-
Jamestown Virgina
The very first colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. The reason for many of the people who settled in the New World came to escape religious persecution. Jamestown was intended to become the core of a long-term settlement effort, creating new wealth for the London investors and recreating English society in North America. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. Colonist went onto British ships and broke open chests of tea and proceeded to pour them into the harbor because of taxation without representation. This event was important because it fueled the tension that had already begun between Britain and America. -
American Revolution
The American Revolution was a war for independence against Great Britain. The colonies fought Great Britain over their objection to Parliament's taxation policies and lack of colonial representation. If the colonists lost to the British then the United States would not exist and which is why it is so important in U.S. history because it is how we gained our freedom we have today. -
Enlightenment
The American Enlightenment was a period of intellectual ferment in the thirteen American colonies, it applied scientific reasoning to politics, science, and religion. The Enlightenment ideals of liberty, equality, and justice helped to create the conditions for the American Revolution and the subsequent Constitution -
U.S. Constitution
The United States constitution was signed in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, which established American national government. The Constitution separates the powers of government into three branches: the legislative branch, which makes the laws; the executive branch, which executes the laws; and the judicial branch, which interprets the laws. -
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to U.S. individuals and sets rules for due process of law and reserves all powers not delegated to the Federal Government to the people or the States. -
The Embargo Act of 1807
The Embargo Act of 1807 was an attempt by President Thomas Jefferson and the U.S. Congress to prohibit American ships from trading in foreign ports. It was intended to punish Britain and France for interfering with American trade while the two major European powers were at war with each other. The embargo was a very unpopular and costly failure. It hurt the American economy far more than the British or French, and resulted in widespread smuggling. -
War of 1812
This war was a conflict fought between the United States and Great Britain over British violations of U.S. maritime rights. Expansionism was another cause of this war the division of land after the Revolution did not leave everyone satisfied, it eventually ended with the exchange of ratifications of the Treaty of Ghent. -
Battle of New Orleans
The United States achieved its greatest land victory of the War of 1812 at New Orleans. The battle was between the U.S. and Britain in their effort to gain control of a critical American port, and in hopes of capturing the city they could separate Louisiana from the rest of the United States. Despite being outnumbered 2:1, the Americans won a decisive victory against the British assault. -
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution transformed the American economy and turned the U.S. into a large-scale industry, with mechanized manufacturing, and the factory system. These new machines, new power sources, and new ways of organizing work made existing industries more productive and efficient. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri compromise was an effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, it admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It also banned slavery from the remaining Louisiana Purchase lands located north of the 36º 30' parallel. This marked the beginning of the prolonged sectional conflict over the extension of slavery and eventually led to the American Civil War. -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, it authorized the president to grant lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. Not all American citizens liked and agreed with the law and only a few Indian tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy. -
Mexican-American War
The Mexican-American War was a conflict between the United States and Mexico, fought from April 1846 to February 1848. This war was ultimately a battle for land where Mexico was fighting to keep what they thought was their property and the U.S. desired to retain the disputed land of Texas and obtain more of Mexico's northern lands. -
Women's Rights Movement
The first attempt to organize a national movement for women’s rights occurred in Seneca Falls, New York, in July 1848. Led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a young mother from upstate New York, and the Quaker abolitionist Lucretia Mott, it consisted of about 300 people mostly made up of women. They attended the convention to outline a direction for the women’s rights movement. -
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Passed on September 18, 1850 by Congress, The Fugitive Slave Act was part of the Compromise of 1850. The act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. The act also made the federal government responsible for finding, returning, and trying escaped slaves. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act became law on May 30, 1854. The Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, creating two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It also produced a violent uprising known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote. -
Dred Scott vs. Sanford
The Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. Dred Scott who had resided in a free state and territory where slavery was prohibited was not thereby entitled to his freedom. Scott was initially declared free from a jury but after an appeal from his owner, the state Superior Court reversed the decision and Scott remained enslaved. -
Election of 1860
The election of 1860 was important because it demonstrated the divisions within the United States just before the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln was elected president and would later go onto playing a key role in passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which officially ended slavery in America. -
Civil War
The Civil War started in 1861, after decades of simmering tensions between the northern and southern states over slavery, state rights, and westward expansion. The North was adamant about abolishing slavery while the South was against the idea, after the war slavery was abolished and the creation of the 13th amendment was put into the Declaration of Independence. This was a historic moment because it banned slavery from ever reoccurring in the United States. -
Emancipation Proclamation
This Act was passed by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, the proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."