoned by French Napoleonic Soldiers, as the Netherlands had been occupied by France. It briefly reverted to Dutch control in 1803, and was again occupied by British forces in 1806. It was a key staging post on the way to the riches of the East, where ships could be provisioned with Food, Water, and Wine.
  • Trading posts in the Spice Islands (the Dutch East Indies, modern day Indonesia). Being back Nutmeg, and Tulips among other things.
  • They also had Trading Posts in Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) and Japan.
1607: King Jame's Bible Published. Ordered by King James I of England (VI of Scotland) to be written in English not Latin which the masses and many Lords didn't understand. Only some but not all Churchmen. This became the standard Bible of the Church of England.
  • The first two books of the Bible, Genesis and Exodus list many of the most famous Bible stories like: the Creation and Adam and Eve; the Serpent and the Apple; Noah's Arc; the Tower of Babel; Sodom and Gomorrah; the "Sacrifice" of Isaac by Abraham; Joseph with a coat of many colours, Jacob, and Benjamin - Seven years of feast and seven years of famine; Moses: including the ten plagues of Egypt, ten Commandments, and crossing of the Red Sea.
  • Other Old testament books include stories about: the Walls of Jericho; the Judge Gideon; Samson and Delilah; (the future King) David and Goliath; the Wisdom of King Solomon; King Saul; Esther; the Prophet's Isaiah and Elijah and many others; the spirit of Jesus joining the three men in a Fiery Furnace in Babylon; Daniel in the Lion's Den; and Jonah and the Whale (a very short book to start you off). Plus psalms e.g. 137 "Beside the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem..." [during the Expulsion].
  • The new Testament consists of the four Gospels: Matthew (60-65 A.D.), Mark (55-65 A.D), Luke (A.D. 60), and John (A.D. 90). All written within 100 years of Jesus’ Birth. The book John was written in the Greek Eastern Anatolian (Turkish as is now) Port of Ephesus, home to the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the world. Only Matthew and John were disciples. Other disciples included fishermen, a tax collector, Judas Iscariot (there were two Judases) - the treasurer and betrayer of Jesus, and Simon the Zealot who used to be a Jewish terrorist fighting from freedom from Rome. Luke was written by a Greek Gentile (non Jew) Physician.
  • The Gospels list the Birth of Jesus; his escape to Egypt; return after the death of King Herod; preaching: outdoors, in the Great Temple of Jerusalem - over throwing the money lenders tables who sold temple money at a great mark-up to buy animal sacrifices, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Lord's Prayer; the feeding of the 5,000 and many other miracles; and dozens of parables: simple stories to show the right way one should live, like "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" when asked about whether to pay taxes to the Romans, the God Samaritan, or raising Lazarus from the dead. And the last supper, his death, and Resurrection including the disciple doubting Thomas. My people say John is a good book to start at: "In the beginning the word existed. He was with God, and he was God..."
  • It then goes on to show how the Christian Church expanded after Jesus rose up to Heaven. With the disciples going as far a field as Spain and India to spread the word. The disciple Simon Peter going to Rome and preaching in caves, becoming the first Pope. Saul the Jewish priest, arch-persecutor of Christians, of the road to Damascus conversion became Paul, who also went to Rome. The disciple John travelled the Greek speaking Eastern Mediterranean. Greek became widely spoken in this region from the time of Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) after his great conquests. The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle was his tutor, and had a great influence on Christianity and Islam, as did his fore-runners Plato and Aristotle. The disciple Matthew converted Egypt and Ethiopia after being ship wrecked on the way to India. At one point 300 North African bishops meet at the council of Hippo, now Christians remain only in the Coptic Egyptian Church with their own Pope, making up about 10% of the population. Their Church predates the Roman Church. The term Christian was coined in the city of Antioch.
  • http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/index.php - very useful and easy to use keyword search of the Bible.
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page - on-line encyclopaedia.
  • http://www.christiananswers.net/menu-at1.html#bible - Bible and Theology Answers - ChristianAnswers.Net
  • http://www.rc.net/wcc/parables.htm - The Parables of Jesus.
Clearly the Christian religion and splits between denominations plays a key role in the game and history of Colonization [of the Americas]. Believers wanted their denomination to have freedom or spread. All Christians believed you could only be saved by being converted. Hence the setting up of Missions.
1620: Mayflower Compact – signed by all Male passengers: 41 of 102. The ship sailed from Plymouth to found a Colony in Northern Virginia, New England as it turned out. They actually set out from Southampton, but called in at Plymouth for repairs. They landed in Massachusetts. Some were religious refugees from England seeking to separate from the Church of England. William Brewster lead the Colonists. They where known as the Pilgrim Fathers or Puritans. Protestants also found sanctuary in the Netherlands and Geneva.

1642-49: The English Civil War. Between the Royalists (Cavaliers) and Parliament (Roundheads).
  • Puritans believed worship should be plain and simple without worshiping relics or having painting on Church Walls. They also supported the right of Parliament to Rule over that of the King who said he had "a divine right to Rule". The English Civil War between King Charles I (1600-49) with his capital in Oxford, and Oliver Cromwell (1599-58) lead to a victory for Parliament's New Model Army. Charles I was beheaded!
  • Then followed a Republic (1649-60) under Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector and his Son.
  • Charles II (1660-85) was invited back to become King in 1660 to heal rifts in the country. He was very soft on the rebels, and had a keen interest in Science. Founding the Royal Society in London in 1662. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727): (Gravity, the Calculus, and Optics) and Michael Faraday (1791-1867): Electricity, Motors and Dynamos, and Capacitance: the Farad). The American Colonies had been left to largely Govern themselves during the war.
  • The Civil War lead to the conquest of Ireland and the Scots-Irish Plantation in the North. 95% of settlers were Scottish Protestant's. Now making up about 60% of the population. At least a dozen American President's are of Scots-Irish decent. Many wishing to flee that territory due to religious violence and rebellions.
  • The "Pale" around Dublin had long been controlled by Norman Baron's (1171). Dublin itself was largely founded by the Vikings. Many Norman-Catholic settlers moved to Dublin. Their names generally beginning with "Fitz". They remained Catholic. The Norman-Catholics built many great Cathedrals, Monasteries, and Castles in the British Isles and their French possessions.
  • Second sons of Nobility could not inherit the family land so either joined the Church or Monasteries (where they had lay-brothers to work for them, and drank greatly every evening), or became Knights looking to carve out new territories. Such as the Kingdom and the Two Scillies, south of Rome which had been conquered by Muslim's.
  • My surname "ledgard" anglicised from the Norman French (during one of our many Wars with France) was "Le Guard" which means "keeper of the keep", the Norman soldier in charge of raising and lowering the Castle bridge over the moat, and portcullis (pronged iron gate). Also possibly in charge of dropping boiling oil and heavy stones on the attackers. The greatest Medieval Castles lie in Malta, Cyprus, Lebanon, and the Holy Land built during the Crusades. Most impregnable to all but plague and starvation. "Slee" is another Norman Name meaning foot soldier, more common. Most Englishmen didn't get a Surname until the time of Oliver Cromwell thus giving a lot of names like [black] Smith (every village had one), John-Son, Fletcher (maker of arrows), Cooper (maker of Wooden Barrels, particularly important before refrigeration and cardboard/plastic packaging)... Also the strict definition of a town is a settlement that supports a weekly Market, and City: a settlement with a Cathedral.
  • King James II (1685-88) came to the throne, as a Catholic Convert (1672, after exile in France during Cromwell's Republic), and had a Son James Stuart thus ensuring a Catholic succession. Opponents asked William of Orange, later King William III, to take the English throne, thus touching off the bloodless Glorious Revolution. It created a Constitutional Monarchy aimed at limiting the arbitrary actions of the Monarch and increasing the power of Parliament.
  • James with the support of the French King Louis XIV landed in Ireland in 1690, with a small body of French troops, in an attempt to regain his throne. He was defeated in the Battle of the Boyne. The Pope actually supported the Protestant King William III! As he was worried Catholic France was becoming too strong, and threatening the independence of the Papal States.
1688: Lloyd's of London. An insurance company set up in a London coffee house, specialising in shipping. For a premium of about 10% of a ship's cost it could be ensured. Thus preventing shipowners going bankrupt if one ship was lost, which encouraged trade through making it less risky. When a ship is lost a bell is rung in Lloyd's Company Building.
1689: The English Bill of Rights – signed by the joint Monarch's King William III [of Orange] (1689-1702) and Queen Mary II of England and Scotland united. Laying down rights promised in Magna Carta, and restoring Protestantism as England and Scotland's faith instead of Catholicism that the previous King James II (1685-88) had supported.
  • Hanging was still common for even minor Crimes, and some Witch trials continued. Thieves often had a 'T' branded on their cheek or forehead, or 'V' for vagrant. Also hands or feet might be cut of for Crime or Begging. Deportation to the New World occurred, even to the disease ridden West Indies as Slaves.
  • Britain was united with The Act of Union (1707). Ireland joined to make the United Kingdom and Great Britain and Ireland in (1801-1922). The "Great" does not refer to power but rather as a distinction from "Lesser" Britain: the Breton speaking region in North Western France.
  • The "Union Jack" Flag only flies on ships, technically anywhere else it is just known as the "Union Flag". Which is a combination of Saint George's Red Cross, and Saint Andrew's diagonal White and Blue Cross (both used in the Crusades where flags first appeared to distinguish the different European Knights) plus Saint Patrick's diagonal Red Cross.
  • The King's of France used the Fluer-De-Lís which still forms the basis of the Flag of Québec. Before adopting Red-White-Blue for Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.
  • The American Flag originally used the Colours of the "Union Jack" with one in it's corner where the stars now are, having 13 strips for each founding state. But when the crown refused to negotiate it was replaced by a circle of 13 stars.
1776: Common Sense – by Thomas Paine.
  • Paine was born in England but emigrated to Philadelphia (named after a Christian town in the Bible), then returned to England, and finally moved to France and became a member of the Revolutionary Government.
  • He opposed unaccountable Royalist Government in Colonial America. Tax had been increased greatly without consulting the King's Subjects in America to pay back the large debt accrued in the French and Indian War (1754-63). "No Taxation without Representation". Recently the British Ambassador to the United Nation retorted: "No Representation without Taxation", referring to the United States refusal to pay it's U.N. dues because of Political differences with the Organisation.
  • The war won the fortress of Louisburg, the key to the Saint Lawrence River (in Cape Breton, northern Nova Scotia), Québec City (won by General James Wolfe in 1759), and the surrender of Montréal (in 1760), due to it being upstream of Québec and unable to trade with Europe. The Indian Tribes in the regions between the two great powers were forced to side with one side or the other. The ones who supported the French lost out. Later Great Britain was to support the Tribes between the Mississippi and Appalachian Mountains against the incursion of American settlers.
  • The French explorer Jacques Cartier visited the St. Lawrence River area in 1535. Thus giving the French a claim to the area. Québec City was founded in 1608 as a Fur Trading Post, and Montréal in 1642 as a Missionary Colony. Incidentally French speaking Québec and surrounding pockets remain under the British Crown, while most British settlers became Republicans, as did France it self. The Monarchy was returned to France for a time after the defeat of Napoleon.
  • The French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle visited the New Orleans area in 1682, and a Colony was founded in 1699.
  • The withdrawal of French forces from their boarder left the American Colonists much safer, and more independence minded as they no longer required British Military support.
1776: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations - by Adam Smith who described how manufacturing jobs could be done a lot more quickly and thus more cheaply giving higher profits by building a "manufactory".
  • He had as an example the task of making a pin. It could be divided into a number a simple repetitive tasks that required less skill thus alleviating the need for skilled workmen. With the work being done more quickly. This is known as "division of labour", making it possible to replace more skilled workers with less skilled workers, thus reducing labour costs and increasing productivity. This of course had the side effect of making worker's jobs less interesting and well paid, and often less safe. While the owners often became very rich, caring little for the welfare of their workers, a major factor in the Industrial Revolution era which lead to:
    • "Ludites": Deliberate breaking of Machinery.
    • Trade Unionism which generally helped to improve living standards in viable industries.
    • Co-operatives.
    • Building Societies offering cheap mortgages for housing.
    • Communism a flawed dream of a Utopian State.
  • Benjamin Franklin was America's first Scientist: inventing the lightning rod to prevent Church steeples being destroyed by lightning, being a member of the Royal [Scientific] Institution of London, and a framer of the American Constitution.
  • Industrialization crushed small home manufacturing. Home Weaver's for example who lost their lively hood. "You can't buck the market".
  • The Steam Engine multiplied the physical strength of each worker, drained previously inaccessible mines, and improved transport through railways (early 1800's). Which had been preceded by slower canals. Roads were also improved due to the upturn in trade.
  • Adam Smith also said countries don't necessarily have to grow all their own food and base commodities if they can manufacture something cheaply that can be exchanged with another country for these primary commodities.
  • Increased profits could be ploughed back into higher wages, the Army and Navy to allow new territories to be gained and exploited, science and medicine to improve productivity and health and bring forth new goods, and welfare to support the poor and old mainly through Church and Family. Until the 20th Century when the Internal Combustion Engine, Electricity/Electronics, and Mass Production increased productivity massively. Thus creating a big enough surplus to support non-working Citizens through taxation. You might regard the Elder Statesmen in Colonization as developers of new techniques in Farming, Doctors, Engineers, and Scientists. Now we are in the Digital Age a lot of work can be done by specifically designed Machines, Telecommunications, Computers, and Robots.
Why Capitalism proved superior to Communism.
  • Communism used a ridiculously simplistic model of economics, and personal selflessness: reward having no relation to word: "From each according to their ability. To each according to their need" or "They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work". Expecting people to live with out personal property for example! Terrorising the more efficient skilled labour: the "bourgeoisie", and the extraordinarily inefficient central planning system. Social Democracy has proved superior, and more humane than Socialism. It Taxes the rich at an acceptable rate, to fund education, health, welfare, defence, and transport.
  • The original Communist Manifesto was published in many languages but not Russian, Chinese, or Vietnamese! It was largely written by Karl Marx a German Jew (in the British Library, London - also buried in that City) and Friedrich Engels. And implemented by Vladimir Lenin (supported by the German Secret Service to get the Russian Empire out of the War), and Trotsky (leader of the "Red's" in the Russian Civil War which cost 10 Million Lives!). With the lie "land, peace, bread" during WWI. Farms were soon collectivised. And peasants would rather kill their livestock than see it go to the state leading to a massive decrease in Agriculture. The "Whites" (democrats) were supported by the Western Powers in the Civil War. Finland and Poland being able to maintain their independence.
  • The compassionless, brutal, and paranoid dictator Stalin (Russian: "Man of Steel") then carried it on after the death of Lenin. With the help of his Foreign Minister Molotov (Russian: "The Hammer"), and the Secret Police. Leaving 6 Million to die in the Ukraine famine, while the Soviet Union was exporting food, and foreign aid agencies refused access.
  • Forced Industrialization followed in 5 year plans. With the vast resources of Russia being opened up, with the building of Railways, Canals, Mines, Steel Mills, and Factories. This gave the Soviet Union the resources to fight of the German Nazi War Machine, with aid from the British Empire and the United States through Murmansk in the Arctic, and a Persia-Caucuses Railway. 20 Million died due to the purges before the War including Government and Army; unpreparedness for war: troops not being put on standby (even though Stalin's spy network told him the War was coming, and German ships left half empty from Russian Ports); and the Gulag system sent people to Siberia, to freeze or die of hunger, for crimes such as talking to a Foreigner, or owning a Foreign Stamp Collection. The Great Terror! Russia had advanced from an 18th Century Agrian (agriculturally based) State to a 20th Century Industrialized State. It had 80% of it's population on the land at the end of the Civil War! And slavery had only recently been abolished.
  • Communism was designed (?) for an Industrialized State, not an Agarian one. It was a total failure in agricultural terms due to grossly inefficient Collective Farms, and the purge of the Kulaks: more skills farmers with better machinery. Until the more liberal Khrushchev who freed 80% of the people from Gulags giving the remaining prisoners enough food to live on, and opened up virgin lands to agriculture, particularly in Central Asia for Wheat and Cotton.
  • In the 1930's Germany the Communists were almost as strong as the Fascists. But the state sided with the Fascist’s as they appeared at the time the lesser of two evils. And the Treaty of Versailles had reduced the German Army to 100,000. Not enough to police both sides, and the "Free-Corps: Fascist Militias formed by old veterans of WWI. It also had a following in Italy and France. Lenin said Communism could only be achieved if all countries joined: "Workers of the World Unite!". Stalin disagreed.
It should be noted however that the Birth Rates of all Industrialized Countries except America and the Irish Republic are below 2.2 (that required to maintain the population at its current levels). Germany, Italy, Spain, and Japan and at about 1.2! Britain and France are at about 1.7. This is due to:
  1. The breakdown in Communities due to continually moving for education or new jobs.
  2. Ever increased house prices and the selling off of council houses whose rents are a lot cheaper. More and more people want to live on their own.
  3. Increased taxes to fund the ever expanding education and welfare sectors.
  4. Both partners having to work to pay the Mortgage, Car, and Taxes.
  5. The collapse of the Church after Darwinism and Communism.
  6. People spending ever more time with electronic media.
  7. A high Abortion Rate: 25%! And family planning. There are many more people wishing to adopt than children available.
  8. People leaving the land and migrating to the cities which have always had smaller Birth Rates due to lack of Space. Or being unable to afford housing in their local areas.
One thing Communism did provide was cheap Childcare. Clearly a country requires enough workers to look after it's retired population which are growing thanks to better living conditions, sanitation, health, and diet. I myself live in a large shared house with lounge and find it a lot more pleasant than living on my own. And it costs less and uses less land due to shared facilities i.e. more environmental.
4thJuly 1776: The Declaration of Independence - by Future President Thomas Jefferson and other members of the Continental Congress.

  • "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America."
    [Not Nova Scotia thanks to it's Citadel, an Impregnable Fortress at Halifax, and Newfoundland due to it's being an Island. Thus remaining as United Empire Loyalists.]
    "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."
  • The Boston Tea Party (1773) helped trigger the War. The British had a excess of Tea so were dumping it on the American Market. It was taxed, but still cheaper than that of Boston Merchants. So they dressed as Indians, and dumped the British Tea in the harbour, largely out of economic self interest. This caused the Port to be closed.
  • Note: the American Revolutionary War did not end until 1783 with the Treaty of Paris.
  • It was between Loyalists: the Tories and Royal Expeditionary Force [in the Colonization Game] under several Generals (some removed) included Lord Cornwallis for King George III and the British Parliament; and the Rebels: the Sons of Liberty and Continental Army [in the Colonization Game] under General George Washington for the Continental Congress.
  • Note: Only about 1/3 of the Colonials actually supported the Revolution, with 1/3 Neutral, and 1/3 wished to retain link to Great Britain. Many Loyalists were forced to flee to Canada, or Britain because of the War. Two American Loyalist Regiments fought in the Napoleonic Wars.
  • Fighting in Upstate New York continued longest at sea, and to decide the boarder. Eventually becoming the Niagara River, were Fort George (British) and Fort Niagara (United States) were built to protect their respective frontiers. Fort George was only staffed with Old Soldiers nearing retirement and due pensions to stop them deserting to the United States. Lake Ontario was shared between the two states even though Britain controlled access to it through the St. Lawrence river. Lake Erie became a flash point in the War of 1812 when the United States tried to invade the remaining British Possessions in North America while Britain was fighting Napoleon. The United States built inland Ships that defeated 5 British built Ships in a row. The boarder between Maine and New Brunswick was not settled until 1842.
  • The granting of American Independence was summed up at the time by the phrase: "The World has turned up side down".
25th May-17th September 1787: The American Constitution – by the Constitutional Convention including future President James Madison Jr., for Virginia.
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.".
  • Details the powers of the Senate (100 members, 2 per each state) and House of Representives (representation proportional to State's population), now on "Capital Hill" Washington, named after one of the seven hills of Rome which housed the Imperial Senate, (SPQR: For the People and Senate of Rome). Note: Washington D.C. (the Capital) is only allowed a Mayor, it has NO representation in Government! The President in deliberately weak to prevent him becoming too much like a King. George Washington was actually offered Kingship over the United States but refused, and limited himself to two 4 year terms in Government as the nations first President. Only President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the New Deal (to beat the depression) and in World War II served more than two terms: 1933-45. There is also a free Judiciary.
  • Amendments include:
    (I) Freedom of Religion, Press, and Expression.
    (II) Right to bear arms: to allow militias to be raised to defend Citizens.
    Now abused to even allow citizens to own sub-machine guns which clearly only soldiers need! ...
    (VII) The right of trail by Jury...
    (XIII) 1865: Slavery Abolished...
    (XV) 1870: Race no bar to vote...
    (XVIII) 16/1/1919: Liquor abolished.
    (XXI) 5/12/1933: Repealed.
    (XIX) 18/8/1920: Women's Suffrage.
    (XXIV) 23/1/1964: Poll Tax barred (was used to exclude poor Blacks from voting in the South).
  • The government Iroquois Confederacy was used in part to write the American Constitution. 5 Indian Tribes around the Great Lake, including the Mohawks of the upper Hudson River Valley (who climb the high steel in New York when making Skyscrapers). They were caught between the French expanding for the St. Lawrence River Valley, and the British in the Hudson and Connecticut River Valleys. So joined together for mutual protection.
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  • Abandonia Download Colonization Manual here! A great help in learning the game, and the history of the time.

  • http://www.ebay.co.uk eBay UK or http://www.ebay.com eBay US where you can buy a Second Hand Copy of Colonization for peanuts using paypal. You might be lucky and get one with a Manual, just get an old Amiga Version. Type 'colonization' in the Search Box.