Key Events in American History Timeline

1492

Columbus sailed to the Americas, initiating European colonization.

1607

Establishment of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement.

1630

Great Puritan Migration to Massachusetts Bay Colony begins.

1676

Bacon's Rebellion against colonial government in Virginia.

1763

End of Seven Years' War; salutary neglect concludes.

1770

Boston Massacre, confrontation between British soldiers and colonists.

1776

Declaration of Independence adopted, asserting American sovereignty.

1783

End of Revolutionary War; Treaty of Paris signed.

1787

Constitutional Convention convenes to draft the U.S. Constitution.

1800

Thomas Jefferson's victory signifies political shift.

1812

War of 1812 fought between the U.S. and Britain.

1836

Andrew Jackson dismantles Hamilton's National Bank.

1848

Mexican Cession and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed.

1850

California admitted as a free state under Compromise.

1861

Civil War begins, conflict over slavery and states' rights.

1877

corrupt bargain marks the end of Reconstruction era.

1898

Spanish-American War results in U.S. territorial gains.

1918

Treaty of Versailles signed, concluding World War I.

1929

Stock market crash triggers the Great Depression.

1941

Attack on Pearl Harbor leads U.S. into World War II.

1945

World War II ends; Cold War tensions begin.

1954

Brown v. Board of Education rules against school segregation.

1963

President John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

1968

Nixon elected; MLK and RFK assassinated; Tet Offensive occurs.

1975

Fall of Saigon marks end of Vietnam War.