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Founding of Jamestown
The founding of Jamestown, America’s first permanent English colony, in Virginia in 1607 – 13 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in Massachusetts – sparked a series of cultural encounters that helped shape the nation and the world. The government, language, customs, beliefs and aspirations of these early Virginians are all part of the United States’ heritage today. -
House of Burgesses
The first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia. It was the first elected government in the colonies. -
Founding of Plymouth Colony and Mayflower Compact
It was the first self-governing contract in America signed by 41 before they settled in Plymouth colony. It represented the idea that the government’s authority comes from the consent of the people. -
Founding of Massachussets Bay
On June 12, 1630, the flagship of the Massachusetts Bay Company arrived in Salem to officially found the new colony. The company was founded by English Puritans, most of whom were educated and wealthy. A fleet of eleven ships brought hundreds of settlers to Salem. John Winthrop became the first governor of the colony. -
Pequot War
1634-1638A conflict between the Pequot tribe against Mass Bay, Plymouth and Saybrook colonies who were aided by the Narrangansett and Mohegan tribes. There was a very high death toll and the Pequot tribe was essentially wiped out, and after there wasn’t as much conflict between Native Americans and New England colonists. -
King Philip’s War (Metacom)
The war was a conflict between the Wampanoag Native Americans and New Hampshire colonists, who won with the help of the Mohawks. Winning the war opened up additional land for expansion and wiped out much of the Wampanoag tribe. -
Bacon’s Rebellion
A conflict between the poor working farmers and the wealthy aristocrats who eventually drove Gov Berkley out of Jamestown because they felt they were not being adequately protected. The rebellion was eventually crushed but it caused a distrust among aristocrats of the poor working class who began drawing racial lines to avoid the black indentured servants and white farmers revolting together. -
The Salem Witch Trials
It was a series of hearings a persecutions of women who were perceived as being witches in colonial Massachusetts. The events were significant because they helped develop the US justice system. -
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, a colonial extension of the Seven Years War that ravaged Europe from 1756 to 1763, was the bloodiest American war in the 18th century. It took more lives than the American Revolution, involved people on three continents, including the Caribbean. -
Quatering Act
An act that forced colonists to house British soldiers in their homes. -
Stamp Act
An act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London. -
Boston Massacre
An incident that occurred after a group of colonists were taunting british soldiers which escalated into shots being fired and 5 colonists’ deaths. It was used as a way to rally colonists and unite the colonies against England. -
Boston Tea Party
The Sons of Liberty were protesting the face that the English felt they had a right to impose a tax on the colonies. Even though the tea with the tax cost less than before, it caused problems for colonists who were smuggling tea because they couldn’t make profit off of tea since it was less expensive. -
Tea Act
An act that granted the East India Trading Company permission to export tea directly to the colonies in an attempt to save the company, which led to the Boston Tea Party. -
Intolerable Acts
An Act passed for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America and An act to discontinue trade and landing at any Boston port in response to the Boston Tea Party. -
Lexington and Concord
Brit commander in Boston sent troops to nearby Lexington & Concord, colonial militia or “Minute Men” were there to greet them and shots were fired (by who is unknown and 8 Americans were killed. This united the militia and Americans and officially started the revolution. -
Declaration of Independence
First drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration was a statement to Great Britain based on a motion that Henry Lee made earlier saying that the US should be free and independent states that included a lists of grievances against the king. It made a universal impact and cleared the air so that foreign aid could be solicited and the “rebels” could begin openly opposing Great Britain. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising that took place in central and western Massachusetts in 1786 and 1787. The rebellion was named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and one of the rebel leaders. -
Constitutional Convention
ook place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain -
Judiciary Act 1789
It was a landmark statute adopted on September 24, 1789 in the first session of the First United States Congress establishing the U.S. federal judiciary. -
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1790, gained momentum by 1800, and, after 1820 membership rose rapidly among Baptist and Methodist congregations, whose preachers led the movement. -
Whiskey Rebellion
was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791, during the presidency of George Washington. Farmers who used their leftover grain and corn in the form of whiskey as a medium of exchange were forced to pay a new tax. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists in the 5th United States Congress in the aftermath of the French Revolution and during an undeclared naval war with France, later known as the Quasi-War. -
Revolution of 1800
Thomas Jefferson defeated 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. -
Louisiana Purchase
In this transaction with France, signed on April 30, 1803, the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. For roughly 4 cents an acre, the United States doubled its size, expanding the nation westward. -
Marbury v. Madison
was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court formed the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article III of the Constitution. -
Texas Independence
Texas fought with Mexico to be independent and eventually, after capturing Santa Anna after the Battle of San Jacinto, forced him under the threat of death to sign a treaty recognizing Texas as independent. Officials in Mexico city did not recognize this, but it opened the door for Texas to be annexed to the US and for the slavery question to be brought up. -
Election of 1824 (corrupt bargain)
The term Corrupt Bargain refers to three historic incidents in American history in which political agreement was determined by congressional or presidential actions that many viewed to be corrupt from different standpoints. -
Election of 1828
The United States presidential election of 1828 was the 11th quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, October 31 to Tuesday, December 2, 1828. It featured a rematch between John Quincy Adams, now incumbent President, and Andrew Jackson, -
Indian Removal Act 1830
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. The act authorized him to negotiate with the Indians in the Southern United States for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their homelands -
Nullification Crisis 1832
The Nullification Crisis was a sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson created by South Carolina's 1832 Ordinance of Nullification. -
Mexican-American War
1846-1848This war was fought because the US annexed texas, even though Mexico still recognized Texas as part of Mexico. It ended with the treaty of Gaudalupe Hidalgo and the Mexican Cession, gaining the US more territory, and it was the end of all conflict between texas and mexico. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This was a peace treaty betweent the US and Mexico that ended all conflict and gave the US California, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, New mexico, Arizona and Utah. It also established the Rio Grande as Texas’ southern border. -
Dawes Act
Adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. -
Wounded Knee Massacre
It was the last battle of the Americn Indian wars. -
Spanish-American War
After the Roosevelt Corollary, the US felt that they had to get involved in the affairs of the Phillipines, Cuba and Puerto rico due to Spanish misrule and yellow journalism (which caused pressure on congress by US citizens who were mislead on the happenings in those countries.) Ultimately the war raised the question of whether the US constitution applied to US territories as well as US states, but it also established the US as a world power. -
Founding of the NAACP
is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is “to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination” -
First Red Scare
Was marked by a widespread fear of Bolshevism and anarchism. Concerns over the effects of radical political agitation in American society and alleged spread in the American labor movement fueled the paranoia that defined the period. -
Harlem Renaissance
was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke. -
Election of 1932
The United States presidential election of 1932 was the 37th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1932. The election took place in the midst of the Great Depression that had ruined the promises of incumbent President and Republican candidate Herbert Hoover to bring about a new era of prosperity. -
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1936 -
Attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan were conducted by the United States during the final stages of World War II in 1945. These two events represent the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date. -
Truman Doctrine (associate ‘containment’)
The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by the U.S. President Harry Truman in a speech[1] on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. -
Fall of China to Communism (1949)
The Chinese Civil War (1927–1950) was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang (KMT), or the Chinese Nationalist Party-led Nationalist Government of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China (CPC),[5] for the control of each other's territory which eventually led to two de facto states, the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in mainland China both claiming to be the legitimate government of China. -
Creation of NATO 1949
is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. -
Korean War (1950-1953)
was a war between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of 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. -
Election of 1952
The United States presidential election of 1952 was the 42nd quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 4, 1952. During this time, Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union was escalating rapidly. -
Election of 1816 (beginning of Era of Good Feelings)
The years following* the end of the War of 1812 have been called the “era of good feelings” because of their apparent lack of partisan political strife. In the Election of 1816, James Monroe decisively defeated the last of the Federalist candidates. Monroe was overwhelmingly reelected in the Election of 1820 with no opposition whatsoever. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a 32 month military conflict between the United States and the British Empire and their allies which resulted in no territorial change, but a resolution of many issues remaining from the American War of Independence. -
Embargo Act 1807
he Embargo Act of 1807 was a general embargo enacted by the United States Congress ] against Great Britain and France during the Napoleonic Wars.[ -
Red Summer
Describes the race riots that occurred in more than three dozen cities in the United States during the summer and early autumn of 1919. In most instances, whites attacked African Americans.
