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English colony at Jamestown Virginia
Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. -
First Africans brought to North America
Origins of Slavery Slavery began in America when the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown in 1619 to aid in the production of lucrative crops. -
Pilgrims land at Plymouth
Pilgrims were early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, who fled from the volatile political environment in England. -
Salem Witch Trials
They were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. -
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French and Indian War
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Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry. -
Boston Tea Party
The Sons of Liberty and the Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was a protest against taxation. Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded ships in the Boston harbor and threw chests of tea overboard. -
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is the statement adopted by the Continental Congress meeting on July 4, 1776, announcing that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as thirteen newly independent sovereign states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. -
Revolutionary War Ends (Treaty of Paris)
The war virtually came to an end when General Cornwallis was surrounded and forced to surrender the British position at Yorktown, Virginia. Two years later, the Treaty of Paris made it official: America was independent. -
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Shay's Rebellion
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Constitution Ratified
The United States Constitution that emerged from the convention established a federal government with more specific powers. Under the reformed federal system, many of the responsibilities for foreign affairs fell under the authority of an executive branch, although important powers remained the responsibility of the legislative branch. After the necessary number of state ratifications, the Constitution came into effect in 1789. -
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion, also known as the Whiskey Insurrection, was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791, during the presidency of George Washington. -
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Lewis & Clark Expedition
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War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict, lasting for two and a half years, fought by the United States of America against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, its North American colonies, and its Native American allies. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was an effort by Congress to defuse the sectional and political rivalries triggered by the request of Missouri late in 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery would be permitted. -
Trail of Tears
The Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. -
Texan Indepence
The Alamo was an 18th century Franciscan Mission in San Antonio, Texas, which was the location of an important battle for Texans fighting for independence from Mexico. In 1836, a small group of Texans was defeated by Mexican General Santa Anna. -
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Mexican American War (Treaty of Guadalupa Hildelgo)
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Gold Rush in California
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a period in American History which began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. -
Compromise of 1850
This was a series of resolutions in attempt to seek a compromise and avert a crisis between North and South. Part of this comprimise was the Fugitive Slave Act and the slave trade in Washington DC was abolished. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
he Kansas–Nebraska Act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing white male settlers in those territories to determine through popular sovereignty whether they would allow slavery within each territory. -
Abraham Lincoln elected President
The United States presidential election of 1860 was the 19th quadrennial presidential election. The election was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1860, and served as the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. -
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Civil War
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Transcontinental Railroad completed
Begun just before the American Civil War, its construction was considered to be one of the greatest American technological feats of the 19th century. Known as the "Pacific Railroad" when it opened, this served as a vital link for trade, commerce, and travel and opened up vast regions of the North American heartland for settlement. -
Reconstruction Ends
In the 1870's, violent opposition in the South and the North's retreat from its commitment to equality, resulted in the end of Reconstruction.
