Notable Obama Speech

Obama was notable for delivering comedic, well-received speeches.  In 2011, he famously roasted Donald Trump who attended the dinner.  Donald Trump did not attend any White House Correspondents' Dinners following the roasting during his time in office, breaking a long-standing tradition of presidential attendance.

Hey, Washington (D.C.): Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

A president who relishes attacking the news media is set to break his boycott of the White House Correspondents' Association black-tie dinner celebrating the news media on Saturday evening, April 25, 2026. What could possibly go wrong?

Convicts and Political Prisoners sent to America

Between 1615 and 1776, approximately 50,000 to 120,000 British convicts and political prisoners were sent to the American colonies as indentured servants, particularly to Maryland and Virginia, acting as a form of forced labor rather than a purely penal colony. This practice was formalized by the Transportation Act of 1718 to alleviate overcrowded English prisons. 

Convict Labor: Convicts were sold to planters for 7–14 years of labor in a system known as "His Majesty’s Seven-Year Passengers".

Scale of Migration: These transports comprised roughly 25% of all British immigrants in the 18th century, with 80% sent to Maryland and Virginia.

Reasons for Transportation: Rather than executing criminals under the "Bloody Code" (which made many crimes punishable by death), courts often sentenced them to deportation.

Political Prisoners: Beyond common criminals, Scotland's prisoners from the Battles of Dunbar and Worcester (1650s) were also shipped and sold into involuntary labor in New England.

End of Practice: The practice of sending convicts to America ended with the American Revolution, after which Britain began using Australia as a penal colony.