US History Timeline

  • 1 BCE

    First Americans Enter North America

    The findings clash with long-held views that the first Americans traveled through the interior of the continent from Siberia into North America. Some archaeologists argue that the first Americans might have entered via the continental interior and turned to a maritime way of life only after they arrived.
  • 1436

    Christopher Columbus

    Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer. Christopher had slaved many Indians in the New World, but he was not the one that discovered it.
  • Aug 3, 1492

    Christopher Columbus Lands

    Christopher Columbus landed on the Caribbean islands which is now known as the Bahamas. When he landed, he claimed the land for Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain.
  • Jamestown

    Jamestown was the first permanent English Settlement in North America.It is now a historic site in east Virginia. It was founded in May 14, 1607.
  • Navigation Act of 1651

    It required all trade between England and the colonies to be carried in English or colonial vessels, resulting in the Anglo-Dutch War in 1652.
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    The Enlightenment

    European politics, philosophy, science and communications changed during the Enlightenment. It was a movement that was called the "age of reason."
  • Benjamin Franklin

    He was an American polymath and was one of the founding father of the United States. He was a statesman, author, publisher, scientist, inventor and diplomat.
  • George Washington

    George Washington was the first president of the United States and was one of the founding fathers. He was also the chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
  • Thomas Jefferson

    Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States and was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. He was also the founder of the University of Virginia and he died on July 4, 1826.
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    French and Indian War

    The Indians had been allies to the French when they fought against British America. It pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France.
  • Proclamation of 1763

    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.
  • Stamp Act

    The Stamp Act was taxes that the British Government gave to the colonies. The Americans did not like it and had helped them protest against the crown.
  • Andrew Jackson

    Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States and had been known as the "people man." He was the president that had caused the Trail of Tears and the reason why many Native Americans were forced off their land.
  • Lewis and Clark

    Lewis and Clark made the first expedition to cross the western part of the United States. Meriwether Lewis was an american explorer, solider, politician, and public administrator. William Clark was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor.
  • Boston Massacre

    The Boston Massacre, known as the Incident on King Street by the British, was an incident on March 5, 1770, in which British Army soldiers shot and killed several people while under attack by a mob.
  • Boston Tea Party

    The Sons of Liberty protested against the British Government by dropping tea out of the ship and into the Boston Harbor. The protesters were dressed up as Mohawk Indians.
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    American Revolution

    It was a war the won the 13 Colonies their independence from Great Britain and formed the United States of America. It was caused by the growing tension between the Colonies and the British Government.
  • Declaration of Independence

    It was a declaration that the 13 colonies were independent from Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson had been given the job to write it.
  • United States Constitution Signed

    This was the same place the Declaration of Independence was signed. The Constitution was written during the Philadelphia Convention—now known as the Constitutional Convention—which convened from May 25 to September 17, 1787.
  • Louisiana Purchase

    The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the Louisiana territory by the United States from France in 1803. The U.S. paid fifty million francs and a cancellation of debts worth eighteen million francs for a total of sixty-eight million francs.
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    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.
  • Abraham Lincoln

    He was the 16th president of the United States and was a statesman and a lawyer. He believed that slaves should have basic right as humans and he was the reason why many slaves got their freedom. Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at a theater.
  • Election of 1828

    It featured a re-match of the 1824 election, as incumbent President John Quincy Adams of the National Republican Party faced Andrew Jackson of the nascent Democratic Party. After the 1824 election, Jackson's supporters immediately began plans for a re-match in 1828.
  • Indian Removal Act

    The Indian Removal Act was signed by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Native American tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their lands.
  • Frederick Douglass

    He was a slave and went on to become a world-renowned anti-slavery activist at age 20 when he escaped from his master he fought for 19 years to male slaves free and equal till he died.
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    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

    As part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was amended and the slave trade in Washington, D.C., was abolished. Furthermore, California entered the Union as a free state and a territorial government was created in Utah.
  • Dred Scott

    Dred Scott sued for his freedom and his case was taken into the Supreme Court. In 1857, the court's decision did not give Scott his freedom, but Scott and his family later became free slaves.
  • Dred Scott Decision

    Sandford, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 6, 1857, rule that Dred Scott who had resided in a free state and territory (where slavery was prohibited) was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States
  • Election of 1860

    Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell. The main issue of the election was slavery and states' rights.
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    Civil War

    The American Civil War was a civil war that was fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. As a result of the long-standing controversy over slavery, war broke out in April 1861, when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina, shortly after U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated.