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1492
Columbian Exchange
After European contact, North American colonial-era societies were shaped by the exchange of commodities, peoples, diseases, and ideas during the Columbian Exchange. New plants, animals, and technology altered the natural environment of North America and affected interactions among various groups in the colonial period. -
1494
The Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty of tordesillas was signed by Spain and Portugal, dividing the territories of the New World. Spain received the bulk of territory in the Americas, compensating Portugal with tittles to lands in Africa and Asia. -
1498
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery was the historical time period between the 15th and 18th century during which Europeans made contact and sought to explore and colonize the "New World." Causes for the age of exploration were gold(mine wealth from gold), glory(imperial prestige for European nation), and god(convert natives to their faith) -
1512
Encomienda system established
The encomienda system was created by the Spanish to control and regulate American Indian labor and behavior during the colonization of the Americas. It granted land to colonists in the New World; exploited natives and resources. Eventually, the Natives were replaced with African slave labor. -
1550
Bartolome de Las Casas
He debated Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda in the Valladolid Debate; Spanish priest that wrote about the atrocities the Spanish committed against the Native Americans and sought to end the encomienda system; his writings were later used by the British to perpetuate the "Black Legend" -
1550
Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda
He debated Bartolome de Las Casas in the Valladolid Debate. He used Aristotelian Doctrine (some people are predisposed to be slaves) to justify treatment of the Native Americans, and he supported forcing natives to convert and accept Spanish king. -
1555
Tobacco arrives in Europe
With tobacco, English settlers finally found a New World commodity that worked well in the mercantile system. Spanish explorers already had great success with gold and silver finds. And the French created a vibrant market for furs in Europe. -
Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts was a series of British regulations which taxed goods imported by the colonies from places other than Britain, or sought to control and regulate colonial trade. It increased British-colonial trade and tax revenues; reinstated after the French and Indian War because British needed to pay off debts incurred during the war. Also to pay the costs of maintaining a standing army in the colonies. -
Half-way Covenant
The Half-way Covenant was a Puritan church document. In 1662, it allowed partial membership rights to persons not yet converted into the Puritan Church. It lessened the difference between the "elect" members of the church from the regular members. Women soon made up a larger portion of Puritan congregations. -
King Philip's War
King Philip's War was a war between the Native American tribes of New England and British colonists that took place from 1675-1676. The war was the result of tension caused by encroaching settlers. The chief of the Wampanoags led the natives. The war ended Indian resistance in New England and left a hatred in English colonists. -
Bacon's Rebellion
An 1676, Virginia rebellion of frontiersmen sparked by governor Berkeley's refusal to retaliate for a series of brutal Indian attacks on frontier settlements. When Berkley expressed opposition to the Bacon's slaughter of the Natives. So Bacon and his men took the action of marching into Jamestown driving out the governor William Berkley. It showed that farmers would not tolerate a government that only catered wealth. -
Salem Witch Trials
In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials occurred in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. This was an outbreak of witchcraft accusations in a Puritan village marked by an atmosphere of fear, hysteria and stress from encroaching settlers without Puritanical viewpoints. The ones accused of witchcraft were charged with execution. -
Great Awakening
The Great Awakening(1730s and 1740s) was a religious movement characterized by emotional preaching. This was the first cultural movement to unite the thirteen Colonies, associated with the democratization of religion. The colonies experienced a dramatic increase in religion due to the Great Awakening. -
Stono Rebellion
The Stono Rebellion, sometimes called Cato's Rebellion occurred in 1739 in South Carolina. This was the largest slave rebellion in the mainland colonies. During the Stono Rebellion slaves were going to South Carolina because the Spnaish had promised freedom to slaves who escaped the British colonies. Due to this stricter slave code laws were placed. -
Treaty of Paris
After the French and Indian War, Great Britain was victorious. But in order to finally and formally end fighting in North America the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763. Due to this treaty the French lost the vast majority of their claims to North American land. However, the British now dominated eastern North America. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1764, was a proclamation from the British government which forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. Which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east, the colonists were upset because they had just fought a war to gain the Ohio River Valley territory. Now they were being told that they are not allowed to colonize the region. -
Sugar Act
In 1764, due to the British being deeply in debt partly to the French and Indian War. English Parliament placed a tariff on sugar, coffee, wins, and molasses. Colonist were not for the sugar act and avoided the tax by smuggling and bribing tax collectors. -
Stamp Act
In 1765, the Stamp Act was meant to help pay for the British Army in America. It placed a tax on all legal documents, newspapers, etc, and unintentionally brought a temporary halt to commerce. It inspired spread resistance (including the Stamp Act Congress, burning effigies of tax collectors, buildings, etc.). It was eventually repealed and replaced with the Declaratory Act. -
The Boston Massacre
In 1770, British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists who were teasing and taunting them. Five colonists were killed, including Crispus Attucks, a African and Native American ancestry. This event was used as propaganda to call for war against England in the colonies. -
The Boston Tea Party
In December 1773, the Sons of Liberty responded to the continued taxes on British Tea by dressing up as Native Americans boarded the ships. They broke open the crates and dumped the tea into the harbor. Colonists debated whether this act was justified protest or childish destruction of property. Due to this event the British Parliament passed the Coercive Act, which closed the Boston Harbor until tea was paid for. -
Cotton gin
The cotton gin was an invention developed by Eli Whitney used to separate the seeds from raw cotton fibers. This invention made cotton more profitable for the Southern economy and increased production of cotton after its development in 1791. This also signaled the exponential increase in slavery until its abolition after the Civil War. -
Whiskey Rebellion
In 1794, farmers in Pennsylvania rebelled against Hamilton's excise tax on whiskey. Because these farmers used excess crop to produce whiskey which they also used as currency. The farmers led a revolt against tax collectors in the area to protest the new tax on whiskey. Washington responded to the protesters in Pennsylvania by ordering federal troops to firmly handle the protesters in the Whiskey Rebellion. -
Louisiana Purchase
Thomas Jefferson's purchase of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803, who had given up on an American Empire and wanted funds to conquer. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the US for 3 cents/acre. It opened up the land for expansion and Jefferson changed his interpretation from strict to loose on this issue. -
Marbury v. Madison
Marbury v. Madison was a court case in which William Marbury sued James Madison for not delivering John Adam's commission ("Midnight Judges") about Marbury becoming a judge. Marshall ruled, that under the Judiciary Act, Marbury would get the job, but that the Judiciary Act was unconstitutional, setting up the doctrine of judicial review. -
War of 1812
A war between the US and Great Britain caused by American outrage over the impressment of American sailors by the British, the British seizure of American ships, and British aid to the Indians attacking the Americans on the western frontier. As well as America's desire to expand territory. The war strengthened American nationalism and encouraged the growth of industry. -
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals peaking in 1820s, that resulted in Methodism and Baptism becoming the largest denominations in US. Baptist and Methodist ministers traveled across the South and West hosting tent revivals and converting thousands. The Second Great Awakening had an effect on moral movements such as prison reform, the temperance movement, and moral reasoning against slavery. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was mostly the work of Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams. This declared that Europe should not interfere in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere and that any attempt at interference by a European power would be seen as a threat to the US. It also declared that a New World colony which has gained independence may not be recolonized by Europe. -
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal was 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 especially allowed for the growth of New York due to the Erie Canal. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford decision
In 1857, Dred Scott v. Sanford decision declared that African Americans were not citizens. That slaves were property and could not be taken away. Congress could not ban or regulate slavery territories. -
Anaconda Plan
The Anaconda Plan was a strategy created bu Union general Winfield Scott in 1861. It was a four-phase plan to wear down the Confederacy gradually. First called for a blockade of southern ports, cutting off from supplies and trade, second, splitting the Confederacy in half by taking the Mississippi River. Third, the Union would cut through the heart of the South by marching through Georgia, then snaking up the Southeast coast to the Carolinas. Then capture of Richmond. -
Battle of Antietam
On September 1862, this Civil War battle was the first major battle on Northern soil. The North succeeded in halting Lee's Confederate forces in Maryland. It was the single bloodiest day in US history; over 23,000 killed, wounded or missing. -
Emancipation Proclamation issued
On January 1863, Lincoln issued the "Emancipation Proclamation". The Proclamation "freed" only slaves in the Confederacy. Set a moral cause for the war. No longer was the war just about maintaining the Union, but also about ending slavery once and for all. -
Freedmen's Bureau
In 1865, the Freedmen's Bureau was a temporary agency created after the Civil War. It provided former slaves, primitive "Welfare Agency", food, clothing, and medical care to freed slaves and white refugees. Helped reunite families, provided legal representation to African Americans. Also, established black colleges like Morehouse. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
In 1866, the Civil Rights Act was designed to destroy black codes by giving African Americans full citizenship. It declared blacks to be citizens and forbade the states to discriminate between citizen because of race or color. In cases where these rights were violated, federal troops would be used for enforcement. -
Transcontinental Railroad completed
In 1869 the Transcontinental Railroad was completed at Promontory, Utah. It linked the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system, revolutionizing transportation in the west. Irish immigrants in the east and Chinese immigrants in the west were mainly used in constructing the Railroad. -
Credit Mobilier Scandal
The Credit Mobilier Scandal occurred in the 1870's. When a railroad construction company's stockholders used funds that were supposed to be used to build the Union Pacific Railroad for railroad construction for their own use. To avoid being convicted, stockholders even used stock to bribe congressional members and the vice president. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
As miners began settling on Sioux tribal lands in search of of gold, Indian Chief Setting Bull reacted to this "intrusion" of white settlers by assembling his own army of Natives to drive the settlers out. Colonel George A. Custer and 260 of his men were killed by Sioux Indians led by Sitting Bull at the Battle of Little Bighorn. -
Compromise of 1877
In order to avoid conflict between Northern Republicans and Southern Democrats, the Compromise of 1877 was reached. The Republicans(North), would be "given" the presidency by 1 electoral vote in exchange for the Democrats(South), got their government back. The period of Reconstruction officially ended after the Compromise of 1866. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
In 1890, Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed and it was the first federal action against monopolies. It was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions. -
Wounded Knee Massacre
In 1890, the massacre of Sioux Indians by American cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota. Sent to suppress the Ghost Dance, soldiers slaughtered over 100 Native men, women, and children. This event was looked at as a low point in American history and seen as something that shouldn't happen again. -
Panic of 1893
In the beginning in 1893 a serious economic depression began causing a panic. Due to railroad companies over-extended themselves, causing bank failures. It was the worst economic collapse in the history of the country at the time. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
In a supreme court case(Plessy v. Ferguson) Homer Plessy, cited the 4th Amendment and claimed that his civil rights have been violated. Justices used the doctrine "separate but equal" to justify their decision. The supreme court ruled that because a car was provided for African-American passengers, the state of Louisiana had not violated the 4th Amendment. After this, Jim Crow Laws were establish, led to increased discrimination against African Americans. -
NAACP founded in 1909
In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded . Meant to abolish segregation and discrimination, to oppose racism and to gain civil rights for African Americans. They even got the Supreme Court to declare grandfather clause to be unconstitutional. -
National Women's Party was formed
In 1916, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns formed the National Woman's Party to fight for women's suffrage. They pushed for a federal amendment giving women the right to vote, by using direct action, public protest such as the 6 month protest outside of the White House. They were then charged for blocking the sidewalk traffic, put in jail and abused. -
Espionage Act issued
In order to focus all attention on the war effort, president Woodrow Wilson took steps to assure that Americans citizens would not interfere with American victory in Europe. By putting in place the Espionage Act, by providing imprisonment of up to 20 years for people who either tried to incite rebellion in the armed forced or obstruct the operations of the draft. -
Stock Market Crash of 1929
In 1929, when the stock market crashed it signaled the beginning of a world wide Depression. The economy of America was destroyed as most Americans had some sort of wealth tied up in the stock market. Many banks closed and the savings people had with them were completely lost. -
The Dust Bowl
During the 1930's, a period of severe dust storms greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the US. Caused by over-farming, drought, and windstorms. Over 500,00 Americans were left homeless. Many farmers from Oklahoma, Texas, and the surrounding Dust Bowl states migrated to California in search of work. -
FDR took office, issued the New Deal
On March 4, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt took the oath of office and declared, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror." He later issued the "New Deal", a series of programs to end the great Depression. He promised these programs would help different segments of the economy recover by addressing specific needs and weaknesses. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Kamikaze pilots attacked Pearl Harbor's Navy base in Hawaii. The US responded to the Japanese attacks on Pear Harbor by declaring war on Japan. This event was the beginning of bringing the United States into WWII. -
President Truman issued the Truman Doctrine & Marshall Plan
In 1947, president Truman promised to help struggling nations from succumbing to communism, in what was known as the "Truman Doctrine". It was a policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology. Then in 1948, he issued the Marshall Plan, a United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe. This plan also helped reduce the influence of communism on the continent. -
The first Levittown is contructed
In 1947, William Levitt used mass production techniques to build inexpensive homes in suburban New York to help relieve the postwar housing shortage. Levittown became a symbol of the movement to the suburbs in the years after WWII. -
Brown v. Board of Education
In 1954, the supreme court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. It ruled that students have a right under the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause to an equal education. And that separate schools for white children and African-American children are not equal. -
The Little Rock 9
In 1757 a famous battle took place in Little Rock, Arkansas over segregation. Nine African Americans had volunteered to be the first black students admitted to Central High School. However, Orval Faubus, the governor of Arkansas opposed the integration and had sent troops to block "Little Rock 9" from entering the school. -
The first sit-ins are hosted
Sit-in demonstrations spread throughout the South in the 1960s. To protest segregated diner counters, SNCC organized sit-ins. Sit-ins involved simply occupying a counter and refusing to leave. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
When the US discovered Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, president John F. Kennedy demanded their removal and announced a naval blockade of the island. The US discovering missiles in Cuba set off the Cuban Missile Crisis, an international crisis in October 1962, which was the closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the US and the USSR. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
In response to the March on Washington and the death of JFK, president Johnson supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Act outlawed discrimination of African Americans and women in the government job sector. Also voting requirements and racial separation in public schools to ensure equality for African Americans in society. -
Ronald Reagan was elected; the Iranian Hostage Crisis ended as the Hostages were released
Ronald Reagan, former governor of California was elected president in 1980. During Reagan's second term, a scandal involving the sale of weapons tarnished his administration. In an attempt to free 7 American hostages from Iran, Reagan's administration offered to sell Iran weapons for the hostage's release. But, both the sale of arms of Iran and the funding of the Nicaraguan Contras violated acts of Congress. -
The Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed "Star Wars", was announced
Reagan pushed for the funding of the Strategic Defense System(SDI), more popularly known as "Star Wars". He planned to station satellites in orbit that could defend against nuclear attack with leasers. This drew criticism from liberal Democrats who deemed it too costly and from scientists who questioned its feasibility. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The "iron curtain" was beginning to fall in Europe as movements spread in Eastern Bloc countries. Reagan famously encouraged soviet leader Gorbachev to end Soviet control of its satellite nations. And by October 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down and there was reunification of communist East Germany and capitalists West Germany. Berlin was no longer separated that divided people and families apart. -
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web opened up the World to television audiences, as news from around the world can be transmitted in seconds. It developed from smaller networks of computers aka the internet. Bill Gates developed the technology to create the personal computer and, by the late 1990s almost every person in the US had used the internet at the same point. -
Oklahoma City Bombings
For most of the 20th century, the US remained isolated from the effects of terrorism. In 1995, the Murrah Federal Buildings in Oklahoma City was destroyed by a bomb that killed 168 people. Timothy McVeigh (an American and right-wing extremist) and two other accomplices were convicted. -
September 11, 2001 Terrorist attack
the September 11 attack were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States. Nine-ten Islamic terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airlines. Two airliners were crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York causing both buildings to collapse. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. -
Barack Obama was elected president
Barack Obama was elected president on November 4, 2008. His election was a political watershed as he was the first African American president ever to be elected. His election appeared to break Republicans solid hold on the South. And his supporters represented a coalition of African Americans, Hispanics, white liberals, and young people. He promised to change the culture of Washington and to end partisan squabbling.
