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Oct 6, 1492
Columbus lands in the new world.
Columbus lands on an island in the Bahamas. Columbus landed on the island because he was looking for short passage to the indies. He named it San Salvador. And the natives greets Columbus and his men near the beach. -
Nov 21, 1492
The Columbian Exchange
After Columbus arrived at the new world, goods traveled from Europe to America and vice versa. This was called the Columbian Exchange. Diseases came with the conquistadors to America and many foods such as grapes, sugar cane and bananas traveled to the Americas. From the Americas came tomato, turkey, pumpkin, peppers and many other valuable goods that influenced modern day europe. -
Nov 10, 1500
The Spanish Empire
During the late 1400's and the 1500's, many Spanish conquerers such as Christopher Columbus, Hernan Cortes, Francisco Pizzaro claimed land in South America by enslaving and slaughtering many Native Americans. Their primary goal was to gain gold and wealth, however during the process, they destroyed many great civilizations and brought diseases among the Natives. -
Nov 14, 1500
African Slave Trade
In the 1500s, European slave traders started shipping slaves across the Caribbean for sale. In the next three centuries, as the Native Americans died of diseases and hard labor, Africans were introduced were sold and brought to the Americas. Millions were Afrians were carried across the Atlantics in croweded ships. Many died during the voyage, and if they survived they were sold to their new masters in the New world. -
Nov 14, 1513
Spanish Borderlands
In Mexico and Peru, the conquistadors found gold and riches more than they could ever imagine. However they still wanted more and they pushed North to lands that are not part of the USA. These lands were called Spanish Borderlands because they were located on the edges of the Spain's North American Empire. An example of the greed of the spanish, is when a man named Ponce de Leon pushed north in search of the "fountain of youth" and he landed on a sunny peninsula and named it La Florida. -
Nov 10, 1534
New france
France sent groups of explorers such as Jaques Cartier and Robert de La Salle to gain the wealth that the Spanish earned from the New world. They claimed Canada and everything west of the Missisipi river for the French. In the colonies fur traders called coureurs de bois pushed west in search for beaver fur and missionaries tried converting natives to christianity.There were no farmers because the weather was harsh.The Huron natives actually became business partners with the French. -
James Town: First English Colony
Captain John Smith established the first colony for England. Gentlemen from England came to the new world and decided to claim a peninsula in virginia. When they first settled, the Indians attacked them and refused to trade with them. Also there were malaria mosquitos and starving times. However Pocahontas, a cheif's daughter, saved John Smith from death and married John Rolfe to bring peace. Also John Rolfe started manufactoring Tobbaco which brought wealth among the men of Jamestown. -
New Netherland
In 1609 Henry Hudson an English Sailor paid by the dutch, sailed along a river hoping it would guide him through all of the America. Of course it didn't, the river was named Hudson river and he claimed the land around it and called it New netherland. In 1626 group of dutch merchants came to New netherland and started fur trade. They befriened the powerful iroquois and fought the french in fur trade. They also bought manhattan island for 24$. However English men took it and renamed it New York. -
Massachusetts
In the early 1600's groups of christians called puritans weren't allowed to practise their religion in England. So a group of puritans called Separatists traveled to Holland. However they all wanted their children to live in an English culture. So 50 separatists boarded a ship and sailed to America. They landed Plymouth near cape cod, where the natives were friendly. In 1621 they celebrated thanksgiving with the natives. 10 years later they got an official charter for massachusetts bay. -
Proclamation of 1763
In 1763, after the French-Indian war, King George passed on a law that stated that the colonists could only stay on the east side of the appalachinas so that Britian could prevent the conflits between the Americans and the Indians. Also England could not afford another war. The Americans were furious because they needed to find new land to farm in. However the British ignored these arguments and expanded the British army in America to 7500 men. -
The Stamp Act
In 1765 the British parliament decided to pass on a law that stated that all the colonists must purchase a stamp for every single paper they use. They passed on this law becasue Britian needed more money and argued that the colonists need to pay for their own "protection". The colonists were mad and shouted out "No taxation without representation. With serious protests and forming of mobs such as the sons of liberty, the british repealed the law. -
The Quartering Act
In 1765 the British Parliment sent more soldiers to America to "protect" the Americans.The Quartering Act that the British passed on stated that all the colonists must house the soldiers an provide with their everyday materials such as beer. The colonists argued saying that they never asked for protection and that they don't need to pay for something they didn't ask. Colonies such as New York and New jersey protested saying that it was another way to collect tax. Still Britian refused to repeal. -
The townshend act
In 1767, the British parliment passed on the townshend act. The British sent more soldiers to America, and to pay for those soldiers, they decided to charge every single british good with taxes. The colonists saw this as another attempt to collect taxes. So a man called Samuel Adams sent a letter to all the colonies saying that they should protest. So the colonists decided to boycott all british goods. Later on, the British did repeal this act, but decided to keep the rules only for british tea. -
The Tea Act
In 1773 the British Parliment passed on a law that told the Americans can only purcahse tea from one company. The British East India company. They made sure that the price of the tea was cheaper then smuggled dutch tea so that the colonists would buy it. But the colonists thought of this as an another act of collecting taxes. Furious, the sons of liberty in boston got on board on one of the ships with tea, disguised as Indians. They threw all the tea overboard.This is named the Boston tea party. -
The Intoreable Acts
After the Boston Tea Party,the British Parliament passed on a series of harsh laws to punish the Bostonians.In fact these were so harsh that it was called this The intolerable Acts.They did all this to show the Americans that Britian was still in charge.Colonists thought of this as unacceptable and united as one for the first time.They started forming small militias just in case a war breaks out.In the first ever continental congress, the colonists sent a letter King George showing their opinion -
Lexington and Concord
In 1775, the British marched to Concord and they were stopped on the way in a town called Lexington. Here, the colonists were waiting and a small battle began. We still don't know who fired the first shot. The british won this fight and marched on to Concord. Here they were defeated by the Americans and this started the seven year war. -
The second continental congress
In the second continental congress John Adams, a member and representative of Boston, proposed to create a continental army which is made up of soldiers from every single colony. To lead this army, the congress voted on Colonel George Washinton who was a natural born leader -
The battle of bunker hill
The soldiers of Britian marched to Bunker HIll to prevent Boston's militia from getting stronger. The Americans held off the British 3 times, however they ran out of gunpowder and had to retreat from Bunker Hill. 1000 British men were killed and 500 colonists were killed as well. -
The olive branch petition
The Congress sent a letter to King George asking respectively to stop this quarrel and have peace. However even before this letter reached King George, the parliament of Britian declared that all colonists were rebels and traitors and that they deserve punishment and justice. -
The siege of Boston
General George Washington spread a rumor that they had lots of barrels of gunpowder when they actually only had 36. After this he sent a desperate message to the congress asking for gunpowder, food and other necesities for war. Then he stole cannons from fort Ticonderoga and surrounded Boston. To avoid bloodshed, the British soldiers left Boston and a few of the loyalists followed them up to Canada. -
The declaration of Independence
The Congress decided to draft the declaration of independence, and this job was given to the youngest member of the congress; Thomas Jefferson. After this declaration of independence was writte, John Adams and George Washington helped Thomas Jefferson edit and revise the declaration. The declaration was then signed by all 13 colonies and the war officially began. -
Battle of New york
The continental army and the British army met in Brooklyn New york for a decisive battle. A battle that would end the war quickly.The British won this battle and chased the Continental army out of New York, New Jersey to Pennsylvenia. The British were sure they were going to win the war at this point. -
Trenton
As the British was about to win the war, General Washington read Thomas Paine's new pamphlet called "The Crisis". The words of Thomas Paine touched the army and now they weren't scared to fight for their country. So on christmas, Washington and his troops crossed delaware river in small boats to ambush the British. Here they captured many British men. They went on to win several more battles. The victories boosted up the hope for patriots -
Saratoga
General John Burgoyne of Britian decided that he would march his troops to New York to meet up with fellow general, general Howe. On his way to New york, he was stopped by many militia men. Although the militia outnumbered the British army, he ordered an attack. Eventually General John Burgoyne accepted defeat and the American army didn't seem so hopeless now. -
Ratification of the Articles of Confederation
The articles of confederation was the first constitution of the United States. The article of confederation gave more power to individual states rather than a national government. These articles provided a strong league of friendship between the colonies. Ratification was delayed in Maryland due to arguments over voting, representation and some lands that were claimed by western states. The Aoc gave more power to states because they didn't want a repeat of the British empire. -
Yorktown
The Continental army surrounded Yorktown with the help of French soldiers and warships.This was where general Cornwallis was resting with his British troops. Here they cut off the British navy support with French Warships and when no British ships came to the rescue, General Cornwallis surrendered. -
Treaty of Paris
In Paris, representatives from Britian, France and America signed a peace treaty. This peace treaty had three important parts. 1) Britian recognized America as an independent nation. 2) Britian gives up land from Canada all the way down to South Florida. 3) America gives back the property taken from loyalists during the war. This peace treaty gave Americans the freedom to govern themselves and be independent. -
Shay's Rebellion
The articles of confederation became a problem for farmers as their land and property were taken away. It was a farmer's rebellion znd they attacekd government buildings, courthouses and arsenals. This eventually led to a new constitution. -
Constitutional Convention
In this constitutional convention, This constitution was kept secret from everyone else because they didn't want to embarass any delagates that changed thier opinion or mind during the convention. The convention tore up the articles of confederation to make a whole new constitution. This new constitution focuses power on national government. James Maddison is called the Father of the convention because he took the most notes and was a great leader. -
Ratification of the U.S constitution
This new U.S constitution focused on a strong national government. The Bill of rights was added to convince New York, and virginia and several articles were added to convince Rhode Island and North Carolina.It had to be approved by at least 9 states. There were three branches in this constitution. Legislative (two houses of congress), Executive (led by the president), Judicial (supreme court). Only wealthy white men could vote for president which was only 25% of the population of America. -
The Louisiana Purchase
President Thomas Jefferson wanted to buy New Orelands so that the farmers of USA could use the missisipi river for trade. New Orelands was part of Louisiana which was governed by the French Empire. However the French were in no need for Luisiana anymore. The French were planning to make it a farmland for slaves, however they lost all their slaves during the haitian revolution. So instead of just selling New Orelands, they sold all of Louisiana to USA for 15 million dollars. -
Spain Gives Florida to USA
Andrew Jackson was told to attack Florida to stop all the raids that were happening there. He was specifically ordered not to invade Florida, but despite this, he invaded all of Florida. Both Spain and USA were scared of war, so Spain decided to sell Florida for 5 million dollars to USA. By doing this USA decided to honor Spain's long time claim to Texas. -
The Indian Removal Act
President jackson and Congress wanted to remove all Native Americans because they were getting in the way of the United States' westward expansion. So President Jackson and congress decided to make a law that forced all Native Americans to move across the missisipi river. This act was called the Indian Removal Act. Some Native tribes moved voluntarily but some tribes fought agaisnt it. The tribes that fought were often slaughtered or destroyed. -
The Trail of Tears
A native tribe called the Cherokee were dragged out of their homes and forced to move to the designated Native American territory. They had to travel over 900 miles and on the way many native americans died. About 4000 Cherokees to be exact. The survivors of this trip call the trip the "trail of tears" -
Texas is Annexed
Texas was independent but many US citizens lived there. So all these US citizens wanted Texas to be part of the US. Many feared that taking over Texas would start a war with Mexico. Despite this when Jamkes.K Polk was elected, congress voted to annex Texas once and for all. -
Oregon Treaty
Russia, Spain, Brittian and the US had control of Oregon but Russia and Spain decided to back down from this area. However the US still wanted to claim all of Oregon. But they didn't want to risk war with the British again. So, they had a treaty with Britian that divided Oregon roughly in half at the 49th parallel. Britian got the top half of Oregon (which is now part of Canada) and America got the bottom half. -
War With Mexico
On April 25th 1846, Mexican soldeirs fired at American soldiers and congress declared a war on Mexico. During this war Mexico lost a lot of men and soldiers so they decided to give up California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Colorado and New Mexico to the US.Then the US payed 15 million dollars in return. Both sides made a treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Also the Rio Grande became the new border between states. The state California stretched the land in the US from one sea to shiny sea. -
The Fugitive Slave Law: Northeners
The fugivitve slave law stated that slavemasters could take back the slaves that ran away to the north. The Northeners were upset about this law because now it would mean that the Southern slaveowners could come and take back their slaves. Which they didn't want. They believed that these run away slaves were free men and didn't want them to be slaves again. -
The Kansas Nebraska Act:Northerners
The Kansas Nebraska Act declared that the issue of slavery in the territories would be decided by popular sovereighty. This upset the Northeners because they knew that now slavery could spread easily throught the territories which they didn't want happening. -
John Brown's Raid: Southeners
John Brown was from the North and he hated slavery so much that he decided to attack the Arsenal in the South. Where all the major weapons were located. However he was caught during the battle. This upset the Southeners because they thought that if the slaves become rebellious after this, it would be them spilling blood. They became fearful. -
Abraham Lincoln is elected President: Southeners
Abraham Lincoln a man who strongly disagreed to the idea of slavery was elected as the President of the United States. This made the Southeners upset because now they knew for sure that the North had become more powerful then the South. Also it would might mean that slavery would be abolished forever. -
American Civil War
The American Civil war was a war between the confederate states and the union. The confederate states were created when 11 southern states seceeded when Abraham Licoln (northener) was elected president. The southern states and northern states were having disagreements on slavery. The first battle of the civil war was the battle of fort sumter. The civil war ended in April 1865 when General Lee from the confederacy surrendered to the Union.
