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the first permanent English settlement in America, is established by the London Company in southeast Virginia.
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the first representative assembly in America, meets for the first time in Virginia. The first African slaves are brought to Jamestown.
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Before disembarking from their ship, the Mayflower, 41 male passengers sign the Mayflower Compact, an agreement that forms the basis of the colony's government.
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English seize New Amsterdam (city and colony) from the Dutch and rename it New York.
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Britain and the British colonies switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar
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Final conflict in the ongoing struggle between the British and French for control of eastern North America. The British win a decisive victory over the French on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec.
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With the Treaty of Paris, the British formally gain control of Canada and all the French possessions east of the Mississippi.
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British troops fire into a mob, killing five men and leading to intense public protests.
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Group of colonial patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians board three ships in Boston harbor and dump more than 300 crates of tea overboard as a protest against the British tea tax.
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With 56 delegates representing every colony except Georgia. Delegates include Patrick Henry, George Washington, and Samuel Adams.
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War of independence fought between Great Britain and the 13 British colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America. Battles of Lexington and Concord, Mass., between the British Army and colonial minutemen, mark the beginning of the war.
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Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.
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George Washington is unanimously elected president of the United States in a vote by state electors.
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Meets for the first time at Federal Hall in New York City.
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Washington is inaugurated as president at Federal Hall in New York City.
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U.S. Supreme Court meets for the first time at the Merchants Exchange Building in New York City.
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First ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, are ratified.
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Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin greatly increases the demand for slave labor.
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John Adams is inaugurated as the second president in Philadelphia.
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Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln elected president.
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US gains Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and Cuba following the Spanish-American war. US annexes Hawaii.
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More than 13 million people are unemployed after the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929 triggers the Great Depression. President Herbert Hoover rejects direct federal relief.
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President Franklin D Roosevelt launches "New Deal" recovery programme which includes major public works. Sale of alcohol resumes.