-
Period: to
US History Timeline 18th-19th centuries
-
Industrial Revolution
1760 - 1840. The shift from agrarian, hand-made to industry and machine manufatcture. Increased productivity created a much higher standard of living than had ever been known in the pre-industrial world. -
Boston Tea Party
December 16, 1773. In protest to the British Parliament's Tea Act of 1773, a group of Massachusetts colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded three British tea ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston harbor. -
Revolutionary War
April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783. King George III imposed taxes on the colonies without their consent. This made them upset. They were now having to pay for things they had previously had free. In response, they boycotted British goods, the beginning of the war. -
Writing of the Constitution
September 17, 1787. Following the revolution, there were many opposing ideas about the future of the United States. A group of national leaders drafted a new plan called the Federal Constitution, and presented it to the public for their consideration. -
Start of Factories
December 20, 1790. Samuel Slater built the first American factory. It was a cotton mill and due to his success he is considered the father of the US textile industry. By the time of the Civil War there were over 1200 cotton factories and 1500 woolen factories in the United States. -
Lewis & Clark
1804 - 1806. Lewis and Clark set out across the continent, making observations of natural resources and geography of the west. They also established relations with native groups in an attempt to disrupt British monopoly of Indian fur trade. -
Missouri Compromise
March 3, 1820. Missouri applied to join the Union, but was initially rejected since it was a slave state. Finally Congress passed a bill granting Missouri statehood as a slave state under the condition that slavery was to be forever prohibited in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36th parallel. -
Manifest Destiny
July-August 1845. As more immigrants came to America, the spirit of nationalism demanded more territory. Many believed that not only was expansion west inevitable, but made possible by the divine intervention of God. Newspaper editor JOHN O'SULLIVAN coined the term "MANIFEST DESTINY" to describe this mindset. -
French/Indian War
1754 – 1763. Also called the Seven Year War. This war was between the colonies of British America and New France over control of the Ohio Valley. At stake were the lucrative fur trade and access to the all-important Mississippi River. -
Bleeding Kansas
This describes a period of violence during the settling of the Kansas territory. In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act overturned the Missouri Compromise, using the principle of popular sovereignty. Violence soon erupted as both factions fought for control. -
Civil War
April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865. When Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election in 1860 he promised to keep slavery out of the territories. This created much tension between the free and slave states and seven states seceded, forming the Confederate states, to which Lincoln responded by sending the militia to suppress them. -
Reconstruction Act of 1867
January 1, 1863 to March 31, 1877. The Reconstruction Act ratified the 14th amendment to provide former slaves citizenship, and the 15th amendment granting black male adults the right to vote,
and readmitted states into the union. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
April 15, 1865. Four days prior to his death Lincoln delivered a speech outlining his plans for peace and reconstruction. John Wilkes Booth opposed Lincoln's ideals and plotted to kill him, which he did 4 days later at the Ford Theater, where Lincoln was watching a play.
