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Founding of Jamestown
American was an open canvas for opportunity, as it offered a vast amount of land for people that had no opportunity in England. The Chesapeake region settlements were pulled because of financial opportunity, and the crown saw this as an opportunity for charter companies to encourage new settlements. Eventually people stumbled upon tobacco, that fetched a high price in England and spurred the migration of thousands of new settlers. This was also the first permanent settlement in North America. -
Virginia House of Burgesses
The first modern form of government in Virginia made up of an assembly of representatives elected by the colony's inhabitants. Parliament encouraged immigration to America through the Headright system, in which settlers were granted land for paying their own passage and paying for others. On the other hand the first slaves arrived to North America to work on tobacco plantations. As well as indentured servitude of white people became a staple for European immigrants. -
Navigation Acts
From Mercantilism to Imperial dominion. From the establishment of the headright system, large planters were able to produce a lot of, British sought after, tobacco; with the help of slaves. From this Britain was able to achieve a favorable trade balance at the expense of other nations, mercantilism. Eventually leading up to the Navigation Acts of 1850-1860, which required English colonial goods to be shipped through English ports by Englishmen, benefiting the English economy. -
Metacom's War
Pitted a coalition of Native Americans led by the Wampanoag leader Metacom against the New England colonies. Then in 1680 there was an uprising of forty-six native American pueblos against Spanish rule. At the same time Virginia experienced Bacon's Rebellion, in which ordinary colonists led a popular uprising against the colony's royal governor. This served to challenge the authority of a new planter elite to rule over the ordinary citizens. This signified the first effects of colonization. -
Locke's Two Treaties of Government
The Enlightenment in America. A period in which eighteenth-century philosophical movements reevaluated previously accepted doctrines and traditions and the power of reason to understand and shape the world. John Locke's "Two Treaties of Government" argued that all people were born with natural rights. This was conflicting, since Britain was in a period of salutary neglect. In addition this led to the First Great Awakening, a religious enthusiasm that occurred in Christian congregations. -
Albany Plan of Union
This plan proposed that "one general government...be formed in America, including all said colonies". It would have created a continental assembly to manage trade, Indian policy and the colonies' defense. It was an effort to unite the Natives, Iroquois, with the colonies and therefore Britain, in order to aid Britain with the Seven Years War. This war came to be A great success for Britain against France and fellow Natives, and ultimately ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1763 and great debt. -
Revenue Act of 1762
The Great War for Empire imposed enormous costs on Great Britain, which Englishmen believed should be paid by the colonies. The war also revealed how little power Britain wielded its American colonies. In the colonies merchants had evaded trade duties for decades by bribing customs officials, and to end that practice Parliament passed the Revenue Act of 1762, requiring custom officials to take up their posts in the colonies, ending decades of salutary neglect by the British. -
Sugar Act of 1764
Raising revenue from the colonies feel first to George Greenville who "understood the need for far-reaching imperial reform, and first passed the Currency Act of 1764. Also in 1764 Parliament passed the Sugar Act, followed by the Stamp and Quartering Act of 1765. These Acts heavily affected trade with other countries and raised prices for the colonists. This marked Britain's beginning to a centralized imperial system in America, without a representative government for the colonists. -
Stamp Act Congress
In protest for the recent acts, imposed by Great Britain , nine colonial assemblies sent delegates to New York City in October, 1765. The Congress protested the loss of American "rights and liberties", especially the right to trial by jury. It also challenged the constitutionality of both the Stamp and Sugar Acts by declaring that only the colonists' elected representatives could tax them. -
Birth of the Daughters of Liberty
At this point most colonial leaders rejected the legitimacy of Townshend's measures, which established new duties on tea, glass,lead, paper, and more. Consequently merchants began a new boycott on British goods. American women, ordinarily excluded from public affairs, became crucial to the unimportant movement. The "true Daughters of Liberty" reduced their household's consumption of imported goods, reflecting community concern for the well-being of the community -
The Boston Masacre
On the night of March 5, 1770, a group of nine British redcoats fired into a crowd and killed five townspeople. A subsequent trial exonerated the soldiers, but Boston's Radical Whigs, convinced of a ministerial conspiracy against liberty, labeled the incident a "massacre" and used it to rally sentiment against imperial power. The American Patriots had now twice forced a retreat of imposed revenue acts, and now Americans were ready to pursue violent resistance -
1st Continental Congress
In response to the Coercive Acts, Patriot leaders met in Philadelphia, fearing a British plot "to overturn the constitution and introduce a system of arbitrary government". They demanded the repeal of the Coercive Acts and stipulated that British control be limited to matters of trade. The British parliament however refused to comply with colonial resistance twice and a third was impossible. To make matters worse Britain set stringent terms and imposed a naval blockade on American trade. -
Declaration of Independence
After fighting had broken out in Lexington and Concord in 1774 and then in the Battle of Bunker Hill; inspired by Paine's arguments of "Common Sense" the Declaration of Independence is written. In it T. Jefferson justified independence and republicanism to Americans and the world by vilifying George III. It also employed the ideas of the European Enlightenment, proclaiming that all men pissed "unalienable rights", and that the government's duty is to protect these rights and its citizens. -
Common Sense is Published
As military conflicts escalated, Americans were divided in their opinions of King George III. John Dickerson and members of Congress sent King George III the Olive Branch Petition, which pleaded for negotiations. However, in January 1776, Thomas Paine published "Common Sense", a rousing call for independence and a republican form of government which successfully led to Patriot support. Then a year after the war had started Paine wrote the American Crisis, to boost moral of the Continental Army. -
Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the Revolutionary War. When General John Burgoyne and his army planned to move south and meet with two other British armies in order to face the Continentals, but the other armies don't show up, he is surrounded and forced to surrender. The American defeat of the superior British army lifted patriot morale, furthered the hope for independence, and helped to secure the foreign support (France) needed to win the war. -
Treaty of Paris of 1783
After a grueling campaign through the southern colonies, General Cornwallis retreated to Yorktown Virginia for the winter and protection of the Royal Navy. However Cornwallis was not aware that the French Navy had defeated the British in the Battle of Capes, and was now surrounded. He surrenders on October 20th, 1781 and the American diplomats are able to secure extremely favorable terms where they are granted all British land to the Mississippi and North to British Canada. -
US Constitution is Published
After a brutal failure from the first framework for the US government, The Articles of Confederation were abolished. This was after Shays's Rebellion places spotlight on the vast weaknesses of The Articles. Therefore the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, distinct groups of "politicians", came together to form the Constitution. The constitution expanded the dimensions of political life by allowing voters to choose national, local, and state officials. It also mandated a Supreme Court. -
George Washington (The First President)
As the first president of the newly founded nation George Washington established the Court System under the Judiciary Act of 1789. Under this act he established the US Supreme Court, the highest court in the federal judiciary. His presidency served to highlight the loose and strict construction of the constitution. Washington also established many precedents, that presidents would go on to follow for many years. Washington also established the presidential cabinet and departments of the state. -
National Bank Established
As Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton heavily influenced George Washington to pass his financial plan. Hamilton believed that the federal government should be stronger than the state government. Therefore under the "requirement" that Washington D.C will be the nation's capital, Washington establishes the National bank, in order to strengthen the federal government. Washington also pays off all war debt and raises federal revenue through tariffs and taxes. -
Bill of Rights
The Anti-Federalist approved and passed The Constitution under the promise to consider amendments to the constitution. Therefore, the first ten amendments were submitted and ratified; by 1791. The amendments known as The Bill of Rights safeguarded fundamental personal rights, including freedom of speech and religion, and mandated legal procedures, such as trial by jury. The amendment eased antifederalists' fears of an oppressive national government and the issue of federalism. -
Cotton Gin
In 1794, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin which removes seeds from cotton fiber. This invention makes cotton profitable and changed the course of the south. Then in 1798 he pioneered the use of interchangeable parts, which are nearly identical parts that can be easily mass produced and replaced. Sparking the Industrial Revolution in 1800, centered around the cotton complex: the relationship between northern industry and southern agriculture that drove a major economic transformation. -
Neutralization, Alien, and Sedition Acts
Under President Adams, the Federalists became more hostile to the French Republic (result of the XYZ Affair), they also took a harder line against their Republican critics. To silence the critics , the federalists enacted three coercive laws, the Naturalization, Alien, and Sedition Acts, limiting individual rights and threatening the fledgling party system. This sparked a constitutional crisis resulting in the Virginia Kentucky Resolutions, which claimed the right to declare federal law void. -
Election of 1800
The election brought an end to the Federalists, Jefferson would go on to win the election of 1800 and bring in the Jeffersonian Era. As a president, Jefferson pursued policies that made it easier for farm families to acquire land. Jefferson and Republicans reversed other Federalist policies, including the Alien and Sedition Acts, the government's increasing size and power, internal taxes, the size of the permanent army, the Judiciary Act of 1801, and national debt. -
Marbury v. Madison
When Republican legislatures repudiated the Alien and Sedition Acts as unconstitutional, John Marshall, chief justice of the Supreme Court, declared that only the Supreme Court held the power of constitutional review. The Supreme Court sides with Madison and refuses to grant Marbury the position given by president Adams with the "midnight appointees", based on the fact that they find part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional. Giving SCOTUS the only right of judicial review. -
Louisiana Purchase
As Thomas Jefferson worried that the US could lose access to the Mississippi, Jefferson sends US diplomat to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans. However Napoleon isn't interested unless the US decides to buy the entire Louisiana territory. So after a long internal conflict Jefferson decides to purchase the territory. Which doubles the size of the country from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. The purchase once again tests the powers of the constitution, but opens a vast amount of opportunity. -
Embargo Act of 1807
As a result of the Napoleonic Wars that ravaged Europe after 1802, American merchant ships and its fellow American crew were taking new attacks by both the French and British navy. So in order to protect American interests, Jefferson pursued a policy of peacefully coercion, the Embargo Act of 1807, which prohibited American ships from leaving their home ports for foreign destinations. This indirectly encourages domestic production, but eventually fails to ensure U.S neutrality. -
Steamboat is Invented
The Commonwealth System, a republican system of political economy that funneled state aid to private businesses whose projects would improve general welfare. Sparking the Transportation Revolution, which saw the introduction of the Steamboat, developed by Robert Fulton. Canals were also created to link towns to major rivers and lakes. Further on the proliferation of the cheaper, faster railroad, and the invention of the steam engine make it possible to ship and receive goods in land based towns. -
Battle of Fort McHenry
Worsening relationships between the US and Britain, along with their allies, the Native Americans, the War of 1812 had begun. After 2 years of war in which both Britain and the US suffered increasing war costs, Britain was beginning to advance into U.S territory. But the failed bombardment of Fort McHenry forced the British to abandon their land assault on the crucial port city of Baltimore. This was a turning point in the War leading both sides to reach a peace agreement later that year. -
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent, signed on Christmas Eve 1814, retained the prewar borders of the Unites States. But before the news of the treaty reached the United States, a final military victory, The Battle of New Orleans, lifted American morale. Consequently a sense of nationalism sweeps America. The nation will go on to embark on foreign trade and begin to build a transportation system in the United States. Native American resistance will also be removed from the Ohio River Valley permanently. -
American Colonization Society
In order to increase output, profit seeking cotton planters began to use a rigorous gang-labor system. This provided for the organization of disciplined teams, or "gangs", supervised by black drivers and white overseers. Leading to the development of the American Colonization Society, which was a response to the cotton boom. This was important because it was a step forward against slavery, and although it wasn't correct, since it encouraged repatriation, it presented the conflict of slavery. -
Missouri Compromise
Controversy raged in Congress as both the North and South strived to maintain an equal number of senators from free and slaves states in the U.S. Congress. Therefore Clay's compromise provided for the nearly simultaneous admission to the Union of Missouri and Maine. It also resolves for a generation the issue of slavery in the lands of the Louisiana Purchase. The agreement prohibited slavery north of the Missouri Compromise line (36°30 north latitude), with the exception of the state of MI. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Era of Good Feeling, a period of American prosperity and isolationism, was in taking place when U.S. President James Monroe articulated a set of principles in 1823 that decades later would be called the Monroe Doctrine. The 1823 Declaration stated that the Western Hemisphere was closed to any further interference by European powers. In exchange, Monroe pledged that the United States would not become involved in European struggles. This asserted US diplomatic leadership, thanks to J.Q Adams. -
The 1828 Election
Andrew Jackson and his supporters aimed to recreate the old coalition of northern farmers, artisans, southern slave owners, and small landholding farmers. Leading to the birth of the Democratic party. During his time in office he aims to protect the "common man" of America from eastern "establishment", monopolies, and special privilege. This eventually led to the Bank War of 1832, which proved that certain tasks not in the constitution, can and should be accomplished by the federal government. -
Nullification Crisis
Angry about the “Tariff of Abominations”, the South threatened to nullify the law. The south believed the tariff unconstitutional because it favors the North, and believed states could declare the law null, therefore passed the Nullification Ordinance in 1832. Surprisingly, Jackson defended the federal government and claimed secession would be treason, also declared that states had no right to declare federal law void. Jackson and Congress later passed the Force and Compromise Bill of 1833. -
The Liberator
In response to the Second Great Awakening, abolition came to be a major social movement of the 1800's. Despite Nat Turner and David Walker's strategy of armed rebellion, northern whites launched a moral crusade to abolish the slave regime by pacifist means. "The most determined white advocate" of abolitionism William Lloyd Garrison founds "The Liberator", which raises awareness on the issue of slavery and demands immediate abolition without compensation to slaveholders. -
Worcester V. Georgia
In Cherokees v. Georgia the Marshal Court voided Georgia state law, that extinguished Indian landholdings in the state. The court also held that Indian nations were distinct political communities, having territorial boundaries...in which their authority is exclusive and guaranteed by the U.S". However, Congress and legislature had passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and ignored the Marshall court, taking Indian territory. This foreshadowed the many more abuses that Natives would face. -
American Anti-Slavery Society (AA-SS)
In 1831, Abolitionist established the American Anti-Slavery Society. This was the first interracial social justice movement in the U.S, which advocated the immediate, unconditional end of slavery on the basis of human rights. Along with other abolition groups these organizations "launched a three-pronged attack".First they carried out a "great postal campaign", flooding the U.S with Anti-Slavery literature. Secondly, they provided aid to fugitive slaves.The final element was a petition campaign. -
The Texas Republic
After winning independence from Spain in 1821, the Mexican government encouraged migration to Texas. However when the Mexican government adopted a new constitution, Americans believed Texas could flourish within a decentralized Mexican Republic. This led to American rebellion and the 1836 defeat by the Mexican army of the Alamo in San Antonio. Consequently, American rebels flocked to Texas and defeated the Mexican army in the Battle of San Jacinto, winning de facto independence. (Texas Republic. -
Seneca Falls Convention
In the Second Great Awakening Women's rights, came under the spotlight. By 1840, female abolitionists were asserting that traditional gender roles resulted in the domestic slavery of women. Thereafter in 1848, women's rights activists attended the Seneca Falls Convention and created the Declaration of Sentiments. It denounced coverture and asserted that no man had the right to tell a women what her "sphere" should be ---"a decision that belonged to her conscience and her God". -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
As the US and Mexico faced political turmoil for territorial boundaries, specifically the land across the Rio Grande, James Polk sends troops to the disputed territory in order to cause Mexican military action. Polk succeeded and pushed Congress to approve a war. Mexico, as a developing nation, was met with a trail of defeat, until Mexico City is invaded. Therefore the Mexican president, Santa Anna, is forced to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, giving up over a half of the Mexican land. -
Compromise of 1850
As California met the qualifications for statehood, it wanted to enter Congress as a free state. Therefore Congress was met with turmoil, which was eventually ended by the Compromise of 1850. The legislation admitted California as a free state and abolished the slave trade in the District of Columbia. It also included a new Fugitive Slave Act, to mollify southern planters. The act also organized the newly conquered land and invoked popular sovereignty for new territories applying for statehood. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
This was a controversial 1854 law that divided Indian territory into Kansas and Nebraska, repealed the Missouri Compromise, and left the new territories to decide the issue of slavery on the basis if popular sovereignty. The act led to violent conflict in "Bleeding Kansas" and the to the "Border Ruffians", leading Kansas to enter the Union as a slave state. This prompted former democrats and ex-Whigs to form the republican party, as well as a guerrilla war in Kansas. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott, an enslaved African American that lived most of his life in free states sought liberty due to the Missouri Compromise, that outlawed slavery in free States. However the Supreme Court decided that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and ruled against Dred Scot's liberty. The decision also denied the federal government the right to exclude slavery from the territories and declared that African Americans were not citizens. Making the civil war inevitable. -
Election of 1860 (Abraham Lincoln)
As democrats divided along sectional lines, Republicans gained support in the North and Midwest, and Abraham Lincoln emerged as one of the party's most eloquent and politically astute candidates. Lincoln was able to easily defeat his democrat rivals and claim the presidency. However the Union collapsed first in South Carolina and by February 1861 the Deep South states had all seceded and formed The Confederate State of America, with Jefferson Davis as president and Alexander Stephens as vice. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
As Republicans increased support for emancipation, Lincoln reassured Americans that his paramount goal was to save the Union -- while also getting Americans used to the idea that emancipation might be the best way to accomplish that aim. Therefore, on January 1, 1863, Lincoln outlaws slavery in all states that remained out of the Union. While the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free a single slave, it signaled an end to the institution of slavery. -
Battle of Gettysburg
After the Confederate victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, Gen. Lee led his army of Northern Virginia in its second invasion of the North. Con. However Gen. Meade was ready to defend the North, causing the two armies to collide in Gettysburg, PA. The fight lasted three days and although both armies suffered heavy casualties, the Union was to hold out and make Lee retreat his armies. This was a turning point in the war, that eventually broke the South's back. -
Battle of Vicksburg
After several unsuccessful Union military generals Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant. In the summer of 1863, Grant's army of the Tennessee converged on Vicksburg on the Mississippi River, investing in the city and trapping a Confederate army under John Pemberton. With the loss at Vicksburg and the Union Victory at Port Hudson five days later, the Union controlled the entire Mississippi, successfully achieving the Anaconda Plan. -
Freedman's Bureau
After the Civil War Congressional Republicans concluded that the federal government had to intervene displaced blacks. Therefore in March 1865, Congress established the Freedmen's Bureau. This was a government organization that provided aid to displaced blacks and other war refugees. It was the first federal agency in history that provided direct payments to assist those in poverty and to foster social welfare. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
After the south began to introduce black codes Legislation passed by Congress established the Civil Rights Act of 1866. This act affirmed that African Americans should have equal benefits of the law. However in order to establish a more permanent solution Congress passed the fourteenth amendment. This amendment made all native-born or naturalized persons U.S. citizens and prohibited states from abridging the rights of national citizens. -
The Transcontinental Railroad
This rail line was completed on May 10, 1869, and it connected the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines, enabling goods to move by railway from the eastern United States all the way to California. This transformed the economy tremendously and provided an influx of jobs. It also encouraged migration west, "Manifest Destiny", which consequently led to problems with the natives and their land. -
The 15th Amendment
Recognizing from the Election of 1868 that African Americans needed the right to vote, the fifteenth amendment prohibited any state from denying any citizens the right to vote on grounds of race, color, or "previous condition of servitude." Elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere, lawmakers had left emancipated slaves in a condition of semi-citizenship, with no voting rights. This was the last constitutional amendment, due to its unpopularity in the North, giving Democrats much needed support. -
Civil Rights Act of 1875
As the issue of segregation came to be, congressmen wrestled with the issue of desegregation, as they debated an ambitious civil rights bill championed by Charles Sumner, a radical republican. Sumner sought to provide equal access to schools, public transportation, hotels, and churches to all Americans. Therefore in 1875, after Sumner's death congressmen passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, requiring full and equal access to jury service, public transportation, and public accommodations.