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1492
Christopher Columbus
An Italian explorer, who while sailing for Spain's Ferdinand and Isabella, accidently discovered the New World. He had set out to find a route west to Asia from Europe, and, upon landing in the present-day Bahamas, he at first believed he had reached the Indies. -
1492
Columbian exchange
Refers to the flow of goods between the Americas, Europe, and Africa that followed Columbus's widely advertised "discovery" of the New World. People, animals, plants, and disease passed from continent to continent affecting virtually all aspects of the environment in all three. -
1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
Signed by Spain and Portugal, dividing the territories of the New World. Spain received the bulk of territory in the Americas, compensating Portugal with titles to lands in Africa and Asia. -
1512
Encomienda system established
Under this, conquistadors and other leaders \received grants of a number of Indians, from whom they could exact "tribute" in the form of gold or labor. The encomenderos were supposed to protect and Christianize the Indians granted to them, but they most often used the system to effectively enslave the Indians and take their lands. -
1525
The rise of the Atlantic slave trade
The first record of a slave trade voyage direct from Africa to the Americas is for a ship that landed in Santo Domingo, on the island Española (Hispaniola), in 1525. -
Jamestown
The first successful settlement in the Virginia colony founded in May, 1607. Harsh conditions nearly destroyed the colony, the settlement became part of the Joint Stock Virginia Company of London in 1620 and it grew to be a prosperous shipping port. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was signed and made by Pilgrim leaders aboard their trip as they were seeking religious freedom. This was the first steps in the colonies for self-government to be formulated and enforced on the Colonies as male settlers assemble in town meetings. -
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Bacon's Rebellion
Armed Rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon against the rule of Governor William Berkeley. Consisted of mainly indentured servants who were promised a certain amount of land after completing their time but were handed nonarable land or no land at all. This was the turning point from indentured servants to slaves as indentured servants were no longer utilized to cultivate crops but African slave labor was widely needed. -
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The Great Awakening
Was the first mass social movement in American History as a large mass of individuals converted and became more active in religion again. This was due to boring sermons and Arminianism and was upheld by new styles of preaching as Jonathan Edwards famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" and George Whitefield sermons. This was the first time the colonies had differentiated themselves from the British. Influenced the start of a sense of having an American identity not British. -
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Seven Year War (French & Indian War)
War against France and Britain which ultimately led to the end of salutary neglect in 1763. This caused conflict within colonies as there was a separation between loyalists and patriots. -
Proclamation of 1763
This prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains in hope of prevention towards future hostilities among British colonists and Native Americans. -
Pontiac's Rebellion
This would stand as the first major test of the new British imperial policy. Chief Pontiac led a major attack on the colonial western frontier when indians began to become angered by the western encroachment of land and the British refusal to offer gifts as the French had done. -
Sugar Act of 1764
This act placed duties on foreign sugar and certain luxuries with the soul purpose of raising money for the British monarchy. However, this also provided stricter enforcement of the Navigation Acts of 1651 by sending troops into the colonies by the British. -
Stamp Act of 1765
This act required that revenue stamps be placed on most printed documents including legal documents and newspapers. It was put in act in effort to raise funds for the British military forces. -
Stamp Act Congress
Representatives from nine colonies met in New York to discuss the enforcement of the Stamp Act. The team resolved that only their elected representatives had the legal authority to approve such taxation. -
Quartering Act of 1765
The Quartering Act required colonists to provide food and a living quarters for British troops which the British found justified as they soldiers were sent to protect the colonists from indian invasions. However, this further angered colonists as they voluntarily did this prior to the enforcement, causing further discontent. -
Declaratory Act (1766)
With a new King in control, this asserted that Parliament had the right to tax and make laws for the colonies in "all cases whatsoever". This attitude led to renewed conflict among colonists and British rule. -
The Townshend Acts (1767)
The Townshend Acts enacted duties to be collected on colonial imports of glass, tea, and paper. This income was used to pay crown officials stationed in the colonies and also allowed for unauthorized search and seize of homes for smuggled goods which we would later see repealed in the Bill of Rights. -
Boston Massacre
After a crowd of colonists harassed British guards near customs homes, guards fired into the crowd killing 5. However, troops were tried in Britain while colonists dramatized the event to inflame anti-British feelings. -
Committees of Correspondence
The committees kept alive the view that British officials were undermining colonial liberties. Adams began practicing the organization of communities that would exchange letters of suspicious or threatening British behavior. -
Boston Tea Party
After the enactment of the Townshend Acts in 1767 and colonists began refusing to purchase the British East India Company's tea, a group of Bostonians- the Sons of Liberty- disguised themselves as Indians, boarded British ships, and dumped 342 chests of the tea into Boston Harbor. -
First Continental Congress (September 1774)
The purpose of the congress was to respond to what delegates viewed as Britain's alarming threats to colonial liberties. These views ranged from radical to conservative, however with loyalists unrepresented. The congress eventually called for the repeal of the Intolerable Acts, urged the king to redress colonial grievances, created a network of committees to enforce economic sanction, and declared colonial rights. -
Coercive Acts
These acts were directed mainly as punishment for the acts committed in the Boston Tea Party. 1) The British closed Boston Harbor. 2) The power of the legislature was decreased while royal power and authority increased. 3) Royal officials would now be tried in Great Britain rather than in the colonies. 4) British troops would be upgraded from customs homes to private homes in an increasingly enforced Quartering Act. -
Quebec Act (1774)
This law organized the Canadian lands gained from the French following the French and Indian War. French Canadians were accepting while colonists resented this act. The act also established Roman Catholicism as the primary religion, established a government without representative assembly, and extended Canadian borders past the Ohio River. -
Second Continental Congress
At this congress, delegates had become divided. One group of delegates, mostly from the northern New England colonies, believed the colonies should declare independence. However, many delegates representing the middle colonies hoped that conflict may be resolved and subside with negotiation of a new relationship with the king. -
Marbury v. Madison
After Jefferson's induction into office, Adams called for his "midnight appointments" to be delivered to his cabinet members. However, Madison refused to deliver them. Marbury sued Madison claiming that it was Madison's job to deliver the appointments. This case established Judicial Review of court cases. -
Louisana Purchase
The land settled along the Mississippi River was purchased from France by Jefferson, the current reigning president. The land doubled the size of the U.S. while Bonaparte needed funds for the current war between France and Britain. However, the purchase of this went against Jefferson's beliefs in which his ideals believed in strict interpretation of the Constitution although it did not underline any allowance for the president to purchase land. -
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Prior to the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore the trans-Mississippi West alongside the native Sacagawea. The exploration unlocked a gallery of new scientific and geographic discoveries, including the native tribes that roamed the yet-to-be-explored territory. -
Embargo Act of 1807
This act prohibited American merchant ships from sailing to any foreign ports which acted as an alternative to war with Britain and France, thus keeping the nation neutral. -
Nonintercourse Act
After the disastrous impact from the Embargo Act of 1807, this act was put into U.S. law with the hope of ending economic hardship yet maintaining neutral in the fight between Britain and France. It allowed for the free trade with any countries save Britain and France. -
Fletcher v. Peck
This was the first Marshall court case that enabled for the Supreme Court to rule laws unconstitutional. This also helped create precedents for sanctity of legal documents. -
War of 1812
This war was primarily caused by violation of U.S. neutral rights at sea and along the western frontier by British forces, including the act of impressment upon American men being forced into the British Navy. However, may of the citizens as well as members of Congress were divided of whether or not to go to war. Yet the war came to a close with the Treaty of Ghent in 1814 when all fighting ceased and enemies recognized all territorial seizures in North America. -
Treaty of Ghent
This treaty was signed in Ghent, Belgium, in 1814, ending the War of 1812. It halted all fighting and declared that all forces recognized all territories of prewar claimants. -
Hartford Convention
Several radical Federalists met for this meeting in New England to urge the amendment of the new Constitution whilst also threatening secession from the Union under serious circumstances. However, contrary to their hoped outcome, this convention would lead to the death of the Federalist party. -
Henry Clay's American System
This system encouraged economic nationalism; the features that came along with this included
1) protective tariffs
2) a second National Bank
3) internal improvements including roads and canals -
Missouri Compromise
This established that Missouri would be created in the western frontier and enter the Union as a slave state and Maine would enter on the east coast as a free state, maintaining the balanced ratio of slave states to free states. -
Gibbons v. Ogden
The federal government decided in this case that New York could not a grant a monopoly to a steamboat company because it conflicted with a charter authorized by Congress. This case established that the federal government had broad control of all interstate commerce, and it was one of many cases that set precedents for the federal jurisdiction to reign supreme to that of state law. -
Monroe Doctrine
This doctrine signed by James Monroe and written by John Adams was introduced with the goal of keeping European powers in the eastern hemisphere. The United Stated also claimed neutrality to all European affairs in which the United States had no relation to. Thus, the United States gained a strong sense of nationalism. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)
A slave led rebellion in Virginia led ultimately by Nat Turner. It resulted in 56 slaves being executed as they were accused of being part of such a rebellion. -
Trail of Tears
The trail in which thousands of Indians traveled westward from North Carolina and Georgia to Oklahoma. Over 4,000 died from harsh conditions and mistreatment from United States soldiers. -
Worchester v. Georgia
Marshall ruled that state law had no authority in the Cherokee territory being disputed over by Georgia. -
Jackson's Bank War
Jackson put federal funds in pet banks because he believed the state and federal banks held too much power. However, this would lead to the Panic of 1837 when these pet banks would become underfunded. -
Nullification Crisis
South Carolina attempted to nullify a federal law and also threatened to secede from the Union, which is ironic speaking that they would become the first state to secede during the Antebellum period. However, Jackson was able to preserve the Union in the "Olive Branch and Petition" where he threatened military force, ultimately making him look like a monarch. -
American Antislavery Society
This promoted the immediate abolition of slavery where Frederick Douglass was a key leader. -
The Alamo
A 13-day siege during the Mexican-American War where Santa Anna led the Mexican forces into San Antonio. However, the Texan defenders were killed, declaring Mexican win of that battle. -
Panic of 1837
This was caused by the collapse of state banks as a result of the Specie Circular requiring hard money to purchase land in the west. When thousands rushed to collect bank payments, pet banks began losing funds in which the panic ensued. -
Wilmot Proviso (1846)
An unsuccessful 1846 proposal in the United States Congress to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico prior to the Mexican-American War. -
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Mexican American War (1846-1848
In 1846 President Polk sent a US representative to the Mexican government to make an offer to buy California and parts of New Mexico as well as to settle disputed territory claims in Texas. In exchange for this land he offered $25-$30 million and an additional $3 million in debt relief owed to American citizens by Mexico. The Mexican government refused to meet with the representative. Consequently, Polk ordered the US Army to move into the disputed territory. -
Seneca Falls Convention
Women met in New York to discuss the rights that they believed were guaranteed to women where they wrote and signed the Declaration of Sentiments. However, many of their efforts would be forgotten at the start of the Civil War. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)
Officially ended the Mexican American War, adding an additional 525,000 square miles to the United States territory, including Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wyoming. -
Free-Soil Party (1848)
A short-lived political party in the United States formed by an anti-slavery group in the North. Although unsuccessful in presidential elections, the group was successful in spreading the awareness of antislavery and advocated federal aid for internal improvements, an idea made popular from Clay's American System. -
California Gold Rush (1849)
Began when gold was found by James Marshall. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people from not only the rest of the United States but also from around the world. -
Know-Nothing Party (1849)
A prominent political party during the late 1840s and early 1850s. Its members opposed immigrants and followers of the Catholic Church. -
Fugitive Slave Law (1850)
These were laws that provided for return of escaped slaves to owners. However, the north did little to enforce such an act which heavily angered southerners, further increasing tensions that eventually lead up to state secession. -
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850)
A treaty between the United States and Great Britain that resolved tensions over the American plan to build a Nicaraguan Canal connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. -
Compromise of 1850
Slavery becomes outlawed in Washington D.C. Meanwhile, California is admitted as a free state, and Utah and New Mexico will determine if slavery is allowed through popular sovereignty. The Fugitive Slave Law is also put into action. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
An anti-slavery novel written by Harriett Beecher Stowe that had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery. -
Gadsden Purchase (1853)
A 29,670 square mile region of present-day south Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States purchased from Mexico. -
Panic of 1857
An economic crash due to the inflation caused by the rapid inpouring of California gold during the late 1840s. -
Dred Scott v. Stanford (1857)
This case stated 3 reasons to keep Dred Scott in slavery:
1) blacks could not sue in federal court
2) because blacks were considered an owner's property, they could be moved anywhere under a master's control without being free
3) Congress had no power to ban slavery in any territory -
13th Amendment ratified
Causes: The Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address & the Union victory in the Civil War brought an end to slavery in the entire US with the passage of the 13th Amendment.
People: Lincoln, Congress, every state
Effects: 4 million slaves were freed, but economic, political, and social oppression continued due to racism, Black Codes, the KKK, sharecropping, segregation (Jim Crow), and much more. -
14th Amendment ratified
Causes: Even after overriding Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act, Radical Republicans feared that the law could be repealed by Democrats and decided to pass a permanent US amendment to the Constitution.
People: Radical Republicans (Stevens, Sumner), President Johnson
Effects: 14th Amendment required the states, not just the US gov, to uphold the rights of all citizens, including blacks, women, and other minorities. -
Standard Oil Company organized
Causes: Rockefeller dominated the shrinking (due to electricity) oil industry by starting his Standard Oil Company.
People: John D. Rockefeller
Effects: Standard Oil became a monopoly (gained control of an entire industry) with horizontal (small companies make up 1 big company) and vertical (1 company owns raw materials + product) integration with enough power to hugely control both poor workers, the government, & the pro-business court. -
Panic of 1873
Causes: Rapid growth (of railroads, minues, factories, agriculture) from the Industrial Revolution caused the markets to crash and loans to go unpaid.
People: President Grant
Effects: The depression hit the poor laborers, especially blacks, hard. Debtors and farmers grew more supportive of inflation and the coinage of silver to lower their debts. City workers were also affected by the crash with lower wages and responded with strikes. -
Civil Rights Act of 1875
Causes: Republicans in Congress passed another law to guarantee African-Americans equal treatment in public places and inclusion in juries.
People: Charles Sumner, President Grant, Radical Republicans
Effects: This law was the last civil rights reform law passed during the Reconstruction Era. The law barely enforced because the era of radical Republicanism was ending alongside Reconstruction. The law was later deemed unconstitutional. -
Compromise of 1877
This settled the heavily disputed 1876 United States presidential election. It involved Democrats who controlled the House of Representatives who allowed the decision to be made by the Electoral Commission. -
End of Reconstruction Era
Causes: Republicans and Democrats compromised by allowing Republican Hayes to become president as long as federal troops were pulled out from the South and to build a railroad in the South to help it industrialize.
People: Rutherford Hayes, Samuel Tilden
Effects: By pulling troops out of the South, Democrats quickly regained control over southern state govs and the rights of blacks went unprotected. The end of Reconstruction returned power to Democrats in the South like before the Civil War. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Causes: The public grew more & more resentful against monopolies since they harmed the lower classes, so the government tried to restrict trusts.
People: John Sherman
Effects: The law was largely ineffective in restricting monopolies because the courts & businesses could find loopholes. In fact, the law was often used against labor unions because they were seen as restricting free trade. This proved how hard it was so truly regulate the strong power of trusts and big business. -
Spanish-American War
Causes: With the Industrial Revolution, American businesses began looking internationally for new markets and the government in turn became more interested in imperialism and acquiring colonies. Cuba & the Philippines rebelling against Spain gave the US an opportunity to expand so they fought against Spain.
People: President McKinley
Effects: In the Treaty of Paris, the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, & Guam were ceded to the US. Continued in "Treaty of Paris." -
Populist (People's) Party
Causes: From the Farmers' Alliance came a political party called the People's Party by and for poor, indebted farmers.
People: Dem. William Jennings Bryan
Effects: The Populist Party supported free coinage of silver (to cause inflation and lower debts), called for government ownership of railroads/telegraphs, a graduated income tax, directly elected US senators, and shorter workdays. Bryan's loss in the 1896 election led to the end of the Populist movement. -
Panic of 1893
Causes: Overbuilding, overspending, labor & agricultural problems, free-silver debates, & US loans led to the depression of 1893.
People: President Cleveland, JP Morgan
Effects: Thousands of businesses collapsed, many were left poor and unemployed, & the Treasury's gold reserve fell to an all-time low, prompting Cleveland to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act & go to JP Morgan/Wall Street for a huge gold loan. The Populist & Socialist parties grew more popular during the 4 year crisis. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Causes: Louisiana passed a law segregating railroad cars, which was protested and brought to court by Homer Plessy.
People: Homer Plessy, Justice Henry Billings Brown
Effects: The Supreme Court ruled that the law did not violate the 14th amendment (which promised equal protection under the law to all citizens) so long as segregated facilities were "separate but equal." This case formally legalized segregation (Jim Crow) and only supported racist ideas that blacks were inferior to whites. -
Treaty of Paris - 1898
Causes: The US won the Spanish-American War.
People: President McKinley
Effects: Spain ceded Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam to the US. The Philippines was annexed, leading to guerrilla warfare by Filipino nationalists. Despite the Teller Amendment stopping the US from annexing Cuba, US troops stayed in Cuba & controlled Cuban politics to the ire of Cubans. The US had gained an overseas empire. -
U.S. becomes World Power
U.S. victory brought pride to all Americans, and make Southern states more attached to the Union. France, GB, and other European powers recognized the U.S. as a first-class power with a strong navy and the willingness to take active roles in international affairs. -
Panama Revolution
Roosevelt was eager to start the development of a canal through the terrain pot the isthmus of Panama. He supported a revolt in Panama, where the U.S. backed, which caused the rebellion succeeding immediately with little bloodshed. -
Panama Canal
A result of the Spanish-American War, the new American empire reached from Puerto Rico in the Caribbean to the Philippines in the Pacific. -
Dollar Diplomacy in Latin American and East Asia
Taft believed that private American financial investment in China and nations of Central American would lead to greater stability, while also promoting U.S. business interests. -
William Howard Taft and Dollar Diplomacy
Taft adopted a foreign policy that was mildly expansionist but depended more on investors' money than on navy's battleships. -
China Railroads
William Taft first tested his policy in China. Taft wanted U.S. bankers to be included in a British, French, and German plan to invest in railroads in China. This was accomplished from him securing American participation in a signed agreement. -
Mexico Conflict
Wilson's moral approach to foreign affairs was tested by war in Mexico. Wanting democracy to triumph, Wilson refused ro recognize military dictatorship of General Huerta, who had seized power in Mexico by arranging the assassination of democratic presidential candidate. -
Spark of World War I
With the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the government of Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to Serbia. Who was invaded four days later. -
Sinking of Lusitania
U.S. remained neutral during the first few years of WWI, but then a German U-boat shoots a torpedo at U.S. passenger ship. This marks the end of U.S. neutrality. -
Zimmerman Telegram
Germany sent a telegram to Mexico asking to work together, but was intercepted by Britain. Wilson believed the act showed that Germany wanted U.S. to join war. -
Russian Revolution
Russian revolutionists overthrow the Czar of Russia and create a republic, which later developed into a Communist government. -
Loans and Taxes
Wilson's war government managed to raise billions of dollars by using loans and taxes to help fund war. Congress imposed excise tax to help fund the government. -
The Fourteen Points
Wilson drafted the fourteen points as a way to achieve war aims. Most of the points relate to territorial questions regarding France, but the overall point was a world peace organization. -
Red Scare
After the war, Russia became a communist country and all of the anti-German hysteria turned into an anti-communist hysteria. -
Treaty of Versailles
A peace treaty created by the 'Big Four' (U.S., France, Britain, Italy) and all Allied forces. The treaty resulted in Germany paying for all the damages done in the war and the creation of the League of Nations. -
18th Amendment
"strictly prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages,
including liquors, wines, and beers." -
19th amendment
"Its ratification as the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 guaranteed women's right to vote in all elections at the local, state, and national level." -
Dawes Plan (1924)
This was a plan made in 1924 to resolve the World War I reparations that German had to pay that were essentially straining diplomacy following World War I and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Kellog-Briand Pact (1928)
This was a 1928 international agreement in which signatory states promised not to use war to resolve "disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or whatever origin they may be". -
20th Amendment (1933)
This amendment shortened the "lame duck" period that oftentimes followed elections by officially moving inaugurations of presidents, vice presidents, senators, and representatives from March to January. -
Good Neighbor Policy (1933)
This was Franklin D. Roosevelt's policy toward Latin America emphasizing trade and cooperation rather than imperialistic intervention. It aimed to reduce direct foreign intervention centered purely around economic nativism. -
Invasion of Poland
After heavy shelling and bombing, Warsaw surrendered to the Germans on September 27, 1939. Standing by their guarantee of protection for Poland's borders, Britain and France declared war on Germany and the Soviet Union on September 3, 1939. -
Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)
This was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base in Hawaii, leading to the United States' formal entry into World War II. -
US Declaration of War (December 8, 1941)
In World War II, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The next day, Germany and Italy, led respectively by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, declared war on the United States, forcing the U.S. Congress respond in kind. -
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Korematsu v. United States and Japanese Internment (1942-1944)
This was another landmark United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066 which ordered Japanese-Americans into internment camps during World War II as a result of the fear that had risen of Japanese spies. -
D-Day (June 6, 1944)
This refers to the day in World War II on which Allied forces invaded northern France by means of beach landings in Normandy under Operation Overlord. The day is recorded as the largest seaborne invasion in history. -
German Surrender (May 7, 1945)
After Americans reached the Elbe River and found Adolf Hitler dead, Germany had been divided into four zones, disarmed, and chose to finally surrender on May 7, 1945. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 1945)
During the final stage of World War II, the United States detonated two nuclear weapons over these Japanese cities after obtaining the consent of the United Kingdom under the Quebec Agreement. -
Japanese Surrender (September 2, 1945)
The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced on August 15, 1945 and officially signed September 2, 1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close, making the nation of Japan incapable of conducting major operations.
