US History Timeline (1492-1920)

1492

Columbus arrives in the New World

1587

England attempts to settle in America

1607

Jamestown, Virginia

1609-1610

Desperate times for English settlers in Jamestown, saved by tobacco and cash crop

1619

House of Burgesses - 1st gov in colonies

1620

Plymouth, MA - Mayflower

1649

Toleration Act, religious freedom to Christians in Maryland

1692

Salem Witch Trials - unrest in religion, politics and gender

1754

Begin of 7 years war

1763

End of 7 years war, proclamation of 1763 - no more colonial settlements past Appalachian Mt.. → Made colonists angry

1765

Stamp Act, no taxation without representation

1770

Boston Massacre

1773

Boston Tea Party

1774

Intolerable Acts - close Boston Harbor, control MA gov, Quartering Act

1774 (2)

First Continental Congress - boycott British goods

1775 (April)

Battle of Lexington and Concord

1775 (2)

Second Continental Congress - establish army, print $, appoint Washington as leader

1776 (July 4th)

Declaration of Independence

1777

Battle of Saratoga → French-American Alliance

1777 (2)

Articles of Confederation

1781

Battle of Yorktown, end of American Revolutionary War

1783

Treaty of Paris - gave US land and independence

1787

Constitutional Convention - Great Compromise, 3/5th Compromise

1788

Washington’s Election - National Bank, Hamilton’s financial plan, Neutrality Proclamation

1791

Bill of Rights added

1788-1789

Constitution adopted

1798

John Adams - XYZ Affair, Alien and Sedition Acts

1800

Jefferson’s Election

1801

Marbury v. Madison - Judicial review

1803

Louisiana Purchase

1812-1815

War of 1812 - American nationalism, Hartford Convention - end of Federalist Party

1819 - McCulloch v. Maryland

Affirm federal supremacy by prohibiting state from taxing federal gov

1820

Missouri Compromise - MO slave, ME free

1823

Monroe Doctrine - mutual non-interference and America's right to intervene in its own hemisphere

1830

Indian Removal Act (Jackson)

1830-1850

Manifest Destiny

1846-1848

Mexican-American War, on TX annex

1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, CANCUN (California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico)

1850

Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Law

1857

Dred Scott Decision - denied citizensh

1860

Lincoln’s Election, Confederate States formed

1861

Civil War Begins at Fort Sumnter

1862

Homestead Act, 150 ac of land, Westward expansion

1863

Emancipation Proclamation

1865

End of Civil War, Lincoln dead

1866-1869

Civil Rights Act, 13th Amendment (slavery), 14th Amendment (citizenship), 15th Amendment (voting)

1867

Military Reconstruction

1877

Compromise of 1877, Hayes = prez, military reconstruction ends in South

1876

Little Bighorn - US troops vs. Native Americans

1883

Pendleton Act - est. Civil Service Commission

1886

Haymarket Square Riot - US gov vs. labor union protesters, end of Knights of Labor

1887

Dawes Act - assimilate Natives by giving land and US citizenship, unsuccessful and harmful

Interstate Commerce Act - regulate RR industry

1890

McKinley Tariff; Sherman Antitrust Act

1892 & 1894

• Homestead Strike in 1892 was a major labor dispute between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Carnegie Steel Company

• Pullman Strike in 1894 was a nationwide railroad strike led by the American Railway Union

1896

Plessy v. Ferguson, upheld racial segregation, separate but equal

1898

Spanish American War, Americans drive Spanish out of Cuba and Philippines → rise of American imperialism

1904

Roosevelt Corollary aka Big Stick Policy, justify military intervention in Latin America (threat to American security)

1917 (3)

US enters WWI after Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram

Espionage Act

Sedition Act

1919

Schenck vs. US - limited free speech during wartime

1890s-1920s (2)

Progressive Era: reforms aimed at addressing social and political issues, such as women's suffrage, child labor, and corruption

• 19th Amendment (1920) granted women the right to vote nationwide

1920s (4)

• Economic boom - Roaring 20s: rising consumer spending, stock market speculation, and a growing middle class

• Cultural changes (Jazz Age, Harlem Renaissance)

• Isolationist foreign policy

• Prohibition, enacted by the 18th Amendment in 1920, banned the production, sale, and transportation of alcohol

1920s-1930s (2)

Isolationism foreign policy: the country focusing on domestic issues and avoiding involvement in international conflicts

• Neutrality Acts of the 1930s aimed to prevent U.S. involvement in foreign wars

1929 (3)

• Market crash → Great Depression (widespread unemployment, poverty, and global economic downturn)

  • New Deal Policies: expanded the role of the federal government in the economy and social welfare during the Great Depression

1939 & 1941

• World War II erupted in 1939 with Germany's invasion of Poland

• U.S. entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan in 1941