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Oct 12, 1492
Columbus discovers America
Was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. -
Jan 1, 1497
John Cabot claims North America for England
Was an Italian navigator and explorer whose 1497 discovery of parts of North America is commonly held to have been the first European encounter with the continent of North America since the Norse Vikings in the eleventh century. -
Sep 1, 1543
Jacques Cartier explores the Great Lakes and the the St. Lawrence River
Was a French explorer of Breton origin who claimed what is now Canada for France. -
Virginia colony of Roanoke Island established by Walter Raleigh
Was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the colonists, later together known to history as the Pilgrims, who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower. -
English Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament on 16 December 1689. It was a re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689. -
Proclamation of 1763 by King George III
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War. -
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Stamp Act
A stamp act is any legislation that requires a tax to be paid on the transfer of certain documents. Those that pay the tax receive an official stamp on their documents, making them legal documents. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. -
Period: to
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the 13 founding states that legally established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution. -
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is. When these principles are written down into a single or set of legal documents, those documents may be said to comprise a written constitution. -
delaware
The state ranks second in civilian scientists and engineers as a percentage of the workforce and number of patents issued to companies or individuals per 1,000 workers. -
Delaware Dec. 7, 1787
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Pennsylvania Dec. 12, 1787
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New Jersey Dec. 18, 1787
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Georgia Jan. 2, 1788
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Connecticut Jan. 9, 1788
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Massachusetts Feb. 6, 1788
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Maryland Apr. 28, 1788
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South Carolina May 23, 1788
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New Hampshire June 21, 1788
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Virginia June 25, 1788
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New York July 26, 1788
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North Carolina Nov. 21, 1789
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1790 population
4 million -
Rhode Island May 29, 1790
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11th Amendment
The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, which was passed by the Congress on March 4, 1794, and was ratified on February 7, 1795, deals with each state's sovereign immunity. -
Vermont Mar. 4, 1791
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Kentucky June 1, 1792
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Tennessee June 1, 1796
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1800 population
5.3 million -
Ohio Mar. 1, 1803
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12th Amendment
The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides the procedure for electing the President and Vice President. It replaced Article II, Section 1, Clause 3, which provided the original procedure by which the Electoral College functioned. Problems with this procedure were demonstrated in the elections of 1796 and 1800. The Twelfth Amendment was proposed by the Congress on December 9, 1803, and was ratified by the requisite number of state legislatures on June 15, 180 -
1810 population
7.2 million -
Louisiana Apr. 30, 1812
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Indiana Dec. 11, 1816
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Mississippi Dec. 10, 1817
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Illinois Dec. 3, 1818
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Alabama Dec. 14, 1819
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1820 population
9.6 million -
Maine Mar. 15, 1820
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Missouri Aug. 10, 1821
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1830 population
12.8 million -
Indian Removal Act (1838 Trail of Tears)
The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the Five Civilized Tribes. In particular, Georgia, the largest state at that time, was involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokee nation. -
Arkansas June 15, 1836
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Michigan Jan. 26, 1837
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1840 population
17 million -
Florida Mar. 3, 1845
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Texas Dec. 29, 1845
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Iowa Dec. 28, 1846
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Wisconsin May 29, 1848
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1850 population
23 million -
California Sept. 9, 1850
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Minnesota May 11, 1858
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Oregon Feb. 14, 1859
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1860 population
31.4 million -
Kansas Jan. 29, 1861
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Nevada Oct. 31, 1864
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Nebraska Mar. 1, 1867
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14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling by the Supreme Court (1857) that held that blacks could not be citizens of the United States -
1870 population
38.6 million -
15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" (i.e., slavery). It was ratified on February 3, 1870. -
Colorado Aug. 1, 1876
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1880 population
50.1 million -
North Dakota Nov. 2, 1889
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South Dakota Nov. 2, 1889
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Montana Nov. 8, 1889
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Washington Nov. 11, 1889
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1890 population
62.9 million -
Idaho July 3, 1890
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Wyoming July 10, 1890
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Utah Jan. 4, 1896
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1900 population
76.2 million -
Oklahoma Nov. 16, 1907
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1910 population
92.2 million -
New Mexico Jan. 6, 1912
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Arizona Feb. 14, 1912
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16th Amendment
The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution allows the Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states or basing it on Census results. This amendment exempted income taxes from the constitutional requirements regarding direct taxes, after income taxes on rents, dividends, and interest were ruled to be direct taxes in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895). It was ratified on February 3, 1913. -
17th Amendment
Direct election of senators
The Seventeenth Amendment was proposed on May 13, 1912, and ratified on April 8, 1913. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. -
18th Amendmant
Prohibition of liquor
The Eighteenth Amendment was proposed on December 18, 1917, and ratified on January 16, 1919. It was repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment, December 5, 1933. -
1920 population
106 million -
19th Amendment
Woman suffrage
The Nineteenth Amendment was proposed on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18,1920. -
1930 populatiion
123 million -
20th Amendment
Terms of the President and Congress
The Twentieth Amendment was proposed on March 2, 1932, and ratified on January 23,1933. -
21st Amendment
Repeal of prohibition
The Twenty-First Amendment was proposed on February 20, 1933, and ratified on December 5, 1933. -
1940 population
132 million -
22nd Amendment
Limitation of Presidents to two terms
The Twenty-Second Amendment was proposed on March 24, 1947, and ratified on February 27, 1951. -
1950 population
151 million -
Alaska Jan. 3, 1959
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1960 population
179.3 million -
23rd Amendment
Suffrage in the District of Columbia
The Twenty-Third Amendment was proposed on June 16, 1960, and ratified on March 29, 1961. -
24 Amendment
Poll taxes
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment was proposed on August 27, 1962, and ratified on January 23, 1964. -
25th Amendment
Presidential disability and succession
The Twenty-Fifth Amendment was proposed on July 6, 1965, and ratified on February 10, 1967. -
1970 population
203 million -
1980 population
226.5 million -
1990 population
248.7 million -
2000 population
281.4 million -
2010 population
308.7 million -
West Virginia June 20, 1863
