-
Jamestown, Virginia established
Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America was established. -
John Rolfe Marries
Jamestown settler John Rolfe marries Pocahontas, the daughter of the Powhatan Indian chief. -
First Tobacco Plant is planted
Tobacco was a popular crop in Virginia. -
Period: to
Epidemics Among American Indians in New England
Native American populations in New England, with no immunity to European diseases, were nearly eradicated by a mysterious epidemic—probably smallpox. Between 1616 and 1619, the population was reduced by as much as 90 percent by disease. -
House of Burgesses Established
The House of Burgesses, the first representative assembly in America, meets for the first time in Virginia. In addition, the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown. -
Plymouth Colony is established and the Mayflower Compact is signed
The Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts was established by Pilgrims from England. The Mayflower Compact was an agreement that forms the basis of the colony's -
Charles I Executed
This resulted in American colonies being forced to define their position regarding British affairs. -
Period: to
King Philip's War
The Wampanoag tribe attacked the colonists. It ended in the deaths of many Natives. It was the first time the colonists didn't request help from Britain -
Period: to
Bacon's Rebellion
A group of colonists led by Nathaniel Bacon began attacking all Natives in the area in order to claim their land. The colony's government largely saw Bacon as the trouble-causing enemy leading to Bacon's banishing from the colony. -
Salem Witch Trials
In 1692, accusations of witchcraft led to prosecutions in Massachusetts Bay Colony. Eventually, eighteen men and women were found guilty and hanged. -
New Jersey colonies established
In 1702, the British Queen Anne established the royal colony of New Jersey by combining the American provinces of East Jersey and West Jersey. -
French and Indian War Begins
In 1754, the French and Indian War began. This war was fought between British colonies in North America and the French colonies as well as their allies. -
British Parliament passes the Sugar Act
In the Sugar Act, the parliament reduced the taxes of the Molasses Act but said that the tax would now be strictly enforced. The colonists were angry about this Act. -
British Parliament passes the Stamp Act
The British parliament wanted to collect this money from the colonists. So it imposed a new tax through the Stamp Act. The Act said that if anyone wanted to print any material in North American colonies, they should do so on the embossed papers imported from London. -
Boston Massacre Takes Place
In 1770, a group of protestors gathered around 8 British soldiers. They hurled abuse at the soldiers and threatened them with clubs and stones. The soldiers opened fire and killed three people, with another two later dying of wounds. This became known as the incident of Boston Massacre. -
British Parliament passes the Tea Act
In 1773, the British Parliament passed the Tea Act. This Act didn’t impose any new taxes but it granted complete monopoly over the tea trade in the Americas to the British East India Company. -
Boston Tea Party occurs
After the British Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773, the Sons of Liberty strongly protested against the Act. As part of their protests, they boarded British ships carrying tea in December 1773 and destroyed the shipment by throwing the tea chests into the harbor. This became known as the Boston Tea Party. -
Intolerable Acts Put in Place
The Boston Tea Party greatly angered the British Parliament. To punish Boston and the colony of Massachusetts, the parliament passed a number of new Acts. These were later known as the Intolerable Acts. -
Delaration of Independence is written
The Declaration of Independence was a very important declaration adopted by the Second Continental Congress in 1776. This declaration said that the 13 American colonies were no longer under British rule and considered themselves as independent entities. -
Treaty of Paris is signed
With the Surrender at Yorktown, the British realized that they could no longer win the war. So they decided to sue for peace. These efforts led to the Treaty of Paris signed in 1783. According to this treaty, Great Britain officially accepted its defeat and recognized the independence of the United States of America. -
Thomas Jefferson is elected
Thomas Jefferson was the author of the declaration of independence and the third U.S. president. -
Louisiana Purchase
In this transaction with France, signed on April 30, 1803, the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. -
Period: to
Battle of 1812
The War of 1812 was considered the second war of independence for the U.S. It was a hard-fought war that resulted in the destruction of much of the northeastern U.S. The war ended with the Treaty of Peace on February 18, 1815. -
Florida is Purchased from Spain
Spanish minister Do Luis de Onis and U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams came together to sign the document that would transfer control of Florida to the U.S. The Florida Peace Treaty was created to hand over the last Spanish American colony to the U.S. because of numerous boundary disputes. The U.S. gave Spain $5 million to cede Florida into the newly formed nation. -
US Mexican War
The U.S.-Mexican War lasted from 1846-1848 and was the first U.S. conflict fought on foreign soil. It was a war that was disputing the independence of Texas and the border of the Rio Grande. -
Lincoln is Elected
Abraham Lincoln is elected as the 16th president of the U.S. When entering office Abraham Lincoln was tasked with dealing with an incredibly divided nation dealing with the issue of states' rights about slavery. -
Civil War Begins
The tension between the Northern and Southern states over states' rights and slavery finally got to the point where war broke out. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg marked the turning point of the Civil War. With more than 50,000 estimated casualties, the three-day engagement was the bloodiest single battle of the conflict. -
Gettysburg Address
Lincoln's Speech at Gettysburg was done in order to address the war that was occurring. He wanted to dedicate the field to the fallen soldiers on both sides, and he wanted the soldiers to know what they were fighting for. -
First Transcontinental Railroad is Completed
This railroad made it possible to travel from the eastern side of the continent to the western side by utilizing nearly 2000 miles of railroad track.