KEY DATES!!!

1492

Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas.

1607

Jamestown, Virginia, established as the first permanent English settlement.

1609

Henry Hudson explores the Hudson River.

1620

Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock.

1630

The Massachusetts Bay Colony is established.

1649

Maryland Toleration Act passed (guaranteeing religious freedom for Christians).

1676

Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia.

1688

Glorious Revolution in England (impact on colonial governance).

1692

Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts.

1730s

The First Great Awakening begins.

1754-1763

French and Indian War (Seven Years' War).

1765

The Stamp Act passed.

1770

Boston Massacre.

1773

Boston Tea Party.

1776

Declaration of Independence adopted.

1803

Louisiana Purchase.

1804

Lewis and Clark Expedition begins.

1812-1815

War of 1812.

1820

Missouri Compromise.

1830

Indian Removal Act passed.

1846

Mexican-American War begins.

1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War.

1850

Compromise of 1850.

1861-1865

Civil War.

1863

Emancipation Proclamation issued.

1865

13th Amendment abolishes slavery.

1868

14th Amendment grants citizenship and equal protection.

1870

15th Amendment grants voting rights to African American men.

1887

Dawes Act is passed, dividing Native American land.

1890

The Battle of Wounded Knee marks the end of major Native American resistance.

1898

Spanish-American War.

1914-1918

World War I.

1919

The 18th Amendment (Prohibition) is passed.

1929

Stock Market Crash begins the Great Depression.

1933

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal begins.

1941

U.S. enters World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

1945

End of World War II; U.S. drops atomic bombs on Japan.

1954

Brown v. Board of Education ruling (desegregation of schools).

1964

Civil Rights Act passed.

1968

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

1980

Election of Ronald Reagan.

1991

End of the Cold War (collapse of the Soviet Union).

2001

9/11 attacks on the U.S.

2008

Great Recession begins.

2015

Same-sex marriage legalized nationwide (Obergefell v. Hodges).