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Aug 3, 1492
1492, Christopher Columbus finds America.
He was trying to find Asia, and landed on America by accident. -
1607, Settlement of Jamestown.
104 Englishmen sailed to North America to start a settlement. May 13th, they choose Jamestown, Virginia; named after their king James I. this was the first permanent settlement in North America. -
1756, The French and Indian war.
The French were expanding into the Ohio River valley and that created conflict with the British's claims on colonies.This led to a series of battles until the British officially declared war in 1756. This was lasted 7 years and and is a great example of imperial struggle. -
1773, The Boston Tea Party.
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty. Sons of Liberty, a group of Massachusetts colonists, were protesting again the Tea act; generally known as "taxation without representation". -
1775, Battles of Lexington and Concord.
These wars were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. -
1776, Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration of Independence is the statement saying that the 13 colonies were no longer under British control. -
1781, Battle of Yorktown.
Taking place at Yorktown, Virginia, was the most important battle in the Revolutionary War; where General George Washington commanded a siege against British General Lord Charles Cornwell. -
1787, Constitutional Convection.
The Constitutional Convection was a series of meetings to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation. -
1793, The Invention of the Cotton Gin.
Eli Whitney created the Cotton Gin, a machine that sped up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber. His machine was not validated until 1807. -
1798, Alien and Sedition Acts.
The Alien and Sedition Acts consisted of 4 laws:
1. Increased the residency requirement for citizenship from 5 to 14 years.
2. Made it legal for the president to imprison or deport aliens if they were considered dangerous.
3. Made it harder for new immigrants to vote.
4. Restricted speech critical for the government. -
1803, The Louisiana Purchase.
The Louisiana Purchase was a land deal between the US and France, in which the US got 827K square miles of land west of the Mississippi River. -
1812, The War of 1812.
The War of 1812 was a military conflict between the US and the UK with it's North American Colonies and North American Indian allies. -
1820, The Missouri Compromise.
The Missouri Compromise was an act of Congress by which Missouri was admitted a slave state. -
1828, The Election of Andrew Jackson.
1828, the 11th presidential election, Andrew Jackson was elected for president. -
1837, The Panic of 1837.
The Panic of 1937 was a financial crisis in the US. -
1838, Trail of Tears.
The Cherokee nation was forced to move and give up their lands east of the Mississippi River. -
1830/1840, The Invention of the Telegraph.
Telegraph revolutionized long distance communication. -
1846, Mexican-American War.
A war between the US and Mexico. -
1850, Compromise of 1850.
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of 5 bills passed by the US Congress which defused a 4 year political conformation between slave states and free states, regarding the territories acquired during the Mexican-American war. -
1861, Firing on Fort Sumter
When the Confederate forces opened fire on the Union garrison holding Fort Sumter. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation basically said "anyone who is a slave, shall be free". -
1865, Civil War Amendments.
The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were passed to ensure equality for the emancipated slaves. -
1865, Battle of Appomattox Courthouse.
The Battle of Appomattox Courthouse was one of the last battles of the American Civil War. -
1865, Abraham Lincoln's assassination.
The 16th president was assassinated at the Peterson House, Washington DC. -
1868, Andrew Jackson's Impeachment.
The US House of Representatives vote 11 articles against the president. -
1870, Standard Oil.
The Standard Oil company was the largest oil refiner in the world of it's time. -
1892, Homestead and Pullman Strikes.
The Homestead Strike was a labor lockout and strike which began a battle between the strikers and private security agents.
The Pullman Strike was when Pullman Palace Car Company workers reacted to a wage cut by going on strike. -
1898, Spanish-American War.
The Spanish-American war was a war fought between Spain and the US. -
1901, Theodore Roosevelt.
Theodore Roosevelt was elected the 26th president of the US. -
1800's/1900's, Inventions.
The electric light was invented in 1879 by Thomas Edison.
The telephone invented in 1876 by Alexander Bell.
The airplane invented in 1903 by the Wright brothers.