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1450
The African Slave trade
During this time period Prince Henry the navigator of Portugal has fully established colonies on the west cost of Africa for transporting African slaves. These colonies would supply farmers and plantation owners around the world with slaves for the next 400 years. -
Period: Aug 3, 1492 to Oct 14, 1492
Columbus discovering America
Christopher Columbus was originally tasked by the Spanish Empire to find a new trade route to India and instead arrived at the Bahama islands in 1492. He was the founding father of the Columbian Exchange which allowed Europe to make many expeditions for trade or colonization. -
Jul 7, 1519
The Spanish conquest of Mexico
The Spanish expedition lead by Cortes and his methods was violence to get what Spain wants. He quickly conquered Cuba and heard rumors of an Empire built on gold, the Aztec Empire. Cortes went to war with the Aztec Empire and ultimately wiped them out with disease. All of Mexico was claimed to be Spain's land. -
Period: 1565 to
First European Settlements in America
The Spanish were the first European country to have a settlement in America. St. Augustine Florida, 1565. The British had their first successful and permeant settlement in North America at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Later in 1609 the Dutch landed on long island New York and was named New Netherland. -
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Anglo-Powhatan Wars
The war between the population of Jamestown and the Anglo-Powhatan tribe of Native Americans was over territory in the region. Decades of bloodshed and broken peace treaties for both sides but the native Americans suffered the most losses. This war would negatively affect the relationship between the natives and the colonists for all history. -
Bacons Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon lead the first militia of white and black indentured servants to the colonial capital Jamestown for failing to protect them from the native Americans and over taxation. After burning Jamestown down and Bacon dying months later, the militia was already broken when the British military arrived. The effect of the rebellion was the increased racial issues for enslaved Africans. -
Pennsylvania
King Charles II gave the 45 thousand square miles of land to William Penn to pay the owed debt for his father and Penn used the land as a religious safe haven for his fellow Quakers. The settlers had peaceful relations with the Native Americans in the Pennsylvania region due to their passive Quaker community. Being the only state that did not contribute in any Indian Wars. -
The Glorious Revolution
During this time of revolutionary thinking in Great Britain about questioning government with individual natural rights. The American colonies were influenced by John Locke to demand to have equal rights like British citizens and religious freedom. The English Toleration act was passed in 1689 allowing greater religious diversity and religious tolerance to nonconformists. -
Stono Rebellion
Escaped slaves in the Charleston area that just wanted to escape to freedom gathered near the Stono river, raided a gun shop, and killed twenty plus white people. Many people died and many slaves escaped which caused the Carolinas to enforce harsher rules and punishments so it won't happen again. -
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French and Indian War
It was the war for the territory and control of North East America between the French and the British as the natives and colonists were being used. After Hundreds and thousands of people who gave their life for the war, allowing Britain larger territorial gains from France, and not satisfied with the financial and military help Britain had received from the colonists during the war. -
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The Stamp Tax Act
The British government tried to impose a direct tax on the colonists for everting instead of imported goods. The Stamp Act was a tax on all legal documents and printed papers used in the colonies had to have an official stamp. Causing most Americans to call out to boycott British goods and some organized attacks on the homes of tax collectors. -
Boston Massacre
The protesters were protesting the occupation of their city by British troops to enforce unpopular taxation measures. The British knew the colonists were angry at them, throwing snow and rocks at the working soldiers. The British soldiers shot and killed several people whom they perceived to be a threat and helped spark the colonists' desire for American independence. -
Beginning of the Revolutionary War
The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the first military engagement between the minutemen and the British military in Massachusetts. This was the first American victory that greatly convinced the rest of the colonies to join the war effort. -
Turning Point
The Battle of Saratoga was a Patriot victory and is often seen as the turning point in the war. It renewed the cracked morale of the American public and the victory convinced France that it might be in their best interests to declared war on England. -
Siege of Yorktown
The last major battle of the American Revolutionary War is the siege of Yorktown. The Continental Army was led by General George Washington and from the help of the French Navy made decisive victory against the British Army, led by General Lord Charles Cornwallis. Cornwallis was forced to surrender after being surrounded on the peninsula. -
Bill of Rights
James Madison wrote the amendments to be designed for protecting the basic rights of U.S. citizens and that powers not delegated to the federal government were reserved for the states. -
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Industrial Transformation in the North
The large and quick changes that happened in North America caused the beginning of a industrial capitalist Republic. The lack of access to foreign goods during the war of 1812 forced the Americans to begin producing more of their own goods. The railroad networks in America promoted the growth of industries like coal and sped up the transportation of goods to market. The lack of government regulation allowed businesses to flourish and grow at a rapid pace. -
Compromise of 1850
The compromise of 1850 was a series of measures made to appease the South about addressing the issues of Slavery and to keep the Union together. Some new states can decide weather to be free or slave, new Texas-Mexico boarder, and the fugitive slave act. The Fugitive Slave Act allows the federal government to aid in the recapture of liberated Black people and criminalized free people who aided the escape of the formerly enslaved. -
Election of 1860
The Election of 1860 demonstrated the divisions within America just before the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln ran on a political platform opposed to the expansion of slavery in the territories. His election served as the match for the flame of the Civil War. -
Battle of Gettysburg
This battle took three days and decided the winner of this battle would win the war. If the South won, it's an easy walk to Washington D.C. with no union army to defend. Instead the North won and had to continue to march down south. The Federals needed this victory to boost northern morale by stopping the Confederate momentum in the eastern theater.