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English settlement of the eventual United States began with Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America. -
Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower had signed this early manifesto of self-rule, which established the model for democratic colonial government. -
Citing grievances against King George III and appealing to natural rights, the 13 colonies formally declared independence from England. -
To replace the Articles of Confederation and establish the foundation for the federal government, American delegates gathered in Philadelphia to create the U.S. Constitution. -
With the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from France, the United States doubled in size and created a huge area west of the Mississippi for potential growth. -
In order to keep the Senate evenly balanced, a compromise was reached whereby they would accept Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. -
Signed into law by President Andrew Jackson, this law caused the Trail of Tears and the forced removal of Native American tribes. -
Activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton called for equal rights, including the right to vote, at the first women's rights convention in America. -
Over 600,000 people were killed in maintaining the Union as a result of a conflict over states' rights and slavery between the Union and the Confederacy. -
The president signed it, having redirected the war effort as a war against slavery and declared slaves free in Confederate states. -
Officially outlawed slavery across the US, prohibiting forced labor unless it was used as a form of punishment for a crime. -
Significant Native American resistance came to an end when U.S. troops massacred hundreds of Lakota Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. -
Gave women the right to vote, bringing an end to decades of suffragist activity and permanently altering the American electorate. -
The worst economic recession in US history was brought about by a financial meltdown, leading to widespread unemployment and destitution. -
The United States entered World War II after the surprise attack by Japan against the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. -
Japan surrendered, and World War II came to an end after the United States had dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities. -
In a huge win for the civil rights movement, the Supreme Court declared racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. -
A landmark law that banned racial discrimination and segregation at work, in public places, and in schools. -
The War on Terror began when terrorists hijacked planes and attacked the Pentagon and World Trade Center and killed thousands of people. -
The choice of Barack Obama as the nation's first African American president was milestones in American democracy and racial equality.