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Jamestown is founded
On May 14, 104 English men and boys set foot on North American soil. They named their settlement Jamestown, in honor of the English king, James I -
Massachusetts is Founded
The Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts is established by Pilgrims from England. Before disembarking from their ship, the Mayflower, 41 male passengers signed the Mayflower Compact, an agreement that forms the basis of the colony's government. -
New Amsterdam is Founded
New York
(originally New Amsterdam, annexed by England) founded by the Dutch West India Company. The Dutch offered the Indians sixty Dutch guilders for the Island of Manhattan (2400 English cents, or $24). The English then proceeded to take it from the Dutch for nothing -
Maryland is Founded
More Protestants than Catholics settled this state. Founded by Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, who was instructed to tolerate Puritans. -
Rhode Island is Founded
Founded by Roger Williams, a religious zealot who was banished from Boston by Governor Winthrop because he believed in separation of church and state and paying Indians for land. Boston religious reject Anne Hutchinson also finds a home here. -
Connecticut is Founded
Founded by Reverend Thomas Hooker -
New Hampshire & Delaware are Founded
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North Carolina is Founded
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South Carolina is Founded
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New Jersey is Founded
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Pennsylvania is Founded
Founded by William Penn – a very religious Quaker, a religious sect with liberal religious views. He was committed to nonviolence and social justice. -
Georgia is Founded
Founded by James Oglethorpe to help people avoid English debtor’s prisons and to be another safe haven for persecuted Protestants. -
1754 - 1763 French and Indian War
The final conflict in the ongoing struggle between the British and French for control of eastern North America. The British win a decisive victory over the French on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec -
Seven Years' War
(French and Indian Wars in America) (to 1763), in which Britain and Prussia defeat France, Spain, Austria, and Russia. France loses North American colonies; Spain cedes Florida to Britain in exchange for Cuba. -
Treaty of Paris
Feb. 10, With the Treaty of Paris, the British formally gained control of Canada and all the French possessions east of the Mississippi -
1764 -1765 It passed several pieces of legislation
The Sugar Act, in 1764
Quartering Act, in 1765
Stamp Act in March of 1765
Of all the new legislation, colonists hated the Stamp Act most The Virginia assembly officially condemned the new legislation, merchants called for a boycott and the Sons of Liberty were organized. -
The Declaratory Act
England officially stating that they did have the power to tax the colonists even though they didn't have a representative in Parliament. -
Boston Massacre
After years of escalating harassment and tension, violence erupted in the Boston Massacre: British troops fire into a mob, killing five men and leading to intense public protests. -
Boston Tea Party
December 16, : During the Boston Tea Party, the Sons of Liberty threw the cargo overboard rather than allow the tea to be unloaded and the tax paid. it stands out as one of the defining moments of American history -
Coercive Acts
As a result of the Boston Tea Party, Britain had punished Boston by issuing the Coercive Acts, which included closing Boston Harbor and instating military rule throughout Massachusetts -
The First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress Each of the colonies organized secret governments to direct their militias. During the months of September and October 1774, the First Continental Congress met to assert their rights within the British government, not to rebel against it. -
The Second Continental Congress
By the spring of 1775, deadly battles had been fought in Massachusetts, and the Second Continental Congress met again; The delegates agreed to unite the colonial militias into the Continental Army and unanimously selected George Washington to command it. -
American Revolution Begins
War of independence fought between Great Britain and the 13 British colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America. Battles of Lexington and Concord, Mass., between the British Army and colonial minutemen, mark the beginning of the war. April 19, -
Battle of Trenton - The British captured New York - The Battle of Saratoga
The successful Battle of Trenton and ultimately driving the British out of New Jersey.
The British captured New York. Americans were close to losing the war, they were not disciplined soldiers
Washington won the Battle of Saratoga, inducing France and some of her allies to join the fight on the American side. Meanwhile, the colonial troops were exhausted and running out of supplies. -
Declaration of Independence
Public opinion shifted in favor of independence following the publication of Common Sense in January 1776
In May 1776, the Congress endorsed overthrowing existing royal governments.
On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence. Benjamin Franklin famously encouraged all of the delegates to vote in favor of independence by saying 'We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.'
On the fourth of July, 1776, a Declaration of Independence -
General Cornwallis surrendered, ending the American Revolution,
On October 19, 1781, General Cornwallis surrendered, ending the American Revolution, though America's allies fought at sea with Britain for two more years. -
Treaty of Paris
Great Britain formally acknowledges American independence in the Treaty of Paris, which officially brings the war to a close. -
A federal government
Constitutional Convention, meets in Philadelphia to draft the U.S. Constitution. which proposed a new system of government: a federal government. The power to rule is shared between a central power and local governments -
Philadelphia temporary capital
Philadelphia temporary capital of U.S. as Congress votes to establish a new capital on Potomac. -
The Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, are ratified.
The Bill of Rights guarantees the rights of every citizen of the United States in a way that is nearly unequaled. -
Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States
ln 1800 Louisiana belonged to France. The ruler of
France at this time was Napoleon. Then the Americans were very lucky. In 1803 Napoleon was about to go to war with Britain and needed money. For fifteen million dollars he sold Louisiana to the United States. -
Oregon Trail
President Jefferson wanted explorers to go beyond Louisiana (lands known as Oregon).
The explorers were Lewis and Clark, who arrived to the Pacific Ocean. This became known as the Oregon Trail. -
Texas became independent from Mexico
The Texas American or
Texans came to dislike Mexican rule. In October 1835, they rebelled. Led by General Sam Houston, they defeated a much larger Mexican army in 1836 at the Barrie of San Jacinto and made Texas an independent republic. -
Texas became part of the United States
Most Texans did not want their independence to be permanent. They wanted their country to join the United States. Eventually the two countries reached an agreement about this and in 1845 Texas became part of the United Stares -
Oregon was annexed
Oregon Treaty (with Britain). Oregon was annexed -
Mexican-American War
In April 1846, there was fighting between American and Mexican soldiers along the border between Texas and Mexico. American soldiers invaded Mexico and defeated the Mexican army. The Mexican-American War ended by a peace treaty signed in February 1848. The treaty forced Mexico to hand over enormous stretches of its territory to the United States. Today these lands form the American states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Congress is denied interference in the slave trade between states, enabling Southern slave-owners to take free blacks from the North.
This act angered northerners. Some refused to accept it. Other started providing help to fugitives. -
Conflict over Kansas
Congress ended the Missouri Compromise and let Kansas decide whether to own slaves or not. A race for the control of Kansas began: there was so much killing and violence that the state started to be called “bleeding Kansas”. Neither side won the struggle. -
Abraham Lincoln elected President
Abraham Lincoln (Republican, anti-slavery) was elected President of the US. He wins the presidential election without carrying a single Southern vote. -
Secession
Eleven southern states announced that they were now an independent nation: The Confederate States of America. These states form the Confederate States of America, elect Jefferson Davis as their president and draft a constitution which mimics that of the United States except for an explicit endorsement of slavery. -
Fort Sumter
The first exchange of fire in the Civil War takes place off the coast of South Carolina at Fort Sumter. The Confederacy was led by Jefferson Davis, and the Union by Lincoln.
Southerners denied they were fighting for slavery. They claimed they wanted to be independent. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
It was passed by Lincoln and declared that all slaves living in the Confederacy were to make free. This changed the focus of the war from secession to protecting slavery. The Proclamation only applied to the Confederacy, not the slave states still in the Union or the areas under Union Army authority; emancipation would not be granted until 1865. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Confederate General Robert E. Lee, in an attempt to bring the Southern cause to the North, invades Pennsylvania but is routed by the Union army. Lee fails to capitalise on early military advantages, leading an infantry charge to a decisive defeat. Both sides are exhausted; the Union fails to press advantage as Lee retreats. Confederate forces are kept out of Union territory for the rest of the war. -
The Gettysburg Address
Lincoln arrives at Gettysburg to speak at the dedication ceremony for the Gettysburg war dead. The speech is only two minutes long, makes strong reference to the language of the Declaration of Independence and emphasises the unity of the nation. Later that year, Lincoln offers amnesty to Confederate soldiers who will pledge loyalty to the Union. -
The Union marched into Georgia
The Union marched into Georgia, and occupied Savannah. Then they marched to North and South Carolina, burning and destroying everything they encountered in the way. They wanted to reach Richmond, Virginia (the Confederacy’s capital). -
Lincoln re-lected
Military successes strengthen Lincoln’s election campaign against the dovish Democrat General George McClellan. Lincoln is re-elected carrying the electoral college vote and a slim majority of the popular vote. -
Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse
Union reinforcements arrive at the Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia and secure General Lee’s surrender. This marks the effective end of the Civil War. -
Assassination of Lincoln
Lincoln is shot in his box at the Ford Theatre in Washington D.C. by John Wilkes Booth and dies early the next morning. Andrew Johnson becomes President. -
The Thirteenth Amendment ratified
After a great deal of political wrangling, the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery is ratified. -
Civil Rights Act
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, despite opposition from the President. It also set up the Freedmen’s Bureau. Both were intended to ensure black people’s rights in the South. -
Reconstruction Act
This placed all white governments in the South under military rule. They would be able to elect their government again only if they accepted the 14th Amendment. -
Segregation
Some states introduced segregation, made legal by a 1896 Supreme Court ruling: the Constitution allowed separate facilities and services to be provided for black and black people as long as the facilities were of equal quality: “separate but equal”.
