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The Magna Carta granted nobles and freeman rights.
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The colony of Roanoke was sponsered by Sir Walter Raleigh and was founded on Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina. After Raleigh had to return to England they seemed to have vanished because when he returned 5 years (1590) later they were gone.
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John Smith and 105 other men aboard three ships arrived on the Virginia coast. They started the first permanent settlement of the New World.
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The first representative assembly in the New World, The House of Burgesses, was founded in Jamestown in July.
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When the pilgrims landed at Plymouth on December 26th they created the Mayflower Compact, an agreement to form a self-government.
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Pilgrims, Puritan separatists, left England on September 16, and on December 26th 103 passengers docked in Plymouth. Almost half of the settlers died the following winter.
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In 1636 Roger Williams founded the twon of Providence, Rhode Island, as a democratically ruled colony that had a separeted church and state.
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On December 1st, British Parliament passed the first Nvigation Act. The Navigation Act regulated colonial commerce to suit English needs.
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A violent Indian War in New England ended August 12th. Narragansett Indians, Wampanoag chief, and King Philip were killed.
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On April 23rd William Penn signed a treaty with the Deleware Indians and payed for the land of Pennsylvania.
German colonists settled near Philadelphia. -
20 accused witches were excuted by a special court in the Salem Witch Trials, in Salem, Massachusetts.
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The first Poor Richard's A;manack was published by Benjamin Franklin. It was published every year up to 1757.
The last of the 13 orginial colonias, Georigia, was formed. -
John Peter Zenger, an editor, was forgiven for libel in New York after criticizing the British governor's abilitly.
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Joathan Edwards gave the famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," in Enfield, MA.
Captain Vitus Bering lands in Alaska. -
The French and Indian War began when the French were stationed in Ft. Duquesnc, which is now Pittsburg,
On February 10, 1763, a peace treaty was signed. The French lost the Midwestern Territories and Canada. -
The Sugar act put taxes on lumber, foodstuffs, molasses, and rum, in the colonies. They used these taxes to pay for the French and Indian War.
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British Parliament continued adding taxes with the Stamp Act on March 22, it required revenue stamps to help fund royal troops. It was repealed on March 17, 1766.
The Quartering Act forced colonists to house British troops. It started on March 24. -
The Townshend Acts taxed glass, painter's lead, paper, and tea. All of the taxes were repealed besides for tea.
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British troops shot into a Boston mob. They killed 5 people including a black man, Crispus Attucks, who was suspected of being the leader of the group.
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A planned rebellion on the Townshend Acts' tax on tea. A group climbed aboard a cargo ship and dumped the tea bags into the Boston Harbour.
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Parliament's response to the Boston Tea Party. Nicknamed the "Intolerable Acts" because the colonists believed the were terrible.
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The First Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia, September 5- October 26. It was called for civil disobedience against Britain.
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On March 23, Patrick Henry adressed the Virginia convention and said the famous line, "Give me liberty or give me death".
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Paul Revre and William Dawes rode to alert Patriots that "The British are coming, the Birtish are coming!"
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On June 15th, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington as Commander in Chief.
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Thomas Paine published Common Sense, a pamphlet that convinced people stuck in between Patriots and Loyalists that independence was important.
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The Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4th.
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The Articles of Confederations were adopted by the Contintental Congress on November 15th and went into effect on March 1, 1781.
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John Paul Jones lead a sea attack aboard the Bonhomme Richard and efeated the British Serapis in theBritish North Sea waters.
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On October 6th, the siege of Cornwallis began. On October 19th Cornwallis surrendered.
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On September 3rd, Britain and the United States signed the Paris peace treay, ending the war and recongnizing the U.S. as a country.
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Shay's Rebellion was led by debt-ridden farmers in Massachusetts. The rebellion failed.
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The Constitutional Convention was in Philadelphia on May 25th. The Constitution was adopted by delegates September 17th. Deleware was the first state to ratify it on December 7th.
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The Northwest Ordinance set the rules on how to become a state for the Northwest Territories. It was adopted by the Continental Congress.
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George Washington won the first Presidental election and John Adams became the vice president.
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The Bill of Rights was submitted to states on September 25th and went into effect on December 15.
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George Washington was inaugurated for his second term. John Adams became vice president again.
On April 22, Washington declared the U.S. neutral in the war between Britain and France. -
Western Pennsylvanian farmers protested the liquor tax of 1791. They were restrained by federal militia.
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George Washington gives his farewell address. He warns against alliances with foreign powers, public debt, and a large military establishment.
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The Alien and Sedition Acts passed by Federalists. It was intended to stop political opposition.
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Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr recieve the same amount of votes in the 1801 election. The House of Representatives voted over 30 times ending in ties. Jefferson was finally named President and Burr as vice.
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A Supreme Court case in 1803. Overturned a U.S. law for the first time. Established Judicial Review.
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Napoleon saold the Louisiana Territory to the U.S. for 15 million dollars. The purchase almost doubled the size of the counrty.
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The exploration of the Lousiana Purchase and to the Pacific Ocean. Started on May 14th in St. Lous and ended on September 23, 1806.
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The Embargo Act banned trade with foregin countries. It was passed to try to help the American factories and agriculture.
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The War of 1812 was caused by:
1. Impressment of American citizens
2. Interference with American shipping
3. British support of Native American resistance -
On September 10, Olvier H. Perry defeated a British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie. On October 5, the U.S. won the Battle of the Thames, Ontario.
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August 24- British landed in Maryland. Set fire to the Capital and the White House.
September 13-14- Bombardment of Ft. McHenry, Baltimore. Lasted 25 hours. Francis Scott Key was inspried to write "The Star-Spangled Banner".
Septmeber 11- U.S. naval won the Battle of Lake Champlain.
December 24-Treaty of Ghent signed with Britain. -
The Spanish gave Florida to the U.S.
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The Monroe Doctrine opposed European intervention in the americas. Presented by Presiden James Monroe.
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President Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, forcing Native Americans to move and settle west. It provided land and little money to any who resettled west.
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Cherokee Indians forced to travel west from Georgia to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears in October.
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The first message over the first telegraph line was sent from Washington to Baltimore by Samuel F.B. Morse, the inventor. "What hath God wrought!"
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President James K. Polk orders General Taylor to seize Texan land settled by Mexico. After border clashes U.S. declared war May 13 and Mexico declared war May 23.
War ended on february 2, 1848. Mexico ceded claims to Texas, California, and other territory. -
Gold was discovered in California. 80,000 people traveled to search for gold.
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Henry Clay's Compromise of 1850 made Claifornia the 31st state with slavery illegal, made Utah and New Mexico territories. It also made the Fugitive Slave Law stricter and stopped the D.C. slave trade.
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Uncle Tom's cabin published by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
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The Republican party is formed. They opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which became a law on May 30.
The Gadsen Purchase treaty was ratified on April 25. -
The Supreme ruled against Dred Scott, a slave suing for his freedom, the court ruled that slaves are not citizens and therefore could not sue.
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An abolitionist, John Brown, led 21 men and seized Harpers Ferry. He was later hanged for treason.
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Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected President.
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Seven Southern states cede from the Union and form the Confederacy with Jefferson Davis as president.
Civil War begins on April 12.
Battle of Bullrun on July 21. -
Union takes New Orleans- May 1
Battle of Antietam, bloodiest one-day battle- Sept. 17 -
Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the southern states.
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address after Union victory at Gettysburg. -
General Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox Court House.
Lincoln shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth in Ford's Theater on April 14.
13th amendment ratified, abolishing slavery on December 6. -
The 14th Amendment raitified on July 9th gave Civil rights.
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The 15th Amendment was ratified on February 8th, allowing African-Americans the right to vote.
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Clara Barton creates the American Red Cross.
