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Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolution. British army regulars eventually forced the American minutement to retreat, but they suffered many casualties. The first shot of this battle is known as the "shot heard round the world". -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was the second meeting of the congress in which they signed the Declaration of Independence. -
Battle at Bunker Hill
The Battle at Bunker Hill, (which was actually fought at Breed's Hill), was a significant battle early in the American Revolution. The British won but suffered heavy casualties. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was a petition from the Continental Congress to King George III that attempted to keep peace in the growing conflict between the colonies and England. -
Common Sense
Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine, criticizing British authority and claiming the colonies had to rebel because their rights had been violated. It gave the colonies a clear cause to unite under by articulating their complaints and inspiring them to continue the war effort. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, was the document sent to George III that stated the colonies were a seperate nation. The 56 delegates who signed it were declared by the king to be traitors and risked hanging. -
Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga, fought in Saratoga, New York, is generally regarded as the "turning point" in the American Revolution. John Burgoyne's British army was defeated by the Continental Army, renergizing the American war effort and convincing France to join the war. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the first American constitution and attempted to unite the colonies in one country. They were unsuccessful because they did not give enough power to the federal government. In 1789 they were replaced by the Constitution. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown in New York City resulted in a British defeat by the Americans and French. It led to the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolution. -
Treaty of Paris 1783
The Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolution. It was signed by Adams, Franklin, Jay, and an English delegate. It gave the US larger territorial provisions. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shay's Rebellion was a violent uprising in Massachusetts by farmers, who were protesting against their economic and political hardships under the Articles of Confederation -
Constitutional Convention
The convention of United States statesmen who drafted the United States Constitution in 1787. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance created the Northwest Territory and established a bill of rights for the new territory. It also outlined a method for adding hew states to the territory, encouraging growth of the area. -
Judiciary Act of 1789
A landmark statute adopted on September 24, 1789 in the first session of the First United States Congress establishing the U.S. federal judiciary (Supreme Court). -
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a religious revival that swept through America after the Revolution. It inspired ideas of equality for all, and stressed the importance of political involvement. It majorly influenced leading abolitionists and suffragists. -
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791, during the presidency of George Washington. -
Chisholm v Georgia
It was the first Supreme Court case of significance and the ruling was almost immediately superseded by the eleventh amendment. -
XYZ Affair
French doing the same as England was, seizing ships, so Adams sent delegation to Paris and ministers requested bribes as the basis for entering into negotiations. This infuriated Americans and they wanted war. Adams,
going against his own political party, kept war from happening, recognizing army and navy wasn’t ready. Anger against France strengthened federalists. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
Federalists adopted the Naturalization Act (increased number of years required for immigrants to qualify for citizenship), the Alien Acts (authorized prex to deport any aliens considered dangerous to detain any enemy aliens in time of war), and Sedition Act (made it illegal for newspaper editors to criticize either the president or congress and imposed heavy penalties for those who violated). -
Revolution of 1800
Jefferson’s election: from federalist to republican, was monumental in the development of the U.S. -
Marbury v Madison
Marbury v Madison ruled in favor of John Madison, the president at the time and first case to establish judicial review. It was the first time that a federal law was ruled unconstitutional. -
Louisana Purchase
At the mouth of the Mississippi lay the territory’s most valuable property in terms of commerce—the port of New Orleans. in 1800, the French military and political leader Napoleon Bonaparte secretly forced Spain to give the Louisiana Territory back to its former owner, France, since Napoleon wanted French empire in the Americas. Napoleon had lost interest in this plan for two reasons: (1) he needed to concentrate French resources on fighting England and (2) a rebellion led by Toussaint l’Ouvertu -
Nonintercourse Act
The Nonintercourse Act regulated trade between the Native Americans and non-Indians. it gave the federal government the ultimate control over Indian lands, as they had to give permission for it to be purchased. -
Embargo Act
The Embargo Act was passed under Thomas Jefferson in response to the impressment of several Americans by the British navy. The embargo did not go well, as American merchants protested their lack of trade. It weakened faith in the American system of government. -
Macon's Bill No. 2
Macon’s Bill was a law that tried to prevent the British and French from seizing American ships during the Napoleonic Wars, threatening to end trade with them if they did. -
Fletcher v Peck
The ruling said that the state could not pass legislation invalidating a contract. It was the first time that a state law was ruled unconstitutional. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was caused by general tensions with Great Britain, the impressment of American sailors, the wars with France, and the support of Native Americans. Both the Americans and English were allied with Native Americans. -
Treaty of Ghent
signed on Christmas Eve
The terms of the Treaty of Ghent were a halt to the War of 1812 and the return of all conquered territory to the prewar claimer, and recognition of the prewar boundary between the U.S. and Canada
ended the war with neither side gaining anything. The Battle of New Orleans was fought afterward, before the news of the treaty was received. -
Election of 1816 (Era of Good Feelings)
The Era of Good Feelings may have lasted only from the election of 1916 (James Monroe) to the Panic of 1819. There was a perception of unity and harmony within the U.S.
there were actually several heated debates over tariffs, the national bank, internal improvements, and public land sales. -
2nd Bank of the United States
Modeled on the first national bank, the 2nd Bank failed recharter and became a private corporation. -
McCulloch v Maryland
The ruling established that the Constitution grants to Congress implied powers for implementing the Constitution's express powers, in order to create a functional national government
The ruling also established that the state action may not impede valid constitutional exercises of power by the Federal government. -
Dartmouth College v Woodward
The ruling said that a contract for a private corporation could not be altered by the state. -
Gibbons v Ogden
This case between New York and Congress ruled that New York's trying to create a monopoly was unconstitutional. It established the federal government's broad control of interstate commerce. -
Johnson v. McIntosh
Johnson v McIntosh ruled that private citizens could not purchase land from Native Americans. -
Election of 1824
This presidential election was the first in which the outcome was chosen by the House. Adams was accused of having connections to House members who would elect him. -
Election of 1828
The Election of 1828 was between the two candidates Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams. It was known as a mudslinging campaign. -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act, which was passed under Jackson, moved Indians to a reservation in exchange from their home territories. -
Nullification Crisis of 1832
The Nullification Crisis was a sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson created by South Carolina's 1832 Ordinance of Nullification. It declared that the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional. -
Texas Independence
Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836, but was not annexed into the US immediately. -
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
The Webster-Ashburton Treaty resolved the conflicts over land and border lines between the United States and British colonies in Canada. It established the Maine/New Brunswick border and a border north of Lake Superior. -
Election of 1844
The presidential election in 1844 centered on foreign policy. Polk supported Texas entering the union as a slave state. His opponent, Henry Clay, was against it. -
Mexican-American War
The Mexican-American War was a conflict between the US and Mexico over the ownership of Texas, despite the Texas Revolution in 1836. Mexico disregarded Texas' independence, and when the US decided to annex Mexico, it began a war that led to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the extension of Texas to the Rio Grande river. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso, which was rejected by congress, proposed that Texas be annexed into the US as a free state. It was one of the events that fanned the flames for the Civil War. -
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase was purchased by the United States from Mexico. It led to controversy over whether the territory should allow slavery or not, creating tension that led to the Civil War. -
Ostend Manifesto
The Ostend Manifesto explained the reasons for the war with Spain in Cuba. It signaled a change in US foreign policy. -
Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was an economic problem partially caused by the over-expansion of US domestic policy. It created some tension between the northern and southern states. -
South Secedes
The southern states secede from the union after the election of Abraham Lincoln in order to preserve their way of life as slave holding states. They rename themselves the Confederate States of America and elect Jefferson Davis as president. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam was the single bloodiest day of the Civil War. While there was no clear winner, the Union Army inflicted severe casualties on the Confederates, which gave Lincoln enough confidence to issue the Emacipation Proclaimation. He was angry at General McClellan for not pursing the Confederates further, and McClellan was dismissed after the battle. -
The Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address on the battleground afterward. -
Emancipation Proclaimation
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclaimation on January 1st of 1863. It declared that all slaves in the rebellious states were free. Because the seceded states did not consider themselves part of the union, most slaves were not released until the end of the Civil War. However, the Proclaimation inspired new enthusiasm for the Northern war effort. -
Assassination of Lincoln
Lincoln was assassinated only weeks after the end of the Civil War by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment outlawed slavery. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment overruled the Dred Scott case, stating that those of African descent could become American citizens. -
Purchase of Alaska
Alaska was purchased by the US from Russia, orchestrated primarily by William Seward. Seward was criticized for his purchase. -
Gilded Age
The Gilded Age was the period after the Civil War and reconstruction that involved a boom in business, cities, and reform. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment gave black male citizens the right to vote. -
Reconstruction Era
Reconstruction in the South took place after the Civil War and was generally a failure. Radical Republicans in Congress were intent on punishing the South, while Lincoln and other moderates wanted to pardon Confederate leaders. During this time, some civil rights were gained for freedmen, such as the right to vote and hold office. -
Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877, also known as the Great Betrayal, was a compromise that took place during the 1876 presidential election, between Rutherford Hayes and democrats in Congress. In exchange for their support, Hayes promised to remove federal troops from the South and appoint white democratic Cabinet members. -
Knights of Labor
The Knights of Labor was a less radical union that mostly pushed for an 8-hour workday. -
American Federation of Labor
The AFL was a radical union and was the largest during the Gilded Age. -
Founding of the KKK
In response to Reconstruction and attempts at civil rights reform in the South, the KKK was founded in 1886. The first wave of KKK terrorized freed slaves in the south. -
Haymarket Affair
During a peaceful workers’ strike in Chicago, a suspected anarchist threw dynamite at police. A riot ensued, which left at least 11 people dead. -
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act authorized the president to survey Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. -
Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act was an attempt to prohibit trusts. It was a failure because the terms described in the act were vague and unenforced. -
Wounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre was a major event in the Native American assimilation movement. US military forces who were attempting to disarm a tribe of Lakota Indians began firing on them, killing about 300 of them. It was the last major incident between federal troops and the Sioux. -
Homestead Strike
At Carnegie’s Pennsylvania plant, the manager, Henry Frick, brought in Pinkerton police to threaten the striking workers. When the Pinkertons came, the strikers began shooting at them. By the end of the day, 7 strikers were dead. -
Pullman Strike
A railroad stike in 1894. -
Explosion of the USS Maine
The USS Maine randomly exploded while docked in a Cuban harbor, prompting the frenzy of the "yellow press" in the US, which blamed the Spanish. It was a precursor to the Spanish-American War. -
Teller Amendment
The Teller Amendment made guidelines for American occupation of Cuba, not allowing the US to control Cuba because it belonged to the Cubans to control. -
Spanish-American War
The Spanish-American War was a conflict between Spain and the US in the middle of the Cuban Revolution. The US eventually gained control of Cuba, marking a new area of American imperialism. -
Open Door Policy
The Open Door Policy, set up by an American diplomat, allowed for open trade to all of China's ports. This was done to allow for the US to get an easier shot at trading with China, as many other countries had exculsive control over China's trading ports. -
Election of 1900
The election was between McKinley and William Jennings Bryan, the former an imperialist and the latter an anti-imperialist. McKinley won, along with Roosevelt, his running mate, pushing the country in a more imperialist direction. -
Platt Amendment
The Platt Amendment allowed the US to maintain influence in Cuba and lease Guantanamo Bay from the Cuban government. -
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion was an uprising in China protesting imperialism and foreign influence in the country. They targeted American Christian missionaries, as well as other foreigners. -
Roosevelt Corollary
The Roosevelt Corollary is a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. It expanded US influence in the world by allowed the US to intervene in affairs in Europe and Latin America. -
Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907
The Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907 was an agreement between the US and Japan. The US would try to reduce discrimination of Japanese immigrants in exhange for the Japanese government reducing the number of immigrants to the US. -
Election of 1908
The election of 1908 was similar to that of 1900. William Jennings Bryan suffered a major defeat to Taft. -
Founding of the NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded in 1909 by a diverse group of people, including W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, and William Walling. It was a representation of the "new negro" and was a champion of desegregation. -
Mexican Revolution
The Mexian Revolution was an uprising against the dictator of Mexico. -
Election of 1912
The Election of 1912 was significant because it was a four-way election, between Democrats, Republicans, Socialists, and Theodore Roosevelt's new party, the Progressive Party. Woodrow Wilson won. -
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal, built under President Theodore Roosevelt, allowed easier trade between east and west US and to Asia. -
Jones Law
The Jones Law was the constitition for the Philippines while it was an American colony. -
Red Summer of 1919
The Red Summer was a phrase describing the string of race riots that occurred in 1919, most notably in Chicago, Washington DC, Charleston, and New Orleans. The racist sentiments of the time were fueled in part by a struggling economy in the south after the war and by the influence of Jim Crow laws. -
First Red Scare
The First Red Scare was a period of widespread fear, which happened after WWII, in response to the perceived growing threat of communism, particularily the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. -
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that began in the early 1920's. Known as the "New Negro Movement", it became a symbol of widespread appreciation of African American culture. Art, particularily jazz, thrived and the movement became an iconic part of American society. -
Election of 1932
Roosevelt was elected over Hoover after the stock market crash and economic crisis. It was a landslide election -
New Deal
The New Deal was a set of major government programs initiated under FDR that were designed to stimulate the economy and relieve poverty. They represented a new role for American federal government. -
Hiroshima & Nagasaki
The first two and only atomic bombs were used by the US on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It led to Japan's surrender and the end of WWII. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was President Truman's policy of "containment", or the less militant alternative to Eisenhower's policies. It called for communism to not be spread, but not to be eliminated. -
NATO
NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a system of alliances between the US and other countries in Northern Europe, designed to prevent the spread of communism. -
Chinese Revolution
The People's Republic of China was formed by Mao Zedong after the Chinese Civil War. The fall of China to communism led the US to suspend diplomatic ties. -
Korean War
The Korean War was fought between North and South Korea caused by military divisions from WWII. The US became involved on behalf of South Korea and the war ended in a cease-fire agreement. -
Election of 1952
In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower was elected president. This event marked an era of tougher anti-communist policies and ideas of American exceptionalism, leading in part to the 2nd Red Scare.
