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Jan 1, 1492
Columbus Discovers America
Christopher Columbus discovery of America: After receiving permission and funding from King Ferdinand and Queen Elizabeth to find a new, easier route to India, what Christopher Columbus thought to be India was really America. Noone had any knowledge of this new land except for its inhabitants, Native Americans, that Columbus designated as “Indians.” The threat of people living so differently in the land the colonists wanted to overtake posed a threat; the colonists pushed out the Native Americ -
Oct 31, 1517
Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformat- The clergy of the Catholic church were becoming more and more corrupt, and people, including a good deal of more pious clergy, became upset with this. In 1517 Martin Luther wrote “95 Thesis” which condemned the Church for indulgences, the pardoning of a sinner for monetary compensation. This condemnation started a whole movement of Christians moving away from the frivolity of the Catholic Church, becoming Protestants. This religious movement is important for the United St -
Jan 1, 1520
Begining Boom of Slave Trade
Slave Trade- Kept the North American colonies’ economy moving forward. Between 1520 and 1650 the British became the prime carriers of slaves, transporting about 2.5 million Africans to the Americas. This free labor made people rich. The slaves powered the sugar and coffee plantations, producing more crops for less money for a handful of white men. These crops brought riches to the British and European economy as well, being that these crops were in such high demand from merchants, and the su -
Period: Jan 1, 1540 to
Columbian Exchange
: Due to Christopher Columbus’ first voyage to the new world, Europe, especially Spain, had access to a huge agricultural region. Produce like maize, potatoes, manioc, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes were carted from the Western to Eastern hemisphere. This process, the Columbian Exchange, changed the world ecologically and agriculturally. This new source of food products now available to Eastern hemisphere caused the world population to double between 1540 and 1640 and boosted Spain’s status to s -
Jan 1, 1566
Dutch and English Challenge Spain
King Philip II because of exploiting Mexico and Peru’s gold and silver made Spain Europe’s most
powerful country. A devout Catholic he spent a majority of his fortune on religious affairs trying to
eliminate the Muslims and Calvinists. In 1566 Calvinists revolted against the Spanish, after 15 years 7
Northern provinces established themselves as Holland/Dutch Republic in 1581. Supporting the Dutch
Queen Elizabeth I aided them by sending 6,000 troops to fight for the cause against Spain. In the ye -
Pigrims Land at Plymouth
Puritans set sail on the May Flower in 1620 expecting to land on a British colony and work for a company to pay off the debt they owed for sailing on the ship. Instead, the pilgrims landed at Plymouth rock which was so far North of their original destination that they were freed from contract and therefore free to establish their own laws and community with no British influence. This voyage was significant in that the pilgrims were the first people to come to the New World expecting to permanen -
Roger Williams
was a pilgrim that opposed the state legislation that Church should be part of the state. Williams was scrutinized for his view of separation and eventually moved away from that community to start what is now Providence, Rhode Island. Williams was important because he really was the first to start changing the attitude of religious rule to one of separation. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon was a well-connected man from Britain who had come over to the colonies expecting land and a place in the government due to his social status. Unfortunately for Bacon, Governor Berkley presided and had already established his personal friends into the best governmental offices. Berkley established a scheme to establish forts along the borders of his colony in order to protect the people from Indian invasion, however, the people were not pleased and claimed that the new forts wer -
William Penn Founds Philly
A wealthy noble’s son, William Penn came to own a great deal of what is now Pennsylvania because the king owed Penn’s father a debt. The debt was repaid in land and instead of parceling off the land to be worked like many nobles of his age would do, Penn and his Quaker beliefs founded Philadelphia. Philadelphia was different from any city founded up to that point as it was open to all peoples of all religious denominations. This air of freedom and unity among people who would not normally hav -
The Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, 1688: The name of the glorious revolution came about because its objective was achieved without bloodshed in 1685. James the second tried to re-establish the Catholic Church which people did not like. Instead, the people rose in revolt and the struggle between the king and the parliament which ended with the people winning. All power now resumed in the people’s hands and the king ruled with the wishes and consent of the people. This revolution opened the doorway for the -
Salem Witch Trials
Salem Witch TrialsIn 1692 several young girls began accusing wealthy citizens in their community of the crime of witch craft. Because of an extreme epidemic of seizures, visions, and rampant accusations coming from the young women, more than 175 people were arrest and 19 were executed. The end of the Salem witch trials was a marked turning point in history of witch craft accusations. Government officials were so shaken by the executions that they discouraged legal prosecutions for witch craft and shortly after -
Slavery in Virginia
When the British started to being over slaves from Africa, Virginia was one of the states that had a big part in the slave trade. They made laws that made ever single African person a slave. By 1720, 20 percent of the population and were all slaves for white males. They were no longer humans but they were now property. The conditions in the Virginia and Maryland area were the best conditions that slaves could be in. They lived many more years than those that were slaves in the Chesapeake area. T -
Stono Rebellion
Stono’s rebellion, 1739: Due to a new law that offered freedom to any slave who could escape to Florida, many slaves began to run away and escape from their bonds. In no time as many as 69 slaves had successfully escaped which was definitely a key instigator to an uprising of slaves in Carolina. In September of 1739 a group of slaves revolted and killed a number of whites near Stono River. The rebellion was quashed with many casualties on both sides and resulted in the restriction of what litt -
French & Indian War
The Great War was also known as The French and Indian War and the Seven Year War. Britain was busy thwarting France over in Europe, and took this opportunity of war to oust the French from the colonies. At this point France was well established in the colonies as fur traders with the Native Americans. Because of their good relationship, France enlisted the help of the Native Americans to fight back. Britain won and this became important firstly because the colonies were all British ruled and -
Salutary Neglect
The English belief that the colonists existed for the benefit of the Queen, yet Robert Walpole
tried to stimulate the economy in a different way. Walpole expressed a view of salutary neglect,
which ment that the actual enforcement of external trade for the Americas became less monitored
and the Commerce Laws were not enforced by England. But in 1763 when the Commerce Laws were
again upheld, protesters and angered colonists sought for independence from England and felt that
they should be free to -
Pontiacs Rebellion
Pontiac’s Rebellion was named after the great I Native American leader of Ottawa Pontiac. The war began in 1763 when angry native Americans were offended and decided on attacking many British men, women, and children. Hundreds were and killed and many forts were conquered and taken over. This war was for the Native Americans was supposed to drive away the British from their home lands so they could live in peace. This did not happen but over the next 2 years they did resolve matters and led to p -
The Stamp Act of 1765
DeclarationStamp Act- Britain put a tax on paper goods, paints, and other textile objects that were used en masse in the colonies. They British imposed this tax claiming that the colonists needed to pay for back Britain for all the money it had spent on the Seven Year War, ousting the French from the colonies to procure the land explicitly for British colonists. The colonists were rabid with rage over the tax, claiming that the tax was unlawful due to no representation in parliament, and that the tax in -
Sugar Act
The Stamp and Sugar acts were acts passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. Great Britain at the time had been losing a lot of money in other wars that they had been fighting. Great Britain thought that it was necessary to raise taxes on everything that came into the colonies to increase their revenue. This was all because Great Britain was in a very large debt and thought that one was to decrease the debt was to raise taxes in the colonies and make profit of things like sugar, stamps and mola -
Boston Tea Party
Liberty KidsTea Party: The Boston Tea Party occurred on December 16,1773. A group of American artisans and laborers dressed as Indians boarded the ship, the Darthmouth, once it had arrived at Boston Harbor. They broke open 342 chests of tea and threw them into the harbor. The value of the tea, today, would estimate around $900,000. The rebellion was a direct action against the British government and is thought of as one of the most iconic events in American history. -
Declaration of Independence
yankee doodleThe declaration of independence was officially approved by congress on July 4, 1776. After years of injustices imposed by Mother England, the colonies had rallied together and proclaimed their collective freedom. Driven by the ideas of the Great Enlightenment, Thomas Jefferson and his contemporaries wrote a document that proclaimed that every man was entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This document was important in that it linked all of the colonies as one great force fig -
Changing Role of Women
In the early 1780’s women in America began to speak out about their oppression by men and
sought for some equality in the eyes of society. Previous to that time women could not own property,
enter into contracts, or file lawsuits. Women such as Judith Sargent Murray argued that women had
the same learning capabilities as men and deserved the same education and place in politics. In the
1890’s is when the attorney general of Massachusetts stated that women had the same opportunity
to schooling as -
Yorktown
Yorktown: The Battle of Yorktown was the last major battle fought in the American Revolutionary War. It began on September 28, 1781 and lasted until the British surrendered on October 19, 1781. The battle was fought between the combined American and French armies against the British. -
Treaty of Paris
Treaty Of Paris- In February of 1783 George the 3rd issued his proclamation of Cessation of hostilities, culminating in the peace treaty of 1783. The Paris Peace Treaty signed in paris on September 3, 1783 was the agreement that formally ended the United States War for independence. The men representing the United States and signed the treaty were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and John Jay. the Peace Treaty’s nine articles that personified it established U.S. boundaries, specified certain fishin -
Industrialization
Industrialization: Industrialization in America began in 1790. Mass production came into effect once factories were built and pushed small business owners into closing up shop. Goods that had once been strictly for the wealthy were beginning to turn up in everyday households. Railroads, canals, and turnpikes were the new means for transportation. Industrialization not only brought new ways to travel and produce goods, but also created new jobs, that for the first time women were employed in. -
National Bank
The first national bank was chartered by the United States congress on February 25, 1791. Prior to the national bank east of the 13 colonies had their own banks and this was more of central bank to run the financial needs of the United States in a whole. This was official proposed by Alexander Hamilton who was at the time the secretary of Treasury. The states ass had many different views on having a centralized bank, the southern states were very aggressive towards not having one. They thought -
Louisiana Purchase
Napoleon Bonaparte was ruling France and all of France’s colonies and holdings. As a dictator he had many important decisions to make, and the one that affected the United States the most was his fear that he would lose the French holdings on the land without compensation. To cut his loss of the land short he wound up selling the large area to the United States. This was important because it forced President Jefferson turn away from his strict interpretation of the Constitution to find new co -
The War of 1812
National AnthemThe Americans were pitted against the British again! This war was fought by the Americans because they were, once again, being humiliated by the British. The Americans wanted to expand north into Ontario, they wanted the British to stop press ganging their American citizens into the Royal Navy, and the Americans wanted the strong Native American connections that Britain had to cease. The Americans did a pretty good job of ending the Native American connections as well as forcing occupation in -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was one of the biggest debates held in the congress. When Missouri tried to become a slave state the union was not willing to accept them until they became a free state. They said that no new states were allowed to be in Missouri and that all old slaves had to be emancipated. The Missouri Compromise was a based of the notion that congress could not force laws on Missouri that it did not force onto all the other states. While this debate went back and forth to whether or -
Lowell System
In the North during the early 1800’s many people were being drawn to areas of manufacturing
and production especially in the New England area where factories were dominant. The Lowell System
was a system put in place by factory owners in Lowell, Massachusetts which employed young farm
women who fell in between the ages of 15 to about 35. This system gave the employees a chance
to makes good wages working in a manufacturing industry performing various jobs with a mill. The
women worked full time -
Roads, Canals, Highways
Main sources of transportation in the 1820’s included roads and interstates as well as canals.
For transporting goods either produced agriculturally or by a factory the best means during the time
period would have to be canals. One of the most important canals in American history would be the
Erie Canals, this canal brought prosperity to farmers and manufacturers in the Northeast. Roads and
canals flourished from 1820 to 1850, until the introduction of the railroad system. In the decade prior
to -
Andrew Jackson Presidency
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Minstrel Shows
Minstrel Shows- Around the time of the industrial revolution in the United States, peoples in the working class experienced a huge change in lifestyle. Instead of working on the farm from dawn until dusk, creating their own goods, and making just enough money for a family to survive per year, people found their way to factories. Factory work was dull and repetitive, offering long hours and little in the way of variation. People worked in factories to be able to buy things that they once spen -
Trail of Tears
In 1835, as part of Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal policy, American officials forced the Cherokee nation to give up their land and move to a new Indian Territory. By the deadline of May 1838, only 2,000 out of the 17,000 had moved. President Martin Van Buren gave orders to General Winfield Scott to forcefully remove the remaining Cherokees and march them to the new land. What became known as the Trail of Tears was the 1,200 mile walk that the Cherokees made, part of it in the dead of winter. -
American Know-Nothing Party
The American know-nothing party was formed from secret societies opposed to immigrants coming to America in 1849. Several small political parties espousing Nativist doctrine existed, among them the American Republican Party and the Nativist Party. At the same time, secret societies, such as the Order of United Americans and the Order of the Star-Spangled Banner, sprang up in American cities. Their members were sworn to keep immigrants out of America, or at the least, to keep them out of mainstre -
New Communications
New communication was very important. First there was Morse code. It was codes send out to different places to communicate information. Then we had western union.western union was somewhere you could go to send out a message. It also had an effect on journalist because they were able to communicate a messages or a piece of information out faster to the public. If thecountry was at war information was communicated faster to the newspaper. This was very significant because now we can get a message -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Many books in American history have brought controversy when bring into the public spotlight. Yet one of the most important pieces of literature is Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Harriet Beecher Stowe the author is this timeless classic was published in 1852 and was translated and distributed to many countries around the world, showing the struggles of a slave during early American history. This book illustrated how the treatment of slaves in America had reached a breaking point and Uncle Tom’s Cabin inf -
Abraham Lincoln Presidency
Abraham Lincoln: Abraham Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States of America beginning in March of 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War. Along with that he preserved the Union and, with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, he created the thirteenth amendment, which would become known as one of the greatest accomplishments in U.S. history. Lincoln forever ended slavery in Amer -
South Carolina Secession
South Carolina Secession, 1861- Soon after the election of President Lincoln, the angry whispers of the fire eaters in the South turned into the angry accusation that the Unionist Party was taking over their government! To avoid the consequences of a majority of Union party in the government, South Carolina seceded. Soon after South Carolina Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed. Lincoln declared that secession was illegal and three days after he lost Ft. Sumt -
Period: to
American Civil War
A black mark on American history, the civil war occurred because of the industrialization of the North, the sheer amount of immigrants coming into the country, and the unwillingness of a few very rich white slave owners to change the way they ran their plantations. The civil war’s outcome established a country of all free men, and a country that spouted equality but could not always provide it. The Civil War also marked a new era in war fare, a technological era of good communication and the d -
Emancipation Proclamation
Once the rebellion got underway, slaves in the South began taking advantage of the chaos to run away. All of a sudden the union army was faced with 200 slaves a day coming into the camp in Virginia. General Benjamin Butler named these slaves ‘contraband’ and claimed them as spoils of war. With all of these new people needing to be taken care of, the Union had to start thinking about what to do. The solution wasn’t clear at first, but eventually they reasoned that to take away the slave in -
Sherman's March
Once the rebellion got underway, slaves in the South began taking advantage of the chaos to run away. All of a sudden the union army was faced with 200 slaves a day coming into the camp in Virginia. General Benjamin Butler named these slaves ‘contraband’ and claimed them as spoils of war. With all of these new people needing to be taken care of, the Union had to start thinking about what to do. The solution wasn’t clear at first, but eventually they reasoned that to take away the slave in -
Lincoln Assasination
- On April 14, 1865 President Lincoln and his wife sat in a theater in Washington D.C. watching a play when a man named John Wilkes Booth slipped past security and shot the President in the head. According to Booth, t he assassination of Lincoln was supposed to have won the war for the South by devastating the North. Instead, the North rallied and was more determined to have the South rejoin the union.
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Ulysses S. Grant Presidency
The election of Grant marked that the power of North for all to see. After his grand performance as a General, Grant entered his presidency with the intention of reforming the country so that it would once again be a powerful force of production for the world. During his presidency, Grant saw that slavery was completely ended and that men were free to vote regardless of class or color. Grant failed women though, after all of their help in keeping the boys at war supplied and well cared for, w -
Reconstruction Ends
Grant’s administration tried very hard to enforce the new laws protecting blacks from slavery and persecution and to ensure that blacks and poor people would have the right to vote. Unfortunately the Southerners weren’t quite finished fighting. In a counterrevolutionary movement, groups like the Ku Klux Klan sprouted up and gallivanted around the South terrorizing both black people and republicans in the area, killing and intimidating wherever they could. Grant and his administration weren’t
