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Period: Jan 1, 1492 to
US History: VHS Summer: Sarah Redmond
The struggles of the early American people to form an independent country and to create unity throughout that country defines the overall mentality of its people as a whole. -
Jamestown Established
History of Jamestown
Jamestown was the first permanent settlement of a British colony in the New World, and helped the British gain a foothold in the New World. The colonists were sent to Jamestown by the Virginia Company of London. Colonists were told to generate wealth for the company or suffer the loss of their financial support. The values of these early settlers to produce wealth carried on throughout early America. -
First Arrival of Africans in the New World
African Americans at Jamestown
Africans first came to America aboard a Dutch ship and were sold and traded into indentured servitude and slavery. Afircan servitude was more prevalent in southern America due to the need for cheap labor in the more agriculturally-centered society. The southern concentraition of Afican American slaves foreshadows the dispute later leading into the American Civil War. -
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight between American colonists throwing snowballs at British soldiers and the British soldiers. The British soldiers fired at the colonists, killing and wounding them. This sent the message to the colonists that the British would result to violence if they needed to. -
Life,Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
This phrase, originally writen in the Declaration of Independence as "unalienable rights", embody the American spirit. It has been used time and again by Americans seeking change - in the Civil Rights Movement, Women's Suffrage, and many more. This small phrase embodies the American Dream. -
The Declaration of Independence is Adopted by the Continental Congress
The Declaration of Independence, 1776
The Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, summarized the reasons why the colonists wanted independence from Great Britain and severed their political connections with the British. Through this document, foreign governments recognized and sympathized with the patriots, and some even supported the patriot cause, eventually bringing an end to the American Revolution. -
The American Identity
American Identity: Ideas, Not Ethnicity
The American Identity began with the formation of the country. The American people are exposed to other diverse cultures from an early age, earning the country the name of a "Melting Pot". It is this crucuial difference that makes the country and its people different. -
The Constitutional Convention
Constitutional Convention and Ratification, 1787–1789
Delegates from 12 states attended The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Meeting with the intention of amending The Articles of Confederation, it soon became apparent that greater changes would need to be made. After three months of debate and compromise, The United States Constitution was dreafted, outling the government that still stands today. -
The Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers
Co-written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, under the name "Publius", The Federalist Papers consisted of 85 essays urging the rebutting the claims from critics about the Constitution. The Fedearlist Papers soon after led to the ratification of the Constitution. -
The Industrial Revolution (1790-1830)
History Times: The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period of innovation, invention, and rapid growth. Many of these ideas reached the United States, including the cotton gin, the steam engine, and mass production. Immigrants and existing citizens moved to cities to work in factories and earn what they could with small wages. -
The Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney's Patent for the Cotton Gin
The cotton gin, created by Eli Whitney, provided a much faster way to cultivate raw cotton. Taking advantage of this, plantation owners in the south bought more slaves to work for them. Tensions rose sharply between the slave-dependent south and the abolishionist north. The cotton gin played a large role in the onset of the American Civil War. -
Missouri Compromise
MISSOURI COMPROMISE
Missouri was admitted as a slave state under the condition that the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36th parallel was to forever prohibit slavery. This caused much controversy bewteen slave states and non-slave states, creating more tension between the two. -
The Trail of Tears
Trail Of Tears
On May 28, 1830, Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, forcing Native Americans to give up their land and move to the western frontier. Many Native Americans died on the journey, earning the name the Trail of Tears. This forced relocation increased the tension between the Americans and the Native Americans. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
August 13, 1831: The Slave Rebellion of General Nat Turner
Before dawn, Nat Turner and six other slaves set out to kill slaveowners without mercy in Virginia. After 48 hours of fighting, about 60 slaveowners had been killed. Although many slave rebellions had happened before, this rebeliion was the first in which slaveowners were succesfully killed. -
Manifest Destiny
MANIFEST DESTINY
Manifest Destiny was the idea that the United States not only could, but was detined to expand from coast to coast. This resulted in the gain of land and territories from other countries and in pushing Native Americans further off their land. Many Americans moved west, creating a larger nation. -
The California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush, 1849
In January of 1848, James Marshall found gold in a stream at Sutter's Mill in California. Hearing the news, many Americans rushed to California to find their own wealth. People were faced with a long journey to California, followed by hard work looking for the gold, and also danger between citizens. The west, however, became more developed and gained a higher population. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Slave narratives and Uncle Tom's Cabin
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin was an extremely influential novel in the pre-Civil War era. The novel defended abolitionist values and was also made into a play. Many copies were sold throughout the north and in Britain, gaining sympathy for slaves, and was banned in the south. Uncle Tom's Cabin spread sympathy for slavery and further separated the north from the south. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation
In the Emancipation Proclamation President Abraham Linocln declared that all people held as slaves would be set free. However, it only applied to the Confederate states that had seceded, ignoring the border states or parts of the Confederacy under northern control. The Proclamation allowed thousands of African Americans to join the Union Army and Navy, changing the war. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg started on July 1, 1863 and lasted for three days. Fought between Union General George G. Meade and Confederate General Robert E. Lee, the Union ultimately won. The Battle of Gettysburg resulted in the highest amount of casualties in any Civil War battle, a total of over 51,000. -
The Civil War Amendments
Landmark Legislation: Thirteenth, Fourteenth, & Fifteenth Amendments
The Civil War Amendments (Amendments 13-15) extended legal and civil rights to former slaves. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery; the 14th Amendment gave citizenship to those borm or naturalized in the U.S.; the 15th Amendment made it illegal to prevent a person from voting based on race or color. -
The Ku Klux Klan
KU KLUX KLAN
The Ku Klux Klan was a white supremacy group formed during the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era that targeted blacks. Unhappy with the laws that were being put into place to provide emancipation and equality for blacks, the Ku Klux Klan resorted to violence and hostility. This led to heightened hostility between whites and blacks.
