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Headright System
The Headright system was granting land to new settlers in the Colonies. They would usually get 50 acres, or if they had enough money they would sign their wife or one of their children up and buy the rights to 50 more acres of land. This was the colonies attempting to present the new world as opportunity and a positive risk to take. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Bacon's rebellion was one of the first events that we saw in violence. The leader Nathaniel Bacon lead about 500 men as a rebellion against Governor William Berkeley of Virginia. They charged into Jamestown and destroyed and burnt it to the ground. This was the first major act of revolt against Britain power and a revolt to tyranny. -
Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts of 1696 were put in place by Great Britain to prevent the colonies from trading and having relations with other countries. Great Britain did this to try to prevent the opportunities and growth of the colonies. This presented problems for the colonies to develop and produce money and crops. -
The Stamp Act
The stamp Act put a tax on stamps. The stamps are like a notary and not like a postage stamp. The British wanted complete control and didn't want the colonists to apply a stamp and need a stamp of notary for anything. -
The treaty of Paris
This ended the 7 Years War which was an argument and disagreement between France and Britain. They were fighting over the rights to the land of America and where the colonies are. They both thought they were reserved to the right of the colonies and the new land in the west. -
Proclamation of 1763
When the British won the seven year war, they were granted and got more land west of the Appalachians. The British did not want the colonists to get curious and move further west. So the Proclamation of 1763 was the British trying to keep the colonist and people east of the Appalachian mountains. Although a good idea by the British, the colonist did not like this and pushed past the boundary anyways. -
The Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was one of the key parts and starting point of the beginning of true uprising from the colonist. This was put in place by the British to be able to watch and keep an eye on the colonists. They were worried that the colonists would start propaganda about the British and make moves on them. The British put troops in homes and monitored the colonists in their daily lives. The colonists were forced to house the troops. -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was a response by the British targeted to the colonist. They placed a tax on sugar at a really high rate. This just led to colonist smuggling sugar and different things into the country. This was an effort to try to stop the colonist from smuggling but the colonist still found a way to smuggle and it led to more smuggling than before. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre happened in downtown Boston in 1770. It was a protest by some of the colonists that were mad about the Acts were put in place by the British. Someone threw a rock, and the fighting ensued from there. There were 5 soldiers and 5 colonist that were killed in the event. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
Although a loss by the American Army, they proved that they could hold their own against the British army. This also was important because it marked a point in which there was no turning back. The American Army and the British army were not going to stop until there was a winner. -
The Boston Tea Party
The colonists were getting more and more aggravated and mad with the British. The Boston tea party was the response to the high tax on tea. The sons and daughters of Liberty dressed up as Indians and overtook a ship in the Boston port and threw all the tea boxes overboard. -
"The Shot That was Heard Around the World"
The colonists were preparing for war. They knew at this point it was probably unpreventable to go to war with the British; they just knew they were severely outnumbered and their skill was not anywhere near the skill of the British. The first shot came in Lexington. After a long manhunt for Samuel Adams and John Hancock the British were ordered to stand down. No one knows who it was but the first shot was fired and chaos ensued. -
The second continental congress
The second continental congress took place in Philadelphia in May of 1775. They talked about the Attack in Lexington and how they would approach the war. This was how the leaders in the army and country made some of the bigger decisions that everyone needed to be a part of. -
the Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was an Important battle in the revolutionary war. This battle was sort of the turning point for the Americans. They gained a lot of confidence from this and they began to fight a whole different war. They got over the mental struggle and climbed over the hump and led to them winning the war. -
The Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was also a very important battle in the war. This was a statement win by the continental army. George Washington's army defeated Cornwallis' army in Yorktown Virginia. The French navy was a big help in this win providing naval help in the ports. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation were 6 rules/laws that everyone had to follow. It was sort of like the first rough draft of the constitution. It turns out that the Articles were not successful but it was the first attempt on a national government and laws and rules for the people of the country. -
the second treaty of Paris
This treaty of Paris was one of the most important things that happened t America. Just strictly because it made us "America", when we signed this it automatically made us a independent country. We won the war and signed the treaty of Paris to break away from Great Britain and become our own free nation. -
The 3/5 ths compromise
This was the compromise to decide if slaves should be counted towards population of a state. When states were close to declaring for statehood they didn't know wheather slaves counted of not. So the government came up with this, and it says that 3 out of 5 slaves are counted as people on the population and you can count them. -
Shays rebellion
Shays rebellion was the exclamation point of the war for the colonial army. Throughout the war it had been close and an even battle with the exception of Yorktown maybe. This is also a no doubter, Daniel Shay led people and small militias along the British path. They ambushed them and fought from the woods and hidden places and completely destroyed the British army. -
Writing of the Constitution
The Articles of confederation failed and then we had to go back to the drawing board. The Federalists and Anti- Federalist were trying to come up with something that would fit and suit both parties best. They finally drafted the Constitution that we have today. It presented a really good path to having a strong and successful government. -
Federal Judiciary Act
This Act put in place a government court system. This included a federal court along with courts throughout communities as well. It also created state courts too and those would be in the capital of the state. It also said that the supreme court must have one justice and 5 associates. -
The Bill of Rights
The Bill of rights in the first 10 Amendments of the Constitution. They were laws or rights that were given to people that the government felt like everyone should have. The Bill of Rights were the first additions to the constitution. -
Hamilton's financial plan
Alexander Hamilton was one of the smartest minds in American history. Hamilton and Jefferson often disagreed and could not find a common ground. Washington tended to side with Hamilton, like here Hamilton wanted to make a plan to pay off all war debt from the revolutionary war. But most importantly he thought it would be very beneficial to raise the federal governments revenues throughout tariffs and taxes. Hamilton presented this plan to Washington and Washington agreed and put this in place. -
The Whiskey rebellion
As a part of Hamilton's financial plan there ended up being a tax on whiskey. Therefore, this decreased the amount of wheat that was being bought. This was hurting farmers because they could not sell the crop to anyone if no one was buying whiskey. Pennsylvania farmers refused to pay the tax until the American Army enforced it. -
The Alien and Sedation Acts
Adams had struggled as president only doing a few good things like creating the navy being the biggest success. The Alien and Sedation Acts is probably the worst thing he did. The Acts he put in place made it almost impossible to speak against him or defame his name. It also stated that the president could deport anyone who is considered an alien or dangerous. These Acts limited the freedom of america, he knew that he had not made good decisions as president and was scared to lose his power. -
Interchangeable Parts
Even before the Cotton Gin Eli Whitney had arguably the most important invention ever. Interchangeable Parts were mechanical parts that could be used in many different things. It was a universal structure so it no longer had to be made by hand each and every time. This made mass production and mass efficiency possible for everything. -
The Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was a transaction with France in which we bought the territory of Louisiana from them. We bought the land for $15 million and that is around 4 cents per acre . This was definitely one of the most important events in America's history because it truly gave us the opportunity and want to expand and to continue to grown our country and one step closer to becoming a country that is coast to coast. -
Marbury v. Madison
This was a dispute between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. When Adams was leaving office he proceeded to fire all of the anti-federalist so there would be more Federalist reigning superior. James Madison found a letter to Marbury about his release. Jefferson orders that Madison not deliver it. The Court decided that Jefferson had the right to not deliver it, because Adams did not make the effort himself to deliver it. This is what prompted judicial review. -
Judicial review
The case of Marbury v. Madison was very important and showed the glaring flaws in the United States laws. So therefore from them on there would be a thing called Judicial Review. This makes the court look at the laws and decide if they are constitutional or not. If they were not they immediately tuned the laws null and void. -
The Embargo Act
France and Great Britain were at war again. This caused real conflict in United States government because France wanted their support but America did not want to get in-between the two of them. They felt if they had chose a side then the other side would not trade with them. It turns out that the Embargo Act says that there will be no external trading from America to other places or to America from other places. -
The Missouri compromise
The Missouri Compromise was the compromise that Henry clay came up with. There was a lot of frustration and uprising about who would get to acquire Missouri. Henry clay said it would be unfair to give the state to either side so they decided a line right across America to decide who would be free and who would be a slave state. So they added Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. -
The steam engine
The steam engine was another thing that took the country by storm when it first showed up. The idea came in Europe. Although the engine itself was invented America put it to great use, we had recently built canals all thought the country but the problem was we could not go upstream in our bats and rafts. The steam engine uses pressure to run a motor and it allowed up to propel ourselves up and down a river Which allowed for much quicker transportation and trading through America. -
The Tariff of 1828
The Tariff of 1828 raised taxes on imported goods and goods from foreign countries. This was an effort to try and reduce competition on American goods. We thought this would lead to Americans keeping their money in the United States and not foreign countries. The northern industry and factories in the North benefited form it greatly but the farmers and plantation owners of the south did not like it and it took away their major buyers. -
The Cotton Gin
By this time after the War of 1812 the country was trying to recover economically and socially. The invention of the cotton Gin was a monumental technological advancement for that time. Invented by Eli Whitney in 1794 the Cotton Gin took off in 1930 when planting and harvesting cotton was so prominent. This invention sped the process of cleaning the Cotton up and it was able to make it easier for mass production. -
The Indian removal Act
The Indian removal act was one of the things Jackson was responsible for throughout his presidency. People often think that his presidency was a failure or bad just because of this. The Indian removal act was an act that allowed the United States to relocate the Indians or their tribes to the west of the Mississippi if they wanted the land they were on. -
Nullification crisis
In 1831, the south was furious about the tariff of abominations and they chose to nullify the law in the state government. They believe that the law is unconstitutional and they declare it null and void. Jackson went back and they reduced the tariff but the south still was not satisfied with it and they threatened to secede from the union. So there government claimed that seceding from the union would be considered treason so the south finally settled and they agreed on something. -
Republic of Texas
After the Mexican-American War, America acquired the Texas region and after the war that was the barrier between Mexico and America. After America had won the war they encouraged people to move to Texas but they wanted to become their own republic so they did. America did not recognize them as one until 1837. -
Texas Annexation
Under president James Polk America was able to Regan teas and convince the Republic it would not work unless they had the ally of america. So Texas joined America to be able to benefit from the things f America. They realized it was the smart thing to do and were put in the United States in 1845 -
California Gold Rush
The Gold Rush is a product of many people starting to explore the far western front. There were many people willing to take the risk so they moved west and eventually found one of the most expensive and prized metals ever. They found Gold, and that made the exploration and movement west much more popular and sought after. People wanted to strike it rich so they went out west in mass amounts and some found gold and some did not. -
The compromise of 1850
Henry clay once again was called upon to fix the country. He had mended the country multiple times now, with the Missouri Compromise most famous out of them. He was called upon one more time, he worked on the compromise of 1850 to settle major tensions between the North and the south. He came up with a compromise. This set new lines on free and slave states. -
Dred Scott case
This was a United States supreme court case that was decided on in 1857. This said that free slaves in the North were still not citizens and could not have the privileges and same rights as free white men living there. This was a knife in the chest to a lot of freed slaves, they were very mad about the decision that was made. -
Lincoln's election
President Lincoln was elected in 1860. This is very important because he was the first, true to this day, republican candidate that became president. He won the election very easily because the people of the North knew that he would be very helpful in preserving the union and helping out the slaves. Lincoln was a very ethical man who seldom made a poor moral choice. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead act was put in place to try to encourage people to move further west and try to start new life's out there. There was a very high population density in the eastern cities because of immigration that the government said that they would give you 160 acres of land for you to be able to start a new life and build a new home and lifestyle. They were just trying to get people out of the highly populated eastern cities. -
Battle of Vicksburg
The Battle of Vicksburg is a battle some believe was the most important battle in the entire war. This is so important to the union because this split the entire south in two. They isolated three states and the south was never able to get to those states. So they were essentially useless to them for the rest of the war. -
The Gettysburg address
After the Battle of Gettysburg the union soldiers were having a very hard time and some were getting defeated and sad or discouraged. But when Lincoln gave the address that was a huge moral booster for the union soldiers. They went out and fought the rest of the war and obviously won the war. So thanks to Lincoln and the confidence that he gave the union soldiers in this address we have a free country where every man is free. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation might be the single most important thing throughout this timeline. This is what makes America what it is today. It makes us the, accepting, free, diverse, and beautiful country we are today. This freed all of the slaves and made them free and citizens of the United States. Without this and without the huge step Lincoln took we might not be in the same fortunate situation that us and our country is in today. -
civil rights act of 1866
The civil rights act technically prevented whites or anyone discriminating against black people. This is the first example of the civil rights that we have in the present day. This worked very very well for a short period of time, there were presidents that definitely did not enforce it and did not agree with it so they didn't do anything about it. -
The back codes
The black codes were codes that were created in the south to prevent black people from having the same rights as the common man. They put many restrictions on things like buying property and running businesses and other things like that. This was a way for the south to still treat black like slaves and not let them have the upper hand or have any rights that a normal citizen would have. -
The Ghost dance movement
The Ghost dance movement was a movement within the Indian tribes and reservations. They believed that with these dances they would raise the spirit of the buffalo's back. They thought that their gods were mad at them and were punishing them for becoming modernized and falling into some of the ways of America and the travelers west. -
The Dawes Act
The Dawes Act was put in place to try to split up more and more Indian reservation land. The government offered the Indians 160 acres to move to their own land and do the same thing that people of the homestead act did. This eventually depleted the number of Indians in the tribes which made them very powerless.