-
A historical timeline of the United States political landscape from 1784-2017
-
made up of delegates from 12 of the original 13 colonies, meets in Philadelphia to draft the U.S. Constitution
-
farmers from New Hampshire to South Carolina take up arms to protest high state taxes and stiff penalties for failure to pay.
-
George Washington is unanimously elected president of the United States in a vote by state electors (Feb. 4). U.S. Constitution
-
U.S. Supreme Courtmeets for the first time at the Merchants Exchange Building in New York City (
-
First ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, are ratified
-
Washington's second inauguration is held in Philadelphia
-
John Adamsis inaugurated as the second president in Philadelphia
-
Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third president in Washington, DC
-
Landmark Supreme Court decision greatly expands the power of the Court by establishing its right to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional
-
Inaugurated in DC
-
The U.S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC. U.S. Congress meets in Washington, DC, for the first time
-
Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean
-
Lewis and Clark set out from St. Louis, Mo., on expedition to explore the West and find a route to the Pacific Ocean.
-
James Madison is inaugurated as the fourth president
-
U.S. declares war on Britain over British interference with American maritime shipping and westward expansion
-
-
British capture Washington, DC, and set fire to White House and Capitol
-
Francis Scott Key writes Star-Spangled Banner as he watches British attack on Fort McHenry at Baltimore
-
Treaty of Ghent is signed, officially ending the war
-
James Monroe is inaugurated as the fifth president
-
Spain agrees to cede Florida to the United States
-
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'
-
-
In his annual address to Congress, President Monroe declares that the American continents are henceforth off-limits for further colonization by European powers
-
Landmark Supreme Court decision broadly defines Congress's right to regulate interstate commerce
-
Inaugurated as sixth president
-
Erie Canal, linking the Hudson River to Lake Erie, is opened for traffic
-
Inaugurated as seventh president
-
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
-
William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing the Liberator, a weekly paper that advocates the complete abolition of slavery. He becomes one of the most famous figures in the abolitionist movement.
-
Construction is begun on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first public railroad in the U.S
-
-
Texan defenders of the Alamo are all killed during siege by the Mexican Army
-
Texas declares its independence from Mexico
-
Texans defeat Mexicans at San Jacinto
-
Martin Van Buren is inaugurated as the eighth president
-
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.”
-
William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as the ninth president
-
He dies one month later and is succeeded in office by his vice president, John Tyler.
-
Polk is inaugurated as 11th president
-
US declares war on Mexico in hopes of attaining California and other lands.
-
Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California
-
War concludes with signing of Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mexico recognizes Rio Grande as new boundary with Texas and, for $15 million, agrees to cede territory comprising present-day California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico and Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
-
Women's rights convention is held at Seneca Falls, N.Y.
-
Zachary Taylor is inaugurated as 12th president
-
President Taylor dies and is taken over by his Vice President.
-
South Carolina secedes from the Union
-
Abraham Lincoln is elected as our 16th President.
-
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana secede
-
Confederate States of America is established
-
Davis is elected president of the Confederacy
-
Emancipation Proclamation is issued, freeing slaves in the Confederate states
-
Battle is fought from July 1-3
-
Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address
-
General Ulysses S Grant and the Union Army capture Richmond, VA, the Confederate Capitol.
-
Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Va.,
-
Lincoln is Assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at the Ford Theater, Andrew Johnson takes his place.
-
Thirteenth Amendment is ratified, prohibiting slavery
-
Fifteenth Amendment is ratified which allows black citizens to vote.
-
-
Ellis Island is made the Chief Immigration Station of the United States
-
Landmark Supreme Court decision holds that racial segregation is constitutional, paving the way for the repressive Jim Crow laws in the South
-
Wright brothers make the first controlled, sustained flight in heavier-than-air aircraft at Kitty Hawk, N.C.
-
-
US Declares war on Germany beginning World War I
-
-
Star Spangled Banner is officially made national anthem of the USA
-
Lame Duck Amendment, moves president inauguration from March 4 to January 20
-
New Deal recovery measures are enacted by Congress
-
-
Act passed and sets the first minimum wage, 25 cents per hour
-
Japan attacks Hawaii and the US formally declares war on Japan
-
US declares war on Germany and Italy, the reciprocate the declaration, and formally begins World War 2
-
Allies invade France on D-Day
-
US bombs Hiroshima and Nagasaki
-
Japan unconditionally surrenders to the US
-
-
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
-
Cold war conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces on Korean Peninsula. North Korean communists invade South Korea
-
President Truman, without the approval of Congress, commits American troops to battle
-
Amendment is passed limiting a president to two terms.
-
Explorer 1, first American satellite is launched
-
Alaska and Hawaii become 49 and 50 states.
-
-
Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba fails
-
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech before a crowd of 200,000 during the civil rights march on Washington, DC
-
President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Tex.
-
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act
-
North Vietnamese torpedo boats allegedly attack U.S. destroyer in Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam
-
-
Landmark Supreme Court decision further defines due process clause of Fourteenth Amendment and establishes Miranda rights
-
Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, outlining the procedures for filling vacancies in the presidency and vice presidency
-
-
Lowers voting age from 21 to 18
-
South Vietnamese government surrenders to North Vietnam; U.S. embassy Marine guards and last U.S. civilians are evacuated
-
President Carter announces that U.S. athletes will not attend Summer Olympics in Moscow unless Soviet Union withdraws from Afghanistan
-
Following the breakup of the Soviet Union in Dec. 1991, President Bush and Russian president Boris Yeltsin meet at Camp David and formally declare an end to the cold war
-
Two hijacked jetliners ram twin towers of World Trade Center in worst terrorist attack against U.S.; a third hijacked plane flies into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashes in rural Pennsylvania. More than 3,000 people die in the attacks
-
U.S. and Britain launch air attacks against targets in Afghanistan after Taliban government fails to hand over Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks
-
Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected President, with 52.8% of the vote
