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Period: 1492 to
Diversity of Native American Groups
Since 1492, European explorers and settlers have tended to ignore the vast diversity of the people who had previously lived here. It soon became common to lump all such groups under the term "Indian." In the modern American world, we still do. There are certain experiences common to the survivors of these tribes. They all have had their lands compromised in some way and suffered the horrors of reservation life. -
JamesTown Colony founded
On May 24th, 1607, 104 English boys and men arrived in North America to start a settlement. On May 13, they picked Jamestown, Virginia for their settlement, which was named after their King, James I. The settlement became the first permanent English settlement in North America. -
Slave Codes
As the Peculiar Institution spread across the South, many states passed "SLAVE CODES," which outlined the rights of slaves and the acceptable treatment and rules regarding slaves. Slave codes varied from state to state, but there were many common threads. One could not do business with a slave without the prior consent of the owner. Slaves could be awarded as prizes in raffles, wagered in gambling, offered as security for loans, and transferred as gifts from one person to another. -
New France
By 1700, France had laid claim to an expanse of territory that ranged from NewFoundland in the Northeast, down across the Great Lakes through the Ohio Valley, southward along the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, and as far west as the Rocky Mountains. -
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French and Indian War
Round four of the global struggle between England and France began in 1754. Unlike the three previous conflicts, this war began in America. French and British soldiers butted heads with each other over control of the Ohio Valley. At stake were the lucrative fur trade and access to the all-important Mississippi River, the lifeline of the FRONTIER to the west. -
"What Is the American?"
Michel-Guillaume De Crevecoeur was a French settler in the American colonies in the 1770s. Coming from France he could not believe the incredible diversity in the American colonies. Living in one area, he encountered people of English, Scots-Irish, German, French, Irish, Swedish, Native American, and African descent. "What then is the American, this new man?" He could not be sure, but he knew it to be different from anything that could be found on the European side of the Atlantic. -
The Declaration of Independence and Its Legacy
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." -
The Federal Constitution
in 1787, who then presented it to the general public for consideration. The Constitution amounted to a whole new set of rules for organizing national government and indicates the intensity of political thought in the era as well as how much had changed since 1776. -
Farewell Address
Washington was extremely sensitive to the importance of public appearance and he used his departure to publicize a major final statement of his political philosophy. WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS has long been recognized as a towering statement of American political purpose and has been read annually in the U.S. -
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The Rise of American Industry
During the first 30 years of the 1800s, AMERICAN INDUSTRY was truly born. Household manufacturing was almost universal in colonial days, with local craftsmen providing for their communities. This new era introduced FACTORIES, with machines and predetermined tasks, producing items to be shipped and sold elsewhere. -
Republicanism
The United States underwent dramatic changes during the period of Democratic-Republican. political leadership in the first decades of the 19th century. The republic's expansion to the west and renewed military conflict with Indian nations and Great Britain each posed a fundamental challenge to the fragile new republic. All three of these factors played a role in the coming of the War of 1812. -
The 1824 Presidential Election
The 1824 Presidential Election marked the final collapse of the Republican-Federalist political framework. For the first time no candidate ran as a Federalist, while five significant candidates competed as Democratic-Republicans. Clearly, no party system functioned in 1824. The official candidate of the Democratic-Republicans to replace Monroe was WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD, the secretary of the treasury. -
Capitalism
Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845, is the idea that the United States is destined—by God, its advocates believed—to expand its dominion and spread Capitalism across the entire North American continent. -
End of The Mexican War (Nationalism)
One would expect Americans to rejoice and come together in a burst of postwar nationalism. These were not, however, ordinary times. The land obtained from Mexico quickly became the subject of a bitter feud between the Northern Whigs and the Southern Democrats. -
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The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad operated at night. Slaves were moved from "station" to "station" by abolitionists. These "stations" were usually homes and churches — any safe place to rest and eat before continuing on the journey to freedom, as faraway as Canada.... Most of the time, however, slaves crept northward on their own, looking for the signal that designated the next safe haven. This was indeed risky business, because SLAVE CATCHERS and sheriffs were constantly on the lookout. -
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The Great Compromise
Between 1856 and 1860, America would see a breakdown in many of its political processes that had developed over the last eight decades. The Great Compromisers of the early 19th century — Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and John Calhoun — were gone, and their leadership in avoiding disunion were gone as well. Forces on the extremes were becoming more and more powerful, reducing the influence of moderates and crippling the spirit of reconciliation. Front and center was the issue of slavery. -
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Reconstruction After Civil War
RECONSTRUCTION refers to the period following the Civil War of rebuilding the United States. It was a time of great pain and endless questions. -
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
On April 11, 1865, two days after LEE'S SURRENDER at Appomattox, Lincoln delivered a speech outlining his plans for peace and reconstruction. In the audience was JOHN WILKES BOOTH, a successful actor, born and raised in Maryland...In the middle of the play that night, Booth slipped into the entryway to the President's box, holding a dagger in his left hand and a Derringer pistol in his right. He fired the pistol six inches from Lincoln and slashed Rathbone's arm with his knife. -
Rebuilding the Old Order
Many Southerners, whether white or black, rich or poor, barely recognized the world in which they now lived. Wealthy whites, long-accustomed to plush plantation life and the perks of political power, now found themselves barred from voting and holding office. Their estates were in shambles. African-Americans were loathe to return to work for them. Poor white farmers now found blacks competing with them for jobs and land. -
Women Rights
Although women had many moral obligations and duties in the home, church and community, they had few political and legal rights in the new republic. When ABIGAIL ADAMS reminded her husband John during the Constitutional Convention to "REMEMBER THE LADIES!" her warning went unheeded. Women were pushed to the sidelines as dependents of men, without the power to bring suit, make contracts, own property, or vote.
