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Foundation of Jamestown
Established on May 24, 1607, after several attempts to establish a colony in the Americas, the foundation of Jamestown was the first successful English settlement in the Americas. Founded by a man named John Smith, an English soldier and adventurer who would command the colonists through great hardship including starvation and disease, Jamestown would prove to be a harbor for the future colonization of the Americas. -
House of Burgesses
When the Virginia Company wanted to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America, they led the first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North Am -
Founding of Plymouth Colony and Mayflower Compact
Plymouth was founded by a group of Separatists and Anglicans, and along with Jamestown, was one of Americas earliest successful establishments. The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of the Plymouth colony, it was written before the Pilgrims stepped foot off of the Mayflower, and was made to temporarily establish a form of government for the Pilgrims -
Founding of Massachusetts Bay
When the King of England was oppressing Puritans for their religion, they set off to New England to ensure themselves religious freedom. Founded by the owners of the Massachusetts Bay Company, the colony was based on religious freedom but eventually led up to being a religion intolerant settlement that greatly implemented the congregation of church and state. -
Pequot War
After The Pequot Tribe attacked an opposing tribes trade attempt, the English settlers lead an armed conflict against the Pequot. The war killed off about 700 natives as well as initiate conflicts between several indigenous tribes. -
King Philip's War
After the colonists refused to stop buying land and making new settlements, King Philip of the Pokanoket took action and lead an armed conflict against the expanding Puritan population. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon led close to a thousand Virginians in the first rebellion in The American colonies against governor William Berkeley. This outbreak was the first of many domestic struggles within The United States. -
Salem Witch Trials
In colonial Massachusetts, when a multitude of people displayed signs of witchcraft, a series of court cases and hearings were conducted in a variety of towns across Salem Village. -
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, as it was referred to in the colonies, was the beginning of open hostilities between the colonies and Gr. Britain. hese efforts resulted in the remarkable growth of the colonies from a population of 250,000 in 1700, to 1.25 million in 1750 -
Quartering Acts
An act passed by King George, that said the colonists must house British soldiers. When 1,500 British troops arrived at New York City in 1765, the colonists refused to comply with the Quartering Act and did not supply housing for the troops. -
Stamp Act
When the British government felt the need to fund their troops stationed in the colonies, they imposed a tax on the colonists. The act required that printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper (produced in London). -
Boston Massacre
After a mob of colonist protestors began throwing objects and verbally harassing a group of British soldiers, the soldiers opened fire on the colonists. There were only 5 deaths, but a famous carving by Paul Revere helped make this a large factor of the development American Revolution. -
Tea Act
After North American colonies were able to smuggle cheap tea, Great Britain passed a tax that would reduce the massive surplus of tea held by British East India Company. This was supposed to convince the colonists to purchase Company tea and to agree on accepting Parliament's right of taxation. -
Boston Tea Party
When the Birtish government passed a tax policy that would control all the tea imprted into the colonies, The Sons of Liberty destroyed and dumped out all the tea of a taxed shipload into the Boston harbor. This sparked a rebellion against Great Britain that would lead to the American Revolution. -
Boston Tea Party
Following the rebellion known as the Boston Tea Party, Great Britain responded with a series of laws that oppressed the American Colonies and further agitated the American Revolution. -
Declaration of Independence
The declaration of independence declared the Independence of the 13 American Colonies from Great Britain. The document was originally drafted by Thomas Jefferson, and was then edited by an elected committee. -
Shay's Rebellion
Farmer uprising against high taxes, imprisonment for debt, and lack of paper money. This event showed weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation. -
Constitutional Convention
When word got out about the problems of the government (at that time) delegates came together to discuss reform. This meeting eventually resulted in several acts of reform such as; New Jersey Plan, Virginia Plan, Great Compromise, and 3/5 Compromise. -
Constitutional Convention
When word got out about the problems of the government (at that time) delegates came together to discuss reform. This meeting eventually resulted in several acts of reform such as; New Jersey Plan, Virginia Plan, Great Compromise, and 3/5 Compromise. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
After the French Revolution, four blls were passed by federalists. Opposition to the acts resulted in the Virgina and Kentucky Resolutions. -
Judiciary Act 1789
During the very first session of U.S. congress, the Supreme Court was established to resolve national conflicts. With federal courts in government, people were able to defend themselves in trials instead of automatic punishment. -
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a period of religious revival in the United States between 1790 and the 1840s. It followed the First Great Awakening of colonial America. Characteristics of the Second Great Awakening include widespread conversions, increased church activity, social activism, and the emergence of new Christian denominations. The period is considered to have ended with the American Civil War, though its legacy continues to this day. -
Revolution of 1800
After a transfer of powers from the federalists to the democratic-republicans, it changed the outcome of the election and lead to the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. -
Marbury V. Madison
After a U.S. supreme court case in which the U.S. Judicial Review was formed, it defined the separation of checks and balances in the U.S. government. -
Embargo Act 1807
Both Britain and France imposed trade restrictions in order to weaken each others' economies. After the Chesapeake Affair, Thomas Jefferson was faced with a decision to make regarding the situation at hand. In the end, he chose an economic option: the Embargo Act of 1807. The United States Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807, on December 21, 1807, making the Non-Importation Act obsolete. Jefferson continued to support the Embargo Act. He saw it as an alternati -
Election of 1816
(beginning of Era of Good Feelings) The United States presidential election of 1816 came at the end of the two-term presidency of Democratic-Republican James Madison.The previous four years were dominated by the War of 1812. While it had not ended in victory, the peace was nonetheless satisfactory to the American people, and the Democratic-Republicans received the credit for its prosecution. President Madison had adopted such Federalist policies as a national bank and protective -
War of 1812
In the War of 1812, the United States took on the greatest naval power in the world, Great Britain, in a conflict that would have an immense impact on the young country's future. Causes of the war included British attempts to restrict U.S. trade, the Royal Navy's impressment of American seamen and America's desire to expand its territory. The ratification of the Treaty of Ghent on February 17, 1815, ended the war but left many of the most contentious questions unresolv -
Election of 1824
In the presidential election of 1824, no candidate received a majority vote, so it went to the House of Representatives. The House elected John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson, supposedly because Henry Clay (Speaker of the House at the time) convinced them, under the impression that in exchange he would one day be given the position of Secretary of State. As a result, Jacksonians attacked the administration as being corrupt and not on the people's side. -
Election of 1828
The Election of 1828 was a rematch between John Q Adams and Andrew Jackson. It was considered a very dirty race. Andrew Jackson won, and as a result, Jacksonian democracy rose. -
Indian Removal Act 1830
On this date the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was passed by the Twenty-First Congress of the United states of America. After four months of strong debate, Andrew Jackson signed the bill into law. Land greed was a big reason for the federal government's position on Indian removal. This desire for Indian lands was also abetted by the Indian hating mentality that was peculiar to some American frontiersman. -
Texas Independence
After years of increasing American influence inside Texas, the once dominantly Mexican Territory, American colonists declared Texas' independence from Mexico. A war between the two nations is in the near future. -
Mexican American War
This war stemmed from the United States' annexation of Texas in 1845, and a dispute over where exactly Texas would end. The war was settled by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which allowed the U.S. to purchase Texas, along with several other areas of land, including California. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This treaty served as a peace treaty for the Mexican- American war. the U.S. gained the Rio Grande boundary for Texas, ownership of California, and a large sum of land compromising of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. -
Dawes Act
Approved on February 8, 1887, "An Act to Provide for the Allotment of Lands in Severalty to Indians on the Various Reservations," known as the Dawes Act, emphasized severalty, the treatment of Native Americans as individuals rather than as members of tribes.The new policy focused specifically on breaking up reservations by granting land allotments to individual Native Americans. Very sincere individuals reasoned that if a person adopted white clothing and ways, and was responsible for -
Wounded Knee Massacre
Wounded Knee, located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota, was the site of two conflicts between North American Indians and representatives of the U.S. government. An 1890 massacre left some 150 Native Americans dead, in what was the final clash between federal troops and the Sioux. In 1973, members of the American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee for 71 days to protest conditions on the reservation. -
Foundation of the NAACP
The NAACP was formed partly in response to the continuing horrific practice of lynching and the 1908 race riot in Springfield, the capital of Illinois and resting place of President Abraham Lincoln. The NAACP's principal objective is to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of minority group citizens of United States and eliminate race prejudice. The NAACP seeks to remove all barriers of racial discrimination through the democratic pro -
Harlem Renaissance
During the early 1900s, the burgeoning African-American middle class began pushing a new political agenda that advocated racial equality.Instead of using more direct political means to achieve their goals, African-American civil rights activists employed the artists and writers of their culture to work for the goals of civil rights and equality. Jazz music, African-American fine art, and black literature were all absorbed into mainstream culture.
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First Red Scare
Fueled existing prejudice against immigrants, particularly Jews and people from eastern and southern Europe. Critics of U.S. immigration policy saw these immigrants as a threat to American stability and security, giving rise to the Red Scare, a period of near hysteria when Americans came to believe that Communist immigrants were plotting a revolution in the United States. In 1919 a large number of eastern European workers participated in a violent strike against the steel indust -
Red Summer
The summer and fall of 1919, in which race riots exploded in a number of cities in both the North and South. The three most violent episodes occurred in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Elaine, Arkansas. -
Election of 1932
The race was between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt during the depression of the 30's. Roosevelt blamed Hoover and his weak policy and favoritism of businesses and corporations for the Great Depression and won by a landslide. -
The New Deal
The New Deal was President Roosevelt's response to the stock market crash and depression of the 1930's. It included work programs, housing projects, and regulations on the stock market to restore citizen's faith in the bank system, all of which came out from 1933-1936. It utilized Keysian economics. -
Attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The atomic bombing of these two cities took place during the final stages of WWII. These bombings showed the power of the United States as an ally or enemy for the other nations of the world. -
Truman Doctrine
This doctrine, presented by president Truman was an American foreign policy which provided economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey due to the communist threats imposed on them. This doctrine was the start of the containment policy, which stressed the importance of stopping Soviet expansion. -
Creation of NATO(1949)
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. NATO was the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere. -
Fall of China to Communism
The rise of Communism in China is mainly due to a man named Mao Zedong. -
Korean War (1950-1953)
The Korean War was mainly a result of the division of Korea between the various allies at the end of WWII. The U.S. provided aid to South Korea in repelling the invasion of the North. -
Election of 1952
President Eisenhower was elected. This was a time of great tension between the U.S. and Soviet Russia. -
Whiskey Rebellion
After farmers who dealt with any form of whiskey started getting taxed extra, farmers and veterans formed a tax protest. Rebels were angry and were fighting against taxation without representation, something the U.S. had fought against in the American Revolution, that was not pointed out in the U.S. Constitution.
