History History

The stabilization of the climate is leading to the sedentarization of the nomadic tribes that have occupied the territory for several millennia. The main indigenous tribes settled in the area of present-day New England are the Abenaki, Massachusetts, Mohicans, Nipmuc, Tuxis, Wampanoags and Wawenock. Their way of life is based on gathering, hunting and fishing. They also learned to grow certain varieties of plants such as corn, beans and squash.

The Pilgrim Fathers, religious dissidents who had fled England and Europe with their wives and children, arrived at Cape Cod after a sixty-six-day crossing aboard the Mayflower. A month after their arrival at Cape Cod, the settlers settled in Plymouth, where they founded the second permanent English colony. The first winter there was disastrous: cold, disease and lack of food led to the death of half of the colony's members. The others owe their survival to the intervention of the chief of the Wampanoag tribe, who teaches them how to fish, hunt and cultivate the land of their new country.

To celebrate the first harvest, the settlers organize a big feast to which they invite the Wampanoags to express their gratitude. Game, wild turkeys, fish, berries, squash and fruit are eaten. From this shared meal is born the tradition of Thanksgiving, which has become one of the most cherished holidays in the eyes of Americans.

A group of Puritans leave Salem to found the city of Boston.

Rumours of witchcraft are circulating not far from the town of Salem, where a large puritan community lives. A climate of collective hysteria gradually sets in, leading to a veritable witch hunt in several nearby towns. Some two hundred people accused of witchcraft were thrown into prison, and twenty of them were executed after a series of brutal and botched trials.

The Seven Years' War, which pitted the great European powers against each other, was exported to North America, where the British disputed colonial domination of the region with the French and their Amerindian allies.

In order to cope with the serious cash flow problems caused by the Seven Years' War, the British Crown imposed increasingly heavy taxes on its colonies. Growing discontent among the colonists and clashes with the kingdom became more and more frequent. To resist British oppression, radical associations were formed and the Sons of Liberty, a clandestine organization of American patriots, was born. Its members, including John Hancock and Samuel Adams, call for revolt.

The Treaty of Paris ends the Seven Years' War. New France disappears and France cedes its North American possessions to victorious Britain.

In an already tense climate, an altercation took place between a Boston merchant and a small group of British soldiers. As a crowd formed and violently attacked the soldiers, they lost their composure and fired into the crowd, killing seven civilians. The "Boston Massacre" was recuperated by patriots who used it for propaganda purposes to fuel hatred of British authority.

The founding father of the United States is a pure Bostonian! He was born and died in the city and ended his career as governor of Massachusetts, an office he left in 1797, six years before his death. It was from the Old South Church in Boston that he launched the anti-British sling shortly before the Boston Tea Party. A brilliant orator and philosopher, he imposed his verve in political speeches throughout the American Revolution, becoming one of the main signatories of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. In Boston, the statue of Samuel Adams sits enthroned in the heart of downtown, just across from Faneuil Hall.

The taxes imposed on the colonists drove the sense of injustice to a climax. The Tea Act, which exempted the East India Company from taxes on tea sales in the colonies and led to the ruin of independent American merchants, set off a firestorm. In Boston, some 50 colonists dumped a cargo of 342 East India Company tea crates into the harbor. It was the Boston Tea Party, the first major act of resistance against the British Crown.

The 13 colonies, which now had a population of 2.4 million, were uniting to create an independent state.

After a frantic horse race from Boston, Paul Revere arrived in Lexington that night and warned John Hancock and Samuel Adams of the imminent arrival of British troops. In Lexington, eighty minutes later, these local Patriot militia decided to block the soldiers' path. Shots were exchanged, but the British, in numerical superiority, continued on to Concord. There, 500 Patriot militiamen had gathered to confront them. After several rounds of deadly fire, the colonial forces gained the upper hand and the British soldiers withdrew to Boston. The battles of Lexington and Concord marked the first military engagements of the War of Independence.

The Thirteen Colonies sign the Declaration of Independence of the United States, drafted by Thomas Jefferson.

Although outnumbered, the army of the colonies led by George Washington defeated the English army for good. After three weeks of battle at Yorktown, Virginia, the British surrender to American insurgents and their French allies.

The Treaty of Paris ended the war and Great Britain recognized the independence of its thirteen colonies, which officially became the United States of America.

New York becomes the first capital of the country.

Curious character that this Bostonian! Sometimes a philosopher, sometimes a politician, sometimes a scientist, he made history with his commitment to the American Revolution and his revolutionary inventions. He was one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America and, indeed, one of the founding fathers of the American nation. He became the first U.S. ambassador to France and befriended Voltaire and the Académie Française community. In 1783, he was one of the signatories of the Treaty of Paris, which recognized the independence of the United States. A strong supporter of the abolition of slavery, he freed his slaves as early as 1772, several decades before the Civil War. He spent the last years of his life campaigning against slavery.

Signed in Philadelphia, the Constitution laid the foundation for a federal government in which each of the 13 colonies became an autonomously managed state under the supreme authority of the federal state.

The Constitution comes into effect and George Washington, a hero of the Revolutionary War, becomes the first American president. He will serve two terms and will lead the country for eight years.

Thomas Jefferson is elected President of the United States.

The number of Irish immigrants increased drastically, reaching its peak in the mid-19th century. By 1850, the Irish were the largest ethnic community in Boston.

Abraham Lincoln, who strongly supported the abolition of slavery, was elected president, which led to the secession of seven southern states. Slavery, free trade and historically opposed to the values of the Northern states, they proclaimed their independence and founded the Confederacy, presided over by Jefferson Davis. Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island became part of the Union, composed of 23 states that remained loyal to Lincoln and the federal government.

After a defeat at Appomatox, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Unionist troops commanded by General Ulysses S. General Ulysses S. Grant. After four years of fierce fighting, the southern armies surrendered one after the other and the civil war, which had claimed nearly 620,000 lives, came to an end. On December 6, ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution leads to the abolition of slavery throughout the United States. This terrible fratricidal conflict leaves a gaping wound that will take several decades to heal, and the country still bears the traces of it today. Nevertheless, the Civil War marked a major turning point in the political history of the United States, which was on the road to a solid union this time.

A fire breaks out in downtown Boston, destroying 776 buildings and killing 30 people. The Great Boston Fire resulted in the introduction of new fire regulations and the construction of more modern buildings and larger streets that would become the heart of the financial district.

The country experienced a second wave of immigration: in the 1910s, 40% of Boston's population were immigrants. While the Irish remained predominant, the Russian, Canadian, Jewish and Italian communities grew in importance.

America is going through a period of economic growth. However, the working classes are still struggling and social movements are intensifying.

Sacco and Vanzetti, two anarchists of Italian origin suspected of committing attacks, are sent to the electric chair at the end of a lost legal battle in Boston. Their execution leads to riots around the world. Guilty or not, the two anarchists are seen as victims of a xenophobic America that attacks its immigrants.

America, and soon the entire world, plunged into an unprecedented recession following the collapse of the Wall Street stock market. Like all major industrialized cities across the country, Boston was hit hard by the Great Depression. Factories were closing at a rapid pace and famine affected a large part of the population. In 1933, unemployment in Massachusetts and the rest of the country reached 25%.

Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected President of the United States. His terms are marked above all by the implementation of the New Deal, a policy aimed at getting the country out of the worst economic crisis in its history. To combat the effects of the Great Depression, a series of measures and reforms took place throughout the United States to stabilize the financial market, stimulate the economy, create jobs, transform social and economic structures and modernize infrastructure, particularly in neglected or landlocked regions. America, still battered by the crisis, is getting back to work and building by leaps and bounds. Little by little, the country is changing its face and economic recovery is beginning. Although the posterity of the 1920s did not make its big comeback, with mixed economic results, Roosevelt's New Deal nevertheless laid the foundations for the future American superpower.

A few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States declares war on Japan and enters the Second World War. In Boston, the Navy Yard is used to repair British Royal Navy ships damaged by the Nazis. Six destroyers were already built there in 1939. Thanks to the wartime economy, full employment returns to the United States. At the end of the conflict, the country was the world leader in all areas of the economy.

The Bretton Woods agreements are signed by the 44 member countries of the United Nations in a town in New Hampshire. Their objective is the reorganization of the international monetary system at the end of the Second World War. It is here that the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank were born. The agreements make the U.S. dollar the key currency in the international monetary system.

John F. Kennedy, born on the outskirts of Boston, is elected President of the United States.

In Boston, the Big Dig project, a gigantic underground highway project, begins.

Barack Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, becomes the 44th president of the United States.

Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast and did immense damage as far as Maine.

A madman enters the elementary school in the Connecticut town of Sandy Hook and coldly slaughters 27 people, including 20 children.

Two bombs explode during the Boston marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds more. Two brothers of Chechen origin, quickly identified as the perpetrators of the double attack, are arrested.

After a tense campaign against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, millionaire Donald Trump is elected president of the United States. Trump's stance is the antithesis of that of his predecessor, Barack Obama.

As the coronavirus health crisis grows worldwide, the government is closing the country's borders. President Trump's disastrous handling of the crisis and the lack of cohesion between states are leading to dramatic health consequences.