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On this day, the settlers arrived in Jamestown, Virginia and started the first English colony in the New World. This small colony would soon grow and start to export millions of pounds of tobacco each year. http://www.ushistory.org/us/2c.asp
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On this Good Friday, the brother of an indian chief led an attack that killed 347 settlers. The brother was captured and executed in 1645. http://www.ushistory.org/us/2e.asp
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On this day, the government of Britain made this proclamation, which laid the boundaries of settlement for the people living in the 13 colonies. This proclamation was also one of the events that fueled the idea of the revolution. http://www.ushistory.org/us/9a.asp
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On this day, the United States adopted the Declaration of Independence. The colonies declared themselves as 13 independent sovereign states, and took the name, "The United Staes of America". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence
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On this day, after a tough uphill battle, the United States Constitution was ratified. Out of the thirteen states, nine had had to ratify it to make it official. All thirteen states ratified it eventually. The states, in order of ratification: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island. https://www.usconstitution.net/ratifications.html
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On this day, George Washington, the first president of the United States, died. He died of hypovolemia, and was buried 4 days after his death in Mount Vernon, VA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington
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This period represents the time that Jeffersonian Democracy was dominating American politics. It’s supporters looked down on aristocracy, and had priority for normal people. http://www.ushistory.org/us/24a.asp
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On this day, the Louisiana purchase was completed. The United States had acquired 828,000 square miles of land from France, for a total price of sixty-eight million francs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase
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Similar to Jeffersonian Democracy, Jacksonian Democracy was focused on the common man more than the very wealthy. However, Andrew Jackson, the President at the time, acted like he was better than everyone else, and even led the country like a king. http://www.ushistory.org/us/24.asp
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The Hudson River School was an art movement focused on landscape paintings. It was founded by an artist named Thomas Cole. It was important because no artists had really painted the American landscape before. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_River_School
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In this January, James Marshall saw some shiny flecks in a river in California. These flecks happened to be gold, and more than 100,000 people came to California to try their luck at mining. Most did not succeed in obtaining wealth.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/29e.asp -
The Compromise of 1850 was a passing of five laws that separately benefitted the South and the North, both in terms of slavery and boundaries. For example, the South got no slavery restriction in the New Mexico and Utah territories, and the North got California admitted as a free state .
http://www.ushistory.org/us/30d.asp -
This year is thought to be around the peak of the underground railroad. The underground railroad was a system of safe routes and houses used to get African Americans , including former slaves, into freedom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Railroad
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The Civil War was a war between the Southern United States and the Northern United States. The South wanted slavery to be legal, whereas the North wanted slavery to be banned. This disagreement culminated in a war lasting four years and caused the death of 620,000 men
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The Reconstruction Era was a period of time during which the United States was piecing itself back together after the Civil War. This included the passing of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, which abolished slavery and gave black people more freedom. The United States was still very much separated, however, and black people were still not treated the same as white people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_Era
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On this day, while attending the play Our American Cousin, President Abraham Lincoln was fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth. This was the first assassination of a US president, and one of the most famous. Booth was later caught and killed by a gunshot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Abraham_Lincoln -
On this day, Congress ratified the 13th amendment, which abolished slavery. The amendment reads: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992
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On this day, six former members of the Confederate army formed a secret organization which would go on to become a huge anti-black cult. At this time, in the cult’s infancy, these members would burn houses, and would kill black people and leave their bodies in roads.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan -
On this day, the President of the US, Andrew Johnson, was impeached. The primary charge against Johnson was the violation of the Tenure of Office Act, because he had removed the Secretary of War, Edward McMasters Stanton.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Andrew_Johnson -
On this day, the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified. The amendment reads: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
