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1492
Christopher Columbus
An Italian explorer sailing for Spain who believed that Asia (India) could be reached by sailing west from Europe. His first voyage was in 1492, wherein he discovered North America (Caribbean islands) and named it the West Indies. He will make four voyages to the new world without fully realizing what he had discovered. -
Period: 1492 to
US History 1492 - 1865
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Southern Colonies
The first colony, Virginia, was established in 1606. With rich soil, farming was very good in the Southern Colonies; this led to a need for more labor. Eventually, slavery became essential to Southern Colony growth. The Southern Colonies include Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. -
Jamestown
Settled by the Virginia Company in 1607, Jamestown was the first successful permanent English settlement; it was private and personally financed by the company. It was near present-day Williamsburg, Virginia. -
Middle Passage
The Middle Passage was a very popular trade route to transport slaves from Africa to the Colonies. Among the roughly 472,000 Africans that were kidnapped, 18% of them would die on the journey. -
Plymouth
In 1620, King James I sent 100 pilgrims to colonize the new land on the Mayflower. The pilgrims were able to secure peace treaties with the Native Americans, but roughly half of them died after the first winter. -
New England Colonies
Grown from the Plymouth Colony of pilgrims in 1620, the New England Colonies included Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. With the help of Native Americans, the pilgrims were able to mostly survive. Eventually, due to religious needs and wants, Massachusetts broke into Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. -
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Settled by around 1,000 Puritans, Massachusetts Bay Colony was established in 1630. The leaders of the colony, John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley, were heavily religious and established a theocratic government that pushed out those following other practices. Eventually, these Puritans settled Charlestown, Boston, Medford, and more. -
Middle Colonies
Starting with Philadelphia in 1682, the middle colonies mainly focused on agriculture. The entirety of the Middle Colonies were put under the jurisdiction of Duke James of York by his brother, King Charles II. Due to the promised religious tolerance and fertile soil, many joined the Dutch that had been living there already, along with many other cultures. The colonies included New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. -
Great Awakening
The Great Awakening was a revamp of religion where many were getting more involved in various religious practices. This happened because of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and many more. -
French and Indian War
Starting in 1756 and going until 1763, the French and Indian War - also called the 7 Years War - was another competition between France and Britain. The end of the war was marked with the Treaty of Paris. -
Stamp Act
One of the big Acts by Britain to lead to the American Revolution, the Stamp Act was a tax upon commercial and legal papers. This Act accompanied the Sugar Act from a year before in order to make up for war costs by the Parliament. The colonists heavily protested this taxation and this continues to fuel discord between the colonies and the Parliament. -
Boston Massacre
Due to the building dislike for Britain in the colonies, there was much tension between the soldiers stationed in the colonies and the colonizers themselves. The tension snapped in Boston, Massachusetts, 1770 and a fight between a crowd of colonizers and British soldiers took place. Three died and two were wounded, all colonizers. -
Boston Tea Party
On one night in 1773, Samuel Adams and his group of radicals, the Sons of Liberty, began tossing tea brought by the East India Trading Company from Britain. This ship was the target due to the Townshend Acts, which were various taxations that were oppressing the colonizers. -
Battles of Lexington/Concord
The first battles between the Britain military and the American Colonists. On the soldiers path to Concord (to seize the colonists supplies), the colonists fought with them in Lexington. The resistance faded and the British moved on to Concord, however the supplies had already been moved or destroyed and the British had to fall back in that battle. -
American Revolutionary War
The British Government didn't like that we got independence politically and a war started. It lasted until 1785 and eventually was won by the newly established American Military. It was mainly headed by George Washington of the State forces and Thomas Gage of the British forces. -
Declaration of Independence
As it sounds, this was a document that was approved by the Continental Congress for the separation of the American Colonies from Britain. From then on, they were no longer colonies, but states. -
Valley Forge
Valley Forge was an encampment in Pennsylvania under the jurisdiction of George Washington. After many failures on the American military's side, George Washington dragging 11,000 men up the the Valley Forge in winter for a successful battle was a morale booster and a significant accomplishment. -
Battle of Yorktown
This is the battle in which the British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington and the french allies. This was the last major battle before the end of the American Revolution. -
Articles of Confederation
Though not fully ratified until 1781, these articles were adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777. These articles were a collaboration of the states from that time and was theoretically able to collect money, assign post, military acts, etc. However, this didn't go well as the states gave it no power regarding taxation and military troops. -
Abolitionism
A movement in Western Europe and the Americas that believed that slavery was against the "rights of man." The people involved were known as abolitionists and there are many famous abolitionists: Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, John Brown, and many more. -
Constitutional Convention
After radical groups, such as Shays' Rebellion, there was a meeting to create a constitution. The constitution was made by revising the previous Articles of Confederation and it became the Constitution. -
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution started its century long journey in the 1790s with a cotton gin. In 1823, a female factory opened up; these ladies were known as Lowell Girls and were paid less than men. Overall, this revolution made a heavy increase in the American economy of the time. -
Bill of Rights
These are the first 10 amendments in the U.S. Constitution that protect the individual rights of each state. This document has legally binding power and if the Congress does something that may be considered as infringing upon it, the Supreme Court will void the act. -
Louisiana Purchase
Under the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson, France sold all of their Continental American land west of the Mississippi to the U.S. The U.S, paid $15 million for the entire land, which boils down to 4 cents an acre. -
Lewis and Clark Expedition
President Thomas Jefferson had just bought the Louisiana Territory, but didn't know what was there. In an effort to find a northwest waterway to the Pacific Ocean. He sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, along with many men, to travel the waterways and make trades with the local Native Americans. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a conflict between Britain and America over oceanic disputes. This was mainly Britain stopping America from trading with the French. The conflict ended with the Treaty of Ghent. -
Missouri Compromise
Due to the tensions between the Northern Free States and the Southern Slave States, the Congress was constantly split in decisions. The 36*30' line is the main thing of the Missouri Compromise. Every state/territory north of the line is a free state and every state/territory south of it is a slave state. -
Election of 1824
The election where John Quincy Adams won presidency despite Andrew Jackson winning the most popular and electoral votes. -
The Indian Removal Act
Officially, this act was to respect the legal and political rights of the Native Americans; however, a few years after it's enactment, the government used force on the Natives that did not wish to move. Some 100,000 Native Americans were forced to move to a strange land on a journey known as the "Trail of Tears." -
Underground Railroad
This isn't actually a railroad, but a system of houses, routes, and sympathetic Northerners assisting escaped slaves. It was called as such because it was done underneath the eyes of the public and the terms that the participants used were all railway terms. Through this system, over 40 to 100, 000 slaves were able to escape to freedom. -
Battle of the Alamo
During Texas's war for independence, a group of 200 Texan volunteer soldiers survived a siege against thousands of Mexican soldiers at the town of Alamo. The Texan soldiers survived the siege for 13 days, creating the phrase, "Remember the Alamo." -
Manifest Destiny
American's validation of expanding westward under the belief that it was the destiny of themselves and the country. Through Manifest Destiny, America acquired Texas, New Mexico, Oregon Territory, and Alaska. -
Mexican-American War
Starting from land disputes of Texas's border, Mexico and America went to war. In the end, almost all of present day Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Texas, and Colorado were seceded to the U.S. -
California Gold Rush
A rapid move to California after gold was discovered in Sutter's Mill. These fortune- seekers, numbering in the 300,000s, were also called the forty-niners. -
Compromise of 1850
The Great Compromiser, Senator Henry Clay, created documents to settle the disputes over slavery. This compromise was made in order to keep the balance between free and slave states. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, this book is an abolitionist book that geared towards showing the horrors of slavery. The story surrounds Uncle Tom, Little Eva, Eva's Father, and Simon Legree. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was a small civil war between slavery and abolitionism within the new territory of Kansas. Various battles and skirmishes, starting in Lawrence by a proslavery mob, continues in Kansas for 5 years. -
Dred Scott Decision
A legal case between Dred Scott and John Sandford in which the Supreme Court ruled that Scott wasn't free, nor was he a U.S. citizen because he was a slave. This is significant because he was living in a free state and this decision made it so, for a long time, African Americans weren't and couldn't be citizens of the U.S. -
Lincoln - Douglas Debates
During the election year of 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were competitors for the senatorial campaign. During the election times, these two would have formal debates regarding various things: the Kansas-Nebraska Act, slavery, the Missouri Compromise, and so on. -
Fort Sumter
The beginning of the Civil War, South Carolina seceded from the Union, and their military troops held themselves in Fort Sumter for roughly 3 days. Conflict arose due to the fact that the North believing that it belongs to the Union and South Carolina believing that it belongs to the Confederacy. -
Confederate States of America
The Confederacy, composed of the Southern slave states, are states that seceded from the Union for politics and slavery. They felt that President Lincoln would threaten their rights to slaves, so they seceded. This is the premise of the Civil War, between the Northern free states and the Southern slave states. -
American Civil War
Now known as America's bloodiest war, the Civil War was a conflict between the seceded southerners and the abolitionist northerners. Led by Ulysses S Grant of the Union, Robert E Lee of the Confederacy, and President Lincoln, this 4 year war on slavery cost 750,000 lives. -
Emancipation Proclamation
An edict made by President Abraham Lincoln that freed slaves of the Confederacy to rebel against them. It was used as a threat to get the Southern states to return to the Union, which they didn't. So, Lincoln freed their slaves legally. -
Battle of Gettysburg
In Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the turning point of the Civil War occurred. The South, which had been winning until this point, suffered a terrible loss at this battle; thus, revitalizing the North's moral. In the end, there were roughly 51,000 deaths. -
Gettysburg Address
A few months after the Battle of Gettysburg, President Lincoln went to Gettysburg to give a speech for the fallen soldiers. Still today, it is considered one of the most famous presidential speeches in American history, but it was also very short. -
Appomattox
The final battle of the Civil War, where the South surrenders to the North. General Robert E Lee quickly engages with the North's general, Ulysses S Grant, then surrenders. Amusingly, the war started in the house of one Wilmer McLean and after he moved to this Courthouse, the battle ended there.