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Foundation of Jamestown
Virginia Company of London (Joint Stock Company) launched 1st lasting venture to the New World. Investors were looking to find gold in America. -
The Starving Time
This dark period occurred in winter after the colonists of Jamestown's food supply dwindled and Malaria was going around. Only 38 of the original 144 survived. They were saved by John Smith, who made each colonist farm four hours per day. -
Slave Codes (Concept)
Slave codes were laws used by the colonies to control their slaves to avoid rebellion. Fear of rebellion began after one of the first slave revolts in 1712. This fear lead to the colonists creating these restrictions on slaves, such as not allowing them to own property, to avoid revolts. -
French and Indian War
While colonizing the Americas, France and Britain came into conflict over the Ohio Valley, a prime geographic location. British started off poorly by losing a series of battles, but the tide turned when William Pitt took over war time Operations. Britain won the war. At the Treaty of Paris, Britain received Quebec and the Ohio Valley. While this was a victory for the British, during the war a sense of unity and nationalism had begun to develop within the colonies, foreshadowing what was to come. -
The Boston Massacre
While a British guard stood watch outside a customs house in Boston, a mob of 60 townspeople came upon them, yelling insults and hurling rocks. The guardsmen, afraid, called for reinforcements. The British soldiers fired at the mob without command from a general, killing five. Paul Revere used this event as propaganda in his painting of "The Boston Massacre" to persuade the colonists to take up arms against the British. -
Shays' Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion occurred when the government began seizing farms when the farmers could not pay off their debts. This led to a rebellion, which had to be put down by a military force funded by eastern merchants. This rebellion made the national leaders realize that the government they had now (A.O.C.) possessed many problems and led to the making of the Constitution. -
Jeffersonian America
The election of 1800 is considered a 2nd revolution by some because Thomas Jefferson (A Democratic-Republican) triumphed over John Adams (A federalist). Federalists believed in having a strong federal government ruling over the people while Democratic-Republicans wanted a weaker central government so the people could rule more directly. At the time federalists dominated politics, and the Jefferson victory lead to the demise of the Federalist Party and the rise of the Democratic Republican Party. -
The War of 1812
The second war for American Independence against the British was harmful yet hopeful for the United States. America was losing after Britain took D.C. and burned the White House. But, what kept the U.S. from losing was strong defense in Baltimore and Captain McDonough's victorious naval battle on Lake Champlain. The Treaty of Ghent was signed to end the war but Andrew Jackson did not get word until after the victorious Battle of New Orleans. This win developed a sense of nationalism in the U.S. -
Underground Railroad (Concept)
The Underground Railroad was the secret organization working to help escaped slaves to safety, which was the North. Railroad stations were usually churches or barns where slaves would stop and receive food and a safe place to sleep. Harriet Tubman was an escaped slave and conductor in the Underground Railroad who freed around three hundred slaves. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner was a slave who lead a rebellion along with seventy slaves against the southern whites. Turner and his group traveled from one plantation to the next, killing men, women and children. Eventually he ran out of ammo and was captured and hanged, but his rebellion was the first time that a slave rebellion had actually succeeded in killing a lot of whites. After this, southerners tightened restrictions on slaves in order to suppress rebellion. -
Manifest Destiny (Concept)
The concept of manifest destiny is one formed during western expansion in America by John O'Sullivan. Americans believed that it was their destiny to expand their nation and that God himself wanted them to spread Christianity westward. This is what Americans used to justify their rapid expansion and taking of Native American lands. -
Compromise of 1850
This compromise between the North and South introduced by Henry Clay helped the nation avoid internal conflict. The compromise overturned the Missouri compromise by admitting California into the Union, but guaranteed that no federal restrictions on slavery would be placed on Utah or New Mexico. This agreement kept a fragile peace until the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act allowed the states of Kansas and Nebraska to decide their stance on slavery based on popular sovereignty which overturned the Missouri Compromise. The overturning of the Missouri Compromise outraged the North, because slavery in states within the Louisiana Purchase North of the 36th Parallel was supposed to be forever prohibited. Sparking outrage in the North caused tensions to rise between the two sides, and this Act became one of the most influential events leading up to the cvil war. -
Fort Sumter
This battle is interesting because it was what started the Civil War. The south had surrounded Fort Sumter and the union soldiers were running low on supplies. Neither Abraham Lincoln nor Jefferson Davis wanted to be the first to start the war. Lincoln decided to only send food supplies to his fort, placing the ball in Davis's court, who could either let it through and let the Fort restock, or he could attack and start the Civil War. Davis decided to attack, and so began the Civil War. -
Battle of Antietam
This battle was of massive importance for both sides. The Confederacy believed that one more victory would show the europeans that they were the winning side and to ally with them. The North needed to win the battle to show the europeans that they were still in control and not to ally with a losing side. The Union was able to win the battle, but in doing so 22,000 soldiers were killed, injured, or went missing. This battle was the "bloodiest single day America has ever suffered." -
Emancipation Proclamation
During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which "freed" the slaves of the Confederacy. This was a strategy used to drain the South's resources, and made the North seem like the moral side if a European power ever decided to join in the fight. The emancipation would eventually lead to the creation of the 13th amendment and the abolishment of slavery. -
Assassination of Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, two days after Robert E. Lee's assassination, went to see a play at Ford's Theater. There, he was shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth, an actor as well as a white supremacist. Booth snuck up on stage and shot Lincoln through the back of the head before leaping onto the stage, declaring in latin, "Thus be it ever to tyrants." -
Black Codes (Concept)
Black codes were harsh laws used by powerful whites to maintain control over African Americans even after the Civil War. For example, they were not allowed to fish or hunt in certain areas, and were not allowed ownership of guns. -
Impeachment of President Johnson
Andrew Johnson became the first president to be impeached. The heavily Republican dominated House of Representatives impeached him mostly because of his violation of the Tenure of Office Act, after he tried to remove Edwin Stanton from office. However, when the impeachment case was tried in the senate, only 35 of the needed 36 to reach 2/3 of the senate voted to convict Johnson. -
American Identity (Concept)
The concept of the American identity is one that sits within ever one of us. Everyone within America is united by their American identity; our sense of pride in our country's history is what unites us as one nation and delivers us all a strong sense of nationalism. -
Bibliography (Continued)
Event 12: http://www.ushistory.org/us/30d.asp
Event 13:http://www.ushistory.org/us/31a.asp
Event 14: http://www.ushistory.org/us/33a.asp
Event 15: http://www.ushistory.org/us/33e.asp
Event 16: http://www.ushistory.org/us/34a.asp
Event 17: http://www.ushistory.org/us/34f.asp
Event 18: http://www.ushistory.org/us/35a.asp
Event 19: http://www.ushistory.org/us/35c.asp
Event 20: http://www.ushistory.org/us/7f.asp -
Bibliography
Events 1 and 2: http://www.ushistory.org/us/2c.asp
Event 3: http://www.ushistory.org/us/6f.asp
Event 4: http://www.ushistory.org/us/8b.asp
Event 5: http://www.ushistory.org/us/9e.asp
Event 6: http://www.ushistory.org/us/15a.asp
Event 7: http://www.ushistory.org/us/20.asp
Event 8: http://www.ushistory.org/us/21e.asp
Event 9: http://www.ushistory.org/us/28c.asp
Event 10: http://www.ushistory.org/us/27e.asp
Event 11: http://www.ushistory.org/us/29.asp
