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Period: 1000 to 1492
First Americans Enter North America
The first settlers came to North America at least 16,000 years ago and probably followed grazing animals across a land bridge that connected Alaska to Siberia during the Ice Age to come to North America..Before Christopher Columbus "discovered" America, the Vikings were the first Europeans to ever touch the North American soil. -
1492
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus is the explorer who is credited for "discovering" America. In 1492, when he sailed from Europe to America across the Atlantic Ocean with his sailors, his voyage had led him to settle and explore America. -
Period: Aug 3, 1492 to 1502
Christopher Columbus Lands
Christopher Columbus is the explorer who is credited for discovering America and it was his voyage that began the exploration and colonization of the Americas. Columbus began his journey on August 3, 1492 with three ships named Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. Although he was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia he never did and instead "discovered" America. -
Period: 1500 to
Mercantilism
Mercantilism was an economic system of trade from the 16th to 18th century. The goal of mercantilism was to increase a nation's wealth by imposing government regulation that oversaw the nations commercial interests. It was designed to benefit a mother country by the creation of colonies to gather resources. -
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Jamestown
100 Colonists left England on December of 1606 on three ships and arrived on the James River in May of 1607 where they began there lives in the New World. -
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Navigation Act of 1651
The Navigation Act of 1651, was aimed primarily at the Dutch and required all trade between England and the colonies to be carried in English or colonial vessels, which later resulted in the Anglo- Dutch War in 1652. -
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The Enlightenment
During the late 17th century and the late 18th century European politics, philosophy, science, and communications were part of a movement referred to the Age of Reason or the Enlightenment, and the ideas made changed Europe forever. -
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was on e of the founding fathers who drafted the Declaration of the United States and the Constitution of the United States. Franklin was also a scientist who was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. Benjamin was also an inventor known doe the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove. -
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French and Indian War
Although the French and British began fighting in 1754, war was not officially declared until 1756. At the start of the French and Indian War the French and Natives of North America had fought as allies against the British, but as the war went on the Natives began to abandon the French, and this gave the British an advantage. At the end of the war the English colonies were about twice the size they were before, and the British were able to gain control of Montreal. -
Proclamation of 1763
A law passed at the end of the French and Indian War by England's Parliament, which drew a line in the colonies in order to keep colonists and Native Americans separate after the War. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was an act passed by the British government imposed on American colonists, it required them to pay a tax on every printed paper they used, which included ship papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and playing cards. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre occurred on Mach 5, 1770, and was when the British Army shot and killed several people while they were under attack by a mob. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an incident that took place in 1773 and was when the patriots were disguised as Mohawk Indians, and threw 342 chests of tea from ships into the Boston Harbor belonging to the British. -
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American Revolution
The American Revolution was a political battle and was when colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy, so they wont their independence from Great Britain and found the United States of America. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 so the 13 American colonies could disconnect their political connections to Great Britain and have motivations for seeking independence. -
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United States Constitution Signed
The Constitution was written in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention Center at the same place where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The U.S. Constitution convened from May to September, and was signed on September 17, 1787 -
George Washington
George Washington was the first president of the United States, who served from 1789-1797. Before his presidency during the American Revolution he served as a U.S. general and commander- in - chief of the colonial armies. -
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the third U.S. president and served from 1801-1809. During his presidency he bought Louisiana from France and Napoleon Bonaparte. In addition, Jefferson was a draftsman of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the nations first secretary of state, and the second vice present. -
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Westward Expansion
After the Louisiana Purchase the former U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson believed that the nation's future depended on its westward expansion. In order to secure land and become prosperous by 1840 almost 7 million Americans had migrated westward. -
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Louisiana Purchase
On April 30, 1803 U.S. representatives in Paris agreed to pay 15 million dollars for 828,000 square miles of land, known as the Louisiana Purchase which nearly doubled the size of the United States. The acquisition of land to the United States brought from France and Napoleon Bonaparte. -
Lewis and Clark
Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, solider, politician, and public administrator most known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with William Clark who was a solider, author, politician, and explorer. After the Purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, Jefferson led an expedition to survey the land West of the Mississippi and requested/chose Lewis and Clark. -
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Lewis and Clark Expedition
The group which began to map and build relationships with Native Americans in what became the central and western United States. -
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Manifest Destiny
In the 19th century, manifest destiny was a belief in the United States that its settlers were destined to expand across North America, from the East and West Coast. The primary cause of Manifest destiny was the fact that American people were historically connected to the English civilization, and that gave them a sense of superiority over the people who lived in North America. -
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Jacksonian Democracy
A period of time where the president truly listened to and represented the common people, but was accused of overstepping the power of presidency. -
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was a lawyer and a landowner, and become a nation war hero after defeating the British in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. He was elected in 1828 and became the seventh president of the United States. Jackson was also the one to sigh the Indian Removal Act during his presidency. -
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Election of 1828
The election of 1828 was a rematch between John Quincy Adams (the incumbent President) and Andrew Jackson, but the election was won by John Quincy Adams. Later on, Adams was accused of engaging in disgraceful politics in order to win the election of 1824, and responded to a campaign that focused on Jackson's military career and personal life. -
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Abolitionist Movement
The Abolitionist Movement was when groups of African - Americans and white people worked to stop slavery although slave owners wanted slavery to continue. As abolitionists tired to form an anti - slavery society where there was no racial segregation and discrimination, violence began to escalate against abolitionists. -
Indian Removal Act
A ruling created on May 28, 1830 by Andrew Jackson (the U. S. President at the time) in order to force Native Americans west of the Mississippi River. The l Act led to the eviction of native Americans from their lands in the Southeast and forced them to go to what is currently Oklahoma in a movement known as the Trail of Tears where thousands of Native Americans died due to cold, hunger, and disease on their way to the western lands. -
Frederick Douglas
Frederick Douglass was a born slave and became an anti -slavery leader and human rights leader, social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and salesman. He was one of the first African- American citizens to hold a high rank in the government and wrote several autobiographies speaking about his experiences as a slave. -
Dred Scott
Dred Scott was an enslaved African- American who was most known for fighting for his and his family's freedom in the Dred Scott Decision. He believed that him and his wife deserved their freedom, and that once he was no longer in a slave state he should not be a slave anymore, but there was a controversy over this. The courts believed/decided that blacks had no rights in federal courts and that slave states no longer had to honor "once free always free." -
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Mexican American War
The primary causes of the Mexican-American War were manifest destiny, westward expansion, slavery, and the American citizens in the south who wished to gain more slave states to increase their political power. In the end the United States won the Mexican- American War. -
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Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott decision took place in 1856, when Dred Scott an enslaved African-American in the United States fought for his and his families freedom through the decision of the Scott case. During this the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in where slave owners had the right to take their slaves into the Western territories, and Scott was trying to fight for his freedom against this because he believed it was wrong. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850, was when the Fugitive Slave Act was amended, the slave trade in Washington, D.C. was abolished, California became a free state, and territorial government was created in Utah. -
Election of 1860
The U.S. presidential election of 1860 was held on November 6, 1860. While Abraham Lincoln defeated John C. Breckenridge, it was a strange victory because Lincoln only won 40 percent of the votes which were all from the North and ten southern states were not even on the ballot. -
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Civil War
The American Civil war was a war that was fought in the United States between the Confederates and the Union from 1861 to 1865 over the controversy of slavery. -
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United State, he preserved the Union during the U.S. Civil War, and brought about the emancipation of slaves in 1863. -
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Era of Reform
The Era of Reform was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States that took place from 1890- 1920. The main objectives of the movement was to eliminate the problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and corruption in government. These reform movements also sought to change abolition of slavery, education reform, prison reform, women's rights, and temperance.
