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Period: 1551 to
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of people, African American as well as white, offering shelter and aid to escaped enslaved people from the South. It developed as a convergence of several different clandestine efforts. The exact dates of its existence are not known, but it operated from the late 18th century to the Civil War, at which point its efforts continued to undermine the Confederacy in a less-secretive fashion. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/underground-railroad -
Jamestown Settlement Founded
On December 6, 1606, the journey to Virginia began on three ships: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. In 1607, 104 English men and boys arrived in North America to start a settlement. On May 13 they picked Jamestown, Virginia for their settlement, which was named after their King, James I. The settlement became the first permanent English settlement in North America. https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/a-short-history-of-jamestown.htm -
Period: to
French & Indian War
The Seven Years’ War (called the French and Indian War in the colonies) lasted from 1756 to 1763, forming a chapter in the imperial struggle between Britain and France called the Second Hundred Years’ War.
In the early 1750s, France’s expansion into the Ohio River valley repeatedly brought it into conflict with the claims of the British colonies, especially Virginia. ,https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/french-and-indian-war -
Period: to
american revolution
American Revolution, also called United States War of Independence or American Revolutionary War, (1775–83), insurrection by which 13 of Great Britain’s North American colonies won political independence and went on to form the United States of America. Americans fought the war on land with essentially two types of organization: the Continental (national) Army and the state militias. -
Declaration of Independence
the Congress on July 2 “unanimously” by the votes of 12 colonies had resolved that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States.” Accordingly, the day on which final separation was officially voted was July 2, although the 4th, the day on which the Declaration of Independence was adopted, has always been celebrated in the United States as the great national .https://www.britannica.com/topic/Declaration-of-Independence -
Period: to
Constitutional Convention
The United States Constitution that emerged from the convention established a federal government with more specific powers, including those related to conducting relations with foreign governments. Under the reformed federal system, many of the responsibilities for foreign affairs fell under the authority of an executive branch https://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/convention-and-ratification -
Period: to
Dred Scott
The Dred Scott case, also known as Dred Scott v. Sandford, was a decade-long fight for freedom by a Black enslaved man named Dred Scott. The case persisted through several courts and ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court, whose decision incensed abolitionists, gave momentum to the anti-slavery movement and served as a stepping stone to the Civil War. Dred Scott was born into slavery around 1799 in Southampton County, Virginia. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/dred-scott-case -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a law that tried to address growing sectional tensions over the issue of slavery. By passing the law, which President James Monroe signed, the U.S. Congress admitted Missouri to the Union as a state that allowed slavery, and Maine as a free state. It also banned slavery from the remaining Louisiana Purchase lands located north of the 36º 30’ parallel (the southern border of Missouri) https://www.history.com/topics/abolitionist-movement/missouri-compromise -
Trail of Tears
At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida–land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. But by the end of the decade, very few natives remained anywhere in the southeastern United States https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears -
Period: to
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a roughly 2,000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, that was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to emigrate west. The trail was arduous and snaked through Missouri and present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and finally into Oregon. https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/oregon-trail -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was made up of five bills that attempted to resolve disputes over slavery in new territories added to the United States in the wake of the Mexican-American War (1846-48). It admitted California as a free state, left Utah and New Mexico to decide for themselves whether to be a slave state or a free state, defined a new Texas-New Mexico boundary, https://www.history.com/topics/abolitionist-movement/compromise-of-1850 -
Kansas Nebraska Act
In 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas proposed a bill to organize Nebraska, a vast area of land that would become Kansas, Nebraska, Montana and the Dakotas. Known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the controversial bill raised the possibility that slavery could be extended into territories where it had once been banned. Its passage intensified the bitter debate over slavery in the United States, which would later explode into the Civil War. https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/kansas-nebraska-act -
Election of 1860
The election of 1860 was one of the most pivotal presidential elections in American history. It pitted Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln against Democratic Party nominee Senator Stephen Douglas, Southern Democratic Party nominee John Breckinridge and Constitutional Union Party nominee John Bell. https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/election-of-1860 -
Period: to
attack at fort sumter timeline
Fort Sumter, an island fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, is most famous for being the site of the first battle of the American Civil War. Originally constructed in 1829 as a coastal garrison, U.S. Major Robert Anderson occupied the fort in December 1860 following South Carolina’s secession from the Union, initiating a standoff with the state’s militia forces. https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/fort-sumter -
South Carolina secedes from the United States
The American Civil War was fought to preserve the Union. There had long been tensions between the rights of the states under the constitution and those of the federal government, so much so that South Carolina and the administration in Washington almost came to blows over the issue of tariffs in the 1830s. It was slavery, however, that brought matters to breaking point. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/south-carolina-secedes-union