U.S. History Timeline

  • Period: to

    Early Republic

    New political systems, precedents, and practices were introduced to society.
  • George Washington

    George Washington
    The first president of the United States, in office for 8 years from 1789 to 1801.
  • John Adams

    John Adams
    Party: Federalist
    Years in Office: 1797-1801
  • Thomas Jefferson

    Thomas Jefferson
    Party: Democratic-Republican
    Years in Office: 1801-1817
  • James Madison

    James Madison
    Party: Democratic-Republican
    Years in Office: 1809-1817
  • Period: to

    Manifest Destiny/Westward Expansion

    Americans thought we were meant to extend their nation across the continent, calling it the “manifest destiny."
  • James Monroe

    James Monroe
    Party: Democratic-Republican
    Years in Office: 1817-1825
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    Era of Good Feelings

    A period of relative stability, prosperity, and peace.
  • John Quincy Adams

    John Quincy Adams
    Party: Democratic-Republican
    Years in Office: 1825-1829
  • Andrew Jackson

    Andrew Jackson
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1829-1837
  • Period: to

    Jacksonian

    Built from President Jackson's equal political policy
  • Indian Removal Act

    1830s - Forced relocation of Native American tribes to lands west of the Mississippi River.
  • Martin Van Buren

    Martin Van Buren
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1837-1841
  • John Tyler

    John Tyler
    Party: Whig
    Years in Office: 1841-1845
  • William Henry Harrison

    William Henry Harrison
    Party: Whig
    Years in Office: 1841
  • James K. Polk

    James K. Polk
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1845-1849
  • Seneca Falls Convention

    A convention held in 1848 to discuss the social, civil, and religious conditions of women and to advocate for equal rights, including the right to vote.
  • Zachary Taylor

    Zachary Taylor
    Party: Whig
    Years in Office: 1849-1850
  • Millard Fillmore

    Millard Fillmore
    Party: Whig
    Years in Office: 1850-1853
  • Franklin Pierce

    Franklin Pierce
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1853-1857
  • James Buchanan

    James Buchanan
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1857-1861
  • Abraham Lincoln

    Abraham Lincoln
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1861-1865
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    The Civil War

    A war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy.
  • Period: to

    Progressive Era

    A political movement that wanted to improve social and political reform and put an end to political corruption
  • Andrew Johnson

    Andrew Johnson
    Party: National Union/Democrat
    Years in Office: 1865-1869
  • Ulysses S. Grant

    Ulysses S. Grant
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1869-1877
  • Period: to

    Jim Crow

    Laws enforcing racial segreagation and discrimination in the Southern U.S.
  • Period: to

    Gilded Age

    An era polluted with corruption in the rich.
  • Rutherford B. Hayes

    Rutherford B. Hayes
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1877-1881
  • Chester A. Arthur

    Chester A. Arthur
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1881-1885
  • James A. Garfeild

    James A. Garfeild
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1881
  • Chinese Exclusion Act

    First U.S. law restricting immigration based on nationality, targeting Chinese workers.
  • Grover Cleveland

    Grover Cleveland
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1885-1889
  • Benjamin Harrison

    Benjamin Harrison
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1889-1893
  • Grover Cleverland (again)

    Grover Cleverland (again)
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1893-1897
  • Theodore Roosevelt

    Theodore Roosevelt
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1901-1909
  • William McKinley

    William McKinley
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1897-1901
  • William Howard Taft

    William Howard Taft
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1909-1913
  • Woodrow Wilson

    Woodrow Wilson
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1913-1921
  • Period: to

    WWI

    A deadly war between nations.
  • Period: to

    Roaring 20s

    An era when the U.S. economy surged, creating mass consumerism.
  • Tulsa Race Massacre

    Mobs destroyed the black community of Greenwood, Oklahoma.
  • Warren G. Harding

    Warren G. Harding
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1921-1923
  • Calvin Coolidge

    Calvin Coolidge
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1923-1929
  • Herbert Hoover

    Herbert Hoover
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1929-1933
  • Period: to

    Great Depression

    A severe, world-wide economic decay in the United States.
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt

    Franklin D. Roosevelt
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1933-1945
  • Period: to

    WWII

    The deadliest war in history.
  • Period: to

    Chicano Movement

    A social and political movement in the United States which advocated for the rights and empowerment of Mexican Americans.
  • Japanese Internment

    Forced relocation of Japanese Americans into camps during World War 2.
  • Zoot Suit Riots

    A series of racially motivated attacks in Los Angeles by white policeman.
  • Harry S. Truman

    Harry S. Truman
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1945-1953
  • Period: to

    Cold War

    An ongoing political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Dwight D. Eisenhower
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1953-1961
  • Period: to

    Red Power Movement

    Activism by Native Americans demanding rights, self-determination, and recognition.
  • John F. Kennedy

    John F. Kennedy
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1961-1963
  • Lyndon B. Johnson

    Lyndon B. Johnson
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1963-1969
  • Richard Nixon

    Richard Nixon
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1969-1974
  • Gerald Ford

    Gerald Ford
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1974-1977
  • Jimmy Carter

    Jimmy Carter
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1977-1981
  • Ronald Reagan

    Ronald Reagan
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1981-1989
  • George H. W. Bush

    George H. W. Bush
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 1989-1993
  • Period: to

    Contemporary History

    The study of recent events that are happening now or very close to the present day
  • Bill Clinton

    Bill Clinton
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 1993-2001
  • Barack Obama

    Barack Obama
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 2009-2017
  • Donald J. Trump

    Donald J. Trump
    Party: Republican
    Years in Office: 2017-2021
  • Joe Biden

    Joe Biden
    Party: Democratic
    Years in Office: 2021-2025