-
Rhode Island Outlaws Slavery
Rhode Island enacts the first law in the colonies outlawing slavery. If it hadn't been for Rhode Island outlawing slavery so early it could've taken a lot longer for the rest of the country to follow suit. -
Boston Massacre
The "Boston Massacre" wasn't nearly as bad as the colonists claimed. They had been provoking the British by hitting them with rocks and snowballs and eventually the British shot a few of the colonists. This was one of the alst straws for the colonists and led to the Revolutionary War. -
Start of the Revolutionary War
The Revolutionary War was the war America fought against the British to gain their freedom from the British crown. The war lasted 6 years before America won. Without this war we might very well still be a colony today. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is the document that the Colonies wrote that claimed their independence from Britain. Without this document we might still be colonies of Britain instead of one of the world's greatest powers. -
Thomas Jefferson suggests an end to slavery by 1800.
A committee led by Thomas Jefferson proposes making the western territories into states and to ban slavery in the United States by 1800. This proposal almost passed. This affected America because it put the idea of abolishing slavery into the hearts and minds of many people. -
Ordinance of Religious Freedom
Jefferson passed what would become the model for the first ammendmant stating that no one could be forced to practice a certain religion. America wouldn't have jews, hindus, muslims, buddhists, sikhs, or any other non christian religions without this. -
Thanksgiving Day created
George Washington created this day of thanksgiving and without it we wouldn't get off for Thanksgiving break from school -
Washington D.C. founded
The House of Representatives decided to locate the capital along the Potomac River and George Washington got to choose the exact location. Without this decision our capital would be in another city, possibly New York. -
War of 1812
This war was more or less a second war of independence against Britain and if we'd lost we would've been back under British control. -
Trail of Tears
This was when Andrew Jackson forced all of the Native Americans to walk thousands of miles to reservations in Oklahoma with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Many natives died because of this and because of this the native population today is extremely low. -
Period: to
Mexican American War
American went to war against Mexico over a border dispute and captured most of Mexico before they surrendered. If not for this war America would have 6 or 7 less states and would have a weaker economy. -
Discovery of Gold in California
This started the gold rush. WIthout this discovery, California wouldn't have been populated so quickly and might not have become a free state. -
Transcontinental Railroad
The transcontinental Railroad was completed after 3 years. It connected the east and the west and made transportation so much faster and easier. -
15th Ammendment
Everyone was finally aloud to vote regardless of "race, color, or previous condition or servitude." This was one of the early steps toward equality for all people. -
Invention of the Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. This makes communication infinitely faster and easier which is used from calling a friend to ask to go to the movies to the president communicating with generals in war. -
Invention of light bulb
Thomas Edison through a lot of trial and error invents the light bulb making it possible to light our homes. This paved the way for a lot more electicity involved inventions.
