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Period: Sep 14, 1580 to
Armed Conflict
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English Defeats Spanish Armada
After the English defeated the Spanish Armada, it became much easier to colonize, for the Spanish controled the majority of the New World up until this point. -
First Anglo-Powhatan War
When English settlers landed in the Chesapeake Bay area, the land was ruled by the Powhatan. The Virginia company told the colonist to start a war . English burned down villages, torched crops, and ravaged the Indians. The war ended with the marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. -
Pequot Wat
English Militiamen set fire started a war with the Pequot, and in the end the Indians lost. This war brought along with it four decades of tension between the English and Indians, and the start of King Phillips War. -
Second Anglo-Powhatan War of 1644
After a series of Indian attacks, the Virginia Company again declared war, but this time there would be no chance for peace or truce. The Indians once again lost, and they were banished from the Virginia territory. The Powhatan were victims of the three D's: DISEASE, DISORGANIZATION, and DISPOSABILITY -
King Phillip's War or Metacom's War
After a series of sporadic fights between the Indians and the Puritans the Indians realized that they needed an inter-tribal alliance. The alliance was made by Massasoit's son Metacom, or King Phillip. The war slowed colonization, but when the war ended the Indians were essentually defeated. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Led by a 29 year old planter named Nathaniel Bacon, a group of frontiersmen ravaged Indians, and then attacked Jamestown. They were unhappy with Virginia's Governor William Berkley, for he was favorable to the Indians, and had forced Bacon and the frontiersmen into bad land. Bacon died during the rebellion, and the followers were executed. -
England's Glorious Revolution
The English angered by oppression dethroned Catholic James the Second, and installed the Protestant William the Third. This rebellion ended the oppressive Dominion of New England in the colonies which was led by infamous Sir Edmund Andros. -
The French and Indian War
This war was apart of the larger war known as the Seven Years War which took play all over Europe. The French were angry at the English, and vice versa. They both wanted the Ohio River Valley, which was located in the middle of French occupied Canada, and the colonies. In the end the colonist and England won, defeating France, Spain, and some of the Indians. -
Pontiac's Rebellion
This war was a result of English settlers intruding on Native American territories, The Indians attacked colonists, and once the rebellion was put down, England made the Proclamation of 1763, which did not allow colonists to live past the Appalachian Mountain range. This angered the colonists. -
Boston Massacre
During this time period, Britain began to instigate a variety of taxes. The colonists often disobeyed the orders, and smuggled items into the colonies. As a result, 2 regiments of British troops were stationed in Boston. One night, a crowd gathered around some redcoats, and began to throw rocks and clubs. A soldier fired, and in the end 11 people were dead or wounded. This further pushed the colonies from British rule. -
Lexington and Concord "The Shot Heard Round the World"
British soldeirs were sent to capture rebel ammunition, and capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The Minutemen refused to give them what they wanted at Lexington, and a shot rang out. In the end, 8 Americans were dead. The British then moved to Concord where they were ambushed, and sustained multiple casualties. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Colonist seized a hill near Boston known as Breed's Hill. WIth limited ammunition, the colonists stood atop the hill as a force of three thousand British attempted to take the hill. In the end the colonists retreated, but was a huge moral victory for they killed many British. -
Battle of Trenton
This battle is most known for Washington crossing the Delaware River on Christmas, and launched a surpries attack on the British and Hessians. -
Battle of Saratoga
This battle is known to be the turning point of the war. The US defeated the British and proved to the European powers, most importantly France, that the colonies could defeat the British. From this point on, the French joined the war, and American victory ensued. -
Battle of Yorktown
The British General Cornwallis was defeated and the the American Revolution ended. With aid from the French and their navy, Washington surrounded Yorktown, cut off all supplies to the British, and on October 189, 1781, they laid seige on Yorktown. -
Shays Rebellion
Daniel Shays and about 100 other farmers in debt rebelled against Massachusetts after they raised taxes. The militia crushed this group, but there were fears about the stability of the new nation. -
Whiskey Rebellion
Hamilton issued a whiskey tax, and it angered farmers as they used whiskey as a trading product. They gathered together and started a rebellion. They did not gain too much ground as the army arrested them. -
War of 1812
The British impressments, anti British feelings in the West, Indian attacks, and fur trader clashes with British fur traders all contributed to another war against Britain. The U.S won this war and created the armistice Treaty of Ghent. Andrew Jackson was one of the merciless leaders in this war and became known. -
Independence of Texas/Alamo
Texas was owned by Mexico, and Mexico offered cheap land to whoever would settle there under the condition that they became mexican citizens and connected to Catholicism. The empresarios did not follow these conditions, which angered Mexico. The men settled in Texas rebelled and one abandoned mission was the Alamo. The soldiers were on an aboned mission and hid in a building called the Alamo. Texas lost this battle, but they became united and eventually gained their independence from Mexico. -
Mexican American War
Mexico never officially accepted the independence of Texas, and Mexico and America had boundary disputes over the border of Texas. America had claimed the territory down to the Rio Grande border, but Mexico still thought they had the territory up to the Nueces River. Polk sent soldiers down past the Nueces towards the Rio Grande to provoke war. The U.S won easily and gained 50,000 square miles of land. -
American Civil War
The South and North had disagreements over slavery, the tariff, and the fugitive slave law; the South argued that it was legal to secede. They seceeded and went to war with the North. The Union eventually defeated the Confederacy, as this war helped to free the slaves and reunite the country. One of the major battles were a Union victoy at Gettysburg. -
Battle of Antietam
This battle of the Civil War was one of the bloodiest of them all. Confederate General Lee fought against Union Major McCLellan. Both sides suffered huge amounts of casualties and neither side had really come out victorious. It still allowed Lincoln to issue his emancipation proclamation. -
Gettysburg
One of the major battles of the Civil War was Gettysburg. It was a three day battle. Day 1 was a victory for the Confederacy as Lee forced Union troops back. Day 2 was a draw between both sides as they stalemated, and Day 3 was a huge defense victory for the Union as they held off Lee's two hour artillery bombardment. The Union won with that final hold. -
Siege of Vicksburg
The Union under Grant decided to siege the Confederates at Vicksburg, or surrouind the city and take supplies from them. After 48 days of the siege the Confederacy was forced to surrender. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
General Sherman led the Union east towards the ocean in the South, destroying everything in his site. He would not let up and eventually led for a messy clean up for the Union as railroads and buildings were wrecked. -
Sand Creek Massacre
One of the brutal battles between the Plains Indians and the the US Army. Colonel Chivington and his men killed around 400 Indians, some of which were women and children. -
Fetterman Massacre
Sioux War Party attempted to block constuction of the Bozeman Trail to the Montana goldfields, killing Fetterman's soldiers and a few civilians. -
Battle of Little Big Horn
After Gold was discovered in the Blacks Hills George Custer was sent to make a deal with the Indians of six million dollars for the Blacks Hills. When the denied the offer, Custer attacked. Custer made the fatal descision to leave 2/3 of his army behind, for he did not realize that the Indian force he was going to fight was 3x larger then he expected. He and all of his men were killed by the Sioux. -
Nez Perce Indian War
Led by Chief Joseph, the Nez Perce tried to escape to Canada, which was hundreds of miles away. They were stopped by the US goverment, and ended up on a reservation. During the journey of escape, the Nez Perce fought off the US army attacks, until they were captured. -
Haymarket Square Riot
A strike occured in Chicago at the Haymarket Square. The members of the strike included known anarchists and members of the Knights of Labor. A bomb was thrown, which killed both police and civilians. Some anarchists were sentenced to death and others were pardoned. This caused the Knights of Labor to be destroyed. -
Battle of Wounded Knee
The Sioux Indians were finally defeated in this last Indian resistance. Whites attacked because they were afraid of the Sun Dance and Ghost Dance. After the killing of Sitting Bull many Sioux fled. The US Army followed Indians trying to escape, and once they met, the Army killed 300 Indians. Instead of moving the bodies, they left them there, and it snowed covering and freezing all the bodies. -
Homestead Stike
While Andrew Carnegie was on vacation, the workers at his plant at Homestead went on strike. Under the power of Henry Clay Frick, the use of Pinkerton Detectives was used to break uo the srike. From this point the strike turned violent, where ten people were killed and many wounded. Troops were eventually sent in. -
American revolt against Hawaii
A tiny population of white planters revolted against Queen Liliuokalani, and unauthorized American troops joined them to overthrow the Queen and eventually take Hawaii. -
Pullman Strike
Led by Eugen Debs, the American Railway Union went on strike against Pullman Palce Car Company for cutting wages by 1/3. In the end, Cleveland authorized the dispatch of tropps to break up the strike on the grounds that it was restricting the shipping of US mail. First time the goverment broke up a strike. -
Spanish-American War
Cubans revolted against Spain for years without independence by torching their sugarcane fields. America became involved, siding with Cuba and won with forces from George Dewey and the Rough Riders. The U.S won this war pretty easily and established itself as a world power. -
Phillipine- American War
After the Spanish and American War, the Phillipines were happy that they were no longer under the rule of the Spanish and hoped that they would be granted freedom. Instead the US stayed, which angered the natives. Led by Emilio Anguinaldo, the war lasted until 1901 when Aguinaldo was captured, but fighting still went on. -
Boxer Rebellion
Rebels in Northern China fought back and killed more then 2 hundred missionaries and other. The US as well as many other nations sent troops to stop the rebellion. The US was afraid that the Open Door policy was beggining to fail -
Panama Revolution
After Columbia was unwilling to give the US the rights for the canal, Bunau- Varrilla made a small army of panaminians, who revolted. Before Columbia could send troops, the US blocked them. -
Russo Japanese War
Russia had invaded Chinese Manchuria which greatly angered and worried Japan. Japan made war on Russia. After a while, Japanee delegates went to Roosevelt and asked him to help them make peace negotiations. Roosevelt invited the two sides together and made a peace treaty in New Hampshire. -
Trouble in Haiti
An outraged populace tore the Haitian president which forced Wilson to send marines to Haiti to protect American economic interests. Troops also had to go to the Dominican Republic one year later for similar reasons. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
The German U-boats sank a British boat than contained 128 innocent Americans. This angered America and led them to side with the Allies. Germany also sank the Arabia in 1915 which contained two American passengers. -
Pancho Villa vs John J Pershing
Pancho Villa was murdering Americans near or in Mexico because America did not let Villa come to power after the overthrow of Huerta. Wilson sent Pershing to handle Villa, and although Pershing did damage in Mexico, he did not take Villa. -
Battle at Château- Thierry
This was the first engagement of American troops in a European war. Germany was very close to Paris, and the French desperatly needed men, so the US stepped in, an helped stop the German force. Led by General John Pershing, and the AEF -
Meuse Argonne Offensive
This battle lasted 47 days and had around 1.2 million American troops in it. The Allies hoped to pish the German back, but before they could reach their goal, the war ended. Again General John Pershing was the leader of the AEF. -
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The nororious gangster Al Capone, and his gang killed seven members of an opposing gang. Throughout the 1920's, gangsterism increased. -
Japan Invades Manchuria
Japan invades and takes control of the Chinese province of Manchuria, shutting the Open Door Policy. The League of Nations was unsuccesful in stopping the Japanese. This began tensions between the US and Japanese. -
Bonus Army
Veterans from World War 1 marched to Washington D.C and demanded their pension/bonus. They set up camps in front of the white house. Hoover used troops to clear out the camps and a few people were killed and others were injured. -
Memorial Day Massacre
The CIO won a strike against the United Steel Company, but companies such as Republic Steel Company and Little Steel resisted actions from the union. The strikers attacked the police that guarded the Little Steel factory. A massacre ensued, killing ten strikers and leaving others wounded. -
Pearl Harbor and America entering World War 2
The US was forced into the war on December 7 when Japanese planes launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. This event pushed the US over the edge and created full on support for the war. On December 8, Congress declared war on the Japanese and Axis Powers. -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the second front opened by the Allies in North Africa to help and defer troops from Russia. They defeated the Germans here to gain control of the Suez Canal and the oil fields. This marked the first step in stopping the nazi tide. -
Race Riots
Americans attacked soem Mexican Americans in Los Angeles during World War 2. Also, the Detroit Race Riot resulted in the death of 25 blacks and 9 whites. These marked rising tensions during the beginning of World War 2 in America -
D-DAY
D Day marked the regained control of France for the Allied powers. The Allies sent the largest amphibious landing to attack Germany and liberated France, as one of the key turning points in WW2 -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge marked Hitler's last offensive. It was repelled by the Allies in Belgium and opened the door to the Allies attacking Germany. The Soviet Union would be able to enter Germany from the west, and the other Allies from the east. -
Battles in the Pacific
In the beginning of the war with Japan, Japan began overtaking many islands such as the Philippines, Guam, Wake, Honk Kong, British Malaya, Burma, and the Dutch Indies. Then, after America stopped the Japanese push at Midway Island, and at the Battle at coral Sea, and they began island hopping to acquire air strips and bases in order to bomb Japan. America regained possession of many of these islands to eventually win the war. -
Battle for Berlin and V-E Day
After the Allies pushed into Germany, they soon reached the capital of Berlin. It was decided to allow the Soviets to take Berlin. On May 2, after Hitler's suicide, Germany surrenders. On May 8, 1945, the Allies accepted the uncoditional surrender, and this date is know known as V-E Day. -
Atomic Bombing of Japan and V-J Day
The United States forced the surrender of the Japanese by using the atomic bomb on them at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This event angered the Soviets, and later led to tension. On August 14 (US time) Japan surrendered. -
Cold War
The Cold War was a war between the U.S.S.R and the United States over weapons builup and political tension. Although there was no direct fighting between the two sides, America and the Soviet Union fought to either contain communism or keep it spreading in many countries. -
Korean War
Communist North Korea invaded U.S backed South Korea. Truman ordered troops in Japan to Korea to help solve the issue and hold the containment policy.This War ended in a stalemate as whenever Macarthur made a push into North Korea, China was right behind them to back them up. -
Coup to install Shah in Iran
The Cia organized a coup to install Mohammed Reza Pahlevi in Iran in order to protect oil supplies in the Middle East. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The result of the battle was the the Viet Minh took over North Vietnam, kincking the French out. They put Ho Chi Minh into power, who became communist and forced the US to enter. -
U2 Spy Plane
The U.S.S.R shot down a spy plane that the U.S had flown over the Soviet Union. This made the situation worse as America lied and said that it was a weather plane. -
More "Advisors" to Vietnam
Previous to Kennedy, troops were being sent to Vietnam, but they were not considered to be in a war, but the troops were rather advisors. In 1961 there was an increase in the troops sent to Vietnam. They were said to be sent to protect the anti communist Diem from the communist. -
Bay of Pigs
A group of anticommunist Cuban exiles began to be trained under Eisenhower to enter Cuba and take Fidel Castro out of power. Kennedy sent the 1,200 communist to Cuba where they landed on the Bay of Pigs. Castro already knew they were coming, and the US did not provide air support. The exiles failed, and this was a mahor embarrasement to the Kennedy administration, and lead to the Cuba Missle Crisis. -
Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders left Washinton DC to protest discrimination in the South. When they reached the South, people fought them, and injured many. They continued to go, and contunued to be injured. At last Robert Kennedy sent troops to protect them. -
Protecting James Meredith
James Meredith wanted to attend the University of Mississippi, but recieved very strong discrimination and racism. President Kennedy was forced to send in troops to protect him. -
Naval Quarantine around Cuba/ Cuban Missle Crisis
After the Bay of Pigs, Castro did no longer trust the US, and he turned to the Soviet Union. The Soviets sent missle to Cuba, which were seen to be pointed at the US. This became known as the Cuban Missle Crisis.In the end the US was forced to take missles out of Turkey, and the Soviets got rid of the Cuban Missles -
Tet Offensive
On the Vietnamese New Year, the Viet Cong mounted a surprise attack on the South Vietnamese and US, taking the capital of Saigon. The US won the fight, but pushed more Americans against the war. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
After the Viet Cong attacked a naval base, the president decided to proceed with a bombing raid on military institutions in North Vietnam. -
My Lai Massacre
American troops searching for Viet Cong brutally killed a village of people including women and children, becasue they were unsure if they were Viet Cong or not. This event led to even more anti war feelings in the US, and made many no longer support the troops. -
Nixon Orders Troops to Cambodia
Cambodia was a country bordering North Vietnam, and was used by the Viet Cong to transport materials and such, and had part of the Ho Chi Minh trail, but since it was not in Vietnam, it could not really be touched.
