Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War colonial period in Virginia, slavery had been a part of the socioeconomic system of British North America and was recognized in the Thirteen Colonies at the time of the United States' Declaration of Independence (1776). Since then, events and statements by politicians and others brought forth differences, tensions and divisions between the people of the slave states of the Southern United States and the people of the free states of the Northern United States (including Western states) over the topics of slavery. The large underlying issue from which other issues developed was whether slavery should be retained and even expanded
Maritime history of the United States (1776–99) Maritime history of the United States (1776–99) The Maritime history of the United States (1776–1799) (not to be confused with maritime jurisdiction or law under law of nations) begins with the British colonists before 1776, American merchant vessels had enjoyed the protection of the Royal Navy. During the American Revolution, American ships came under the aegis of France due to a 1778 Treaty of Alliance between the two countries. The first war that an organized United States Merchant Marine took part in was the American Revolutionary War, which lasted from 1775 to 1783. The first merchant marine action in the