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Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown Colony - History.com
An English colony settled in Jamestown, Virginia, the first successful colony to be settled by the English on the Americas by the Virginia Company. Preceded only by the Lost Colony of Roanoke (1587). -
Africans in North America
First brought to Jamestown, Virginia, to rexploit lucrative crops, like tobacco, and was widely practiced thereafter, especially in the agricultural industry. -
Pilgrims at Plymouth
A hundred pilgrims embarked on the voyage on the Mayflower, and after several months, landed in Cape Cod, Massachussettes, settling not far from Plymouth Rock. -
Salem Witch Trials
Grew from little girl's accusation against local women in Salem Village, Massachussettes, and escalated leading to the deaths of 18 men and women, and accusations against a few dozen others. -
French and Indian War
French and Indian War - History.comA power struggle between the two major sovereignties in North America, Britain and France; conflict began after French expanded past the Ohio River Valley, closer to the colonies than comfortable. -
Boston Massacre
After French and Indian victory, with the major threats for the colonies eliminated the colonies developed a sense of 'national independence', unequal representation in parliment, and rising taxes to pay for the war, led to tension between the colonies and Britain; this tension spilled over a quarrel in Boston between red coats and colonists, ending with five deaths. -
Boston Tea Party
To fight against the Tea Act of 1773, the Sons of Liberty, led by John Adams, dump 342 chests of tea distributed by the East Indian Company into the Boston Harbor. -
Declaration of Independence
Adopted by the Contintental Congress as a formal seperation of the British Empire, choosing to be sovereign states. -
End of American Revolution
After being at war with Britain for eight years, the two sign the Treaty of Paris, bringing an end to the war -
Shay's Rebellion
Daniel Shay, a farmer from Massachussettes, starts a rebellion after coming home from fighting in the war only to discover there was a possibility of his family losing his farm because of inability to pay high taxes and keep up with mortgage whilst he was away. Many other farmers came across this problem and joined Shays Rebellion. -
Ratification of the Constitution
Events in Shays Rebellion, led the public to see the lack of protection and authority government possessed, so it was decided during the Constitutiional Convention, that the Articles of Confederation were not to be remedied but replaced entirely. States encountered many differences in their views of the new government, particularly on slavery, representation, and states rights, but eventually the Constitution was ratified with all original 13 colonies ratifying it. -
Whiskey Rebellion
The new nation had a financial burden and to combat it, Treasurere of State Alexander Hamilton suggested the taxes in reasonable amounts and while it did pass through Congress, the people refused to pay, believing it was an unfair policy that benefitted only the rich. -
Lewis and Clark Expeditions
The Louisianna Purchase, which gave us much of the land we own today, was obtain in 1803; the piece of land was huge and we needed to understand the new terrain so President Thomas Jefferson enlisted Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to do the job. Their main hope was to find water routes. -
War of 1812
Main conflict was against Great Britain and their attempts to restrict American trade, their impression of American seamen, and the US desire to expand. Our victory in this war greatly shaped our young nation. -
Missouri Compromise
When Missouri applied to be a part of the nation, many had an issue because, that would throw off the balance of an equal number of slave and free states, and their desire to be a slave state would give slave states the advantage in government. To maintain peace, Missouri was admitted into the union but with the conditions that no line above the 36'30 could be a slave state and a part of Massachussettes would be broken up to create Maine, a free state. -
Trail of Tears
After gold was discovered on Cherokee territory, citizens of the US invaded their space in order to strike gold. Legal defenses in the US court system was ignored at first and later on when it was actually acknowledged and won, President Jackson ignored the ruling and allowed for the people to trespass into the Cherokee Nation. Eventually uprooted them by force from their home in Georgia to Oklahoma, made them walk all the way, which led to many deaths along the way. Known as trail of tears. -
Texan Independence
Revolted against the Mexican government, and captured the town of San Antonio but refused to leave even after given direct orders to to defend the Fort Alamo. Came to be the fight that inspired "Remember the Alamo." -
Mexican American War
The US's desicion to annex Texas was due to their idea of Manifest Destiny, after the war Mexico had lost 1/3 of its terrritory, the US gaining what is now California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. -
California Gold Rush
After gold was discovered in areas of California, thousands migrated to the west in search of gold. As a result, California became insanely populated and the first establishments out west were built. -
Compromise of 1850
Overturned the terms of the Missouri Compromise, after the idea of popular sovereignty came about. It would allow a state to vote on their opinion on certain matters. This was especially important because Kansas wanted to be admitted into the union, by people who moved from Missouri and wanted to make slavery legal, something that the old terms wouldnt allow -
Election of 1860
The nail in the coffin for the South to sucede was the election of Abraham Lincoln, an advocate for the abloishion of slaver, for president. Promised to get rid of slavery and South bounced. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
Allowed for the Compromise of 1820 to be overturned and cause particularly bad fighting in the Kansas Nebraska area against abolishionist and pro slavery advocates. -
Civil War
The north agaisnts the South, self labled the Confederate States of America, in a battle of states rights. The big issue was the legality of slavery. -
Transcontinental Railroad completed
A key strategy of Lincoln's during the war was using the railroads to get supplies and trroops to the frontline. It was very effective and the Transcontinental started not long after in hopes of making the journey from east to west easier. -
Reconstruction Ends
The period of rebuilding after the war comes to an end.