English Profile

English Monarchy
Founded: 927 AD

The modern English monarchy was born out of a long series of external conquests and internal revolutions. Most historians date the beginnings of the English monarchy to the ninth century, when the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex successfully established sovereignty over numerous other prominent houses. The House of Wessex would rule England nearly uninterrupted until 1066 AD, with only a brief thirty year gap in the 10th century when they were temporarily removed from power by Viking invaders.

In 1066 AD, the Norman conqueror William crossed the English Channel, defeated the restored Wessex monarchy at the Battle of Hastings, and began nearly four hundred years of rule over England by kings of French lineage. This lineage, known as the Plantagenets, were descendents of the count of Anjou, a region in northern France. The Plantagenets eventually split into two other English Royal Houses, the House of Lancaster, which ruled England 1399 until 1471, and the House of York, who took control after the removal of the Lancesters and ruled until 1485.

In 1485 a Welsh nobleman named Henry VII, a member of the House of Tudor, overthrew the House of York, giving rise to the monarchy that would change England to a greater degree than any before it. King Henry VIII, the second Tudor king, turned the small island nation of England from a speck on the periphery of Europe's vision into a formidable player in European politics. Henry VIII's daughter, Elizabeth I, however, would make England one of the most powerful nations on Earth and create an overseas empire.

John Adams
Second President of the United States
Lived: October 30, 1735 - July 4, 1826
Traits: Tolerant (-25% Crosses needed for immigration), Libertarian (+25% Liberty Bells in all settlements)

A diplomat, politician, lawyer and firebrand, John Adams was one of the driving forces of the American Revolution.

Born in 1735 in Massachusetts, Adams trained as a lawyer and rose to a prominent position in the colonial legislature, earning himself a reputation as a staunch opponent of the English. In 1770, however, when a group of British soldiers fired on a mob of unarmed American citizens - the so-called Boston Massacre - Adams was selected to defend the soldiers. While fearing that acting as defense on such a trial would tarnish his reputation, Adams discovered his worries were unfounded. After the trial, his reputation only grew as he became known as a defender of the rights of all men - even the English.

His knowledge of law and history as well as his burning desire to break with England made him a popular voice among those colonists unsatisfied with their second-class status. Adams wrote numerous articles decrying the acts taken by England to restrict the liberties of the unruly colonists. He attended both Continental Congresses, establishing a reputation as a brilliant political thinker. In 1776, when offered the historic opportunity to pen the Declaration of Independence, Adams deferred to Thomas Jefferson, who he saw as better respected by the whole of the Congress.

When it came time for the states to author their own constitutions, Adams' legal sagacity made him a popular mentor among the individual state congresses. In 1777, Adams was sent abroad to Europe in order to help negotiate a favorable peace between England and the colonies, and secured a significant loan from the Dutch in order to aid his newly birthed home-country. In thanks for his impressive work abroad, upon his return to the United States in 1789, Adams was elected the country's first Vice President.

In 1796, George Washington stepped down after his second term and Adams was elected the second President of the United States. His successes in office include narrowly avoiding war with France, increasing the strength of the American navy and appointing John Marshall, the Supreme Court judge responsible for ensuring the independence of the judiciary.

After losing the Presidency in 1800 to Thomas Jefferson, Adams retired from politics. He lived as a private citizen until July 4th, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the United States, before he passed away.

George Washington
First President of the United States
Lived: 1732 - 1799
Traits: Tolerant (-25% Crosses needed for immigration), Disciplined (-50% Soldier equipment required)

George Washington was born into wealth and gentility (or what passed for it in early American history). His family owned a lot of land in Virginia, and Washington grew up as a gentleman farmer. Early on he displayed a taste for adventure, and when the French and Indian war broke out, Washington was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel at the age of 22. His British superiors praised him for his gallantry and courage under fire.

As he matured, Washington grew to dislike the protectionist policies of the British government, and he was elected one of the Virginia delegates to the Continental Congress. Being one of the few men with actual military service, when war was imminent, he was appointed Commander in Chief of the (largely theoretical) Continental Army.

As a war leader, Washington faced enormous challenges. Lacking money, equipment and trained troops and hampered by the new country's inherent political problems, he had to organize, equip and recruit an army that could stand up to the finest military in the world. In his first engagement, shortly after the "battle" of Bunker Hill, his forces drove the unprepared British out of Boston. But when he next met the foe on Long Island, New York, he was totally outnumbered, outgunned, and out-generaled by the British, and he was lucky to escape the total destruction of his army.

After this humiliating defeat, Washington began to employ the tactics that would eventually win the war. He realized that time was his best ally - the longer the war continued, the greater the British war weariness would grow. He couldn't hope to defeat the British war machine - but he could hope that the British would eventually give up the fight as not worth the cost. Further, the longer the war went on, the greater the chance that a foreign government would intervene on the American side.

For the next six weary years Washington fought to keep his army intact. He avoided major engagements. He harried the British troops when they were vulnerable, and retreated into the mountains when they were powerful. His forces dwindled to virtually nothing in the winter, and swelled with temporary volunteers during the summer. Men went shoeless and hungry, and morale plummeted. Only Washington's iron will and strong personal magnetism kept the army alive.

Finally, in 1781, the long-awaited foreign intervention occurred, and France went to war with Britain. With their invaluable naval assistance, Washington was able to capture the main British army in Yorktown, forcing Great Britain to admit defeat.

Washington became the first President of the United States. Prone to pomposity, he was an "Imperial" president, giving the new office much of the stature and dignity it has maintained ever since, while strongly reinforcing its democratic underpinnings. He believed in neutrality in foreign affairs - at least until the new country was stronger - and he sought to keep the twin evils of regionalism and factionalism from infecting the federal government. In this he was largely unsuccessful, as the next several centuries would attest.

Washington retired at the end of his second term. He returned to his family home and once again took up the life of a gentleman farmer. He died three months later, beloved by his countrymen and rightly recognized as the "father of his country."