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1492
Christopher Columbus
On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain in three ships. His journey kicked off centuries of exploration and exploitation on the American continents. The Columbian Exchange transferred people, animals, food and disease across cultures. -
James Town Settlement
the first arrival of English colonists was in Jamestown 1607. Disease, famine, and attacks from the neighboring Indians took a toll on the early population of James town, but later they also had better relationships in trade and other transactions. -
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony, America's first permanent Puritan settlement, was established in December 1620. The Pilgrims left England to seek religious freedom, or simply to find a better life. With help from the Indian's colonists learned to plant corn, catch fish, and gather fruit. The Pilgrims invited the Indians to celebrate their first harvest in 1621, an event now celebrated as Thanksgiving Day. -
French and Indian War/ Seven Years' War
At the 1763 peace conference, the British received the territories of Canada from France and Florida from Spain, opening the Mississippi Valley to westward expansion. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris of 1763 ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years’ War between Great Britain and France, as well as their respective allies. In the terms of the treaty, France gave up all its territories in mainland North America, effectively ending any foreign military threat to the British colonies. -
Sugar Act
Sugar Act aimed at ending the smuggling trade in sugar and molasses from the French and Dutch providing increased revenues to fund the British Empire. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first tax levied on American colonists by the British Parliament. The act, which imposed a tax on all paper documents in the colonies, came at a time when the British Empire was deep in debt from the Seven Years' War -
The Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were four laws made by the British Parliament in 1767 that imposed and enforced the collection of taxes on the American colonies -
Boston Massacre
the colonists pelted stationed soldiers with snowballs, ice and stones. The Soldiers were stationed and ordered not to fire, but after a large crowd had gathered and yelling and threating had become louder Soldiers opened fire, killing five colonists and wounding six. -
Boston Tea Party
American colonists angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped chests of tea, imported into the harbor dressed as American Indians, the group of colonists were called the Sons of Liberty. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest in reaction to changes in taxation by the British Government. -
First Continental Congress
Delegates discussed boycotting British goods to establish the rights of Americans and planned for a Second Continental Congress. Did not want to separate from the British Empire yet and only pursued their rights and representation -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Americans were defeated at the Battle of Bunker Hill, but they proved they could hold their own against the British Army.The fierce fight confirmed that any reconciliation was no longer possible. -
The Shot Heard Around The World
On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops set off from Boston toward Concord, Massachusetts, in order to seize weapons and ammunition stockpiled there by American colonists. Someone suddenly fired a shot, and it’s uncertain which side started the revolutionary war. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson and for the Second Continental Congress, gives the reasons the British colonies of North America wanted independence. The history of taxes, laws, and suppression were the main causes of the current situation. -
Battle of Saratoga
The American victory in the Battles of Saratoga helped prove to the French that American independence was possible and to openly provide military assistance. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution of the United States. Stemming from wartime, it was plagued by fear of central authority and was slowed by extensive claims by states to have more power. -
Second Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives ending the War of the American Revolution the agreement recognized U.S. independence and granted the U.S. western territory. -
Shays' Rebellion
Shays's Rebellion was an uprising in western Massachusetts in opposition to high taxes and stringent economic conditions. The organized rebellion showed just how weak the federal government was and convinced the founding fathers to create a new stronger federal government. -
Drafting the U.S. Constituition
The Constitution as drafted by the Convention was to create a government with enough power to act on a national level, but not enough power that fundamental rights would be at risk. -
George Washington's Election
the first presidential election, George Washington was unanimously elected president of the United States. He set many precedents for future presidents to follow and lead the country into a successful transfer of power which was nearly impossible at the time. -
Ratifying The U.S Constitution
On June 21, 1788, the Constitution became the official framework of the government of the United States of America. The U.S. Constitution gave power and laws while also leaving space for change over time and making laws to solve specific problems that might occur. -
First National Bank of America
Proposed by Alexander Hamilton, the Bank of the United States was established in 1791 to serve as a repository for federal funds and as the government's fiscal agent. -
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. It guarantees civil rights like freedom of speech, press, and religion, and reserves all powers not delegated to the Federal Government to the people of the States. -
Cotton Gin
the cotton gin reduced the labor of removing seeds and created the cash crop that boomed slavery in that time and pushed the united states towards a civil war and was the start of the problem addressed during the civil war. -
Compromise of 1850
Stopped a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–American War and was the start of many compromises to stop or slow the civil war from occuring. -
John Adams
Assisted in creating the Declaration of Independence. As a diplomat in Europe, he helped negotiate a peace treaty with Great Britain and secured vital governmental loans. -
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was a draftsman of the Declaration of Independence first secretary of state second vice president and the third president responsible for the Louisiana Purchase. -
Marbury v. Madison
established the principle of judicial review which was the power to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional. Was written by Chief Justice John Marshall. -
Louisiana Purchase
Doubled the size of the United States provided a powerful reaction for westward expansion, gaining control of the crucial Mississippi River port of New Orleans. -
War of 1812
America had managed to fight the world's greatest military power, it gained international respect and the people of America had gained pride and respect for their country creating a sense of nationalism. -
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent was signed by British and American representatives at Ghent Belgium ending the War of 1812. All conquered territory was to be returned, planned to settle the boundary between Canada and the U.S. in North America. -
The Second National Bank
The second bank of the United States. Congress passed a law chartering the Second Bank of the United States, which was created to help the national treasury and to regulate the currency of the United States. -
Missouri Compromise
Missouri entered the Union as a slave state, Maine entered as a free state, and the 36'30” line was established as the dividing line regarding slavery for the remainder of the U.S. -
Monroe Doctrine
The United States would not get involved in European affairs. Would not interfere with existing European colonies in the Western Hemisphere, but wanted no other nation could form a new colony in the Western Hemisphere. -
Indian Removal Act
Approved and enforced by President Andrew Jackson. This act enabled the forced removal of Native American Tribes from their already claimed lands to land west of the Mississippi River. Putting the Indians into an unknown land with little for survival. -
Texas Declares Independence
Texas declared Independence after the Mexican government pressured immigration from America and did not want the population of texas to be dominantly American. After making harsher enforcement and making laws directed at Texas they then declared Independence. -
Trail of Tears
United States government forced Native Americans to move from their homelands in Southern United States to Territory farther west, were marched at gunpoint across hundreds of miles to reservations without preparation of food or tools many died during the forced migration. -
Annexation of Texas
Annexation of the Republic of Texas into the United States of America. Texas was admitted to the Union as the 28th state causing some controversy between free states and slave states. -
American-Mexican War
from a dispute over where Texas ended and was won by the United States after going so far into Mexico that the army reached the capital and Mexico was forced to give up more land and agree on the Americans preferred border of Texas. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
the Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not citizens and could not sue in court. also ruled that Congress did not have the power to ban slavery in the U.S. -
Abraham Lincoln
His election served as the fuse for the Civil War. After being sworn in as president, Lincoln refused to accept any result of the civil war other than the restoration of the union if even if forced. -
Confederate States of America
Southerners were on the belief of ideas such as the states have power over slavery for the support the South's agricultural economy, and, cotton-producing agricultural they embraced secession as the solution after Lincoln's election. -
Ft. Sumter
The bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina by the Confederate Army and the return gunfire that resulted in the surrender of the United States Army, started the American Civil War -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln released the Emancipation Proclamation making the war about Slavery and stopping the support of other countries since most national powers declared slavery illegal and also freed slaves from any rebelling states not yet captured. Border states and captured areas were allowed to keep their slaves. -
Johnson's Presidency
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Lincoln's Assassination
Abraham Lincoln's assassination was an untimely event that slowed down the process of reconstruction after the Civil War Done by John Booth and caused the Vice president at the time to become president which also greatly slowed the reconstruction and stopped support for newly freed slaves. -
Thirteenth Amendment
13th Amendment forever abolished slavery in all U.S. states and territories. In addition, outlawed the practice of involuntary servitude and helped lead America into the country it is today. -
Fourteenth Amendment
Granted citizenship and equal rights to African Americans and enslaved people who had been emancipated after the Civil War. -
Grant's Presidency
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First transcontinental railroad
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Transcontinental Railroad
Opened the markets of America and access to the entire world with both of the most important oceans now available. The railroad ensured a production boom for America and helped establish our economic leadership in the world. -
Fifteenth Amendment
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. -
Modoc War
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Rutherford B Hayes Presidency
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Haymarket affair
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National American Woman Suffrage Association
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Spanish–American War
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The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
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The Great War
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First Red Scare
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Harlem Renaissance
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The Eighteenth Amendment
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Nineteenth Amendment
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Sacco and Vanzetti
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The Great Depression
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Dust Bowl
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The New Deal
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Social Security Act
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Great Britain declare war on Germany
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Executive Order 8802
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Pearl Harbor
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Congress of Racial Equality
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Detroit race riot
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The D-Day operation
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G.I. Bill
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Cold War
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Marshall Plan
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NATO
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Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
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Korean War
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Brown v. Board of Education
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Vietnam War
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Rosa Parks
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National Interstate and Defense Highways Act
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Little Rock Arkansas
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U-2 incident
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Berlin Wall
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Cuban Missile Crisis
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Children's Crusade
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Equal Pay Act
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16th Street Baptist Church bombing
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The Civil Rights Act
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Voting Rights Act
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Apollo 11
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26th amendment
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Watergate scandal
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Three Mile Island accident
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Iran hostage crisis
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Plessy v. Ferguson