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"Lost Colony" was establshed on Roanoke Island off the North Carolina coast and was sponsered by Sir Water Raleigh. In 1590, the settlers were found to have disappeared.
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Settlers, including Captain John Smith, landed on the Virginia coast and began Jamestown, the first permanent, successful English colony in America.
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THe House of Burgesses was the first representative assembly in the colonies and was elected in Jamestown.
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The Pilgrims, or Puritan seperatists, left Plymouth, England to escape persecution from King James I on the ship, the Mayflower.
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The Mayflower Compact, rules agreed upon for the good of the order, was signed. This document helped to establish the idea of self-government and majority rule.
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103 Pilgrims land at Plymouth, MA. Half of the colonists died during that first harsh winter.
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Providence, RI was founded by Rodger Williams and was a democratically ruled colony with the separartion of curch and state.
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The British Parliament passed first Navigation act, this controlled colonial commerce to suit Engand's needs.
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Farmer Nathaniel Bacon led planters on a rebellion against their British governor, Sir William Berkeley. The rebellion ended when Bacon died and 23 followers were executed.
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William Pen signed a treaty and payment, aquiring Pennsylvania from the Delaware Indians.
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The Salem Witch Trials create fear and delusion as 20 suspected witches are executed by a special court.
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The firast Poor Richard's Almanac was published by Benjamin Franklin.
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John Peter Zenger, a New York newspaper editor, criticized the British governor and was accused of libel. The court ruled in Zenger's favor, creating freedom of speech.
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A famous sermon is delivered by Jonathan Edwards, a famous minister in the Great Awakening, which was a religious movement.
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The Frech occupy Fort Duquense In Pittsburg, beginning the Freach and Indian War.
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The British capture Quebec.
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Peace treaty signed, ending the French and Indian War. The french lost Canada and the Midwest.
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British Parliament places the Sugar Act on the colonies to pay off the debts from the French and Indian War. This act taxed lumber, foodstuffs, mollasses, and rum.
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The Stamp Act is enacted on the colonies to help fund the royal troops that Britain was sending to enforce their laws in the colonies. To counter this, nine colonies sent delegates to a Stamp Act Congress to New York where they adopted the Decalration of Rights.
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Parliament passes the Quartering Act, and act which required colonists to house British troops.
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Stamp Act repealed.
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The Townshed Acts are passed. These acts put taxes on glass, printer's lead, paper, and tea.
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British troops fired into a mob killing five people including African American, Crispus Attucks, the reported leader of the group. This was later known as the Boston Massacre and was used as propaganda in order to strengthen the cry for independence from Britain.
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The Sons of Liberty, dressed as indians, boarded a British cargo ship and threw many crates of tea overboard to protest the tax on tea.
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Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts which stopped Massachusetts self-government and banned the use of Boston Harbor until the tea was paid for.
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The First Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26. It called for civil disobedience against the British.
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Paul Revere and William Dawes rode to alert the patriots than the British were coming to Concord to destroy their firearms.
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There was a battle between the patriots and the British at Lexington in which the minutemen lost 8. Patriots caused British to retreat at Concord and cost them 273 casualties.
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The Continental Congress named George Washington commander in chief of the Continental Army and established a postal system.
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Thomas Paine published the paphlet "Common Sense" which quickly sold 100,000 copies. The pamplet helped to persuade people that a complete break from Britain waas necessary.
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The Continental Congress adapts the Declaration of Independence, a document that was based on Enlightenment thinker, John Locke's, idea that people have unalienable rights that cannot be taken away. It showed reasons for breaking with Britain and expressed grievences to the king.
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Washington crosses the Delaware River in Pennsylvania and defeated the Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey.
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Americans cut off the British escape route, and Burgoyne surrendered 5,000 men at Saratoga, New York . Saratoga was the turning point of the war, convincing France and Spain to come to America's aid.
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The Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation.
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Captain John Paul Jones on the ship Bonhomme Richard defeated the British ship the Serapis.
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British General Cornwallis surrenders to the Americans at Yorktown. This was the last battle of the Revolutionary War.
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The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Revolutionary War. Both sides agreed to pay back war debts and Britain recognized the United States as a free and independent nation.
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A rebellion of debt-ridden farmers known as Shay's Rebellion is ended.
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The Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia to create a new government due to weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation. Washington is chosen to preside over the convention.
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Congress adopts the Northwest Ordinance, which made rules for statehood and set the orderly pattern of growth for the United States.
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George Washington is chosen as the first President of the United States.
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The Supreme Court is established under the Federal Judicairy Act.
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The Bill of Rights goes into effect.
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George Washington was elected president for a second term and John Adams became the Vice-President again.
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Eli Whitney invented the cottin gin which allowed for faster production of cotton, causing cotton exports to increase improving the Southern economy. The slave population also increased due to a greater need for slave labor.
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Pennsylvania farmers protest the tax on liquor in the Whiskey Rebellion. This Rebellion was suppressed by the federal militia.
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Washington gives his farewell address. His adress warned that the "spirit of the party" would split the nation and warned to stay out of permanent affairs with foreign countries.
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Federalists pass the Alien and Sedition Ac ts in order to silence political opposition.
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Thomas Jefferson becomes the second president and Aaron Burr the vice-president when the House finally reaches a tie-breaking vote.
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The Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison establishes judicial review, a principal stating that the Supreme Court has the final say in interpreting the Constitution.
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Napoleon sells the Louisiana Purchase to the United States, doubling its size.
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Thomas Jefferson orders the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana territory and find a water route to the Pacific ocean.
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Robert Fulton makes the first trip on the first practical steamboat. This invention helped to make transportation of people and goods faster and more efficient.
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Congress passes the Embargo Act, banning all trade with foreign countries, hurting the U.S. economy.
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Congress declared war on Britain because of British impressment of U.S. sailors, interference with U.S. shipping, and support of Native American resistance.
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Oliver H. Perry gains an imortant naval victory for the U.S. when he defeated the British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie.
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The British land in Maryland and burn the White House and the Capitol. Dolley Madison was able to save many important historical artifacts including a portrait of George Washington.
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Americans win important naval victory at the Battle of Lake Champlain.
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The bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British and the American victory that followed inspired Francis Scoot Key to write the Star-Spangled Banner, the United States' national anthem.
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The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812.
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The Monroe Doctrine is enunciated by President James Monroe. This document forbid further colinization of the Americas by other countries, stated that the U.S. would stay out of foreign affairs, and showed that the U.S. considered itself a world power and protector of the Latin Americas.
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The famous debate over states' rights between Daniel Webster of MA and Robert Hayne of SC.
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President Andrew Jackson issued the Indian Removal Act requiring states to make treaties that forced the Native Americans to move west to Indian Territory.
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Slave, Nat Turner lead an armed rebellion, killing 57 whites. Troops intervened resulting in 100 slaves killed. Nat Turner was tried and hanged.
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16,000 Cherokee Indians are forced to walk the "Trail of Tears". This journey resulted in many fatalities with 4,000 Cherokees dead when they reached Indian Territory.
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The first message is sent over the telegraph, invented by Samuel F. B. Morse. This invention allowed for faster communication and brought the nation closer together.
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The term "manifest destiny" is coined by a journalist to describe the expansion of the U.S. Manifest destiny became a government policy when James K. Polk was elected president.
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The War with Mexico began due to border disputes and Mexico's anger from the annexation of Texas.
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The U.S. signs a treaty with Britain extending the boundary in the Orgeon Territory to the 49th parallel.
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U.S. troops take over Mexico City.
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The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo is signed ending the War with Mexico. Claims to Texas California, and parts of other territories were ceded to the U.S. with the Mexican Cession.
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The Seneca Falls Convention is held in New York and is the first of its kind as well as the beginning of the Womens' Rights movement. It was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucrecia Mott.
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Gold is discovered in California, causing 80,000 hopeful prospectors to emigrate. People who participated in the California Gold Rush were called 49ers.
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Henry Clay passes the Compromise of 1850 which admitted California as a free state to please the North and abolished slave trade in Washington D.C. To please the South it passed a harsher version of the Fugitive Slave Act.
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Dred Scott, a slave, sued for his freedom when his former owner died. The Supreme Court ruled against Scott. Chief Justice Taney said that slaves could not become free in a free state, and that blacks were not considered citizens, basically ruling the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.
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Extreme abolitionist John Brown, who was also involved in "Bleeding Kansas", attacked Harper's Ferry along with 21 followers. Brown was tried and hanged for treason.
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Republican nominee, Abraham Lincoln was elected president. This made Southerners angry, as they were afraid Licoln wanted to abolish slavery when in fact Lincoln only wanted to stop the expansion of slavery.
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The election of Lincoln in 1860 was the last straw as sectional tensions that had been building finally cause the Southern Staes to suceed from the Union and form the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis as president.
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The Civil War begins when Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC in order to remove it from the Union's control.
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The Confederates gain confidence when they defeat the Union army at the first Battle of Bull Run.
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The Union gains an important victory when they capture New Orleans, the Confederacy's greatest port and center of trade.
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One of the bloodiest one-day battles of its time with each side losing over 2,000 men.
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Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed all slaves in the Confederacy. This was done as a military action to weaken the South.
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The Union wins a major battle at Gettysburg, PA. This battle was the turning point of the war.
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Confederate forces surrendered under seige by General Ulysses S Grant's Union troops. This was also a major victory for the Union as they had successfully split the Confederacy in two, weakening it by taking control of the Mississippi River.
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General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate army to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, ending the Civil War.
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President Lincoln was shot and killed at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C. by John Wilkes Booth.
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The 13th Amendment is ratified. This amendment banned all slavery in the U.S.
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The 14th amendment was ratified, granting citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.
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The 15th Amendment was ratified, stating that citizens cannot be stopped from voting "on account of race, clolr, or previous condition of servitude".
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