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1492
Columbus Arrives in the America’s
Christopher Columbus left Spain and arrived in Central America via boat. -
1519
Hernan Cortez leads the Spanish
Cortez leads the Spanish to conquer part of the Americas with the Aztecs -
1565
St. Augustine is founded by the Spanish
The first colony in America was established by the Spanish -
The English establish their first colony and it disappears.
The English established Roanoke -
The first successful English colony is established
England established Jamestown. -
Economic Prosperity
Virginia begins exporting tobacco and slaves arrive in Jamestown -
The House of Burgesses is established
Virginia establishes the first democratic congress in America -
The mayflower compact
The mayflower compact is established which introduced self government -
Religious tolerance act
Maryland established an act that paved the way for religious freedom -
Salutary Neglect
England avoided enforcing laws on the colonies. -
French and Indian War
Ended in 1763, France lost Canada, and Spain got Louisiana while Britian got Canada and Florida -
Pontiac's Rebellion
Native Americans were unhappy with how the French and Indian war ended. -
The Proclamation of 1763
This proclamation stated that the colonists can't move west of the appalachian mountains -
Sugar act
This tax was put in place which monopolized sugar and angered the colonists. -
The Stamp Act
All printed materials would have a tax which further increased tensions between the colonists and Britain. -
Boston Massacre
British soldiers fired onn civilians in boston. -
Tea Act
Granted a Monopoly on tea to Britain. -
Boston Tea Party
Colonists dumped tea into boston harbor to protest the unwarrented taxation -
First Continental Congress
Colonies sent delagates in reaction to the intolerable acts -
Intolerable Acts
Laws made to punish colonists for the boston tea party. -
Second Contiental Congress
Delagates met from each of the colonies to discuss the war effort. -
The Declaration of Independence
A declaration that the colonies were politically independent -
Common Sense
A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that said it is a no brainer that they should declare independence. -
Constitutional Convention
Meeting to discuss and revise the Articles of Confederation -
Bill of Rights Ratified
The first 10 amendments to the constitution were ratified -
Thomas Jefferson is elected president
The first peaceful transfer of power from federalists to democratic republicans -
Louisiana Purchase
The United States bought the lousiana area from France for 5 million dollars -
Marbury v Madison
Established judicial review -
Embargo Act
Restricted trade in foreign nations -
Madison is elected president
Another democratic republican is elected president which was bad for the federalists -
Beginning of Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was established which was the idea that america should stretch coast to coast -
Monroe is elected president
Monroe was elected presdient which was bad for the federalist -
Mcculloch v Maryland
This court case defined legislative power. -
Missouri Compromise
Missouri was admitted as a slave state and Maine was admitted as a free state. -
Monroe Doctrine
Policy that opposed european colonization -
Gibbons v Ogden
Expanded Congress's power and limited interstate commerce clause -
John Quincy Adams is elected
Quincy Adams was elected in what was called the corrupt bargain -
Andrew Jackson is elected president
Begins "Age of the common man" -
Indian Removal Act is passed
Removed civilized Indian Tribes from their territory to reservations westward -
Andrew Jackson vetoed the re-charter of the Second Bank of the United States
This weakened the federal government and the federalist party -
Worcester v. Georgia
Court rules only the federal government could regulate indian land -
The Beginning of the Nullification Crisis
Declared tariffs of 1828 and 1832 unconstitutional because they would have broken the union -
Panic of 1837
Recession caused by Andrew Jackson's policies regarding the bank -
James K. Polk is elected president
Starts Mexican-American war and gains territory from that war. -
Mass Expansion
Texas is Annexed in 1945 and the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo expanded the United States even further west -
The Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo
Rio Grande became the southern border of Texas nad the US gained the Mexican Cession for 15 million. -
California Gold Rush
Began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found in California. The news of gold brought mostly by sailing ships and covered wagons some 300,000 gold-seekers to California -
The Compromise of 1850
California admitted as a free state divied Mexican Cession into Utah and New Mexico where popular sovereignty would decide status of slavery, ban slave trade in Washington DC and enforce a Fugitive Slave Law. -
Uncle Toms Cabin is released
A pretty significant anti-slavery novel that brought many people to go up against slavery -
Kansas Nebraska Act
Purpose was to create a midwestern transcontinental railroad. Both Kansas and Nebraska which were above the 36 30 line would be formed and popular sovereignty would decide slave status in both the states. -
Dred Scott v Stanford
Ruled that African Americans were not American citizens instead were property and that Congress could not take away a slave owner's slaves, also ruled that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional for forbidding slavery in the north -
Raid on Harper's Ferry
John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry was an effort by white abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859 by taking over a United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry -
Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln issues the proclamation declaring "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are and henceforward shall be free." -
13th Amendment
Abolished slavery and involuntary service in the United States of America -
The end of the Civil War
Robert E. Lee surrendered at the Appomattix court house, ending the civil war -
Freedmans Bureau
The Bureau tried to resettle freedblacks on confiscated Southern land, but Johnson later pardoned and gave Confederates their land back -
14th Amendment
Declared that all American-born people were citizens and gave equal protection of the law and due process of the law to all citizens -
15th Amendment
Prohibitted denying an American citizen's right to vote based on race or color of previous servitude -
Standard Oil Company is established
Standard Oil became a monopoly with horizontal and vertical integration with enough power to hugely control both poor workers the government & the pro-business court. -
The Panic of 1873
The depression hit the poor laborers especially blacks hard. Debtors and farmers grew more supportive of inflation and the coinage of silver to lower their debts -
Greenback Party
Backed by farmers approved of paper money not back by silver or gold -
Civil Rights Act of 1875
This law was the last civil rights reform law passed during the Reconstruction Era -
Westward Settlement
The Homestead Act sold government owned western lands to railroad companies at discount prices to expand railroads to the west eventually leading to settlement -
Alexander Bell invents the telephone
The telephone was the first device ever that allowed people to talk directly to others even with large distances -
The Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877 was a purported informal unwritten deal that settled the intensely disputed 1876 U.S. presidential election pulled federal troops out of state politics in the South and ended the reconstruction era. -
Civil Service Reform
Pendleton Act established that federal government jobs be based on merit instead of political affiliation -
Dawes Act
Broke up Indian tribal organizations to assimilate natives to white society, tribal land was divided into large land plots and given to along with US citizenship to natives who adopted American culture and civility -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
The law was largely ineffective in restricting monopolies because the courts & businesses could find loopholes -
Omaha Platform
Rise of the People's Party. Wanted direct election of senators and laws, free silver, graduated income tax government owned railroads and telegraphs and telephones -
United States v EC Knight Co
Ruled that Congress could not regulate manufacturing. The Sherman Antutrust act could only apply to commerce -
Plessy v Ferguson
Supreme court ruled that seperate but equal facilities are constitutional under the Equal Protection Clause -
Spanish American War
In the Treaty of Paris the Philippines Cuba Puerto Rica & Guam were ceded to the US. Continued in "Treaty of Paris." -
The Annexation of Hawaii
Japan was mad at the US because over 40% of Hawaiians were of Japanese descent. -
The U.S.S Maine was sunk
The U.S.S Maine was sunk and blamed on Spain -
The Treaty of Paris
Spain ceded Cuba the Philippines Puerto Rico and Guam to the US The Philippines was annexed leading to guerrilla warfare by Filipino nationalists. Despite the Teller Amendment stopping the US from annexing Cuba US troops stayed in Cuba & controlled Cuban politics. -
Boxer Rebellion
Chinese attacked Christian missionaries in an attempt to drive foreigners -
Insular Cases
Philippines questioned whether the U.S. constitution applied to the territories that were under U.S. control. Anti-Imperialist argued they did but imperialists argued they did no and the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the imperialists -
Cuba and the Platt Amendment
Although resented by Cuban nationalists this Amendment required Cuba to never sign a treaty with a foreign power that ceased its independence to not build high debt to allow U.S. to intervene in Cuba's affairs to keep its independence and maintain law and order and allow U.S. to keep its naval bases. -
Teddy Roosevelt is President
William McKinley is assassinated and Roosevelt takes over -
Panama Canal
A result of the Spanish American War the new American empire reached from Puerto Rico in the Caribbean to the Philippines in the Pacific -
Taft and Dollar Diplomacy
Taft adopted a foreign policy that was mildly expansionist but depended more on investors' money than on navy's battleships -
Political Reform
1910- states have secret ballot for voting
1913- Direct election of Senators via the 17th amendment
initiative, referendum, recall
1915-states use direct primaries to rid of boss rule and politcal machines
The Progressive era brought increased power in politics for the people. -
Triangle Shortwaist Fire
Industrial disaster, The tragedy led to fire-prevention legislation factory inspection laws and the International Ladies Garment Workers Union -
Woodrow Wilson is elected
Wilson defeated a split Republican Party. Woodrow Wilson established a Progressive Program which reduced tariffs reformed banks regulated banks and child labor. Wilson's presidenct brought about increases in Civil rights organizations -
Mexico Conflict
Wilson's moral approach to foreign affairs was tested by war in Mexico -
Start of WW1
With the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand the government of Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to Serbia -
The Fourteen Points
Wilson drafted the fourteen points as a way to achieve war aims -
Schneck v United States
Right to free speech can be limited during a time of clear and preset danger such as time of war -
Red Scare
After the war Russia became a communist country and all of the anti-German hysteria turned into an anti-communist hysteria. -
The Treaty of Versailles
A peace treaty created by the Big Four and all Allied forces. The treaty resulted in Germany paying for all the damages done in the war and the creation of the League of Nations -
18th Amendment
After years of The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution forbidding the manufacture sale, transportation import, and export of alcohol -
19th Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified which granted suffrage to women -
National Origins Act
The National Origins Act rolled national quotas for immigration back to numbers based on the 1890 census -
The Great Depression
A huge economic crisis during the late 20's and early 30's -
Dust Bowl
Dust Bowl conditions forced thousands of farmers from the plains to migrate west in search of work. Many settled in California -
21st amendment
Based on elaborate plans developed by Dwight Eisenhower of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, Allied forces landed along fifty miles of the coast of Normandy, France -
NRA and AAA
Supreme court stops NRA and AAA declaring them unconstituional -
The Social Security Act
President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, which established benefits for the elderly, the blind, the handicapped, dependent women and children, and the unemployed. -
WW2
Germany invaded Poland in setting off the Second World War. President Roosevelt signed the Neutrality Act of 1939, which ended the arms embargo and authorized cash-and-carry exports to belligerent nations allowing Allied powers to purchase weapons -
Pearl Harbor Attack
After Japan declared war against the United States, Japanese planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Naval forces were severely diminished by the unexpected attack and more than 2,300 Americans were killed. -
Japanese Internment
President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which authorized the designation of military areas “from which any or all persons may be excluded.” The order was used to remove Japanese Americans to internment camps -
D-Day
Based on elaborate plans developed by Dwight Eisenhower of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, Allied forces landed along fifty miles of the coast of Normandy, France
