-
1. January, 1600 – Puritan Doctrine
American Puritans organized congregational churches whose members entered into a covenant, or voluntary union, for the common worship of God. As Calvinists, they believed in predestination, and also that an Elect had been chosen for the salvation denied. The strictness of this doctrine became weakened by the second and third generations who introduced theology like the Covenant of works, based on the idea that God would not allow a sinner to prosper. For an American Puritan, therefore, hard work -
2. May, 1607 – Jamestown, Virginia
The London Company founded England’s first permanent American colony in Virginia. Three ships carrying 100 men arrived at Chesapeake Bay on May 6, 1607, where they settled approximately 40 miles inland along a river they christened the James, after England’s King James I; the colonists named their settlement Jamestown. -
3. March,1630 – Massachusetts Bay
In March 1630, a group of six ships carrying settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, let by Governor John Winthrop, departed for America; these were followed by an additional 17 vessels before the end of they year. These Puritans wanted to be “as a city upon a hill” a phrase coined by Winthrop in a sermon delivered aboard the Arabella en route to New England. -
4. 1681 - Quakers
The colonizing effort of William Penn in Pennsylvania in 1681 drew Quakers in large numbers. The sect founded by George Fox in 1647, emphasized individual inspiration and interpretation. Quakers discarded the sacraments, the ministry, and reference rank. They took no oaths, were pacifists, and extended religious freedom to all groups, as well as equality to the genders. -
5. 1706 - The Enlightment
Americans proved receptive to Newtonian science and the Enlightenment: much of their success had come from observation and experimentation. John Winthrop Jr. was a member of the London based scientific group known as the Royal Society, and brought the first telescope to the colonies. His cousin, John Winthrop IV brought the study of calculus to America, and worked in astronomy, geology, chemistry, and electricity. -
6. 1730 - The Great Awakening
As later generations lost the zeal of the first Puritan settlers, religious revivalism began in the 1730s with ministries like Jonathan Edwards of Massachusetts conducting extended meetings and delivering fiery sermons. This movement, the “Great Awakenings, “fractured churches and was responsible for the evolution of sects like Baptists, Presbyterians and Medthodists. -
7. 1755 - French and Indian War (Seven Year’s War)
In 1755, the French and Indian War – also known as the Seven Years War – broke out between France and England over rival claims to the Ohio Valley. The bulk of the fighting in this conflict occurred in the New World. At first the war went badly for the colonists and the French captured Forts Oswego, George and Ticondga but in 1758 the tide began to turn. Louisburg, Fort Frontenac and Fort Duquesne were captured by the British. -
8. 1763 – The Enlightenment
The most important political theories in the American Enlightenment were derived from English philosopher John Locke’s Two Treatise on Civil Government and from English radical republicans knows as the commonwealthmen. John Locke’s ideas heavily shaped those of the colonists when they argued that the British government, in taking away their liberties. -
9. 1765 – The stamp Act
The stamp Act of 1765 generated a wave of protest in the colonies. The law attempted to derive internal revenue by consumer taxes primarily on printed materials such as newspaper, pamphlets, legal documents, and even dice and playing cards. -
11. 1773 – Boston Tea Party
In December 1773, when tea from the East India Company arrived in Boston it was dumped in the sea by Bostonians dresses as Indians, in an act of rebellion name the “Boston Tea Party.” In June 1774, England responded by closing the port of Boston, and Massachusetts lost many of its rights of self government and justice in legislation colonists referred to as the Intolerable Acts. -
12. 1776 – The Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson drew up the Declaration of Independence, which was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. A two – part document clearly reflecting the influence of the Enlightenment, it restated John Locke’s compact theory of government, and outlined the British actions that brought the colonists to the point of rebellion. The document marked a new precedent in power and politics, with the colonists asserting the right of a people to throw off their allegiance to their king and e -
13. 1778 – World War
During the American Revolution, England was occupied in other areas of the globe as well. After the French, allied themselves with the Americans in 1778 after the Battle of Saratoga, the conflict assumed the proportions of a world war. Spain declared was on Great Britain in 1779, when the Spanish allied themselves to the French. In 1780, the Dutch joined in when Holland went to war with Britain over naval rights. -
14. 1786 – The Articles of Confederation
In 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed a committee headed by John Dickinson to compose the Articles of Confederation. In debate, his original plan, calling for a strong central government with control over all aspects of foreign and domestic policy, was emasculated. Alexander Hamilton led a movement in the 1780s to revise the Articles. Delegates from five states met in Annapolis, Maryland in September 1786 to discuss creating a unified system of commercial regulation. -
15. 1790 – Hamilton’s Financial program
The first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton outlined a national financial program in three reports to Congress between January 1790 and December 1791. First he called for the funding of the $54 million federal debt and the assumption of the $21 million state debt. Second he proposed an excise tax on distilled spirits to set a precedent for such revenue generating taxes in the future, and further proposed the creation of a national bank to serve as a centerpiece of government finance. -
16. 1791 – Bill of Rights
In 1791, the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, went into effect. Amendments one through nine deal with specific rights. For instance, the first protects freedom of speech, press, and religion; the fourth guards against unreasonable search and seizure; the fifth against self incrimination; and the sixth guarantees the right of counsel, trial by jury, and speedy and public trials. The tenth came almost exclusively from the Articles of Confederation. -
17. 1803 – Louisiana Purchase
In the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the United States doubled its territories, acquiring the lands west of the Mississippi River from France for $11 ½ million. President Thomas Jefferson dispatched an expedition led by M Lewis and William Clark to explore and map the new region. -
18. 1812 – War of 1812
From the earliest day of its independence, America experienced problems with Britain and France failing to recognize American rights as a neutral carrier. Caught up in series of wars following the French Revolution and culminating in the Napoleonic Wars the Europeans tried to bring the United States in the fighting. This led president James Madison to declare was on the British on June 1, 1812. The war created a sense of national unity and accomplishment for the United States, mainly based on t -
19. 1820 – Missouri Compromise
Missouri’s petition for statehood generated the first nationwide debate over the extension of slavery. The issue was settled by the 1820 Missouri Compromise, in which Missouri gained admittance as a slave state, the Maine district of Massachusetts came into the Union as a free state, and the southern boundary of Missouri became the dividing mark for the westward extension of slavery. -
20. 1830 – Mormons
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – whose followers are known as Mormons – was founded by an American Christian, Joseph Smith following a vision in 1820 in which he was visited by Jesus Christ and God the Father. In 1823, the angel Moroni appeared to him and told him about the Book of Mormon, record of the early inhabitants of the Americas and their Prophets. In 1827, Joseph Smith received the Book of Mormon, which was written on plates of gold, and he translated into English in 1 -
21. 1830 – Indian Removal
In 1830, congress approved the Indian Removal Act and by 1835 removal treaties had been negotiated. The Cherokee fought removal in two Supreme Court cases. The court declared the Cherokee “a distinct political community” within which state law had no force. Both state authorities and President Andrew Jackson, however showed no sign of honoring the decisions, leading Cherokee to capitulate and sign a treaty in 1835. They departed for the Indian Territory in 1838.So many of them died on this hars -
22. 1835 – Monroe Doctrine
Late in 1845, President James Polk offered the British a compromise to end the joint occupation of the Oregon Territory. Polk offered to divide the holdings at the 49th parallel. When the British refused, Polk use the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, stating America’s opposition to any further interference of the old world in the new, to declare Oregon under the control of the United States. -
23. 1845 – Manifest Destiny
In 1845, John Louis coined the Phrase “manifest destiny” to describe the tremendous movement westward then occurring in America. The expansion was a matter of national fate, seen as part of a divine process because of the superiority of the United States. -
25. 1865 – Constitutional Amendments
Two amendments were added to the constitution as result of the civil war: the 13th Amendment abolished slavery and the 14th forbade any state to abridge the privileges and immunities of a citizen or to deprive them of life, liberty, or due process of law. The acceptance of both amendments became a condition for the readmittance of the former confederate states to the Union. -
26. 1865 – Lincoln Assassination
President Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary attended the play our American cousin at Ford’s Theater in Washington D. C on April 14, 1865. During the third act, the actor John Wilkes Booth entered their box, put a pistol to Lincoln’s head and fired. Boot a confederate sympathizer escaped. The mortally injured Lincoln was taken to a boarding house across the street, where he died the following morning – becoming the first American president to be assassinated. -
27. 1865 – Reconstruction
Reconstruction the controversial period following the civil war, lasted for 1865 through 1877 and was to be in part a social transitional vehicle for the freed slaves. Lincoln had favored a moderate plan for reconstruction, but was assassinated before it could be sent in motion. Radical Republicans in Congress wanted a more stringent program, requiring a loyalty oath before a constitutional convention could be called and a state could begin the readmission process. After Lincoln’s Assassination, -
28. 1877 – Compromise of 1877
Reconstruction ended in all the southern states with the compromise of 1877, which settled the disputed presidential election of 1876. During this election, conflicting sets of returns came in from the three states still under Reconstruction law. An electoral commission of eight Republicans and seven Democrats decided the election in favor of the Republican Hayes over Democrat Tillman, in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South. -
29. 1880 - Industrial Revolution
In the 1880s and 1890s the Industrial Revolution transformed American Society. In 1859, the gross national product totaled $2 billion a figure that rose to $9 billion in 1870. The value of American exports rocketed from $858 million to 1.4 billion in 1900. -
30. 1890 – Wounded Knee
On December 29, 1890 at Wounded Knee North Dakota, an accidental rifle shot caused nervous soldiers to fire into a group of Indians attempting to surrender to authorities. Be the time the firing stopped nearly 200 Indians and some 25 soldiers had been killed. Regarded as the last battle of the Indian Wars, wounded knee offers a characteristic example of the brutality with which Native Americans were treated. -
Boston Massacre
On March 5, 1770 a mob of waterfront rabble began taunting sentries outside the Boston customs office. Someone panicked and the soldiers fired. Five Americans were killed, six wounded. British officials moved the army to an island in Boston Harbor to prevent further hostilities, but the colonists saw the incident as an example of British tyranny, and promptly dubbed it the “Boston Massacre” -
24. 1865 – Railroads and Communication
The civil war was the first conflict in which railroads played a major role. In 1860, the national rail network stretched to 30,000 miles. As in other key areas, the South lagged behind seriously in equipment, track, and personnel; in addition, the intense fighting in the southern states put what railroads that did exist in a state of near complete destruction by 1865.