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Christopher Columbus’s voyage connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas, beginning European colonization and the Columbian Exchange. -
The first permanent English settlement in North America was established, shaping future English colonization. -
The Pilgrims settled Plymouth, promoting ideas of self-government through the Mayflower Compact. -
Britain’s victory expanded its empire but left it deeply in debt, leading to increased taxation of the colonies. -
England’s peaceful overthrow of James II reshaped colonial governance, weakening royal authority and encouraging demands for greater autonomy. -
The colonies formally declared independence, asserting natural rights and popular sovereignty. -
Delegates created the U.S. Constitution, establishing a federal government with checks and balances. -
The first ten amendments guaranteed individual freedoms such as speech, religion, and due process. -
The U.S. doubled its size by purchasing land from France, encouraging westward expansion. -
This agreement temporarily balanced free and slave states, revealing growing sectional tensions. -
Native American tribes were forcibly relocated west, leading to suffering such as the Trail of Tears. -
The U.S. gained large territories in the Southwest, intensifying debates over slavery’s expansion. -
The conflict between the Union and Confederacy centered on slavery, states’ rights, and national unity. -
Slavery was officially abolished in the United States. -
The federal government attempted to rebuild the South and integrate formerly enslaved people into society. -
Reformers pushed for social, political, and economic changes to address industrialization’s problems. -
America entered the war, emerging as a global power and reshaping foreign policy. -
The crash triggered the Great Depression, causing widespread unemployment and economic hardship. -
President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced programs to provide relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression. -
The U.S. fought in both Europe and the Pacific, emerging as a superpower after the war.