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Period: Jan 1, 1492 to
Colonial Times
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Aug 1, 1492
Diversity of Native American Groups
Europeans ignored the vast diversity amoung Native Americans. There are between 140 and 160 different American Indian tribes. There is no single Native American language, however the Europeans regarded them as one group.
http://www.historycentral.com/Indians/Before.html -
Jamestown Settlers and the Starving Time
Settlers starved during 1609 - 1610 in Jamestown
they failed to plant crops in time
Native Americans killed their livestock
They resorted to cannibalism, grave robbing and eating corpses
When they decided to abandon Jamestown a fleet came in and pursueded them to stay
http://www.historywiz.com/exhibits/james-starvingtime.htm -
The Royal Proclamation
After Britain won the Seven Years' War and gained land in North America, it issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited American colonists from settling west of Appalachia
The colonist headed westward in wagons anyway because there was no way for the British to stop them. http://raglinen.com/2010/02/28/the-effect-of-the-royal-proclamation-of-1763/ -
The stamp Act
British rule created the stamp act so that the colony could pay taxes. The British government felt that the colonies were the primary beneficiaries of this military presence, and should pay at least a portion of the expense.
All legal documents, newspapers, magazines and many other types of paper had to be stamped with a seal. It was proof of payment. The stamp act was repealed on March 18, 1766
http://www.history.org/history/teaching/tchcrsta.cfm -
The First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress that met in Philadelphia was a bold, new, all-colony assembly that drew leaders from all of the 13 colonies except Georgia
Its most important early action was to call for an economic attack against Britain through a unified boycott of British goods and to provide for a Second Continental Congress to meet on May 10, 1775.
http://dieamerikanischerev.blogspot.com/2011/02/first-continental-congress.html -
The Declaration of Independance
The Declaration's most famous sentence reads: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
http://www.barefootsworld.net/doi1776.html -
Economic Crises of the 1780's
Also known as the ":Critical Period, it is the period of time following the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783 to the inauguration of George Washington in 1789. During this time, the newly independent former colonies were beset with a wide array of foreign and domestic problems. Debt and Taxes, depression and the Newburg Conspiracy were part of the economic crises. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America's_Critical_Period -
What is an American
Letters From An American Farmer by J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur
Here individuals of all races are melted into a new race of man, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world. Americans are the western pilgrims. (from "Letter III," 1782)
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/CREV/home.html -
Federalist vs. Antifederalist
SUPREME AUTHORITY: Federalist believe National government and Antifederalist State government.SECTION Federalis were mostly businessmen, Anitfederalist were mostly laborers. CONSTITUTION: Federalist for, Antifederalist against, they thought it gave too much power government. BILL OF RIGHTS: Federalist Against, antifederalist For.
Absence of federalists or anti-federalists would have made a great deal of difference in the supreme law of the land.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/federalists-vs-anti -
The First Administration
The Father of our Country: George Washington was the first President after the constitution was ratified.He served 2 terms.
-Organized the first United States Cabinet and the Executive Branch - Established the United States federal judiciary
-Oversaw the ratification of the United States Bill of Rights
- Oversaw the establishment, location and planning of the future District of Columbia. Find out more at:
http://millercenter.org/president/washington -
The Second Great Awakening
New Roles for White Women:
-earliest converts and who filled evangelical churches in numbers far beyond their proportion -formed important women's auxiliaries to almost all of the new Christian reform organizations - a new notion of more cooperative family life began to spread where husband and wife worked as partners in raising a family
http://www.cgc.maricopa.edu/academic-affairs/library/communityhistory/old%20community%20history/women%20activists/index-2.2.shtml.html -
Jeffersonian Ideology
He made major contributions as a politician, statesman, diplomat, intellectual, writer, scientist, and philosopher. No other figure among the Founding Fathers shared the depth and breadth of his wide-ranging intelligence. Jefferson was the single most powerful individual leading the struggle to enhance the rights of ordinary people. his Declaration of Independence had eloquently expressed America's statement of purpose "that all men are created equal."
http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson -
The Importance of the West
After the Louisianna Purchase,tThe rapid population growth and geographic expansion caused a great deal of conflict. Native Americans in the west resisted American intrusion and fought renewed wars in the early 19th century. Access to western land offered the promise of independence and prosperity to anyone willing to meet the hardships of frontier life. War broke out between the Americans and the Natives that were backed by the British. -
The Trail of Tears
In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died.
http://ngeorgia.com/history/nghisttt.html -
Transcenentalism - An American Philosophy
The Enlightenment had come to new rational conclusions about the natural world, mostly based on experimentation and logical thinking. The pendulum was swinging, and a more Romantic way of thinking -- less rational, more intuitive, more in touch with the senses -- was coming into vogue. Those new rational conclusions had raised important questions, but were no longer enough.
http://www.transcendentalists.com/what.htm -
Dorothea Dix
Reformer and Humanitarian - A "voice for the mad," Dorothea Dix did more than anyone else of her generation to improve the lives of mentally ill people in America. In January 1843, she presented the state legislature with a long, stark and arresting address. Several powerful men came to Dix's aid after that; with their influence, the legislature was persuaded to foot the bill to expand the state hospital for the insane at Worcester.
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1092.html -
Popular Sovereignty
Idea popularized by Stephen A. Douglas that territories and states could decide whether they would allow slavery. The idea was in direct contradiction with the Dred Scott Decision, which was the law of the land.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/features/northerncauses.html -
The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre
John Brown and 7 of his "Free State" volunteers killed 5 people and confiscated weapons, horses and saddles.
This assault occurred three days after Border Ruffians from Missouri burned and pillaged the anti-slavery haven of Lawrence, and two days after Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner was severely beaten by Senator Preston Brooks of South Carolina. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/kansas/jbrown.html -
The Dred Scott Decision
On March 6, 1857, The Supreme Court decided against Dred Scott, a slave who maintained he had been emancipated because he lived with his master in a free state. The decision did much more than resolve the fate of an elderly black man and his family. The decision declared that Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in the federal territories, thereby striking a severe blow at the Republican party and intensifying the conflict over slavery. http://americancivilwar.com/colored/dred_scott.h -
The South Secedes
Within three months of Lincoln's election, seven states had seceded from the Union. These southern states became the Confederate States of America and made up their own government. They also made up their own constitution. The war became very violent. http://www.pocanticohills.org/civilwar/south.htm -
The Battle of Antietam
The bloodiest day of American History. The Battle of Antietam began early one day and the lives of 15,000 lay dead in less than five hours. By the end of the day 22,000 soldiers were dead, injured or missing. The south lost a quarter of his army; the survivors headed back to Virginia the next night.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/antietam.html -
Reconstruction Era
Reconstruction refers to the period following the Civil War of rebuilding the United States.
Three Constitutional amendments altered the nature of African-American rights. Three Amendments added to the Constitution
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/index.html -
Impeached President
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. Congress was looking to get rid of an uncooperative President.
http://www.andrewjohnson.com/09impeachmentandacquittal/vi-1.htm
