AP U.S. History - Important Dates to Remember

Flashcards for important dates and events in AP U.S. History.

1492

End of the Pre-Columbian Era in the U.S. - Start of European Contact.

1607

Establishment of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America.

1619

First enslaved Africans arrive in Virginia.

1680

Pueblo Revolt against Spanish rule in New Mexico.

1730s - 1740s

Period of the First Great Awakening, a religious revival.

1754

Start of the Seven Years War, also known as the French and Indian War.

1776

Adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

1783

Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolution.

1787

Drafting of the U.S. Constitution.

1793

Invention of the Cotton Gin, which revived slavery.

1800

Thomas Jefferson is elected, known as 'The Revolution of 1800'.

1803

Louisiana Purchase from France, doubling the size of the U.S.

1812

Second War of Independence, also known as the War of 1812.

1820

Missouri Compromise to maintain the balance of free and slave states.

1823

Announcement of the Monroe Doctrine, opposing European colonization.

1845 - 1848

Period of the Mexican American War.

1848

Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's rights convention.

1860

Election of Abraham Lincoln as President.

1862

Homestead Act, providing land to settlers.

1865

End of the Civil War; assassination of President Lincoln.

1869

Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

1877

Hayes-Tilden Affair ends Reconstruction.

1887

Dawes Severalty Act, aimed at assimilating Native Americans.

1894

Pullman Strike, a nationwide railroad strike.

1896

Plessy v. Ferguson, establishing 'separate but equal' doctrine.

1898

Spanish American War and U.S. annexation of Hawaii.

1909

Founding of the NAACP to advance civil rights.

1917

U.S. Entry into World War I.

1919

Drafting of the 19th Amendment for women's suffrage; Palmer Raids.

1925

Scopes Monkey Trial on evolution in schools.

1933

FDR's Bank Holiday to stabilize the banking system.

1941

Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7th).

1945

Atomic Bombs dropped on Japan, ending World War II.

1950

Beginning of the Korean War.

1954

Brown v. Board of Education ruling that declared segregation in schools unconstitutional.

1962

Cuban Missile Crisis and publication of 'Silent Spring' by Rachel Carson.

1964

Passage of the Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination.

1968

Tet Offensive and assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.

1969

Stonewall Riots marking a pivotal moment for LGBTQ+ rights.

1975

Nixon resigns amid Watergate scandal.

1979

Iran Hostage Crisis beginning.

1980

Election of Ronald Reagan, marking the rise of conservatism.

1991

Fall of the USSR and the First Gulf War.

1994

NAFTA signed by President Bill Clinton.

2001

9-11 Attacks, leading to War on Terror.

2008

Election of Barack Obama as President, marking the first African American president.