-
Revolutionary War Begins
On April 19, 1775, British and American soldiers exchanged fire in the Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord. On the night of April 18, the royal governor of Massachusetts, General Thomas Gage, commanded by King George III to suppress the rebellious Americans, had ordered 700 British soldiers, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and Marine Major John Pitcairn, to seize the colonists' military stores in Concord, some 20 miles west of Boston.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr19.html -
Declaration of Independance is Approved
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence -
Revolutionary War Ends
The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies on the North American continent (as well as some naval conflict). The war was the culmination of the political American Revolution, whereby the colonists overthrew British rule.
http://www.revolutionarywar.n2genealogy.com/ -
US Constitution is Written
The Constitution of the United States of America is signed by 38 of 41 delegates present at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Supporters of the document waged a hard-won battle to win ratification by the necessary nine out of 13 U.S. states.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-constitution-signed -
Constitution Becomes Law
Delaware was the first state to ratify, on December 7, 1787. After New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify, on June 22, 1788, the Confederation Congress established March 9, 1789, as the date to begin operating under the Constitution. By this time, all the states except North Carolina and Rhode Island had ratified — the Ocean State was the last to ratify on May 29, 1790.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/the-constitution -
George Washington is the 1st President
The election took place following the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788. In this election, George Washington was elected for the first of his two terms as president, and John Adams became the first vice-president.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1788%E2%80%931789 -
Bill of Rights Ratified
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, which limit the power of the U.S. federal government. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property including freedoms of religion, speech, a free press, free assembly, and free association, as well as the right to keep and bear arms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights -
Abraham Lincoln Becomes the 16th President
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States over a deeply divided Democratic Party, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. Lincoln received only 40 percent of the popular vote but handily defeated the three other candidates: Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Constitutional Union candidate John Bell, and Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas, a U.S. senator for Illinois.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/abraham-lincoln-elected-president -
The American Civil War Begins
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a civil war that took place in United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, eleven southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ("the Confederacy"); the other twenty-five states supported the federal government ("the Union").
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War -
American Civil War Ends
After four years of warfare, mostly within the Southern states, the Confederacy surrendered and slavery was outlawed everywhere in the nation. Issues that led to war were partially resolved in the Reconstruction Era that followed, though others remained unresolved.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War -
President Lincoln Assassinated
On the evening of April 14, 1865, while attending a special performance of the comedy, "Our American Cousin," President Abraham Lincoln was shot. Accompanying him at Ford's Theater that night were his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, a twenty-eight year-old officer named Major Henry R. Rathbone, and Rathbone's fiancee, Clara Harris. After the play was in progress, a figure with a drawn derringer pistol stepped into the presidential box, aimed, and fired.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/alrintr.html -
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution Adopted
The 13th amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, passed the Senate on April 8, 1864, and the House on January 31, 1865. On February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures.
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=40 -
15th Amendment to the Constituiton Ratified
The 15th Amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/15thamendment.html -
World War I Begins
On July 28, 1914, one month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, effectively beginning the First World War.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/austria-hungary-declares-war-on-serbia -
World War I Ends
At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. At 5 a.m. that morning, Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/world-war-i-ends -
19th Amnedment to the Constitution Ratified
The amendment was the culmination of more than 70 years of struggle by woman suffragists. Its two sections read simply: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex" and "Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/woman-suffrage-amendment-ratified -
World War II Begins
At 4:45 a.m., some 1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea...On September 3, [France and Britain] declared war on Germany, initiating World War II.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-invade-poland -
World War II Ends
The war ended with the total victory of the Allies over Germany and Japan in 1945. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world. The United Nations (UN) was established to foster international cooperation and prevent future conflicts. The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II -
Vietnam War
The role of the United States in the Vietnam War began soon after the Second World War and escalated into full commitment during what is termed the Vietnam War from 1955 to 1975.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_the_United_States_in_the_Vietnam_War -
Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream" Speech
...on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech advocating racial harmony at the Lincoln Memorial during the march.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington_for_Jobs_and Freedom -
Vietnam War Ends
Growing opposition to the war in the United States led to bitter divisions among Americans, both before and after President Richard Nixon ordered the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 1973. In 1975, communist forces seized control of Saigon, ending the Vietnam War, and the country was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the following year.
http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war -
Stacie's Birthday
-
America is Attacked by Terrorists
The hijackers intentionally crashed two planes...into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center...both towers collapsed within two hours. Hijackers crashed...into the Pentagon...The fourth jet, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to take control before it could reach the hijacker's intended target in Washington, D.C. Nearly 3,000 died in the attacks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks -
Constitution Day 2011
On September 17, 1787, forty-two of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention held their final meeting. Only one item of business occupied the agenda that day, to sign the Constitution of the United States of America.
http://usgovinfo.about.com/blconstday.htm