-
1492
Columbian Exchange
Widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries -
1492
Discovery of the New World
Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, sailing for Spain’s Ferdinand and Isabella, accidentally discovered the New World. Columbus had set out to find a route west to Asia from Europe. -
1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
Signed by Spain and Portugal, dividing the territories of the New World. Spain received the bulk of territory in the Americas, compensating Portugal with titles to lands in Africa and Asia. -
1512
Encomienda system established
Under this, conquistadors and other leaders (encomenderos) received grants of a number of Indians, from whom they could exact "tribute" in the form of gold or labor. The encomenderos were supposed to protect and Christianize the Indians granted to them, but they most often used the system to effectively enslave the Indians and take their lands. -
1520
Small Pox
Disease spread by Europeans in the Americas. Led to the deaths of millions of Native Americans in North and South America. -
1525
The rise of the Atlantic slave trade
The first record of a slave trade voyage direct from Africa to the Americas is for a ship that landed in Santo Domingo, on the island Española (Hispaniola), in 1525. -
Jamestown
Established in 1607 and was the first permanent English settlement. Located in Virginia and led through the starving time by John Smith. It was the only successful after tobacco was established as a cash crop. -
Mayflower Compact
first written government document of USA, declares separation of church and state in Pilgrim Plymouth. -
Pequot War
Indians kill New England fur trader, Connecticut and Massachusetts soldiers attack Pequots and win. Connecticut River Valley opens for settlement and trade. -
Navigation Acts
A series of British regulations which taxed goods imported by the colonies from places other than Britain, or otherwise sought to control and regulate colonial trade. It increased British-colonial trade and tax revenues. Reinstated after the French and Indian War because Britain needed to pay off debts incurred during the war, and to pay the costs of maintaining a standing army in the colonies. -
King Philip's War
It was war between the Native American tribes of New England and British colonists. The war was the result of tension caused by encroaching settlers. The chief of the Wampanoags led the natives. The war ended Indian resistance in New England and left a hatred the English colonists -
Bacon's Rebellion
1676 Virginian rebellion of frontiersmen sparked by governor Berkeley's refusal to retaliate for a series of brutal Indian attacks on frontier settlements; killed Indians, chased Berkeley from Jamestown, and set fire to Jamestown; plundering and pilfering; crushed by Berkeley with hanging over twenty rebels; rebellion ignited resentments of landless former servants and pitted the frontiersmen against the gentry of the plantations. -
Salem Witch Trials
Outbreak of witchcraft accusations in a Puritan village marked by an atmosphere of fear, hysteria and stress from encroaching settlers without Puritanical viewpoints. -
Great Awakening
(1730s and 1740s) Religious movement characterized by emotional preaching (Jonathan Edwards & George Whitefield). The first cultural movement to unite the Thirteen Colonies; associated with the democratization of religion. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. -
Battle of Yorktown
The last battle of the Revolutionary War. There the British general Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army to General George Washington. -
Shays's Rebellion
A 1786 rebellion in which an army of 1,500 disgruntled and angry farmers led by Daniel Shays marched to Springfield, Massachusetts, and forcibly restrained the state court from foreclosing mortgages on their farms. -
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
This created the Northwest Territory (area north of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvania), established conditions for self-government and statehood, included a Bill of Rights, and permanently prohibited slavery. -
Great Compromise
This compromise was between the large and small states of the colonies. This resolved that there would be representation by population in the House of Representatives, and equal representation would exist in the Senate. Each state, regardless of size, would have 2 senators. All tax bills and revenues would originate in the House. This compromise combined the needs of both large and small states and formed a fair and sensible resolution to their problems. -
1st President
George Washington Served as a general and commander-in-chief of the colonial armies during the American Revolution, and later became the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. -
Cotton Gin
A machine which could separate cotton from its seeds. This invention made cotton more profitable for the Southern economy. The increased production of cotton after its development by Eli Whitney signaled the exponential increase in slavery until its abolition after the Civil War. -
Whiskey Rebellion
In 1794, farmers in Pennsylvania rebelled against Hamilton's excise tax on whiskey. In October, 1794, the army, led by Washington, put down the rebellion. The incident showed that the new government under the Constitution could react swiftly and effectively to such a problem, in contrast to the inability of the government under the Articles of Confederation to deal with Shay's Rebellion. -
Louisiana Purchase
Bought from France by Thomas Jefferson and doubled the size of US. Jefferson changed his interpretation from strict to loose on this issue. -
War of 1812
A war between the US and Great Britain caused by American outrage over the impressment of American sailors by the British, the British seizure of American ships, and British aid to the Indians attacking the Americans on the western frontier. The war strengthened American nationalism and encouraged the growth of industry. -
Missouri Compromise
Compromise arranged by Henry Clay. It was a temporary truce over slavery issue. Consisted of 3 parts: Missouri added as a slave state, Maine added as a free state, above 36°30' line =free, below =slave. Remained law until negated by Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. -
Election of 1828
Andrew Jackson, Democratic-Republican, voted into office in 1828; represented "politics of the Common Man;" advocated for universal male suffrage; known for frequent use of the presidential veto power (criticized, "King Andrew"); was the first president from the west. Believed in the strength of the Union and the supremacy of the federal government over the state government -
Trail of Tears
The tragic journey of the Cherokee people from their home land to reservation in Oklahoma. More than 4,000 Cherokees died of cold, disease, and lack of food during the 116-day journey. -
Mexican-American War
War fought with Mexico after the Annexation of Texas; "All of Mexico" slogan called for conquering all of Mexico. Ultimately U.S gained the Mexican Cession from the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hildago. -
Seneca Falls Convention
Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Lucretia Mott, first women's rights convention in American History. Issued "Declaration of Sentiments," which declared "all men and women are created equal" and listed women's grievances against laws and customs that discriminated against them. began the women's suffrage movement. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Negated Missouri Compromise. Created Nebraska and Kansas as states and gave the people in those territories the right to chose to be a free or slave state through popular sovereignty. Led to conflict known as "Bleeding Kansas". -
Anaconda Plan
Union war plan by Winfield Scott. Called for blockade of southern coast, capture of Richmond, capture Mississippi River, and to take an army through heart of south -
Fort Sumter
Site of the opening engagement of the Civil War. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina had seceded from the Union, and had demanded that all federal property in the state be surrendered to state authorities. On April 12, 1861, the Confederate Army began bombarding the fort, which surrendered on April 14, 1861. Congress declared war on the Confederacy the next day. -
Gettysburg
Turning point of the War that made it clear the North would win. The South lost its chance to invade the North. Bloodiest battle of the war as 50,000 people died. -
Wade-Davis Bill
Bill made re-admittance to the Union for former Confederate states contingent on a majority in each Southern state to take the Ironclad oath (they were not now disloyal to the Union nor had they ever been disloyal), pocket vetoed by Lincoln. -
13th Amendment
Outlawed slavery and other forms of involuntary servitude. -
Transcontinental Railroad
Completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah, linked the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system, revolutionizing transportation in the west -
Standard Oil Company
John D. Rockefeller's company which came to symbolize the trusts and monopolies of the Gilded Age. By 1877 this company controlled 95% of the oil refineries in the US. It was also one of the first multinational corporations, and at times distributed more than half of the company's kerosene production outside the US. By the turn of the century it had become a target for trust-busting reformers, and in 1911 the Supreme Court ordered it to break up into several dozen smaller companies. -
Women's Christian Temperance Union
Women's organization that opposed alcoholic beverages; worked for legislation to moderate the use of intoxicating drink despite their inability to vote; linked drinking to poverty, adultery, social crime and domestic violence. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Denied any additional Chinese laborers to enter the country while allowing students and merchants to immigrate; American workers felt threatened by the job competition. -
Wounded Knee Massacre
1890 massacre of Sioux Indians by American cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota. Sent to suppress the Ghost Dance, soldiers caught up with fleeing Lakotas and killed as many as 300. -
Pullman Strike
This was a nonviolent strike which brought about a shut down of western railroads, which took place against the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago in 1894, because of the poor wages of the Pullman workers. It was ended by the president due to the interference with the mail system, and brought a bad image upon unions. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Established the doctrine of "separate but equal;" upheld Jim Crow laws in the South; led to increased discrimination against African Americans; later overturned by Brown v. Board -
Spanish-American War
The war between the US and Spain resulting in Spain's withdrawal from Cuba and its cession of Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. -
Niagara Movement
A meeting at Niagara Falls, Canada in opposition to Booker T. Washington’s philosophy of accepting segregation. -
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
A serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Ferdinand. This was the most important cause that started European conflicts and WW1 -
Harlem Renaissance
The flourishing of African-American literature and art in the 1920's, born in Harlem, New York, and spread mostly in urban centers across America. Prominent figures: Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, W.E.B. DuBois -
19th Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. -
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930s, originating in the United States. -
Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941, United States military base on Hawaii was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II -
Korean War
The Korean War began when North Korea, supported by the Soviet Union and China, invaded South Korea, which was supported by the United States. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The Supreme Court ruled that students have a right under the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause to an equal education, and separate schools for white children and African-American children are not equal. Therefore, schools must be integrated. -
Berlin Wall Constructed
During the early years of the Cold War, West Berlin was a geographical loophole through which thousands of East Germans fled to the democratic West. In response, the Communist East German authorities built a wall that totally encircled West Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis is when the United States and the Soviet Union almost had a nuclear war. When the U.S. discovered offensive nuclear missiles in Cuba, it started a tense period of 13 days while the world watched to see if the Soviets would remove the missiles, just 90 miles from the U.S. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Assasination
US Baptist minister and civil rights leader; noted orator, he opposed discrimination against blacks by organizing nonviolent resistance and peaceful mass demonstrations.when he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, his movements carried on. -
Watergate Scandal
President Richard Nixon was tied to a crime in which former FBI and CIA agents broke into the offices of the Democratic Party and George McGovern (the Presidential candidate). Nixon's helpers listened to phone lines and secret papers were stolen. He resigned after this. -
War Powers Act
Limits the ability of the president to commit troops to combat (48 hours to tell Congress when and why the troops were sent, they have 60-90 hours to bring them home if they disagree). This stopped the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. -
1980 Election
Ronald Reagan, former governor of California elected President in 1980. He introduced an economic policy critics called “Reaganomics”. Also ended the Iranian Hostages Crisis. -
1988 Election
Reagan’s VP George H.W. Bush wins the presidency in 1988. Remembered mostly for guiding the US through the Persian Gulf War (the 1st Iraqi War). -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Reagan famously encouraged Soviet leader Gorbachev to end Soviet control of its satellite nations. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” This caused a reunification of communist East Germany and capitalist West Germany. -
Cold War Ends
On Christmas Day in 1991, Gorbachev resigns as leader of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is dissolved into 15 individual republics. The collapse signified the over 50 year standoff between the US and the Soviet Union. -
1992 Election
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton served as the 42nd President of the United States. Clinton’s second term was consumed with defending himself against charges for perjury and obstruction of justice. Became the 2nd president to be impeached -
9/11
The September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States. After September 11, Bush announced a global War on Terrorism. -
2008 Election
Historic in nature due to high voter turn out of youth and minority groups as well as resulting in election of the first African American president, Barack Obama.
