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Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, is established by the London Company in southeast Virginia.
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The House of Burgesses, the first representative assembly in America, meets for the first time in Virginia. The first African slaves are brought to Jamestown.
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The Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts is established by Pilgrims from England.
Before disembarking from their ship, the Mayflower, 41 male passengers sign the Mayflower Compact, an agreement that forms the basis of the colony's government. -
Colonial population is estimated at 50,400.
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English seize New Amsterdam (city and colony) from the Dutch and rename it New York.
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Britain and the British colonies switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar
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French and Indian War: Final conflict in the ongoing struggle between the British and French for control of eastern North America. The British win a decisive victory over the French on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec.
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With the Treaty of Paris, the British formally gain control of Canada and all the French possessions east of the Mississippi.
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Boston Massacre: British troops fire into a mob, killing five men and leading to intense public protests.
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Boston Tea Party: Group of colonial patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians board three ships in Boston harbor and dump more than 300 crates of tea overboard as a protest against the British tea tax.
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First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia, with 56 delegates representing every colony except Georgia. Delegates include Patrick Henry, George Washington, and Samuel Adams.
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American Revolution: War of independence fought between Great Britain and the 13 British colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America. Battles of Lexington and Concord, Mass., between the British Army and colonial minutemen, mark the beginning of the war.
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Battle-weary and destitute Continental army spends brutally cold winter and following spring at Valley Forge, Pa.
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British general Charles Cornwallis surrenders to Gen. George Washington at Yorktown, va
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Great Britain formally acknowledges American independence in the Treaty of Paris, which officially brings the war to a close.
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Shays's Rebellion erupts; farmers from New Hampshire to South Carolina take up arms to protest high state taxes and stiff penalties for failure to pay.
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Constitutional Convention, made up of delegates from 12 of the original 13 colonies, meets in Philadelphia to draft the U.S. Constitution.
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George Washington is unanimously elected president of the United States in a vote by state electors.
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U.S. Constitution goes into effect, having been ratified by nine states.
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The court, made up of one chief justice and five associate justices, hears its first case in 1792.
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U.S. Supreme Court meets for the first time at the Merchants Exchange Building in New York City.
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First ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, are ratified.
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Washington's second inauguration is held in Philadelphia.
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John Adams is inaugurated as the second president in Philadelphia.
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The U.S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC.
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Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third president in Washington, DC.
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Marbury v. Madison: Landmark Supreme Court decision greatly expands the power of the Court by establishing its right to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.
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Lewis and Clark set out from St. Louis, Mo., on expedition to explore the West and find a route to the Pacific Ocean.
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Jefferson's second inauguration.
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James Madison is inaugurated as the fourth president.
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War of 1812: U.S. declares war on Britain over British interference with American maritime shipping and westward expansion.
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Madison's second inauguration.
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British capture Washington, DC, and set fire to White House and Capitol.
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James Monroe is inaugurated as the fifth president.
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Spain agrees to cede Florida to the United States.
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Missouri Compromise: In an effort to maintain the balance between free and slave states, Maine (formerly part of Massachusetts) is admitted as a free state so that Missouri can be admitted as a slave state; except for Missouri, slavery is prohibited in the Louisiana Purchase lands north of latitude 36°30'.
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Denmark Vesey, an enslaved African American carpenter who had purchased his freedom, plans a slave revolt with the intent to lay siege on Charleston, South Carolina. The plot is discovered, and Vesey and 34 coconspirators are hanged.
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Monroe Doctrine: In his annual address to Congress, President Monroe declares that the American continents are henceforth off-limits for further colonization by European powers.
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Gibbons v. Ogden: Landmark Supreme Court decision broadly defines Congress's right to regulate interstate commerce.
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John Quincy Adams is inaugurated as the sixth president.
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Construction is begun on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first public railroad in the U.S.
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Andrew Jackson is inaugurated as seventh president.
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President Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, which authorizes the forced removal of Native Americans living in the eastern part of the country to lands west of the Mississippi River.
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Nat Turner, an enslaved African American preacher, leads the most significant slave uprising in American history. He and his band of about 80 followers launch a bloody, day-long rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. The militia quells the rebellion, and Turner is eventually hanged. As a consequence, Virginia institutes much stricter slave laws.
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Jackson's second inauguration.
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Texas declares its independence from Mexico.
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Martin Van Buren is inaugurated as the eighth president.
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More than 15,000 Cherokee Indians are forced to march from Georgia to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. Approximately 4,000 die from starvation and disease along the “Trail of Tears.”
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William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as the ninth president.
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U.S. annexes Texas by joint resolution of Congress
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Mexican War: U.S. declares war on Mexico in effort to gain California and other territory in Southwest.
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Oregon Treaty fixes U.S.-Canadian border at 49th parallel; U.S. acquires Oregon territory
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Zachary Taylor is inaugurated as the 12th president.
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President Taylor dies and is succeeded by his vice president, Millard Fillmore.
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Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin is published. It becomes one of the most influential works to stir anti-slavery sentiments.
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Franklin Pierce is inaugurated as the 14th president.
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Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act, establishing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska
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James Buchanan is inaugurated as the 15th president.
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Abraham Lincoln comes to national attention in a series of seven debates with Sen. Stephen A. Douglas during Illinois state election campaign.
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Abolitionist John Brown and 21 followers capture federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va. (now W. Va.), in an attempt to spark a slave revolt.
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Abraham Lincoln is elected president.
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Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana secede.
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Homestead Act becomes law, allowing settlers to claim land (160 acres) after they have lived on it for five years.
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Civil War: Conflict between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) over the expansion of slavery into western states.
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U.S. acquires Alaska from Russia for the sum of $7.2 million.
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President Johnson is impeached by the House of Representatives.
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Ulysses S. Grant is inaugurated as the 18th president.
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Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, giving blacks the right to vote.
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Chicago fire kills 300 and leaves 90,000 people homeless.
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Crédit Mobilier scandal breaks, involving several members of Congress.
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Grant's second inauguration.
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Lt. Col. George A. Custer's regiment is wiped out by Sioux Indians under Sitting Bull at the Little Big Horn River, Mont.
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Rutherford B. Hayes is inaugurated as the 19th president.
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James A. Garfield is inaugurated as the 20th president.
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U.S. adopts standard time.
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Grover Cleveland is inaugurated as the 22nd president.
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Statue of Liberty is dedicated
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Benjamin Harrison is inaugurated as the 23rd president.
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National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) is founded, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as president.
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Ellis Island becomes chief immigration station of the U.S.
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Grover Cleveland is inaugurated a second time, as the 24th president. He is the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms.
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Plessy v. Ferguson: Landmark Supreme Court decision holds that racial segregation is constitutional, paving the way for the repressive Jim Crow laws in the South.
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William McKinley is inaugurated as the 25th president.
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U.S. annexes Hawaii by an act of Congress.
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U.S. acquires American Samoa by treaty with Great Britain and Germany.
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Galveston hurricane leaves an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 dead. According to the census, the nation's population numbers nearly 76 million.
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McKinley's second inauguration.
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U.S. acquires Panama Canal Zone.
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Theodore Roosevelt's second inauguration.
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San Francisco earthquake leaves 500 dead or missing and destroys about 4 sq mi of the city.
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William Howard Taft is inaugurated as the 27th president.
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Korean War: Cold war conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces on Korean Peninsula.
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Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, limiting the president to two terms.
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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans.: Landmark Supreme Court decision
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Explorer I, first American satellite, is launched.
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John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the 35th president.
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Cuban Missile Crisis: President Kennedy denounces Soviet Union for secretly installing missile bases on Cuba and initiates a naval blockade of the island.
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U.S. planes begin bombing raids of North Vietnam.
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Vietnam War: Prolonged conflict between Communist forces of North Vietnam, backed by China and the USSR, and non-Communist forces of South Vietnam, backed by the United States. President Truman authorizes $15 million in economic and military aid to the French, who are fighting to retain control of French Indochina, including Vietnam. As part of the aid package, Truman also sends 35 military advisers.
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Spanish-American War: USS Maine is blown up in Havana harbor.
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According to the census, the nation's population numbers more than 280 million.
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George W. Bush is inaugurated as the 43rd president.
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In his first State of the Union address, President Bush labels Iran, Iraq, and North Korea an “axis of evil” and declares that U.S. will wage war against states that develop weapons of mass destruction.
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Space shuttle Columbia explodes upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts on board.
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The U.S. returns sovereignty to an interim government in Iraq, but maintains roughly 135,000 troops in the country to fight a growing insurgency.
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The U.S. engagement in Iraq continues amid that country's escalating violence and fragile political stability.
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The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the population of the United States has reached 300 million.
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California Democrat Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives.
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After months of campaigning and primary races, Barack Obama and John McCain are finally chosen as the presidential nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively.
