First contact

First contact may refer to:

Media

Other

First contact (anthropology)

In anthropology, first contact is the first meeting of two cultures previously unaware of one another. Notable examples of first contact are those between the Spanish Empire and the Arawak (and ultimately all of the Americas) in 1492; and the Aboriginal Australians with Europeans in 1778 when the First Fleet arrived in Sydney.

Such contact is sometimes described later by one or both groups as a "discovery", particularly by the more technologically developed society. In addition it is generally the more technologically complex society that is able to travel to a new geographic region to discover and make contact with the generally more isolated, less technologically developed society, leading to this frame of reference. However, some object to the application of such a word to human beings, which is why "first contact" is generally preferred. The use of the term "discovery" tends to occur more in reference to geography than cultures; for an example of a common discovery debate, see Discoverer of the Americas.

Transit (astronomy)

The term transit or astronomical transit has three meanings in astronomy:

The rest of this article refers to the first kind of transit.

Free state

Free state may refer to:

Places

Politics

Slave and free states

In the history of the United States of America, a slave state was a U.S. state in which the practice of slavery was legal at a particular point of time, and a free state was one in which slavery was prohibited or being legally phased out at that point of time. Slavery was a divisive issue and was one of the primary causes of the American Civil War. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery throughout the United States, and the distinction ended.

Early history

Slavery was legal and practiced in each of the Thirteen Colonies. Organized political and social movements to end slavery began in the mid-18th century. The sentiments of the American Revolution and the equality evoked by the Declaration of Independence rallied many black Americans toward the revolutionary cause and their own hopes of emancipation. Others joined the British army, encouraged by British promises of freedom in exchange for military service. Free black men also fought in the Revolution on both sides (see Black Patriot and Black Loyalist).

Free state (government)

Free state is a term occasionally used in the official titles of some states.

In principle the title asserts and emphasises the freedom of the state in question, but what this actually means varies greatly in different contexts:

Overview

Republican England

English Parliament, in the act forming the Commonwealth of England of 1649 to 1660, declared that "England is confirmed to be a Commonwealth and Free State and shall from henceforth be Governed as a Commonwealth and Free State." The Commonwealth had a republican constitution.