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American Studies
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Founding of Jamestown
The first permanent English settlement. Established by the Virginia Company of London.Original name was to be "James Fort". -
House of Burgesses
First Assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company.The word "burgess" means an elected or appointed Official. -
Founding of Plymouth Colony and Mayflower Compact
The first settlement of the Plymouth colony was New Plymouth. New Plymouth was surveyed by Captain John Smith. Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. -
Founding of Massachussets Bay
Founded by the owners of the Massachussets Bay Company.English Settlement.It was situated around present day Salem and Boston. -
Pequot War
An armed conflict between the Pequot Indians against the alliance of Massachusetts bay, Plymouth and Saybrook. Hundreds were killed, but a lot of them were captured as slaves and sold as slaves to the west indies. -
King Philip's War
Sometimes called the "First Indian War". This was an armed conflict between Indians in present day New England and the English settlers and their native american allies. -
Bacon's Rebellion
It was an uprising in the Virginia Colony.Rebellion was led by 29 year-old planter, Nathanial Bacon.First rebellion in the American Colonies. -
Salem Witch Trials
Series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. Most famous trials were done in the court at Salem Town -
French and Indian War
Mainly fought between the Colonies of British America and New France. Both sides had military unit support from their parent countries. Seven Year War. -
Quatering Act
These acts forced English settlers to provide British Soldiers with living and provisions. Angered Settlers. Violated the Bill of Rights of 1689 -
Stamp Act
Direct tax imposed on the Colonies. The act required many printed materials in the colonies be printed on stamped paper produced in England. The stamp act created great resistance throughout the Colonies. -
Boston Massacre
Named: "Incident on King Street" by the British. British Army Soldiers killed 5 civilians in Boston.Trial was unfair. -
Tea Act
Enforced by the British Parliment to reduce the massive surplus of tea held by the British East India Company.Outraged the settlers, later causing them to carry out the Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Tea Party
Political Protest by the Sons of Liberty. Resistance against the tea act.Dumped lots of tea into the Boston Harbor. -
Interolable Acts
Series of laws passed by the British Parliment. The acts triggered outrage and resistance in the Thirteen Colonies.Important development of the American Revolution. -
Lexington and Concord
First military engagements of the American Revolution.Marked the outbreak of an armed conflict with Kingdom of Great Britan and the Thirteen Colonies. -
Declaration of Independence
Statement adopted by the Continental Congress. 56 Delegates signed the declaration.Ensured independence of the United States. -
Shays' Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising that took place in central and western Massachusetts in 1786 and 1787. The rebellion was named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and one of the rebel leaders. -
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. -
Judiciary Act of 1789
The United States Judiciary Act of 1789 was a landmark statute adopted on September 24, 1789 in the first session of the First United States Congress establishing the U.S. federal judiciary -
Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists in the 5th United States Congress in the aftermath of the French Revolution and during an undeclared naval war with France -
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion, or Whiskey Insurrection, was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791, during the presidency of George Washington. Farmers who used their leftover grain and corn in the form of whiskey as a medium of exchange were forced to pay a new tax. -
Revolution of 1800
The Revolution of 1800 was monumental in the development of the United States as a nation. It proved to other nations that the republican experiment began by the revolutionary seed of independence could not only thrive, but succeed. In the fierce political battles of Adam's term this orderly exchange of power seemed impossible to ever achieve but this election proved all the skeptics wrong. The Revolution of 1800 was so named by the winner of the 1800 election, Thomas Jefferson. -
Marbury vs. Madison
Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court formed the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article III of the Constitution. The landmark decision helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the American form of government. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (French: Vente de la Louisiane "Sale of Louisiana") was the acquisition by the United States of America in 1803 of 828,000 square miles of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana. The U.S. paid 50 million francs ($11,250,000) plus cancellation of debts worth 18 million francs ($3,750,000), for a total sum of 15 million dollars for the Louisiana territory -
Embargo Act of 1807
The Embargo Act of 1807 was a general embargo enacted by the United States Congress against Great Britain and France during the Napoleonic Wars. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a 32 month military conflict between the United States and the British Empire and their allies which resulted in no territorial change, but a resolution of many issues remaining from the American War of Independence. The United States declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions brought about by Britain's ongoing war with France, the impressment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, British support of American Indian tribes against Americ -
Election of 1816
The United States presidential election of 1816 came at the end of the two-term presidency of Democratic-Republican James Madison. With the opposition Federalist Party in collapse, Madison's Secretary of State, James Monroe, had an advantage in winning the nomination against a divided opposition. Monroe won the electoral college by the wide margin of 183 to 34.
The previous four years were dominated by the War of 1812. -
Election of 1824 (corrupt bargain)
The term Corrupt Bargain refers to three historic incidents in American history in which political agreement was determined by congressional or presidential actions that many viewed to be corrupt from different standpoints. Two of these involved resolution of indeterminate or disputed electoral votes from the United States presidential election process, and the third involved the disputed use of a presidential pardon. In all three cases, the president so elevated served a single term, or singula -
Election of 1828
The United States presidential election of 1828 was the 11th quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, October 31 to Tuesday, December 2, 1828. It featured a rematch between John Quincy Adams, now incumbent President, and Andrew Jackson, the runner-up in the 1824 election. With no other major candidates, Jackson and his chief ally Martin Van Buren consolidated their bases in the South and New York and easily defeated Adams. -
Indian Removal Act of 1830
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. The act authorized him to negotiate with the Indians in the Southern United States for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their homelands. -
Nullification Crisis of 1832
The Nullification Crisis was a sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson created by South Carolina's 1832 Ordinance of Nullification. This ordinance declared by the power of the State that the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and therefore null and void within the sovereign boundaries of South Carolina. The controversial and highly protective Tariff of 1828 (known to its detractors as the "Tariff of Abominations") was enacted into law during the presidency of -
Nullification Crisis of 1832
The Nullification Crisis was a sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson created by South Carolina's 1832 Ordinance of Nullification. This ordinance declared by the power of the State that the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and therefore null and void within the sovereign boundaries of South Carolina. The controversial and highly protective Tariff of 1828 (known to its detractors as the "Tariff of Abominations") was enacted into law during the presidency of -
Texas Independence
Texas Declaration of Independence. Formal Declaration for the Republic of Texas. Independence from Mexico.Signed at Washington-on-the-Brazos. -
Mexican-American War
Armed conflict between Mexico and the United States.Majority of fighting was done in Mexico and present day Texas.Famous battles: Battle of the Alamo. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Peace treaty signed by Mexico and the United States to end the Mexican-American War. Gave the U.S. a lot of land, as long as we paid Mexico off 15 million.The peace talks were negotiated by Nicholas Trist. -
Spanish-American War
Conflict between Spain and America.This was the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban war for Independence. -
Election of 1932
The United States presidential election of 1932 was the 37th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1932. The election took place in the midst of the Great Depression that had ruined the promises of incumbent President and Republican candidate Herbert Hoover to bring about a new era of prosperity -
The New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They involved presidential executive orders or laws passed by Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were in response to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call the "3 Rs": Relief, Recovery, and Reform. That is, Relief for the unemployed and poor; Recovery of the economy to normal levels; and Reform of the financial system to prevent a repe -
Attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan were conducted by the United States during the final stages of World War II in 1945. These two events represent the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by the U.S. President Harry Truman in a speech on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. Historians often consider it as the start of the Cold War, and the start of the containment policy to stop Soviet expansion. -
Creation of NATO
The expansion of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe and the threats against Greece and Turkey aroused growing alarm throughout Western Europe. As a consequence, in April 1949, in accordance with the United Nations Charter, 12 nations established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to coordinate the military defenses of member nations against possible Soviet aggression. Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the -
Fall of China to Communism
On October 1, 1949, Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The announcement ended the costly full-scale civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), which broke out immediately following World War II and had been preceded by on and off conflict between the two sides since the 1920's. The creation of the PRC also completed the long process of governmental upheaval in China begun by -
Korean War
The Korean War, (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was a war between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It was primarily the result of the political division of Korea by an agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War at the end of World War II. The Korean Peninsula was ruled by the Empire of Japan from 1910 until the end of World War II. -
Election of 1952
Eisenhower, at 62, was the oldest man to become President since James Buchanan in 1856.[2] Truman was 60 when he became President in April 1945, upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and 64 when elected President in 1948.
This election was the first since 1928 in which the Republican presidential nominee was elected. It was also the last election until 2008 in which neither the incumbent president nor the incumbent vice president was his party's general election candidate.
