-
1492
Christopher Columbus Lands
Columbus didn't “discover” America — he never set foot in North America. During four separate trips that started with the one in 1492, Columbus landed on various Caribbean islands and he enslaved the native people that lived in those lands. -
Period: 1492 to 1502
Christopher Columbus
The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he accidentally stumbled upon the Americas -
First Americans Enter North America
The first Americans arrived around the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. -
Period: to
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is a national economic policy designed to maximize the trade of a nation and, historically, to maximize the accumulation of gold and silver -
Jamestown
Jamestown, founded in 1607, was the first successful permanent English settlement in what would become the United States. -
Navigation Act of 1651 French and Indian War
To enforce mercantilism England passed the navigation acts, (Trade Acts) beginning in 1651. These acts were designed to control trade with its colonies. These laws forced the colonies to trade only with England. In other words no Dutch, French, or Spanish ships could sell or trade their goods to the colonies. -
Period: to
The Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment period of the Modern era of philosophy corresponds roughly to the 18th Century. In general terms, the Enlightenment was an intellectual movement, developed mainly in France, Britain and Germany, which advocated freedom, democracy and reason as the primary values of society. -
Period: to
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin. ... Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat -
Period: to
George Washington
George Washington (1732-99) was commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (1775-83) and served two terms as the first U.S. president, from 1789 to 1797. -
Proclamation of 1763
In 1763, at the end of the French and Indian War, the British issued a proclamation,mainly intended to conciliate the Indians by checking the encroachment of settlers on their lands. -
Period: to
American Revolution
The American Revolution was a colonial revolt that took place between 1765 and 1783. The American Patriots in the Thirteen Colonies won independence from Great Britain, becoming the United States of America. They defeated the British in the American Revolutionary War in alliance with France and others -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. All of the colonists were mad with the stamp act because they thought the British Parliament shouldn't have the right to tax them -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry -
Boston Tea Party
Boston Tea Party Protest by a group of Massachusetts colonists, disguised as Mohawks and led by Samuel Adams, against the Tea Act and, more generally, against “taxation without representation”. The Tea Act, passed by the British Parliament, withdrew duty on tea exported to the colonies -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is defined as the formal statement written by Thomas Jefferson declaring the freedom of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain. An example of the Declaration of Independence was the document adopted at the Second Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776 -
United States Constitution Signed
The members of the Constitutional Convention signed the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Constitutional Convention convened in response to dissatisfaction with the Articles of Confederation and the need for a strong centralized government -
Period: to
Dred Scott
Dred Scott (c. 1799 – September 17, 1858) was an enslaved African American man in the United States who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom and that of his wife and their two daughters in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857, popularly known as the "Dred Scott Decision". -
Period: to
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13 [O.S. April 2] 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million -
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Two years into his presidency, Jefferson asked Congress to fund an expedition through the Louisiana territory to the Pacific Ocean. ... In 1803, Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery, and named U.S. Army Captain Meriwether Lewis its leader, who in turn selected William Clark as second in command. -
Period: to
Westward Expansion
To Jefferson, westward expansion was the key to the nation's health: He believed that a republic depended on an independent, virtuous citizenry for its survival, and that independence and virtue went hand in hand with land ownership, especially the ownership of small farms. -
Period: to
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition from May 1804 to September 1806, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the first American expedition to cross what is now the western portion of the United States. -
Period: to
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He was also very passionate about equal rights and ending slavery. -
Period: to
Manifest Destiny
In the 19th century, manifest destiny was a widely held belief in the United States that its settlers were destined to expand across North America. -
Period: to
Andrew Jackson
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, authorizing the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. Some tribes went peacefully, many resisted the relocation policy. Jackson became a national war hero after defeating the British in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. Jackson was elected the seventh president of the United States in 1828 -
Period: to
Frederick Douglass
It wasn't until 1861 when the Civil War broke out that the opportunity to end slavery was in sight. Douglass played a critical role in the formation of Civil War black soldiers. He convinced President Abraham Lincoln that blacks should be allowed to fight for their freedom, and fight in defense of their country. -
Jacksonian democracy
Jacksonian democracy was a 18th-century political philosophy in the United States that espoused greater democracy for the common man as that term was then defined -
Election of 1828
The United States presidential election of 1828 featured a rematch between John Quincy Adams, now incumbent President, and Andrew Jackson. As incumbent Vice President John C. Calhoun had sided with the Jacksonians, the National Republicans led by Adams, chose Richard Rush as Adams' running mate -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, authorizing the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within. The Indian Americans had to move west because they thought it was better for them. -
Period: to
Abolitionist Movement
Abolitionism is a general term which describes the movement to end slavery -
Mexican American War
The Mexican–American War, also known as the Mexican War in the United States and in Mexico as the American intervention in Mexico, was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the United Mexican States from 1846 to 1848 -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850, a set of laws, passed in the midst of fierce wrangling between groups favoring slavery and groups opposing it, that attempted to give something to both sides. Part of the Compromise included the Fugitive Slave Act, which wasn't very welcomed in the North. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was an enslaved African American man in the United States who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom and that of his wife and their two daughters in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857, popularly known as the "Dred Scott Decision" -
Election of 1860
United States presidential election of 1860, American presidential election held on Nov. 6, 1860, in which Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell. -
Period: to
Civil War
The Civil War was caused by the north and the south of the United States. During this time there was a lot of different ideas, which included ending slavery. The north wanted to end it but the south wanted to keep its slaves. -
Era of Reform
The Progressive Era was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States that spanned from the 1890s to the 1920s. The main objectives of the Progressive movement were eliminating problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and corruption in government.