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Founding Jamestown
A group of 100 people from the Virginia Company founded the first permanent English colony in North America on the banks of the James River. -
Starving Time
The Starving Time was the winter of 1609–1610 when about 75% of the English colonists in Virginia died of starvation or cold. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Bacon's rebellion was started by Nathaniel Bacon in response to Native American's supposedly stealing. It happened in the Virginia colony. The rebels ended up losing. -
French and Indian War
This was fought between the British and the French with the Natives on France's side. The war was waged over land in North America. Britain won most of the land. -
Boston Massacre
On March fifth, there was a standoff between colonists and British soldiers. They were both shouting at each other and the colonists threw snowballs and rocks. Someone in the crowd shouted "fire!" and the British soldiers opened fire. There were five civilians killed and six more injured. -
Boston Tea Party
In December, rebel colonists dressed as Natives dumped crates of tea into the harbor leading to the British government passing the intolerable acts. -
First Continental Congress
It was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fifty six men attended. They drafted the Olive Branch petition which was denied by the king. -
Second Continental Congress
Each of the thirteen colonies sent representatives to Philadelphia. They established the first United States government lasting from 1776 to 1781 -
Battle of Lexington
This was the start of the Revolutionary War, dubbed the "shot heard around the world". The British had two injured and the colonists had ten injured and eight dead -
Battle of Concord
Colonists fired on British troops for fifteen miles. The British had 174 injured and 73 killed, the colonists had 41 injures and 41 killed. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The British attacked the colonial militia. The colonists had 450 deaths while the British had 1000+. The British won but at a great cost. -
Creating the Declaration of Independence
It was written by John Adams, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. There were three parts, basic human rights and purpose, 27 grievances, and the determination to separate. Any efforts to reach a peaceful situation failed. -
Battles of Trenton/Princeton
Washington crossed the Delaware River to New Jersey and surprise attacked Hessian mercenaries. Eight days later, he leads them to victory in the Battle of Princeton. -
Articles of Confederation
The first official written constitution of America. It had many powers and obligations but it also had weaknesses. -
Battle of Flamborough Head
John Paul Jones attacks the main British ship with his small ship. He ends up destroying the the British ship -
Benedict Arnold's Betrayal
He was the commander of West Point, the best US fort but He plotted to give the fort over to the British. He was discovered by the colonists and escaped to Britain. -
Battle of Yorktown
The British are cornered in Yorktown and surrender, ending the Revolutionary War with America winning. -
Treaty of Paris
This treaty granted America it's independence. It established the borders of the country and promised to repay the French. However, there was no date set for England to evacuate its soldiers from the forts it occupied in America. -
Shay's Rebellion
It was an armed revolt led by Daniel Shays. Farmers prevented court meetings in a protest against taxing and debt collection. In the end the rebellion was defeated and the farmers pardoned. -
Constitutional Convention
It was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Every state except Rhode Island showed up. The two parties in opposition were the Federalists and Anti-Federalists -
Northwest Ordinance
It said that the government could divide any new lands. It required sixty thousand people and a constitution to apply for statehood. -
George Washington's Election
Washington was the first president of America with John Adams as his VP. He had to deal with a lot of war debt which he compensated for by taxing whiskey. There was rebellions happening as a result of this. During his presidency, Alexander Hamilton was Secretary of State and worked on paying off war debts. -
Judiciary Act
This allowed Congress to set up the Supreme Court. The Marshall court named after John Marshall set up checks and balances and had the responsibility of the judicial branch. -
Creation of the Bill of Rights
There were ten amendments total that protected the rights of the American citizen. After the Bill of Rights was created, a lot more people were in favor of the constitution. -
Britain and France at War
Hamilton said not to help France despite France having helped America during the Revolutionary War. Jefferson, on the other hand, wanted to help France. Washington chose to remain neutral and not interfere. -
Jay's Treaty
Washington sends John Jay to England to create a treaty. It said that Britain would leave its forts in America and in exchange America would repay its war debt. It also said that Britain would repay American ships. Washington made congress approve the treaty to maintain peace -
XYZ Affair
France seizes American ships. Adams sends delegates to deal with it and French agents refuse to stop without payment. The delegates reject their demands -
John Adam's Election
John Adams was elected with Thomas Jefferson as his VP. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien Act said immigrants had to wait fourteen years before acquiring citizenship and they could be deported if they lied about it. The Sedition Act made it a crime to speak, write, or print against the government with a punishment of a 5000$ fine or five years in prison. Kentucky and Virginia passed resolutions against these acts. -
Quasi War
This was between France and America. It was largely fought at sea and the Americans lost only one ship while France lost eighty. It ended in 1800 and France agreed to stop interfering with American trade. -
Thomas Jefferson's Election
Jefferson was elected with Aaron Burr as his VP. Jefferson believed the government should only do what the people asked. -
Marbury v. Madison
This stated that no unconstitutional laws would be passed. It also said that the judicial system interprets the constitution. -
Corps of Discovery
Led by Lewis and Clark, this was the first expedition to explore the western United States. Sacagawea assisted them as a translator and navigator. -
Louisiana Purchase
The entire Louisiana Territory was purchased for ten million dollars. It doubled the size of America adding 530,000,000 acres at 3¢ an acre. It gave America control of the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans in addition to adding fifteen states. -
Embargo Act
Jefferson stopped all foreign trading to protect American ships and punish France and Britain. He later repealed this in 1809 because it was affecting America's economy negatively. -
James Madison's Election
He was elected president with George Clinton as his VP. The war of 1812 was fought while he was in office and he also renewed the licence for the national bank after realizing it was necessary for funding a war. -
The War of 1812
America waged war against Britain for seizing American ships and forcing sailors to join the British navy. The natives sided with Britain and helped them fight. -
Treaty of Ghent
This was the peace treaty that ended the war of 1812. It restored the borders of the two countries to where they were before the war and released all prisoners. -
New Orleans Battle
This was the last battle fought in the war of 1812. General Andrew Jackson defeated the British army in thirty minutes. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
This stated that federal laws had precedent over state laws. It also stated that the constitution would be the one to grant powers. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner was a black slave and a Christian preacher. He believed he was a prophet and that god spoke to him and told him hat to do. He led a murderous rebellion with seventy other slaves killing 55 people at least. Turner was executed by hanging. After this, it was made illegal to teach black people to read or write. -
Second Great Awakening
This greatly altered religion. By 1800 they had Evangelical Methodism and Baptists. Joseph Smith also founded Mormonism during this time. -
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was the forced movement of Native Americans from their homeland to the western US to accommodate for the growing size of the US. The Natives were severely mistreated and around 4000 died. -
Mexican-American War
Congress declared war and soon after, Mexico did the same. Immigrants made up half of the army with 1/4 being Irish. 8.3% of the Irish immigrants turned over to the Mexican side because they were also Catholic. The war ended on February 2nd, 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This set the Texas boundary at the Rio Grand river and added a lot of land to the US. -
Texas Annexation
Texas made a petition trying to become part of the US. President John Tyler did not support this but ended up signing the petition anyway, three days before his term ended. Mexico said the annexation would be considered an act of war but the voters approved it anyway. There were disputes over where the border of Texas actually was. -
Oregon Treaty
James K. Polk campaigned in 1844 promising to acquire Oregon for the US. Polk won and signed a treaty with Britain setting the US/Canada border at the 49th parallel. -
Seneca Falls Declaration
This was the first women's rights movement convention and it was held in Seneca Falls, New York. Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized and passed resolutions. They advocated for women's suffrage which brought much criticism and wasn't fully recognized until 1920. -
California Gold Rush
Gold was first discovered at Sutter's Mill in California. Polk officially announced it in December of 1848. Thousands of people rushed there trying to get rich, some even from Europe, Asia, and South America. The population of Sacramento went from 800 to 25,000 people.
