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Period: 1492 to
US History: VHS Summer:
Timeline for VHS -
Aug 3, 1492
Christopher Colombus Departs and Arrives
Christopher Columbus left Spain in search of new land, gold, jewels, pearls, spices, and other riches in Asia. However he landed on islands that are now called the Bahamas as well as an island that was later called Hispaniola. He also explored Central and South America -
Colony of Jamestown Established
In 1607, 144 English men and boys established the JAMESTOWN colony. The colony was told that if they did not make any money then they'd no longer get financial support. So they men started looking for gold...and that's all they did. Due to this there was little to no farming so food supplies were sparse. Malaria also hit the colony during the winter killing 106 of the colonists, leaving 38 alive. http://www.ushistory.org/us/2c.asp -
Tobacco Trade Starts to Rise and Grow
By the end of the 1620s only one Virginia crop was drawing a fair market price in England: tobacco.By 1630, over a million and a half pounds of tobacco were being exported from Jamestown every year. -
Slavery Becomes Legal
Virginia became the first British colony to legally establish slavery in 1661. Maryland and the Carolinas soon followed. The only Southern colony to resist the onset of slavery was Georgia, created as an Enlightened experiment. Seventeen years later, Georgia repealed the ban on African slavery. Laws soon passed in these areas that condemned all children of African slaves to lifetimes in chains. http://www.ushistory.org/us/6c.asp -
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration was not only legalistic, but practical too. Americans hoped to get financial or military support from other countries that were traditional enemies of the British. However, these legal and pragmatic purposes, which make up the bulk of the actual document, are not why the Declaration is remembered today as a foremost expression of the ideals of the Revolution. -
America Declares Independence From Britain
Britain refused to grant their requests for representation, the colonies rebelled. Not all at once, and certainly not unified... but they fought. The British realized that the colonies cost far more than they were worth, so in 1783 they made a deal. They gave the United States of America its freedom and recognized it as an independent state. -
The Constitution is Ratified
Many of the states had different ideas on how America should be, so they wrote Constitutions for their state, however most of the other states never agreed on one. As a result one Federal Constitution was written and passed, after this the different states slowly started to ratify the document one at a time until all of them were on board with it. -
Federalism
Federalism in the United States is the constitutional relationship between U.S. state governments and the federal government of the United States. Since the founding of the country, and particularly with the end of the American Civil War, power shifted away from the states and towards the national government. -
American Industry Rises
In 1790, Samuel Slater built the first factory in America, based on the secrets of textile manufacturing he brought from England. He built a cotton-spinning mill in Rhode Island, soon run by water-power. Over the next decade textiles was the dominant industry in the country, with hundreds of companies created. -
The War of 1812
The republic's expansion to the west and renewed military conflict with Indian nations and Great Britain each posed a fundamental challenge to the fragile new republic. All three of these factors played a role in the coming of the War of 1812. The war years also led to the final disintegration of the Federalists, whose strength in New England, which, to many, indicated a regional loyalty in conflict with national sentiments given new importance by the war. -
Mexico Gains Independence to Spain
At the time Spain granted independence to Mexico in 1821, the land now comprising the state of Texas was very sparsely populated. The Mexican government actually encouraged the settlement of the area by American pioneers. -
Period: to
Andrew Jackson Is President
Jackson was elected the seventh president of the United States in 1828. Known as the "people's president," Jackson destroyed the Second Bank of the United States, founded the Democratic Party, supported individual liberty and instituted policies that resulted in the forced migration of Native Americans. He died on June 8, 1845. -
Indian Removal Act
Jackson, both as a military leader and as President, pursued a policy of removing INDIAN TRIBES from their ANCESTRAL LANDS. This relocation would make room for SETTLERS and often for SPECULATORS who made large profits from the purchase and sale of land. About 20,000 Cherokees were marched westward at gunpoint on the infamous TRAIL OF TEARS. Nearly a quarter perished on the way, with the remainder left to seek survival in a completely foreign land. -
Nat Turner and His Rebellion
Turner organized about 70 slaves who went from plantation to plantation and murdered about 75 men, women and children. As they continued on their rampage they gathered additional supporters but when their ammunition was exhausted, they were captured. Turner and about 18 of his supporters were hanged. This was even more shocking than any previous uprising. Turner had done what others had not. He actually succeeded in killing a large number of white Southerners. -
Mexican-American War
When war broke out against Mexico in May 1846, the United States Army numbered a mere 8,000, but soon 60,000 volunteers joined their ranks. The AMERICAN NAVY dominated the sea. The American government provided stable, capable leadership. The economy of the expanding United States far surpassed that of the fledgling Mexican state. Morale was on the American side. The war was a rout -
Underground Railroad is Established
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to mid-19th century, and used by African-American slaves to escape into free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
SENATOR STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS of Illinois wanted to see Nebraska made into a territory and, to win southern support, proposed a southern state inclined to support slavery; Kansas. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed each territory to decide the issue of slavery on the basis of popular sovereignty. Kansas with slavery would violate the Missouri Compromise, which had kept the Union from falling apart for the last thirty-four years. -
South Carolina Secedes From The Union Starting the Civil War
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union. Five days later, 68 federal troops stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, withdrew to FORT SUMTER, an island in CHARLESTON HARBOR. The North considered the fort to be the property of the United States government. The people of South Carolina believed it belonged to the new Confederacy. Four months later, the first engagement of the Civil War took place on this disputed soil. -
Abraham Lincoln chose Andrew Johnson as his Vice President Candidate
In 1864, Republican Abraham Lincoln chose Andrew Johnson, a Democratic senator from Tennessee, as his Vice Presidential candidate. Lincoln was looking for Southern support. He hoped that by selecting Johnson he would appeal to Southerners who never wanted to leave the Union. -
Andrew Johnson Got Impeached
In the spring of 1868, Andrew Johnson became the first President to be impeached. The heavily Republican House of Representatives brought 11 articles of impeachment against Johnson. Many insiders knew that the Congress was looking for any excuse to rid themselves of an uncooperative President.
