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1400
New World
1492 Christopher Columbus lands on Puerto Rico naming it San Juan Bautista.
1506 Juan Ponce de León surveyed the island of today's Puerto Rico.
1530 Hernán Cortés explored the territory that is today California with Antonio de Mendoza, the first viceroy.
1539 Hernando de Soto landed nine ships with over 620 men and 220 horses in the area of south Tampa Bay.
1584–1587 Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to settle Roanoke Island. -
Pilgrims
1601 Juan de Oñate took an expedition east of the Great Plains of North America
1607 Captain John Smith founded the Jamestown settlement for England.
1609 The natives were glad to trade provisions to the colonists for metal tools, but then John Smith sent raiders to demand food.
1620 The Mayflower landed near the mouth of the Hudson River. They wrote the Mayflower Compact.
1669 John Lederer of Virginia began an expedition to explore the Appalachian Mountains. -
Colonies
1754 May 28 French and Indian War began.
1764 April 5 The Sugar Act was passed by the British Parliament.
1765 The British Parliament enacted the Quartering Act, Colonies had to provide housing and provisions to British troops.
1766 The British Parliament issued the Declaratory Act.
1770 Battle of Golden Hill and The Boston Massacre was where British soldiers fired into protestors killing and injuring citizens.
1773 The Boston Tea Party. -
American Revolutionary War
1775 At the Second Virginia Convention Patriot Patrick Henry urged the legislature of Virginia to arm militias.Paul Revere rode from Boston to Lexington to warn the Patriot militia of the approach of British forces. The Congress chose George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.
1776 Second Continental Congress passed a resolution to have independence from the British Empire. In two days they approved the written United States Declaration of Independence. -
Independence
1776 On July 4th the U.S. Declaration of Independence was approved, but the battles with the British army continued.
1782 The British government officially, yet informally, recognized American independence.
1783 The Treaty of Paris ended The American Revolutionary War.
1789 The first United States presidential election took place.
Then the United States Constitution came into effect. A month later the inauguration of George Washington as President was in New York City. -
Expansion
1803 Louisiana Purchase was made.
1804 Lewis and Clark explore the west.
1810 President Madison declared West Florida to be a U.S. possession after their independence from Spain
1830 The Indian Removal Act is passed.
1836 Exploring the Pacific Ocean and lands conducted.
1845 Congress approved the annexation of Texas.
1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico agreed to present Mexico–United States border.
1867 Alaska Purchase from the Russian Empire -
The United States
1800 President Adams signed into law moving the national capital from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.
The Slave Trade Act of 1800 forbade residents of the United States from investing transporting slaves into the United States was signed into law.
1808 The international slave trade was outlawed.
1812 War of 1812 begins.
1814 British troops burned Washington, D.C. but were forced back at Baltimore.
1828 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Construction begins.