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The Virginia Company in Britain financed the settlement of a colony in the 'New World.' -
Tobacco saved the Jamestown colony and opened the door to future British settlement. Tobacco was planted by John Rolfe in the colony, and soon became a large-scale export to European countries. -
As a result of the continued labor shortage in Jamestown, specifically regarding tobacco farming, Dutch traders offered slaves to the colonists. -
Due to political unrest in England, King Charles I was executed. This resulted in American colonies being forced to define their position regarding British affairs. -
The second British colony in America, called Maryland for the British queen, was founded by King Charles I. Originally intended as a haven for Catholics, the formation of a new colony paved the way for other colonies to be formed in America. -
Harvard, the first college in the American colonies, was founded. -
In Virginia, the first law was passed to help define the nature of slavery in the colonies. The law stated that the children of a slave mother inherited her 'condition.' In other words, children of a slave mother were now slaves for life, regardless of their father's condition. This law was the beginning of the American legal system which defended slavery by legalizing the growing slave population. -
When a group of Doeg Natives became involved in a disagreement with a Virginia settler, misguided violence escalated the event to a full-scale conflict. A group of colonists led by Nathaniel Bacon began openly attacking all Natives in the area through their claim of self-defense. Ironically, the colony's government largely saw Bacon as the trouble-causing enemy. The result of the rebellion was an angered native population and open hatred between natives and the colonists. -
Another Native conflict arose in new England when Wampanoags, led by a native called Metacom, attacked British colonists in Swansea.The war resulted in the deaths of thousands of natives and opened the door to future colonies in the area. Furthermore, both groups maintained a standing hatred of each other by the war's conclusion. -
Further political unrest in Britain resulted in another change in monarchs. James II was replaced by Protestant William and his wife Mary. -
Yale University was founded in New Haven, Connecticut. -
The royal colony was established by Queen Anne- she combined the American provinces of East New Jersey and West New Jersey. -
Virginia Slave Code was passed in the House of Burgesses. -
Angry slaves in New York rioted ending with six suicides and twenty-one executions. -
The French and Indian War was the North American conflict in a larger imperial war between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years' War. -
The Industrial Revolution was the transition from creating goods by hand to using machines. Its start and end are widely debated by scholars, but the period generally spanned from about 1760 to 1840. -
The Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III. It followed the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred French territory in North America to Great Britain. -
British sentries guarding the Boston Customs House shot into a crowd of civilians, killing three men and injuring eight, two of them mortally. -
The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston in colonial Massachusetts. -
The Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence. It was written by Jefferson in Philadelphia on July 4, a date now celebrated as the birth of American independence. -
The U.S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC. -
U.S. President John Adams was the first President to live in the White House, then known as the Executive Mansion, and sixteen days later, the United States Congress held its first session in Washington, D.C. -
Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated as the third president in Washington, DC. -
The United States agreed to pay France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory, which extends west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and comprises about 830,000 sq mi. The U.S. nearly doubled in size. -
Lewis and Clark were co-leaders of an expedition tasked with exploring land that the United States had recently acquired. Their trip turned into an 8,000-mile-long trek—and the first big step in the United States' westward expansion. -
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key. -
John Quincy Adams and his running-mate, John C. Calhoun, were elected into Presidency and Vice-Presidency after the contingent election of 1825. -
Texas volunteer soldiers took control of the fort of Alamo, which was previously in control of Mexican forces. As thousands of Mexican soldiers laid siege to re-take the fort, only 200 Texas defenders held their control and inflicted many casualties upon the Mexican army. In the end, the Mexican army gained control over the fort and killed most of the soldiers inside. -
As tension built between the Union and the Confederate States of America, there came a point where war began. On April 12, 1861, one of the bloodiest wars of America began. -
The thirteenth amendment was ratified on December 6th, 1865. This amendment to the Constitution made slavery illegal in all territories belonging to the United States.