-
Period: 1400 to
European Exploration
The Age of Exploration was a period where European ships traveled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners. They were in search of trading goods such as gold, silver and spices. -
Period: to
Slavery
The practice of people owning other people is called slavery. Enslaved people have to work for the owners, doing whatever the owners ask them to do. Slavery was very common during this time period. -
Triangular Trade
The triangular trade was the three-legged route that made up the Atlantic slave trade. The trade traffic flowed to and from three general areas on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. Europe, Africa, and the Americas form a triangle when seen on a map. -
Period: to
Revolutionary War
This was a war between the 13 American colonies and Great Britain, also known as the American Revolution. The colonists were tired of the king's tyrannical rule, so they rebelled. As a result, the colonies became a new country called the United States. -
Declaration of Independence
This was a document proclaiming the 13 original colonies of America were free states from Britain. It was ratified on July 4, 1776. This document gave us all rights that we were free from, like life and freedom. -
Period: to
Articles of Confederation
This served as the first constitution of the United States. Soon afterward, however, the people realized that there were problems with the document. In 1789, the articles were replaced by the United States Constitution. -
Constitution
This was a set of rules that was laid out and guided how our country will work. This tells us what and how many branches of government there are, what powers they have, and how they work. This also states the citizens' rights. -
Bill of Rights
James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, wrote 12 amendments. He presented them to the First Congress in 1789. The states approved only ten of the amendments, which were passed on December 15, 1791. These amendments are known as the Bill of Rights. The purpose of the Bill or Rights is to guarantee rights and civil liberties, such as the freedom of religion, the right to free speech, the right to bear arms, trial by jury, and more, as well as reserving rights to the people and the states. -
Invention of the Cotton Gin
The cotton gin is a machine that makes cotton easier to process. It was invented in the United States by Eli Whitney. The cotton gin helped make cotton the most important crop of the Southern states. -
Invention of the Steamboat
Robert R. Livingston was a wealthy judge who wanted to invent a boat that could travel faster, and that was powered by steam. He attempted to invent a steamboat but failed with every attempt. When he was sent to France by President Jefferson, Livingston met a talented engineer, Robert Fulton. Livingston hired Fulton to invent his dream steamboat and on his first attempt, the boat was sailing down the Seine River in 1803. -
Louisiana Purchase
In 1803, the United States Territory was not as large as it is today. This is mostly because France owned parts of the territory surrounding the U.S. Thomas Jefferson, the President at the time, had been trying to buy New Orleans from Napoleon, the leader of France. Napoleon ignored the offer, until Jefferson threatened to join force with Great Britain, France's worst enemy. Napoleon then sold the entire Louisiana Territory for about $15 million, and the U.S. gained 828,000 square miles of land. -
Period: to
Lewis and Clark
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were leaders in an expedition that traveled from the Mississippi River to the Pacific coast and back. President Thomas Jefferson sent Captain Lewis and his Lieutenant Clark to explore the new territory that was bought during the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis and Clark brought back diaries and maps that they had made on their journey. These provided information about the land, plants, animals, and people of the western territory. -
Period: to
War of 1812
This war was fought due to a disagreement in trade practices between America and Great Britain. American sailors were taken off their ships and forced to join the British Navy. This was fought on land and sea. -
Period: to
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period of major changes in the way products are made. Prior to the Industrial Revolution people worked mostly in their own homes or in small workshops. During this time, factories were being built and laborers started making large numbers of things using machines powered by engines. This greatly affected the way people lived as well as the way they worked. -
Monroe Doctrine
President James Monroe issued a policy that stated that North and South Americans were no longer open to colonization. It declared that the U.S. would not allow European countries to interfere with independent governments in the Americas. The Doctrine worked until 1861, when the French leader attempted to establish a monarchy in Mexico. -
Period: to
Trail of Tears
In the 1830s the U.S. government took away the homelands of many Native American groups in the Southeast. This forced them to move west of the Mississippi River. Most of them had to walk all the way. This was the journey of the Cherokee people. -
Manifest Destiny
The phrase “Manifest Destiny” was introduced by journalist John L. O’Sullivan in an 1845 newspaper article. As the United States was expanding in the 1800s, many Americans were inspired by the idea of Manifest Destiny. This was the belief that the United States had a duty to stretch westward to the Pacific Ocean and even beyond. With the movement westward the Americans were wanting to spread Protestant and democratic ideals across North America. -
Westward Movement
Pioneers pushed the American frontier further westward during the first century of the United States. Everyone wanted to go to the Americas during this period of time. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was an enslaved black man in Missouri. This court case is one of the most controversial court rulings in United States history. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress had no power to ban slavery in the areas that were not yet states. This increased tensions between the North and the South in America. -
Period: to
Civil War
This war was fought between the Northern and Southern parts of the United States. The Southern states did not want to be a part of the United States anymore, so they decided to secede and make their own country. The Northern states wanted to stay one country so a war ensued due to slavery and states' rights. -
13th Amendment- Abolition of Slavery
In 1864, the Senate passed the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. This amendment was put into play to formally abolish slavery. Even though the Senate passed the amendment in 1864 the House of Representatives did not pass it until January 31, 1865. After this on February 1, 1865, the president, Abraham Lincoln signed the resolution that submitted the amendment to the states for approval. -
14th Amendment- Equal Treatment Under the Law
This amendment granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to anyone that was born in the United States or who became a citizen of the country. This included African Americans and/or slaves who had been freed after the American Civil war. Even though the U.S. Constitution was ratified and put into play on July 28, 1868, there were still laws that promoted segregation which complicated this amendment for many decades. -
15th Amendment- Voting Rights for Black Men
This amendment was created to guarantee that the right to vote could not be denied based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” It allowed African American men, including former slaves, to vote. This amendment was ratified on February 3,1870, which took place shortly after the end of the American Civil War. This time period was called the Reconstruction. -
Period: to
World War I
This was known at first as the Great War and the "War to End All Wars." It was the largest war that the world had seen up to that time. Most of the battles took place in Europe and the Middle East. -
19th Amendment- Voting Rights for Women
This amendment officially granted women the right to vote, it was passed in 1919 and ratified in 1920. This was a result of the woman suffrage movement that took place in the 19th century. Upon this point the common view within society was that women should be prevented from holding office and voting. Men generally accepted that women should be protected from the evils of politics. -
Period: to
Great Depression
America's economy was not working. Many banks failed, many families lost their farms, and many families lost their homes. Although this occurred in the United States, the Great Depression was worldwide. -
Period: to
World War II
The war involved pretty much every part of the world by the time it was over. The two sides that fought the war were called the Axis powers and the Allies. Germany, Italy, and Japan were the Axis powers. The Allies were the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France, and China. -
Period: to
New Deal
The New Deal was a group of different U.S. government programs that Franklin D. Roosevelt started to help the country recover from the economic problems that occurred during the Great Depression. Some of these programs include, The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) put young men to work in national forests. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) created many different kinds of jobs. The programs that the New Deal was best known for was Social Security and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). -
Period: to
Korean War
North Korea and South Korea fought in this war against each other. Other countries, like the United States and China, were also involved. It was the first major battle over communism. Communism is a system where the government owns all the property. The US feared it would spread to other countries. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a court case about segregation in United States public schools. In 1954 the United States Supreme Court decided that public schools should not be segregated, or separating blacks and whites. -
Period: to
Vietnam War
This was a long conflict in Southeast Asia. North Vietnam wanted to reunite the country of the north and the south under communism. South Vietnam fought to keep this from happening. The United States helped South Vietnam, but North Vietnam won the war in 1975. Soon Vietnam was a united, Communist country. -
Period: to
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This was a mass protest put on by civil rights activists and their supporters. They were protesting against segregation on the city buses of Montgomery Alabama. The protest led the U.S. Supreme Court to declare that Montgomery's segregation laws on buses were unconstitutional. -
"I Have a Dream" Speech
This was a speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr. while standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In the speech, he spoke of his wishes that he had for the future. He stated that he wished that people of different races could live together peacefully in the United States. He spoke on the discrimination that the black men have faced even after they were to be treated equal after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. -
September 11
On September 11, 2001, members of a terrorist group called al-Qaeda hijacked four airplanes in the United States. Two of the terrorists flew two planes into the World Trade Center in New York City. The third plane was flown into the Pentagon, near Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. At the time this was the deadliest terrorist act, killing 3,000 people. Soon after the attacks, the U.S. and allied forces attacked Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda was based.