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Jamestown Founded
- Jamestown was founded by a joint-stock company called the Virginia Company of London
- They were attracted the to the New World because of the gold and the strong desire to find a passage through America to the Indies
- The charter of Virginia Company was important because it guarantted the rights of Englishemn to the colonists overseas
- Three ships landed on Cheasapeake Bay, and about 100 hundred settlers, all English men, settled in the place they called Jamestown
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First Anglo-Powhatan War
- Tension was high between The English and the the Powhatan Indians, especially wnen the English were stealing their food supplies
- Lord De La Warr came to Jamestown in 1610, and declared war against the Indians
- De La Warr's troops raided Indian villages, burned houses, confiscated provisions, and torched corn fields
- A peace settlement ended the war
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Virginia House of Burgesses created
- the first representative assembly in America meets for the first time in Virginia
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Pilgrims Come on Mayflower to the New World
- The Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts is established by Pilgrims from England
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Puritans found Massachusetts Bay Colony
- The colony was founded by the owners of the Massachusetts Bay Company
- The population was strongly Puritan, and it was dominated by a small group of leaders who were influenced by Puritan religious leaders
- The colonial leadership exhibited intolerance to other religious views, including Anglican, Quaker, and Baptism
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Pequot War
- The primary cause of the Pequot War was the struggle for control between the English and the Pequot Indians
- The English wanted to break the Dutch-Pequot control of the fur and wampum trade and the Pequot wanted to maintain their dominance in the region
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Navigation Act
- The English Crown approves a Navigation Act requiring the exclusive use of English ships for trade in the English Colonies
- It also limits exports of tobacco and sugar and other commodities to England or its colonies.
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Bacon's Rebellion
- Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion against governor William Berkeley after he refused to deal with the Indians on the land
- Because of the problems the Virginians were facing, such as declining tobacco prices, an increasingly restricted English market, and British mercantalism, Bacon and his followers were angered
- That is why when the Indians first raided some land, and Berkeley didnt do anything about it, all of the anger was taken out on him
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Pennsylvania Colony Founded
- William Penn founded Pennsylvania, who was issued the land grant from King Charles II largerly because of the debt that he owed to his father
- Penn created a government that gave Quakers religious freedom
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Salem Witch Trials
- The Salem Witch Trials were from June through September of 1692, where nineteen men and women, all having been convicted of witchcraft, and were hanged
- It was caused by the belief that Satan was acting on Earth, and some believed that the unknown parts of the New World were where he stayed and recruited men and women to become witches
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Beginning of the Great Awakening
- The First Great Awakening led to changes in Americans' understanding of God, themselves, the world around them, and religion
- The revival began with Jonathan Edwards in Northampton, Massachusetts
- Edwards emphasized the importance and power of immediate, personal religious experience and taught that only a personal experience can be valid, decrying the entire process of scientific inquiry and progress
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French and Indian War (Seven Years' War)
- The French and Indian War was the final conflict in the ongoing struggle between the British and French for control of eastern North America
- The British win over the French on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec on Sept. 13, 1759
- The Treaty of Paris, signed Feb. 10, 1763, gave Britain control of Canada and all the French possessions east of the Mississippi
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Proclamation of 1763
- King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763 that forbade colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains
- He hoped to placate Native Americans who had sided against him during the recently concluded Seven Years’ War
- Enforcement was so weak, however, that it did very little to curb the westward flow of pioneers
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Sugar Act
- The British Parliament enacted the Stamp Act, a taxation measure designed to raise revenue for British military operations in America
- The cause was the widespread opposition of British rule in the American colonies
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Stamp Act
- The Stamp Act was an effort to raise funds to pay off debts and defend the vast new American territories won from the French in the Seven Years' War
- The British government passed the Stamp Act that levied a direct tax on all materials printed for commercial and legal use in the colonies, from newspapers and pamphlets to playing cards and dice
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Quartering Act
- The Quartering Act of 1765 required the colonies to house British soldiers in the colonist houses
- If the barracks were too small to house all the soldiers, then the colonists had to accommodate the soldiers in local inns, livery stables, ale houses, victualling houses, and the houses of sellers of wine
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Townshend Acts
- The Townshend Acts imposed duties on glass, lead, paints, paper and tea imported into the colonies
- It was hoped that the acts would defray imperial expenses in the colonies, but many Americans viewed the taxation as an abuse of power
- This resulted in the passage of agreements to limit imports from Britain
- In 1770, Parliament repealed all the Townshend duties except the tax on tea
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Boston Massacre
- British troops fire into a mob, killing five men and leading to intense public protests
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Boston Tea Party
- A group of colonial patriots disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians and boarded three ships in Boston harbor
- They dumped more than 300 crates of tea overboard as a protest against the British tea tax
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First Continental Congress
- The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia
- There were 56 delegates representing every colony except Georgia. - Spme of these delegates included Patrick Henry, George Washington, and Samuel Adams
- The First Continental Congress ended on October 26, 1774
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Battle of Lexington and Concord
- The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the battle that kicked off the American Revolutionary War
- Hundreds of British soldiers marched from Boston to Concord in order to seize an arms cache
- Paul Revere and other riders warned the minutemen and they stopped the British at Lexington
- It was in that battle that there was the "Shot Heard 'Round the World"
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Revolutionary War
- The Revolutionary War was the battle for independence fought between Great Britain and the colonies of North America.
- The Battle of Lexington and Concord, between the British Army and colonial minutemen, began the war .
- British general Charles Cornwallis surrenders to Gen. George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781
- Great Britain formally acknowledged American independence in the Treaty of Paris and it brings the war to an end on September 3, 1783
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Declaration of Independance
- The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Article of Confederations
- Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation, the first U.S. constitution
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Shays's Rebellion
- Farmers from New Hampshire to South Carolina take up arms to protest high state taxes and stiff penalties for failure to pay
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Constitutional Convention
- The Constitutional Convention was made up of delegates from 12 of the original 13 colonies
- They met in Philadelphia to draft the U.S. Constitution from May to September 1787
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George Washington Elected as First President
- George Washington was unanimously elected president of the United States in a vote by state electors on Feb. 4, 1789 -Washington was inaugurated as president at Federal Hall in New York City on April 30th
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Marbury vs. Madison
- Marbury v. Madison was the Supreme Court decision that established the right to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional
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Louisiana Purchase
- The United States agreed to pay France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory -The Louisiana Territory extends west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and comprises about 830,000 sq mi
- As a result, the U.S. nearly doubles in size
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Lewis and Clark
- Lewis and Clark set out from St. Louis, Mo., on expedition to explore the West and find a route to the Pacific Ocean
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The War of 1812
- The U.S. declared war on Britain over British interference with American maritime shipping and westward expansion on June 18, 1812
- The British captured Washington, DC, and set fire to the White House and Capitol on August 1814
- Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner as he watched the British attack on Fort McHenry at Baltimore on September 13–14, 1814 -The Treaty of Ghent is signed, officially ending the war
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Missouri Compromise
- The Missouri Compromise was an effort to maintain the balance between free and slave states
- Maine, which was formerly part of Massachusetts, was admitted as a free state so that Missouri can be admitted as a slave state
- Except for Missouri, slavery is prohibited in the Louisiana Purchase lands north of latitude 36°30'
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Monroe Doctrine
- In his annual address to Congress, President Monroe declares that the American continents are off-limits for further colonization by European powers
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Indian Removal Act
- President Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized the forced removal of Native Americans
- Indians living in the eastern part of the country had to move to lands west of the Mississippi River
- By the late 1830s, the Jackson administration had relocated nearly 50,000 Native Americans
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The Liberator Newspaper
- William Lloyd Garrison began publishing the Liberator, a weekly paper that advocates the complete abolition of slavery
- He became one of the most famous figures in the abolitionist movement
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Texas Revolution
- Texas declares its independence from Mexico
- Texan defenders of the Alamo are all killed during siege by the Mexican Army on Feb. 24 to March 6
- Texans defeat Mexicans at San Jacinto on April 21
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"Trail of Tears"
- More than 15,000 Cherokee Indians are forced to march from Georgia to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma
- Approximately 4,000 die from starvation and disease along the “Trail of Tears”
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Start of Manifest Destiny
- The term “manifest destiny” appears for the first time in a magazine article by John L. O'Sullivan
- Manifest Destiny expresses the belief held by many white Americans that the United States is destined by God's will to expand across the continent
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Mexican War
- The U.S. declared war on Mexico in an effort to gain California and other territories in the Southwest
- The war is ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
- Mexico recognizes Rio Grande as new boundary with Texas and, for $15 million, agrees to cede territory comprising present-day California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico and Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
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Oregon Treaty
- The Oregon Treaty fixed the U.S.-Canadian border at 49th parallel
- Also, the U.S. acquires Oregon territory
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Wilmot Proviso
- The Wilmot Proviso, introduced by Democratic representative David Wilmot, attempts to ban slavery in territory gained in the Mexican War
- The proviso is blocked by Southerners, but continues the debate over slavery
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Seneca Falls Convention
- The Seneca Falls Convention was a women's rights convention held at Seneca Falls, N.Y from July 19 to 20th
- Many attend, including both men and women and it was one of the first major efforts of women's rights
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Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was created because of the continuing debate of whether territory gained in the Mexican War should be open to slavery
- California was admitted as a free state, Utah and New Mexico territories were left to be decided by popular sovereignty, and slave trade in Washington, DC is prohibited
- It also established a much stricter fugitive slave law than the original that was passed in 1793 -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
- Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin was published
- It becomes one of the most influential works to stir anti-slavery sentiments
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Dred Scott Decision
- The Dred Scott v. Sanford Supreme Court decision says that Congress does not have the right to ban slavery in states
- This means that slaves are not considered citizens
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Harpers Ferry
- Abolitionist John Brown and 21 followers captured the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia
- Brown was attempting to spark a slave revolt
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South Carolina Secedes
- Fed up with the Union, South Carolina is the first of the states to secede
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Confederate States
- Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana secede in January 1861
- After, the Confederate States of America is established and Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederacy on Feb. 9, 1861
- Texas secedes on March 2, 1861
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Civil War Begins
- There was a great deal of conflict and tension between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) over the expansion of slavery into western states -Because of this, Confederates attack Ft. Sumter in Charleston, S.C., marking the start of the war
