-
1350 BCE
Small Pox
This disease spread by the Europeans on the Americas. It lead to the deaths of millions of Native Americans in the North and South America.Which made it easier for the Europeans to conquer -
1491
Maize Cultivation
Corn was grown by the Native American's.This changed society. Meaning it was less emphasis on hunting and gathering,more on agriculture and this also lead to population growth -
1492
Columbian Exchange
The exchange of goods,ideas,diseases,and people between the Americans,Africa, and Europe.this was also known for Christopher Columbus's voyage.the Natives were affected really badly because the Europeans took the majority of the Natives land. -
1503
Encomienda System
A Spanish system of granting land to colonist in the new world. Exploited natives and resources, Natives were eventually replaced with African slave labor -
Beaver Wars
Was a series of battles in the competition for dominance over the fur trade between the french, their natives allies, and the Iroquois.These battles led to the Iroquois League destroying several large tribes.The Mohawk tribe had established trading links with dutch exchanging beaver pelts for guns. -
Jamestown
It was the first permanent English settlement in the New World, located in Virginia . But it was only successful after the crash crop Tobacco.The purpose of establishing Jamestown was to make money for the Virginia Company. -
Tobacco Cultivation
John Rolfe began planting tobacco in Virginia. The need of more land made Europeans move more inward away from the center of European settlement, which was going in to the native's land. Tobacco quickly became to most valuable crop. -
House of Burgesses
It was the first colonial North American representative legislative body, was on division of the legislature established by Virginia governor George Yeardley at Jamestown.It was organized for England to make laws and set up taxes. -
King Philip's War
It was a war between the Native American Tribe of New England and British colonist that was the result of tension caused by encroaching settlers. Chief Wampanoags led the Natives. The war ended the Indian resistance in New England and left a hatred the English colonists. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Governor Berkley was not liked by the planters because he only increased hostilities of settlers by raising taxes on poor planters.Later in 1675 Virginian settlers asked Berkley to exterminate all of the natives but he refused and Nathaniel Bacon took matter into his own hands by slaughtering the Natives. -
Salem Witch Trailes
The outbreak of witchcraft accusations in a Puritan Village.20 people was killed they were either hanged or pressed.It also highlighted the dangers of religious extremism in the colonial America. -
Atlantic Triangular Trade
A system of exchanging slaves,cash crops,and manufactured goods between West Africa,Caribbean and American colonies. -
The Great Awakening
It was the first first cultural movement to untie the thirteen colonies and it was a religious movement characterized by emotional preaching.It was lead by Johnathan Edwards and George Whitefield. -
Seven Year War
Also known as the French and Indian war that was fought between the British and French but allied with natives.The battle was for imperial dominance of North America.But in the end British wins and gains control of the Ohio River Valley. -
Proclamation Line
A proclamation from the British government which foreboded British colonies from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.The colonists. The colonist were very upset because they had fought a war to gain the Ohio River Valley territory and now they had to leave that region. -
Treaty of Paris
The treaty that ended the French and Indian war which made British dominant imperial power in North America.It was signed by the kingdoms of Great Britain,France and Spain. -
Boston Massacre
British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists who were teasing and taunting them.Five colonist were killed and 6 injuries.This event was used as a propaganda to call war against England in the colonies. -
The Constitution
This document established a government with direct authority over all citizens.It defines the power of the national government Also established protection for the rights of states and of each individual. -
National Bank
This was Hamilton's big idea.The bank would regulate money and draw investors. This showed that the constitution could be interpreted in different ways, resulting in the development of political parties. -
Bill Of Rights
The first ten amendments to the constitution listing individual and state rights under the constitution within the system of federalism. -
Cotton Gin
This machine could separate cotton from its seeds and was developed by Eli Whitney. This invention made cotton more profitable for Southern economy.He also signaled the exponential increase in slavery until it was abolished. -
Mercantilism
Economic policy that focuses on building wealth for the mother country.It favors a positive balance of trade for the mother country and the accumulation of gold and silver.. -
Louisiana Purchase
This purchase was done by Jefferson which doubled the size of the U.S and opening the doors for expansion.Thomas Jefferson changed his interpretation from strict to loose on this issue. -
Era of Good Feelings
The name of James Monroe two term. A strong period of strong nationalism,economic growth and territorial expansion.There was only on political party and no partisan conflicts. -
Erie Canal
This opened as a toll waterway connecting New York to the Great Lakes. This helped connect the Northern cities to the agrarian West. The transportation of food from the Midwest farms helped New York a lot because it began to grow. -
Monroe Doctrine
This declared that Europe should not interfere in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere.Any attempt of interference by a European power will be see as a threat to the U.S. This also declared that a New World colony which has gained independence may not recolonized by Europe. -
Spoil system
The system of employing and promoting civil servants who are friends and supporters of the group in power.The practice of rewarding supporters with governments jobs. -
Tail of Tears
The tragic journey of the Cherokee people from their home land to reservation in Oklahoma.More than 4,00 Cherokee died of cold, diseases , and lack of food during the 116 day journey. -
Manifest Destiny
Belief that it was right of the US to expand from coast to coast.Built on white racial superiority and American cultural superiority, major debates of the time period.Also from the end of the war of 1812 to the beginning of the American Civil War had been called the "Age of Manifest Destiny. -
Gadsden Purchase
This purchase of land from Mexico that completed the continental United States which provided the land needed to build the transcontinental railroads built to the Gulf of California .The US paid Mexico for a portion of Mexico that later became part of Arizona and New Mexico. -
Anaconda Plan
It was the Union plan led by Winfield Scott which was called for blockade of southerners coast. Captured Richmond and the Mississippi River.This cut the South into two. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln issued it changing the purpose of the Civil War.It allowed African Americans to fight in the Union Army and it kept Europe from helping the South. -
Battle of Gettysburg
This was the turning point of the war that made it clear the North would and the South lost its chance to invade the North.This battle was led by Robert E, Lee which killed 50,000 people.It was also known to be the bloodiest war. -
Forty Acres and Mule
General Sherman has issued military orders that provided 40 acres of land along the Atlantic coast to freed slaves.Many freedmen believed and were told by various political figures that they had the right to own the land they had long worked as slaves and were eager to control their own property. The orders were subsequently revoked by Andrew Johnson. -
Ku Klux Klan
It was a group in Tennessee. The white supremacist who attacked the African Americans and were also known as the circle of friends.The white southerners also showed violent actions towards the change of political,social, and economic conditions of the Reconstruction Era. -
Trust
It was pioneered by men such as Andrew Carnegie of the steel industry and John D. Rockerfeller of the oil industry.The purpose of it is tgo eliminate competition in businesses.If one compan becomes to powerful then it will have control of the stocks of smaller companies in the same line of business. It would create a monopoly.Then it was outlawed in the early 1900s. -
Jim Crow Laws
This were laws designed to enforce segregation of Black Americans from White Americans.The African Americans had unequal opportunities in housing, work,education, and government. Jim Crow Laws also prevented African Americans from voting. -
Pullman Strike
This was a non-violent strike which brought about a shut down of western railroads, which took placed against the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago.This happened because of the poor wages of the Pullman workers.It ended by the president due to the interference with the mail system and brought a bad image upon unions. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
It established the doctrine of "separate but equal".this upheld the Jim Crow Laws in the South.It was the lead the increase of discrimination against African American, then later it was overturned by the Brown v. Board.This happened in the state of Louisiana. -
Women's Christian Temperance Union
The women's organization that opposed alcoholic beverages.They worked for legislation to moderate the use of intoxicating drink despite their inability to vote.They linked drinking to poverty,adultery, social crime and domestic violence. -
Conservation
A movement in america to begin preserving natural resources and stop the rapid destruction of these resources and land.Theodore Roosevelt helped create national parts and sets aside 17 million acres for parks. -
Social Darwinism
Applied Darwin's theory of natural selection and "survival of the fittest" to human society. For example " the poor are poor because they are not as fit to survive.It also used by wealthy to justify their position in life.This theory encouraged the notion of human competition and opposed intervention in the natural human order. -
Roosevelt Corollary
Theodore Roosevelt extension of the Monroe Doctrine.It stated that the US has the right to protect its economic interests in South and Central America by using military force.The US took control of Dominican Republic's finances after a revolution toppled their government. -
Niagara Movement
W.E.B Du Boi and other young activists who didn't believe in gradualism or accomodation came together at Niagara falls to demand full equality for African Americans.The demands that African American get the right to vote in states where it had been taken away and for segregation to be abolished. -
Red Scare
The American public was scared that communism would come into the US.Labor unions were suspected for supporting it.When Italian immigrants Sacco and Venzetti were sentenced to death for a crime with no evidence. -
"Second Wave" Immigration
Immigrants come southern and eastern Europe.Congregated in ethnic urban neighborhoods many native born Americans responded with nativist views and anti-immigrant campaigns.Some of them introduced urban reforms to help immigrants assimilate.This was a significant wave of immigration during the turn of the 20th century. -
Stock Market Crash
This signaled the beginning of World Wide Depression.The result of stocks an investing "fever" in America the overproduction of goods and under consumption of American goods. Most Americans had some sort of wealth tied up in the stock market.Many banks were closing and savings being lost completely so then the economy was destroyed. -
The Dust Bowls
A period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the US. They were caused by over-farming since the soil was to dry,wind storms, and droughts. Farmers would mostly migrate to the west but mainly go to California -
Neutrality Act
It was designed to avoid American involvement in World War 2 by preventing loans to those countries taking part in the conflict.They were later modified in 1939 to allow aid to Great Britain and other Allied nations.This also limited power of president during international war. -
Lend-Lease Act
Nine months before Pearl Harbor, Congress passed this act and amended the Neutrality Acts so the United States could lead military equipment and supplies to any nation the president said was vital to the defense of the United States.Such as the countries of France,Great Britain, the Republic of China and later on the USSR. -
D-day
This was the code name for Operation Overlord, the allies invasion of Nazi-occupied France.It remains largest amphibious assault in history with over 156,000 men crossing the English Channel in 6,939 vessels. American and British forces pushed east to Germany. -
The Fall of Berlin
This was one of the final battles of the European Theater during the World War 2. Two Soviet Army groups attacked Berlin from the eat and the south, while a third attacked German forces north of Berlin.This battles basically ended the war in the European Theater. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The Supreme court ruled that students have a right under the 14th amendment Equal Protection Clause to an equal education. The schools of white and African american children were not equal so the school had to be integrated.This also ended up closing the "Separate-but-Equal" act. -
The Korean War
This was a war between North and South Korea. The North was communist and then South was non-communist.The United Nation helped South Korea which was led by the United State. Neither side gained or lost an land.Which the 38th parallel is what divides both the north or south. -
Martin Luther King Jr.
He was a US Baptist minister and civil rights leader. Luther opposed discrimination against blocks and organized a nonviolent resistance and peaceful mass demonstrations. The organization he organized was called Southern Christian Leadership Conference. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
It was the closet approach to nuclear war at any time between the US and the USSR.When the US discovered Soviet Union nuclear missiles in Cuba, President John F. Kennedy demanded their removal and announced a naval blockade of the island.Fidel Castro was the communist leader during this crisis. -
The Voting Right Act
Invalidated the use of any test or device to deny the vote and authorized federal examiners to register voters in states that had disenfranchised blacks.As more African Americans got involved; it led to job,contracts, and facilities and service for the black community.Another advantage was the encouraging greater social equality and decrease with wealth and education gap. -
The Civil Rights Act
The 36th president Lyndon B. Johnson signed the civil right act of 1964.This made racial,religious , and sex discrimination by employers illegal and gave the government the power to enforce all laws governing the civil rights. This included the desegregation of schools and public places. -
Kent State Massacre
The police fired into an angry crowd of college students at Kent State University. Four students were killed and others were wounded.The students were protesting against Nixon ordering US troops to seize Cambodia without consulting Congress. -
Iranian Hostage Crisis
When Jimmy Carter let the Shah enter the United States for medical treatment, angry Iranian revolutionaries invaded the U.S. Embassy in Iran and took 52 American Captive.The Iranian Hostage Crisis lasted 444 days, until the captives were released after the election of Ronald Reagan as president, and nurtured anti-Americanism among Muslim around the world. -
The Persian Gulf War
Also called the Gulf War, in 1991 Iraq attacked Kuwait. The US stopped Kuwait from being taken over.they also attacked oil tankers . -
The Soviet Union Collasped
100 ethnic groups , demanded self rule, 15 republics of soviet union declared independence. -
Oklahoma City Bombing
It was a domestic terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown of Oklahoma city.The bombings were committed by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. 160 people lost there lives and he was sentenced to death by legal injection.McVeigh's motivation was hatred and distrust of the government. -
9/11 Terrorist Attacks
The September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States. The hijacked intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in NYC. After the 9/11 George W. Bush announced a global war on Terrorism. Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow to Taliban regime. -
Barack Obama
This election was a historic election because Barack Obama became the first person of color to be elected president.His platform centered upon "Hope and Change" when many were frustrated by the economic downturn and events of the war on terror.He is also remembered by his controversial Health care Reform "Obamacare".His presidency is also remember by the elimination of Osama Bin Laden the prime target of the war on terror after the 9/11.
