-
Period: 1400 to
European Exploration
Europeans were first looking for trade routes to Asia when they began to exploit opportunities in North America. This eventually led to permanent colonization. This led to a launch of demographic revolution in the area of North America. -
Period: to
Slavery
Southern plantation owners began importing slaves from Africa to work on their plantations. Field hands worked long hours under grueling conditions on the plantations. Some slave owners were kind, but many were very cruel. -
Triangular Trade
This is a type of trade that is between three ports or regions. The trade traffic flowed to and from three general areas on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. It usually comes into play when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. -
Period: to
Revolutionary War
It was also known as the American Revolution. The British had 133,000 troops. Up to 25,000 freed blacks and slaves fought on both sides. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a document declaring the US to be independent of the British Crown. The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, by the congressional representatives of the Thirteen Colonies. The document stated the reasons the 13 American colonies wanted to be free of Great Britain's government. -
Period: to
Articles of Confederation
This was an agreement among the 13 original states of the US. The Articles of Confederation served as the first constitution of the United States. The articles were written by the representatives of the American colonies who made up the Second Continental Congress. -
Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. The U.S. Constitution has 4,400 words. The oldest person to sign the Constitution was Benjamin Franklin (81). The youngest was Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey (26). -
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. These amendments were authored by James Madison. At first, James Madison thought that it would be useless. -
Invention of the Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney invented this machine in order to speed up the process of separating cotton fibers from their seeds. It replaced approximately 50 slaves. This invention is still used in today's farming industry. -
Invention of Steamboat
Robert Fulton built and tested his steamboat on August 9, 1803. It operated at 2.9 miles per hour. Paddle wheels propelled the boat. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Territory was names in honor of King Louis XIV of France. It doubled the overall size of the U.S. This purchase cost America approximately $18/sg. mile. ($15 million) Napoloen Bonaparte sold this land to the U.S. -
Period: to
Lewis and Clark
These two explored on a journey otherwise known as the "Corps of Discovery Expedition." They documented more than 100 new animals and 178 new plants. Lewis first met Clark after being court-martialed by the Army. -
Period: to
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a battle fought between the United States and Great Britain over British violations of U.S. maritime rights. It began in June of 1812 and ended in February of 1815, with the exchange of ratifications of the Treaty of Ghent. -
Period: to
Industrial Revolution
This revolution allowed Britain, Europe, and the U.S. to transition to new manufacturing processes. These industries were now functioning on large-scale industry and mechanized manufacturing. The steam engine was an important invention during this time. -
Monroe Doctrine
The U.S. vowed to not get involved in European affairs. The U.S. would not interfere with existing European Colonies in the Western Hemisphere. No other nation could form a new colony in the Western Hemisphere. -
Period: to
Trail of Tears
This movement forced relocation of Eastern Woodlands Indians. Is displaced approximately 60,000 Native Americans. 4,000 Cherokee people died of cold, hunger and disease on their way to the western lands. -
Manifest Destiny
The idea of Manifest Destiny is the claim that the United States is destined by God to "expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent." It helped create the large country that we are today. A tragic result that it forced relocation of Native American tribes. -
Westward Movement
The Westward Movement spread Europeans across the land within continental boundaries of the U.S. This began after the first colonial settlements were established near the coast of the Atlantic. It began with the Louisiana Purchase. -
Dred Scott Decision
It was a legal case in the Supreme Case involving a slave, Dred Scott. The Dred Scott decision was the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on March 6, 1857, that having lived in a free state and territory did not entitle an enslaved person, Dred Scott, to his freedom. Scott's legal fees were often paid for by abolitionists and others sympathetic to his cause. -
Period: to
Civil War
The Civil War was a civil war in the United States fought between the Union and the Confederacy. The central cause of the war was slavery. In 1865, the Union won the war. -
13th Amendment
It made slavery and involuntary servitude illegal in the United States. The amendment still allows slavery as a punishment for a crime. The state of Mississippi ratified the amendment in 1995. -
14th Amendment
This amendment granted citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized in the U.S." It is the longest amendment in number of words. The amendment said that anyone who rebelled against the United States could not hold civil, military, or elected office. -
15th Amendment
The right of citizens of the U.S. to vote shall not be denied by the U.S. or by any state on account of race, color, or precious condition of servitude. This amendment granted the right to vote to former slaves, but only if they were men. Women still could not vote. For the first twenty to thirty years after the amendment was passed, black men did vote in large numbers, and many were elected to political office. -
Period: to
World War I
WWI was the first global war that the world had ever seen. It began on July 28, 1914 and ended on Nov. 11, 1918. This was one of the deadliest conflicts in history with an estimated 9 million deaths. -
19th Amendment
It was established to give women the right to vote. The 19th Amendment is also known as the Anthony Amendment, named for Susan B. Anthony. It was first introduced in the Senate in January 1878 by Senator Aaron A. Sargent of California. It failed. -
Period: to
Great Depression
The Great Depression is considered the most intense economic downfall in the history of the industrialized world. It lasted from 1929 to 1939. The stock market crash of Oct. 1929 began this crash, sending Wall Street into panic and eliminating millions of investors. -
New Deal
The New Deal aimed to provide immediate economic relief and to bring about reforms to stabilize the economy. Roosevelt believed that together Relief, Reform, and Recovery could bring economic stability to the nation. The new administration’s first objective was to alleviate the suffering of the nation’s huge number of unemployed workers. -
Period: to
World War II
WWII began in Europe on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. It was a global war that involved the vast majority of the world's countries. It last until 1945. -
Period: to
Korean War
This war was fought between North Korea and South Korea. It was fought from June of 1950 to July 1953. The war began when the North Korean Communist army crossed the 38th parallel and invaded non-communist South Korea. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the 14th Amendment. The decision declared that separate facilities for separate racial students was inherently unequal. Thurgood Marshall argued the case before the Supreme Court for the plaintiffs. -
Period: to
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This was a political and social protest campaign against the racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, AL. The campaign lasted from December 5, 1955—the Monday after Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, was arrested for her refusal to surrender her seat to a white person—to December 20, 1956. Before the bus boycott, Jim Crow laws mandated the racial segregation of the Montgomery Bus Line. -
Period: to
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a long conflict in Southeast Asia. It began in 1954, after the country of Vietnam was split into two parts, North Vietnam and South Vietnam. . More than 1.3 million Vietnamese soldiers and about 58,000 U.S. troops were killed. More than 2 million civilians also died. -
"I Have a Dream" Speech
Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered this speech during the March on Washington. This freedom call became one of the most defining civil rights movements in American history. The speech calls upon African-Americans to 'cash the check' that was written to all Americans by the country's founding fathers. -
9/11
On September 11, 2001, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked 4 commercial airplanes. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. This attack resulted in 2,977 deaths.