American History Timeline

  • Proclamation of 1763

    Proclamation of 1763
    The Proclamation of 1763 prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalation Mountains, which was the Natives land. The colonists rejected the order immediately because they were scared of the overpopulation on the east coast.
  • The Sugar Act

    The Sugar Act
    The British government prohibited underpaying taxes for sugar and molasses because they weren't getting as much money as they wanted with underpaid taxes. The colonists payed the new amount of taxes because they didn't want the British to take more away from them.
  • The Currency Act

    The Currency Act
    This prohibited printing and the insurance of paper money by colonial legislatives with a fine if they disobeyed, despite the shortage of paper money. They wanted to protect British merchants and creditors from being paid in cheap colonial money. The colonists protested because they couldn't afford any other printed currency.
  • The Stamp Act

    The Stamp Act
    This imposed a tax on all papers, documents, and even playing cards! They only issued this in the American colonies, not England. They needed the money to pay for British troops during the FR War. This was the first serious protest against British Imperial Policy. They viewed themselves as the same as the Brits.
  • The Quartering Act

    The Quartering Act
    The Quartering Act was made to provide for the patrolling of the British regulars. British officers who fought in the French and Indian War wanted money for food, places to stay, and more. The colonies disagreed and didn't believe it followed the Bill of Rights (1689)
  • The Declaratory Act

    The Declaratory Act
    This claimed that Parliament had the right to pass taxes over to the colonies to claim authority of Brits by taxing colonists. The colonists ignored it because they thought taxes were unfair because they had no say in Parliament.
  • The Townshend Act

    The Townshend Act
    This act taxed all goods imported to America because Brit Parliament thought American colonies need to pay for their protection.The colonists got really mad and was the start of the Revolutionary War. They thought they were no different from the Brits.
  • The Boston Massacre

    The Boston Massacre
    This was a war between the British troops and the angered colonists. The colonists were particularly mad about the Quartering Act. The colonists threw snowballs and chunks of ice as well as calling the British name because the had no guns or weapons. Shots were fired by the British and 8 colonists were killed.
  • The Tea Act

    The Tea Act
    The colonists were freed of taxes except for tea. This was designed to save faltering East India Company from bankruptcy by upping the taxes. This made the colonists so mad, they threw 45 tons of tea into the Boston Harbor because they were done with being "bossed" by the Brits.
  • The Boston Tea Party

    The Boston Tea Party
    The Boston Tea Party happened because the colonists were mad at the British for imposing "taxation without representation". They dumped 342 crates of tea imported by the East India Company.
  • The Intolerable Acts

    The Intolerable Acts
    This was an act of many punishments from the Boston Tea Party by Brit Parliament. The colonists took this as a threat towards all Brit America, not just Massachusetts, and saw this as a violation to the constitutional rights.
  • The Battle of Lexington and Concord

    The Battle of Lexington and Concord
    The British need their weapons back from the colonists because they were getting too strong, while the whigs wanted to fight for their rights from the Intolerable Acts. This was the first battle to start the Revolutionary War.
  • The Battle of Bunker's Hill (Breed's Hill)

    The Battle of Bunker's Hill (Breed's Hill)
    Power over Bunker Hill would prove that the colonists were in fact stronger than the British. The Brits wanted Bunker Hill so they could see all around Boston and take control of it. The colonists went to the wrong place for battle and the Brits barely won. Communication and working w/ the Brits were no longer permitted.
  • The Declaration of Independence

    The Declaration of Independence
    The Declaration of Independence was written to free the colonists from the British crown. The colonists were fed up with the King and his taxing acts, so they officials departed from the Motherland.
  • The Battle of Trenton

    The Battle of Trenton
    The U.S Army started charge on the city. The army became more united and together. The Americans won!!
  • The Battle of Saratoga

    The Battle of Saratoga
    This was one of America's first battles won. St, Leger held a truce with Peter Gansevourt offering safe conduct, but threatened massacre. This battle encouraged the U.S army, other colonists, and even the French.
  • Valley Forge

    Valley Forge
    The colonists won a battle, and Valley Forge is where the soldiers rested. Some died from diseases and malnutrition. The Americans regained confidence after the victory.
  • The Battle of Yorktown

    The Battle of Yorktown
    General Cornwallis moves to Yorktown for good harboring and reinforcements, then the U.S finds out and starts attacking the troops. America wins in the end.
  • The Treaty of Paris

    The Treaty of Paris
    U.S sent Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, John Adams, Henry Lawrence, and Thomas Jefferson, to go negotiate with the Brits. This ended the Rev. War. Americans finally got their desired independence!!
  • Period: to

    Westward Expansion

    The Westward Expansion was an event that took place in 1787, all the way up to 1861. Its purpose was to move the Indians out of their homes to make more room for more American development like trains, railroads, telephone lines, etc. This connects to nationalism because westward expansion is focusing on the growth on all of America.
  • 3/5 Compromise

    3/5 Compromise
    This law stated that for every five slaves, 3 would be included in the population to get more representatives and more electoral votes. This was important because the South wanted more say in the federal government, so they brought in people from Africa to work for them and be apart of their population. The North thought that was unfair so they made a compromise. This connects to sectionalism because each section/state wants representatives, or things to benefit them.
  • McCulloch VS. Maryland

    McCulloch VS. Maryland
    In 1791, Congress made the first U.S bank, but people didn't like it because they thought the government already has enough power. The unanimous decision allowed Congress to make banks.
  • State's Rights (10th Amendment)

    State's Rights (10th Amendment)
    This amendment allows a law not specifically said in the Bill of Rights to be given to the states to decide. This connects to sectionalism, because the states are focusing on their section by having each citizen vote for that law.
  • The Whiskey Rebellion

    The Whiskey Rebellion
    When the government taxed the people on whiskey, the colonists went mad. They threatened to kill and destroy people and houses of the government. Washington decided to send in the military, but quickly suspended the law.
  • The XYZ Affair

    The XYZ Affair
    France began attacking American ships, and in 1797, President John Adams sent three Americans to work out this misunderstanding. Three French representatives declined the three Americans to speak with the minister, and those three French representatives were call X,Y, and Z.
  • The Alien and Sedition Acts

    The Alien and Sedition Acts
    Alien Act: The government could imprison anyone who seemed 'dangerous'. Sedition Act: It was a crime to speak, or publish anything mean or harmful about the government. The government made these laws after the XYZ Affair, because they were worried about European immigrants that might side with the French.
  • The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

    The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
    Anti-feds thought the Alien and Sedition Acts were giving the government too much power, and the political statements argued that the acts were unconstitutional because they interfered with the Constitution. The Resolutions said that they could take down a law that they found unconstitutional.
  • The Embargo Act

    The Embargo Act
    The Embargo Act was a response by Thomas Jefferson(TJ) to increasing tensions between the U.S and Britain/France. This act stopped trade among the U.S. European powers AND THE U.S would be mad or annoyed because they can't make money by selling products to foreign countries. This act was tyrannical because it affected the Americans, too.
  • The War of 1812

    The War of 1812
    The War of 1812 started when the French were shooting down American ships. The Americans took this as MAJOR disrespect, and started to notice how other foreign countries were treating them. They got very mad, and they declared war among the French.
  • Compromise of 1820

    Compromise of 1820
    Because the South wanted to have slaves, but the North didn't, they drew a line across the 36 parallel. This is known as the Missouri Compromise of 1820 because the US invited Missouri (a slave state) and Maine (a free state) into the US to balance it out. This connects to both sectionalism and nationalism, because the South wanted more enslaved people to work for them, but the North wanted to balance out slave and free states.
  • The Monroe Doctrine

    The Monroe Doctrine
    The Monroe Doctrine declared that the Western Hemisphere was no longer open for European immigrants. The Americans would be violent and hostile if they saw any foreign people in America being suspicious. Also, the U.S would not interfere in the internal affairs of other foreign countries.
  • Fredrick Douglass

    Fredrick Douglass
    After Fredrick Douglass escaped slavery in Maryland, he was a leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York. He is connected to sectionalism because he leads the abolitionist section, when there is an other section that are the anti-abolitionists.
  • Harriet Tubman

    Harriet Tubman
    Right after she escaped from enslavment, she led a huge group of enslaved people north on the Underground Railroad to escape from their owners in the south. She is connected to sectionalism because Harriet is guiding a section of enslaved people to protect them from a different section of people. She escaped from her plantation in the fall of 1849.
  • The Underground Railroad

    The Underground Railroad
    The Underground Railroad was a route led by Harriet Tubman to free enslaved people from their owners. The Underground Railroad started in North Carolina. Its final destination was Canada, but many people decided to leave when they went to Pennsylvania and Detroit. But many others stopped in Iowa or Indiana. This connects to sectionalism because The Underground Railroad guided the enslaved section up north where they couldn't get caught again.
  • Compromise of 1850

    Compromise of 1850
    The Compromise of 1850 allowed Utah and New Mexico the right to choose (as a state) to have slavery. It also welcomed California into the US as a free state. This compromise made sure that every enslaved person (free or not) was brought back to their original owners in their plantations. It also cancelled slave trading in Washington D.C, but still allowed slavery in the south. This connects to nationalism because all parts of America are getting what they want which balances out the votes.
  • The Fugitive Slave Law

    The Fugitive Slave Law
    This was a law made to return all slaves to their original owners, even if they were in a slave free state. The government was in charge of finding all of the slaves. This connects to sectionalism, because all slaves are being brought back to their plantation or farm in their sections (the South). This connects to nationalism because the federal government is sending the slaves all over America- free or not- back to their sections to benefit all of America, from their labor in homes and fields.
  • The Kansas-Nebraska Act

    The Kansas-Nebraska Act
    This act cancelled the Missouri Compromise, and made 2 new territories. "Bleeding Kansas" was an uprising that included proslavery and antislavery activists moved to the new territories to control the votes for slavery. This is connected to sectionalism because the antislavery and proslavery activists take over their territory as a free section or not.
  • Abolitionism

    Abolitionism
    Abolitionism was a movement throughout America that wanted to abolish (or get rid of) slavery. This connects to nationalism because abolitionism was meant to remove slavery forever, and they wanted to do away with this all throughout the US. Abolitionists wanted the best for other people and America.