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Second Northern War
The Second Northern War, often known as the Great Northern War, was a military war between Russia, Denmark-Norway, and Saxony-Poland in the Baltic region from 1700 to 21. The conflict resulted in the fall of Swedish hegemony in the region, and the rise of Russia as a key force. -
Delaware Colony granted charter
A charter is a legal instrument that grants colonies the right to exist legally. A town, city, university, or other entity can be granted particular powers under a charter. Colonial charters were issued when the king granted proprietors or a settlement company exclusive rights over land control. -
Collegiate School (Yale) founded
Yale University was founded as the Collegiate School in neighboring Saybrook, Connecticut, to educate students for "Publick employment both in Church and Civil State." Yale has sought to educate students who will become leaders and contributors in every field of society for almost 300 years since its foundation. -
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War of the Spanish Succession
A war (1701–14) waged between Austria, England, the Netherlands, and Prussia against France and Spain for the succession to Charles II of Spain following his death. -
East & West Jersey become Province of New Jersey (royal colony)
The Province of New Jersey was one of Colonial America's Middle Colonies, and it became the United States of America's state of New Jersey in 1783. The province was initially colonized by Europeans as part of New Netherland, but with the capitulation of Fort Amsterdam in 1664, it became a proprietary colony under English authority. -
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Queen Anne’s War
The second of a series of conflicts waged between Great Britain and France in North America for sovereignty of the continent, Queen Anne's War (1702–13). ... The British military assistance to the colonists was mostly focused on defending the area surrounding Charleston, South Carolina, as well as the exposed New York–New England border with Canada. -
The first comprehensive slave code
The House of Burgesses passed its first comprehensive slave code. Earlier laws had already guaranteed that the children of enslaved women would be born slaves, conversion to Christianity would not lead to freedom, and owners could not free their slaves unless they transported them out of the colony. Slave owners could not be convicted of murder for killing a slave; conversely, any black Virginian who struck a white colonist would be severely whipped. -
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War of the Emboabas
The Emboabas War was fought in the Captaincy of Minas Gerais, Brazil, between the original settlers from So Paulo (Paulistas) and new settlers known as emboabas, who were largely European immigrants. -
Treaty of Utrecht
The second of a series of conflicts waged between Great Britain and France in North America for the sovereignty of the continent, Queen Anne's War (1702–13). The British military assistance to the colonists was mostly focused on defending the area surrounding Charleston, South Carolina, as well as the exposed New York–New England border with Canada. -
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Yamasee War
In British-American colonial history, the Yamasee War (1715–16) was a war between Indians, mostly Yamasee, and British colonists in the southeastern region of South Carolina, which resulted in the collapse of Indian dominance in that area. -
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Mississippi Scheme
The Mississippi Scheme was a colonization and economic exploitation scheme devised by John Law for the Mississippi Valley and other French colonial provinces. Law governed French colonial trade when the company acquired numerous previous institutions for the development of the Indies, China, and Africa in 1719. -
Blackbeard killed by Robert Maynard
Maynard and Blackbeard fought a sword combat in which Blackbeard received almost twenty wounds. "He kept his Ground, and battled with great Fury, till he sustained five and twenty Wounds, five of them by Shot," we are informed. -
San Antonio, Texas founded by Spanish
San Antonio was founded on May 1, 1718, when the Mission San Antonio de Valero was constructed by a Spanish expedition from Mexico. The Alamo (Spanish: "Cottonwood") was one of five missions established in the region and was named for St. Anthony of Padua. -
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Dummer's War (Father Rale's War)
Similarly, during Father Le Loutre's War, New France built three forts along the border of New Brunswick to protect it from a British onslaught from Nova Scotia. -
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First Great Awakening
The First Great Awakening was a period when spirituality and religious devotion were revived. This feeling swept through the American colonies between the 1730s and 1770s. The revival of Protestant beliefs was part of a much broader movement that was taking place in England, Scotland, and Germany at that time.\ -
Province of Georgia
Georgia had been established as a colony with no slavery and little landholding. ... Georgia soon became known for its plantations and slavery. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the Constitution after the American Revolution in 1788. -
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Russian America
Russian Americans are predominantly Americans of Russian origin. Recent Russian immigrants to the United States, as well as settlers of 19th-century Russian settlements in northwestern America, which include today's Alaska, California, and Oregon, can all be included in this description. -
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War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession (Polish: Wojna o sukcesj polsk; 1733–35) was a major European conflict begun by a Polish civil war over Augustus II of Poland's succession, which was enlarged by other European countries in pursuit of their own national objectives. -
John Peter Zenger Trial
Zenger was charged with libel in 1733, a legal word that has a very different significance for us now than it had for him. When you released material that was critical of the government at the time, it was considered libel. It didn't matter if it was true or not. He never said he didn't print the items. -
The Stono Rebellion
On September 9, 1739, at the Stono River, 20 miles (30 km) southwest of Charleston, South Carolina, a massive slave insurrection took place. Slaves assembled, stormed a gun shop, and fled south, murdering around 20 white people along the way. -
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War of Jenkins’ Ear
Captain Robert Jenkins' pickled ear became a rallying point for Englishmen seeking to oppose Spanish dominance in the New World. Prime Minister Robert Walpole is seen collapsing in a 1738 satirical cartoon when presented with the Spanish-sliced ear, which sparked the War of Jenkins' Ear in 1739. -
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War of the Austrian Succession
The war (1740–48) in which Austria, England, and the Netherlands fought Prussia, France, and Spain over who would control the Austrian Empire's territory. King George's War is a good example. -
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King George's War
The American phase of the War of the Austrian Succession, which lasted from 1744 to 1748, was the third and inconclusive fight between France and Great Britain for control of the North American continent. Border attacks by both sides, with the help of their Indian friends, defined the conflict. -
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Father Le Loutre's War
Between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia, Father Le Loutre's War, also known as the Indian War, the Micmac War, and the Anglo-Micmac War, took place. -
Slavery begins in Georgia
After failing to create a colony on the Carolina coast, Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón established San Miguel de Gualdape on the modern Georgia coast in 1526, bringing the first enslaved Africans to Georgia. They revolted and lived among the natives, destroying the colony in less than two months. -
Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell is a massive bronze bell that represents the United States of America's freedom. This antique bell may be found in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America. The bell was first cast in London, England, in 1752. The Pennsylvania State House commissioned it as a bell (now called Independence Hall). -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was a scheme to bring the British colonies in North America under a more centralized authority. Although it was never implemented, the Albany Plan was the first major effort to see the colonies as a unified entity under one authority. -
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French & Indian War (Seven Years' War)
The French and Indian War was a North American engagement of the Seven Years' War, a broader imperial warfare between Great Britain and France. In 1754, British colonial soldiers headed by Lieutenant Colonel George Washington attempted to drive the French out of Britain, but were outmanned and defeated. -
Treaty of Easton
The Treaty of Easton was a colonial agreement in North America signed in October 1758 during the French and Indian War between British colonials and the chiefs of 13 Native American nations, representing tribes of the Iroquois, Lenape, and Shawnee. -
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Louisiana (New Spain)
Spanish Louisiana was a governorate and administrative district of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1762 to 1801 that consisted of a vast territory in the center of North America encompassing the western basin of the Mississippi River plus New Orleans. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris of 1763 ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France, as well as their respective allies. In the terms of the treaty, France gave up all its territories in mainland North America, effectively ending any foreign military threat to the British colonies there. -
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Pontiac's War
After the conclusion of the French and Indian War (1754-1763), Chief Pontiac (Ottawa) led a loosely united group of American Indian tribes against the British in a series of attacks, referred to as Pontiac's Rebellion (1763-1766) or Pontiac's War. -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act, also known as the Plantation Act or Revenue Act, was British law enacted during the French and Indian War to stop the smuggling of sugar and molasses from the French and Dutch West Indies and to increase income to pay growing British Empire duties. -
The Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts levied tariffs on British porcelain, glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea imported to the colonies, and were named after Charles Townshend, the British chancellor of the Exchequer. -
San Diego, California settled by Spanish
When the Presidio at San Diego, the first permanent European colony on the Pacific Coast, was built in 1769, Spanish colonization of "Alta California" started. Serra established the first of 21 Spanish missions along the California coast at San Diego. -
Spanish Missions, Presidios, and Pueblos built in California
The Presidio served as the base for exploration throughout California's interior and it remained the seat of military power in California through the Mexican period. Originally constructed of wood, the presidio was reconstructed of adobe in 1778. -
The Boston Massacre
Tensions started to rise, and a patriot crowd assaulted a British loyalist in Boston in February 1770, killing a youngster when he shot a rifle at them. Brawls between colonists and British soldiers continued over the next few days, culminating in the Boston Massacre. -
Boston Tea Party
On December 16, 1773, near Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts, the Boston Tea Party was a political demonstration. Frustrated and enraged by Britain's "taxation without representation," American colonists dumped 342 chests of tea imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. -
Lord Dunmore's War
Lord Dunmore's War was a confrontation between Virginia and the American Indians of the Ohio Country in 1774. In 1768, the Iroquois and the British signed the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. In this agreement, the Iroquois gave all of their lands east and south of the Ohio River to the British. -
Rohilla War
Rohilla War, (1774), in the history of India, the conflict in which Warren Hastings, British governor-general of Bengal, helped the nawab of Oudh (Ayodhya) defeat the Rohillas by lending a brigade of the East India Company's troops. -
The Declaration of Rights and Grievances
The Stamp Act Congress passed a "Declaration of Rights and Grievances," claiming that American colonies were equal to all other British subjects, protesting taxation without representation, and stating that Parliament could not tax colonists without colonial representation in Parliament. -
The start of the Revolutionary War
From 1775 through 1783, the American Revolutionary War was waged. On April 19, 1775, British forces and local militia clashed at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, kicking off the Revolutionary War. State soldiers and local militias reinforced the Continental (Federal) Army throughout the conflict. -
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American Revolution
The American Revolution—also called the U.S. War of Independence—was the insurrection fought between 1775 and 1783 through which 13 of Great Britain's North American colonies threw off British rule to establish the sovereign United States of America, founded with the Declaration of Independence in 1776. -
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First Maratha War
The first of three Anglo-Maratha Wars fought in India between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire was the First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782). The conflict began with the Surat Treaty and concluded with the Salbai Treaty. -
Declaration of Independence (13 Colonies)
The Declaration of American Independence, which was approved by Congress on July 4, 1776, stated that America's 13 colonies would be "absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." -
Dominguez and Escalante Explore the Southwest
The Dominguez-Escalante expedition (1776) was one of the last major excursions undertaken by the Spanish Crown in what is now the American Southwest. Its goal was to build a path connecting the Spanish Empire's two northernmost stations on the continent: Santa Fe and El Paso (in present-day New Mexico) -
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War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–79)
In 30, 1777, a settlement was made with his successor, Charles Theodore, the elector palatine, relinquishing Lower Bavaria and the lordship of Mindelheim to Austria, ending the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–79). -
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Cape Frontier Wars
The Cape Frontier Wars were a series of conflicts in southern Africa between European colonists and the Xhosa people. Between 1779 and 1878, there were nine conflicts. They took place on the Cape Colony's eastern boundary, or border, in what is now South Africa. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation served as the country's first constitution, stating that the former 13 colonies would create a union known as "The United States of America." The thirteen articles of the Articles of Confederation granted authority to a national government led by Congress. -
Los Angeles (California)
On September 4, 1781, a group of 14 families, totaling 44 people of Native American, African, and European ancestry, traveled almost 1,000 miles through the desert from present-day northern Mexico to establish an agricultural community in the region, which they named "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora." -
The end of the Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War, commonly known as the Revolutionary War or the American War of Independence, was started in Congress by delegates from thirteen British American colonies against the British Empire. The war was fought to free the United States from the British Empire. -
Russian Settlement on Kodiak Island
Grigory Shelikhov, a Russian fur merchant, founds Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island, Alaska's first permanent Russian colony. ... Russian claims to the northwest coast of America were quickly challenged by British and American commercial boats, and the Russians retreated north to the present-day southern border of Alaska. -
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Northwest Indian War (Ohio War, Little Turtle's War)
The Northwest Indian War (1785–1795), also known as Little Turtle's War and by other names, was a war between the United States and a confederation of numerous Native tribes, with minor support from the British, for control of the Northwest Territory. -
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention was a formal gathering that took place in 1787 with the goal of drafting a constitution for the United States. In this context, a convention is a conference or assembly where politicians discuss political issues. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Confederation Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance on July 13, 1787, which established a government for the Northwest Area, established a procedure for admitting new states to the Union from the territory, and detailed a bill of rights guaranteed in the territory. -
Delaware becomes first state to enter the Union
As a result, Delaware became the first state to join the Union, kicking off a process that needed nine of the original 13 former colonies to sign the treaty before it could take effect and become the supreme law of the nation. -
Pennsylvania enters the Union (2nd state)
By a vote of 46 to 23, Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the Constitution on December 12, 1787. Pennsylvania was the first significant state to ratify the Constitution, as well as the first to face a strong Anti-Federalist opposition. -
New Jersey enters the Union (3rd state)
Following Delaware and Pennsylvania, New Jersey became the third state to enter the Union when it approved the Constitution on December 18, 1787. This varied state has a rich and illustrious past. New Jersey was part of the Duke of York's original land grant prior to the American Revolution. -
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French Revolution
The French Revolution, which began in 1787 and lasted in 1799, was an era of great social upheaval in France. It aimed to fundamentally alter the relationship between rulers and those they ruled over, as well as to reshape the essence of political authority. -
Connecticut enters the Union (5th state)
The 13 colonies that joined the Union for the first time were British colonies established in the 17th and 18th centuries. -
Massachusetts enters the Union (6th state)
The United States Constitution was approved by Massachusetts on February 6, 1788, by a vote of 187 to 168. The Constitution was certain to be adopted in June, when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it. -
Settlement by pioneers in Ohio River Valley begins
Marietta was the United States of America's first permanent colony in the land north and west of the Ohio River. Marietta, formerly called as Adelphia, which means "brotherhood," was the first community established in the Northwest Territory by the Ohio Company of Associates in 1788. -
Maryland enters the Union (7th state)
Maryland was a border state during the American Civil War. Although Maryland was a slave state, it never broke away from the Union. Approximately 80,000 Marylanders fought in Union forces throughout the war, accounting for nearly 10% of those in the USCT. -
South Carolina enters the Union (8th state)
On May 23, 1788, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to vote for separation from the Union. It was readmitted to the United States on June 25, 1868, following the American Civil War. -
New Hamphsire enters the Union (9th state)
On June 21, 1788, the state became the ninth and last essential state to ratify the United States Constitution, making it the law of the country. -
Virginia enters the Union (10th State)
West Virginia is admitted to the Union as the 35th state, or the 24th if the 11 Southern states' secession is taken into consideration, during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln of the United States announced West Virginia's admission to the Union on April 20, 1863, with an effective date of June 20, 1863. -
New York enters the Union (11th state)
The Convention of the State of New York, convening in Poughkeepsie on July 26, 1788, voted to adopt the United States Constitution. New York joined the new nation as the eleventh of the original thirteen colonies to join together as the United States of America after ratifying the Constitution. -
Georgia enters the Union
On this day in 1788, Georgia ratified the newly created United States Constitution, making it the fourth state to join the Union. It was the very first state in the South to do so. It took action when a special convention granted its unanimous approval and delegates signed the ratification instrument in Augusta. -
Judiciary Act of 1789
On September 24, 1789, President George Washington signed the Judiciary Act of 1789, which was formally titled "An Act to Establish the Judicial Courts of the United States." The Supreme Court was created by Article III of the Constitution, although Congress retained the power to construct lesser federal courts as required. -
North Carolina enters the Union (12th state)
At the start of the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783, colonists in the Carolina Backcountry supposedly penned the Mecklenburg Declaration of Freedom on May 20, 1775. This uncompromising attitude eventually prompted North Carolina to join the Union of States, formerly known as The Thirteen Colonies, in 1789, albeit grudgingly. -
George Washington elected president
George Washington was overwhelmingly elected president of the United States in the first presidential election in 1789. With 69 electoral votes, Washington received the backing of every eligible voter. Since then, no other president has been sworn in with a universal mandate to lead. -
Rhode Island enters the Union (13th state)
Rhode Island became the 13th state to ratify the United States Constitution on this day in 1790, making it the last of the original founding colonies to join the Union. The first attempt to ratify the Constitution was rejected by a 10-to-1 majority by residents of the former British territory. -
First Bank of the United States
The President, Directors, and Company of the Bank of the United States, often known as the First Bank of the United States, was a national bank authorized by the United States Congress on February 25, 1791 for a twenty-year period. It was established after the Bank of North America, which was the country's first de facto national bank. -
Vermont enters the Union (14th state)
The antebellum era (1791–1861) and admission to the Union Vermont became the fourteenth state to join the federal Union in 1791, becoming the first state to do so after the original thirteen colonies, and serving as a counterweight to slave-holding Kentucky, which entered the Union the following year. -
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments of the United States Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. These amendments safeguard fundamental rights and civil freedoms, including as religious freedom, free speech, the right to carry arms, jury trial, and more, while also reserving rights to the people and states. -
Kentucky enters the Union (15th state)
Kentucky was a crucial border state in the American Civil War. It proclaimed neutrality at the start of the war, but following Confederate General Leonidas Polk's failed effort to conquer Kentucky for the Confederacy, the Kentucky legislature petitioned the Union Army for help. -
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French revolutionary wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (French: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Great Britain, Austria, the Holy Roman Empire, Prussia, Russia, and several other monarchies. -
Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
The original Fugitive Slave Act, passed by Congress in 1793, gave local governments the power to apprehend and return fugitives to their owners, as well as levy fines on anybody who helped them flee. -
Eli Whitney invents cotton gin
In 1794, U.S.-born inventor Eli Whitney (1765-1825) patented the cotton gin, a machine that revolutionized the production of cotton by greatly speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber. ... For his work, he is credited as a pioneer of American manufacturing. -
Tennessee enters the Union (16th state)
What is the situation now? Tennessee was part of North Carolina at first, and then the Southwest Territory. It became the 16th state to join the Union on June 1, 1796. During the War of 1812, Tennessee earned the nickname "The Volunteer State," as many Tennesseans volunteered to aid in the war effort. -
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Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were political declarations issued by the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures in 1798 and 1799, claiming that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were illegal. -
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Russian-American Company
Russian-American Company, Russian Rossiysko-amerikanskaya Kompaniya, Russian trading monopoly that established colonies in North America (primarily in California and Alaska) during the 19th century. The Northeastern Company, headed by the merchants Grigory I.