THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS

Here's a link to the site Krista used as research for her report; it includes the texts of treaties between the U.S. and Native American tribes during Cooper's time: INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS & TREATIES     ED. CHARLES J. KAPPLER

GETTING THE DATE 1824 John Quincy Adams elected President in a contested election that ends in the House of Representatives on 9 February 1825. House Speaker Henry Clay uses his influence to elect Adams, even though Andrew Jackson's 99 electoral votes made him the more likely choice.   [Aisha] The Bureau of Indian Affairs was created under the Department of War, though it would not be officially recognized by Congress until 1832. [Sidney] Cherokee scholar, Sequoyah, develops a Cherokee alphabet with 85 letters. Literacy spreads so rapidly that in 1828 the Cherokee Phoenix, the first Native American newspaper, begins publication.   [Josh] 1825 FEBRUARY 12: William McIntosh, son of a Revolutionary hero and a Creek woman, signs the treaty of Indian Springs, which, in exchange for a plantation, signs away almost all remaining Creek land in Georgia. [Eve] APRIL 30: Creek Chief William McIntosh is executed for trading away Creek land without the consent of the Tribal council. [Eve] Erie Canal opened through New York State, linking Great Lakes to Atlantic Ocean.   [SR] The New York Stock Exchange opens; most of the securities are in canal, turnpike, mining and gas lighting companies.   [Josh] The Chippewa, Iowa, Potawami, Sauk and Fox, Sioux, and Winnebago tribes sign a treaty establishing territorial boundaries in order to avoid further intertribal warfare.   [Josh] The painter Thomas Cole, who later founded the Hudson River School, first came up the Hudson to sketch the scenery of the Northern Catskills.   [Kate] John Stevens, of Hoboken, NJ, built and operated the first experimental steam locomotive in the U.S.   [Greg] 1826 -- YEAR OF PUBLICATION JANUARY 13: The Maryland legislature, in an act commonly called the "Jew Bill," amends the state constitution to abolish religious tests for state officers; instead of having to swear they believe in the Christian religion, they must attest their belief in a future state of rewards and punishments [Kristen]. JULY 4: John Adams & Thomas Jefferson both died, 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was signed.   [Pam] The first American railroad was completed in Quincy, Massachusetts.   [Aisha] The American Society for the Promotion of Temperance is founded in Boston. [Josh] The U.S. signs a mutually beneficial trade and protection agreement with the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii).   [Terry] 1828 The first gold rush in the U.S. happened in Dahlonego, Georgia.   [Pam] Noah Webster publishes the American Dictionary of the English Language.   [Aisha] JULY 4: The first American passenger railroad, the Baltimore & Ohio, begins operations.   [Greg]

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