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Aug 3, 1492
Columbus discovers the american continent
Christopher Columbus finds the American continent. Its should be remembered that he was not the first man to discover these lands, there was already natives residing there. In fact, Columbus sort of just ran into it, his real goal was to find a direct water route from Europe to Asia. He did pave the way for a lot of future exploration however, so its not like he was completely useless. -
The settlement of Jamestown
104 English men just got done from a long journey across the ocean. They decide to settle at a place now known as Jamestown, Virginia. Understandably naming it after their ruler King James I. They underwent many trials during their stay in Jamestown. They started running out of food and began to eat anything they could, including other members of the party who had died. Gross right? This was also known as the "Starving Time" -
The French and Indian war
Also known as "The Seven Year War" this war took place between 1756 and 1763. Basically what happened is the French started taking over more land then the British wanted them to, after a series of fights the British made the official declaration that they were at war. At 1763 there was a peace conference, ending in the British receiving the territories of Canada from France and Florida from Spain, which opened the Mississippi valley to west expansion. -
The Boston Tea Party
Now we've all heard about this little fiasco. A bunch of American colonists got mad at Britain for "Taxation without representation". In protest they decided to dump 342 chests of tea into the ocean, which had just been imported by the British East India company. This was the first big act of defiance against the British government, definitely created a lot tension, which then led to war. -
The Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Military engagement that kicked of the Revolutionary War. A British man called Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith ordered some his men on a secret mission to destroy some Colonial supplies supposedly stored by the Massachusetts militia in Concord. But the Colonies got word and decided to fight. At the crack of dawn, the first shot went off, and chaos ensued. With much fighting and death the British eventually found their way to Charlestown, which they defended with their lives. -
The Declaration of Independence
This was the day that the 13 Colonies officially declared themselves as their own nation, no longer under British rule. To quote Sir John Adams: "The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America" (He is referring to the day the Declaration was written and agreed upon, the wording was not approved until the 4th, which is the day we celebrate) -
The Alien and Sedition acts
So yeah, America got scared of the French and decided to pass a bunch of laws that make immigration harder and stricter, along with the ability to deport them, and just to add a cherry on top they made it harder for immigrants to vote. Obviously a lot of people weren't happy about this, but its the government, they can do what they want amiright? Well, not if other government people dont like it either. Virginia and Kentucky both decided to make these laws invalid in their states. -
The Battle of Yorktown
Beginning on Sept 28 and going all the way to Oct 19, this battle was the most important battle of the Revolutionary War. After days of fighting the general decided to surrender, his man singing "The world turned upside down" as they turned to go home. When the Prime Minister heard of their fate he cried out "Oh God, its all over". And he was definitely right, the Americans won, but not without a price, 500 British men, 80 Americans, and 200 French all lost there lives in the battle. -
Constitutional Convention
Ah yes, this was very important time in our country. This was the day the basic idea for the government we have now was created, and the great George Washington as elected president of the United States. It was also the time when the constitution was written -
The Invention of the Cotton Gin
In 1793, an American man named Eli Whitney invented a mechanical version of the cotton gin. a device that uses cotton to make cloth and other things. While this did make making clothes easier, it also greatly increased the demand for slaves in the United States. Yeah... people up North didn't like that. -
The Louisiana Purchase
This was the event of the United States buying a large amount of land from the French. And I mean a LOT. It cost them about 15 million dollars. -
The War of 1812
Oh yeah, call them crazy, but the yanks decided to take on Great Britain once again. There were a lot of reasons but a few of them were because Great Britain was trying to restrict their trades, and also America just wanted to expand their territory. Fun fact, this war was also known as "The Second War of Independence". This war greatly increased national pride and kind of started a new age to the country. In a way. -
The Missouri Compromise
Missouri... yeah. They wanted slaves. The Government was worried that making Missouri a slave state would upset the balance between the slave and free states, so they came up with a compromise, making Main into a free state and granting Missouri their request. They also drew an imaginary line in the middle of the former Louisiana territory. -
Andrew Jackson's Election
Whats so important about this one presidents election? Well whats so important about it is that this was the first election between the newly formed Democratic and Republican parties. Andrew won, making a victory for the Democrats. -
The Invention of the Telegraph
Between the 1830s and 1840s, A group men including Sir William Cooke, Sir Charles Wheatstone, Samual Morse, Leonard Gale, and Alfred Vail, invented this thing called a telegraph. This machine allowed people to transfer messages over long distances using electricity. As you can probably imagine, this changed the world. It changed how wars were fought and it changed how people communicated and all sorts of things it was crazy. Also Morse Code was invented at the same time. -
The Trail of Tears
America was really racist back then, and they didnt like having Native Americans around, so in true American fashion, they booted em out. Well technically not really out but to a separate place. They also tried to convert the "Indians" to their christian beliefs and white American culture.The actual "Trail" refers to the path the Natives had to walk after they were forced out of their lands and into a designated spot along the Mississippi. -
The Panic of 1837
A combination of restrictive lending policies by Great Britain, A decline in cotton prices, a collapsing land bubble, and many other things created what is known as the The Panic of 1837. People were freaking out and banks were closing and business's were shutting down all over the place. Definitely not our country's greatest moment. -
The Mexican American War
Yeah, another war. This time with Mexico. But hey, they attacked first. -
Compromise of 1850
A few things happened with this compromise, California entered the Union as a free state, Utah got its own territorial government, there was an act to suppress the slave trade in the District of Columbia, it ended the slave trade, and there was a border created between Texas and New Mexico. -
The Firing on Fort Sumter
Oh hey I've been there! Very cool place. Anyways this was the first battle of the Civil War, set in and around a man made island called Fort Sumter. Fun fact, there were no casualties during the actual battle. Basically straight artillery fire until U.S. Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort on April 13th. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln wrote what is known as "The Emancipation Proclamation". Its main goal was to outlaw slavery in the united states. Unfortunately there was a few catches, one being that it only applied to the states who already didnt have states, and other being that it completely depended on the victory of the Union. -
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
After years of fighting General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union General Ulysses E. Grant, Which effectively ended the Civil War as we know it. -
Abraham Lincoln Assassination
Just after winning the war, President Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head at Fords Theater in Washington DC. The murderers name was Jon Wilkes Booth. A devastating moment for our country. The hunt to find Jon Wilkes Booth was one of the biggest manhunts in the history of our country, with about 10,000 officials searching for him. -
The Reconstruction Amendments
These are the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. They essentially made all forms of slavery (except for in the case of criminals) illegal, and allowed anyone of any race to vote. -
Andrew Johnson's Impeachment
President Andrew Johnson was a man of great controversy. Many people (Namely Radical Republicans) didn't like him or his actions, and he was impeached. -
The Organization of Standard Oil Trust
John D. Rockfeller owned the largest refinery in the world named "Standard Oil Trust", but in 1870 it was renamed "Standard Oil Company". After the renaming, Rockfeller bought all other competition and formed it all into one company. -
The Homestead Strike
A long strike started by the Homestead Steel Works in Pennsylvania. The strike was, unfortunately for the workers, a failure. This even greatly changed the way laborers were handled in the country. -
The Spanish American War
A war between America and Spain that ended with the Spanish any colonial rule in the Americas and the U.S. gaining some territories in the Western Pacific and Latin America. -
Great movement for science.
The conventional electric light bulb is now very widely commercialized, and is now a very common light source. The airplane is invented at this time, which was huge leap for humanity. The telephone was also beginning to surface around this time. Science began to push forward at an accelerating rate. -
Theodore Roosevelt's Election
This was the election of one of the greatest presidents there ever was. Theodore did much for our country
