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Oct 12, 1492
Columbus lands in the New World
Columbus lands in the New World with his soldiers thinking it is India. He plants the Spanish flag and a flag representing Christianity in the name of God. -
Nov 13, 1500
The Spanish Empire
Hernan Cortez and Fransisco Pizzaro are two famous Spanish conquistadors who claimed America. They were set on finding gold for their country and making it wealthy. But with fortune came many diseases, putting and end to different civilizations. -
Nov 13, 1534
New France
Jacques Cartier was sent on a mission to find the Northwest passage from North America to the Pacific Ocean. Though he failed to find the Northwest passage, he managed to claim land for France, that is now known as Canada. -
The Lost Colony of Roanoke
Sir Walter Raleigh tried to start a colony near present-day North Carolina. He and his people were welcomed by the Indians and when their supplies ran low, they returned to England. In 1587, another group was sent to Roanoke. They arrived too late in the season, so their leader sailed back to England for more supplies. He was delayed in going to Roanoke for three years, but when he finally reached the island the colonists had dissapeared. Carved on the doorpost was "CROATOAN", a mystery. -
Jamestown: The First English Colony
The London Company was formed by a group of merchants so they could be a money making colony in Virginia. The colonists settled on a swampy peninsula, believing it would be easier to defend themselves there. They called this place Jamestown. -
Quebec- Trading Post
Samuel de Champlain sailed across St. Lawrence River and he built a trading post that he calls Quebec. Quebec is the base for soldiers, missionaries, fur traders, and explorers from France. -
New Netherland
Henry Hudson discovered a deep river full of fish. He assumed it would take him across the continent and though it didn't, he still claimed the land at the back of it for the Netherlands. They called it the Hudson Bay, wherethey built Fort Orange, now located in New York. They soon established fur trading posts, as good profits could be made. -
The Starving Time
Jamestown ran out of food to eat. Without Pocahontas, the Indians refused to trade with Jamestown. By Spring, 50 of the 600 people in Jamestown were alive. They ate dogs, rodents, and even human corpses to survive! -
Connecticut Becomes a Colony
In 1639 Thomas Hooker founded Connecticut, making it one of the 13 colonies. Connecticut had the first Written Constitution of all the 13 colonies. -
Proclamation of 1763
King George III of England told the Colonists that from now, they could stay only east of the Appalachian Mountains. They did this to avoid any conflict with the Native Americans. Colonists had no farm land on the east, and decided to try and push west anyway. In turn, King George III sent more men to make sure the colonists listened to him. -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp act was an act declaring that any piece of paper that was bought by anyone had to be bought with a stamp, therefore increasing the cost. The Stamp Act was enforced because after the war, the British did not have enough money. -
The Quartering Act
The Quartering Act declared that the Colonists all had to give British soldiers a place to stay and provide them with food, beer, candles, fire, salt, and many other things. The Colonists saw this as another way the British could tax them, so when the New York Assembly voted against providing soldiers with salt, vinegar and beer so the Parliament didn't let them meet. -
Townshend Act
The next British leader, Charles Townshend, decided to tax the Colonists for very popular everyday items such as paint, glass, paper and tea. The Colonists were outraged and boycotted the items. This resulted in huge loss of money for Britain. -
The Tea Act
Lord North enforced the Tea Act as a way to have complete control over the tea market by lowering the price of British tea and declaring Colonists could buy only British tea. However, the Colonists saw through their plan and when they saw the British coming in with three ships full of tea, three American men disuised themselves as Native Americans and threw all the tea into the sea! They threw a total of 90,000 pounds of tea into the sea! -
The Intolerable Act
The Intolerable Act declared that the soldiers had to pay for all the tea they dumped in the sea. The soldiers were to be held for trial in both Britain and Massachussetts. They rebelled, and in the end agreed to stay united. -
The Olive Branch Petition
The Congress sent a letter of peace to King George, asking to end all fights. But by the time the letter reached King George, he declared that the colonies were to be "open and avowed rebellion" and ordered ministers to "bring traitors to justice." It was then that the Colonists realized war was the only thing that would work. -
Lexington & Concord
The British decided to take action against the Colonists. They decided to attack Concord, where they were told the Colonists' had a stash of gunpowder. In the middle of the night, the British went to make a surprise attack, however when they were discovered, the Colonists attacked them at Lexington and moved their stash of gunpowder somewhere else. The minutemen attacked after seeing their possessions on fire, and the British fled. -
The Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress put George Washington as Commander in Chief for their Continental Army. Their army was made up of all the colonies combined. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
This was what led to the War of Independence between the British and the Colonists. At the top of the Breed and Bunker Hill, the Colonists had their militia build forts for security, while the British troops were told not to attack until the Colonists were in their eyesight. This had all worked out to the Colonists' advnatage until the third time the British attacked, when the Colonists' had run out of gunpowder and had to go back. -
The Seige of Boston (The British Abandon Boston)
Washington tricked the British into thinking they had 1,800 barrels of gurnpowder, when in fact, they only had 36. After finding gunpowder and heavy weapons, Washington led a seige on Boston. The seige scared 1,100 troops and loyalists to Canada. -
The Declaration of Independence
The Congress had selected Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence to Britain, which was later edited by Sam Adams and George Washington. The Declaration was signed by twelve out of thirteen colonies, and is now known as the "world's most famous break-up." -
Battle for New York
The British and American armies had decided to meet in Brooklyn, New York to have a battle. The American army was confident, but they lacked experience, and the British had lots of experience and many men, causing the Americans to retreat against them. After 2 days of fighting the British lost 377 men, while the Americans lost 1,407. -
Trenton
On Christmas morning, Washington and his troop ambushed the British troops, and when they arrived in Trenton, the British were asleep. They caught them by surprise, causing the British to surrender. Washington was able to capture 868 prisoners without any of his men dying. -
Saratoga
British General Burgoyne was on his way to meet British General Howe and on his way, even though they were outnumbered, he decided he would attack Saratoga Springs. They fought and fought, but the Americans stood strong, and eventually General Burgoyne accepted defeat. After this happened, the French and the Spanish decided to help the Americans, especially Lafayette and Freidrich von Steuben. -
Yorktown
The French and American troops set up a trap for British General Cornwallis and his troops in Yorktown. The Fench sent 8,000 troops and 20 warships to seal off Chesapeake bay, leaving Cornwallis cut off from the British Navy and any hope of rescue by sea. -
Ratification of the Articles of Confederation
The ratification of the Articles of Confederation took many years because of all the disagreements over the land in the west owned by some states, and many other complications. The first state to ratify was Virginia, and it was finally approved in 1781. -
The Treaty of Paris
Both British and Americans signed a peace treaty in Paris, ending the war. The British would now recognize America as an independent country, and the Americans promised to be nice to the British. -
Shay's Rebellion
Farmer Daniel Shay is thrown in jail for not being able to pay back the government for the money he borrowed to make produce for the French and American armies during the war. Protestors now have burned down courts in protest of the unjust act. -
Constitutional Convention
After the Articles of Confederation failed, there were two backup plans- the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey plan. Neither was chosen, there was a compromise of these plans. There would be a "House of Representitives" based on the population of each state and a "Senate", which gave each state two representatives. -
Ratification of the U.S. Constitution
The U.S. Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788. At least nine of thirteen states needed to approve of it, and after the Bill of Rights was added and everyone saw the new government was working out, enough of the states ratified. The Constitution focuses on a strong, but equal government. There are three branches to this government, the Legislative branch, the Executive branch, and the Judicial branch. These branches keep each other balanced. -
The Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana was a very big plot of land owned buy the French. By the 1800s, farmers had settled west of the Appalachians. The farmers were sending their crops to the New Orleans by the Mississippi River. Napolean, the French ruler, had plans to have French farmers settle all over Louisiana, which New Orleans was part of. Understanding how conerned the the American farmers were to get their crops to the market, President Thomas Jefferson bought Louisiana for $15 million -
Spain Gives Florida to the U.S.
After Spain refused to sell Florida to the U.S., slave owners in Georgia were very upset because many of their slaves had fled to Florida, as well as the fact that the Seminole Indians had raids on their land. Andrew Jackson was sent by president James Monroe to Georgia to end the raids. Jackson went in illegally and was asked to be tried and removed. Instead, the U.S. told Spain either they flee or fight, and Spain fled. -
Missouri Applies to be a Slave State
In 1819, Missouri applied to be a slave state. They did not need slaves as they were close to the Ohio river, and were in the north where slavery was banned. This upset the northerners because this gave the slave states more power, and slave could possibly spread up into the territories, which the northerners did not want. -
The "Trail of Tears"
The Trail of Tears was the journey the Indian tribes had to endure when the "whites" pushed them west for even more land. They went by foot, had no warm clothing, and many died on this journey. -
The Indian Removal Act
President Jackson wanted the Native American tribes to move into the "Indian Territory" (Oregon), so the "whites" could have more land. Even after tribes attempted to adapt the American culture, they still had to move. Some tribes moved willingly, while the Sac and Fox tribe resisted for two years. -
Texas is Annexed
Most of the population in Texas were Americans who wanted Texas to be a part of U.S. Texas had been an independent state for 10 years, and after James K. Polk was elected, Congress voted to annex Texas. -
Oregon Treaty
President James Polk had wanted to annex all of Oregon, however not to start war with Britain. So he agreed to a treaty that divided Oregon roughly in half at the 49th parallel, now the border between the U.S. and Canada. -
War with Mexico
After Polk had been elected president, he wanted even more land for the U.S. Congress declared war on Mexico, and after fighting for about a year, both sides agreed to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mexico gave California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico to America in return for $15 million. Rio Grande was the new border for Texas. -
The Fugitive Slave Law: Northerners
The fugitive slave law stated that all slave-owners could track down their run-away slaves and take them back to the south. It also stated that any person who tried to help run-away slaves could be jailed. The northerners were not pleased at all, as they helped the slaves, and were strongly against slavery. They did not want to follow this law, but could do nothing about it. -
John Brown's Raid-Southerners
John Brown, a man from the north, despised slavery very much. He decided to attack the arsenal in the south with several other men, for a slave rebellion. He was caught, and every single one of his men were killed. However, this upset the south because the north viewed John Brown as a hero rather than a lunatic, and if a slave rebellion did begin, there would be lots of bloodshed in the south. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President-Southerners
Abraham Lincoln, a Northerner who was strongly against slavery, was elected president of the United States in 1860. This upset the Southerners very much because they did not want to become a minority, and Lincoln was from the south. They certainly did not want him to abolish slavery, as they were dependent on slaves. -
The Civil War
The Civil War started on April 12, 1860, and ended on April 9, 1865. It started when twelve of the southern states of the United States seceded, calling themselves the Confederacy. The south of the United States were for slavery, while the north wasn't. There were several issues over slavery, and no compromise could make it work. So when anit-slavery Abraham Lincoln was elected president, the south seceded. This was the start of the war. And in the end, the south surrendered to the north.
