beginnings-1830

  • 1400

    Beginnings

    Native Americans pass down origin stories
  • 1492

    Discovery

    Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas
  • 1500

    Middle Passage

    Europeans begin to capture Africans and ship them to the Americas
  • 1527

    Cabeza de Vaca

    Cabeza de Vaca (and other explorers) come to the New World with the goal to colonize Mexico
  • Puritan Separation

    Puritans begin to separate from the Catholic church in England
  • Anne Bradstreet

    Puritan poet Anne Bradstreet is born
  • Plymouth

    Pilgrims land at Plymouth after sailing on the Mayflower
  • Mayflower Compact

    Pilgrim leaders sign the Mayflower Compact
  • Massachusetts Bay Colony

    Puritans travel to the Americas and form the Massachusetts Bay Colony
  • John Locke

    Enlightenment philosopher John Locke is born
  • Harvard College

    Harvard College is established
  • Enlightenment

    The Enlightenment era begins
  • Salem Witch Trials

    Many people (especially women) in Salem, Massachusetts are tried for accusations of being a witch
  • Benjamin Franklin

    Founding father Benjamin Franklin is born
  • Great Awakening

    The Great Awakening (religious revival) begins
  • Poor Richard's Almanack

    Benjamin Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanack" is published
  • Thomas Paine

    Thomas Paine is born
  • Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

    Jonathan Edwards gives his fire and brimstone sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"
  • Thomas Jefferson

    Founding father Thomas Jefferson is born
  • Edwards' Dismissal

    Jonathan Edwards is dismissed from the church for his confrontational sermons
  • Phyllis Wheatley

    African poet Phyllis Wheatley is born
  • French and Indian War

    The French and Indian War begins
  • Sugar Act

    The Sugar Act is passed, putting a tax on all sugar
  • Stamp Act

    The Stamp Act is passed, putting a tax on all paper goods
  • Quartering Act

    The Quartering Act is passed, making it legal for British soldiers to demand Americans to house them
  • Sons of Liberty

    The Sons of Liberty group is formed
  • Boston Tea Party

    The Boston Tea Party takes place when Americans rebelliously board British ships and dump tea into the Boston Harbor
  • Revolution

    The Revolutionary War in America begins
  • Declaration of Independence

    Thomas Jefferson drafts and completes the Declaration of Independence
  • End to War

    The Revolutionary War comes to an end
  • Three-Fifths Compromise

    It is decided that all slaves count as three-fifths of a person for taxing
  • Manifest Destiny

    Americans begin to settle in the west
  • Louisiana Purchase

    The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory
  • Lewis and Clark

    Louis and Clark's expedition westward begins
  • Embargo Act

    The Embargo Act is passed
  • Olaudah Equano

    Olaudah Equiano contributes to banning of slave trade
  • Monroe Doctrine

    The United States makes it illegal for other countries to colonize