1600's-2000's

By Mahvus

  • Start of 1600's

  • Jamestown was founded

    Jamestown was America's first permanent settlement.

  • 1619

    Three things happened on this date:
    1. The first legislative government was established.
    2. The first slaves arrived in America.
    3. The first families arrived in Jamestown.

  • Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock

    America's first colony to be based on religious principles.

  • Puritans came to Massachusetts

    The first large wave of immigrants came to America, bringing a unique perspective on life.

  • Puritans came to Massachusetts

    The Puritans brought with them three unique perspectives on life that are still engrained in America today:
    1. God's Elect -- The Puritans believed they were chosen people called to build a chosen community.
    2. Christian Calling -- Everyone has a responsibility to be involved in an occupation, work hard, save money, and invest wisely (time and money) for prosperity.
    3. Moral Self-Government -- Individuals are responsible to live a moral life to support a self-governing society.

  • Anne Hutchinson was banished from Massachusetts.

    Anne Hutchinson was banished from Massachusetts for her religious views. She then founded Rhode Island. Anne Hutchinson was a Puritan spiritual adviser and a mother of 15! Her Religious beliefs were at odds with the established church in the Boston area. The church leaders wanted to protect their society and had the help of the government. She was arrested, put on trial, and banished from the colony with many of her supporters. They fled and founded the colony of Rhode Island.

  • King William's War

    This was the beginning of the hostilities between the Native Americans, the Colonists, the British, and the French, France loses its land in North America East of Mississippi.

  • Salem Witch Trials

    Shows that America is susceptible to mass hysteria.

  • Start of 1700's

  • French & Indian war

    The war between French and British with native tribes on both. Fought over land and trade that would result in France losing land and English in serious debt.

  • Stamp Act

    Americans were taxed for stamps without being able to vote. The stamp act was a major step toward America leaving Great Britain.

  • Boston Massacre

    The tension between the colonies and the British became violent. John Adams heard about the event and learned that no one would defend the British soldiers at the trial, so he had to decide whether he would defend the soldiers or not. John Adams choose to represent the soldiers and they were acquitted and released.

  • The Boston Tea Party

    Americans were so upset by the tea act of 1773 that they destroyed a shipload of tea. Americans were getting more upset. England was taxing and America didn't get a say.

  • Battle of Lexington and Concord

    "the shot heard round the world." When the British came to take the weapons away, the Americans were ready. In Lexington and Concord, the first shots were fired and the Revolutionary war began!

  • Declaration of Independence signed

    The 13 colonies officially said that they aren't British anymore. By signing the Declaration of Independence, these 56 men were committing treason. They understood that, if caught, they would most likely be killed.

  • US constitution signed

    The US created its own form of government.

  • Start of 1800's

  • Louisiana Purchase

    President Thomas Jefferson authorizes the purchase of the Louisiana territory from Napoleon, who needed funds to continue fighting Europe, for fifteen million dollars. The territory was approximately 800,000 square miles comprising the Mississippi River Valley and most and most of the present-day midwest, almost doubled the size of the United States.

  • War of 1812 with Britain

    The war between Britain and America lasted for two and a half years over trade and naval restrictions. The war was fought on three fronts: on the sea with naval battles, on land in the northern provinces, and in the deep south with the Battle of New Orleans. Both sides suffered heavy losses and the British eventually overtook the capital at Washington D.C. and burned down the White House.

  • Slavery is growing in numbers in the U.S.

    There were more than 2 million African-American slaves in the U.S. in 1830.

  • "Underground Railroad" established

    A network of secret routes and safe houses to help slaves escape to freedom in the North. Harriet Tubman, a former slave and a conductor on the railroad made 13 trips to the south to save 70 enslaved families. She also served as a spy in the civil war. One estimate suggests that by 1850 100,000 slaves had escaped via the underground railroad.

  • Samuel Morse sends first telegraph message

    This changes the face of communication for the entire world and allows information to spread more quickly and easily than ever before.

  • Abraham Lincoln elected President

    Shortly after his election, the Confederate States seceded from the Union, starting the Civil War.

  • Abraham Lincoln is elected President

    Abraham Lincoln was from the northern side of the country and wanted to put an end to slavery. The southern states didn't want him to be president or make any laws that would affect them.

  • South Carolina Secedes

    South Carolina was the first state to secede, or in other words, leave the United States. They decided to make their own country rather than be part of the USA. Within a few months, several other states including Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana would leave the Union.

  • The Confederation is formed

    The southern states form their own country called the Confederates of America. Jefferson Davis was their president.

  • The Civil War Begins

    Hostilities began when Confederates fired upon Fort Sumter, a key fort held by Union forces in South Carolina.

  • Emancipation Proclamation

    President Lincoln issued an executive order freeing slaves.

  • Battle of Gettysburg

    A major battle where the North not only wins the battle but starts to win the Civil War.

  • The Civil War Ends

    Robert E. Lee, the leader of the confederate army, surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant at The Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

  • Lincoln assassinated

    Lincoln was assassinated 5 days after the surrender of Robert E. Lee (after the Civil War ended)

  • Start of 1900's

  • The Model T is built by Henry Ford

    He creates the assembly line to mass-produce cars. This is known as the Second Industrial Revolution. The assembly line revolutionizes the American industry.

  • The stock market crashed

    This was the beginning of the Great Depression. Millions of people lost jobs. It was a time of hunger and uncertainty. Roosevelt creates numerous government programs to try and combat this during the following decade.

  • Attack on Pearl Harbor

    WWI had been fought 20 years earlier. Now Europe and Japan were at war again. Japan conducted a sneak attack on Hawaii. This brought us into the war.

  • U.S. drops two atomic bombs on Japan to end WWII

    This ushers in the nuclear age. After WWII the Cold War begins with the Soviet Union. We engage in a missile race with the Soviet Union for the rest of the century.

  • Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on the bus

    Ushers in the Civil Rights movement. In 1964 Civil Right Legislation is passed. In 1968 Martin Luther King Jr is assassinated.

  • We put a human being on the moon!!

    This took a decade of dedicated effort. There were six manned US landings between 1969 and 1972. A total of 12 individuals have stepped foot on the moon.

  • The Berlin Wall is torn down and the Cold War ends

    For forty years we had been in a "Cold War" with the Soviet Union. With the collapse of the Berlin Wall in Germany, the Cold War came to an end.

  • Start of 2000's

  • Gulf War II

    America invaded Afghanistan to capture the terrorists and oust the Taliban. After which the U.S. carried out a preemptive strike against Iraq, to find Weapons of Mass Destruction, WMDs, and in particular to stop Saddam Hussein from making nuclear weapons. No weapons were found. Afghanistan was the longest war in American history. It lasted from 2001 to 2004, and the war in Iraq lasted from 2003 to 2011.

  • 9-11

    On Sept 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four aircraft. Two were flown into the Twin Towers in New York City and one into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Passengers overpowered the hijackers in the fourth plane and crashed it into rural Pennsylvania.

  • Hurricane Katrina

    This was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, it cost 125 billion dollars in damage. When the levees broke, large parts of New Orleans were submerged, and 1,245 people died.

  • Social Media

    The creation of the virtual community, found in internet companies such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.

  • The Great Recession

    This was the most significant downturn since WWII. This recession lasted from Dec 2007 until Jun 2009.

  • Osama bin Laden is killed

    After more than a decade, Osama bin Laden is killed during a raid in Pakistan. After years of looking, the CIA track him down, and in May Navy Seals storm his compound and kill the originator of the 9-11 attacks.

  • Covid-19

    The Coronavirus started in Wuhan, China. March 11, declared a worldwide Pandemic. A new Upper respiratory disease that is highly contagious. Total cases in the US as of 2022-80,648,481. Total deaths in the US as of April 2022-987,901.

  • Latest year so far