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Aug 3, 1492
Columbus "discovers" the New world for Spain
The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he stumbled upon the Americas. -
1521
Hernan Cortez defeats the Aztecs
Used deadly force to conquer Mexico, fighting Tlaxacan and Cholula warriors before turning his attention on the ultimate prize: taking over the Aztec Empire. He entered Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital home to ruler Montezuma II, on November 8, 1519. -
Jamestown is founded
The Virginia Company of England made a daring proposition: sail to the new, mysterious land, which they called Virginia in honor of Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, and begin a settlement. They established Jamestown, Virginia, on May 14, 1607, the first permanent British settlement in North America. -
The “Starving Time” in Jamestown
The winter of 1609-1610, when food shortages, fractured leadership, and a siege by Powhatan Indian warriors killed two of every three colonists at James Fort. From its beginning, the colony struggled to maintain a food supply. -
The Mayflower Compact is signed
Shortly after she came to anchor off Provincetown Harbor. The Pilgrims had obtained permission from English authorities to settle in Virginia, whose northern border at the time extended up to what is now New York. -
Plymouth is founded
The first colonial settlement in New England (founded in 1620). The settlers were a group of about 100 Puritan Separatist Pilgrims, who sailed on the Mayflower and settled on what is now Cape Cod bay, Massachusetts. They named the first town after their port of departure. -
1st Thanksgiving
Was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621. This feast lasted three days, and—as accounted by attendee Edward Winslow—it was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims. -
New Amsterdam becomes New York
In honor of the Duke of York, who organized the mission. The colony of New Netherland was established by the Dutch West India Company in 1624 and grew to encompass all of present-day New York City and parts of Long Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey. -
Navigation Acts
Were a series of laws passed by the English Parliament to regulate shipping and maritime commerce. The Acts increased colonial revenue by taxing the goods going to and from British colonies. -
King Phillip’s War
Armed conflict between English colonists and the American Indians of New England in the 17th century. It was the Native-American's last major effort to drive the English colonists out of New England. -
Bacon’s Rebellion
An armed rebellion that took place 1676-1677 by Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon against the rule of Governor William Berkeley. -
Salem Witchcraft Trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused, 19 of whom were found guilty and executed by hanging. -
Stono Rebellion
Was a slave rebellion that began on 9 September 1739, in the colony of South Carolina. It was the largest slave uprising in the British mainland colonies, with 25 colonists and 35 to 50 Africans killed. -
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France, each side supported by military units from the parent country and by American Indian allies. -
Ben Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union
Proposal introduced by Benjamin Franklin during the Albany Congress in 1754. Franklin's plan called for the formation of a permanent federation of colonies, as a means to reform colonial-imperial relations and to more effectively address shared colonial interests. -
Treaty of 1763
ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France, as well as their respective allies. -
Proclamation of 1763
Was issued by King George III on October 7, 1763, following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the Seven Years' War. -
The Stamp Act
Passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. -
England passes the Quartering Act
The British Parliament passed the Quartering Act, one of a series of measures primarily aimed at raising revenue from the British colonies in America. ... The act did require colonial governments to provide and pay for feeding and sheltering any troops stationed in their colony. -
The Townshend Acts
Were a series of laws passed by the British government on the American colonies in 1767. They placed new taxes and took away some freedoms from the colonists including the following: New taxes on imports of paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre, known to the British as the Incident on King Street, was a confrontation on March 5, 1770, in which British soldiers shot and killed several people while being harassed by a mob in Boston. The event was heavily publicized by leading Patriots such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. -
The 1st Continental Congress convenes
Delegates from each of the 13 colonies except for Georgia (which was fighting a Native American uprising and was dependent on the British for military supplies) met in Philadelphia as the First Continental Congress to organize colonial resistance to Parliament's Coercive Acts. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in the battle. -
The “shot heard ‘round the world”
A phrase that refers to the opening shot of the Battle of Concord in 1775, which began the American Revolutionary War and led to the creation of the United States of America -
Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense
Writer Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence. Although little used today, pamphlets were an important medium for the spread of ideas in the 16th through the 19th centuries. -
Rhode Island is founded
Rhode Island was founded by Roger Williams in 1636, who had been banished from the Massachusetts colony for his advocacy of religious tolerance and the separation of church and state. -
Declaration of Independence is signed
Is the pronouncement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1776 -
Maryland is founded
Maryland is a Mid-Atlantic state that's defined by its abundant waterways and coastlines on the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. -
Battle of Saratoga
Marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. -
The Articles of Confederation are implemented
The first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. However, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781. -
Battle of Yorktown
German Battle or the siege of Little York, ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virginia, was a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops led ... -
Treaty of 1783
The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War. -
Shay’s Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in Western Massachusetts in opposition to a debt crisis among the citizenry and the state government’s increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades; the fight took place mostly in and around Springfield during 1786 and 1787. -
Constitutional/Philadelphia Convention gathers
With strong encouragement from six of the states, Congress called a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation into a more powerful document. Each state-appointed delegates to attend a meeting in Philadelphia to develop a more effective and unified constitution. -
The Northwest Ordinance was established
The Northwest Ordinance enacted July 13, 1787, was an organic act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States. -
Pennsylvania is founded
Officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a state located in the Northeastern, Great Lakes, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle. -
Connecticut is founded
A U.S. state in southern New England that has a mix of coastal cities and rural areas dotted with small towns. -
The Constitution is ratified
The Constitution became the official framework of the government of the United States of America when New Hampshire became the ninth of 13 states to ratify it. The journey to ratification, however, was a long and arduous process. -
George Washington inaugurated as first president
He began on April 30, 1789, when Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States and ended on March 4, 1797. Washington took office after the 1788–89 presidential election, the nation's first quadrennial presidential election, in which he was elected unanimously. -
Whiskey Rebellion
Was a 1794 uprising of farmers and distillers in western Pennsylvania in protest of a whiskey tax enacted by the federal government. ... Opposition to the whiskey tax and the rebellion itself built support for the Republicans, who overtook Washington's Federalist Party for power in 1802. -
Jay’s Treaty is signed
Treaty of Amity Commerce and Navigation, between His Britannic Majesty; and The United States of America,” was negotiated by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay and signed between the United States and Great Britain on November 19, 1794. -
Treaty of Greenville
A 1795 treaty between the United States and Indians of the Northwest Territory including the Wyandot and Delaware, which redefined the boundary between Indian lands and Whiteman's lands in the Northwest Territory. -
Pinckney’s Treaty
Was signed in San Lorenzo de El Escorial on October 27, 1795, and established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain -
XYZ Affair
The XYZ Affair was a political and diplomatic episode in 1797 and 1798, early in the presidency of John Adams, involving a confrontation between the United States and Republican France that led to the Quasi-War. -
John Adams becomes 2nd President
Inaugurated as the second President of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1801. Adams, who had served as vice president under George Washington, took office as president after winning the 1796 presidential election. -
The Alien and Sedition Acts are passed
Passed by the Federalist Congress in 1798 and signed into law by President Adams. These laws included new powers to deport foreigners as well as making it harder for new immigrants to vote. -
Quasi-War
Was an undeclared naval war between the United States and France during the Presidency of John Adams. It grew out of the XYZ Affair and ended when French politics changed direction after Napoleon came into power -
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were passed
Political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799, in which the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. -
Thomas Jefferson becomes the 3rd President
Was sworn into office on March 4, 1801; he was the first presidential inauguration held in Washington, D.C. (George Washington was inaugurated in New York in 1789; in 1793, he was sworn into office in Philadelphia, as was his successor, John Adams, in 1797.) -
The Louisiana Purchase
Was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from France in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or approximately eighteen dollars per square mile, the United States nominally acquired a total of 828,000 sq mi. -
The Supreme Court rules on Marbury v. Madison
Established the principle of judicial review—the power of the federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional. ... Marbury sued the new secretary of state, James Madison, in order to obtain his commission. -
Chesapeake Affair
Leopard affair was a naval engagement that occurred off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, on June 22, 1807, between the British warship HMS Leopard and the American frigate USS Chesapeake. The crew of Leopard pursued, attacked, and boarded the American frigate, looking for deserters from the Royal Navy. -
Embargo Act of 1807
A law passed by the United States Congress and signed by President Thomas Jefferson on December 22, 1807. It prohibited American ships from trading in all foreign ports. -
James Madison becomes 4th president
He was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, philosopher and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. -
Congress declares war on England
The House adopted a resolution declaring war against Great Britain, from which the United States had won its independence in 1783. ... The British also boarded American ships, seizing sailors and “impressing” them into the British Navy. -
Treaty of Ghent
The peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now Belgium). -
Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815, between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson.
