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1492
Columbus Lands in the Americas
Christopher Columbus was trying to find a direct route to Asia for trading reasons, but everything changed when he ran into the Americas. When Columbus landed in the Americas, the Native Americans there welcomed him with open arms. However, Columbus treated them without respect because he was looking for one thing, and that was goods (gold, spices). -
Jamestown
Jamestown, established in 1607, is important because it was the first English settlement in North America. This was a start to lots of future colonization in this new world, the Americas. It is in fact still a town today in Virginia. -
Pilgrims Land
During this time, the English were in a rush to colonize as much as they could of the Americas. In 1620, a ship named Mayflower arrived. The people on this ship ended up founding the Plymouth Colony. -
French/Indian War
The French and Indian war is also known the at the Seven Years War. It is called the French and Indian war because the Indians would help out the French. However, it was between the French and the British colonies. When France started expanding into the Ohio River valley, they came into contact with British colonies, eventually causing the war. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was put into act in 1765 for Great Britian in colonies in America. This would tax the colonists on every single piece of paper they used. This caused an uproar in the colonies and an increase in revolution. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party is one of the most famous protests of all time. It was in 1773 in Boston when the Sons of Liberty dumped 342 chests of tea into the water. This was in protest against the Tea Act. -
Lexington and Concord
Many years before this first battle of the revolutionary war, tension had been building within the 13 American colonies and the British, who had control. When the British troops marched to Concord, Paul Revere along with a few others alarmed troops and war began. -
Declaration of Independence
Written by Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, the Declaration of Independence showed how the 13 colonies were seeking independence from the British. When the declaration was released, the United States of America was founded. -
Constitutional Convention
Because of certain flaws in our government, a group political leaders met to "'edit" the constitution that was made in 1776. -
Jefferson Presidency, 1801-1809
One of the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson began his first of two presidential terms. He played a big part in the growth and development of early United States of America. Throughout his 2 terms, he was known to support individual liberty. One of the most significant things he did during his presidency was complete the Louisiana Purchase, which almost doubled the country's territory. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase, nearly doubling our nations size, was one of Jefferson's greatest achievement when he served as president. Before the purchase happened, Napoleon Bonaparte had plans to revive the French empire by using the Louisiana territory to start out. As the French were still fighting England and also getting hit hard with the yellow fever, Napoleon was losing hope for his empire. He decided it was best to offer us the Louisiana Territory. -
Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806
Lewis and Clark's mission was to explore unknown territory in the Americas. Their trek was 2 years long as they discovered many things along the way. -
Missouri Compromise
The goal of the Missouri Compromise was to settle the disputes about the request of slavery to be legal in Missouri. There were two compromises. Maine would be admitted as a free state and Missouri would be admitted as a slave state. The goal was to calm down tensions about slavery, but it did the opposite. It is very possible it could have caused the civil war to occur earlier. -
Jackson Presidency, 1829-1837
The 7th president of the United States, Andrew Jackson, was one president to be remembered. Before his presidency, he was known for being a war hero in many wars. His most notable victory was at the Battle of New Orleans, making him a national figure. He is known for founding the Democratic Party. -
Indian Removal Act
One of the negatives of Jackson's presidency was his support of the Indian Removal Act. This act came about because Andrew Jackson felt we needed the useful land that the Indians currently owned. Eventually, the U.S would use force against Indians to push them out of their territory. This would cause the trail of tears, which was forced relocation on Indians. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turners rebellion was a violent slave rebellion in Virginia. Slaves killed from 55 to 65 people during this rebellion. In return, the state executed 55 slaves. However, southerners fears grew for an upcoming slave uprising. -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was an effort to ease most or all tension between the north and the south. It has 5 laws about slavery within it. Obviously, this compromise was unsuccessful as the civil war would begin about 11 years later. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was a series of violent acts occurring throughout of number of years in Kansas. These acts were over whether slavery is legal or illegal in the state of Kansas. Many people consider these the first battles of the civil war. -
Dred Scott v Sanford
In 1857, the former slave Dred Scott attemped to obtain liberty in court by fighting for himself and his family. However, he was not able to continue fighting for his liberty because only citizens could legally show their case in court (as stated in the constitution). He was involved in many state and local court cases for his freedom, but in the end he could not win his case to be free. -
Lincoln Presidency, 1861-1865
Abraham Lincoln was elected president in a tough time for America. Civil war was on edge because of the increase of debate over slavery. He was a president who led us through one of the worst American catastrophes. He opposed slavery throughout his presidency and eventually put an end to it. Because of his leadership in our country, he is easily one of the most known American presidents of all time. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the first battle of the civil war and many others were to come after. Fort Sumter was a big source of tension before the civil war and the Union originally owned it. Eventually, confederate troops surrounded the fort and opened fire. After a while, Major Robert Anderson finally surrendered the fort and the Union would not gain it back for nearly 4 years. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation at a time much needed. The proclamation stated that all enslaved people are now free. However, it actually did not end slavery in America. It would end slavery in union states only but would be applied to confederate states if the Union won the war. This might seem useless, but it did help. About 200,000 African Americans were now fighting for the Union, helping them win the war. -
Surrender at Appomattox
This short battle was the one that ended the American Civil War. After being weakened after 4 years of war, Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to the much stronger Union army ran by Ulysses S. Grant. At the time America was very beat down because of the civil war. Shortly after this big surrender, the civil war would officially end. -
Lincoln Assassinated
During his presidency, Abraham Lincoln was violently assassinated by a man by the name of John Wilkes Booth. He was a famous actor and known for being a confederate. While Lincoln was attending a play at Ford's Theatre, Booth snuck up from behind him and shot him. This was shortly after the civil war ended and he did it because the Union had clearly won the war already. -
Thirteenth Amendment Ratified
In 1865, shortly after the civil war, the 13th amendment was officially ratified. The amendment was that abolished slavery and prohibited involuntary servitude. This amendment was a big change in America in is HUGE in what our nation has become today. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Chinese immigration to the United States was causing decreased wages and other problems, US citizens claimed. Chinese workers were earning jobs over the white man, especially on the west coast. Because of this sudden competition, action was quickly made to stop it. In 1882, Chester A. Arthur would sign the act, putting it officially into place. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was made not to interfere with our economy's competition, but to actually make sure competition stays in the economy. During this time, monopolies and trusts were destroying competition in our economy. New companies were having trouble entering the market. The government realized that this would only become worse unless action was taken. In 1890, the act was passed. -
Plessy v Ferguson
Plessy v Ferguson was a supreme court case about racial segregation in public. Homer Plessy was an African American that refused to sit in the "black" area on the train. He went against segregation all the way to the supreme court, and lost. The supreme court stated that this segregation was constitutional as long as it is "separate but equal". Meaning that the separate areas must be equal in quality. -
Spanish American War
In 1898, America and Spain would go to war against each other. This war occured for many reasons. President Mckinley was very pressured to go to war because of the USS Maine sinking and rebellion had been going on in Cuba because of Spanish rule. -
T. Roosevelt Presidency
Theodore Roosevelt served 2 terms as U.S President from 1901-1909. He was the youngest president in the nations history. He brought eagerness to the people because he was young and energetic. During his presidency, he was known as the "trust buster" because of his actions taken on monopolies and trusts. -
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal would be essential to U.S shipping, and that is why we took on the challenge of building it. In the late 1800's, France stopped working on the Canal because of certain difficulties. We took over and finished the canal in 1914. This would be very good in helping the U.S ship goods. -
Wilson Presidency, 1913-1921
Woodrow Wilson became president in 1913 and he was a leader of the progressive movement. Throughout his presidency, he focused on new world order. In particular, he wanted safety for the world and that is what he worked for. -
WWI begins
One of the biggest wars to ever occur, WWI, began in 1914 when Archduke Ferdinand was assasinated. He was the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian Throne. Since Germany was on Austria-Hungary's side, they declared war on Serbia and the fighting expanded because of all the alliances. -
Sinking of Lusitania
The Sinking of Lusitania was very important when talking about WWI. The U.S was interested in staying out of the war until this ship got attacked and sank. This strengthened our want to be in the war and somewhat brought us into it. -
First War Tanks
WWI was a time of advancement in lots of things. On the battlefield in 1916, France tried out a tank, which no one has done before. After this, tanks would become more evident and so would other military advancements. -
Wilson's 14 Points
As previously learned, Wilson fought for peace on Earth during his presidency. His most famous plan was his 14 point plan (14 different ideas into one plan). His plan was to end WWI and never have another war again. Obviously, this did not work out. Many countries believed the plan was a bad idea and did not even give it a try. -
Eighteenth Amendment
Drinking was becoming a very popular thing in America and some people believed it was hurting us. This idea became so big that it was eventually an amendment. In 1919, the manufacture, sale and transportation of intoxicating liquors would be prohibited. However, there were flaws. Before put into place, people stacked up on booze to drink because the amendment never states that it is actually illegal to drink it. This amendment would become repealed in the future. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles is known to have ended WWI. This plan punished Germany by making them pay very high amounts of money to other countries. We did this to Germany because they started the war, according to many countries at the time. This treaty was made to meet the goals of many allied powers and it did. -
Nineteenth Amendment
The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote after stating that you cannot be denied to vote based on your sex. The womans suffrage movement had been going on women finally were given a HUGE freedom that they were fighting for. In the years to come, women would be more accepted in society. -
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renassaince was a big change in how African Americans expressed themselves in American society. When it started, in Harlem, African Americans were expressing talent and confidence that no one had seen before. This allowed blacks and whites to connect and take one step closer to becoming one. -
Prohibition
The prohibition movement consisted of people that believed alcohol was wrong and bad. People would pour it down the sewer and make posters about it to symbolize how much of an issue they believe it is. Eventually, in 1919, the 18th amendment was passed to stop the sale and transportation. People got away with drinking because nothing said it is illegal to drink. This amendment would eventually be repealed and the movement had not made much impact. -
Rise of the K.K.K.
By the 1920's, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) had become so big it was considered a national organization. This was group of mainly middle aged white men that promoted and committed violent acts toward many different groups of people. For example, African Americans. The rise of the KKK in the 20's and 30's went from pretty much nothing to covering the whole entire country. -
Gitlow v New York
Gitlow v New York was a supreme court case that occurred because Benjamin Gitlow was accused of encouraging the rebellion against the government. Benjamin Gitlow was a man not in support of our system and beliefs. He often talked down about the United States government. In court, he claimed that they were violating his 1st and 14th rights by convicting him of this crime. He won the case. -
Scopes Trial
In the Scopes trial, John T. Scopes was accused of teaching evolution. This was recently made illegal because of the Butler Act in Tennessee Public Schools. Scopes was found guilty in the trial and fined $100. -
Stock Market Crash
In 1929, after many years of a booming economy and happy America, our market crashed and the great depression was ahead of us. There were many reasons to the crash of the market. During the 20's, people would spend way more money than they had because of credit. -
Dust Bowl
During the 1930's, dust bowls would sweep over land that has been without water for a long period of time (drought). This ruined agriculture and made farming even worse than it already was during the Great Depression -
Roosevelt 1st Election
Franklin Roosevelt was the president that got elected during one of the worst times ever in America, the Great Depression. When he was first elected, he wanted to give the people some hope. He would talk on the radio and directly to the public. He eventually led America out of the depression and died in 1945. -
CCC
The CCC was program founded in 1933 that helped young, unmarried men by helping them find work. It was part of Roosevelt's new deal, which was going to bring hope and joy back into America. This program helped thousands of men get food, clothing, shelter, and source of money during this time of depression. -
Social Security Act
The Social Security Act was also a part of Roosevelt's New Deal. Signed in 1935, this act was made to help disadvantaged, struggling Americans. -
FDR Court Packing Scandal
In 1937, Roosevelt introduced a plan to increase the number of people in the Supreme Court to possibly 15. People believed that Roosevelt was trying to do this so the supreme court would be in his favor. This plan would eventually fail and never come into act.
