Dates Quiz: APUSH 1492-2008

All the Important Dates to Know for APUSH. These will be split into different parts based on each dates Quiz.

PART 1: 1492-1791

1492 - Columbus Sails the Ocean Blue

Significance:

-Columbus discovers the Americas and begins the Columbian Exchange

1565 - Founding of St. Augustine

Significance:

-The oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the United States

-First permanent Spanish settlement in the Americas

1607 - Jamestown

Significance:

-Establishment of the first permanent English Colony

1620 - Mayflower Compact: Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock

Significance:

-Marked one of the first attempts at colonial self-rule and demonstrated a commitment to democratic principles

1661 - Barbados Slave Code

Significance:

-Legalized Slavery: used to dehumanize slaves as chattel

1676 - Bacon’s Rebellion

Significance:

-Marked the transition from indentured servitude to slavery

1740-1749 - The First Great Awakening (Height of the Great Awakening)

Significance:

-Jonathan Edwards: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

-George Whitefield: First American Rockstar

-First time people hear that God judges equally

1754-1763 - 7 Years War/French and Indian War

Significance:

-Establishes British dominance over North America

7-4-1776 - The Declaration of Independence

Significance:

-The list of grievances served as justification for breaking ties with England

1783 - Treaty of Paris

Significance:

-Establishes American Sovereignty or;

-Establishes the country of the United States

1786 - Shays’s Rebellion

Significance:

-Highlights the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

1789 - Ratification of the U.S. Constitution

Significance:

The Great Compromise:

-fixed problems with the Articles of Confederation and established a bicameral legislature

1791 - Ratification of The Bill of Rights

Significance:

-The First Ten Amendments

1803 - The Louisiana Purchase and Marbury v Madison

Significance:

a) Doubles the size of the United States for $15 million

b) Establishes Judicial Review

1812 - War of 1812

Significance:

-Impressment of U.S. Sailors

-Atlantic trade (with France) was stifled by the British

-Impressment + stifled trade = nationalism

1823 - Monroe Doctrine

Significance:

-European countries are no longer allowed to colonize or intervene in the Americas

1820-1829 - Second Great Awakening

Significance:

Charles Finney: Father of Modern revivalism and an abolitionist leader

-Preached equality for all men, which led to massive reform movements, including Abolitionism and women’s rights

-The Second Great Awakening pushed for Abolition and Reform

1831 - Trail of Tears

Significance:

-The forced removal of the 5 civilized Tribes (Native Americans)

-Enforced by Andrew Jackson, who ignored the Supreme Court ruling supporting the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation

1845 - Manifest Destiny and Annexation of Texas (Texas Becomes a State)

Significance:

Manifest Destiny: Coined by Sullivan; America is destined by God to conquer the frontier from sea to shining sea (Coast to Coast)

Texas: Reignites the slavery debate as Texas enters as a slave state; triggers the Mexican-American War

1848

1) California Gold Rush Begins,

2) Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

3) Seneca Falls Convention

1) Leads to massive migration west

2) Ends the Mexican-American War

3) A major step forward for Women’s rights; rewrote the Declaration of Independence to include women (voting rights)

1856 - Bleeding Kansas

Significance:

-Popular Sovereignty

1861-1865 - The Civil War

Significance:

-Conflict over Slavery; A War to End Slavery

1862 - The Emancipation Proclamation

Significance:

-Lincoln’s Proclamation to Free the Slaves, but only in the South

PART 2: 1865 - 1929-1939

1865 - 13th Amendment

Significance:

-Abolishes Slavery in America

1868 - 14th Amendment

Significance:

Grandfather Clause:

-All freed Slaves are citizens

-Freed Slaves have equal protection under the Law

1869 - Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad

Significance:

-Connects the East to the West

-E/W: Irish immigrants

-W/E: Mostly Chinese immigrants

1870 - 15th Amendment

Significance:

-All free, male black slaves could legally vote

1887

1) The Dawes Act

2) The ICC (The Interstate Commerce Commission) is established (following the Interstate Commerce ACT)

Significance:

1) The U.S. government divides Indian Lands on Reservations; Force Assimilation

2) The First Federal Regulatory Agency: The U.S. Government’s first attempt at regulating Commerce (Of the Railroads)

-Major expansion of Government Power

1890 -

1) Sherman Antitrust Act

2) “How the Other Half Lives” is Published

Significance:

1) Outlaws monopolies and price fixing

2) Jacob Riis: A muckraker exposes tenement housing, which leads to building code changes and safety

1896 - Plessy v Fergusson

Significance:

-Legalizes segregation through the “Separate but equal” doctrine

- helps the development of Jim Crow Laws

1898 - Spanish-American War

Significance:

- Fought over U.S. interests in Cuba

- Yellow Journalism + Sinking of the Maine

- Treaty of Paris

- Cedes Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico

1901 - The Square Deal (Roosevelt)

Significance:

- Promotes a fair, honest, and just society = everyone has an equal chance to succeed

- Trustbusting: Roosevelt enforces laws to break up bad monopolies/trusts

1902 - Anthracite Coal Strike

Significance:

First time a President intervenes in a labor Strike

1906 - “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair

- Reveals the filthy, unhealthy meat packing plants = New law (Food and Drug Act) + Food and Drug Administration

1909 - the Establishment of the NAACP

Significance:

- White and Black progressives (First group to use court systems to fight racial injustice)

1913 -

1) 16th Amendment

2) 17th Amendment

Significance

1) President Wilson implements a Graduated Income Tax

2) The direct election of U.S. Senators

1914 - 1918: World War I

Significance:

- Causes: Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism

Why the U.S. Gets Involved:

- The Zimmerman Telegram

- Breaking of the Sussex Pledge: The continuation of unrestricted U-Boat or Submarine warfare

1919: The 18th Amendment

Significance:

- Prohibition: The ban on the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcohol

1919-1920:

1) The Global Flu Pandemic

2)The First Red Scare

Significance:

1) Killed 50 million people (compared to COVID-19, 43 million more)

2) After WWI, Russia turns to Communism + Palmer Raids = Red Scare in America

- Feared that Communism would take over

1920 - 19th Amendment

Significance:

- Gave Women the Right to Vote; did not mention Black Women’s Suffrage

1920s - The Harlem Renaissance

Significance:

- Cultural, social, and artistic explosion within Black Communities in America

- Jazz: Uniquely American Music, a mix of African, French, and Folk-American musical ideas

• Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington

1925 - The Scopes Trial

Significance:

- Tennessee bans the teaching of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

1929 - The Stock Market Crash (Black Tuesday)

Significance:

- Marks the beginning of the Great Depression and loss of confidence in U.S. Banking

1929-1939 - The Great Depression

Significance:

- Buying on Margin: Borrow money to invest in the stock market because they speculated that it would go up. After selling stocks, they’d pay off debts and still earn a profit

- Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act:

- Bank Failures

- Easy Credit

- Overproduction

PART 3:

1939-1945 - WWII

Significance:

- Starts with Germany’s invasion of Poland; the U.S. joins in 1941 due to Pearl Harbor + the German threat = VE Day (Victory in Europe); American production + atomic bomb = VJ day (Victory in Japan)

1940s-50s - The Second Red Scare

Significance:

- McCarthyism: spreads fear of Communism coming to the United States by accusing over two hundred government officials or Congressmen of being Communists; Fearmongering

1947 - The Truman Doctrine

Significance:

- U.S. foreign policy that promotes self-determination/containment

1948 - The Marshall Plan

Significance:

- Thirteen billion dollar investment in foreign relief for Europe = worked brilliantly

1950-1953 - The Korean War

Significance:

- “Hot Cold” War Conflict to stop the spread of Communism

1954 - Brown v Board of Education

Significance:

- A family sues the school because of busing

- Separate is not equal; Undoes Plessy v Ferguson/Separate but Equal

1955-1975 - The Vietnam War

Significance:

- “Hot” Cold War Conflict in Vietnam; to stop the spread of Communism

- Difference: Korean War = Draw;

1961 - Gideon v Wainwright

Significance:

- From now on, you must have legal counsel

1962

1) Ingel v Vitale

2) The Cuban Missile Crisis

Significance:

- 1) School Prayer is unconstitutional

- 2) Russia tries to park Nuclear Warheads in Cuba; America stops it with a Naval Blockade

1963 -

1) Kennedy’s assassination

2) The March On Washington

Significance:

- 1) Kennedy is assassinated; Lyndon B. Johnson carries on his policies

- 2) MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech

1964 - The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Significance:

- Bans literacy tests and makes discrimination illegal

1966 - Miranda v Arizona

Significance:

- It informs accused of their 5th amendment rights/right to remain silent

1966 - TET Offensive

Significance:

- “Credibility gap” between the government and the people; creates distrust in the government

1969 -

1) Woodstock

2) The U.S. Puts a Man on the Moon

Significance:

1) Epitome of counter culture

2) Self-declared winner of the Space Race and the end of the Space Race

1973 - Roe v Wade

Significance:

- Legalizes Abortion

1974 - Watergate

Significance:

- Nixon resigns from the Presidency

1975 - Fall of Saigon

Significance:

- Abandonment of War and the end of the War

1980 -

1) The Beginning of the Reagan Revolution

2) The AIDs Epidemic

Significance:

1) Reagan leads us out of a political quagmire and restores credibility to the White House

2) Led to medical reform and a return to conservatism/moderation when it comes to intimate relations

1989 - The Berlin Wall Falls

Significance:

- Marks the end of the Cold War?

1991 - The First Persian Gulf War (George H. W. Bush)

Significance:

- The United States organized a coalition effort to stop Saddam Hussein because he was killing innocents and messing with oil

- Wiped out almost immediately

- As a result, George H. W. Bush enjoys the highest approval rating of any American president in history

2001 - 9/11

Significance:

- Leads to the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) and Homeland Security

- Led to a war in Iraq and Afghanistan for the next 20 years

2008 - President Obama is Elected

Significance:

- The Goal Post: Obama is the first African American to be elected as President; MLK believed that if this happened we truly made progress

2011 - Osama bin Laden dies

Significance:

- He was killed by the U.S. military; taken by Navy Seals on Obama’s orders/??? Obama (edit this)

2019 - COVID-19 Pandemic

Significance:

- The WHO shuts down the globe