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Jan 1, 1500
Native American Storytelling
Native Americans passed down myths and stories by oral tradition. and it was the only record they had of their history and culture. They worshiped nature god(s) but the charaters in their stories were not just limited to gods and humans. They also included various animals and these were passed down from generation to generation. The native Americans of this time also valued land because they believed it was a gift from their creator and beceause it sustained life for their people. -
Jun 1, 1500
The Sky Tree
A myth by the Huron Native Americans. It tells the story of the creation of the Earth that was belived by the Huron people. The story is of the Sky Land Chief and his wife, Aataentsic who cut down the tree that was a source of life to Sky Land. When it fell however, it made a whole in Sky land and fell to earth, with Aataentsic falling after it. A turtle on earth conviced other animals to pile soil on his back inorder to save Aataentic and the tree. This created land on earth. -
Jun 1, 1500
Coyote Finishes His Work
A myth by the Nez Perce Native Americans. Tells the story of the creation of humans on earth believed by the Nez Perce people. It describes a heroic yet mischievous coyote who creates man at the request of a god. He teaches and protects the humans he creates but also gets into trouble along the way. He enjoys tricking people and gets himself and others killed multiple times in the process. -
Puritans arrive at Plymouth
The Puritan pilgrims land in Plymouth, MA and begin to build their new home. They sailed on the ship known as the Mayflower to reach "The New World" inorder to obtain religious freedom. The Puritans had an extremely strict and simple why of life and focused most of their attention on religion. They taught the belief of a Heavenly hope after death and the prospect of eternal torrment in a feiry Hell for those who sinned against God. -
Native Americans meet the Pilgrams
Wampanoag Indians and pilgrams meet for the first time in Plymouth. Later on they help each other through trade and even sign a peace treaty that lasts for over 40years. -
Mary Rowlandson's Captivity
After enduring 11 weeks of Native American Captivity, Mary wrote "A Narative of the captivity…" and it quickly became America's first best seller. Mary Rowlandson and her three children were captured by a group of Native Americans during a conflict with English settlers that had taken over the land. Her youngest daughter, Sarah died and her two other children were taken over a mile away from were she was staying. -
Salem Witch Hunt
From June to September of 1692, about 150 innocent people were accused and put in prison for being witches in the town Salem, MA. Twenty of those people were excuted including Bridget Bishop, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, John Proctor, and many more. -
Jonathan Edwards Sermon
Jonathan Edwards's gave his most famous sermon "Sinners in the hands of an Angry God" in 1741. Edwards was a puritan minister during the "Great Awakening" and was a firm believer in eternal damnation in Hell for those who did not lead a strict religious life and have a relationship with God. He did not, however, follow Puritan tradition and preached that all christians should be united not seperate. -
Lewis and Clark's Expedition
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out on their expedition to explore and study the west at the request of President Thomas Jefferson. Their journey lasted over two years and they arrive back in St. Louis, Missouri on September 23, 1806. -
Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven"
Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem "The Raven" is one of the most famous poems written in the 19th century. Poe wrote it 2 years before the death of his wife, Virginia Clemm, who was sick and bedridden at the time. Poe's writting style is an example of Dark Romanticism which explores the maddness and guilt that comes with fear and sin. The Raven uses Psychological terror combined wiith various literary elements to instill those dark emotions in the reader. -
Thoreau's experience at Walden Pond
From July of 1845 to September of 1847, Henry David Thoreau moved to Walden Pond near Concord, MA in order to get closer to nature and find the "facts of life". Throughout those two years Thoreau wrote done his experinces at Walden pond and then published them on August 9, 1854. Walden is an example of literature during the Transcendentalist Movement which sprung from Romanticism. It encourages finding "the reality of God" in nature rather than everyday human experience. -
Walt Whitmen's "Leaves of Grass"
Leaves of Grass is a poetry collection by the poet Walt Whitman. Though it was published in 1855, Whitman spent his entire life revising it in multiple editions untill is death. Most of Whitman's writtings expressed the patriotism and unity of America before and during the American Civil War. Whitman encouraged the use of free verse poetry and based his technique on the literary element of cadence. His poetry was part of the age of Realism and showed the war and every day life as it really was. -
Start of the American Civil War
The American civil war began when confederate soldiers fired the first shots on Fort Sumter, a Union controlled base in South Carolina. Between 640,000 and 700,000 men were killed during this 5 year war between the northern and southern states of America. It was caused because of the conflicting ideas of the North and South concernig Slavery, trade, and state rights. It ended on April 9, 1865. -
Mark Twain and "Life on the Mississippi"
Mark Twain (aka: Sammuel L. Clemens) made trip up the Mississippi from New Orleans to Minnesota in 1882 which then inspired him to write "Life on the Mississippi" in 1883. Twain's writting was written during the age of Realism and is a type of realism called Regionalism. With its emphasis of the life and culture associated with Mississipi River and its unusal use of humor in the 1800s, Twain's writting's are some of the best examples of Regionalism in the world. -
First Airplane Flight
Orville and Willbur Wright construct the first successful airplane and made a 12-second susatained flight, changing America's transportation industry forever. This new invention is an example of all the new ideas and advancements people were making during Industrialism. New Inventions, discoveries in science, and change in overall way of life was happening during the late 1800s to early 1900s, fueling America's increase in innovation. -
World War I begins
The first world war was stared after the assassination of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo. This sparked one of the bloodiest and wars in human history. Because of both of the World Wars, America is part of many alliances with nations all around the world and it has cause it to rise up to the unmatchable world power it is today. -
The Roaring Twenties
The 1920s was a time of cultural, political, and ecomomic boom for the United States and other allied countries after WWI. It gave way to changes in the U.S such as the Harlem Renaissance, the prohibition of alcohol (18th amendment) and women's rights (19th amendment). Things like jazz music and the flapper also became popular and contributed to the dazzling, carefree state of the U.S and parts of Europe during the "Golden Twenties". -
The Great Gatsby
In the spring of 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald publised his 3rd novel The Great Gatsby. It is one of Fitzgerald's most famous novel's and it described life during the current era of that time, known as "The Roaring Twenties" or "The Jazz Age". It brought to life the time of the flapper, jazz, tycoons and many other symbols associtated with this period in U.S. history. -
The Great Depression
On October 29, 1929 the U.S stock market crashed leading to a time known as the Great Depression. With millions jobless and starving, this was one of the lowest times in American history, putting an end to the lavish, carefree Jazz Age. In 1933, however, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created a series of programs to counteract the effects of the depression and were known as the New Deal. -
Of Mice and Men
The Of Mice and Men was written by author John Steinbeck in 1937. It emphasizes the idea of the American Dream and life of the working man during the 1930s. Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath also explores this dream and the alterations made to it because of the 1930s Great Depression.
