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APUSH Timeline

  • 1492

    Columbus lands at Hispanola

  • 1496

    First Spanish Colony

  • 1512

    encomienda system established

    it was a system that was influenced by and also somewhat created the casta system. gave spanish colonizers native labour in exchange for protection and religious instruction but it mostly resulted in forced labor
  • 1520

    90% of natives die due to european illnesses

  • first english colony

  • jamestown

  • house of burgees

  • mayflower compact

  • plymouth (pilgrims)

  • massachusetts bay established (puritans)

  • navigation acts

  • bacon's rebellion

  • the enlightenment

  • Salem Witch Trials

    leads to enlightenment bc that shit was crazy
  • Virginia slave codes

  • Period: to

    great awakening

  • molasses act

  • Period: to

    Seven years war/French and Indian War

    france and britain go to war (natives on both sides) over land (ohio river valley) Britain wins but run out of money so are unable to fight the natives on the land.
  • pontiacs rebellion

    native american rebellion against the british
  • proclamation line of 1763

    colonists can't go past the appalachian mountains per the British proclamation (caused by 7 years war)
  • sugar act, quartering act, stamp act

  • boston massacre

    americans fed up with british taxes and housing soldiers, colonists throwing rocks at british soldiers, soldiers shot 4 colonists
  • boston tea party

  • first continental congress

    Still wanted to remain british subjects, Influenced by the ideas of enlightenment (natural rights and social contract)
  • Period: to

    Revolutionary War

  • declaration of independence and common sense

    written by thomas jefferson
  • battle of yorktown

  • articles of the confederation

    wanted a weak central gov
    decided everyone had to agree to pass anything
  • treaty of paris

    formerly ended the war
  • northwest ordinance

    came from articles of the confederation
    any new land had to be a new state, states cant get bigger, no slavery in the northwest territories
    first part of containing slavery
  • 3/5ths compromise

  • constitution

    NJ wanted every state to have equal votes
    Virginia wanted equal representation
    agreed on compromise, created senate and house
  • judiciary act

    created supreme court for appeals about constitutional matters
  • bill of rights

  • Period: to

    second great awakening

    widespread Protestant religious revival
    emphasized individual conversion and moral action, leading to a surge in church membership and the formation of new denominations. This revival also fueled various reform movements, including those related to abolitionism, temperance, and women's rights
  • cotton gin invented

  • proclamation of neutrality

  • washington farewell address

    • warns against political parties and foreign affairs (getting involved with europe)
  • revolution of 1800

    transition of power between political parties
  • Thomas Jefferson is elected

  • marbury v. madison

    created process of judicial review, allowed supreme court to say laws are unconstitutional
  • louisiana purchase

  • lewis and clark expedition

    westward expansion
  • Period: to

    war of 1812

    against britain
    after we were entirely separate from britain
    nationalism
    federalist party died out
  • missouri compromise

  • Period: to

    Market Revolution

    cotton gin, spinning machine
    connection of western and southern farms
    industrialization
    assembly lines became a thing
    building of canals and railroads
  • Monroe doctrine

    declared western hemisphere free from european influence
  • john quincy adams

    "corrupt bargain"
    no candidate got majority votes so senate chose him
  • Andrew Jackson's election

  • Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears

  • Period: to

    Transcendentalism

    • moral perfection/ human perfection
    • often supported abolition/womens rights
    • spiritual renuwal
    • moral societal reformation
    • mormons
  • Period: to

    Manifest destiny + US expansion

    • belief that god wants to expand west and spread democracy
    • justification for displacing/killing natives
  • Nat Turner's rebellion

    slave revolt
    killed a bunch of white people
    made slave laws worse
  • panic of 1837

    economic downturn due to overproduction
    end of the 2nd and last US bank
  • texas annexation

    annexed after the mexican gov mandated conversion to roman catholicism and outlawed slavery. texans revolted and it was annexed as a state
  • Period: to

    mexican-american war

    arguments over california, new mexico, and the southern border of texas. US won, texas border at rio grande and mexican cession
  • mexican cession

    california, nevada, utah, arizona, new mexico, colorado
  • seneca falls convention

    • first womens rights convention
    • short term and long term plans for women's rights
    • short term: abolish slavery
    • long term: women's suffrage
    • declaration of sentiments was the written part of this plan
  • Period: to

    gold rush

    population of california rose from 14k to 400k
    led to anti-asian sentiments
  • compromise of 1850

    • created by henry clay to solve the arguments about new states being free or slave states
    • mexican cession divided into utah and new mexico territories
    • california admitted as a free state
    • slave trade outlawed in D.C.
    • created the fugitive slave act
  • kansas-nebraska act

    • overturned missouri compromise
    • introduced popular sovereignty
  • bleeding kansas

    caused by the compromise of 1850 and kansas nebraska act, which said that when kansas and nebraska applied for statehood, whether they were free or slave states would be decided by popular sovereignty, sparked outrage bc it violated the missouri compromise.
  • Dred Scott v. Sandford

    • scott was a slave who sued for his freedom after being taken to live in a free state
    • sandford won, scott was deemed "property" that couldn't be taken away
    • meant that slavery could basically exist anywhere in US
  • panic of 1857

    • the 2nd real recession in american history
    • after the US industrialized, the US was producing more than it could sell
    • unemployment at 10%
  • 7 southern states secede from union

    south carolina, florida, georgia, alabama, texas, mississippi, and louisiana (virginia, north carolina, tennessee, arkansas joined later) secede from the union after lincoln's election, create the "confederate states of america"
  • Election of 1860, Lincoln becomes President

    • lincoln said he was ok with southern slavery, he just didn't it to spread
    • left off the ballot in the south, but still won
  • Period: to

    Civil War

  • 2nd confiscation act

    • allowed union to seize slaves and any other property from the south, any slaves that were taken were free
  • homestead act

    gave 160 acres of free land in the plains to any citizen willing to stay there and farm for 5 years
    led to loss of native american land
  • emancipation proclamation

    • made the civil war fully about slavery
    • freed slaves in confederate states and encouraged them to join the union army
    • didn't free slaves in border states (slave states in the union)
    • prevented europe from supporting the confederacy
  • sherman's march on the sea

    union general sherman captured georgia and crippled the confederacy
  • lincoln's assasination

    andrew johnson becomes president
  • black codes

    • proof of employment
    • allowed black people to be arrested very easily so that free labor was legal
  • 13th amendment

  • freedman's bureau

    aided poor whites and freed slaves
  • Period: to

    gilded age

  • Period: to

    reconstruction

    • after the war ended, the question was if the south should be let back into the union easy or not
    • lincoln was leaniant
    • radical republicans were not
    • black schools, hospitals, and colleges established
    • african americans elected to political office
    • after it ended, democrats began regaining power
  • civil rights act of 1866

    said that all african americans were citizens of the US
  • medicine lodge treaty

    set of agreements between US gov and native plains tribes
    gave US land in exchange for supplies
    treaty was a failure
  • reconstruction acts

    military occupation of the south
    required southern states to ratify the 13th and 14th amendment
  • 14th amendment

    made all people born or naturalized in the US citizens with the same rights
    had to be ratified by confederate states in order to be let back into the union bc of radical republicans
  • 15th amendment

    protected voting rights of former slaves and all men
  • panic of 1873

    caused by coinage act, gov wanted to stop inflation, greenbacks and silver were not accepted as money anymore
  • telephone invented

    alexander graham bell develops telephone
  • federal troops removed from the south

    jim crow laws, black codes
  • great railroad strike

  • compromise of 1877

    dispute over election
    republican hayes elected in exchange for reconstruction stopping
  • sharecropping began

    1870s-1940s
  • Period: to

    chinese exclusion act

    response to the fear that a growing chinese economy would hurt the economy
    made chinese immigrants ineligible for citizenship if they were already in the US
    angel island
  • Haymarket riot

    bombing after labor union protest
    showcased the rise of labor unions and protests
  • Dawes act

    broke up native tribal lands into individual plots
    led to significant reduction in native lands
  • wounded knee massacre

    300 lakota people killed by US army
    last native massacre thats documented
  • Panic of 1893

    caused many railroads to file for bankruptcy
    by 1900 2/3s of railroads were controlled by 7 entities
  • white "hawaiians" stage a coup against Queen Lili'uokalani

    the queen was overthrown, started US imperialism
    Queen Liliuokalani overthrown by US marines and sugar plantation owners
  • pullman strike

    railroad factory strike
    federal troops sent, ppl died
    strike bc pullman controlled the rent, groceries, and wages, and he lowered wages without lowering rent and groceries
  • Plessy v ferguson

    resulted in segregation becoming national and legal
    "separate but equal"
  • Period: to

    National segregation

  • hawai'i annexed

  • USS Maine exploded

    blamed on spain
    started spanish american war
    might have just been blamed on spain so as to acquire territories
  • Period: to

    spanish american war

    spain cedes the philippines, guam, puerto rico, and cuba to US
  • Period: to

    philippine-american war

    War was rooted in Philippine desire for independence from the French
    But the US desire for colonization.
  • Panama Canal Built

    The US helped Panama gain independence from Columbia and in return, gave theUS the power to build the Panama canal and get the proceeds from it
  • Pure Food and Drug and Meat Inspection Act

    in response to the work of muckrakers
  • Founding of the NAACP

  • Period: to

    Great Migration

    Many African Americans left the south because of Jim Crow laws and legal discrimination, drawn to new opportunities in the North, especially factories that lost their employees to the draft.
  • Woodrow Wilson is elected

    First progressive president of the US, hopes to increase government power over corporations and help to help the average american.
  • ludlow massacre

    colorado coal industry strike
    miners went on strike, set up camps, camps got burned by national guard
  • Period: to

    WWI

  • US joins WWI

    The US joins 3 years after the start of the war, ending our period of isolationism
    First global conflict Why we joined:
    Unrestricted submarine warfare - Germany declared all waters around Britain
    Lusitania - German U boat sank passenger ship, killing American and British Passengers
    Zimmerman telegram - German letter to Mexico saying they would be their allies in taking back the land they had lost in the Mexican American War.
  • Treaty of Versailles

    Claims that Germany is at fault for World War 1 and must pay huge reparations to all other countries.
    This led to a crash in the German economy.
    This also creates a bad relationship between Russia and Western Europe because they don't receive any reparations.
  • 19th amendment

    gives women the right to vote (white women)
    This led to the roaring 20s and a period of political involvement, new freedoms, challenging gender norms, and flappers.
  • Period: to

    Harlem Renaissance

    because of the great migration
    black artistic movement
  • Period: to

    18th amendment and prohibition

    Banned sale and production of alcohol
    This led to the start of organized crime
  • Emergency quota act

    • limited immigration from specific countries to 3% of the census population from 1910
    • really bad bc fascism in italy and nazis in germany
  • Scopes Trial

    Scopes, a teacher in Tennessee, went against the law stating that it is not allowed to teach about evolution.
    Teaching about evolution went against religion and many people were offended.
  • Election of Herbert Hoover

    Created Hoovervilles to combat homelessness
    Believed the Great Depression would resolve itself
  • the great stock market crash

    The stock market crash was not the major cause of the Great Depression, but it hurt the economy’s ability to hold out against its other weaknesses.
    This initially affected the wealthy, but trickled down to the poor
  • Period: to

    Great Depression

    Causes:
    The stock market crash
    Dust Bowl
    Overproduction
  • Period: to

    Dust Bowl

    Natural disaster in the great planes
    People began leaving the great planes to more urban places, making job competition harder
  • Election of Franklin D. Roosevelt

    The longest serving president, served 3 and a half terms
    Led the US through the Great Depression and WW2.
  • 21st amendment

    repealed the 18th amendment
  • Period: to

    The New Deal

    Passed by FDR in response to the great depression.
    It didn’t resolve the depression, but provided hope and boosted income
    The 3 R’s relief, recovery, reform Well known acts:
    Agricultural Adjustment Act - game economic relief to farmers
    Social Security
    Tennessee Valley Authority - provided electricity to poorest areas
    Works Progress Administration - created jobs and expanded infrastructure.
  • neutrality act

    aimed to isolate the US from international conflicts and prevent another WW, preventing the selling of arms internationally and said ppl traveling to non-US allied nations did so at their own risk
  • Period: to

    WWII

    Germany invades Poland and France and Great Britain declare war on Germany.
    Germany promises Russia half of Poland, if they stay out of the war, and Russia agrees.
    Once Germany has invaded France and Britain is losing, they turn to Russia and go deep into their territory.
  • US joins WWII and Pearl Harbor

    Japanese attack on our military base in Hawaii.
    Next day we declared war on Japan, officially entering the war.
    The US starts in North Africa and then moves up to Italy and undergoes the most deadly fighting of the War until the Italian peninsula is secured.
    Next we go through France and there is a race with the Soviet Union to get to Germany.
    Lack of restrain front
  • Period: to

    Japanese internment

    120,000 ppl of Japanese decent people forcibly relocated and incarcerated in ten concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority, mostly in the western interior of the country. About two-thirds were U.S. citizens.
  • Period: to

    Manhattan project

    A secret US government program during WW2 on developing the atomic
    Meant to end WW2, but instead used after the war on Japan
  • GI bill

    every soldier that fought in WWII got free college tuition
    0% mortgage loan
    tried to create generation wealth
    excluded women and african americans
  • Hiroshima and Nagasaki

  • yalta conference and potsdam conference

    decided to split up germany into 3 sectors and berlin into 3 sectors
  • truman doctrine

    aimed to stop the spread of communism
  • Period: to

    McCarthyism/2nd red scare

    • he claimed communists had infiltrated the US gov
    • any minority was under suspicion of being communist
    • limited free speech/losing jobs/deportation
    • civil rights activists were labeled as communists
  • marshall plan

    US program meant to provide economic aid to europe to prevent communism
  • berlin airlift

    soviet union blocked land and water access to berlin (berlin blockade), ppl dont have food, US airlifted food and water to west berlin
  • desegregation of the military

    truman- strategic move
  • NATO is born

    collective security
  • soviets build first bomb

    sparks red scare fears
  • fair deal

    expanded new deal
    more civil rights efforts
  • Korean war begins

    truman sends troops to korea w/out congressional approval
  • Eisenhower elected

    cold war bro
  • Brown v. Board

    seperate but equal is unconstitutional
  • Warshaw pact

    soviet union creates "alliance" with all of the countries it already sorta controls
  • Rosa Parks doesn't give up her seat on the bus

    led to montgomery bus boycott
  • Southern manifesto

    said brown v board was an abuse of judicial power, encouraged the south to ignore it
  • Little rock 9

    9 black students enrolled at an all white hs in arkansas, gov or arkansas sent troops to stop them, eisenhower sent fed. troops to enforce brown v board
    first time a president sent fed troops to enforce civil rights since reconstruction
  • USSR launched sputnik

    led to NASA (1958)
    started space race
  • MLK and other activists did the Southern christian leadership conference in atlanta

    laid groundwork for NAACP and civil rights movement