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New England Colonies
The 'Pilgrim Fathers' founded the first of these colonies. They were centred in Massachusetts and Boston was probably their biggest city with 25,000 people. -
Period: to
The Colonies - The American Revolution - Expansionism - The Civil War
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Middle Colonies
The biggest colonies there were New York and Pennsylvania. Many of them also had German, Dutch or Swedish ancestors rather than English ones. -
The Southern Colonies
They had hot and fertile river valleys and wealthy landowners farmed large plantations. Most of the work in the fields was done by black slaves. -
First ship with slaves
The first ship with slaves arrived to America. The Americans accepted the slaves but had uneasy consciences about this. -
American Style's Life
In all three groups of colonies most people still lived less than fifty miles from the coast. The lifestyle was pretty the same but only in the south the slavery was "needed" for prosperity. -
Self-government
All the English colonies in America shared a tradition of representative government. This means that in all of them white people had a say in how they were governed. Each colony had its own government with a governor chosen by the English king and the cooperation of the assemblies elected by the colonists. -
Seven Years War
After several wars earlier in the eighteenth century, Britain and France began fighting the Seven Years War (French and Indian War in America). In North America, France claimed to own Canada and Louisiana. -
Cities and Trade
In 1760s most Americans were farmers. But important towns like Boston, Philadelphia and New York had grown up in trading with Britain. However, the inter-American trade also started and helped to produce a feeling between the cities that they all belonged to the same American nation. -
Peace of Paris
The French and Indian War was ended by the Peace of Paris. France gave up its claim to Canada and all of North America east of the Mississippi River. -
The Royal Proclamation
To prevent war with the Amerindians tribes who lived in the area, the English king, George III issued a proclamation that forbade colonists to settle west of the Appalachians until proper treaties had been made with the Amerindians. But this did not like to the settlers. -
British taxes
When the Merchants saw an increasing tax obligation, they angered and refused. They believed that taxes on sugar, coffee and other goods would make it more difficult for them to trade a benefit. -
Stamp Act
In 1756 the Stamp Act intended to raise money to pay for the defence of the colonies. It said that the colonists had to buy special tax stamps and attach them to newspapers, licenses, and legal papers such as wills and mortgages. But the colonists strongly opposed. -
"No taxation without representation"
This became the American proclamation as 'freeborn Englishmen' because they did not have representatives in the British Parliament. Indeed, they organized opposition with a "Stamp Act Congress." -
Boston Massacre
It was an encounter between an anger mob and British soldiers. Samuel Adams, as a writer, wrote a letter with an inaccurately description about what happened but this grew up even more the anger against Britain. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of men from Massachusetts distinguished themselves as Mohawk Amerindians. They boarded British merchant ships in Boston harbor and threw 342 cases of tea into the sea. -
First Continental Congress
A group of colonial leaders came together in Philadelphia to oppose what they saw as British oppression. They claimed to be loyal to the British king, but they called upon all Americans to support the people of Massachusetts by refusing to buy British goods instead of the isolation because of the 'Intolerable Acts.' -
The Second Continental Congress
It was held in Philadelphia and started acting as the American government. They started to send representatives to Europe, especially France. -
Battle of Lexington
This was the first battle in what was to become the American Independence War. A group of British soldiers had marched silently out of Boston but they met with the American 'minutemen' and the battle cost eight minutemen lives. The Independence War had started. -
"The Crisis"
Americans were close to losing the war, they were not disciplined soldiers. However, a Republican writer, Thomas Paine, wrote this new pamphlet to encourage to the Americans. In times of difficult is still remembered: "These are times that try men's souls." -
The Declaration of Independence
It officially named the colonies "The United States of America." It sent the basis for a new form of government. This new definition of democratic government combined the ideas of the colonists' ancestors, the thinker John Locke and their own experience. The government should consist of representatives elected by people and they must protect the rights of the individual citizens. -
Battle of Saratoga
It was an important battle because the American army was losing the war but this time American forces captured the British army and sent back the soldiers captured to England -
France joined in the war
Due to the work of Benjamin Franklin, the ambassador in France, French king Louis XVI signed an alliance with the Americans. -
Final of War
George Washington, leading a combined American and French army surrounded English troops in Virginia. French ships arrived and trapped the British army, led by Cornwallis. He surrendered. The war was over. -
Treaty of Paris
When this treaty was signed, Britain officially recognized her former colonies as an independent nation. And, at the same time, more territories were granted to them. -
Weak central government
Each individual American state had its own government and behaved very much like an independent country. The weakness of its government made it difficult to win the respect or the help of foreign nations. -
Constitutional Convention of Philadelphia
Congress asked each state to send delegates to talk about some changes in the Articles of Confederation (agreed in 1781). The 55 delegates chose George Washington to lead their discussions. Most of them wanted a stronger central government, so they started to prepare the Constitution. -
Northwest Ordinance
It protected Amerindians' rights to land and liberty. The importance of the plan is that it made sure that the original thirteen lands were not able to control for their own benefit lands that were settled later. -
George Washington
He was elected as the first president of the United States. According to the Constitution, his job was to run the country's everyday affairs and to see that people obeyed the laws. -
Cotton Spinning Machine
Samuel Slater, as an English mechanic, memorized the plans of this machine and opened a mill with Moses Brown in Rhode Island. This turned the Northeast into a manufacturing region. -
Constitution of the United States
It went into effect after the majority of the citizens had voted in favour. It gave the U.S. a "federal" system of government. A central authority has the power to collect taxes, to organize forces, to make treaties with foreign countries and to control trade of all kinds. But the individual states still have a wide range of powers and the complete power was shared with the Congress and the Supreme Court. -
The first factory
At the end of the Independence War, the US was a land of farmers but in this year the Industrial Revolution started in the US with their first factory open. -
Bill of Rights
Its goal was to alter the original constitution in order to set up a say about the rights and freedom of individual citizens. It promised all Americans freedom of religion, a free press, free speech, the right to carry arms, the right to a fair trial by jury, and protection against "cruel and unusual punishments." -
Whiskey Rebellion
The federal had placed a tax on whiskey but the Pennsylvania farmers had refused to pay it. They burned down the houses of the federal tax collectors. Hence, Washington sent an army of 15,000 men to support the rights of the federal government and the rebellion collapsed without any fighting. -
Supreme Court Power
After a legal case known as "Marbury v. Madison", the Court's new Chief Justice stated that the Supreme Court has the power to decide whether particular American laws are according to the Constitution. This power became known as the "power of judicial review." This is that the Supreme Court is the final authority in deciding the meaning of the Constitution. -
Louisiana purchase
Louisiana was purchase from France because Napoleon needed money to fight against Britain. The expansionism had started. -
Oregon
Four countries claimed to own Oregon: Russia, Spain, Britain and the United States. Russia owned Alaska, and Spain ruled California. But in Oregon the British and Americans were in the strongest position. -
Slaves
There were 1.2 million of people living in America as slaves by this time. Even the leaders of the revolution that said "that all men are created equal" like Jefferson and Washington had slaves. -
Britain War
Britain and France were at war (1803-1815) and this interfered with American trade. But when the British took American seamen to fight in the war, the Congress declared war to Britain. -
Peace Treaty
In this year the US and Britain signed a peace treaty, although some weeks later Britain attacked New Orleans and was defeated by Andrew Jackson's army. In addition, the war impeded the US from trading, so they started making their own manufactured goods. -
President James Monroe
First, the government tried to keep the peace with the Amerindians by making treaties. However, soon after this, the situation changed. That's why the president said: "The only way for the Amerindians to survive is being moved to other land, further west." -
The Missouri Compromise
It was decided that slavery would be permitted in Missouri and Arkansas but banned in lands to the west and north of Missouri. -
Cotton gin by Eli Whitney
This invention made possible a huge increase in the amount of cotton grown by southern planters. But their prosperity depended upon in bringing more slaves to do the job. -
The Cherokees
They were an Amerindian people who suffered greatly from the Indian Removal policy. By the early 19th century the Cherokees had changed themselves from a Stone Age tribe into a civilized community. But, they were driven off from their homes and Congress declared that their lands belonged to the state of Georgia. -
The Trail of Tears
In the bitterly cold winter of 1838, the American soldiers gathered thousands of Cherokee men, women and children, and drove them west. The nightmare journey lasted almost five months. More than 4,000 of the Amerindians (25% of them) were dead. -
European Immigrants
Most immigrants came from Europe and were running from wars and famine. They were 5 million per year. A lot of them were from Ireland. During the Civil War, the federal government encouraged more immigration from Europe by offering them land in exchange of them serving as soldiers for the Union. By 1895, more than half of the immigrants entering the US were from the South or East part of Europe. Many Jewish people came to the US at this time, as they were being massacred all over Europe. -
Railroads crossing the Great Plains
When railroads started crossing the Great Plains, Amerindians let them pass without problems. However, after a couple of years, white people started to stay there and plough the land. At first Amerindians tried to drive the newcomers away from their hunting land, but it was impossible, so they madre treaties with Washington. -
Oregon Trail and Fever
The explorers Lewis and Clark did a special journey throughout the United States territory in 1805 in order to find an earth way to go to the Pacific Ocean. This became known as the Oregon Trail. And in 1843 the Oregon Fever started when many people took that trail with the aim of going to Oregon and, as settlers, outnumbered the British. -
Texas
Thousands of Americans had settled in Texas, but up to the 1830s it was ruled by Mexico. The Texans came to dislike Mexican rule. In 1835, they rebelled and in 1836 they became an independent republic. However, they wanted their country to join the United States. Eventually, the two countries reached an agreement and Texas became a state of the US. -
Oregon Treaty
After that Americans had left their worn-out farms in the East and set off for the West. The settlers were most American in Oregon, so the United States and Britain made a treaty and Oregon was finally annexed. -
Mexican - American War
There was a fighting between American and Mexican soldiers along the border between Texas and Mexico. President Polk saw an opportunity to take land from Mexico and he declared war. Soon after, they occupied Mexico City, the country's capital. -
Mexican Territories
The Mexican-American War was ended by a peace treaty signed in February 1848. The treaty forced Mexico to hand over enormous stretches of its territory to the United States. Today these lands form the American states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado. -
Gold in California
A group of workmen found gold in California. Men and women from all over the US territory hurried to the gold fields to make themselves rich. By the spring of 1849, people from all over the world were rushing to California to look for gold. -
The Manifest Destiny
The annexation of the Mexican lands completed the "manifest destiny" of the United States. It now stretched across the North American continent from ocean to ocean. -
Fugitive Slave Act
It made easier for southerns to capture slaves who had escaped from their masters. The law called severe penalties to those who assisted these black people. Slave owners offered rewards ("bounties") for the return of runaway slaves. -
The Great Plains
In these years, people crossed the Great Plains to reach the farms of Oregon and the gold mines of California. The gold discoveries attract people not only to California, but also Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and the Dakota Country. Thousands of miles separated these settlements from the rest of the United States. -
Amerindians lands
The Amerindians started to realise that they needed to made treaties with Washington. So they started by groups. In 1851 the Pawnee signed away an area which today is Nebraska. In 1858 the Sioux gave up another big area in South Dakota. And then in 1860 the Comanche and the Kiowa gave up lands in Kansas, Colorado and Texas. In return, the government promised to leave the Amerindians in peace. -
The Underground Railroad
At this time it was the peak of the Underground Railroad. It was a railroad system that transported slaves during the night to Canada, where they would be free. -
"Bleeding Kansas"
This happend when the Congress ended the Missouri Compromise and let Kansas decide whether to own slaves or not. A race for the control of Kansas began: there was so much killing and violence that the state to be called this way. Neither side won the struggle. -
The States' Rights Doctrine
John Calhoun raised this idea: a state had the right to disobey federal law if the state believed that the law would harm its interests. But it was strongly denied by Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts: the power to decide whether the federal authorities were acting rightly or not belonged to the Supreme Court. -
The Confederate States of America
Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, along the provisional governments of Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, voted to secede from the United States. They were now an independent nation, often known as the Confederacy. -
The first Civil War battle
Confederacy forces opened fire in Fort Sumter, South Carolina, which was occupied by United States' troops (the Union). This marked the beginning of the war. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
It was passed by Lincoln and declared that all slaves living in the Confederacy were to make free. This changed the focus of the war from secession to protecting slavery. -
Homestead Act
During the civil war, Congress passed the Homestead Act. It offered free farms in the West to families of settlers (including immigrants). All they had to do was move to a piece of public land and live there for five years. After that, the land became theirs. They could also buy it after 6 months for a low price. Besides, transcontinental railroad companies provided settlers with cheap land, and even shipped immigrants across the Atlantic. -
The Civil War context
The Confederacy was led by Jefferson Davis, and the Union by Lincoln. The decision to support one or another it was difficult sometimes, because it could mean to split families. The North had more men and material resources but needed to invade the South. The South only needed to hold on. -
The biggest battle fought in the US
The Confederate forces marched into Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, but found the Union blocking their way. Union forces won and the Confederacy would never recover from this defeat. This battle was a slaughter. -
The Union march
The Union had been losing battles in Virginia, but then started to had more luck splitting the territory. The Union marched into Georgia, and occupied Savannah. Then they marched to North and South Carolina, burning and destroying everything they encountered in the way. With this strategy, they opened their way to reach Virginia, the Confederacy's capital. -
The Confederacy surrender
The Confederacy last army led by General Lee had been forced to abandon the capital, and an Union army led by General Grant had trapped. They met in Appomattox and Lee surrendered his army. Grant treated the defeated Confederate soldiers generously. At the end, he said:"The war is over. The rebels are our countrymen again." -
13th Amendment
This amendment abolished completely slavery. When a state voted to accept the 13th Amendment to the Constitution Johnson intended that it should be accepted back into the Union as a full and equal member. -
President Lincoln assassinated
President Lincoln was assassinated in Washington in a theater, just a couple days after the end of the Civil War. The gunman was an actor named John Booth, he was captured a few days later, hiding in a barn in the Virginia countryside. Lincoln was succeeded by Andrew Johnson, his vice president. -
Civil Rights Act
Congress passed this act, despite opposition from the President. It also set up an organization called the Freedmen's Bureau. Both were intended to ensure black people's rights in the South. -
14th Amendment
This Amendment gave blacks the right to citizenships, including the right to vote. All former Confederates except Tennessee refused to accept it. -
The Reconstruction Act
Once the Congress passed, this act placed all white government in the South under military rule. They would be able to elect their government again only if they accepted the 14th Amendment. -
Cowboys
In the years of the Civil War (1861-1865), Texas cattle owners hired “drovers” or “cowboys” to drive their cattle to the railroads. Many were Confederate soldiers, others were black ex-slaves, and others were farmers. So by this year, new towns had grown where trails met railroads. The first of these cattle towns was Abilene, in Kansas. As the railroad moved west, other cattle towns were built, as well as slaughter towns that prepared and sold meat. -
Fort Laramie Treaty
This treaty declared that large areas within the Missouri river and the Rocky Mountains belonged to the Sioux. It gave a solemn promise that the lands would remain Sioux property "as long as the grass should grow and the water flow." -
Railroads
In 1862 Congress had granted money to the Union Pacific Railroad Company to build a railroad west from the Mississippi towards the Pacific. At the same time it gave a grant to the Central Pacific Railroad Company to build eastwards from California. The two railroad lines finally met in 1869. This mark an important connection for trade, people and developments. -
Reconstruction governments
All southern states had "Reconstruction governments", most were made up of blacks, some northerners and some southerners. Most white southerners supported the Democratic political party, who claimed that these governments were incompetent and dishonest. There was some truth in this claim because of the inexperienced and poorly education. But they also contained honest men who tried to improve the South. -
Ku Klux Klan
White southerners organized terrorist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, who was the largest and most feared secret society. It members dressed themselves in white sheets and wore hoods to hide their faces. They rode by night through the southern countryside, beating and killing any blacks who tried to improve their position. -
The Black Hills
In this year, American soldiers found gold in the Black Hills but these were sacred to the Sioux. So The Sioux refused to sell the Black Hills, but the government ignored them, broke the treaty and allowed prospectors and miners to enter the Black Hills. By this year, white settlers had driven the buffalo to the brink of extinction, which was a problem for the Sioux. This action was supported by some people who believed this was the way to end Amerindian resistance. -
Centennial Exposition
The US celebrated the 100 year anniversary of their independence with the Centennial Exposition. One of its attractions was the Machinery Hall, full of inventions and machines. New deposits of iron and carbon were found, and they started using these materials to build new machines. The industries of the US were bigger and more important than the farmlands. These industries were led by powerful and rich men but most of them had began their lives in poverty. "The American Dream" had started. -
Little Big Horn
This was an important battle for the Amerindians (specially for the Sioux) because the American soldiers were defeated. The government had decided to force them to abandon their way of life and put them into reservations. These areas were unfarmable land, but they were outnumbered and unarmed. So when the Amerindians won this battle, US citizens were outraged and more soldiers were sent to the West. The Sioux were too weak to fight back, so they surrendered and were taken to reservations. -
Congress withdraw
The use of violence and fear helped white racists regain control of state government in the South. In 1877 Congress withdraw federal troops from the South. Black people were more and more treated as "second class citizens" and robbed of their right to vote. -
Important Inventors
Some important characters had contributed to the Industrial Revolution in the US. For example, by this year, Thomas Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company. But also Andrew Carnegie (1835 - 1919) invested money in the iron and steel business and by 1869 he controlled the companies in charge of bridges, rails and locomotives. Or Henry Ford (1863 - 1947) who started in the automobile industry in the 1890s. -
The Great Plains divided
Twenty five years after the end of the Civil War, the Great Plains had been divided into states and territories, occupied by farmers, ranchers and shepherds. The "Great American Desert" had started its change. -
Assian Immigrants
In 1882 all Asian immigrants had been banned. This lasted until after WWII. The anti-Chinese feeling had started long ago when the Chinese laborers were willing to work for less pay or the fact that the Americans felt threatened by people with different language and different racial appearance. The Asian people were massacred and made redundant for these reasons too. -
Black Codes
White southerners were horrified and wanted to resist the Congress measurements, so they started to pass this "codes" that did not allow black people to access education, land or jobs. They also refused black people the right to vote. -
"The Ghost Dance"
A religious prophet told the Sioux to dance a special dance, “the Ghost Dance”, which would bring their dead warriors to life while at the same time the buffalo would return and the white settlers would go away. It was a peaceful movement, but it worried the government. So when some Siouxs tried to left their reservation in order to do it, they were stopped. After a quarrel with the American army, shots were fired and within minutes most of the Sioux were dead or severely injured. -
The Great Plains farmed
The Great Plains had never been ploughed before and the roots on the ground were very thick. Lack of water was another problem, and so was fire and insects.Gradually, farmers began to overcome this problems, especially with the help of machinery manufactured in big cities. Before the end of the 19th century, wheat farmed in the Great Plains was not only feeding the US but also some parts of Europe. -
Ellis Island
This kind of office opened in New York. All intended immigrants were examined there before they were allowed to enter. It dealt with 2000 immigrants a day in its busiest times. More than 20 million people went through this process until 1954. Almost half of the all present-day Americans have ancestors who entered the United States by way of Ellis Island. -
Segregation
Some states introduced segregation, made legal by 1896 Supreme Court ruling: the Constitution allowed separate facilities and services to be provided for black and white people as long as the facilities were of equal quality. Their claim was "separate but equal", but the reality was so far to be equal. -
Black lives consequences
Segregation was enforced on trains, in parks, in schools, and even cemeteries. Any black who dares to break these segregation laws was likely to end up either in prison or dead. In the 1890s an average of 150 blacks were killed illegally - "lynched" - by white mobs. -
South trickes
Some states prevented blacks from voting by introducing a poll tax, which was so high that black people could not pay it. Other states introduced "Grandfather clauses" that allowed the vote only to people whose grandfathers had qualified to vote in 1865, but most blacks had only obtained the vote in 1866. -
End of the 19th Century
Thanks to the immigration force of work and the forced industrial revolution, the US had ended the century being the richest and most productive industrial country in the world.
