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massacre at mystic
This was the first defeat that the Pequot tribe took from the English in an already 3 year long war, and it was absolutely devastating to them. It's estimated that anywhere from 400 - 700 people were killed by a mix of Englishmen and warring tribes to the Pequots that the English formed an alliance with, and the very next year a treaty would be signed that attempted to erase the Pequot people from existence by outlawing it's culture, stealing their land and assimilating them into our society. -
Scalp Act enacted
In 1755 Pennsylvania, there were so many minor attacks from the neighboring Delaware tribe that the people went to their legislature, who set aside $60,000 for forts and munitions to drive out natives The next year, the governor enacted a policy saying that anybody who brought in a scalp of a male that's 12+ years of age would be given 150$ in compensation, and any men under 12 or any women were worth 130$. -
3/5 compromise
This was a compromise reached between the state delegates in the 1787 constitutional convention, and it said that the slave population would be counted into the population number for taxes and the number of state representatives, but only 3/5 of it, essentially saying Black people are 3/5 of a person. -
American Slave trade ends
On this day, the American government decided to ban the import of any more slaves than the population already imported. Slavery was still very much a thing though, it was just structured slightly differently. For one, female slaves are worth a lot more because you are reliant solely on breeding for any new slaves, and on top of that, slave ships still existed all the way up into the 1860's, just not legally. -
Battle of Tippecanoe
This was a big battle for a lot of reasons, and without it it's really hard to imagine how different history would be. For one, Tecumseh would be pushed into an alliance with England, which probably effected him dying 2 years after Tippecanoe and the war of 1812 starting soon before his death. Another thing was the fact that the Americans were led by William H Harrison, who was a governor at the time and would later become president for a mere 30 days, which was likely impacted by his win here. -
Missouri Compromise
This was like when Spain cut the world in half with Portugal because they wanted to have land without claiming it yet, but more for the reason that we couldn't decide if slavery was bad or not. We had the eastern states, we formed the western states, but there was area in the middle that we were filling with time. As these states came up, politicians debated slavery and drew a line halving the country to decide whether a new state is free or slaved, and the line is known as the 36th parallel. -
Indian Removal act enacted
This was when we pushed the natives back to the west of the Mississippi in exchange for the land we were going to take anyway, whether or not they agreed. Few tribes went willingly, the others needed to be "shoved." -
Nat Turner Rebellion
Nat Turner was an enslaved man in Virginia that believed he was chosen by God as a prophet, and in 1831 he believed he was chosen to lead a rebellion for the people's freedom from slavery. The people he led would kill about 60 men, women and children, burn down houses, and terrify slaveholders all over the south. The rebellion lasted 3 days before they were all captured and Nat was executed, mostly because the group lacked any tactics, communication or direction. -
Trail of Tears
This was the forceful relocation of the "5 civilized tribes" that resulted in 100,000 lives lost and countless others permanently displaced from their righteous land, and was possibly one of the worst things we as a country ever did. We essentially put thousands of people on a death march, except we didn't bother to march with them or put them in the shackles that were basically already there since the early 1500's. -
fugitive slave act
This act stated that if a slave was to run away, you were allowed to seize them and take them back. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was a huge supreme court decision wherein Dred was a slave, and he was taken to a free state to work. He was taken to court and surprisingly, he won his freedom and another $1500. -
emancipation proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was written by President Lincoln, and it was the big letter essentially saying "We're done owning people, everyone is now and will henceforth all be free." This confirmed the Union being the better option in the minds of the people, and encouraged them to fight for this cause further. This was that marker that says "we're seriously doing this." -
13th amendment ratified
This is what finally got rid of slavery, this was the big one. No man will ever be property in these United States from the moment this was written onward. -
14th amendment ratified
If you are a citizen you are under equal protection under the law, regardless of skin color or sex. -
15th amendment ratified
This was the right to vote that was given to all men regardless of race, color or previous servitude. Sadly, women still wouldn't be allowed to vote for another 50 years. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
This was the biggest loss the Americans would see in the Indian Removal campaign, General Custer would have his last stand here and it would be the biggest glimmer of hope for the Lakota and Cheyenne. The cool thing about this battle is how the people who died in it are buried exactly where they fell, so you can get a really good idea how the battle looked. -
Wounded Knee massacre
This was the opposite of the battle of little bighorn in just about every way. Where little bighorn was the Native's biggest victory, this was their biggest loss. In fact, it's the biggest massacre in all of American history, and would be our biggest victory in the Native Removal campaign. it's estimated 150 - 300 were killed, though the death toll on literally anything I look up related to this time period varies a lot, so take that with a grain of salt. -
Plessy V. Ferguson
Plessy was a Creole man in Louisiana, who in 1896 showed just how much of a joke most of America's racial laws were. He was 1/8 black and appeared white, so he got on the white train car and announced he was a black man on the train, and everyone there was forever traumatized that a black man dare step into their white train car. Plessy would be taken to the supreme court, and the ruling brought in "separate but equal" laws, where all public amenities had to have separate but equal amenities.