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The Boston Massacre
- A mob of colonists taunted a group of British soldiers by throwing things, such as rocks and snow, at them. The soldiers fired at the colonists killing five and injuring several more.
- Colonists were angred by propoganda that showed defenseless colonists being fired upon by British soldiers which fueled their hatred for Great Britain which also led to the Revolutionary War.
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The Boston Tea Party
- The Sons of Liberty boarded three British ships dressed as Mohawk Indians and dumped 90,000 pounds of tea overboard to protest British tea taxes.
- This protest resulted in the Intolerable Acts which also led up to the Revolutionary War.
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The First Continental Congress
- 55 delegates from each colony, except for Georgia, met to represent the American people in their efforts to gain freedom from Great Britain.
- The Continental Congress was the first congress and formal governental body of the U. S. and attempted to help America gain independence.
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Paul Revere's Ride
- Great Britain attempted to comandeer weapons from a stock in Conocord, MA but Revere and other men rode around to warn people that the British were coming. When the British arrived, they were met by the MA Minute Men.
- His ride prevented the loss of many American weapons and prepared the Minute Men from being ambushed by the British before the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
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Common Sense
- Common Sense urged seperation from Great Britain and said that monarchies should not make laws.
- It gave the colonists a different perspective on monarchies and made them want freedom.
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The Declaration of Independence
- The Declaration told King George theThird that the colonies were seperating from Great Britain and gave his abuses against them.
- This document angered the king thus starting the war for American independence.
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The Battle of Yorktown
Sept. 28 - Oct. 19, 1781
- The last major battle of the Revolutionary War ended with Washington closing off all British escape routes, forcing them to surrender.
- This battle ended the Revolutionary War and, in turn, caused the Treaty of Paris. -
The Treaty of Paris
- The treaty acknowledged the U. S. as independent states and established boundaries between the United States and British North America.
- The United States competely seperated from Great Britain and ended the Revolutionary War.
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Presidency of George Washington
Apr. 30, 1789 - Mar. 4, 1797
- As the first president of the United States, George Washington strengthened America by seperating us from Britain, creating the first bank, and stabilizing the nation while it was still fairly new.
- Washington created the basic government which is still in place today, started our first money system (banks), and helped the U. S. become an independent nation. -
The Invention of the Cotton Gin
- Eli Whitney invented a machine that pulled the cotton fibers from the cotton seed which made cotton production easier and increased the need for slaves.
- His machine made cotton production less labor intensive meaning that more cotton could be produced at a quicker pace. This increased the need for slaves, spread slavery into Georgia, Alabama, and Missisippi, and helped cotton based agriculture grow exponentially.
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The Jay Treaty
-This was a treaty between the United States and Great Britain that withdrew British Army units from pre-Revolutionary forts that it had failed to relinquish in the Northwest Territory and the granted American rights to trade with India and colonies in the Caribbean in exchange for limits on the American export of cotton.
-It averted war, resolved remaining issues from theTreaty of Paris, and created 10 years of peaceful trading between the U.S.and Britain -
The Louisiana Purchase
- The United States bought about 828,000 square miles of France's claim to the Louisiana Territory for about 3 cents per acre (15 million dollars).
- The U. S. doubled in size, gaining 15 present states and two Canadian provinces.
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The Lewis and Clark Expedition
May 14, 1804-Sept. 23, 1806
- Meriwether Lewis and Willian Clark were ordered by President Jefferson to explore and map the newly aquired Louisiana Territory, find a practical route across the western half of the continent, and to establish an American presence in the territory.
- Lewis and Clark made many notable contributions to science, noted at least 200 undiscovered plant species and 72 new Native American tribes, and produced maps that allowed for futher discovery of the new territory. -
United States stops slave trading
-President Thomas Jefferson signed a bill to prohibit the importation of slaves into any place within the United States jurisdiction and gave slavers until May 1 to comply.
-Slave trade, for the most part, ended in the United States, in turn, limiting the supply of slaves and gradually ending slavery in America. -
The Missouri Compromise
- Missouri wanted to be a slave state, so in order to keep the number of slave and free states balanced, the northern part of Masachusetts became the new free state of Maine and a boundary was established between the free and slave regions.
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The Monroe Doctrine
- This doctrine stated that any efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with Northern or Southern American states would be considered as acts of agression and would require American interference and that the United States would not interfere with European conflicts. -Many Latin American countries don't like the idea of having the United States as a self-appointed "bodygaurd". They think that the US has used the Monroe Doctrine to interfere in their lives causing many conflicts.
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The First Railroad Station Opens
- The first railroad station, just outside Baltimore, Maryland, consisted of a small wooden shed standing on top of a wooden platform and was used as a exibition area so people could watch the new Iron Horse in action.
- The railroad used to be the main form of transportation. A railroad station served as a stopping or meeting point for the trains so that they could drop passengers off or fuel up in central area.
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The Battle of the Alamo (Texas Revolution)
Feb. 23 - Mar. 6, 1836
-Mexican troops launched an attack on the Alamo Mission, near modern day San Antonio, Texas, and killed all of the Texan defenders pushing many Texans to join the Texan Army.
-Many Texan settlers and adventurers were angered by the cruelty of the Mexicans so they joined the Texan Army and beat the Mexicans at the Battle of San Jacinto, ending the Texas Revolution. -
The Mexican American War
1846-1848
- This war began because of the annexation of Texas from Mexico, boundary disputes, Mexican and American interest in California, and monetary claims against Mexico by the United States.
- Mexico lost half of it's territory and the United States gained the territory between Texas and California. Tensions between slave and free states also became worse because their balance was threatened by the addition of the new territory. -
The California Gold Rush
- Gold was found in Coloma, California at Sutter's Mill bringing around 300,000 people from all over the United States to California in an effort to mine it.
- As a result, many new railroads were built connecting California to the rest of America and San Fransisco turned into a boom town. More agriculture and ranching was brought to California and billions of dollars in gold were recovered pushing California towards becoming a state.
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act
-This bill seperated the land west of Missouri into two states, Kansas and Nebraska, and allowed the settlers to decide if the territories would be pro or anti slavery which angered anti slavery supporters because this act went against the Missouri Compromise which said both territories should be anti slavery.
- The Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and reopended the national struggle over slavery in the West. -
The Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
- As the 16th president of the United States, Lincoln went on to lead the United States through the Civil War and served as one of the greatest presidents in history until his assasination on April 15, 1865.
- As a result of his presidency. slavery was abolished, the Union was preserved, the national government was strengthened, and the economy was modernized.
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The Emancipation Proclamation
- President Lincoln issued this proclamation freeing 3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the United States.
- Slavery in the United States ended as a result of this document.
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The End of the Civil War
- Known as the "War between the States", eleven southern states declared succesion from the United States but ultimately lost the war to the Union.
- This war reinforced what states were part of the United States and ended slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation.
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The Invention of the Telephone
- Alexander Graham Bell spoke through his device to his assistant, Mr. Waston, to demonstrate how being able to "talk through electricity" made the dot-and-dash system (morse code) outdated.
- This telephone led to the cellphones of today that we rely on so much for easy communication.
