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The English Settle in Jamestown
After becoming increasingly more opposed to the practices of the Church of England, the Separatists (opponents of the aforementioned Church) acting under the London Company were granted a charter by King James I to establish a colony in America. The group settled at Jamestown, in what would eventually split from England and transform into one of the most powerful nations in the world. -
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The Settling of Colonial America
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Virginia establishes House of Burgesses
The first colonial representative government is founded in Virginia as the "House of Burgesses" by the Virginia Company in an effort to coax English craftsmen to come to the colonies. -
Plymouth Colony Founded
Over one hundred Englishmen and women leave Plymouth, England for present-day Cape Cod and proceed to found the Plymouth Colony. Their early success in the area was extremely dependent on the contributions of Native Americans in the region. -
Massachusetts Bay Colony is Founded
Established in 1629 by the Puritans, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was, in essence, a theocracy based upon Calvinist beliefs. The Massachusetts Bay Colony served as a safe haven for practicing Puritans as well as economic refugees from England. -
Expulsion of Roger Williams from Massachusetts Bay Colony
Roger Williams is banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for attacking various aspects of the Puritan community, namely for their failure to adhere to the principles of separation of church and state. He then went on to found Rhode Island, all while serving as possibly the nation's first abolitionist through his condemnation of slavery in the colonies. -
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The Growth of the British Empire in America
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British Parliament Approves Navigation Acts
The Navigation Ordinance of 1951 is passed by Parliament in England to ensure that English goods were being transported in English vessels. In 1660, another Navigation Act was passed to place restrictions on the crew and cargo carried by ships. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon and his followers burned Jamestown in protest of Governor Berkeley's policies regarding the Navigation Acts and Native American relations. Several direct results included a limitation of the power of governor and an increased presence of the slave trade. -
Creation of Dominion of New England
After the Massachusetts Bay Colony was found to have violated the terms of the Navigation Acts, England decided to place all of its northeastern colonies under British control in the Dominion of New England. Sir Edmund Andros was the acting governor, and possessed a great deal of power and controlled all areas from New Jersey to Maine. -
Glorious Revolution in England
After becoming fed up with Governor Andros' harsh policies, colonists in the New England region staged a coup in which the king of England, James II, was removed from the throne and replaced with William of Orange and his wife, Mary II of England. Governor Andros was thus removed from office and jailed in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, as colonists would eventually discover, William and Mary did not entirely deliver on their promise of a parliamentary government. -
Salem Witch Trials
Tension between the Puritans and neighboring trade communities grew rapidly in the late 17th century. Direct products of such tension were the Salem Witch Trials, in which hundreds of women were jailed and many hanged for (later proven false) suspicion of witchcraft. The persecution only ended after intervention from the royal governor. -
Molasses Act
In hopes of keeping their molasses prices cheaper than those of goods originating from the French West Indies, the English Parliament instituted the Molasses Act, which effectively boosted the prices of molasses imported from any non-British colonies. The Act paved the way for many future tariff acts, which would prove to define the pre-Revolutionary War environment in the colonies. -
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Tension in the British Colonies
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French and Indian War
The British Colonies, supported by their mother country of England, went to war on the homefront against New France (a division of France). Also known as the Seven Years War, the struggle was primarily born out of colonists' frustration with France's construction of various bases on British-American soil. The Treaty of Versailles ended the war with Britain as the victor. -
Parliament Approves Sugar Act
The "sugar" act was passed as a rehabilitating supplement to the Molasses Act, which failed miserably for the English government due to the insufficient collection of funds. To increase their intake on foreign trade, the Sugar Act was passed, which cut the molasses tariff in half, which in turn led less colonists to shy away from paying their dues. -
Stamp Act Passed
This act, put into effect by the English Parliament upon the colonies, provided that all paper goods could only be obtained after purchasing a stamp to be put on the purchases. This marked the first time in which Parliament directly taxed the colonies. -
Townshend Acts
Encompassing the Revenue Act, Indemnity Act, Commissioners of Customs Act, Vice Admiralty Court Act, and the New York Restraining Act, the Townshend Acts were the parts of a series of legislation passed by Parliament for the purpose of collecting revenue. Unlike most other laws enforced upon the colonies, the Townshend Acts were primarily passed for economic purposes. -
Boston Massacre & Boston Tea Party
In 1770, after a crowd of colonists decided to voice their opposition to British legislation by throwing rock-filled snowballs at British soldiers, seven redcoats "mistakenly" fired into the crowd, killing five people. Three years later, in protest of the Tea Act, 65 Bostonians dressed as Indians dumped over 350 chests of tea into the Boston harbor. -
Battles of Lexington & Concord
After "the shot heard 'round the world" rang out on April 19th in Lexington, the Revolutionary War officially broke out between the British and the colonists. In Concord, the British managed to destroy several military and food supply stores before being attacked by colonial militiamen. In these two battles, the British lost nearly two and one-half times as many soldiers as the colonists. -
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The American Revolution
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Declaration of Independence Approved
Thomas Jefferson leads the synthesization of a document that attacks the English Parliament for their oppressive actions and declares that the colonists should be entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." -
Ratification of the Articles of Confederation
Serving as the colonies' first formal constitution, the Articles of Confederation provided a loose basis for the foundation of the union and served to legitimize the colonists' justification for the Revolutionary War. -
Signing of the Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris effectively ended the Revolutionary War between the British and the colonists, with the latter party as the victor. The United States was recognized as an independent sovereign nation and were officially free from British rule. -
Shays' Rebellion
After the Massachusetts Assembly imposed economic restrictions on already-suffering farmers in western Massachusetts, the farming population took up arms and aggressively protested the government and its policies. The rebellion was quelled in June of 1787 when the government agreed to lower the taxes imposed on farmers. -
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Political System in America
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Constitutional Convention Ratifies Constitution
After the Federalists, who lobbyed for a strong central government, clashed with the anti-Federalists, who sought the addition of a Bill of Rights, to create the ideal foundation for the new nation, the U.S. Consititution was ratified by all states in mid-1778. The Constitution, which remains in place today, was designed to be a definitive yet flexible document and has proven to be as such. -
Washington Assumes Power
Washington is sworn in as the nation's first ever president, the first to win 100% of all electoral votes. Washington was accompanied in office by Vice President John Adams. Washington was careful not to set negative precedents or take action that reflected the political beliefs of European royal courts. -
Jay Treaty
Chief Negotiator John Jay, with help from Alexander Hamilton and George Washington, hammered out this agreement with the Kingdom of Great Britiain to accomplish the following: repair issues remaining after the Treaty of Paris and to set up ten years of peaceful trade between the two nations. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts was a series of four bills that served to abridge various aspects of American society, including the residency requirement for naturalization as well as the restriction of free speech. Although Adams, claimed to have endorsed these bills for national security reasons, many people believe that Adams simply wanted a smaller quantity of voters who opposed the views of his party. -
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The Jeffersonian Era
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Election of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, with Aaron Burr as his running mate, campaigned for the election of 1800 as the Republican candidate. His opponent, John Adams, faced a growing unpopularity in the United States after the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. The election was extremely close, with Jefferson barely winning by a slim margin after the election was thrown to the House of Representatives. -
Louisiana Purchase
Following the theme of westward expansion in the early 19th century, Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon out of fear that the French strategic mastermind might begin another military campaign in the region. The Louisiana Territory ended up doubling the size of the United States, and the purchase also paved the way for the Lewis and Clark expeditions. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812, which was fought between the U.S. and Britain, was triggered by several factors, including British support of Native American resistance to westward expansion, trade restrictions imposed by the British, and the impressment of American merchant sailors into the British Royal Navy. Despite the lack of territorial changes resulting from the war, the struggle's end did manage to mend some disagreements which arose at the close of the Revolutionary War. -
Henry Clay's American System
With the help of Alexander Hamilton, Henry Clay proposed his "American System" in 1815. His plan called for the institution of a protective tariff, a national bank, and an increased focus on internal improvements. Many of Clay's propositions came to fruition in later years. -
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The Age of Jackson
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Monroe Doctrine
James Monroe, the 5th president of the U.S., issued the Monroe Doctrine as a warning to European nations, citing European attempts to colonize Latin American nations would be viewed as acts of aggression by the United States. In turn, Monroe offered to the European nations towards which the Doctrine was intended that the U.S. would make its best effort to refrain from intervention across the Atlantic. -
Election of Andrew Jackson
The "common man" rose to the fore as Andrew Jackson was elected to the presidency in 1828 on the Democratic ticket. Many historians argue that Jackson's election and the subsequent introduction of Jacksonian Democracy was the gateway to modern politics. -
Nullification Crisis
The Ordinance of Nullification, created by South Carolina's state government, declared the Tariff of Abominations unconstitutional. The tariff, which had been passed in 1828, faced heavy opposition from southern states, whose citizens were forced to pay extremely high prices for the goods they did not produce. After Jackson's Tariff of 1832 did little to soften the blow, the Ordinance was necessary to remove both harmful tariffs. -
Lowell Mills Strikes
After the owners of a textile mill in Lowell, MA tried lowering the wages of the "mill girls", only to be met with severe backlash. The strike was supported by about 1,500 people, causing a drastic decline in the mills' production rates. Although the strikers were able to successfully counter the owners' maneuvers, their holdouts ultimately contributed to the Panic of 1837. -
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Union Expansion
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Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signaled the end to the Mexican-American War. The Mexicans were forced to surrender to the Americans after having their capital and much of the surrounding area destroyed; the treaty called for Mexico to surrender much of its territory in the present-day US (which would later cause controversy leading up to the Compromise of 1850). -
California Gold Rush
The epitome of westward expansion was arguably achieved during the California Gold Rush of 1849; after rumors of gold out west spread, countless Americans seeking to "strike it rich" filtered westward, many of which intended to make permanent residences upon their arrival. Very few people actually hit the jackpot, but the lasting effect of the Rush was more important: a stronger western presence. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 came as a result of tensions arising between the North and South regarding territories acquired during the Mexican-American War. The Compromise had several provisions including: Texas releases New Mexico, California is admitted as a free state, a stronger Fugitive Slave Trade, and the banishment of the slave trade in Washington, DC. -
Dred Scott Decision
The Supreme Court rules in the Dred Scott decision that African-American people are not citizens of the U.S. and therefore have no right to file a lawsuit in a court of law. Also, the Court ruled that the government was virtually powerless in regulating slavery in states acquired after the establishment of the US. -
Election of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, won the election of 1860 with his running mate, Hannibal Hamlin. Lincoln is arguably one of the greatest contributors to the African-American cause out of of all the presidents. -
South Carolina Secedes from the Union
South Carolina officially secedes from the Union, creating the Confederacy. Most southern states soon follow in protest of Abraham Lincoln's political beliefs as well as the North's opposition to slavery. The Civil War starts less than five months later after the Confederacy is formed.
