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Jamestown
VideoJamestown was established by English males that were in search of gold, but failed to find enough gold to make a profit. Problems like disease and famine were hardships faced in the colonies.John Rolfe established the tobacco industry in the Jamestown colony which became prosperous due to European consumers.To attract immigrants, Virginia offered 50 acres of land to any immigrant that paid for his own or another immigrant's passage (headright system). -
Plymouth/Pilgrims
The Plymouth colony was established by about 100 pilgrims from England. They made their way to the Americas on a ship called the Mayflower. Aboard the Mayflower, they created the first governing document in the Plymouth colony called the Mayflower compact. The Pilgrims were intolerant of religious diversity because of their persecution in England. -
Massachusetts Bay Colony/Puritans
A group of Puritans who were seeking religious freedom gained a royal charter to establish a colony (Mass. Bay). Puritans were extremely hard workers due to the harsh conditions in the colonies and were intolerant of religious diversity. The church was a huge part of their everyday lives and they granted patial membership of the church to most New Englanders. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon raised an army and conducted raids against Indian villages and English settlements in Virginia. His army suceeded in defeating the governors forces and burned down the Jamestown settlement. -
French and Indian War Begins
The British wanted to expand westward into French Land which caused anger with both the French and some native tribes. The French were allied with the Hurons and other Indian tribes and the British were allied with the Iroquois Confederacy. -
End of the French and Indian War/Treaty of Paris
The signing of the Treaty of Paris ended the war. Britiain was victorious. This ended salutary neglect in the colonies when Britiain began imposing taxes on both colonial imports and exports such as the Stamp Act which was a tax on all printed material in the colonies. The British needed to pay off their war debt, therefore heavily taxed the colonies. The Proclamation of 1763 -
The Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was drawn up by the British government which was an imaginary line that prohibited westward expansion past the Appalachian Mountains to prevent conflicts with the natives. This angered colonists and was not very effective. -
Revolutionary War Begins
700 British troops marched into Lexington to seize a patriot arsenal and found 77 minutemen waiting for them. The minutemen were ordered to leave and as they were doing so an unidentified gun fired (Battle of Lexington) which began the Revolution. -
Declaration of Independence
In the Declaration of Independence, the 13 colonies announce their independence from Britain and to make colonists realize that they shouldn't be loyal to Britain because it was time for separation. The founding fathers also used the Declaration to try to gain foreign recognition. -
Battle of Saratoga
The turning point of the American Revolution. The Patriots won this battle. France begins to think that the Americans could win the war and begins to supply them with soldiers, military leaders, money, and weapons. -
Articles Of Confederation
The first Constitution of the United States. It had many flaws: there was a weak central government under the Articles and it failed to address economic issues. There wasreduced foreign trade and the states were heavily in debt because of the Revolution. The government couldn't levy taxes and was printing worthless paper money. States had increased rivalry and suspicion of one another. -
Revolutionary War Ends/Treaty of Paris
Video The American victory at Yorktown led to American and British negotiators signing the treaty of Paris. The British recognized the independence of the United States. Britain surrendered all of its territory in North America besides its Canadian possession and the colonists were required to give Loyalists their property, but the colonists didn't follow through. -
Ratification of the Constitution
Video The Constitution was written to try to address the Article of Confederation's flaws. Supporters of the Constitution were called Federalists which supported a strong central government and opposers were called Anti-Federalists. -
Cotton Gin Patent
Eli Whiney's cotton gin was a machine that removed the seeds from the cotton fiber, which made the cultivation of cotton more profitable in the colonies. In turn, slavery increased due to a need for cheap labor and greed. -
Alien and Sedition Acts Passed
These acts were passed during John Adams' presidency. The Alien act authorized the president to deport any aliens that were thought of as dangerous or detain enemy aliens during war. The Sedition Act made it illegal for newspaper editors to criticize the government. If they did, they'd recieve heavy taxes or even imprisonment. -
Thomas Jefferson Inauguration
Jefferson's victory was a peaceful transition of the powers from Federalists to Democratic-Republicans. -
Lousiana Purchase
Video Thomas Jefferson purchased 828,000 square miles of land from the French government for 15 million dollars which doubled the size of the U.S. and expanded the power of the president (purchasing land was not mentioned in the Constitution). Jefferson wanted this land to create an agrarian society. -
Congress Passes the Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise (proposed by Henry Clay) allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine to enter the Union as a free slave to keep the balance between free and slave states. The Missouri Compromise also banned slavery north of the 36'30'' line. -
The Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was written by John Q. Adams and adressed to Congress by President Monroe. It stated that the Americas were no longer subject to colonization by the Western powers and that Western powers were no longer allowed to intervene or engage in American (North and Latin) affairs. -
Andrew Jackson Inauguration
Andrew Jackson liked to be known as a hero of the common man.He allowed all tax paying white men to vote and had what is called a "kitchen cabinet" because he hired his supporters. Jackson was a War Hero from the War of 1812 in the Battle of New Orleans and claimed Florida for the U.S. Jackson didn't support the U.S. bank and prefered pet banks which were small state banks. He evicted all Indian tribes east of The Mississippi to western lands. -
Mexican-America War Begins
Video James K. Polk was currently president. The U.S. wanted to acquire California and the land surrounding it to reach it's Manifest Destiny. -
Mexican-American War Ends
The U.S. was victorious in the Mexican-American War. To end the war, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed. The U.S. gained a major portion of Mexico's land (Mexican cession) which is now the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and portions of New Mexico and Colorado. The U.S. accomplishes Manifest Destiny. -
Seneca Falls Convention
The first woman's rights convention in the U.S. held in Seneca Falls, NY organized by Lucretia Motts and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Stanton read the Declaration of Sentiments and Grievances which was modeled after the Declaration of Independence. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was proposed by Henry Clay and allowed California to enter the Union as a free slave. In turn, the Congress enacted the Fugitive Slave Act which allowed whites to return fugitive slaves to their owners. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford Decision
Dred Scott (slave), was a slave in Missouri but was brought to the free territory of Wisconsin by his master. He argued that he was a free man because he was on free soil. The Supreme Court ruled that he had no right to sue because African Americans weren't citizens, Congress couldn't exclude territory from federal territory, and the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. -
South Carolina Seceeds the Union
Video After Lincoln's victory, the South refused to have a Republican president even though Democrats controlled Congress. South Carolina was the first state to seceed, followed by MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, TX, VA, AR, TN, and NC all in 1861 forming the Confederate States of America. -
The Civil War Begins/Fort Sumter
The Union had a military base (Fort Sumter) in South Carolina. The fort was cut off from necessary supplies and Lincoln announced he was sending food over. Southerners fired at the fort and captured it which is what is known to have started the War. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamtion was issued by President Abraham Lincoln. It freed all slaves in the Confederate states, so it didn't actually free any slaves at all. It allowed border states still loyal to the union to keep their slaves. It also enlarged the purpose of the war; they were now also fighting to abolish slavery. -
Robert E. Lee Surrenders/End of the Civil War
Video Robert E. Lee surrendered his 28,000 troops at the Appomattox courthouse to Ulysses S. Grant which effectively ended the Civil War.
