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Jan 1, 1500
Spanish Borderlands
The Spanish Borderlands were claimed by Spain and Mexico in the 1500s. -
The Puritans of Massachusetts
The Puritans of Massachusetts believed that all people needed to be able to read and understand the Bible. In 1642, they passed a law requiring all large towns to hire teachers and build schools. -
Industrial Revolution
During the 1700s the Industrial Revolution starts taking place. During this time machines took the place of hand tools. -
The Water Frame
Richard Arkwright invented the water frame,a spinning machine powered by running water rather than human energy. -
Pennsylvania Against Slavery
Pennsylvania becames the first state to pass a law that gradually elimate slavery. -
British Workers
By 1784, British workers were producing 24 timesas much thread as they had in 1765. -
Samual Slater
Samual Slater (Arkwright's apprentice) moved to ther U.S. There, Slater constructed machines based on Arkwright. -
Steam Powered Textile Plant.
Arkwright bulit the first steam powered textile plant. -
Interchangeable Parts
American inventor Eli Whitney devised a system of interchangeable parts, identical pieces that could be assembled quickly by unskilled workers.(Picture shows interchangeable parts for muskets) -
Northern Cities
New York had a population a little more than over 33,000. It was considered the largest. Yet now days these cities are considered as being small. -
Cotton
Planters grew one and a half million pounds of cotton during this time. -
Population of Enslaved African Americans
The population of enslaved African Americans in the U.S is 698,000 -
Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney makes the cotton gin. Some think Catherine Littlefield Greene may have helped, but at the time women didn't have some rights. -
Cotton Gin Patented
Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin. -
Public Schools in Massachusetts
By the early 1800s, Massachusetts was still the only state to require public schools. In other states, children from wealthy families were educated privately, whereas poor children generally received no education outside the home. -
Fertile Land
The Northeast was claimed as fertile land by the U.S, Great Britain , Russia and Spain in the 1800s. -
The Plains
Settlers in 1800s weren't attracted to The Plains. -
Romanticism
By the early 1800s, a new artistic movement started taking place in Europe, it was called Romanticism. Romantics placed greater value on nature, emotions, and imagination. -
Southwestern Culture
Combo of ethnic groups create a distinct Southwestern culture. Theses groups include Spanish, Africans , and Native Americas. -
Urbanization
During the 1800s, many cities in the U.S started to grow larger. It was in fact due to the Industrial Revolution causing urbanization, which is the growth of cities due to movement of people of rural areas to cities. -
The Second Great Awakening
In the beginning of the early 1800s, a new generation of ministers challenged tradition ways. This movement would become to be known as The Second Great Awakening. -
Louisiana Purchase
Representatives of the United States and Napoleonic France conclude negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase. It was purchased from France for $15 million. The purchase doubled the size of America. The territory gained was between the Mississippi and the Rcoky Mountains, with the exceptions of Texas, parts of New Mexico and land controlled by America already. -
Slavery
By 1804, every northern state had ended or pledged to end slavery. -
Lewis & Clark
The Lewis & Clark expedition first sights the Pacific Ocean. -
The Steam Boat
Robert Fulton made the first successful steam boat ( he didn't invented it though) .Fulton's North Rver Steam Boat or also known as Clermont first launched on this day. It travelled from New York City fom Albany, It soon entered into commerical services becoming one of the first long-lasting and financially successful steamboat business. -
African Americans Keep Their Customs
After 1808, it was illegalto import enslaved Africans to the United States. As a result, African Americans had little direct contact to no contact with Africa. But this didn't stop them from continuing their customs, dances and playing their music. Many found hope in the Bible. -
Francis Cabot Lowell
During the war of 1812 Americans needed to supply their own goods. Francis Cabot Lowell visits England before the war, and sees their machines. When he returns he builds an improved version of the English machines. -
Idustrialization Begins in the Northeast
U.S industry didn't grow until the War of 1812, when Americans could no longer rely on imported goods. -
The War of 1812
America (President Madison signs the declaration of war) declares war on Great Britain. Which would be the beginning of the 3 year conflict as known as the War of 1812. -
War of 1812 (- 1815) Ends
The Peace Treaty is ratified and President Madison declares the war is over. -
African American Start to Go Their Own Way
Turned awy from white congregations , African Americans form thier own churches. For example peope who had been freed from slavery started the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. -
The American Colonization Society
The American Society, established in 1816, was an early antislavery organization. The organization became offical at a meeting at the Davis Hotel in Washington, D.C. John Randolph, Henry Clay and Richard Bland Lee were the early supporters of this organization and were at the meeting. -
Francis Cabot Lowell
Francis Cabot Lowell dies at the age of 41. -
Florida
Florida is ceded by Spain. -
The Industrial Revolution
The industrial revolution opened the way for new developments in technology, which changed the way people worked. -
Cotton Increase
Planters grow ten times as much cotton as they did in 1790, which was one and a half million pounds. -
Women Rights
During the 1820s, Women rights were very limited. -
Appalachians and the Mississippi River
Most of the land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River had been settle by the 1820s. -
Unique American Style
After 1820, artist started to create a unique American style rather than a have European style. -
Mexico Becomes Independent
Mexico becomes independent. This same year, American traders are travelling to the Southwest along the Santa Fe Trail. -
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail is opened by William Becknell. -
Education For Women: The Troy Female Seminary
Emma Willard starts an Academy in Troy, New York that soon would become the model for girls' schools everywhere. This school attracted the daughters of many wealthy people. -
Liberia
The Colonization Society proposed that slaves be freed gradually and transported to Liberia , a colony founded in 1822 on the west coast of West Africa -
New Harmony
Robert Owen founded a utopian community in Indiana in 1825. He called this colony New Harmony -
Charles Finney
Charles Finney was one of the most important preachers of the new generation ( The Second Great Awakening). Charles Finney heled the first of many religious revivals in 1826. A revival is also known as a huge outdoor religious meeting. In no time Finney and other preachers were giving revivals everywhere across the nation. Some revivals could last at least a week. -
Lowell, Massachusetts
After the death of Francis Cabot Lowell, his partners build a new town named after him. On this day, Lowell was incoporated as a town with a population of 2,500. The factories in the town were staffed with young women referred to as "Lowell Girls." -
Freedom's Journal
The first newspaper owned and runned by African Americans by the name of " Freedom's Journal" is founded and published in New York. -
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Are Chartered
Chapter 123 of the Session Law of Maryland passes ,which charters the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which would became the U.S first railway for commerical transport of passengers and goods. -
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Commonwealth of Virginia charters the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. -
Slave Codes
Laws known as slave cods controlled every aspect of a slaves live. As a Kentucky court ruled " A slave by our code is not treated as a person but as a thing." Many enslave African American workers became skilled workers, though. -
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Construction Begins
Construction for America's the Baltimore and Ohio railroad begins, -
Rebel: It's Necessary
"Appeal: to the Coloured Citizens of the World" was published during 1829 written by David Walker telling enslaved people they needed to rebel. -
Social Reforms
Many Americans become interested in social reforms or organized events to improved conditions of life. -
First American made Locomotive
Peter Cooper built the first American made steam locomotive -
Disagreements on Slavery Start
Unlike people in the South, some people in the North urged slavery should be banned. In response , Southern whites hardened their support for slavery. -
African Americans in Liberia
By 1830 only about 1,400 African Americans had travelled to Liberia -
Conflict With Mexico
Mexico bans American settlement since Mexico abolishes slavery and due to the fact the settlers weren't Catholic. But Americans keep entering Texas. So they enforce more laws and levy heavy tax on American goods. -
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith, a New York farmer , who was a mormon. He stated that heavenly vision revealed to him a text of a holy book called " The Book Of Mormons" -
Resistance to Slavery
Resistance usually becomes rebellion, One of the most famous slave revolt was led by Nat Turner during 1831. He said that he had a vision that told him to kill whites. So, he and others killed 60 whites but in reprisal innocent African Americans were executed. -
William Lloyd Garrison
In 1831 William Lloyd Garrison launched an abolitionist newspaper, the Liberator. Garrison was one of the most powerful voices for abolition. He wished to put an end to slavery. The Liberator became the nation's leading antislavery newspaper for 34 years, ending when slavery did. Garrison as co-founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society which later become the American Anti-Slavey Society. -
Dictatorship In Mexico
General Antionio Lopez de Santa Anna becomes President of Mexico.He turns Mexico's democratic constitution and started a dictatorship, or a one-person rule. -
Mechanical Reaper
Cyrus Hall McCormick patented the mechanical reaper, with help from his family he invented it. This invention made it easier for farmers to settle the prairies of the Midwest. Inventions like this helped speed up harvesting and this affected the industry.For example cities like Cincinnati grew as both agricultural and industrial centers. -
William Lloyd Garrison Mistreated
Due to the fact William Lloyd Garrison was against slavery he was dragged through the streets of Boston with a rope around his neck. -
First Child Labor Law
Massachusetts becomes the first to pass an actual law prohibiting children under fifteen years of age from working in factories. That law also required children to attend school for at 3 months in the last year. -
Texas becomes Independent
Texans declare indenpence from Mexico and creates the Republic Of Texas. -
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary: First College For Women
Mary Lyon opened Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1837 in Massachusetts. It became the firs college for women in the U.S even though at the time she opened it , it she didn't call it that. -
John Quincy Adams
In 1839, former President John Quincy Adams as part of congress read antislavery petitions to the House Of Representives. He proposed a constitutional amendment that would ban slavery in every new state joining the Union. -
Population Increase
Large population due to immagrants ( caused by The Great Hunger). -
Population Continues to Grow
Cities in the eastern coast started to become crowded as a result many immagrants went west. Pittsburgh Pennsylvania,had at least 23,000 people. -
North and South Divided
Th North and the South had started to became divided due thier issues with slavery. -
China Has Problems
During the 1840s, China's economy was in trouble. Many Chinese men had gone to California, about 45,000 men to be exact. So when they came back they had enough man to take care of thier families. So since China didn't pay there workers enough money, they had left. -
Lucretia Mott
A Quaker by the name of Lucretia Mott had spent years working on the antislavery movement. In 1840 she then moved to London. -
Children Work Days and Laws
Massachuetts limits children's work days to 10 hours. Other states start passing similar laws but they aren't enforced that much. -
The Telegraph
Samuel F.B. Morse invented the telegraph, a device that used electrical signals to send messages quickly over long distances. His invention worked by sending electrical signals over a wire. His invention used the Morse code. -
Mormons In Illinois
By 1844, Mormons had moved up to Nauvoo, Illionis. There Joseph Smith was killed by an angry mob. -
The Telegraph By Samuel F.B Morse is tested.
He tested it by wiring a message from Washington to his assistant in Baltimore. His message was " What hath God wrought?" and a few minutes later a response from Baltimore came back. -
The Great Hunger
A fungus destroyed the potato crops the Irish had. This lead to famine or widespread starvation due to the fact that most British landlords owned the best farmland and so potatoes were the staple , or basic, food most of the Irish population had. The years that followed are often called The Great Hunger. Millions died due to starvation and a million more left Ireland. -
German Revolution
Germans came to American at about the same time as the Irish. Due to the fact that they had taken part in revolutions against harsh rules. When those revolutions failed, the German fled to the U.S. Most German moved to the west. Many settled in the Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes region -
Sewing Machine
Elias Howe made a machine that sew seams in fabric. -
Oregon Country
U.S gains Oregon Country after an agreement with Britain -
Jouney to Great Salt Lake
Brigham Young becomes the new leader of the Mormons after Joseph Smith's death. He know Nauvoo is no longer safe and leads a group of Mormons on a long and dangerous journey to Great Salt Lake. Over the next years about Mormon families make their way to Utah. -
Utah is know part of the U.S
As a result of the Mexican Cession, Utah becomes part of the United States. -
The Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Falls Convention launched the women's right movement. -
Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Lucretia Mott met Elizabeth Cady Stanton while in London, when going to an international antislavery covention. When told they couldn't attend the convention because they were women, Mott and Stanton decided to start a convention for advance women's right. In the summer of 1848 their convention took place in Seneca Falls, New York. The Seneca Falls Convention attracted over 300 men and women. -
Mormons Have Hard Time In Utah
Though Utah was a safe refudge for the Mormons , it wasn't so great at being hospitable. The Mormon's first harvest was nearly destoryed by enormous swarms of crickets. But some seagulls from the Pacific ate them. The Mormons then tried improving the land they had. -
The Gold Rush Begins
After James Marshall found a nugget of gold in a ditch, whiile building a sawmill on John Slutter's land. John Slutter tried keeping it a secret but the news spread and soon "forty-niners" people who came looking for gold, started to arrive. The population of California went from 14,000 to 100,000 . It raised by about 80,000, those mostly fortune seekers. -
Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell graduates from Geneva Medical College in New York in January 1849, becoming the first women to graduate from an American medical school -
The Sale of Alchohol
During the 1850s, supporters of prohibitiongot nine states to pass laws banning the sale of alcohol. -
Big Increase In Population
The population of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania doubles from ten years ago, when it had about 23,000 people. -
Urban Problems
Growing cities faced many problems like filthy streets, lack of clean water, spread of dieases, and citywide fires -
Yankee Clippers
A new type of American-bulit appeared. The clipper ships were long and slender, with tall masts. They were also magnificent and swift vessel, they were the world's fastest ships. -
British Ships
Great Britain was producing oceangoing steamships. These ironclad steamships were faster and could carry more cargo than the American-built Yankee clipper. Taking its place in fastese ship in the world place. -
Abolish Slavery
By the mid 1800s ( 1850s) , a small but growing number of people were abolitionists, reformers who wanted to abolish slavery, or, end ,slavery. -
Roles Of Women During the Gold Rush
The ratio of men to women in California who are forty-niners is 12 to 1. Women in California are working in stores, hotels, resturants, landuaries, and boardinghouses. -
African Americans in California
Several thousand free African Americans were living in California at this time. -
Mexicans in California
The population of Mexicans in Califorina had decreased. At this time only 15% of Californians were Mexican. In a constituational convention that was held only 8 out of the 48 delegates were Californios(Mexicans). -
American Culture Starts to Grow
By the mid 1800s , Americans writers and artists got inspiration for their work from European styles. -
Population Increase Further West
The city of Kentucky, Louisiana was growing, German and Irish immigrants had increase the population the the city to 43,000. Louisiana was becaming larger than Washington D.C. -
Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne
Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne began to change American literature and how it was looked at. Herman Melville novel " Moby-Dick" is considered one of the greatest American novels. -
Australian Gold Rush
The Australian Gold Rush begins. -
Compulsory Education
In 1852 Massachusetts became the first state to pass a law that required all children to attend school up to a certain age. This was known as compulsory education. -
Gadsden Purchase of 1853
The U.S paid Mexico $10 million for a narrow strip of present-day Arizona and New Mexico. Manifest Destiny had been achieved. -
Walden
Henry DavidThoreau wrote a book , entitled Walden in 1854, in which he urged people to live simply. Thoreau influenced leaders like Martin Luther King. Jr. -
India
India is now underthe control of the British goverment. -
New England and Middle Atlanic
New England and Middle Atlanic states produce most of the nation's manufactured goods. -
Population of Enslaved African Americans Increases By a Lot
The population of enslaved African Americans living in the United States was 3,950,546. Compared to the estimated enslaved African American living in the U.S in 1790, which was 698,000. -
Slavery and Cotton Production
Slavery and Cotton Production were at a all time high. Both raising at about the same speed since the beginning of the 1800s. -
Not Every African American is Enslaved
Not all 4 million African Americans were enslaved . About 253,000 (6%) were free. They had purchased their freedom, a fewdid well, especially in cities like New Orleans. But not all did the same. -
Foreign-Born Population
Almost 40% of California is foreign-born by 1860. -
Protecting Women's Property
Susan Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton convince New York to pass a law protecting women's property rights. -
Louisa Amy Alcott: Little Women
Louisa Amy Alcott publishes Little Women, which would become a classic novel and introduced one of the first American heronines to be presented as a believeable person. -
The National Women Suffrage Assocation
Susan B. Anthony becames a close ally with Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Together they founded The National Women Suffrage Assocation. -
San Francisco Gets a Population Boost
During 1848, San Franciso had a population of only 200 inhabitants but in 1870 after the Gold Rush the population went to a little more than 100,000 -
Children Working
By 1880, more than a million children between the ages of 10 and 15 worked for pay. -
Demanding Shorter Work Days
By 1884 , workers were demanding shorter days of work , but they didn't get them until years later. -
Utah Offically A State
Utah offically becomes a state after about 40 years. -
Women Can Vote
A Constitutional Amendment guarantee women's right to vote. -
First Federal Child Labor Law
The first child labor law, which was federal, is passed. But later on is overturned by the Sumpreme Court. -
Fair Labor Standards Act
The Fair Labor Standards Act is passed. Child labor reforms were instituted nationally due to this act.
