Fall Key Dates

1607

Jamestown; first permanent British settlement

1620

Pilgrims land in Pylmouth, MA; Plymouth Colony

1630

Puritans found the Massachusetts Bay Colony and create “The City on the Hill” (Boston)

1754

French and Indian War (7 Year’s War); fighting over Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes

1763

End of 7 Year’s War; France officially gone from NA

1776

Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War; Americans declare their independence from Britain

1783

Treaty of Paris; end of Revolutionary War, US won their independence from Britain

1787

Constitution drafted and ratified, Articles of Confederation replaced

1800

Thomas Jefferson elected; first peaceful shift in political party

1803

Louisiana Purchase; US doubled in size

1812

War of 1812; British interference with American trade

1820

Missouri Compromise

1823

Monroe Doctrine

1831

Nat Turner’s Rebellion and the Liberator; abolitionist movement grows

1832

Nullification Crisis; South Carolina nullifies the Tariff of Abominations and threatens to secede

1846

Mexican-American War

1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1850

Compromise of 1850; CA brought in as a free state, rest of Mexican cession would use popular sovereignty

1854

Kansas-Nebraska Act; Kansas and Nebraska territories created with popular sovereignty

1860

Election of Abraham Lincoln

1861

Fort Sumter

1865

Appomattox Courthouse

1877

End of Reconstruction