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Period: 1492 to
Colonial U.S.
Colonial U.S. time period. -
Founding of New Netherlands
New Netherlands was founded when the Dutch sent ships to the Hutson River to trade fur with the Native Americans. They made New Amsterdam to guard the river. In 1664 the English took over New Amsterdam and renamed it "New York" after the Duke of York. -
City Upon a Hill Speech
In 1630 John Winthrop gave a famous speech called "City Upon a Hill." The meaning was that America would be looked up at as an example. He mentioned that if America failed, everyone else would look at America as a failure. John Winthrop would become governor in the future. -
King Philip's War
On June 24, 1675, Metacomb (King Philip) started a large-scale Native American rebellion. They managed to destroy twelve New England towns. The colonists then destroyed the Natives' crops, cutting off their food supply. Metacomb was killed when a praying town Native American shot him. The Native Americans lost all their remaining land. -
The British have 1.5 Million Colonists
The British outnumber the French, and are abusing the Native Americans. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War. The British gained all North American land that the French had. -
Pontiac's Rebellion
The Chief Pontiac has the British raided through out the summer. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act taxed everyday paper items. These items included documents, legal papers, and land deeds. The colonists protested against this act by boycotting it. Eventually, the British repealed it but passed new taxes in the future. -
Seizure of The Liberty
In 1768, the British boarded and seized John Hancock's ship the Liberty. They did this since they thought he was smuggling goods to avoid taxes. This set off lots of riots in Boston, and to stop the riots, the British sent in 4,000 troops to occupy Boston. -
Boston Massacre
The colonists were protesting against the British for passing the Stamp Act. The colonists were throwing snowballs at the soldiers keeping guard. They also surrounded the sentry guarding the king's treasures. The nervous soldiers opened fire killing a total of five people. -
Boston Tea Party
During the night of December 6, protesters dressed as Native Americans boarded a British merchant ship. They dumped the tea, that the British were forcing them to buy, into Boston Harbor. The value of the tea is over one million dollars in today's money. The Parlament, who was very mad, passed the Coercive Acts and the Intolerable Acts as punishment. -
Coersive Acts and Intolerable Acts
The Coercive Acts were passed to close Boston Harbor until the tea destroyed during the Boston Tea Party was paid back. This angered the colonists since Boston Harbor is a very important port of trade. The Intolerable Acts were passed, so all Britons convicted of a crime would be tried in Britain. The colonists hated this, since they thought that Briton was limiting their right to have a judicial system. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battle of Lexington and Concord started the American Revolution. Earlier in the night, Paul Revere and many others warned the local town outside of Boston, that the British were coming to seize their weapons and capture Patriots. After they were warned they guarded a bridge before the British arrived. They stood on opposite sides shouting, but a shot was fired, so both sides opened fire on each other. -
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Early America
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Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by John Adams, to be able to stop people who criticize his administration. The people could only not be arrested if their actions have literal proof. This stopped Democratic-Republican oppostition. -
Election of 1800
The election of 1800 was considered a revolution since it was the first time a Democratic-Republic was elected president. The election system was changed to president and vice-president positions being elected separately. Also, the Federalists never held strong power ever again. The previous government was said to be too aristocratic, but the new one was much less so. -
Louisinana Purchase
Jefferson wanted to conquer the Louisiana Territory from the weak Spanish, but the powerful French took it over. Jefferson decided to buy the territory from them. The French sold it at a bargain since they could not occupy it since their soldiers in Haiti were defeated by rebels. This contradicted Jeffersons principles of strictly interpreting the Constitution, since it didn;t say he could buy land for the country. -
Second National Bank of United States
The Second National Bank was founded in 1816 after private banks were authorized to print money. The bank could lend the government and people money, so the economy would improve. The South was against it, since they said it woud be corrupt against them. -
Tariff of 1816
The Tariff of 1816 was out in place to protect American factories. It was strongly supported by the North since it would increase profits. The South didn't like it though since they would have to pay more for products. -
Tariff of 1828
Another tariff on imported goods was passed, which upset Southerners even more. Andrew Jackson didn't reduce the tariff so John Calhoun, his vice president resigned and became a senator against the tariff. Jackson eventually compromised, and made a new tariff that pleased some Southerners. -
Period: to
Road to Civil War
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Tariff of 1832
The Tariff of 1832 was Jacksons compromise for the South. This lowered the duties from 45% to 35%, making them lower, but still protective. Only some Southerners agree and the others wanted to challenge the federal government, with states' rights. -
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 happened after an executive order made land sale required to be done in gold, and after the National Bank was ended. The state banksthe over lended money to people, which forced them to raise interest. The Panic made 10% of the workforce stay unemployed, until the gold rush, which fixed the economy. -
Period: to
Civil War
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King of Frauds
The scandal involved the Credit Mobilier construction company over charging the roads for Union railroads. To get away with this the company bribed officials in Washington with 9 million dollars and discounted stock. -
Period: to
Reconstruction
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Tammany Hall (Boss Tweed Period)
Tammany Hall was a political machine that rose to great prominence from the 1870's until Boss Tweed's operation was shut down by law enforcement. The operation made Tweed rich through laundering money by making government expenses cost large amounts of money. His ring remained in power by appealing to new immigrants, so they would have to rely on Tammany Hall to get help from the government. -
Granger Laws
Granger Laws were state laws that were passed in the 1870s to regulate the expanding railroads. They were supported by farmers, who didn't want railroads to monopolized their way of life. The laws regulated prices that the railroads set. -
Whiskey Ring
The Whiskey Ring was a scandal that involved federal agents getting bribed by whiskey dealers to avoid paying high whiskey taxes. This occurred since the dealers didn't like the high taxes, and were able to bribe many corrupt Republicans. The scandal was exposed by the Grant Administration and stopped. -
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Gilded Age
The Gilded Age was the period of time after Reconstruction, when corporations became incredible wealthy and influential in politics. This was due to the Republican Party's turn towards favoring businesses. It also is related to improvements in machinery, which let corporations mass produce products. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed in 1890 and was written by John Sherman. The act was not meant to restrict all monopolies, but only those that were hindering competition. Sometimes the vague text of the act was used to break up union, considering them monopolies. -
Election of 1896
William Jennings Bryan ran against William McKinney in the Election of 1896. He was a great speaker, who traveled all over the country to get votes. He lost the election because the Republicans out funded him. This is because of the businesses that supported McKinney by donating lots of money. -
Populist Party
The Populist Party was formed by left-leaning agrarian farmers and workers who wanted representation against the corporations. The party stood for bimetallism to help farmers be able to pay debt, and to make sure workers have the right to form unions. Many of their supporters went to the Democrats in the 1900s/ -
Cross of Gold Speech
The speech was given by William Jennings Bryan, who was running to become the Democratic presidential ticket. He said that adopting the Gold Standard would nail the country to a Cross of Gold. He said that it would restrict average people, and would lead to crop prices falling. He believed that silver with bimetallism would help out the farmers. -
Gold Standard Act of 1900
The Gold Standard Act of 1900 put gold as the fixed quantity for money. This ended bimetallism, which also allowed silver to be used to fix a monetary value for money. The Populists and Democrats opposed this because they believed that this would hurt the farmers, which used silver instead of gold. -
Period: to
Progressive Era
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Square Deal
The Square Deal was Teddy Roosevelt's policy towards the regulation of big businesses and the working class. This was meant to be a compromise between the two groups. Roosevelt would break up "bad trusts" that got rid of competition and disrespected workers' rights. He would leave the "good trusts" or the trusts that would help society and the country alone. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act was passed to make sure that companies were not selling products that were made so cheaply that they were bad for people's health. This banned the shipment of impure food and medicine and the mislabeling of it. -
Panic of 1907
When F. Augustus Heinze and Charles W. Morse failed to corner the United Copper stock, people became uncertain in the stocks. People started withdrawing money so fast that many banks couldn't give people their money. This caused a depression until Morgan and Rockefeller were called to pledge money to keep up the stocks. -
Dollar Diplomacy
Dollar Diplomacy was the policy of -
Mann Elkins Act
This act dealt with the problems of railroads creating unfair fees. This regulated railroad fees in order to keep them fair and not different from state to state. -
Election of 1912
The election of 1912 was between three major competitors: Taft, Roosevelt, and Wilson. When Roosevelt attempted to run for the Republican ticket for the third time he lost to Taft. As a result he joined the Progressive Bull Moose party and ran against both Wilson and Taft. Due to the vote against Wilson being split, he won the election easily. -
Moral Diplomacy
Moral Diplomacy was Wilson's policy of giving support to countries that agreed with the morals of the United States. This would include supporting and intervening if necessary to have leaders of other countries favor liberty and democracy. -
Children's Bureau of 1912
The Children's Bureau of 1912 was another progressive accomplishment when it came to the rights of children. Its main job was to make sure that the rights of children were respected, especially in the work force. -
Federal Trade Commission Act
The Federal Trade Commission Act created the Federal Trade Commission to monitor business. Its job was to stop illegal business deals and dishonest advertising. -
Social Gospel
The Social Gospel was a philosophy that the words spoken by Jesus should be applied to modern social problems. Examples would be making sure that the poor receive recognition, and that people are kind to each other even if they are of a different sex. This movement would also be relived at the time of the Civil Rights Movement through Martin Luther King Jr. -
Women's Bureau 1920
The Women's bureau researched working conditions for jobs that women usually held. They helped women secure proper jobs in society.
