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1492
The Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was the transfer of plants, animals, diseases, people, and technology between the Old World and the New World. This greatly altered the environments of all the continents, as new plants and animals were introduced to new parts of the world.
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Period: 1492 to
History 8 Timeline
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Aug 3, 1492
Christopher Columbus' First Voyage
Christopher Columbus began his voyage from Palos, Spain, hoping to reach India, but instead, this voyage brought him to discover the New World and begin the Columbian Exchange.
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Oct 12, 1492
Christopher Columbus Lands In the New World
Christopher Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas, believing that he was in India. He began his interactions with the Natives, falsely calling them Indians. The diseases that he brought to the New World with him, such as smallpox, eventually killed thousands of Natives, nearly wiping out entire populations.
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Jamestown
Jamestown was the first permanent English colony in North America. This colony inspired others to move to the New World, but it was not without its hardships. There is evidence that the settlers resorted to cannibalism due to the lack of food during a harsh winter.
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Plymouth Colony
The Pilgrims on the Mayflower arrived at Cape Cod and established a colony at Plymouth. They eventually made peace with the Natives, feasting with them at the first Thanksgiving.
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The Mayflower Compact
Some passengers aboard the Mayflower signed the Mayflower Compact, the first written form of self-governance.
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La Salle Claims Louisiana
French Explorer, Robert La Salle, claimed the area around the Mississippi River and named it Louisiana. This territory would be traded between many countries, including France, Spain, and eventually to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase.
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The French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was part of the Seven Years' War. It began with a dispute over who owned the Ohio River Valley, Great Britain or France. The British eventually won the war, but conflicts later erupted when Britain attempted to tax the colonies in an attempt to help pay the debt from the war.
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The Battle of Quebec
The Battle of Quebec was the last major battle in the French and Indian War. The British won this key battle that eventually ended the war with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
Source: America: History of Our Nation Textbook -
The Treaty of Paris - The End of the French and Indian War
The French and Indian War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris of 1763, giving Great Britain claim to the Ohio River Valley, Spanish Florida, and French Canada. France was almost completely eliminated as a threat from the New World, except for the port of New Orleans. This eventually led to the Proclamation of 1763, and increased tensions between the British colonies and Britain.
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The Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 prohibited all British colonists from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains in an attempt to decrease conflicts with the natives. Many colonists ignored this proclamation and moved westwards anyways, resulting in more British troops being present in the thirteen colonies. This was the beginning of tensions between Britain and the colonies, eventually leading to the Revolutionary War.
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The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was an act passed by the British government on the thirteen colonies to reduce debt caused by the Seven Years' War. This act placed taxes on sugar, cloth, coffee, silk, etc. It increased tensions between Britain and the colonies, as the colonists didn't have representation in the British government when these taxes were passed. The resulting motto was "no taxation without representation!"
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The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was an act that required the British Colonies to pay hefty taxes on all forms of paper in an attempt to pay for the cost of the Seven Years' War. The colonists thought that this tax was unreasonable, especially because they had no representation in the British government: this led to increased tensions between the colonies and Britain and eventually the Revolutionary War.
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The Boston Tea Party
British Colonists in Boston dumped more than three hundred chests of tea into the Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act, which placed taxes on tea. As a result for their rebellious behavior, King George III closed Boston Harbor, greatly angering the colonists: this was one of the major events that increased tensions between the colonies and Britain leading up to the Revolutionary War.
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The Beginning of the Revolutionary War
In 1775, King George III declared the American colonies to be rebelling against the British Parliament, marking the beginning of the Revolutionary War.
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Common Sense
Thomas Paine published a pamphlet, Common Sense, encouraging American independence. This increased the popularity of the colonies' independence from Britain and inspired people to join the fight for liberty and freedom.
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The Declaration of Independence
In 1776, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, sealing the beginning of the American Revolution, as they had officially declared themselves free of British rule.
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The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781 as the first Constitution of the United States. They were later deemed ineffectual and were replaced with the current United States Constitution. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shay's Rebellion occurred when farmers couldn't pay off their debts due to decreasing crop prices, etc. When Massachusetts couldn't afford to hire a larger militia, and it had to rely on private donations, calls for a Constitutional Convention began to greaten. -
The Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia in 1787 as representatives from the different states debated and voted on a new United States Constitution. This is where the Great Compromise, the 3/5 Compromise, etc. were made. -
New Jersey Plan
The New Jersey Plan proposed a series of amendments to the Articles of Confederation. It called for a less powerful national government with a unicameral Congress in which all states had equal representation. Delegates of the smaller states welcomed the New Jersey Plan. But after several days of debate, the convention voted to reject this proposal and return to discussion of the Virginia Plan. -
The Virginia Plan
It called for a national government with three branches. The legislative branch would make laws, the executive branch would carry out the laws, and the judicial branch would interpret the laws. The new government would have a bicameral legislature made up of two houses. Representation in the two houses of Congress should be based on the population of each state. This would give the more populous states more delegates, and therefore more influence, than states with smaller populations. -
The Great Compromise
Finally, Roger Sherman of Connecticut came forward with a compromise designed to satisfy all sides. His plan called for a bicameral legislature with a different form of representation in each house. In the Senate, the states would have equal representation. In the House of Representatives, states would have representation based on their populations. Sherman's plan, known as the Great Compromise, resolved the thorny issue of representation in Congress. -
3/5 Compromise
For representation in the House, every five slaves would be counted as equal to three whites. The Three-Fifths Compromise settled the dispute, but the contradiction between the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the practice of slavery would haunt the country in the decades to come. -
The Electoral College
They finally decided to set up a special body called the Electoral College. This body would be made up of electors from each state who would cast votes to elect the president and vice president. Each state would have as many electors as the number of senators and representatives it sent to Congress. -
The Bill of Rights
On December 15, 1791, enough states had ratified 10 amendments to make them part of the Constitution. These 10 amendments are known collectively as the Bill of Rights. -
Cotton Gin
In 1794, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, greatly reducing the time it took to separate cotton from its seeds. This resulted in an increased demand for slaves because the plantation owners wanted to yield the greatest profits possible and that was now made easier because the cotton gin decreased the time and effort that it took to harvest cotton.
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The Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the trade of the Louisiana Territory from France to the United States for $15 million. Because of this land exchange, Native Americans were eventually forced to move from these lands to Indian Reservations and the Oklahoma territory through the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears.
Source: History Alive! Online Textbook (Chapter 8 Section 3) -
The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806)
The Lewis and Clark Expedition was a mapping expedition that explored west of the Appalachian Mountains (the Louisiana Territory). This expedition motivated people to move westward because they now knew where they were moving to and what the conditions were like in that location.
Source: America the Story of Us, Episode 3: Westward Expansion -
Steam Powered Train
In 1814, George Stephenson designed the first successful steam engine in 1814. This led to the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, as it was a steam-powered engine.
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The Missouri Compromise [Link Text](https://student.teachtci.com/shared/sections/8216?program_id=109)
When Missouri wanted to join the U.S. as a slave state, it initially couldn't do so, as the north and the south had equal numbers in the Senate, and many wanted to keep it that way to reduce conflicts. So, in 1820 when Maine wanted to join the U.S. as a free state, the Missouri Compromise was made. It entered both Maine and Missouri into the Union, kept numbers equal in the Senate, and created the Missouri Compromise line where slavery was banned to the north and permitted to the south of it. -
Indian Removal act
The Indian Removal Act was an Act signed by President Andrew Jackson that required all Native Americans residing in the Louisiana Territory to move onto Indian Reservations in Oklahoma. This allowed Americans to move onto those lands and create a profit for themselves. Natives who didn't heed the Indian Removal Act, such as the Cherokees, were removed by force through the Trail of Tears.
Source: History Alive! Online textbook (Chapter 8 Section 3) -
The Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was the forced removal of the Cherokee Indians at gunpoint to the Oklahoma Territory. This was a major source of debate throughout the United States, as many Cherokee died on this trek and relationships with the Native Americans were poor due to the Indian Removal Act.
Source: America: The Story of Us (pages 70 and 71) -
Emancipation Proclamation
During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, president of the Union, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves living in the states of rebellion, or the Confederacy, would be freed on January 1, 1863. This gave the Union a moral purpose and meant that if the North secured victory in the Civil War, slavery would be abolished.
Source: History Alive! Textbook -
Tanks in World War I (Invention) - History Alive! Chapter 23 Section 3
During World War I, both armies, the Allies and the Central Powers used trench warfare, causing the war to come to a stalemate, as little progress could be made. The new invention of the tank ended this stalemate, as armies could now cross the land in between opposing army's trenches, no man's land, without major casualties. The Allies were the first to use tanks in World War I, giving them a major advantage over Germany and the Central Powers, and eventually resulting in the Allied victory. -
The End of World War I
World War I ended after the Allies launched the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. They reached the Sedan railroad, the German's main supply line, and took control of it. On November 11, 1918, Germany agreed to a truce, and the war was over. This was a significant event, as it ended the fighting process in World War I and began the long journey of healing ahead.
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Period: to
The Great Depression
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D-Day Invasions: History Alive! Chapter 36 Section 3
The D-Day Invasions were when the Allies attacked five of Normandy's beaches. This opened a new Western European front during World War II, taking pressure off of the Soviet Union who had been heavily attacked by Axis forces. In addition, the Allies were able to move their forces inland and liberated Paris. This is significant because these invasions helped the Allies to gain victory over the Axis powers in the European front. -
The Atomic Bomb (Source: Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon)
After Germany had fallen to Allied Powers, and the European front was closed during World War II, Japan and the Pacific front still remained. Because Japan refused to surrender, two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The use of this very powerful nuclear weapon resulted in Japanese surrender and the official end of World War II. -
Yalta Conference
In February 1945, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill met in the Soviet city of Yalta for the Yalta Conference. In mostly amicable talks, they agreed to collaborate in shaping postwar Europe. -
Potsdam Conference
At the Potsdam Conference, the Allies finalized their postwar plans for Germany, including the division of Berlin into occupation zones.
The mood at Potsdam was tense. This fueled Stalin's distrust of the United States. Truman also felt wary of Stalin. The Soviet army still occupied much of Eastern Europe, and Truman was suspicious of Soviet intentions. The Soviet leader had promised to allow free elections in Eastern Europe but had not yet fulfilled that promise -
Marshall Plan - History Alive!: Chapter 38 Section 5
During the Cold War, many Eastern European nations were converting to a communist government. As the United States was democratic, they didn't want communism to spread and threaten the free rights of the people. The Marshall plan was created to halt the spread of communism and aid the economies of the Eastern European nations after they were shattered during World War II; however, the Soviet Union created their Molotov Plan to threaten the Marshall Plan. -
Berlin Blockade
In 1948, the Soviet Union set up a blockade around Berlin to force the Allies to either abandon the city or cancel plans for the creation of West Germany. The Allies launched an airlift to bring supplies into Berlin and break the blockade. In the end, Germany was split between east and west. -
NATO and the Warsaw Pact
NATO and the Warsaw Pact In 1949, the Western powers formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a military alliance to counter Soviet aggression. The Soviets responded by forming their own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact, with Eastern European countries. -
Korean War
Korean War After the fall of China to communism, Cold War tensions flared up in Korea. In 1950, North Korean communists invaded South Korea, prompting a war with U.S. and UN forces. The Korean War ended in 1953, but Korea remained divided. -
9/11 Terrorist Attacks
The attacks of 9/11 left Americans with a new sense of vulnerability and prompted a war to eliminate the threat of terrorism. The war on terror—at home and abroad—posed the challenge of balancing our founding ideals with our desire for security.
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