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Oct 11, 1492
Columbus Lands in the Americas
Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailor looking for a new route to the Indies, landed on an island in the Caribbean sea. He then claimed the new land for Spain. -
Nov 14, 1519
The Spanish Empire
After Columbus' arrival in the New World, Spain decided to send Conquistadores overseas to the new land and find riches for Spain. They conquered vast amounts of land for Spain, and created an empire in the New World. -
Nov 15, 1532
Pizarro Conquers Inca Empire
In 1532, Francisco Pizarro set out to conquer the Inca empire in modern-day Peru. Smallpox had killed many previous to Pizarro's arrival, so the Inca could not defend themselves very well against Pizarro's attack. -
Nov 15, 1540
The Coronado Expedition
In 1540, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado sent out an expedition to find the famous "Seven Cities of Cibola", which were rumored to be immeasurably rich. However, no such cities were found on the expedition. -
Jamestown is founded
Claiming land in North America, England sent settlers overseas to the new colony. Named after King James, Jamestown was the first British colony in the new world. -
New France is founded
74 years after Jacques Cartier claimed New France in 1534, Samuel de Champlain began the first colony in New France: Quebec. For years, Quebec was a base for French fur trappers( coureurs de bois), missionaries, traders, and explorers. -
New Netherlands is founded
While searching for a Northwest passage through North America, Henry Hudson found land along the banks of a river in present-day New York and claimed it for the Netherlands. 17 years later, in 1626, the Dutch West India company started a colony in New Netherlands. -
Connecticut is founded
Founded by Thomas Hooker in 1636, Connecticut was a New England colony. On the northeastern coast of the Unites States, it is close to the ocean, many settlers worked as fishermen or shipbuilders. -
Robert de La Salle Claims Louisiana
While exploring the land, Robert de La Salle found the Mississippi river. He claimed all land west of the river for France, naming it Louisiana, in honor of the French king. -
Proclamation of 1763
In order to keep peace with the Native Americans, King George III made a law saying that colonists were not allowed to settle in land west of the Appalachian mountains. This was also due to the fact that Britain could not afford to have another war with the Native Americans. -
The Stamp Act
In order to pay off the large debts the British Empire had acquired, King George III decided to make colonists pay extra for their paper. Each paper purchased had to have a stamp on it(for extra cost), as a mark of validity. -
The Quartering Act
Since the British soldiers were doing so much to protect the colonists, King George III decided that colonists should provide food, lodging, firing, and beer for the British soldiers in America. -
The Townshend Acts
To pay off the British Empire's debts, Charles Townshend of the British Parliament decided to tax colonists on all good imported from England. These items included paint, glass, and tea. -
The Tea Act
The Tea Act: a law issued by Lord North lowered the price of tea significantly, but gave the British East India Company a monopoly over the tea market in the colonies. To express their feelings, Patriots in Boston threw 90,000 pounds of tea into the Boston Harbor -
The Intolerable Acts
After hearing about the Boston Tea Party, King George III decided to close off the Boston Harbor and place the goevernment of Massachusetts strictly under British control. However, this united many of the colonies against Britain, and colonists throughout America were rebelling by forming their own militias. -
Lexington and Concord
On April 18, 1775, the first battle of the Revolutionary war took place. When british troops attacked the field of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, they were surprised to see a troop of colonists as well. The battle lasted only a few minutes, with the colonists defeating the British. -
The Second Continental Congress
After the start of the Revolutionary war, delegates from the 13 colonies decided to form a continental army. To lead the army, the delegates chose General George Washington. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
Worried by the fort built by the colonists on top of Bunker HIll, the British decided to seize the fort. The colonits, fighting back, ran out of gunpowder and were forced to surrender. -
The Olive Branch Petition
In a last attempt to peacefully make amends with King George III, the Continental Congress sent an Olive Branch petition. However, King George had already declared the colonies to be in a state of open rebellion, and ordered "to bring the traitors to justice". -
The Siege of Boston
In need of heavier weapons, colonists stole weapons from Fort Ticonderoga, which they aimed at the city of Boston. This frightened the British soldiers, who left the city. -
The Declaration of Independence
In order to officially separate from Britain, delegates wrote a letter to King George III. By signing, the delegates would be risking their lives in the name of freedom. -
Battle of New York
The American and British armies met in New York to fight. The Americans were defeated by far, losing 1,407 men, while the British lost only 377. The British army thought the war was over, and expected a surrender from General George Washington. Washington, however, simply retreated, without a surrender. -
Trenton
Late in the night on December 25, 1776, George Washington and his army surprised the British troops in Trenton, New Jersey. The Americans attacked the sleeping men and took 868 hostages. Nobody was killed. The british were scared, but knew the war was not over yet. -
Battle of Saratoga
After the attack at Trenton, the British troops decided to win the war, once and for all. They started moving toward the American troops in Saratoga Springs. However, by the time they got there, the area was full of colonists. Finally, the British troops surrendered. -
Yorktown
After being chased around the southern colonies without getting anything done, General Cornwallis decided to take his troops to rest in Yorktown,Virginia. In Yorktown, however, more than 16.000 troops were waiting for them. After a few days of fighting, Cornwallis surrendered. -
Treaty of Paris
In 1783, the United States and Britains signed a treaty agreeing to peace. Great Britain agreed to recognize the United States as an independent country, and to give up its claims to land in the United States. The United States agreed to return all rights and property taken from loyalists during the war. -
Shay's Rebellion
During the war, farmers were told to take out loans so they could buy more land to feed the soldiers. However, they were put in jail when they couldn't pay back their loans.They burned courthouses to destroy the loan records and protested. -
Ratification of the Articles of Confederation
After the Revolutionary War ended, the states met to decide how they would form their government. They decided against a central government lest what happened with King George happen again. They decided to opt for a state-powered government called the Articled of Confederation. -
The Constitutional Convention
On May 25, 1787, delegates from the states met to improve the articles of confederation. They ended up scrapping the AoC and adopting a new, central government. -
Ratification of the US constitution
The US constitution is a document that lays out laws for the US government. It is made of 27 amendments, the first 10 of which are the bill of rights. The Constitution was ratified by every state almost immediately. -
The Louisiana Purchase
New Orleans was an extremely important port for american farmers. So, President Thomas Jefferson offered to buy it from Napoleon. However, Napoleon could see that Britain was on the brink of war with Britain. Deciding it was best to get rid of the land, Napoleon sold all of Louisiana to the US for $15 million. -
Spain gives Florida to the US
Florida contained a wide variety of people living there. However, slaves from Georgia had been running away to Florida and there had been raids on southern states by Seminole. President James Monroe sent a letter to the Spanish governor telling him to govern Florida properly or get out. The governor, fearful of war, chose to give Florida to the US. The US paid $5 million to spain. -
The Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise added Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state in order to keep the balance. However, Congress banned slavery in part of the Louisiana Territory. This upset Southerners. -
The Indian Removal Act
In 1830, the Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress. This act forced many native american tribes to move west, into new territory on the Great Plains. Some tribes went willingly, but others refused. For example, the Sac and Fox, led by Black Hawk. -
The Trail of Tears
Native Americans were forced from their homes and made to walk over 1,000 km barefoot, without their belongings. Many became ill and died on the way to their new territory, which was much smaller than their own land. The trail they walked was later called the "trail of tears" -
Refusal of Abolitionists' Petitions
When abolitionists sent petitions to Congress to stop slavery, they simple ignored it. This upset northerners because they wanted slavery to end and they could not do that if congress would not pay attention to their requests. -
Texas is Annexed
In 1821, American settlers began moving to Texas. However, they had trouble with the mexicans already living there. The Americans and Tejanos often got into fights and did not get along. In response to this, americans living in texas asked the mexican government to let texas become and independent state. The Mexican government said no, and fighting began. Finally, the texans won and became an independent state. However, they were only independent for about 10 years because the US annexed it. -
War with Mexico
After President James Polk offered to buy areas of Mexico from the mexican government and was denied, mexican soldiers shot and killed/wounded 16 americans. This gave Polk an excuse to start a war. After 2 years of fighting, Americans had gained control over Callifornia, New Mexico, and other land. In 1848, Mexico and the US agreed to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, giving the US texas and a large chunk of mexican land. In return, the US gave the mexican government $15 million. -
Oregon Treaty
In 1819, 4 nations all had claims in Oregon(Russia, Spain, Britain, and the United States). By 1825, however, only Britain and the US had claims on it. Many settlers (american and british) had rushed to Oregon and lived peacfully with each other. President James Polk decided that he wanted a bigger claim to Oregon. In 1846, a treaty passed splitting Oregon roughly in half with Britain. -
Kansas-Nebraska act
The Kansas-Nebraska act was made so that the two territories would be open to slavery. This upset northerners because they were scared that slavery would spread further west and, eventually, all over the country. -
Abraham Lincoln is elected president
Abraham Lincoln being elected president made many northerners happy and many southerners upset. President Lincoln wanted to ban slavery in the United States, something that made southerners angry. -
The Civil War
Since the North wanted slavery and the South didn't, the southern states in the Union decided to secede and form their own country: the Confederacy. The war between the Union and Confederacy officially began with the battle of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 when confederate soldiers attacked a union fort. The war ended with General Robert E. Lee's surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant.
