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Oct 12, 1492
Columbus discovers "America"
On August 2, 1492, Columbus set sail in search of the East Indies. -
Jun 7, 1494
Spain and Portugal sign the Treay of Tordesillas
this treaty established U.S. boundaries, specified certain fishing rights, allowed creditors of each country to be paid by citizens of the other, restored the rights and property of Loyalists, and opened up the Mississippi River to citizens of both nations. -
Jan 1, 1565
First Spanish settlment in St. Augustine, Florida
It was Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles who stepped ashore in St. Augustine, in 1565 and established a small settlement. -
First English Settlement in Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, is established by the London Company in southeast Virginia. -
First French settlement in Quebec
he French settled Quebec along the St. Lawrence River, which ran through the area and furnished the new residents with plentiful supplies of fish as well as a vital transportation route. -
Period: to
French and Indian War:
The war was the product of an imperial struggle, a clash between the French and English over colonial territory and wealth. Within these global forces, the war can also be seen as a product of the localized rivalry between British and French colonists. -
Treaty of Paris signed
The Treaty of Paris ratified by the Congress of the Confederation and formally ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the United States of America, which had rebelled against British rule. -
Boston Massacre
British troops fire into a mob, killing five men, leaving the citizens outraged. -
Boston Tea Party
A group patriots disguised as Native Americans board three ships in Boston harbor and dump more than 300 crates of tea overboard as a protest against the British tea tax. -
Period: to
Revolutionary War
1775 Battle of Lexington and Concord Second Continental Congress convenes
1776 Jefferson writes Declaration of Independence
1777 Battle of Saratoga
1778 France and United States form Franco-American Alliance
1779 Spain enters war against Britain
1781 British forces under Cornwallis surrender to Washington at Yorktown
1783 Peace of Paris signed to end war -
Declaration of Independence is signed
The legislature of North Carolina authorized its delegates to the Continental Congress to join with others in a declaration of separation from Great Britain. -
French Revolution
This was the start of the demise of absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years. -
George Washington is elected president
George Washington was both the commander of the Revolutionary Army and the President of the United States. Washington was elected unanimously after the Constitution was ratified. -
John Adams is inaugurated as the second president
Adams main accomplishment was preventing a war with France. Relations with France were very strained, mainly because France raided US ships and refused negotiations, instead asking for bribes. However, Adams was eventually able to come to an agreement with France. -
Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third president
Jefferson made the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, he was the first secretary of state, and he purchased the Louisiana Territory. He also created the Embargo Act which stopped Americans from trading with any foreign countries, but this hurt America's economy. -
Louisiana Purchase
United States agrees to pay France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory, which extends west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. -
War of 1812
On June 18, 1812, American President James Madison declared war on Great Britain. Lacking naval power, the Americans tried to take Upper and Lower Canada. This war created a number of symbols and had a profound impact on all parties. It enabled Canada to affirm the loyalty of its inhabitants to Great Britain and enabled to american to proudly call this war their second American Revolution. -
James Monroe is inaugurated as the fifth president
Monroe led his nation to focus on expansion and to ignorethe troubles of the European nations. He is famous for the Monroe Doctrine (1823), which proclaimed U.S. hostility toward any European intervention in the Americas. -
Missouri Compromise
A compromise that enabled Maine (formerly part of Massachusetts) to be admitted as a free state so that Missouri can be admitted as a slave state. -
Monroe Doctrine
President Monroe declares that the American continents are off-limits for further colonization by European powers and that Europe can have no influence on America. -
Andrew Jackson is inaugurated as seventh president
He was military governor of Florida (1821), commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans (1815), and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy. -
Indian Removal Act
President Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, which authorizes the forced removal of Native Americans living in the eastern part of the country to lands west of the Mississippi River.
