250 APUSH Must Knows

Jamestown

1607 - founded by the Virginia Company, first permanent English settlement in North America, named after King James I, settlers initially faced disease, famine, and conflicts with Native Americans but later prospered by growing tobacco

First Africans brought to Virginia

1619 - Dutch ship brought the first Africans to Virginia, initially sold as indentured servants to work on tobacco plantations, marked the beginning of slavery in America

Mayflower Compact

1620 - written by English pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, established a government and laws for the Plymouth Colony to ensure the survival of the pilgrims in the colony

Great Migration of Puritans to Massachusetts

1630’s and 1640’s - Puritans migrated from England to Massachusetts Bay Colony seeking religious prosecution, led by John Winthrop, settled in Boston, brought 20,000 people, Puritans sought to create a society based on their religious beliefs

Roger Williams established Rhode Island

1636 - Roger William was banished from Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony due to his non-Puritan religious beliefs, founded Rhode Island as a haven for religious freedom

William Penn established Pennsylvania

1681 - William Penn established Pennsylvania as a colony for Quakers and other religious minorities, created a representative government, had religious tolerance, and treated the Native Americans fairly, became a model for other colonies

James Oglethorpe established Georgia

1732 - James Oglethorpe established Georgia to provide a new opportunity for debtors to start a new life, served as a buffer between Spanish Florida and the British colonies to the north

First Great Awakening

1734 - sparked by preachers Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, a religious revival that occurred in the colonies, emphasized individual salvation and personal relations with God, impacted American religious and cultural life

French and Indian War

1754-1763 - conflict between Brish and French over control of the Ohio River Valley, Native Americans allied with both, British won but were left in debt that led to tensions with the colonies (creation of taxes to pay debts)

Proclamation of 1763

issued by King George III, prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, issued after French and Indian War, purpose was to try to avoid conflicts with Native Americans and control westward expansion

Stamp Act

1765-1766 - taxed printed materials in the colonies, passed to raise revenue to pay the costs of defending colonies, colonists opposed and believed that only their own elected representatives had the right to tax them

Declaratory Act

1766 - asserted British Parliament’s authority over the colonies and their laws, followed the repeal of the Stamp Act, used to assert authority and prevent future challenges to Britain’s power

Townshend Acts

1767 - aka Intolerable Acts, imposed taxes on imported goods (glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea) in the colonies, colonists saw them as a violation of their rights, met with protests and boycotts, Britain responded with military force, eventually led to American Revolution

Boston Tea Party

1773 - led by the Sons of Liberty, colonists dumped chests of British tea into the Boston Harbor to protest taxation without representation

First Continental Congress

1774 - held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, meeting of delegates from 12 of 13 colonies, meant to address grievances against British government and create a unified response to the Intolerable Acts

Lexington and Concord

1775 - British troops marched from Boston to Lexington and Concord to seize colonial weapons, Paul Revere and William Dawes warned colonists, British were ambushed in Concord, marked beginning of the American Revolution

Second Continental Congress

1775 - held in Philadelphia, delegates from all 13 colonies attended, discussed ongoing American Revolution, established a unified government for newly formed USA, wrote Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation

*Common Sense*

1776 - written by Thomas Paine, advocated for American Independence from Great Britain and the creation of a democratic republic

Declaration of Independence

July 4, 1776 - written by the Second Continental Congress, declared the American colonies independent from Great Britain

Treaty of Alliance

1778 - created an alliance between France and US during Revolutionary War, marked the official entry of the US into the world, France recognized and supported US independence

Battle of Yorktown

1781 - last major battle of the Revolutionary War, France and US surrounded British troops, led to the surrender of British General Charles Cornwallis

Articles of Confederation

1781 - unicameral legislation made up by state appointed legislatures, created freedom of citizens with a bill of rights, created weak central government, Congress couldn’t regulate trade, interstate commerce, impose taxes, and was financially dependent upon states

Treaty of Paris (1783)

1783 - created by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, & John Jay, Britain recognized US as independent, British remained in Canada, prewar debts had to be paid, Loyalists would have property returned to them

Northwest Ordinances of 1784, 1785, and 1787

established regulations for the sale of land and territory, western territories would be organized as new states, section of land from every township be saved for public education, established a system for selling land, national government has control over state claims, procedure for territory to apply for statehood, prohibited slavery in Northwest Territory

Shays’ Rebellion

1786 - heavy taxes caused farmers to rise against state government, protesters marched on Springfield, Congress couldn’t put together a national army to combat rioters, showed weaknesses in the government and led to the creation of the Constitution

Constitutional Convention

1787 - took place in Philadelphia, revised the Articles of Confederation, central government needed to be able to tax, regulate trade, interstate commerce, and create a military, created the Constitution

The Federalist Papers

1787-1788 - 85 articles written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay to promote the ratification of the Constitution

Creation of a new government

1789 -

Alexander Hamilton appointed Secretary of the Treasury

1789 -

First textile mill established

1790 - established by Samuel Slater

Bill of Rights

1791 - added to Constitution to gain anti-federalist votes, guaranteed Americans rights to religion, speech, assembly, and to bear arms, reinforced balance of powers, any power not written for the federal government in the Constitution is given to the states

Cotton Gin

1793 - invented by Eli Whitney, increased the need for slaves, allowed production of cotton to become a large part of US exports

Washington’s Proclamation of Neutrality

1793 - declared the US was neutral in the French Revolutionary War against Great Britain, threatened legal action if any American provided assistance to either country at war

Whiskey Rebellion

1794 - violent tax protest against Whiskey Tax, government responded with force to show the new power they had received following the ratification of the Constitution

Washington’s Farewell Address

1796 - letter written by Washington at the end of his presidency, explained the need for the US to avoid foreign entanglement, set the precedent for US foreign policy for a long portion of US history

XYZ Affair

1797-1798 - during presidency of John Adams, American diplomats had been sent to France to discuss the near Quasi-War, diplomats were kidnapped by French agents, led to the undeclared Quasi-War

Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798

Alien Act - gave president authority to imprison or deport any alien who thought was dangerous to safety

Sedition Act - enabled president to prosecute persons who criticized him

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

1798-1799 - passed resolves which said state had no obligation to respect unconstitutional laws (in response to Alien and Sedition Acts), led to the foundation for nullification and states rights when it came to federally created laws

Election of 1800

John Adams v. Thomas Jefferson, election was thrown to House of Representatives, Jefferson refused for Adams to be his VP, led to the 12th amendment which led to voting for separate ballots for president and VP

Midnight Judges Act

1801 - aka Judiciary Act of 1801, Adams rapidly appointed new judges before Jefferson became president, appointments were called the Midnight Judges, Jefferson repealed the act when he came into presidency

*Marbury v. Madison*

1803 - Marbury was appointed by Adams under the Judiciary Act before Jefferson’s inauguration, Madison refused to deliver Marbury’s letter of appointment, Supreme Court ruled against Marbury, established Supreme Court’s ability to rule on constitutionality

Louisiana Purchase

1803 - Napoleon (French leader) offered Jefferson all of Louisiana when Jefferson asked to purchase New Orleans, doubled America’s territory, led to Lewis and Clark expedition, furthered westward expansion

Lewis and Clark expedition

1804-1806 - expedition across newly acquired westward territory from the Louisiana Purchase, explored and mapped the territory, established an American presence in the territory before European powers could, also studied the regions plants and animal life, and established trade with Native Americans in the region

Trial of Aaron Burr

1807 - Burr attempted to establish an independent country in Southwestern US, arrested by Jefferson and indicted for treason, acquitted but ended Burr’s political career

Jefferson’s Embargo

1807 - trade embargo placed on all foreign nations, used to persuade British to stop impressment of American sailors and to respect American sovereignty, used to try and gain diplomatic and economic leverage, eventually hurt America more than it did foreign nations

War of 1812

1812-1815 - US v. British in North America, Native Americans fought with both sides, embargos and naval blockades placed on the US by British taught Americans the government needed a role in the economy, ended with the Treaty of Ghent

Hartford Convention

1814 - Federalists met to denounce the war and debate nullification laws, convention made the Federalists appear unpatriotic, the party never recovered after the convention and were replaced by the Democratic Republicans

Battle of New Orleans

1815 - battle that ended the War of 1812, took place following the signing of the Treaty of Ghent but news had not made it to the US yet, US forces defeat the British’s assault on New Orleans in 30 minutes, allowed the US to negotiate better terms in the Treaty of Ghent

The American System

1815 - proposed after the War of 1812 by Henry Clay and the Whig party, outlined a plan for broad economic growth for the US, based around Hamilton’s economic ideas

Era of Good Feelings

1815-1824 - followed the election of James Monroe and the War of 1812, end of partisan disputes between Federalists and Democratic Republicans, brought national unity and purpose

*McCulloch v. Maryland*

1819 - defined the scope of Congress’s legislative power and how Congress relates its powers to the other state governments, backed Congress through the “Necessary and Proper” Clause of the Constitution

Adams-Onis Treaty

1819 - aka Transcontinental Treaty, treaty between US and Spain, ceded Florida to the US and defined a boundary between the US and Mexico

Missouri Compromise

1820 - equal number of slave and free states, admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, prohibited slavery in lands north of the Louisiana Purchase Line

First Lowell Factory

1823 - young women worked in textile mills, poor wages, women worked because it gave them a wage, created a new middle class of white-collar workers

Monroe Doctrine

1823 - written by John Quincy Adams, US should resist new European colonization in Western hemisphere, US wouldn’t interfere with European affairs

Election of 1824

John Quincy Adams v. Andrew Jackson, election was passed to the House of Representatives as electoral college had been inconclusive, House chose Adams as president, ended the Era of Good Feelings

Indian Removal Act

1830 - created by Andrew Jackson, forced Native Americans to be relocated west of the Mississippi River to Oklahoma and Kansas, caused the Trail of Tears

Maysville Road Veto

1830 - written by Henry Clay, vetoed by Andrew Jackson, would have government invest stock into road companies to construct a road linking Lexington, Kentucky to Maysville, on the Ohio River, apart of the Cumberland Road system

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

1831 - slave insurrection, killed 60 white people, did the opposite of what Turner wanted and actually heightened Black Codes

Nullification Crisis

1832-1833 - South Carolina declared the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and nullified it, Supreme Court rejected the theory of nullification by states, Compromise Tariff of 1833 was created and satisfied South Carolina

First Bank of the US removed

1833-1836 - created by Alexander Hamilton, removed by Andrew Jackson, had branches in multiple states and lent money to the US government, apart of Jackson’s Bank War

Panic of 1837

caused by the removal of the First Bank of the US, Andrew Jackson’s Bank War, cotton prices decreasing, collapse of land bubble, affected profits, prices, and wages went down, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment went up

School Reform in Massachusetts

1837 - started by Horace Mann, advocated for universal public education, legislated tax-supported elementary public education, created “normal schools” to train teachers

Trail of Tears

1838 - ethnic cleansing and force displacement of Native Americans, part of the Indian Removal Act, Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation on the trail

Election of 1840

Whig William Henry Harrison v. incumbent President Martin Van Buren, marked the first of two Whig victories in the presidential election

Manifest Destiny

(first used) 1845 - moral justification for American expansion, believed it was America’s God given right to expand across North America

Annexation of Texas

1845 - Republic of Texas had declared independence from the Republic of Mexico in 1836, annexed in 1845, caused tensions between Mexico and US and led to Mexican-American War

Mexican-American War

1846-1848 - followed the annexation of Texas in 1845, Mexico still considered Texas it’s territory and refused to recognize the Treaty of Velasco, Polk placed troops on the Rio Grande hoping Mexico would attack and they did, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war

Wilmot Proviso

1846 - introduced by Congressman David Wilmot, unsuccessful proposal to Congress to ban slavery in the territory acquired from Mexico from the Mexican-American War

Mormons Migrated to Utah

1847-1848 - migrated from the Midwest to Salt Lake Valley, Salt Lake Valley became American territory after the Mexican-American War, Joseph Smith led a wagon train to Utah

Seneca Falls Convention

1848 - first women’s rights convention, female Quakers organized the convention, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the Declaration of Sentiments came from the convention

Mexican Cession

1848 - land Mexico initially controlled, ceded the land to the US in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Mexican-American War), US’s third largest acquisition of territory

California Gold Rush

1849 - brought 49’s to new territory from Mexican Cession, led California to apply for statehood, New Mexico also applied with California at the time

Compromise of 1850

admitted California as a free state, allowed New Mexico and Utah to decide on whether they were free or slave states, ended slave trade in DC, strengthened Fugitive Slave Act

*Uncle Tom’s Cabin*

1852 - published by Harriet Beecher Stowe, anti-slavery novel, affected American attitudes towards African Americans and slavery, helped build the foundation of the Civil War

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854 - created by Stephen A. Douglas, created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska for the construction of the transcontinental railroad, repealed the Missouri Compromise, led to Bleeding Kansas as it allowed Kansas and Nebraska to choose if they were free or slave states

Creation of the Republican Party

Political party created in 1854, favored in the North initially

*Dred Scot v. Sandford*

1857 - Supreme Court ruled that government couldn’t prohibit slavery in territories because it infringed upon property rights, stated African Americans were inherently inferior

Lincoln-Douglas debates

1858 - series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas for the position of Illinois’s senator, trying to win the votes of the Illinois General Assembly, Douglas was elected but made Lincoln rising leader of Republicans

Harper’s Ferry

1859 - led by abolitionist John Brown, slave revolt in Virginia, Brown was defeated by the US Marines, Brown became a martyr of the abolitionist movement, prelude to the Civil War

Election of 1860

Democrats were divided between Stephen Douglas and John Breckenridge, allowed Republican Abraham Lincoln to win the election, led to Southern secession

Southern Secession

1860-1861 - South Carolina seceded following Lincoln’s election, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Texas, and Louisiana followed, created the Confederacy, led to the Civil War

Fort Sumter

1861 - began the Civil War, South Carolina militia fired on a supply ship sent by Lincoln in the Union, fort surrendered the next day

Homestead Act

1862 - encouraged people to move west, opened up million of acres of government owned/public land for homestead applicants

Morrill Land-Grant Act

1862 - stimulated higher education in states, created “land grant” colleges

Emancipation Proclamation

1863 - by Abraham Lincoln, changed the nature of the Civil War, made war about ending slavery not just rejoining the Union, added moral purpose caused Europe to side with Confederacy

Battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg

1863 - Gettysburg was a turning point for the Union in the Civil War, led to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Vicksburg was another Union win as it drove the Confederacy from the Mississippi River

Appomattox Court House

1865 - final battle of the Civil War, Robert Lee surrendered to the Union, Confederacy ended with a lack of manpower, morale, and economic stability

Abraham Lincoln assassination

April 14, 1865, Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated, led to national mourning

Freedmen’s Bureau

1865 - allowed freedmen to work as tenant farmers, worked to get freed blacks working rights and wages, created post-Civil War

13th Amendment

1865 - amendment that freed all slaves

Sewards Folly

1867 - purchase of Alaska territory from Russia, Alaska would serve as a base to expand American trade in Asia, good as Alaska ended up being rich with resources for US

Radical Reconstruction began

1867 - Congress abolished slavery, ended Confederate secession, passed 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, failed to protect freed blacks from the KKK, starvation, disease, and brutal treatment of Union soldiers

Andrew Johnson Impeachment Trial

1868 - charged with 11 articles of impeachment for “high crimes and misdemeanors,” Andrew Johnson was the first US president to be impeached

14th Amendment

1868 - amendment that defined national citizenship

Transcontinental Railroad

initially presented to Congress in 1845, plan to build a railroad that connected the nation, finished in 1869

Standard Oil

founded in 1870 by John Rockefeller, had a monopoly over American oil businesses

Knights of Labor

created in 1869, represented all workers, reluctant to call strikes

Voting Rights in Wyoming

Women gained the right to vote in Wyoming in 1870, put into place to get women to move to Wyoming to balance population, spurred other West states to give women the right to vote

Battle of Little Big Horn

1876 - America tried to relocate Sioux tribe, started the Great Sioux War of 1876, Sioux tribe won the battle, US won the war