-
Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta Signed
linkThe Magna Carta was signed by King John in England. It was the beginning of the first constitutional government in England. It's important to America because it is considered to be the founding document of English LIberties which end up being American Liberties and influenced the Constitution and Bill of Rights. -
Mayflower Compact Signed
linkThe Mayflower Compact was signed by all 41 of the adult male pilgrims on trhe Mayflower.It was initially made to be a set of fair and equal laws for the good of the settlement and the wellbeing of the people. However, they knew a government hadn't worked so well in the past so they made it just for their survival instead. It set up authority and was used until 1691. It was used to become free of English law and to set up their own type of government. -
Formation of the New England Confederation
link A federation of MAssachusetts, Connecticut, New Haven and Plymouth. They decided to have a government made up of eight commisioners, two from each colony. The commisioners were appointed to making the big decisions. -
French And Indian War Begins
link The French and Indian War was a war between the Colonists and Britian verse the French. The Colonists won with Wahington leading them. However, in the end, Kong George and the British enraged the Colonists by passing the Royal Proclaimation. -
Albany Plan of Union Announced
linkA plan made to place the British North American colonies under a more central government. It was never carried out, however it was the first plan that viewed the colonies as one unit under one government. -
Treaty of Paris (1763)
link The Treaty of Paris was written by the British and claimed that all French Territory on the mainland of North America was lost. -
Royal Proclaimation (1763)
link The Royal Proclaimation was a statement issued by King George III which prevented colonial expansion west of the Appalachians. This enraged the colonists because this land is what they had been fighting for throughout the French and Indian War. -
Sugar Act
link The Sugar Act reduced the tax on molasses from six pense to three pense per gallon. However, it put more taxes on foreign goods such as sugar, some wines, coffe, etc -
Stamp Act
link The Stamp Act placed a tax on all paper goods including newspapers, playing cards and official documents. The colonies began to boycott buying British goods and met at the Stamp Act congress to discuss their options. So, parliament repealed the Stamp Act. -
Stamp Act Congress
link The stamp act congress' motto was "no taxation without representation." also, by being part of it the delegates subconciously became unified. -
Townshend Acts
link The Townshend Acts placed a tax on all goods imported into the colonies such as lead, paint, glass and tea. -
Bpston Massacre
link A colonist "accidently" threw a snowball, which resulted in a British soldier "accidently" firing his gun. this made al lthe other british soldiers fire, leaving 5 colonistds dead. -
Boston Tea Party
link Parliament passed a law that said only tea from the east india tea company could be consumed in the colonies. even though this tea was cheaper than dutch tea, the colonists refused to drink it. members of the sons of liberty disguised themselves as muhawk indians and dumped 15000 lbs of tea into boston harbor -
First Continental Congress
link The delgates met in Philidelphia to discuss how they should respond to the intolerable acts. they agreed to continue boycotting british goods and to work toward being self sufficient -
Congress Meets for the 1st Time
link The Continental Congress first met in Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia. There was a lot of debates and discussion about their new nation. -
Patrick Henry "Give Me Liberty"
link Henry made a propsal toto organize a cavalry group and infentry group and Virginia. He ended his proposal by saying "give me liberty or give me death" -
Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
link Revere was sent by Dr. Warren to Lexington MA to warn Sam Adams and John Hancock that British troops were coming to arrest them. On his way, he told everyone he passed that the regulars were on their way. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
linkThe colonists won with less than 100 casualities where as the Biritsh on the other hand had 300. -
Fort Ticonderoga
linkEthan Allen and his Green mOuntain boys captured this fort that was lightly held by the british in upstate new york and brought the cannons from there to boston -
Second Continental Congress Meets
linkThis is when it was agreed to create the Continental Army and appointed George Washington to lead it. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
linkthe colonists were "forced" to surrender a strategic site just outside of boston when they ran out of ammunition -
"common Sense" published
linkit challanged the authority of british government/ royal monarchy. it was written by thomas payne. -
Biritsh evacuate boston
link this is commerated in suffolk county as the day the british left boston for good. -
Declaration of Independance Announced
linkAfter making 47 revisions to it, the declaration of independance was first formally announced july 2nd. however, we celebrate our independance day as july 4th because it was not put into action until then. -
"The Crisis" Published
link "The Crisis" begins with the opening line "These are the times to try men's souls" It discuss' how and why it is the time to try men's souls and refers to the Revolution and fighting and so forth. -
Wasifngton Captures Trenton
linkWasington and his troops surprised the Hessians the day after christmas,which began to turn the tide of the war. -
British defeated at Saratoga
linka battle that took place in upstate new york that served as the turning point in the war as the Continental Army defeated "gentleman" Johnny Burgoyne -
Winter at Valley Forge, PA
link No battles took place here for the 6 moths of the winter, it was the camp of the COninental Army. the only thing they were beating was bad weather conditions and low morale. -
John Paul Jones defeats the Serapis
linkJohn Paul Jones was the first well-known American sea captain. By defeating the serapis, he won a very important sea battle against the british. this was a very big deal considering the british had the strongest navy in the world. -
Benedict Arnold Plans found Out
link benedict arnold was married to a woman named paggy was just so happened to be good friends with Major John Andre, or the Cheif of Intellegiance of the British forces. this led to Arnold and Andre talking about Arnold betraying the Colonists which eh soon did and became a British loyalist. -
Articles of Confederation Signed
link The Srticles created a loose cnfederation of strong states and a weak central government. The need for a stong central government overpowered the Articles of Confederation and it was replaced by the constitution on March 4th, 1789 -
Cornwallis Surrenders
linkBritish General Cornwallis surrendered to the Continental army after a 3 week seige in Yorktown when help from British troops failed to arrive. -
Newburgh Conspiracy
link The Newburgh Conspiracy as ath the end of the Revolutionary War. It was the result of many officers and men in the Continental Army that had not recieved pay for many years. -
Treaty of Paris (1783) Signed
link The treaty brought a close to the Revolutionary War. Posed the question to the Britsh North Americans to either remain "subjects" of King George lll or "citizens" of the United States. -
Spain Closes Mississippi River
link Spain closed the Mississippi River because of the rapid growth of America. This made them a menace to Mexico, so they felt the need to stop it. -
Land Ordinance of 1785
link It laid the foundations of American land policy until the Homestead Act in 1862. The land was surveyed and auctioned off. -
Ordinance of Religious Freedom
link This is part of the First Amendment and was written by THomas Jefferson. It says people can be any religion they want to be. -
Shays' Rebellion
link Shays' Rebellion was a rebellion by the farmers started by Daniel Shay. They were mad because they were not allowed to pay taxes with anything but silver and gold, which of course they didnt have. -
Annapolis Convention
link
The Annapolis Convention consisted of 12 delgates from 5 states. They were brought together to fix the barriers that limited trade and and commerce. -
Constitutional Convention Opens
link THe Constitutional Conventional lasted 4 months and was made up of 55 delgates. At these conventions was where our Consitutuion was formed. -
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
link The NOrthwest Ordinance established a government for the Northwest Territory, outlined the process of puttin a new state in the union and gaurenteed the equality of new states and the old thirteen colonies. It protected civil liberties and banned slavery in new states. -
The Great Compromise agreed to
link The Great Compromise consists of a bicameral Congress, with proportional representation on one chamber (House of Representatives) and equal representation in the other (Senate.) -
Constitution sent to the States for Ratification
The Constitution was sent to the states for ratification through the newspaper, pamphlets, etc., and was ratified on June 21, 1788 when New Hampshire was the last state to ratify it. -
Anti-Federalist Articles Appear
link Anti-Federalist Articles started to appear as soon as the Constitution was made. Anti-Federalists were against ratifying the Constitution and wanted a weak central government. -
Federalist Papers appear
link
Federalist Papers began to appear stimutaneously with the Anti-Federalist Articles, right after the final draft of the Constitution was made. They supported the ratification of the Constitution and believed in a strong central government. -
-
Massachusetts Ratifies the Constitution
link Massachusetts becaome the sixth state to ratify the Constitution. -
New Hampshire Ratifies Constitution
link New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, and if nine out of the thirteen states ratified it, it would be put into affect, so it was. -
George Washington Elected President
linkHe became the first president of the United States and carried out his duties and went by the Constitution. He served for 2 terms. -
Bill of Rights Sent to States for Ratification
link Just like the Constitution, the Bill of Rights was sent to the states to become ratified. Nine out of the thirteen states had to approve of it in order for it to be put into affect. -
Bill of Rights Ratified
link Nine out of the thirteen states approved of the ratification of the Bill of Rights so it was put into affect. -
Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions Written
linkThese resolutions argued that the federal government had no authority to exercise power not specifically given to it in the Constitution. The Virgnia Resolution was written by Madison and the Kentucky Resolutions were written by Jefferson. -
Hartford Convention meets during War of 1812
linkThe Hartford Convention met during the War of 1812 in a response to the peace treaty being finalized. Americanopponents of the war came together to discuss their grievences and to propose their ideas on how to prevent war in the future. -
Missouri Compromise
linkThought up by Henry Clay, the Missouri Compromise bhrought MIssouri into the Union as a slave state and allowed Maine as a free state. It also set the boundary of slavery as the 36 30 line (the southern border of MIssouri) as the dividing line for slavery. -
Tariff of Abominations Passed
linkIt was made to protect New England manufacturing interests and western agricultural products from competition with foreign imports by upping the tax on foreign products. However, by doing so, southern cotton was severly devalued. -
South Carolina Tries to Nullify
linkThis was in response to the tariff on abominations. John C. Cahlhoun felt a solution for the devalued. Cahloun proposed that the government only existed at the will of the states. So, if a state found a law to be unconstitutional they have the right to nullify it within their borders. -
Abolition of Slavery Act (1833)
link This act was passed by parliament to abolish slavery in all the British colonies. This means people were no longer to buy, sell or own slaves. -
Texas Declares Independance from Mexico
link
U.S. settlers had begun to go to Texas. MMexico's president noticed this, and abolished slavery and started to new rules to try to discourage them. In response, Americans revolted, eventually taking over the land -
-
Mexican War
link The Mexican War resulted from the Texas gaining its indepenace from Mexico and joing the US combined with the US's motivation to expand westward due to "manifest destiny." This war was over the land west of the Nueces River. The US won, gaining the land. However, they didnt know whether or not to make it slaver territoy or not. -
Wilmot Proviso
link David Wilmont was against the expansion of slavery into the land won in the Mexican War, however he could be considered racist. On August 8th, 1846 he made a proviso to the government that declared "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist." -
California Enters the Union
link Califrnia was admitted to statehood as a free, nonslavery state by the Compromise of 1850. -
Fugitive Slave Clause Enacted
linkThe Fugitive Slave clause stated that if a person under forced labor is found trying to run away they must be returned to their owner. -
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin
linkUncle Tom's Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and opened the publics eyes when it came to slavery by telling the srory of a fugitive slave. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
linkSteven Douglass needed to organize Kansas and Nebraska to run railroad lines through from Chicago to the west and believed in popular soverignity. There was bloodshed in Kansas in 1856 over whther or not it should be a slave or free state. It went against the Missouri Compromise by allowing slavery to the north of the 3630 line -
The Lecompton Constitution
link Kansas was in the midst of being a new state and trying to decide whether they should be a free state or a slave state. The Lecompton Constitution is a pro-slavery document which won in Kansas due to the boreder ruffians illegally voting for it, making Kansas a slave state. -
"Border Ruffians" attack Lawrence
linkWhile the fight in Kansas was going on due to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Nw England sent anti-slavery forces to station there and fight off pro-slavery forces. The town of Lawrence was under a strong anti-slavery hold, however pro-slavery forces- or "border ruffians" came over the border, attacked them and one -
Charles Sumner Attacked
link On this day, a congressman from the south came up to the north and marched into Sumners office and beat him up with his cane. This was a result of the highly offensive language Sumner had used in a speech about the south three days prior to the surprise attack. -
Pottawatomie Creek (5/24/1856)
link A few days after the "border ruffians" at lawrence incident, anti-slavery religous man was all fired up. He was furious that the people at lawrence had chosen not to fight, he was a very aggressive man. He believed in "an eye for an eye" so, he marched to the pro-slavery town of Pottawatomie Creek and killed five people. -
Formation of the Republican Party
link The Republican Party was formed to make a party to balance out the flood of pro-slavery people. -
Dred Scott Decision Announced
linkDred Scott was a slave who made the case that he should be free since he was moved to a free state. However, Tarney, chief of the supreme court, made the decision that he could not be freed. Tarney was pro-slavery and viewed no blacks as citizens. He also believed the 1820 Compromise was unconstitutional. -
Lincoln Douglas Debates
linkLincoln and Douglas debated against one another when it came to slavery. Lincoln believed instopping the expansion of slavery and Douglas believed in popular soverignty. Abraham Lincoln did not think the nation could survive split into free and slave states. Douglas on the other hand, thought it could. -
Raid at Harpers Ferry
linkA force of slaves and some whites under the command of JOhn Brown raided an armory to suply the slavesw with weapons to attack the town and free the slaves there to make a stand against slavery. Brown was caught and hung for his crimes. -
Democrats Split in 1860
linkDuring the Election of 1860 Democrats in the North sperated from one another. Because Douglas believed in popluar soverignity he was viewed as a triator by southern democrats. The NOrthern democrats mostly turned republican. -
Formation of Constitutional Union Party
linkThis party was formed from the "Whig" and "Know Nothing" parties. This party supported the middle states such as Kentucky, MAryland, Virginia and Tennessee and thought that they would be the main battlegrounds for the Civil War. -
Election of 1860
link The Election of 1860 was between Abraham Lincoln (R) and Stephen Douglas (DEM) DOuglas was viewed as a triator by south carolina because he believed in popular soverigenty. this gave lincoln the edge to win. however, this upsetr south carolina so they left the union. -
Abraham Lincoln Announces Plans for Reconstruction
linkAbrahams Plan for Reconstruction was to pardon all confederates who pledged alligiance to the union- unless they were part of the confederate army. He also would allow the southern states to create a new constitution if and only if 10% of voters swear against slavery. They then can hold elections. -
Wade-Davis Recieves Pocket Veto
linkThe Wade-Davis BIll was made in response to Lincoln's 10% PLan. They thought 10% was way too low of a number. The bill required that 50% of white men took the oath and all southern states allowed all blacks to vote. Congress passed the bill but LIncoln vetoed it. -
Lincoln Re-elected President
link Lincoln went up against Andrew Johnson and the Radical Republicans. He won and became president and started his plan for Reconstruction. -
Formation of the Freedman's Bureau
link This was made by the Congress as a division of the army. It was originally made to aid blacks from going from enslaved to freed men and women. -
Assassination of Abraham LIncoln
linkOn the night of the 14th, Lincoln decided to go to Ford's Theatre with his wife to watch "Our American Cousin," a comedy at the time. John Wilkes Booth, one of the best actors, found out of Lincoln's plans and planned on assiassinating him. At the perfect time, he snuck into the presidents box and shot him. Abraham Lincoln died the next day. -
President Andrew Johnson Annonce Pland for Reconstruction
link In Johnson's PLan for Reconstruction, he would pardon any confederate who took an oath to the Union. They would also get their land back that was taken away by the Federal officials during the war. The only people not included in this were people who ranked highly in the confederate military who resigned from the Federal Army to be in the Confederates. Johnson also would appoint a governer to each state. -
Black Codes Created Mississippi
linkThe black Codes were created in MIssissippi in the years following the Civil War by white men who were against equal rights amongst races. They limited the blacks freedom. For example, they prohibited the selling or exchanging merchandise without permisiion, carrying weapons and renting or keeping a home. -
Ratification of the 13th Amendment
linkThe thirteenth amendment stated that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." The big picture is that it was the first thing to formally abolish slavery in the United States. -
Klu Klux Klan Created
linkThe Klu Klax Klan was created when some whites were angry that so much had been given to african americans and in response some joined an organization, which was the KKK. They were considering the US's first terrorist group and they covered themselves in white robes and hoods, appearing out of nowhere. Their actions consisted of planting burning crosses in front yards, and harassing, torturing, kidnapping or murdering them. -
Civil Rights Act (1866) Enacted
link The Civil Rights Act of 1866 granted citizenship and the same rights white people have to blacks -
Reconstruction Acts Enacted
link The First Reconstructions Act divided the south into five divisions all under military control. The general appointed to each was to suppress any violence and to ensure everyone had equal rights. -
President Andrew Johnson Impeached
link President Andrew Johnson was impeached because he fired the Sercretary of War, Edwin Stanton, without the consent of the Congress. -
Ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment
linkThe Fourteenth Amendment guarenteed privaliges and immunities of citizenship, due process , and equal protection. -
Ulysses S. Grant elected President
link Ulysses S. Grant was elected President on March 4th, 1869. He went with the raidcal republicans plan for reconstruction. -
Ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment
linkThe Fifteenth Amendment guarenteed the right to vote regardless of race, color, and previous condition of servitude. -
Klu Kluz Klan Act Enacted
link This act allowed President Grant to use force to suppress the KKK and punish anyone who was affiliated with it. -
Freedman's Bureau Abolished
link The bureau was critized a lot due to to its promotion of the Republican party. It was the least liked tool of reconstruction . On June 28th, 1872, the Secretary of War issued an order discontinuing the bureau. -
Civil Rights Act (1875) passed
link This Act protected all citizens, no matter what race they were. It allowed them to go to public places such as the theatre, restaraunts, transportion places, etc. It was declared unconstitutional in 1883. -
"Jim Crow" enters the American Cultural Language
linkJIm Crow was a white man who painted his face black and pretended he was black. He put on show whos audience was white. They made fun of the black men. This resulted in the name "Jim Crow" become a term for blacks, like "nigger" but less derogatory. Laws also came about due to "JIm Crow." They were closely related to the BLack Codes. -
Last National Troops Leave South Carolina
link As president, Rutherford took the remaining troops out of South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana, which ended the federal governments power in the south. -
Rutherford B. Hayes Elected President
link When he was elected President, Hayes took military control out of the south and ended reconstruction. -
Civil Acts Overturned (1883)
link The Civil Rights Acts that protected everyones rights regardless of race were declared unconstitutional in 1883 -
Case of Plessy v. Ferguson
link In 1892, Plessy was arresed for sitting in a "white only" section of the train when he was 1/8th black. He was arrested because this violated the Seperate Car Act. Plessy purposley did this so he could challenge the Supreme Court. He made a case that the Seperate Car Act violated the 13th and 14th amendment. As a result of this case, segregation was made constitutional as long as the accommadations were equal. -
Hiram Revels elected to Senate
link Hiram Revel was the first african american to become paet of the senate. -
Florida requires Segregation in Places of Public Accommodation
link Although Florida was the first to make these laws, most southern states followed by the year 1892. Not only did these laws make it harder for blacks do become part of the juries, it also hindered their voiting abilities. They had to take a literacy test and pay poll taxes. This made it hard for them because tey were uneducated and poor.
