Nat Turner's Rebellion

On the night of August 21, 1831, Nat Turner led a small band of fellow slaves into the Southhampton, Virginia, home of Joseph Travis, his owner. The slaves killed Travis and his family, and launched the bloodiest slave revolt in American history.

Nathaniel Turner was born into slavery on October 2, 1800. Recognizing the boy's intelligence, Travis allowed him to learn to read and write -- skills forbidden too most slaves.

When he was in his twenties, Turner began to have visions. In one, he saw "white spirits and black spirits engaging in battle". He knew, he later said, that he had been chosen by God to lead the slaves to freedom.

Turner himself planned the uprising. On that deadly night in 1831, Turner first killed the Travis family and then headed for Jerusalem, Virginia, enlisting more slaves along the way. During the next two days, violence reigned.

Some 70 slaves were killed nearly 60 white men, women, and children before the rebellion was stopped. As a result of the revolt, more than 100 slaves, many of them innocent, were shot to death or later tried and hanged. Turner was captured on October 30 and hanged on November 11, 1831.

As a result of Turner's rebellion, southern states enacted harsher slave laws. But the revolt strengthened the antislavery movement in the North.

The Signing of the Mayflower Compact

After two long months at sea, the mood on the Mayflower was as foul as the weather. The ship had left Plymouth England, carrying two groups of passengers. One group, the "Saints," wanted to practice their religion far from England's established church. The other, the "Strangers," came to America seeking  a better life. Now, with land in sight, the two groups argued about how they would run their colony.

William Bradford, the leader of the Saints, worried that the Strangers would not obey a government created by his group. So he proposed that all adult men on board pledge to accept whatever government was formed in the new colony. The Strangers agreed.

On November 11, 1620, the Mayflower Compact was signed by 41 men, Saints and Strangers.

In the compact, the groups agreed to "...combine ourselves into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation....and to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws....as shall be thought most...convenient for the general good of the colony."

With the Mayflower Compact, the Saints and Strangers created a model for people, who voluntarily came together to form a democratic government.

Today, the Saints and Strangers are known as the Pilgrims. Among the original Strangers were Captain Myles Standish, John Alden, and Priscilla Mullins.

Paul Revere's Ride

During 1775, the year the American Revolution began, tensions rose between the American colonist and the British army. The situation was most explosive in Massachusetts, where the Patriots were organizing to oppose British rule. In April, 1775, the British general in Boston decided to march his troops to the villages of Lexington and Concord to seize the Patriot leaders and capture their weapons.

Paul Revere, a Boston silversmith learned of the British plans. On the night of April 18, Revere set out on horseback for Lexington and Concord to warn the Patriots. Through the moonlit night Revere galloped, spreading the alarm. “In Medford, I awaked the Captain of the Minute Men,” Revere said, “and after that, I alarmed almost every House, until I got to Lexington.” There Revere warned two important Patriot leaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, that the British were coming; the two escaped.

Later, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow made Paul Revere’s ride famous in a poem known by every American schoolchild:

Listen my children, and you shall hear,

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere……

Paul Revere would be famous even if his midnight ride had never happened. He was a superb silversmith, and today his silver bowls and other works may be seen in leading museums.

This website has several images of Revere silver including this one:

It’s a silver tea set that was made in 1799, and presented to Edmund Hart who was the man who constructed the ship Boston. The tea service can be seen at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston

The Million Man March

They came to Washington D.C. from all over the United States---hundreds of thousands of African-American men eager to send an important message. They came to accept responsibility for themselves and their families. And they pledged to work toward improving their lives and their communities.

The marchers gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol on the morning of October 16, 1995. For 12 hours, the men listened to speakers such as poet Maya Angelou and civil-rights activist Jesse Jackson. The rally ended with a long speech by the march’s organizer, Louis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam. Farrakhan urged the men to accept traditional values, join religious groups, and register to vote.

The message of the march wasn’t controversial---but Farrakhan was. Some African-American groups didn’t join the march because it was organized by Farrakhan. In the past, the influential leader had upset many people with anti-Semitic and anti-white comments and other opinions that seemed to fan racial and political tensions. Also, some African-Americans were angry with Farrakhan became women weren’t invited to participate in the march. Nevertheless, most people believe the “Million Man March” succeeeded in its goal of uniting and inspiring African-American men.

Government officials estimated that 400,000 men participated in the march. But people still call the event the Million Man March.

The Oklahoma City Bombing

It was shortly after 9:00 a.m. on April 19, 1995. Workers had just reached their offices in the Afred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Some had dropped off their children in the second-floor day-care center. Suddenly, a deafening blast shattered the morning calm. Inside a rental truck parked in front of the building, a powerful bomb had exploded. In a matter of seconds, the building was ripped apart.

As Americans watched their televisions in horror, rescue workers combed the rubble. Their efforts saved hundreds of injured survivior but eventually uncovered 168 bodies, including those of 19 children. Americans asked who could have committed this vile act of terrorism---the worst ever on U.S. soil. Many suspected foreign terrorists; but the FBI soon had American suspects in custody.

Timothy McVeigh, a 27-year-old army veteran, was the prime suspect. He and a friend, Terry Nichols were linked to the rental truck and the explosives. Both were known to distrust the federal government. They were particularly angry about the 1993 government raid on a cult group in Waco, Texas, that claimed 80 lives. The two men plead not guilty to charges of conspiracy and murder. McVeigh was eventually put to death and as of this date Nichols is still in prison.

Experts determined that the bomb that destroyed the federal office building was made from ammonium-nitrate fertilizer and fuel oil.

The Merger of Disney and ABC

Suddenly, TV personalities such as Roseanne and Barbara Walters were members of the same family as America’s favorite cartoon characters. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. It happened in July, 1995, when the Walt Disney Company announced it would buy Capital Cities/ABC. This merger would make Disney the world’s largest entertainment company. And the price Disney would pay---$19 billion---would make the deal the second-biggest corporate takeover in U.S. history.


A change in federal rules in 1995 had opened the way for the two companies to merge. Before then, the government had permitted companies either to produce TV programs or to broadcast them---not both. The ideas to keep any one company or person from having too much control over TV and radio. Disney had been mainly a producer of movies and TV shows, though it also owned theme parks and a cable TV channel. Capital Cities had been mainly a broadcaster. It owned ABC, the TV network, as well as a number of TV and radio stations.


Some people were concerned that, with control of ABC, Disney would load the airwaves with its own shows. But to business leaders, the two companies seemed to be a perfect match. Investors agreed: Prices of both companies’stock shot way up with the news of the merger.


A day after the Disney-ABC deal, Westinghouse Electric Corporation announced that it would buy CBS TV network for $5.4 billion.