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Period: Jan 1, 1491 to
Periods 1-9
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Jul 1, 1492
Spanish come to the Americas
Christopher Columbus comes to America in 1492 with intentions of getting glory and gold for his nation. Significance: Columbus finds the Americas. Spanish eventually put in the encomienda system to subject the natives to labour in order to make a profit to send back to their mother country. -
Aug 23, 1500
Britain comes to America
Britain tries to establish a colony in Plymouth, but it fails (everyone dies). Evnetually settlements are made by families (to establish America as a place to live, not just exploit the land and resources like other European nations did). Significance: Sets up England colonies with many fights with the natives because they want to colonise more land (since they brought over their families) -
Jul 23, 1503
Spanish used the Encomienda System
A system that forced Indians to work/farm the land under Spanish rule. Significance: Natives began to die off due to Spanish dieseases, and it led to Spanish bringing slaves from West Africa. -
Aug 19, 1503
Spanish Caste System Used
System of hierachy system based on Spanish bloodline. Based on which level a person was on, that dictated their treatment. Significance: Eventually ended because of conflcited feelings with Spanish descent. -
Aug 1, 1525
French explore America
French colonise America in a crescent-like shape that extended to Louisiana. Significance: French eventually establish a fur trade with the natives beause they treated them pretty friendly.
French eventually lose Louisiana and claims in the US after losing the French and Indian War -
Jamestown founded
First permanent English settlement in Virginia. Significance: Colonisers settled and then wanted to expand even more. -
Britain practices salutary neglect
Britain's choice of rule on the colonists which allowed them to basically rule themselves in a hands-off kind of way. Significance: When Britain tries to change its policies and tries to take control of the colonies again, it changes their demeanor towards the citizens and eventually sparks tensions leading up to the Revolutionary War. -
First Meeting of House of Burgesses
First legislative assembly in the colonies established in Virginia. Significance: First representative assembly of America. Set a precedent for future legislative bodies -
New England Town Meetings Start
Established a system similar to a government that had a conglmoeration of people to vote on certain issues and to make laws. Significance: Led up to the establishment of a modern government -
John Winthrop's "City on a Hill"
Winthrop: First governor of Massachusetts
"City on a Hill" Winthrop's image of what a Puritan society based on Christian values should look like Significance: This vision formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony -
Constitutional Convention held
Congress sends for delegates from each of the 13 colonies to amend the Articles of Confederation. A new document was drafted that now is the US Constitution. Significance: The Constituion is the basic framework for how the US should function and the rights for people, changing the weak central government from the Articles of Confederation to a stronger one with 3 branches of governemnt kept in a checks and balances system in order to keep one branch from getting too powerful. -
Great Compromise
Solution to the debate between the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan aka the Connecticut Plan which made 2 houses of Congress, the Senate which had 2 delegates per state and the House of Representatives whose population of delegates was decided by the population of people in each state. Significance: Gave the people representation by favouring both large and small states. -
Federalist Era begins
Federalists were strong supporters of the Constitution who advocated its strict adherence and wanted the strong central government, led by Alexander Hamilton. They were against the Anti-Federalists (later known as the Democratic Republicans) who wanted a looser interpretation of the Constitution and insisted on the Bill of Rights and was led by Thomas Jefferson. Significance: First two party system in America -
Judiciary Act signed
Made the Supreme court (established with one chief and five associate judges) the highesst court that ruled on the constitutionality of the decisions of state courts Significance: One of the first acts made by Congress -
Whiskey Rebellion
Hamilton convinces Congress to put a tax on whiskey. In western Pennsylvania, a group of farmers attacked tax collectors because they didn't want to pay the tax. Washington ends the rebellion by oderring militiamen to serve under Hamilton, which quashed the rebellion. Significance: Showed that the US government was willing to use military intervention -
Marbury vs Madison Case decided
Marbury named Justice of the Peace by Joh Adams before he left office, but Madison never appointed him into his position. Significance: Established the policy of judiciary review, saying that the Supreme Court could overrule executive and legislative branches. -
Louisiana Purchase
America buys Louisiana from France (since their political leader Bonaparte had lost interest in the territory) and secues the Mississippi River Significance: The purchase more than doubled the size of the US and it removed all European presence from America. Also increased Democratic - Republican popularity. -
Missouri Compromise
Missouri admitted as a slave state, Maine breaks off from Massachusetts and becomes a free state, and slavery divided by the 36-30 latitude. Significance: Keeps peace between the northern free states and the southern slave states for w while longer and contributes to Americans being torn between feelings of sectiionalism/regionalism and nationalism -
Gibbons vs Ogden
Ruled that it was unconstituional that NY give a monopoly to a steamboat company if it conflicted with a charter approved by Congress earlier. Significance: Established the government's control of interstate commerce. -
Hartford Convention
Delegates from New England rejected calls for secession, but called for a 2/3 vote for both houses in order for any war to be declared in the future. Significance: Led to the end of the Federalist party -
Compromise of 1850
California comes in as a free state
Utah and New Mexico could decide if the wanted to be a free state or a slave state
Slave trade banned in Washington, DC
Fugitive Slave Law enacted Significance: Still caused agitation since Califfornia was free, but also because of the Fugitive Slave law which furthered tesions between the north and the south. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Stephen Douglass' bill signed by Franklin Pierce to let Kansas and Nebraska decide if they wanted to be free or not, nullifying the Compromise of 1850 because both states were north of the 36-30 latitude which gave southerners the chance to expand slavery Significance: Caused later events like Bleeding Kansas where southerners attacked anti-slave settlers in Kansas (anti-slave people eventually won). Helped precipitate the Civil War. -
Ostend Manifesto Written
Secret negotiation by Pierce to buy Cuba from Spain and spread slavery there, but Spain wouldn't sell Cuba, so Pierce wanted to take Cuba by force. Significance: Caused anger from anti-slavery members of Congress.Failed attept to spread slavery into Cuba. Increased regional tensions between the north and the south. -
Know Nothing Party founded
Formed when nativist hostility towards Catholic immigrants from Germany and Ireland (since northern states were Protestants) coming into northern states Significance: The Whig party diminished with the Know Nothings, but the Know Nothings soon diminished with sectional tensios -
Election of 1860
Lincoln elected as the preaident since he got all the electoral votes from the north. Significance: Caused the south to secede from the Union -
Battle of Little Bighorn
Sioux ambushed Colonel Custer's command (Custer's last stand) and defeated them. Later, Indian tribes were further diminished with the hunting of buffalo. Significance: One of the last wars of Indian opposition -
Chinese Exclusion Act passed
Prohibted Chinese from coming over to the US on the basis that the American people did not want competition when it came to jobs and labour. Significance: First major act by Congress that restricted immigration due to nativist remarks based on race. -
Immigration Act of 1882 passed
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Pendleton Act passed
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Dawes Act passed
Intended to assimilate the natives so they could be more civilised and did so by breaking up tribal organisations and dividing native lands only giving US citizenship to the natives who stayed and farmed their land for 25 years. Significance: Failed and reduced the native population yet again and displayed Americans' will to assimilate the natives under their policy. -
Teller Amendment passed
Stated that the US had no intention of politically controlling Cuba. Significance: Convinced Americans that war with Spain was for Cuba freedom and not for America to get more political power over the Cuban people. -
Platt Amendment passed
Stated that the US would only withdraw troops from Cuba if Cuba never signed a treaty with another foregin power that compromised its independence,made the US naval base on Guantanamo Bay in Cuba permanent, and made the US a policing power in Cuban affairs. Significance: Cuba's foreign policy controlled by the US, and Cuba didn't really like this, and it led to the Cuban Revolution (supported by the Soviet Union) and the US severing ties with Cuba. -
Espionage Act passed
Imprisonment guaranteed for up to 20 years for people who spoke out against the draft or who tried to cause problems in terms of the armed forces. Significance: Often times called uconstitutional inhibiting people's individual rights, like Eugene Debs who was jailed for speaking out. -
Sedition Act Passed
Prohibited people from making abusive comments towards the federal governement. Significance: Inhibited people's individual rights. -
Wilson Suffers a Stroke
Wilson suffers a stroke after delivering a speech to the people (because he was trying to rally public support to get his Fourteen Points passed by Congress) but the Senate rejects it. Significance: The US officially makes peace with Germany after Wilson leaves office, never ratifying the Treaty of Versailles or joining the League of Nations -
Alger HIss Trial
Hiss, a State Department official, was accused of being a Communist and committing treason. He denied the claims, but still sentenced to jail (claimed that he lied in the face of the law) Significance: Displayed the US paranoia caused by the communist regime in Russia. -
Rise in McCarthyism
McCarthy was a senator who used communism to his advantage when he was campaigning and accused just about everyone of being a communist. Significance: Displays the extreme anti-communist sentiment that the country was adopting. -
Rosenberg Trial
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg accused of treason for spying on the US for Russia and convicted to death Significance: Showed the effects of the Red Scare on people during this time and the hysteria that the idea of communism caused. Led to more nativist sentiments in America. -
Highway Act of 1956
Signed by Eisenhower, Act connected all the major cities by creating a series of interstate highways Significance: Connected all of America, increased ability for more national defense, increased vehicles on the road which caused environmental issues -
Miranda vs Arizona
Stated that people must be informed of their basic rights, including that a lawyer could be present when the defendent is being interrogated. Significance: Gave people more individual rights affecting the criminal justice and state political systems. -
Roe vs Wade
A woman can abort child in any of the states ithin the 1st 3 months of her pregnancy.
Significant because it passed more abortion laws during the time, showing that the US was passing things favouring women's rights and going against the traditionalist points of view. -
Regents of California vs Bakke
Schools were not allowed to use racial quotas in admission processes
Significance: Conservaatives used this case to end preference to race. -
Economic Recovery Tax Act
(ERTA) An act under Reagan's administration based off of "Reaganomics" that cut down the income taxes
Significance: biggest tax cut ever to be seen in American history -
Election of 1988
George HW Bush (R) wins against Michael Dukakis (D). (Bush had a reputation from being Reagan's Vice President) Significance: Bush surpasses Reagan as a president -
Election of 2008
Presidency focussed primarily on the failing economy of the US in which Barack Obama won Significance: US history1st black president in
