Browse Items (222 total)

Gerard Mercator (1512–1594) was born in Flanders, now known as Belgium. The son of a shoemaker, he graduated in 1532 from the University of Louvain, where he studied astronomy, geography, and mathematics. Afterwards he worked as a calligrapher,…

From the time the earliest English settlers arrived in 1607 to today, corn has been a staple crop in Virginia. Farmers across the state grew vegetables like corn to eat and to feed their farm animals. As America's population increased, the demand for…

In earlier eras, books were expensive luxury items only owned by those who could afford to purchase them. The advent of the printing press made it easier to produce books; however, it was far easier to mass produce newspapers, pamphlets, and other…

Trolleys, or electric railway streetcars, were a very popular way for people to travel across cities or towns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Earlier versions of the trolley, or tram, were drawn by horses. By the late 1800s, however,…

In 17th century Virginia the tense relations between Indigenous nations and white settlers were marked by three series of wars between 1610 and 1646. While there were three separate phases, the root cause of these wars was the same: continued English…

By the seventeenth century, England was becoming a leader in the intercontinental trade of goods. Wealthy merchants created joint-stock companies which promoted exploration and increased trade routes. Investors in these companies pooled their…

In December 1833, a group of about sixty Black and white men met in Philadelphia and organized the American Anti-Slavery Society to seek the immediate emancipation of enslaved people. The Society viewed slavery as a violation of the principle of…

Women served in many capacities during the American Revolution. Thousands of women traveled with their husbands when they served in the Continental Army. Known as "camp followers," they marched with the supply wagons, set up camps nearby. These women…

For a significant portion of American history, women did not have the right to vote. State legislatures determined who could vote, and Virginia did not extend voting rights to all white men until 1851. The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S.…

Despite the ratification of both the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments that granted all adult citizens in the United States the right to vote, many eligible Black voters in southern states were systematically blocked from participating in the…