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Oct 12, 1492
Columbus Lands in the Americas
Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sets sail with with three small ships, the Santa María, the Pinta, and the Niña. on October 12 the expedition sighted land is was a Island in the Bahamas, they came ashore the same day. Later in the expedition Columbus thought he saw Japan. He established a small colony there with 39 of his men and retuned to Spain with gold, spices. Later he returns to his colony with large fleet of 17 ships where he finds out all of his men where killed by the natives. -
Jamestown
A group of about 100 members of the Virginia Company founded the first English settlement in North America on the banks of the James River. Disease and conflict with local Native American quickly come to rise. Tribes from the local area bring Jamestown to failure is less then 2 years. later in 1610 a new group of settlers arrive, they brought with them Tobacco and that became Virginia’s first profitable export. -
Pilgrims Land
In September 1620 around 100 pilgrims many seeking religious freedom in the New World set sail from southwestern England On a ship called the Mayflower. After 65 days on the ship In November of the same year the mayflower lands on the shores of Cape Cod (present-day Massachusetts) Soon after the Pilgrims built their settlement they came in contact with Tisquantum an English-speaking Native American tribe. The chief Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, fish and hunt beaver. -
French/Indian War
A conflict that lasted 7 years between Britain and France. This war started because both colonies wanted to expand. When Britain was expanding west they ran into french solderers, and that was the first battle of the 7 year war. both sides watered to expand to the Ohio River valley which gave access to the Mississippi river that was used for trading -
PROCLAMATION OF 1763 (Road to Revolution)
the Proclamation act officially ended the French and Indian War. This act was passed to make sure that the colonists are not in danger of being attacked by natives because the British believed the natives where savages. They also passed it so the natives wouldn't go on to there lands. -
THE SUGAR ACT (Road to Revolution)
The Sugar act was a modified version of The American Revenue Act of 1764. The purpose of the sugar act was to Reduce the rate of tax on sugar from six pence per gallon from French West Indies to three cents per pence from the English. -
STAMP ACT (Road to Revolution)
The Stamp Act was the first act that directly taxed American colonists. Enforced by the British government the Stamp act imposed a tax on all paper documents in the colonies. It came at a time when the British Empire was deep in debt from the Seven Year War. The colonists were not happy about the act, they resorted to violence to scare the stamp collectors. -
QUARTERING ACT (Road to Revolution)
The Quartering Act passed in 1765 required the American colonies to house British soldiers in barracks provided by the colonists. If the barracks were too small to hold all the soldiers the remaining stay at local inns, stables and able houses of the colonists. This was because the British increased defense costs following French and Indian war and needed housing space for solders -
TOWNSHEND ACT (Road to Revolution)
the Townshend Act placed passed by the British placed specific duties on imported good by the colonists including glass, lead, paints, paper and tea. The act hoped to lower expenses inside the colonies so the British would have more money. Many colonists viewed the tax as an abuse of power. In 1770 The Parliament repealed all the Townshend duties except for the tax on tea -
BOSTON MASSACRE (Road to Revolution)
The Boston Massacre happened in 1770 when a group of British soldiers comes to the aid of a fellow soldier that was being heckled by a public speaker. When they arrive a crowd of people started pelting the soldiers with snowballs, stones and anything they can find. The British soldiers opened fire and 5 colonists die, 3 more injured. -
TEA ACT (Road to Revolution)
The Tea Act was one of several taxes imposed on the American colonists by the British government. The main purpose of the act was to raise money for the British so they can get the East India Company out of debt. The British granted the company a monopoly on the importation and sale of tea in the colonies. -
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY (Road to Revolution)
Boston Tea Party was a protest of the British Parliament’s Tea Act that taxed all tea coming into ports. At midnight a group 60 Massachusetts colonists boarded three tea ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor valued at $18,000. -
FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS (Road to Revolution)
In response to the British unfair taxes, the colonists formed the first Continental Congress which first met in Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia. Fifty-six delegates except for Georgia drafted a declaration of rights and they named Peyton Randolph the first president of Congress. -
PAUL REVERE (Road to Revolution)
Paul Revere was an American silversmith. Pual famously road through the night to warn the city of Lexington in Massachusetts that the British were planning to invade. Because of this the colonists knew about the planned invasion and have time to gather people and prepare for a battle -
Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord was the first battle of the American Revolutionary War. 700 British solders marched into lexington on there way to concord. they where ordered to confiscate hidden weapons. waiting for them was 77 colonists that rebel against the solders. After dozens of men die on both sides the British retreat. Many more battles followed, and in 1783 the colonists won their independence. -
Declaration of Independence
conflict between American colonists and British soldiers began in April 1775. The colonists where fighting for there rights and did not want to live under British rule. In June of 1776 a committee including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin drafted a formal statement for the coloneis. The Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence mostly written Thomas Jefferson on July 4. This day is now celebrated as the day Americans won there freedom -
VERMONT ABOLISHED SLAVERY
Vermont was a newly formed state, which broke away from New York and was admitted to the union in 1791. After declaring its independence Vermont was the very fist in the US state to abolish slavery in 1777 as it was part of the new states constitution. -
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia met in May of 1787 to address the issues of a weak central government that follows the Articles of Confederation. The United States Constitution was written to establish a strong federal government with specific powers under 3 branches of authority. Executive, Legislative and Judicial -
FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT
Congress passed the first Fugitive Slave Act in 1793, this authorized local governments to seize and return escaped slaves to their owners. After this law was passed it was hit with widespread criticism. Northerners thought it would turn there states into a stalking grounds for bounty hunters, and many argued the law was basically legalized kidnapping. -
COTTON GIN
In 1794 Inventor Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin. It was a machine that greatly speed up the process of removing seeds from cotton. Soon after the invention of the cotton gin, cotton had become a cash crop and became America’s leading export, This created a high demand for slaves. In 1790, there were 657,000 slaves in southern states. By 1810, there were almost 1.3 million. -
Jefferson Presidency
Thomas Jefferson was the third US president and author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson served in the Virginia legislature and the Continental Congress during the American revolutionary war. He was a leading figure in the early development of the US. Jefferson was elected president in 1800 and believed the government should have little in the life's of the people -
Louisiana Purchase
the Louisiana purchase happened in 1803 when the president of the United States Thomas Jefferson purchased approximately 828,000,000 square miles of land from France. The Louisiana Territory stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. It was considerd the biggest achievement in Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. -
CONGRESS ABOLISHES AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE
The United States congress passes an act to prohibit all importation of slaves into the United States in 1808. Slaves where not allowed into any sea port no matter where they came from. Over 4 million slaves in the South joined with the North in voting to abolish the African slave trade. -
Missouri compromise
In the years leading up to the Missouri Compromise tensions between pro-slavery and anti-slavery within the U.S. Congress where at a all time high. in late 1819 Missouri requested that within the state that slavery would be permitted. At this time the us has 22 states and half where slave states. Congress granted Missouri request but at the same time they deemed Maine as a free state. -
Jackson Presidency
in 1812 Andrew Jackson had become a wealthy Tennessee lawyer and rising politician. When a war broke out between the United States and Britain Jackson served as a major general in the War and commanded U.S. forces. his leadership skills earned him national fame as a military hero. Jackson ran for president and after a narrow loss in 1824 he ran again 4 years later and became the nation’s seventh president. -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Jackson, authorizing unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian tribe lands within the state borders. A few tribes went peacefully but many refused. In 1838 and 1839 the Cherokees were forced to move west by the United States. Almost 4,000 Cherokees died on the forced march west, which became known as the Trail of Tears. -
THE LIBERATOR
the Liberator was the very first anti-slavery newspaper. Started by William Lloyd Garrison he quickly became a leader in the anti-slavery movement. His words reached out to thousands of individuals in the United states and worldwide. With the topic on ending slavery Garrison's opinions made him loved and hated by many Americans. -
NAT TURNER
Nat Turner was a black slave in America who started one the only effective slave rebellion in U.S. history. He Spread fear throughout the South after him and six other slaves killed the Travis family that owned him. Turner successfully hid for six weeks until he was discovered and convicted, that let to the his hanging at Jerusalem, Virginia, along with 16 of his followers. -
Scott v Sanford
Dredd Scott a slave went to trial to sue for his freedom in the Dredd Scott v Sanford case. after a decade of appeals his case was finally brought before the United States Supreme Court. the court decided that all people of African ancestry could not become citizens of the United States and therefore he couldn't sue in federal court. The court also ruled that the government did not have the power to prohibit slavery in its territories. Dredd Scott lost and remained a slave -
Lincoln Presidency
growing up in a small brick house and very poor Abraham Lincoln became a self-taught lawyer and was known for speaking out against slavery. Lincoln was elected 16th president of the United States in November 1860. shortly before the Civil War started Lincoln proved to be a good military strategist and leader: His Emancipation Proclamation paved the way to abolish slavery. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is an island located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. it is most famous for being the site of the first battle of the civil war. When South Carolina seceded from the union they attempted to take control of the fort. that started a standoff between them and the union forces. After a 34-hour exchange of gun fire 86 union soldiers surrendered the fort on April 13 186. Confederate troops then have control of Fort Sumter for nearly four year. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham granted freedom to thousands of slaves. this was commonly interpreted as a commitment to the cause. before the Emancipation Proclamation the Confederacy used a lot of slaves and had used the them to cater to war efforts. -
Surrender at Appomattox (end of Civil War)
After Confederate General Robert E. Lee was forced to abandon the Confederate capital of Richmond, he had no other choice. Him and his Northern Virginia army of 28,000 troops officially surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant and his union solders on April 9, 1865. this act officially ended the civil war. -
Lincoln Assassinated
John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer that was pro slavery, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. The killing was only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to the union at Appomattox Court House. -
13th Amendment ratified
the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which officially abolished slavery and was ratified in 1865. it stated “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Lincoln believed the Amendment was necessary to ensure slavery was abolished. -
15TH AMENDMENT
The 15th Amendment granting African-American men the right to vote was adopted into the U.S. Constitution in 1870. Unfortunately by the late 1870s discriminatory practices were used to prevent African Americans from voting. It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that all legal barriers that denied blacks their right to vote were outlawed. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act passed by Congress in 1882 was the first law restricting immigration. It prohibited the immigration of Chinese labourers into the United States for 10 years. this act was passed because of the declining wages in jobs because desperate Chinese immigrants would would for very cheap5 -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was the first measure passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts and other monopolies. This act came into play because trusts and monopolies often have fixed prices so only that wealthy could afford. This got ride of most of the composition, making only the rich get richer -
Plessy v Ferguson
in the Plessy v. Ferguson case the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation. The case in 1892 was about an incident in which a African-American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a car for blacks. The Supreme Court ruled that a state law that implies "merely a legal distinction" between whites and blacks -
Spanish American War
when the American navel ship USS Maine mysteriously blew up. The US blamed a Spanish mine. President McKinley gave the OK for war and by April 1898 both the US and Spain had declared war. The US liberated Cuba, and got Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines as colonies for itself. -
T. Roosevelt Presidency
A young Republican politician Theodore Roosevelt unexpectedly became the 26th president of the United States in after the assassination of William McKinley in 1901. He was well liked in the government and won a second term in 1904. Roosevelt set aside some 200 million acres for national forests and reserves. Roosevelt also won a Nobel Peace Prize -
Wilson Presidency
Woodrow Wilson was the 28th U.S. president. He served in office from 1913 to 1921 the same time that World War I was happening. Wilson was an advocate for democracy and world peace. Wilson tried to keep the United States neutral during World War I but had called on Congress to declare war on Germany in 1917. After the war he helped negotiate a peace treaty that included a plan for the League of Nation -
HARRIET TUBMAN UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
Born a slave on Maryland’s eastern shore, Harriet Tubman faced the harsh existence of a field work that included brutal beatings by her owner. In 1849 Tubman fled leaving her husband and family behind. With a bounty on her head, she returned to the South around 19 times to lead her family and hundreds of other slaves to freedom using the Underground Railroad. -
Worlds War l
World War I began in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. During the war the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire). they fought against the Allied Powers (Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan and the United States). -
Panama Canal
After the failure of a French construction team in the 1880s, the United States started building a canal across a 50-mile stretch of the Panama isthmus in 1904. chief engineer John Stevens had a innovative technique to carry a boat from sea-level to a lock canal. Opened in 1914 it became a know as the world-famous Panama Canal. -
WWI Ends
At the end of the war in 1918 allied Powers claimed victory. World War I took the lives of more than 9 million soldiers and 21 million more were wounded. the war numbered close to 10 million civilian casualties. The two nations most affected were Germany and France which sent near 80 percent of their male populations between the ages of 15 and 49 into battle. -
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was the development of the Harlem neighborhood in New York City as a black culture was on the rise in the early 20th Century. The time period is considered a golden age in African American culture, manifesting in literature, music, stage performance and art. -
Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles was the document negotiated among the Allied powers that officially ended world war I in 1919. The treaty deemed Germany the aggressor in the war and made them responsible. nations set an amount of $33 billion in 1921 that Germany had to pay for all the money that was lost war cost. -
Eighteenth Amendment
the Eighteenth Amendment prohibited “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquours” but not the consumption, private possession, or production for one’s own consumption. This sparked a uptick in organized crime. -
Nineteenth Amendment
the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote. until then woman did not share all of the same rights as men, including the right to vote. Susan B. Anthony and other activists formed organizations that raised public awareness and It was not until 1848 that the movement for women’s rights was know nation wide. -
Gitlow v New York
The case of Gitlow v. New York dealt with a number of Constitutional amendments. Amendments are the rights guaranteed to American citizens. The also dealt with state governments and specifically their ability to uphold these civil rights expressed in the US Constitution. -
Stock market crash
When Black Tuesday in 1929 wall street as investors traded an esitmated 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a 1 day. Billions of dollars were lost and it wiped out thousands of investors. The aftermath of Black Tuesday, America spirolled downward into the Great Depression that lasted until 1939
