Minoans lived there, hence the name Minotaur
The man at right does not look angry. To us, he projects the typical figure of a “Founding Father” — composed, elite, and empowered. And to us his famous essays are awash in powdered-wig prose. But the portrait and the prose belie the reality. Thomas Paine was a firebrand, and his most influential essay — Common Sense — was a fevered no-holds-barred call for independence. He is credited with turning the tide of public opinion at a crucial juncture, convincing many Americans that war for independence was the only option to take, and they had to take it now, or else.
Common Sense appeared as a pamphlet for sale in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776, and, as we say today, it went viral. The first printing sold out in two weeks and over 150,000 copies were sold throughout America and Europe. It is estimated that one fifth of Americans read the pamphlet or heard it read aloud in public. General Washington ordered it read to his troops. Within weeks, it seemed, reconciliation with Britain had gone from an honorable goal to a cowardly betrayal, while independence became the rallying cry of united Patriots. How did Paine achieve this?
How did the Spanish American War make the United States a world power?
The US victory in the Spanish American War resulted in the Us gaining possession and/or control of many new territories. These and other territorial gains resulted in the creation of a new far flung empire.
Prior to the Spanish American War the United States gained control of the Hawaiian Islands. From the early 1800's American business interests had grown in Hawaii, a series of islands that remained independent. In time the Dole Family was the largest landowner and the Hawaiian Royal family more or less followed whatever they and the United States said. In the mid 1800's a new queen, Queen Liliuokalani gained control of the Islands and began to pass a series of anti American laws. As these laws hurt business the Dole's and other private American businessmen funded a revolution and took over Hawaii. The USS Boston, a US Battleship, sat in the Harbor making any Hawaiian resistance impossible. In 1895 Hawaii became a US territory.