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American War of Independence
This began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies, but gradually grew into a world war between Britain on one side and the newly formed United States, France, Netherlands, Spain, and Mysore on the other. The main result was an American victory and European recognition of the independence of the United States. -
Declaration of Independence
The announcement that 13 American colonies regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a colony of Great Britain. -
Articles of Confederation Signed
The Articles of Confederation was an agreement among the 13 founding states of America that established America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown, was a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army led by General George Washington and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by British lord and Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America. -
Philadelphia Convention
A convention to address problems in governing the United States, and resulted in creation of the United States Constitution. -
Signing of the Constitution
The American constitution was signed by the 13 original states. -
Election of George Washington
The first 'chief executive' of the USA. -
Bill of Rights Added to the Constitution
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limit the power of government, in order to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public. -
Election of Jefferson
The fourth president of the US was elected. The election led to the introduction of the Twelth Amendment, which stipulated that voters must make a discrete choice between their selections for president and vice-president. -
Marbury v. Madison
This landmark Supreme Court helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of government. It was the first form of judicial review (the power for the Supreme Court to rule a statute or treaty unconstitutional). -
Louisiana Purchase
The United States of America paid France a total of $15million (under 3 cents an acre - $230million in 2012 prices) for France's claim to the territory of Louisiana. -
End of the Slave Trade
The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves came into effect in 1808 and stated no new slaves were to be imported into the US. -
Missouri Compromise
This was a compromise between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in congress. In order to balance the number of 'slave states' and 'free states', the northern region of Massachusetts became a separate state (Maine). -
Election of Andrew Jackson
He was the seventh president of the US and dismantled the Second Bank of the United States and initiated forced relocation and resettlement of Native American tribes. -
California Gold Rush
Gold was first found in 1848 in Coloma, California.The news of gold brought over 300,000 people to California, with the consequent gold rush lasting until 1855. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
A landmark Supreme Court case. It made two main rulings. The first ruling was that African Americans were not citizens, and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court. The second ruling was that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in any territory acquired after the creation of the United States. It is widely regarded as the worst decision ever made by the Supreme Court. -
Election of Abraham Lincoln
The election served as the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. -
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Civil War
A war between northern states (the 'union' or the 'north') and southern slave states, over contrasting views on slavery. -
Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. -
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution
It contains clauses which provided a broader sense of citizenship, prohibits state and local government officials from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without legislative authorization and requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people within its jurisdiction. -
Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution
It prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". -
The Wounded Knee Massacre
It was the last battle of the American Indian Wars, where American soldiers killed 300 men, women and children. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This was a landmark Supreme Court which upheld the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal". -
Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution
This amendment meant the senate became elected. -
The Senate Became Elected
Due to the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution, senators became elected for the first time. -
America Enters WW1
America entered WW1 due to the German decision to begin sinking American ships providing supplies to Britain. -
Women Gain the Right to Vote
Women gained the right to vote under the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits any United States citizen from being denied the right to vote on the basis of sex. -
Wall Street Crash
The most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States. -
Election of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Roosevelt won in a landslide victory to govern for four terms during the depression aftermath of the 1929 Wall Street Crash. -
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World War II
The second world war, involving the majority of the wolrd's nations. It resulted in 50-75million fatalities. -
Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. -
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The Korean War
This was a war between the Soviet Union- and China-supported Niorth Korea and the United Nations-supported South Korea.It was primarily the result of the political division of Korea by an agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War at the end of World War II. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. -
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Vietnam War
The war between anti-communist US forces and pro-communist Viet Cong and Vietnam People's Army (North Vietnamese Army). -
The LIttle Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine were a group of African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The ensuing Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and then attended after the intervention of President Eisenhower. -
Election of John F. Kennedy
John F Kennedy was elected in a very close election, with a 0.17% advantage of the popular vote. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
This was a 13-day confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union/Cuba during the Cold War. It is arguably the closest the nations ever came to nuclear conflict. It is also the first incident of Mutually Assured Destruction as a determining factor in arms agreements. -
Martin Luther King ‘I have a Dream’
"I Have a Dream" is a public speech by American activist Martin Luther King, Jr.. It was delivered by King on August 28, 1963, in which he called for an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Kennedy was fatally shot by a sniper while traveling with his wife Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife Nellie, in a presidential motorcade. -
Civil Rights Act 1964
Civil rights legislation that outlawed major forms of discrimination against both women and racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities. -
Election of Lyndon B. Johnson
Johnson was elected as the successor to Kennedy after JFK's assassination. He won with the highest proportion of the popular vote ever (61.1%). -
Civil Rights Act 1968
A piece of legislation which provided equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed or national origin. -
Election of Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon was elected in a promise to restore law and order to the nation's cities torn by rioting and crime. The election featured the strongest third party effort since 1912 with American Independent George Wallace winning 13.5% of the popular vote. Nixon later resigned over the Watergate scandal. -
Man on the Moon
Neil Armstrong became the first man in history to walk on the moon. -
Watergate Scandal
This was a political scandal which occured due to aa break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement. The scandal eventually led to the resignation of Richard Nixon - the only president ever to have resigned. -
Roe v. Wade
This landmark Supreme Court case protected woman's rights to have an abortion, protecting against state and federal restrictions. -
California Proposition 13
The proposition decreased property taxes by assessing property values at their 1975 value and restricted annual increases of assessed value of real property to an inflation factor, not to exceed 2% per year. -
Iranian Hostage Crisis
This was a diplomatic crisis between the US and Iran when 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days after a group of Islamist students took over the American Embassy in Tehran. -
Election of Reagan
Reagan won the election in a landslide victory, recieving the highest number of electoral votes ever won by a nonincumbent presidential candidate. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
People were allowed to travel from East to West Berlin and visa versa for the first time since 1961. -
Impeachment of Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States, was impeached by the House of Representatives on two charges, one of perjury and one of obstruction of justice. He was acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999. -
Election of George W. Bush
Bush narrowly won the election against Al Gore. Bush failed to win a plurality of the vote. -
Bush v. Gore
A supreme court case which ruled that Bush's election victory should stand. -
9/11
The 9/11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks launched by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C. area on September 11, 2001. -
Invasion of Iraq 2003
A two month invasion which signalled the start of the Iraq War. The invasion, named 'Operation Iraqi Freedom', was incited under the pretext of Weapons of Mass Destruction. -
Election of Barack Obama
Barack Omaba became the first African American president of the United States after receiving the most votes for a presidential candidate in American history. -
California Proposition 8
A constitutional amendment with proposed that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." -
Affordable Care Act is Passed
Also known as Obamacare, it is the most significant government overhaul of the US healthcare system since 1965. It aims to increase the affordability and rate of health insurance coverage for Americans.