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First English Colony
100 English colonists arrive along the west bank of the James River in Virginia to found Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. Dispatched from England by the London Company, the colonists had sailed across the Atlantic. Upon landing at Jamestown, the first colonial council was held by seven settlers whose names had been chosen and placed in a sealed box by King James I. The council chose Edward Wingfield as its first president ("Jamestown Settlers Arrive", History). -
Pilgrams Arrived in America
The Mayflower arrived in Plymouth Harbor on December 16, 1620 and the colonists began building their town. While houses were being built, the group continued to live on the ship. Many of the colonists fell ill. Only 52 people survived the first year in Plymouth. When Mayflower left Plymouth on April 5, 1621, she was sailed back to England by only half of her crew (“Who Were the Pilgrims?”, Plimoth Plantation). -
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London engulfed the City for three days destroying 80% of the buildings leaving thousands homeless and bankrupt. Afterwards, Sir Christopher Wren declares new buildings will be made of brick and the streets widened. Oddly the fire slows the progress of the plague by destroying so many rats. Only 16 people lost their lives in the inferno (“World History AD Timeline”). -
The Battle of Vienna
The King of Poland Jan III Sobieski leading 20,000 horsemen, the largest cavalry charge in history, rides down from the hills around Vienna and routes the besieging Ottoman forces led by Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha. The Battle of Vienna is a high mark of the Ottoman Empire (“World History AD Timeline”). -
The Longitude Problem
4 British warships lead by Admiral Shovell run aground on the Scilly Islands off the English coast killing 2000 sailors. This intensifies the search for a solution to "The Longitude Problem". Astronomers thought the answer to finding longitude lay in observing the skies. After an outpouring of ideas and generations of work, John Harrison solved the issue with an accurate clock. This instrument revolutionized position-finding at sea (“World History AD Timeline”). -
Industrial Revolution
A period during which predominantly agrarian, rural societies in Europe and America became industrial and urban.Industrialization marked a shift to powered, special-purpose machinery, factories and mass production. The iron and textile industries, along with the development of the steam engine, played central roles in the Industrial Revolution, which also saw improved systems of transportation, communication, and banking (“Industrial Revolution”, History). -
Declaration of Independence
With the Revolutionary War in full swing, the movement for independence from Britain had grown. A five-man committee including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin were tasked with creating the first formal statement by a nation's people asserting their right to choose their own government. Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 (“Declaration of Independence”, History) -
US Territorial Expansion
The U.S. agreed to pay $15 million an acre for which the U.S. government then sold federal lands to settlers (Unger, p.126). The Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans; it doubled the size of the United States. To Jefferson, westward expansion was the key to the nation’s health: a republic depended on an independent citizenry for its survival and that independence went hand in hand with land ownership (“Westward Expansion”). -
First Manned Hot Air Balloon Flight
The Montgolfier brothers began experimenting with lighter-than-air devices after observing that heated air flowing directed into a paper or fabric bag made the bag rise. The Montgolfier brothers constructed a balloon about 30 feet in diameter made of taffeta and coated with a varnish of alum for fireproofing. The Montgolfiers' next step was to put a person in the basket. They launched a balloon on a tether with Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier aboard. He stayed aloft for almost 4 minutes (Sharp). -
The U.S. Constitution
The U.S. Constitution established America’s national government and fundamental laws and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. At the 1787 convention, delegates devised a plan for a stronger federal government with 3 branches– executive, legislative and judicial, along with a system of checks and balances to ensure no single branch would have too much power (“The U.S. Constitution”, History). -
First President- George Washington
With a peace treaty signed between Great Britain and the U.S., Washington gave up his command of the army and returned to Mount Vernon, intent on resuming his life as a gentleman farmer and family man. However, he was asked to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and head the committee to draft the new constitution. His impressive leadership convinced the delegates that he was the most qualified man to become the nation’s first president (“George Washington”, History). -
Treaty of Ghent
On December 24, 1814, The Treaty of Ghent was signed by British and American representatives at Ghent, Belgium, ending the War of 1812. At the signing, John Quincy Adams declared, "I hope it will be the last treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States" (Unger, p.175). By terms of the treaty, all conquered territory was to be returned, and commissions were planned to settle the boundary of the United States and Canada (“Treaty of Ghent”, History). -
John Quincy Adams Elected President
"The House of Representative elected John Quincy Adams as the sixth President of the United States after the electoral college failed to produce a winner. The 1824 election was one of only three presidential elections in which that scenario occurred. With no candidate having an outright majority, the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution placed the election in the hands of the House of Representatives, which then decided from among the top three candidates" (“World History AD Timeline”). -
John Quincy Adams- Erie Canal Completed
The first passage on the 363 mile-long Erie Canal is completed from Lake Erie to New York City, linking the Atlantic and trans-Atlantic marketplaces with growing agricultural production in the Northwest states. Construction of the canal began in 1817. During his presidential term, Adams strongly supported national planning of and the use of national funds for an improved transportation infrastructure (“World History AD Timeline”). -
John Quincy Adams- Military Training Manuals Created
"Military standardization and integration of Union and state militias is a foremost concern during the Adams administration. In response to a proposal by the secretary of war to revamp military organization and seniority systems, a joint House and Senate resolution calls for the production and dispersal of training manuals" (“World History AD Timeline”). -
John Quincy Adams- Resolution of War Damages
"Under the mediation of Czar Nicholas I, President Adams finalizes a settlement with the British over restitution for damages incurred during the War of 1812, left unresolved by the Treaty of Ghent" (“World History AD Timeline”). -
John Quincy Adams- Ports Closed to British
"Adams proclaims all American ports closed to trade with British colonies, suspending disagreements from an era of protracted contention with the British over tariffs, navigation and duties. Adams's declaration embodies his response to a rising Continental cartel of exclusive trading relationships" (“World History AD Timeline”). -
John Quincy Adams- Nicaraguan Canal is Proposed
"Antonio José Caóaz, Guatemalan minister to the United States, proposes the construction of a canal adjoining the Pacific and Atlantic through Nicaragua. The United States is receptive, spearheading a flurry of American and international bids for surveying, building, and operation contracts. Although local instability derails the experiment, the effort is an important demonstration of the supremacy of the United States's influence in Central America" (“World History AD Timeline”). -
John Quincy Adams- Jackson Wins Presidential Election
"Andrew Jackson, running on the Democratic ticket, ends Adams's bid for reelection. The Tennessee native wins the election with 56 percent of the popular vote and 178 electoral votes to Adams's 83" (“World History AD Timeline”). President Adams prepared to return to his father's home in Quincy, Massachusetts, resigning to a life of puttering about the farm, but also focusing on writing a biography of his father and practiticing law part time (Unger, p. 259). -
The Great Hunger
"The Great Hunger also known as the Potato Famine. Blight causes potato crop to fail in Ireland. 1.5 million die of starvation and disease. Ireland still exports grain to England to pay rents. Help from England was too little too late" (“World History AD Timeline”). -
The Civil War
"In the spring of 1861, decades of simmering tensions between the northern and southern United States over issues including states’ rights versus federal authority, westward expansion, and slavery exploded into the American Civil War" (“American Civil War History”, History).
