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Arriving in Massachusetts
The first Puritan emigrants, who are later called the Pilgrims, sailed across the Atlantic on the Mayflower and found the Plymouth Colony in 1620. John Winthrop was the Puritans' main leader and he led a large group of them to America. They began to establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony and formed a republic where they elected a governor, deputy governor, and assembly. -
Religious Dissenters Form New Colonies
Puritans immigrated to form a society that was based on the morals of the Bible rather than one where all faiths would be accepted. This meant that people like the Quakers who advocated for religious tolerance were not always welcome. -
Salem Witch Trials
New England Colonies became paranoid that were witches living among them and prosecuted suspected witches. Often times sick children and cattle led to a suspect of evil magic. The suspected witches had to be identified, prosecuted, and neutralized. -
Albany Plan Of Union
Drafted by Benjamin Franklin, the Albany Plan of Union called on the colonies to unite under British rule and to cooperate with one another in war. The plan also created an American continental assembly that would include delegates from each colony. -
Different Ideas About Representation
The British constitution was not a formal document but a collection of laws and traditions accumulated. The colonists' rights, however, had been traditionally spelled out in formal legal documents. By 1760, the political upheaval Britain and European had enabled the elected colonial assemblies to increase their powers at the expense of royal governors. -
Pontiac's Rebellion
Native Americans from several different tribes attacked British forts in the Ohio River valley and along the Great Lakes because the British cut off delivery goods to them. They also raided settlements in western Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. These attacks were named Pontiac's Rebellion after an Ottawa chief named Pontiac who organized an attack on Detroit. -
Rebellion Fizzles
Without a European supplier, the Native Americans ran out of gunpowder, shot, and guns, causing the rebellion to fizzle. Simultaneously, the British government sought a quick end to the expensive war and recalled Amherst. -
The Sugar Act
In 1764, George Grenville, the new prime minister, proposed raising money by collecting duties already in effect. The Sugar Act, which lowered the foreign duty on molasses, was put into effect. -
British Government is Far From Democratic
Democracy seemed dangerous in a society where people inherited wildly unequal property and status. Lord North, the British prime minister, insisted, "I can never acquiesce in the absurd opinion that all men are equal." -
XYZ Affair
The XYZ Affair was a diplomatic incident between the French and the United States that lead to the Quasi-War. An American diplomat commission was sent to France in July 1797 to solve problems that were threatening to break out into war. -
Kentucky Resolutions
The Kentucky Resolutions treated the Constitution as an agreement reached among the states and made it so the federal government could not do anything that was not authorized in the Constitution. The Kentucky Resolutions, therefore, made the Alien and Sedition acts void. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by Congress in 1798. These acts made it harder for immigrants to vote and made it more lawful to deport foreigners. -
The Louisiana Purchase
The United States acquired 828 million square miles of territory from France and drastically increased the size of the young republic. Part or all of 15 states were created from this massive land purchase and it is considered to be one of Jefferson's greatest achievements during his presidency. -
Lewis and Clark
President Jefferson asked Meriwether Lewis to explore lands west of the Mississippi River that comprised of the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis chose William Clark to be his partner on the expedition. The journey lasted over two years and many new plant life and animal species were discovered along the way. This exploration trip was extremely successful an beneficial to the U.S. -
Embargo Act
The Embargo Act was Jefferson's reaction to the French seizing American ships. It allowed vessels to transport American goods from foreign ports. -
Invention of the Steamboat
The invention of the steamboat was the first major advance in transportation. The steamboat ran by burning wood or coal and boiling the water to create steam. The steam rotated a large paddle which propelled the boat through the water. The first successful commercial steamboat, designed by Robert Fulton, was the Clermont. Before the steamboat, it took months to travel from New Orleans to Louisville, Kentucky, but with the steamboat, the journey took about twenty days. -
Tariff of 1816
In 1816, President Madison proposed a tariff that would tax all imported goods by an average of 20 to 25 percent and protect American industry. The inflated price for imported goods pushed Americans to purchase products made in the United States. Although the tariff helped industry, it hurt farmers because they had to pay higher prices for consumer goods. -
Missouri Compromise
In 1819, the U.S. had an equal amount of slave and free states and the admission of Missouri to the Union would make the number of slave states to free states unequal and tip the balance in favor of the South. In response, Henry Clay crafted the Missouri Compromise. This consisted of Massachusetts entering the Union as the free state of Maine and it also drew an imaginary line across the southwestern corner of Missouri to the western boundary. Territories south of that line were slave states. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was a foreign policy doctrine set forth by President Monroe in 1823 that discouraged European intervention in the Western Hemisphere. Monroe and Adams were eager to protect the new republics of Latin America from European powers. Britain also wanted to keep European powers out of Latin America and offered to united with the U.S., however, Adams and Monroe preferred to act without a British partner. -
Lowell Mill Girls
Lowell girls were young female workers, typically between the ages of 15 and 35, who came to work in industrial corporations. In 1834 and 1836, the Lowell girls held strikes when their wages were cut and their employers increased their charges for boarding. They left their jobs and temporarily shut down the factory. However, these strikes failed to achieve their goals. The women eventually had to return and accept the reduced pay.
