Studied by 15 people
1565
first permanent European settlement in North America
1607
Jamestown, Virginia, founded by English settlers who start growing tobacco
1620
Pilgrims Fathers arrive in North America on the Mayflower
17th-18th centuries
beginning of the Transatlantic Slave Trade; Hundred of thousands of Africans brought over and sold into slavery to work on cotton and tobacco plantations
1756-1763
Seven Year's War between Britain and France over the control of territory up to the Mississippi River
War of Independence
1775- 1783
1774
First Continental Congress
1775
American Revolution: Georges Washington leads colonist Continental Army to fight against the British troops
4 July 1776
Thomas Jefferson's American Declaration of Independence endorsed by Congress ; colonies declare independence
1781
Rebel British colonies create a confederation, codified in Articles of Confederation, after defeating the British at the Battle of Yorktown
1783
Britain accepts the loss of colonies in the Treaty of Paris
1787
Founding Fathers draw up new Constitution for United States of America
1789
Georges Washington elected first president of USA
1791
Bill of Rights guarantees individual freedom
1803
France sells Louisiana territories to USA : Louisiana Purchase
1808
Atlantic slave trade abolished
1846 - 1848
US - Mexican War : US acquires vast tracts of Mexican territory which belonged to Mexican War ( ex : California and New Mexico ), US and Mexico fight over these territories
1861 - 1865
Civil War
1854
Opponents of slavery or abolitionists found the Republican Party
1860
Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln elected president
1860 - 1861
11 pro slavery southern states secede from Union and from Confederate States of America > this is the trigger to the Civil War ; opposed to the abolitionists northern states
1863
emancipation proclamation issued by Lincoln : declared slaves in Confederate states to be free
1865
Confederates defeated ; slavery abolished under the 13th Amendment
1917 - 1918
US intervenes in World War I
1920
Women given the right to vote under the 19th Amendment + Prohibition : sale and manufacture of alcoholic liquors outlawed
1929 - 1933
Financial Crack and Great Depression : 13 Million people become unemployed after Wall Street stock market crash of 1929 triggers what becomes known as the Great Depression
1933
President Franklin D Roosevelt launches "New Deal" recovery program which includes major public works
1941
Pearl Harbor : Japanese warplanes attack US fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii; US declares war on Japan
1945
US drops two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Japan surrenders
1947
US enunciates policy of aid for nations it deems threatened by communism in what became known as the Truman Doctrine; Cold War with Soviet Union begins
1948
Marshall Plan : America's program to support post- war European countries
1950 - 1954
McCarthyism : Senator Joseph McCarthy carries out a crusade against alleged communists in government and public life
1950 - 1953
War in Korea : US forces play leading role against North Korean and Chinese troops
1954
School Desegregation : racial segregation in schools becomes unconstitutional ; start of campaign of civil disobedience to secure civil rights for Americans of African descents
1960
Democratic Party candidate John F Kennedy elected president
1961
Bay of Pigs Invasion : an unsuccessful attempt to invade Cuba by Cuban exiles, organized and financed by Washington
1962
Cuban Missile Crisis : US compels Soviet Union to withdraw nuclear weapons from Cuba in what has become known as the Cuban missile crisis
1963
President John F Kennedy assassinated ; Lyndon Johnson becomes president
1964
US steps up its military intervention in Vietnam
Civil Rights Act signed into laws; it aims to halt discrimination on grounds of race, color, religion, nationality
1968
Black civil rights leader Martin Luther King assassinated
1969
Republican Party candidate Richard Nixon elected president, amid growing public opposition to Vietnam War
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Flashcard (32)