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Jamestown
The creation of Jamestown was a crucial moment in North America. This town was created in Virginia and was the first actually successful English colony. It began with investors hoping to make more money. The people in the colony suffered a lot through the cold winters, starvation, illnesses, etc. Then tobacco farming was introduced which helped increase the economy. -
Mayflower Compact
The Pilgrims made this agreement because they didn't have an actual plan on how to rule their colony. Their lack of rules and laws and authority affected them a lot so they gathered a bunch of people and together, signed this agreement. It was a team effort which now, people often see this document as an early stage of democracy in America. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a protest between the Americans and British, which was centered on the British law, the Tea Act. People dressed as Native Americans and got on the ships in the Boston Harbor. On the ships, they threw around 90,000 pounds of tea into the ocean. This made their relationship with the British worse than it already was. -
The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation, in 1781, allowed all states to keep most of their power. Congress could declare war and manage foreign affairs but couldn’t collect taxes or enforce laws. This led to money issues and fights between states. This would show the need for a strong government. -
Battle of Yorktown
This battle also known as the "Siege of Yorktown" was an important one for the Revolutionary War since it was one of the last ones. It was led by George Washington with a bit of help from the French in Virginia. This was a key event because it helped the British realize that they had no chance in winning the war. This finally ended the war which led up to their independence in the Treaty of Paris (1783). -
The Making of the Constitution
In 1787 the most important leaders of that time met in Philadelphia to fix the Article of Confederation. As a result, they wrote and created the Constitution, a document that stated all the government's rules and structure like the legislative, executive and judicial branches. They wanted to be able to protect the people's freedom. -
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in 1791 in order to protect important freedoms for all Americans. It has the first ten amendments, which write out rights like freedom of speech, religion, as well as the right to a fair trial. These amendments were created so that people’s rights were safe from the government abuse of power and helped gain support for the new Constitution. -
Addition to the Bill of Rights
In 1791 the Constitution added the Bill of Rights to protect the freedom of their citizens. The first 10 amendments were about topics like, freedom of speech and religion and to help people feel safer in their own country with said government. -
Marbury v. Madison
The supreme court said that if any of the individual state government laws contradict the constitution it wouldn't be valid. John Marshall, the Chief Justice said it was in the hands of the court to validate them or not. This was how the judicial reveal was created, giving all the power to the court and leaving them to check each law and compare them to the constitution. This is what helped the Supreme Court be so important to the US government. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was an important event for US history because it was when Thomas Jefferson bought the territory from France for $15 million dollars, $330 million in today's money. This made the US double its size since it extended the western boundary from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River. This was part of Jefferson's idea of "empire of liberty". -
The Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a law they made to solve the problems there were with slavery from the North and South. Missouri wanted to be the exception and have slavery be allowed. In order to balance out the even amount of states in favor or against slavery, they made Maine a free state. Additionally, the law drew a line across the Louisiana
Territory at latitude 36°30' North of that line, slavery would be banned. South of the line, it would be permitted. -
Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Falls Convention in New York was the beginning of women rights in the US. People like Elizabeth Cady Stanton made the Declaration of Sentiments where it said that all men and women are equal. This called out the "equality" there was in the law because of women's right to vote. -
Emancipation Proclamation
After the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln made public the Emancipation Proclamation which meant that the slaves in the Confederate states would be free as of 1863. The Confederacy decided to ignore it but the Proclamation made ending slavery the whole point of the war so people would still fight and defend their states. This decision weakened the South but still gave the Union more power. -
The Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott Decision was a case the supreme court took on about a slave, Dred Scott, who simply wanted to get out of slavery. He used to live on a free territory but still was a slave to his 'owner'. African Americans were not citizens according to the Court. Shortly after the Court said no to his petition, Scott was sold, and his new enslaver granted him the freedom the Court had denied. -
The Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single day battle during the Civil War in Maryland. More than 20,000 soldiers either died or were hurt during the battle. This conflict stopped the Confederates from invading the North and allowed President Lincoln to step up into the Emancipation Proclamation. -
14th and 15th Amendment
After the Civil War, the South created rules and/or laws that gave the people of color the right to vote. The 14th and 15th Amendments were approved in 1870. This was followed up by the making of public schools where black and white students weren't allowed to be together in class so they were separated. -
Jim Crow Laws
After the Reconstruction, the Jim Crow laws were created to separate the black and the white people in public places. This created segregations in transport, businesses, schools, etc and meant that none of them could mix in any way. The Supreme Court was presented with the Plessy v. Ferguson case which allowed these laws to be legal in the US.