AP US History - Dates to Remember

Flashcards for all the important dates in the AP United States History course as of the 2024-25 school year.

1850

Event: Compromise of 1850
President: Millard Fillmore
Significance: Stricter fugitive slave law, implied Federal government supported slavery

1854

Event: Bleeding Kansas (start)
President: Franklin Pierce
Significance: Weakened Missouri Compromise, first large national violence between pro and anti slavery

1857

Event: Scott v. Sandford
President: James Buchanan
Significance: First branch to take a stance on slavery, increased tensions

1861-1865

Event: Civil War
President: Abraham Lincoln
Significance: Ended slavery in United States, strengthened US as a foreign power

1862

Event: Battle of Antietam
President: Abraham Lincoln
Significance: Led to signing of Emancipation Proclaimation

1863

Event: Battle of Gettysburg
President: Abraham Lincoln
Significance: Turning point in war from southern to northern lead

1865

Event: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
President: Abraham Lincoln
Significance: 1st presidential assassination, changed plans for reconstruction

1865

Event: 13th Amendment Ratified
President: Andrew Johnson
Significance: Legally ended institution of slavery (except for in prisons), changed status quo

1868

Event: 14th Amendment Ratified
President: Andrew Johnson
Significance: Clearly defined citizenship, allowed all men to be elected for political offices

1870

Event: 15th Amendment Ratified
President: Ulysses S. Grant
Significance: Universal male suffrage, changes American politics

1877

Event: Compromise of 1877
President: Grant & Hayes
Significance: Ended reconstruction, many advancements regressed

1886

Event: Haymarket Square Riot
President: Grover Cleveland
Significance: Setback for workers’ movement

1887

Event: Dawes Act
President: Cleveland
Significance: Forced assimilation of Indigenous Americans, furthering cultural genocide

1890

Event: Sherman Antitrust Act
President: Benjamin Harrison
Significance: Government stance against big business

1890

Event: Wounded Knee Massacre
President: Benjamin Harrison
Significance: Last major violet opposition of Indigenous people towards American Settlers, end of wars in the west

1894

Event: Pullman Strike
President: Cleveland
Significance: Demonstrated power of Labor Movement, would lead to better working conditions (eventually)

1896

Event: Plessy v. Ferguson
President: Cleveland
Significance: “Seperate but equal”, legalized segregation

1898

Event: Spanish-American War
President: McKinley
Significance: Established the US as a world power, US acquired more resources

1906

Event: Pure Food & Drug Act + Meat Inspection Act
President: Theodore Roosevelt
Significance: Federal protection of people’s health

1909

Event: NAACP Founded
President: T. Roosevelt
Significance: Creation of a national organization to defend rights for African Americans

1917

Event: United States enters WWI
President: Wilson
Significance: United States becomes THE world power

1919

Event: 18th Amendment
President: Wilson
Significance: Increased alcohol consumption & crime rate

Summer of 1919

Event: Red Summer
President: Wilson
Significance: Massive outbreak of racial violence, increased racial tension

1917-1920

Event: First Red Scare
President: Wilson
Significance: Increased tensions against immigrants in America

1920

Event: 19th Amendment
President: Wilson
Significance: Women can vote, doubles eligible voters + shifts American politics

1920s

Event: Harlem Renaissance
President: Wilson, Harding, Coolidge
Significance: Established an stronger African American identity

1925

Event: Scopes Trial
President: Coolidge
Significance: Increase tension between Fundamentalism and Science, brings to light issues regarding religion in laws

1929

Event: Black Tuesday
President: Hoover
Significance: Start of the Great Depression

1929-1939

Event: Great Depression
President: Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt
Significance: Isolated the US, increased government involvement in social affairs

1930-1936

Event: Dust Bowl
President: F. Roosevelt
Significance: Destroyed farms in the West while Eastern industry collapsed

1939-1945

Event: WWII
President: F. Roosevelt, Truman
Significance: Globalization, made the US the wealthiest nation in the world

August 1945

Event: Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
President: Truman
Significance: Started the Cold War

1800

Event: Revolution of 1800
President: John Adams → Thomas Jefferson
Significance: Peaceful transition of power

1803

Event: Louisiana Purchase
President: Jefferson
Significance: Doubled the size of the US

1803

Event: Marbury V. Madison
President: Jefferson
Significance: Established judicial review

1812-1815

Event: War of 1812
President: Madison
Significance: Increased nationalism, strengthened US as a “global” power

1820

Event: Missouri Compromise
President: Monroe
Significance: Physically divided the US between “North” and “South”

1820s - 1830s

Event: Second Great Awakening
President: Monroe, JQ Adams, Van Buren
Significance: Social change, gave voices to marginalized groups

1823

Event: Monroe Doctrine
President: Monroe
Significance: Established US as a global power

1830’s-1850’s

Event: Manifest Destiny
President: Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk
Significance: Westward expansion, imperalism, cultural genocide

1831

Event: Nat Turner’s Rebellion
President: Jackson
Significance: Increased legislation against African Americans

1836

Event: Battle of the Alamo
President: Jackson
Significance: Nationalism

1848

Event: Gold Rush
President: Polk
Significance: Largest US migration, California gained statehood

1848

Event: Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago
President: Polk
Significance: Mexican Cession, increased tensions between free and slave states

1848

Event: Seneca Falls Convention
President: Polk
Significance: Voice for Women’s Suffrage

1763

Event: Proclamation of 1763
President: None
Significance: End of Salutary Neglect

1773

Event: Boston Tea Party
President: None
Significance: Increased colonial support for rebellion

1775

Event: Battle of Lexington-Concord
President: None
Significance: First battle of the Revolutionary War

1777

Event: Battle of Saratoga
President: None
Significance: Colonial victory that led France to support the colonies, turned the war in favor of the colonies

1781

Event: Battle of Yorktown
President: None
Significance: Last major battle of the Revolutionary War

1783

Event: Treaty of Paris
President: None
Significance: Established the US as a sovereign nation

1786

Event: Shay’s Rebellion
President: None
Significance: Highlighted weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation

1787

Event: Constitutional Convention
President: None
Significance: Drafted the modern Constitution

1791

Event: Bill of Rights Ratified
President: Washington
Significance: Specific freedoms guaranteed to citizens, still used today

1798

Event: Alien & Sedition Acts
President: John Adams
Significance: Debate over the ability to infringe upon rights, stronger division between Democratic-republicans and Federalists

1492

Event: Columbus lands in the Americas
President: None
Significance: Columbian exchange, starts globalization

1607

Event: Jamestown Established
President: None
Significance: 1st permanent English settlement in North America

1620

Event: Mayflower Compact
President: None
Significance: Early democracy in British colonies

1730’s-1740’s

Event: First Great Awakening
President: None
Significance: Religious movement that united colonists

1754

Event: French & Indian War
President: None
Significance: Established Britain as major power in North America

1947

Event: Truman Doctrine
President: Truman
Significance: US actively working against communism

1948

Event: Marshall Plan
President: Truman
Significance: US economic aid to foreign countries in order to spread global democracy

1950s

Event: McCarthyism
President: Truman, Eisenhower
Significance: Increased US paranoia

1950-1953

Event: Korean War
President: Truman
Significance: Major proxy war, led to perm. division of Korea

1954

Event: Brown v. Board of Education
President: Eisenhower
Significance: Ended legalized separation, separate can never be equal

1955-1956

Event: Montgomery Bus Boycott
President: Eisenhower
Significance: Heightened effectiveness of non-violence in the Civil Rights Movement, led to rise of MLK Jr

1955-1975

Event: Vietnam War
President: Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Nixon
Significance: First televised war, damaged US economy, increased social tensions in the US

1957

Event: Sputnik Launched
President: Eisenhower
Significance: Start of the space race w/ the USSR

1962

Event: Engel vs. Vitale
President: JFK
Significance: Enforced separation of church and state, no prayer in public school events

1962

Event: Cuban Missile Crisis
President: JFK
Significance: Closest point the Cold War got to a “hot war”

1963

Event: Gideon vs. Wainwright
President: JFK
Significance: Prevented legal discrimination against lower classes, ensured court-provided legal council

1963

Event: March on Washington
President: JFK
Significance: Pressured the government to pursue civil rights issues

1963

Event: JFK assassinated
President: JFK
Significance: Lowered confidence in America’s future

1964

Event: Civil Rights Act
President: LBJ
Significance: Expanded desegregation to all public spaces

1965

Event: March on Selma
President: LBJ
Significance: Led to the signing of the voting rights act, prohibited historically discriminatory practices that prevented people from voting

1965

Event: Assassination of Malcolm X
President: LBJ
Significance: Increased anger over discrimination in the US

1968

Event: Democratic National Convention in Chicago
President: LBJ
Significance: Controversy over police violence + highlighted tensions over the Vietnam War

1968

Event: Assisination of Martin Luther King JR
President: LBJ
Significance: Increased distrust by African Americans of white political institutions

1968

Event: Assassination of Bobby Kennedy
President: LBJ
Significance: Increased violence within America

1968

Event: Tet Offensive
President: LBJ
Significance: HUGELY decreased support for the Vietnam War

1969

Event: Woodstock
President: Nixon
Significance: United America’s youth + promoted peace

1969

Event: Moon Landing
President: Nixon
Significance: Ended the space race

1970

Event: Kent State Massacre
President: Nixon
Significance: Led to student strikes at colleges

1972

Event: Watergate Scandal
President: Nixon
Significance: Caused massive distrust of America’s government

1973

Event: Roe v. Wade
President: Nixon
Significance: Self-determination + privacy for women’s bodies

1979-1980

Event: Iranian Hostage Crisis
President: Carter
Significance: Increased tensions between Iran and US

1981

Event: Outbreak of AIDS pandemic
President: Reagan
Significance: Increased discrimination against LGBTQ+ community

1981

Event: Sandra Day O’ Connor appointed to the Supreme Court
President: Reagan
Significance: 1st female Supreme Court Justice, expanded opportunities for women

1989

Event: Berlin Wall comes down
President: Reagan
Significance: Improves relations between US and Russia

1991

Event: Soviet Union Collapses
President: H.W. Bush
Significance: End of the Cold War

1990-1991

Event: Gulf War
President: H. W. Bush
Significance: Increased nationalism + Increased US presence in the Middle East

1995

Event: Oklahoma City Bombing
President: Clinton
Significance: Largest (domestic) terrorist attack in the US

1998

Event: Clinton impeached
President: Clinton
Significance: Increased distrust of the government

1999

Event: Columbine High School Massacre
President: Clinton
Significance: Increased demand for federal gun control

2001

Event: Sept. 11 Terrorist Attack
President: W. Bush
Significance: Increased security focus, increased nationalism, increase Islamophobia

2008

Event: Obama elected
President: Obama
Significance: First black president, working towards a more inclusive society

2011

Event: Osama Bin Laden killed
President: Obama
Significance: Began to ease the war on terror, increased feeling of safety

2013

Event: Boston Marathon Bombing
President: Obama
Significance: Increased fears of “homegrown” terrorism

2015

Event: Same-sex Marriages Legalized
President: Obama
Significance: Continued progress towards a more inclusive society