-
Lost Colony
"Lost colony" sponsored by Sir Wlater Ralelgh was founded on Roanoke Island, off North Carolina coast; settlers found to have vanished. -
Jamestown
The first permanent English settlement in North America. -
House of Burgesses
The first representative assembly in the American colonies. -
Mayflower Compact
An agreement established by the men who sailed to America on the Mayflower, which called for laws for the good of the colony and set forth the idea of self-government. -
Roger Willlams
Roger Willlams founded Providence, Rl, in June, as a democratically ruled colony with separation of church and state. -
Navigation Acts
A series of laws passed by Parliament, beginning in 1651, to ensure that England made money from its colonies' trade. -
William Penn
William Penn signed treaty with Delaware Indians and made payment for Pennsylvania lands. -
Witchcraft delusion
At Salem, MA; 20 alleged witches were executed by a special court. -
Great Awakening
A revival of religious feeling in the American colonies during the 1730s and 1740s. -
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin published the first 'Poor Richard's Almanack'. -
Zenger Trial
Editor John Peter Zenger was acquitted of libel in New York after criticizing the British governor's conduct in office. -
French and Indian War
A conflict in North America from 1754 to 1763 that was part of a worldwide struggle between France and Britain; Britain defeated France and gained French Canada. -
Sugar Act
A law passed by Parliament in 1764 that placed a tax on sugar, molasses, and other products shipped to the colonies; also called for harsh punishment of smugglers. -
Stamp Act
A law passed by Parliament that required all legal and commercial documents to carry an official stamp showing a tax had been paid. -
Quartering Act
A law passed by Parliament in 1765 that required the colonies to house and supply British soldiers. -
Townshend Acts
Townshend Acts levied taxes on glass, painter's lead, paper, and tea, In 1770 all duties except on tea were repealed. -
Boston Massacre
A clash between British soldiers and Boston colonists in 1770, in which five of the colonists, including Crispus Attucks, were killed. -
Boston Tea Party
The dumping of 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor by colonists in 1773 to protest the Tea Act. -
Intolerable Acts
A series of laws enacted by Parliament in 1774 to punish Massachusetts colonists for the Boston Tea Party. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen North American colonies that met on September 5, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts (also known as Intolerable Acts by the Colonial Americans) by the British Parliament. -
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry addressed Virginia convention, and said "Give me liberty or give me death!" -
Paul Revere and William Dawes
Paul Revere and William Dawes rode to alert Patriosts that British were on their way to Concord to destroy arms. -
Lexington and Concord
Sites in Massachusetts of the first battles of the American Revolution.
At Lexington, MA, Minutemen lost 8. On return from Concord, British took 273 casualties. -
Common Sense
Famous pro-independence pamphlet by Thomas Paine. -
Declaration of Independence
The document, written in 1776, in which the colonies declared independence from Britain. -
Saratoga
Burgoyne surrendered 5,000 men at Saratoga. -
Articles of Confederation
A document, adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777 and finally approved by the states in 1781, that outlined the form of government of the new United States. -
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones on the Bonhomme Richard defeated Serapis in British North Sea waters. -
Yorktown
A decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis. The last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America, as the surrender of Cornwallis' army prompted the British government eventually to negotiate an end to the conflict. -
Paris peace treaty
Formally ended the United States War for Independence. -
Constitutional convention
A meeting held in 1787 to consider changes to Articles of Confederation; resulted in the drafting of the Constitution. -
Northwest Ordinance
It described how the Northwest Territory was to be governed and set conditions for settlement and settlers' rights. -
George Washington chosen president
John Adams became the vice president. -
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and consisting of a formal list of citizens' rights and freedoms. -
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, reviving Southern slavery. -
Washington's farewell address
Warned against permanent alliances with foreign powers, big public debt, large military establishment, and devices of "small, artful, enterprising minority." -
Louisiana Purchase
The purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France. Doubled U.S. area. -
Lewis and Clark expedition
A group led my Meriswether Lewis and William Clark who explored the lands of the Louisiana Purchase. -
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton made the first practical steamboat trip. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 had 3 main causes. Britain seized U.S. ships trading with France; Britain had seized 4,000 naturalized U.S. sailors by 1810; Britain armed Indians, who raided western borders. -
The Star-Spangled banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. -
Missouri Compromise
A series of laws enacted in 1820 to maintain the balance of power between slave states and free states. -
Monroe Doctrine
A policy of U.S. opposition to any European interference in the Western hemisphere, announced by President Monroe. -
Trail of Tears
The tragic journey of the Cherokee people from their homeland to Indian Territory between 1838 and 1839; thousands of Cherokee died. -
Samuel F.B. Morse
The first message over the first telegraph made by Samuel F.B. Morse was sent from Washington to Baltimore. -
Manifest Destiny
The belief that the Unites States was destined to stretch across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. -
Seneca Falls Convention
A women's rights convention held in Seneca falls, New York, led by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. -
Compromise of 1850
A series of Congressional laws intended to settle the major disagreements between free states and slave staes. -
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom's Cabin, which is a novel that portrayed slavery as brutal and immoral. -
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was elected president. -
Confederate States of America
The confederation formed by the Southern states after their secession from the Union. Jefferson Davis was president. -
Ft.Sumter
A federal fort located in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina; the Southern attack on Fort Sumter marked the beginning of the Civil War. -
The Battle of Antietam
The bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War, in which 25,000 men were killed or wounded. -
Emancipation Proclamation
An executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln on freeing the slaves in all regions in rebellion against the Union. -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the best-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered during the American Civil War. In just over two minutes, Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the Union, but as "a new birth of freedom". -
Appomattox Court House
The Virginia town where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses. S. Grant, ending the Civil War. -
Lincoln was shot
Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth. He died the following morning. -
13th Amendment
An amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in1865, banning slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States. -
14th Amendment
An amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1868, that made all persons born or naturalized in the Unites States -including former slaves- citizens of the country. -
15th Amendment
This amendment to the U.S. Constitution sated that citizens could not be stopped from voting "on account of race, color, or privious condition of servitude." -
American Red Cross
Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.
