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The first slaves are brought to Jamestown on a Dutch slave ship to North America.
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The pilgrims signed the first governing document in Plymouth aboard the Mayflower.
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The Powhatans killed 347 colonists, which sparked the Second Anglo-Powhatan War.
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Peter Minuit buys Manhattan for items worth about 24 dollars from from Indigenous peoples.
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Massachusetts becomes the first colony to legalize slavery.
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The first livestock branding law is made in Connecticut. -
1650 is the year that the death rate starts to decline in the Virginia Colony.
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The King's sends commissioners to oversee what is going on in the colonies -
The Royal Africa Company is given a monopoly for the English trade of enslaved people.
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King William's War begins because tensions between the French and English in Europe spill over to the colonies.
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There was a violent slave revolt in 1712 in New York City which led to 9 whites being killed and 18 slaves being executed. New York declares it illegal for blacks, slaves, and Indians to kill other blacks, slaves, and Indians.
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Tea is introduced to the American Colonies for the first time. -
The Anglo-Spanish war breaks out. This was a war between Britain and Spain in which Britain unsuccessfully tried to blockade Porto Bello. -
Benjamin Franklin establishes the first public library in America. -
The first mass is celebrated in the only Catholic Church in all of colonial America in Philadelphia. -
George Washington is born in Virginia. -
The Molasses Act is passed by parliament which establishes heavy taxes on imported sugar, rum, and molasses from Caribbean islands not controlled by Britain.
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The first copper coins in the colonies are minted in Connecticut. -
The American Revolution started with the battle of Lexington and Concord.
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The Declaration of Independence is written and signed by all 13 colonies to establish their first official document as a country. -
The US purchased Louisiana from France for $15 million, about 4 cents an acre. It doubled the size of the US.
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This treaty established the northern boundary of the US as the 49th parallel from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains.
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This act reduced the price of land in the western US to encourage people to settle more westward.
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This railroad becomes the first railroad in America to offer commercial transportation of people and freight. -
The Democratic Party is formed.
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This newspaper is the first newspaper published by Native Americans in the US. -
President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act which led to the relocation of Indigenous Peoples. This led to the "Trail of Tears".
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Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter, which surrendered less than 34 hours later. This marks the start of the Civil War.
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Congress abolished slavery in DC and federal territories and authorized confiscation of slaves owned by Confederates.
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This panic triggered the first economic downturn called the 'Great Depression', which is now known as the Long Depression.