1600s-1861

  • Jamestown is founded

    Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in the new continent. They named it after King James I.
  • Pocahontas gets kidnapped by the English

    Pocahontas gets kidnapped by the English in Jamestown; the first Anglo-Powhatan war is started
  • Pocahontas marries John Rolfe

    The couple gets married creating a friendship between the 2 groups but soon after Pocahontas dies due to an English disease.
  • Pilgrims arrive in the New World

    The pilgrims arrived in North America and named the new area Plymouth.
  • Rhode Island is founded

    Rhode Island was founded so colonists had religious tolerance.
  • First Navigation Acts passed

    These were laws passed to restrict Englands trade
  • Bacon's Rebellion

    This was an armed rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon. the decline of indentured servitude and the corresponding rise of slavery within the British American colonies.
  • King Williams War

    This War was between France and England for supremacy in North America. The main goal was the control of the fur trade. This was the first of the French and Indian wars.
  • Salem Witch Trials

    This event occurred in Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. Over 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed
  • Seven year war

    Britain and Prussia defeat France, Spain, Austria, and Russia. France loses North American colonies, Spain gives Florida to Britain in exchange for Cuba.
  • Start of the Industrial Revolution

    This era began when agricultural societies became more industrialized and urban. The railroad, the cotton gin, electricity, and other inventions permanently changed society.
  • Sons of Liberty Founded

    It was established to undermine British rule in colonial America and was influential in organizing and carrying out the Boston Tea Party.
  • The Steam Engine was invinted

    James Watt was an inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved the steam engine. This made a huge impact on the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution. It made travel and transportation a lot faster.
  • The boston Massacare

    It was a riot that began as a street brawl between American colonists and a British soldier. It quickly escalated to a bloody slaughter, and it paved the way for the American Revolution.
  • The Boston Tea Party

    It was a protest that happened in Massachusetts. The American colonists were very frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” therefore they dumped 342 chests of British tea into the harbor. This event was the first major act of opposition to British rule over the colonists.
  • List of Grievances was written

    This was the issues that the colonists had with how King George had been treating them. Essentially it was the list of reasons why they were declaring independence.
  • Start of the American Revolution

    It secured the independence of the United States from the dominion of Great Britain and separated it from the British Empire
  • Declaration of Independence was approved

    The Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence. It was written by Jefferson in Philadelphia on July 4
  • French Revolution Begins

    This was a turning point in modern European history that began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790s with the ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte.
  • George Washington becomes President

    He was inaugurated as president of the United States in 1789. The first U.S. presidential election was held over a period of weeks from December 1788 to January 1789.
  • Louisiana Purchase

    The United States paid $15 million to receive the territory which extends west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. Jefferson wanted to expand America.
  • Lewis and Clark Expedition

    Lewis and Clark set out to explore the unknown territories of the Louisiana Purchase, and they bring along a native-- Sacagawea-- to help them on the journey.
  • War of 1812

    the leading causes of the war were the British Orders-in-Council, which limited American trade with Europe, and impressment, the Royal Navy's practice of taking seamen from American merchant vessels to fill out the crews of its own chronically undermanned warships.
  • Spain Secession

    Spain cedes Florida to America.
  • First Public Railroad System

    Construction began on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. It was a key factor in America's westward expansion and it made trade much easier and less expensive.
  • Mexican War

    This took place in America's effort to gain California and other territory in the Southwest.
  • The Gold Rush

    Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California. After news spread that gold had been discovered there, thousands of Americans dropped everything they had and moved to California.
  • Abraham Lincoln becomes president

    His election spurred the most harsh wars in American history for equal rights. Soon after he was elected, South Carolina seceded from the Union which was then followed by the Civil War.
  • Confederate formed

    11 states had seceded from the U.S. and the Confederate states were formed. Jefferson Davis was elected as president of them a day later.
  • Civil War started.

    this was the conflict between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) over the expansion of slavery