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Period: Apr 26, 1492 to
American History
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Aug 3, 1492
Christopher Columbus
Commonly credited with the geographical founding of America, Christopher Columbus was technically not the first to discover the land the United States inhabits today. However, after setting sail August 3, 1492, he had traveled up and down the coast of South America, coming as far up north as the Bahamas. Colombus then documented his findings which were crucial to the discovery of our Nation. Journal of Columbus- 1492 -
The Colony at Roanoke
After a six-year patent to inhabit the new land was granted from Queen Elizabeth of England and issued to Sir Walter Raleigh, a ship of 100 householders traveled across the Atlantic and landed on Roanoke Island (now present day North Carolina). The colony was run by a cousin of Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Richard Grenville,who after dropping the colonists off traveled back to England for more supplies. This was the first attempt at colonization of the new land and quickly proved disastrous. -
Jamestown Founded
James I of England issued his charters in 1606 and it wasn't long before the London Company took advantage and quickly and decisively launched expeditions headed for Virginia. It was on this day the first settlers (about 140 men) landed on a peninsula located down the James river in which they called Jamestown.The Jamestown colony obtained many struggles including powerful Indian tribes and disease. However, it was the first successful and permanent colony established in America. -
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Slavery
This time in history is important because racism played a big role in the harsh treatment of African American people. Blacks were slave laborers to the white landowners. -
Pilgrams Found Plymouth Colony
Leaders of a congregation of Separatists from the English hamlet of Scrooby obtained permission from the Virginia Company to settle in Virginia. Thirty-five Puritan Separatists or "Pilgrims" as they saw themselves, then boarded the ship The Mayflower along with 75 "strangers" or people not part of the congregation and sailed from Plymouth, England. After a long voyage, the group accidentally landed more north of their original target and founded present day Cape Cod, Massachusetts. -
The First Great Awakening
Described as a revitalization of religious piety that swept through the American colonies between the 1730s and the 1770s, The Great Awakening had a particular appeal to women and to younger sons of the third and fourth generation of settlers. The revival emphasized the potential for every person to break away from the constraints of the past and start anew in his or her relationship with God. -
The Beginnings of Slavery in English America
The demand for African American servants to supplement the scare southern labor force existed almost from the first moments of the settlement. However, it wasn't until the discovery of the "middle passage" that slaves were shipped to the colonies in large quantities. It was not until the 1670's that traders started importing blacks directly from Africa to North America. By 1700, about 25,000 slaves lived in English North America. -
Bacon's Rebellion
The rebellion stemmed from a resentment towards the royal Governor of Virginia, Sir William Berkeley and a continuing struggle to define the Indian and white spheres of influence in Virginia. Upset with the growing power of the Governor and conflicts between Indians and settlers, Nathaniel Bacon offered to create a militia of 'backcountry' men to defend the colony. When the Governor opposed Bacon took matters into his own hands and attacked local Indians giving themselves the label of 'rebels'. -
PA Chartered
Pennsylvania was born out of the efforts of a dissenting English Protestant sect, the Society of Friends, to find a home for their own distinctive social order. William Penn, a newly converted Quaker, partnered with George Fox to create the first Quaker colony in America. The land was granted to Penn as a settlement from a large debt Charles II owed to Penn's father. The land was then named after Penn's father and first visited by William Penn in 1682 where he visited to oversee the progression. -
Salem Witchcraft Trials
The early Puritan community was a tightly knit organism. However, because of a large growth in population the communities grew strains and tensions that began to affect the communal structure. During the 1680's and 1690's hysteria broke out with accusations of witchcraft. These controversies were a direct reflection of the highly religious character of New England societies. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft—the Devil's magic—and 20 were executed. -
Sugar Act
Raised the duty on sugar while lowering the duty on molasses. It also established new vice-admiralty courts in America to try accused smugglers thus cutting them of from sympathetic local juries. On April 5, 1764, Parliament passed a modified version of the Sugar and Molasses Act (1733), which was about to expire. Under the Molasses Act colonial merchants had been required to pay a tax of six cents per gallon on the import of molasses, but because of corruption, they mostly evaded the taxes and -
Stamp Act
Was a great method used in order to antagonize and unify the colonies. On February 6th, 1765 Parliament offered the fifty-five resolutions of George Grenville’s Stamp Bill. A motion was offered to first read petitions from the Virginia colony and others was later denied. The bill was then passed on February 17, and approved on March 8th. Only two weeks later the King ordered them into effect. -
The Tea Act
The Tea Act, was passed by Parliament on May 10, 1773, and would launch the final spark to the revolutionary movement in Boston. Colonists in Philadelphia and New York turned the tea ships back to Britain. In Charleston the cargo was left to rot on the docks. -
Boston Tea Party
Three companies of fifty men each masquerading as Mohawk Indians, went abroad three ships, broke open the tea chests and heaved them into the harbor. -
French American Alliance
The French-American Alliance was based upon a treaty between the American rebels and France signed in 1778. It led to the military victory at Yorktown (1781), and arguably to full recognition of American Independence in the 1783 Treaty of Versailles -
Treaty of Paris
Treaty that officially ended the Revolutionary War on September 3, 1783. It was signed in Paris by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. Under the terms of the treaty, Britain recognized the independent nation of the United States of America -
Annapolis Conference
1786, interstate convention called by Virginia to discuss a uniform regulation of commerce. It met at Annapolis, Md. With only 5 of the 13 states—Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—represented, there could be no full-scale discussion of the commercial problems the nation faced as a result of the weak central government under the Articles of Confederation -
Shay's Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion, the post-Revolutionary clash between New England farmers and merchants that tested the precarious institutions of the new republic, threatened to plunge the "disunited states" into a civil war. The rebellion arose in Massachusetts in 1786, spread to other states, and culminated in the rebels' march upon a federal arsenal. -
Washington Re-elected
In 1789, George Washington ran unopposed. Under the system in place then and through the election of 1800, each voting elector casted two votes and the recipient of the greatest number of votes was elected president, the second greatest number, vice-president. As in his first term, Washington is considered to have been elected unanimously. -
Whiskey Rebellion
On the western frontier, protesters used violence and intimidation to prevent federal officials from collecting the tax. Resistance came to a climax in July 1794, when a U.S. marshal arrived in western Pennsylvania to serve writs to distillers who had not paid the excise. More than 500 armed men attacked the fortified home of tax inspector General John Neville -
Jefferson Elected President
Thomas Jefferson defeated President John Adams. The election was a realigning election that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican Party rule and the eventual demise of the Federalist Party in the First Party System -
The Louisiana Purchase
When America was brand new it was 1/5 of the size it is today. America got to be its size little by little. One of the territory's they earned was the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase 1803 was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million dollars. -
Westward Expansion
It took American colonists a century and a half to expand as far west as the Appalachian Mounts, a few hundred miles from the Atlantic coast. It took another fifty years to push the frontier to the Mississippi River. Seeking cheap land and inspired by the notion that Americans had a “manifest destiny” to stretch across the continent, pioneers by 1850 pushed the edge of settlement to Texas, the Southwest, and the Pacific Northwest. -
The Burr Conspiracy
In 1800, Aaron Burr ran for vice-president, but refused to stand aside to allow his running mate a clean victory. Later, Burr shot and killed former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Apparently, these were not his worst actions. President Jefferson arrested Burr for his part in a rumored scheme to carve out an independent nation out of American and Mexican territory. Further Reading -
The War Of 1812
The War of 1812 was a conflict between the fairly new nation called the United States of America, and on the other side the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and its North American colonies in Canada. The War Of 1812 -
The Canal Age
The era of canals drastically improved transportation in the United States. New York helped ensure the canal digging would commence and therefore the Erie Canal was created. With this new pathway, shipping goods from state to state became a much easier task. -
The Panic Of 1819
In 1819 a financial panic swept across the country. The growth in trade that followed the War of 1812 came to an abrupt halt. Unemployment mounted, banks failed, mortgages were foreclosed, and agricultural prices fell by half. Investment in western lands collapsed. -
Rise of Feminism
Women believed that men and women were created equal. Susan B. Anthony and Dorthea Dix were a few of the reformers to promote the importance of women and thier right in society. A convention for women's rights was held in Seneca Falls, New York which brought about the "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions". By 1920, women were able to vote. -
The Missouri Compromise
In an effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Furthermore, with the exception of Missouri, this law prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36° 30´ latitude line. -
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The Cotton Boom
At first cotton was a mainstay for the North, but over time cotton production began to spread throughout the South.This is of importance because demand for cotton increased due to the textile industry. -
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Slave Resistance
This timespan includes revolts made by the slaves for their freedom. it is of importance because it shows that the slaves did have a voice and tried to rebel against the white man. -
Creation of the Railroad
America was inspired by England's railroad system experiment, which seemed to be a huge success for them. The Baltimore and Ohio company laid the first set of railroad tracks in The United States. With these set of tracks already put down, it opened the door for other American companies to follow suit and help improve the nation's economic development. -
The Second Party System
The Second Party System is the term that political scientists give to the political system existing in the United States from about 1837 to 1852. It replaced the First Party System, and was followed by the Third Party System. The major parties were the Democratic Party, led by Andrew Jackson, and the Whig Party, a coalition of National Republicans, Anti-Masons, and other opponents of Jackson, led by Henry Clay. -
The Telegraph
Samuel F. B. Morse invented the first telegraph which was a means of communication through an electrical cable. Different signals meant different things. This telegraph transmitted James K. Polk's nomination for presidency. -
The Trail of Tears
In the winter of 1838, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died. -
Liberty Party
This party was formed due to antislavery. James G. Birney, president of Liberty Party, helped create "Free-Soilers" which promoted keeping slavery out of the territories. -
U.S. Declares War on Mexico
In January of 1846 America Offered to pay Mexico for land that the two had been disputing over. Mexico rejected the Polk's offer, so he ordered troops to the banks of the Rio Grande. For a few months neither party did any fighting, until (it was said) Mexican troops engaged American forces. The U.S. officially declared war on May 13, 1846 by a vote of 40 to 2 in the senate and 174 to 14 in the house. -
Manifest Destiny
After aquiring new territories from Mexico the Idea of Manifest Denstiny really took hold. Hundreds of thousands of Americans, both white and black, started moving west into the newly aquired territories. Many began looking for precious raw materials on the new land, and in California they struck gold.(Literally) -
Compromise of 1850
This compromise was a compilation of five bills, used to try to settle a dispute over the slave/free status of the new territory aquired during the Mexican-American War. Of course, with a debate of this size not everybody gets what they want. -
Walden
Heny David Thoreau created a piece of work named Walden. This work shows that people shouldn't conform to society pressures. The creation of this writing was all due to The influence of Ralph Waldo Emerson and his transcendent philosophy of making "an original relation of the Universe." -
Cofederate States of America
South Carolina was the first to secede, followed soon after by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Representatives from these states met in Montgomery, Alabama and formed this new nation. -
Fort Sumter Surrenders
Union Held Fort Sumter, off the coast of South Carolina surrenders to Southern forces. Many consider this the official beginning of the Civil War. Within a month of taking the Fort, four more states seceded from the Union and joined the confederacy. First was Virginia, then Arkansas, followed by Tennesse and North Carolina -
Bull Run
The first major land battle of the Civil War. This battle took place in Prince William County, Virginia near the city of Manassas. The Union forces tried to dispatch the Confederate troops, but the Confederacy showed they would stay and fight. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Issued on January 1,1863 Abraham Lincoln, using his war time powers, made this proclamation that freed the slaves of ten of the rebelling colonies. It immediatly freed approx. 50,000 slaves and a total of 3.1 million were freed by the advancing Union forces. Although it made these people "free", it did not outlaw slavery or make the slaves citizens. Nor did it compensate slave owners for their loss of "property". -
Battle of Gettsburg
In July of 1863, Union and Confederate forces "accidently" ran into each other in Gettysburg Pennsylvania and one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the war took place. Often thought of as the "turning point" of the war, Union forces beat back the advancing Confederate troops. After this battle, the Confederacy never again threatened to take Union Territories. -
Battle of Appomattox
The final Battle of the Civil War. Gen.Lee tried to make one more final push, but failed. Realizing it was his only option he surrendered to Grant, effectivly ending the war. -
Lincoln Assassinated
On the night of April 14, 1865 while attending the show "Our American Cousin" with his wife Mary Todd at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C.,John Wilkes Booth shot and killed Abraham Lincoln. He was the first American president to be Assassinated. It was Good Friday. -
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Reconstruction
This term refers to the rebuilding of our country after the Civil War. Most felt it was best to get everything back on track as soon as possible. Others however, still angry over the war did everything in their power to slow the rebuilding of ties with the South.
