Founding Fathers Timeline

  • Massacre at Mystic

    Massacre at Mystic
    Connecticut colonists under Captain John Mason and their Narragansett and Mohegan allies set fire to the Pequot Fort near the Mystic River.
  • The Scalp Act

    The Scalp Act
    Anyone who brought in a male scalp above age of 12 would be given 150 pieces of eight
  • The Battles of Lexington and Concord

    The Battles of Lexington and Concord
    Kicked off the American Revolutionary War. Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities.
  • The Battles of Lexington and Concord

    The Battles of Lexington and Concord
    Kicked off the American Revolutionary War and fought between American colonist and the British.
  • The Declaration of Independence is Signed

    The Declaration of Independence is Signed
    Members of Congress signed the Declaration of Independence.
  • The Winter at Valley Forge

    The Winter at Valley Forge
    11,000 soldiers were stationed under General Washington at Valley Forge.
  • Benedict Arnold turns traitor

    Benedict Arnold turns traitor
    he entered into secret negotiations with the British, agreeing to turn over the U.S. post at West Point in return for money and a command in the British army.
  • The Battle of Cowpens

    The Battle of Cowpens
    An American victory over a British force on the northern border of South Carolina that slowed Lord Cornwallis's campaign to invade North Carolina.
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    The Battle of Yorktown

    Was the final battle of the American Revolution. Colonist troops entrapped a major British army on a peninsula at Yorktown, Virgina.
  • The 3/5ths Compromise

    The 3/5ths Compromise
    Every enslaved American would be counted as three-fifths of a person for taxation and representation purposes.
  • The Boston Tea Party

    The Boston Tea Party
    Massachusetts colonists disguised as indians board British tea ship's and dumped 342 chest of tea in the Boston harbor.
  • Article of Confederation are Ratified

    Article of Confederation are Ratified
    Congress approved a plan to hold a convention in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation.
  • The Constitution is Ratified

    The Constitution is Ratified
    The Constitution became the official framework of the government of the United States of America.
  • Presidential Inauguration of George Washington

    Presidential Inauguration of George Washington
    George Washington took the oath as the first president of the United States.
  • Washington’s Farewell Address

    Washington’s Farewell Address
    Washington's Farewell Address is a letter written by American President George Washington as a valedictory to "friends and the fellow-citizens" after 20 years of public service to the United States.
  • The Death of George Washington

    The Death of George Washington
    George Washington passed away at this home after losing 40 percent of his blood from blood letting due to a throat infection.
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    Election Day of 1800

    Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson defeated Federalist John Adams. It was the first peaceful transition of power from one party to another.
  • Slave Trade Ends in the United States

    Slave Trade Ends in the United States
    The transatlantic slave trade was abolished in the United States from 1 January 1808. The campaign to end slavery itself in the United States was long and bitter.
  • Marbury vs. Madison

    Marbury vs. Madison
    It was a Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review in the United States, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws and statutes that they find to violate the Constitution of the United States.
  • Battle of Tippecanoe

    Battle of Tippecanoe
    Fought primarily over white expansion into Indian territory, the battle lasted approximately one day with the United States securing victory. The conflict at Tippecanoe was the primary catalyst for the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States.
  • The USS Constitution defeats the HMS Guerriere

    The USS Constitution defeats the HMS Guerriere
    On August 19, 1812 the USS Constitution defeated the HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia. The battle lasted for an hour and marked a great victory for the Navy.
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    The Battle of Baltimore

    A sea/land battle fought between British invaders and American defenders in the War of 1812.
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    The Battle of New Orleans

    American troops, led by future President Andrew Jackson, defeated the much larger British force, which bolstered U.S. hopes for a speedy end to the war.
  • The Missouri Compromise

    The Missouri Compromise
    In an effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state
  • The Election of Andrew Jackson

    The Election of Andrew Jackson
    It was held from Friday, October 31 to Tuesday, December 2, 1828. It featured a rematch of the 1824 election, as President John Quincy Adams of the National Republican Party faced Andrew Jackson of the Democratic Party. Jackson's victory over Adams marked the start of Democratic dominance in federal politics.
  • Indian Removal Act

    Indian Removal Act
    Signed into law by President Andrew Jackson. This authorized the president to grant lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders.
  • Trail of Tears

    Trail of Tears
    16,000 Native Americans from the Cherokee tribe were marched over 1,200 miles of rugged land. This lasted from 1831 to 1850.
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    Nat Turner Rebellion

    A rebellion of enslaved people led by Nat Turner. They massacred up to 200 Black people and caused a new wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting the education, movement, and assembly of enslaved people.
  • The Battle of the Alamo

     The Battle of the Alamo
    The Battle of the Alamo was fought between the Republic of Texas and Mexico from February 23, 1836 to March 6, 1836. It took place at a fort in San Antonio, Texas. The Mexicans won the battle, killing all of the Texan soldiers inside the fort.
  • Mexico loses California, New Mexico, and Arizona

    This treaty, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the war between the United States and Mexico. By its terms, Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory, including parts of present-day Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah, to the United States.
  • The Fugitive Slave Act

    The Fugitive Slave Act
    The act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state.
  • Dred Scott Decision

    Dred Scott Decision
    The United States Supreme Court upheld slavery in United States territories, denied the legality of black citizenship in America, and declared the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional.
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    The Dead Rabbits Riot

    The Dead Rabbits Riot was a two day civil disturbance in New York City. It was a small-scale street fight between members of the Dead Rabbits and the Bowery Boys into a citywide gang war
  • Abraham Lincoln Elected President

    Abraham Lincoln Elected President
    Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the United States of America the first president ever to be elected with less than 50% of the vote.
  • South Carolina secedes from the United States

    South Carolina secedes from the United States
    South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union. The secession of South Carolina precipitated the outbreak of the American Civil War in Charleston Harbor.
  • The First Battle of Bull Run

    The First Battle of Bull Run
    The first major land battle of the American Civil War. 35,000 Union troops marched from the federal capital in Washington, D.C. to strike a Confederate force of 20,000 along a small river known as Bull Run
  • Emancipation Proclamation

    Emancipation Proclamation
    President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."
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    The Battle of Gettysburg

    Marked the turning point of the Civil War. It stopped the Confederate momentum in the Eastern Theater It gave the Federals a badly needed victory and boosted Northern morale.
  • 13th Amendment

    13th Amendment
    The 13th Amendment forever abolished slavery as an institution in all U.S. states and territories. In addition to banning slavery, the amendment outlawed the practice of involuntary servitude and peonage.
  • The Treaty at Appomattox Courthouse

    The Treaty at Appomattox Courthouse
    Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender to Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S.
  • The Ku Klux Klan is Established

    The Ku Klux Klan is Established
    A group of Confederate veterans convenes to form a secret society. It was a American white supremacist terrorist hate group.
  • 14th Amendment

    14th Amendment
    The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including former enslaved people—and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.”
  • 15th Amendment

    15th Amendment
    States that the citizens of the United States have the right to vote and shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
  • John D. Rockefeller Creates Standard Oil

    John D. Rockefeller Creates Standard Oil
    He established Standard Oil, by the early 1880s controlled some 90 percent of U.S. refineries and pipelines. Critics accused Rockefeller of engaging in unethical practices, such as predatory pricing and colluding with railroads to eliminate his competitors in order to gain a monopoly in the industry.
  • Alexander Graham Bell Patents the Telephone

    Alexander Graham Bell Patents the Telephone
    receives a patent for his revolutionary new invention: the telephone.
  • Battle of Little Bighorn

    Battle of Little Bighorn
    Native American forces led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeat the U.S. Army troops of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer.
  • The Great Oklahoma Land Race

    The Great Oklahoma Land Race
    The first land run into the Unassigned Lands of former Indian Territory, which had earlier been assigned to the Creek and Seminole peoples. An estimated 50,000 people were lined up at the start, seeking to gain a piece of the available two million acres.
  • Battle of Wounded Knee

    Battle of Wounded Knee
    The slaughter of approximately 150–300 Lakota Indians by United States Army troops in the area of Wounded Knee Creek in southwestern South Dakota.
  • Ellis Island Opens to Process Immigrants

    Ellis Island Opens to Process Immigrants
    he first Ellis Island Immigration Station officially opened on January 1, 1892, as three large ships wait to land. Seven hundred immigrants passed through Ellis Island that day, and nearly 450,000 followed over the course of that first year.
  • Plessy vs. Ferguson

    Plessy vs. Ferguson
    A landmark 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine.
  • The sinking of the USS Maine

    The sinking of the USS Maine
    An explosion of unknown origin sank the battleship U.S.S. Maine in the Havana, Cuba harbor, killing 266 of the 354 crew members.
  • The Wizard of Oz (Book) is Published

    The Wizard of Oz (Book) is Published
    The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is an American children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow.
  • J.P. Morgan Founds U.S. Steel

    J.P. Morgan Founds U.S. Steel
    J. P. Morgan formed U.S. Steel on March 2, 1901 by financing the merger of Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel Company with Elbert H. Gary's Federal Steel Company and William Henry "Judge" Moore's National Steel Company for $492 million
  • Teddy Roosevelt Becomes President of the United States

    Teddy Roosevelt Becomes President of the United States
    Roosevelt took office as vice president in 1901 and assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated the following September.
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    Ida Tarbell Publishes Her Article About Standard Oil

    The book was published as a series of articles in McClure's Magazine from 1902 to 1904. It has been called a "masterpiece of investigative journalism", by historian J.
  • Ford Motor Company is Founded

    Ford Motor Company is Founded
    Founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand, and luxury cars under its Lincoln luxury brand.
  • Angel Island Opens to Process Immigrants

    Angel Island Opens to Process Immigrants
    The immigration station was opened on the northeastern edge of Angel Island to process immigrants from Europe
  • The 16th Amendment is Passed

    The 16th Amendment is Passed
    Passed by Congress on July 2, 1909, and ratified February 3, 1913, the 16th amendment established Congress's right to impose a Federal income tax.
  • The 17th Amendment is Passed

    The 17th Amendment is Passed
    the 17th amendment modified Article I, section 3, of the Constitution by allowing voters to cast direct votes for U.S. Senators.
  • Sacco and Vanzetti arrested for armed robbery and murder

    Sacco and Vanzetti arrested for armed robbery and murder
    When arrested, Sacco and Vanzetti lied to the police. They denied associating with anarchist Buda and denied visiting the garage and denied involvement in the robbery and murders. they were executed for murder despite worldwide demonstrations in support of their innocence.
  • KDKA goes on the air from Pittsburgh

     KDKA goes on the air from Pittsburgh
    first commercial radio station was KDKA in Pittsburgh, which went on the air in the evening of Nov. 2, 1920, with a broadcast of the returns of the Harding-Cox presidential election.
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    Teapot Dome Scandal

    The Teapot Dome scandal was a bribery scandal involving the administration of United States President Warren G. Harding. Convicted of accepting bribes from the oil companies, Fall became the first presidential cabinet member to go to prison
  • 1st Miss American Pageant

    1st Miss American Pageant
    Margaret Gorman, winner of the 1921 “Inter-City Beauty” contest and the first Miss America.
  • 1st Winter Olympics Held

    1st Winter Olympics Held
    the first Winter Olympics take off in style at Chamonix in the French Alps.
  • J.Edgar Hoover Becomes Head of the FBI

    J.Edgar Hoover Becomes Head of the FBI
    President Calvin Coolidge appointed Hoover as the fifth Director of the Bureau of Investigation, partly in response to allegations that the prior director, William J. Burns, was involved in the Teapot Dome scandal.
  • The Great Gatsby published by F. Scott Fitzgerald

     The Great Gatsby published by F. Scott Fitzgerald
    The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald that is set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City
  • Mein Kampf is Published

    Mein Kampf is Published
    Mein Kampf(My Struggle) is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926.
  • Scopes Monkey Trial

    Scopes Monkey Trial
    1925 prosecution of science teacher John Scopes for teaching evolution in a Tennessee public school which had recently been made illegal.
  • Charles Lindberg completes solo flight across the Atlantic

    Charles Lindberg completes solo flight across the Atlantic
    Charles A. Lindbergh completed the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight in history, flying his Spirit of St. Louis from Long Island, New York, to Paris, France.
  • The Jazz Singer debuts

    The Jazz Singer debuts
    The first commercially successful full-length feature film with sound, debuts at the Blue Mouse Theater at 1421 5th Avenue in Seattle. It the first feature-length movie with synchronized dialogue
  • St. Valentine's Day Massacre

    St. Valentine's Day Massacre
    The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was the 1929 murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day.
  • Grapes of Wrath is Published

    Grapes of Wrath is Published
    The Grapes of Wrath is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962.
  • Stock Market Crash Begins Great Depression

    Stock Market Crash Begins Great Depression
    Stock prices began to decline in September and early October 1929, and on October 18 the fall began. This caused people to lose all of the money in stocks and run to banks and get their hard money which caused bank runs and caused banks to close. By 1933, unemployment was at 25 percent and more than 5,000 banks had gone out of business.
  • Black Tuesday (Stock Market Crash)

    Black Tuesday (Stock Market Crash)
    Stock prices began to decline in September and early October 1929, and on October 18 the fall began. On Tuesday the stock prices collapsed completely and 16,410,030 shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day.
  • The Dust Bowl Begins

    The Dust Bowl Begins
    The drought-stricken Southern Plains region of the United States, which suffered severe dust storms during a dry period in the 1930s.
  • The Adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem

    The Adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem
    Recognized for official use by the United States Navy in 1889, and by U.S. president Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931
  • The Empire State Building Opens

    The Empire State Building Opens
    On May 1, 1931, President Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City's Empire State Building, pressing a button from the White House that turns on the building's lights.
  • Franklin Roosevelt is Elected President (1st Time)

    Franklin Roosevelt is Elected President (1st Time)
    In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated Republican incumbent Herbert Hoover.
  • Adolf Hitler Become Chancellor of Germany

    Adolf Hitler Become Chancellor of Germany
    Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933 following a series of electoral victories by the Nazi Party.
  • CCC is Created

    CCC is Created
    Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, with an executive order on April 5, 1933. The CCC was part of his New Deal legislation, combating high unemployment during the Great Depression by putting hundreds of thousands of young men to work on environmental conservation projects.
  • WPA is Created

    WPA is Created
    President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the WPA with an executive order on May 6, 1935. It was part of his New Deal plan to lift the country out of the Great Depression by reforming the financial system and restoring the economy to pre-Depression levels.
  • J.J. Braddock Wins Heavyweight Boxing Title

    J.J. Braddock Wins Heavyweight Boxing Title
    Braddock won the Heavyweight Championship of the World as the 10-to-1 underdog in what was called "the greatest fistic upset since the defeat of John L. Sullivan by Jim Corbett".
  • Olympic Games in Berlin

    Olympic Games in Berlin
    The Berlin Games were the 10th occurrence of the modern Olympic Games. It were held in a tense, politically charged atmosphere.
  • Kristallnacht

    Kristallnacht
    On the night of November 9, 1938 violent anti-Jewish demonstrations broke out across Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
  • Wizard of Oz Premiers in Movie Theaters

    Wizard of Oz Premiers in Movie Theaters
    The Wizard of Oz premieres and becomes one of the best-loved movies in history, opens in theaters around the United States.
  • Germany Invades Poland

    Germany Invades Poland
    German forces under the control of Adolf Hitler bombard Poland on land and from the air.
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    The Battle of Britain

    The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England, was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe.
  • The Four Freedoms Speech

    The Four Freedoms Speech
    President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first inaugural address in 1933, it sought improved diplomatic relations between the United States and its Latin American neighbors.
  • The Bombing of Pearl Harbor

    The Bombing of Pearl Harbor
    The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu
  • The Battle of Midway

    The Battle of Midway
    The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on June 4th 1942 and ended on June 7th 1942. The Battle of Midway became one of the most important American naval victories of World War II. It was the turning point of the war because the U.S. Navy was able to destroy 4 Japanese aircraft carriers and hundreds of airplanes and made the United States ready to go on the offensive on Japan.
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    The Battle of Stalingrad

    The Battle of Stalingrad was a brutal military campaign between Russian forces and those of Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II. Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. The Battle of Stalingrad ultimately turned the tide of World War II in favor of the Allied force
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    Operation Torch

    Operation Torch was the Anglo-American invasion of French Morocco and Algeria during the North African Campaign of World War II. The invasion forces had to overcome French opposition in territories controlled by the Vichy Regime under Marshall Philippe Pétain.
  • Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program

    Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program
    The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program under the Civil Affairs and Military Government Sections of the Allied armies was established in 1943 to help protect cultural property in war areas during and after World War II
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    The Battle of Kursk

    The Battle of Kursk was an unsuccessful German assault on the Soviet salient around the city of Kursk, in western Russia, during World War II. The battle was a turning point on the Eastern Front. When Hitler received news that the Allies had invaded Sicily he decided to cancel Operation Citadel and divert forces to Italy. The Germans refrained from trying to mount another counter-attack on the Eastern Front and never again emerged victorious against Soviet forces.
  • D-Day (June 6th, 1944)

    D-Day (June 6th, 1944)
    the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day. More than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history.
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    Battle of the Philippines

    Naval battle of World War II between the Japanese Combined Fleet and the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Known as “the greatest carrier battle of the war,” it accompanied the U.S. landing on Saipan and ended in a complete U.S. victory.
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    The Battle of the Bulge

    The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Counteroffensive, was a major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II which took place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German military offensive in western Europe. The German offensive in the Ardennes region of Belgium was only temporarily successful in halting the Allied advance.
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    The Battle of Iwo Jima

    The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps and Navy landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army
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    The Battle of Okinawa

    The Battle of Okinawa, also known as Operation Iceberg, it was the largest amphibious landing in the Pacific theater of World War II. It also resulted in the largest casualties with over 100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000 casualties for the Allies. The Allies won the battle and occupied Okinawa is considered to be the last major battle of World War II.
  • The Death of Adolf Hitler

    The Death of Adolf Hitler
    Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head while held up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces
  • Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima

    Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
    On the morning of August 6, 1945, the American B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
  • Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki

    Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki
    The bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki with the Fat Man plutonium bomb took place on August 9, 1945
  • The Death of FDR

    The Death of FDR
    Franklin D. Roosevelt died on April 12th 1975 due cerebral hemorrhaging.