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Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the very first battles in the Revolutionary War, and technically the first battles that America ever fought in. So the story goes, the British Redcoats marched from Boston to Concord and Paul Revere began to warn the town that the British were coming. The militia readied their men and fought fiercely, and in the end the colonists stood their ground to the British army. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is a document written by Thomas Jefferson that officially declared the 13 colonies' independence from King George III's British Kingdom. The document is unofficially divided into 5 sections, introduction, preamble, indictment of King George III, denunciation of the British people, and conclusion. -
Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was a battle that took place during the Revolutionary War. It is considered a major turning point in the war which made the French realize that the colonists actually had a chance to defeat Great Britain. The French then started supporting the colonists for the remainder of the war. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was the last battle of the Revolutionary War, which ended with General Cornwallis of the British surrendering to George Washington and his men (including the French) after a fierce battle. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was made by the Founding Fathers as the first official governing document of the newly created United States. The Articles established that the 13 colonies would come together as on Union and would act as such. The federal government didn't have enough powers, such as calling for taxes, to keep the Union running correctly, and that made the country weak. Blah blah Shay's Rebellion made people realize that the Articles weren't going to cut it. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance was a document created by the Second Continental Congress that outlined the Northwest territory and established how new states would enter the Union. -
US Constitution
The US Constitution was the second governing document of the US, after the Articles of Confederation failed miserably. The document has 7 articles and 27 amendments including the Bill of Rights. -
US Constitution Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is a part of the US Constitution and is comprised of the first 10 amendments. The 10 amendments were added because the Anti-Federalists feared that the Constitution would take away their individual rights. They agreed to the ratification of the Constitution on the condition that a notion be put in that guarantees people their rights. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts were a series of laws passed by Congress that called for restrictions on free speech and xenophobic policies that made it extremely hard for immigrants to get into the US. -
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were legislature that stated the national government had no true authority over the states. It meant that if the federal government passed legislation that the states didn't like, the states could shoot it down if they wanted to. This, in turn, made the A & S Acts worthless because the states didn't like them. -
Marbury vs. Madison
Marbury vs. Madison was a landmark Supreme Court case which decided established the power of the Supreme Court to declare something unconstitutional, also known as judicial review. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was a land acquisition made by Thomas Jefferson in which the US bought most of the land owned by France west of the Mississippi River. This purchase effectively doubled the size of the US. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was the second conflict fought between the US and Great Britain. The war was caused because the British were in violation of some maritime rights, including impressing US sailors and economic sanctions from both the French and Great Britain both that hurt the US. -
Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans was a battle during the War of 1812, and in fact the final battle of the war. The US Army there was led by Andrew Jackson who used every available resource he had to lock down New Orleans. The British took heavy losses and retreated, losing the battle. The Treaty of Ghent was signed soon after that ended the war. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was Congress' way of trying to settle the debate of adding another slave state, Missouri, to the Union. The compromise was proposed by Henry Clay and stated that Missouri would be admitted as a slave state while Maine, which used to be a part of Massachusetts, would be admitted as a free state. The compromise also said that slavery would be outlawed in the north of the new Louisiana Territory. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was a policy adopted by the US which stated that European nations would not be allowed to colonize the Western hemisphere, mainly South America, any further. The US believed that the 2 hemispheres were very different and should stay that way instead of assimilating into one culture. The doctrine didn't have an immediate effect because the US wasn't strong enough yet, but it did plant seeds of distrust between the US and foreign countries, including Latin America. -
Nullification Crisis
The Nullification Crisis was an event in US history in which South Carolina attempted to declare some taxes implemented by the federal government null and void through the power of states'rights with the Ordinance of Nullification. Andrew Jackson passed a bill that allowed him to use military force if necessary to collect the taxes, and SC soon reversed their decision. -
Texas Annexation
The Annexation of Texas was a long and difficult process that took some time to get through. Texas was a part of Mexico at the time and when the US annexed it the Mexicans were angry that the US was taking their land, increasing tensions between the two. The were border disputes about how much land Texas actually covered, there was American blood spilled, and in turn the US declared war on Mexico. -
Oregon Treaty
The Oregon Treaty was a treaty that set the boundary between the US and Canada in the North. President James K. Polk ran his election on the back of the Oregon land, using the catchphrase "54'40 or fight", in reference to the line of the border which extended to 54 degrees, 40 minutes to the north. -
Declaration of Sentiments
The Declaration of Sentiments was a paper read by Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the first ever woman's rights convention in the US organized by women. The document was very controversial for the time but was the basis for the future 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote. -
Mexican Cession (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo)
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was a treaty between the US and Mexico that ended the Mexican American War. With treaty came the Mexican Cession, in which Mexico handed over a large section of its territory to the US, which now includes the states of California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Texas, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a series of bills passed by Congress that settled some disputes about slavery and borders in the US. The compromise stated that Texas would give up it's land in New Mexico, California would be admitted as a free state, and the Fugitive Slave Act was established, which called for the arrest and capture of any runaway slave by anyone who sees them. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe that highlighted the effects of slavery on African-Americans and brought into question the ethics of slavery, which set the stage for the Civil War. It was the best selling novel of the 19th century. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was an act passed by Congress that allowed people in Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether or not they wanted slavery in their states. This act nullified the Missouri Compromise because both states were above the 36'30 latitude line. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was a series of conflicts in the Kansas Territory over the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. -
John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry
John Brown's raid was an event during Bleeding Kansas when a farmer named John Brown led a small army of men into Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Brown was an abolitionist and wanted to start a slave rebellion. His plan failed miserably and he and his party were all killed in battle or hanged, but the event showed how far people would go for the abolition of slavery. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the first battle of the Civil War which took place in South Carolina after the state had seceded from the Union because of the Election of 1860. -
Battle of Bull Run
Thee Battle of Bull Run was a battle during the Civil War thst was significant because it was the first Confederate victory and it made the Union realized that winning the war wasn't going to be as easy as they thought. -
Battle of Antietam
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Emancipation Proclamation
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Battle of Vicksburg
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Battle of Gettysburg
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Gettysburg Address
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Sherman's March to the Sea
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Presidential Reconstruction (1863-1867)
Immediately following Abe Linc shoot -
13th amendment passed
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Freedman’s Bureau established
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Congressional Reconstruction (1867-1877)
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14th amendment passed
The 14th amendment was an amendment to the US Constitution that said granted citizenship to anyone born in the United States, including former slaves. -
15th amendment passed
The 15th amendment was a change to the Constitution that granted African American men the right to vote. The amendment was useless at first though, because states found ways to prevent African-Americans from being able to vote while still letting white people vote, including the Grandfather clause and poll taxes. -
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark Supreme Court case which decided that states were legally allowed to segregate people under the belief of "seperate but equal".
