APUSH DATES

1492

- New World Discovered
- Beginning of the Columbian Exchange (Global Interconnectedness)

1607

- Founding of Jamestown
- First Successful English Colony
- Introduction of Slavery to North America
- Huge Tobacco Farms

1620

- Pilgrims Arrive
- Mayflower Compact: First Democratic Document in North America
- Religious Colonies

1730s-1740s

- The First Great Awakening
- First Widespread Unifying Movement
- Religious Revival
- Salvation Through Good Deeds

1754-1763

- French and Indian War
- Demoralized Against the British
- France kicked off of North America

1763

- Proclamation of 1763
- End of Salutary Neglect

1773

- The Boston Tea Party
- First Organized Rebellion Against British

1775

- Battle of Lexington and Concord
- First Official Battle of the Revolution

July 4th, 1776

- The Declaration of Independence
- Defined "Inalienable Rights" that the British had denied

1777

- Battle of Saratoga
- Causes France to join the Revolutionary War

1781

- Battle of Yorktown
- Surrender of British General Cornwallis
- "End" of the Revolutionary War

1783

- Treaty of Paris
- Official Independence from British
- U.S. Recognized as Sovereign

1786

- Shay's Rebellion
- Emphasized the Need for a Stronger Central Government

1789

- Constitutional Convention
- Founding of a New Government

1791

- Bill of Rights Created
- Antifederalists Appeased
- Protect the Rights of the People

1798

- Alien and Sedition Acts
- Expansion and Abuse of Federal Powers

1800

- Revolution of 1800
- Jefferson Elected as President
- Peaceful Transfer of Power from One Party to Another

1803

- Louisiana Purchase
- Doubles the Size of the U.S.

1803

- Marbury Vs. Madison
- Established the Principle of Judicial Review
- Gave the Supreme Court the Right to Declare Legislative and Executive Acts Unconstitutional

1812-1815

- The War of 1812
- Stalemate Peace
- The "Second War for Independence"
- Established a Northern Boundary with Canada

1820

- Missouri Compromise
- Missouri Admitted as a Slave State
- Maine Added as a Free State
- Mason Dixion Line Divides the North and South

1820s-1830s

- The Second Great Awakening
- New American Religion (Mormonism)
- Inspired Social Reforms that Shaped American Culture

1823

- Monroe's Doctrine
- Separates America from Europe's Conflicts
- Defined American Power Internationally

1830

- Indian Removal Act
- Jackson Breaks Promise Towards the Natives
- Major Overstep of Executive Power

1830s-1850s

- Manifest Destiny
- Massive Westward Expansion

1848

- Seneca Falls Convention
- Women's Rights Convention for Suffrage
- 'We hold these truths to be self evident that all men and women are created equal"
- Societal Changes

1848

- Gold Rush Begins
- Single largest westward expansion
-Allows California to have enough population to become a state

1832

- Nat Turner's Rebellion
- Major violent slave uprising

1836

-Battle of the Alamo
-America support of Texas Annexation, despite it being a failure

1848

-Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
-Ended Mexican-American War
-Mexican cession

1850

-Compromise of 1850
-Fugitive Slave Act
-Blew up North and South tensions

1854

-Bleeding Kansas
-Precursor to Civil War
-First violence between the North and South

1857

-Scott V. Sandford
-First time government takes a stance on slavery

1861-1865

Civil War

* Bloodiest American war
* Broken and Reunified
* Emancipation Proclamation

1862

Battle of Antietam

* Allows the Emancipation Proclamation to be released
* Made it an abolitionist war

1863

Battle of Gettysburg

* Turning point in the Civil War
* South is now on the defensive
* Turning point of sectionalism to nationalism

April 15, 1865

Lincoln’s Assassination

* 1st presidential assassination
* Johnson becomes president

1865

13th Amendment

* Abolishes slavery - except as punishment for a crime

1868

14th Amendment

* Defines citizenship and protects citizens’ civil rights

1870

15th Amendment

* Universal male suffrage

1877

Compromise of 1877

* Ends Reconstruction

1886

Haymarket Square Riot

* Major workers’ rights riot
* Led to violence and was considered a setback for the organized labor movement

1887

Dawes Act

* Authorized president to break of reservation land
* Further destroyed Native Americans’ way of life

1890

Sherman Antitrust Act

* Banned businesses from colluding or merging to form monopolies
* Some of the first legislation passed to limit big business

1890

Massacre at Wounded Knee

* Lakota men, women, and children slaughtered


* Marked the end of Native resistance to the encroachment of white settlers

1894

Pullman Strike

* Resistance against big business
* Ended by the federal government because it interfered with mail delivery

1896

Plessy V. Ferguson

* Upheld “separate but equal” ideology between whites and people of color

1898

Spanish-American War

* America asserts itself as an imperialist world power
* Annexation of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines

1906

Meat Inspection Act/Pure Food & Drug Act

* Made food more reliably safe
* Progressive movement (for the people, not the businesses)

1909

NAACP Founded (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

* Actively worked to end segregation and Jim Crow laws
* Gave a voice to colored people

1917

United States Enters World War I

* U.S becomes *the* global power by the end of the war
* Rise in innovation and technology

1919

18th Amendment (Prohibition)

* Success of progressive movement
* Women had influence over the government

Summer of 1919

Red Summer

* Steep rise in racial violence and tensions
* Whites push back against Black rights

1919-1920

First Red Scare

* Fear of socialism, anarchy, foreign immigration, etc.

1920

19th Amendment

* Gave women the right to vote across the nation

1920s

Harlem Renaissance

* Cultural Revolution for African Americans
* First culture not based in slavery
* Jazz

1925

Scopes Trial

* Major trial over evolution being taught in schools
* Challenged fundamentalism
* Emphasized the clash between fundamentalists and modernists

1929

Black Tuesday

* Huge stock market collapse
* One of the first steps leading to the Great Depression

1929-1939

Great Depression

* Worst economic downturn in history
* Weakens global economy
* Starts New Deal legislation
* 25% unemployment in the United States

1932

Bonus Army

* Veterans from WWI gather to demand compensation before the depression drains the treasury
* Decreases Hoover’s popularity, increases FDR’s

1934

Start of the Dust Bowl

* Caused a mass migration out of the Great Plains to California
* Increased unemployment
* Spawned the Farm Security Administration as part of the New Deal

1939-1945

World War II

* Changed American society and manufacturing
* Post-war baby boom changes demographics
* Start of Cold War tensions

June 6, 1944

D-Day

* Largest amphibious front in history
* Start of the push-back and defeat of the Axis powers

1945

Drop atomic bombs

* Nuclear weapons race started
* First use of nuclear weaponry on humans
* Contributed to the end of WWII in the Pacific

1947

Truman Doctrine

* Established that the U.S. would protect democratic nations from soviet/authoritarian forces through economic, political, and military assistance
* Part of “containment” theory of communism

1948

Marshall Plan

* Major example of U.S. acting on Truman Doctrine
* Provided markets and stable trading partners for American goods
* Extension of bipartisanship

1950

McCarthyism

* Political suppression of left-wing ideologies in the United States
* Part of the “Second Red Scare”
* Spread fear of communism gained support for Cold War in America

1950-1953

Korean War

* Containment policy
* Major proxy war during Cold War

1954

Brown vs. Board of Education

* End of legalized segregation in public schools
* Overruled “separate but equal” Plessy v. Ferguson
* Unanimous court decision

1955

Montgomery Bus Boycott

* Helped establish goal of integration
* Non-violent protest (civil disobedience)

1955-1975

 Vietnam War

* Ultimately a loss for the United States
* Major example of U.S. involvement in foreign governments
* Caused distrust of government within U.S.

1957

Sputnik launched - Start of the Space Race

* New era of the Cold War focused on technological advancement
* Realization for America that the USSR was more advanced than previously assumed
* First man-made object in space

1961

Gideon vs. Wainwright

* Requires that criminal defendents be given legal counsel regardless of wealth
* Civil rights for impoverished population

1962

 Engel vs. Vitale

* Reaffirmed separation of church and state by banning mandatory prayer in public schools

1962

Cuban Missile Crisis

* Peak point in Cold War when USSR and US came closest to nuclear conflict

1963

March on Washington

* 250k protested racial discrimination and demanded civil rights legislation
* Massive peaceful protest, “I Have a Dream” speech

1963

John F. Kennedy is assassinated

* Largely televised, which was unique from past assassinations
* End of optimism for the nation’s future
* Lyndon B. Johnson takes office

1964

Civil Rights Act of 1964

* Massive piece of civil rights legislation
* Prohibited discrimination in public accommodations
* Hastened end of Jim Crow

1965

Voting Rights Act (Selma)

* Outlawed discriminatory voting practices
* Enforced 15th amendment

1965

Assassination of Malcolm X

* Assassination of major civil rights figure
* Not treated as importantly as the assassintation of MLK JR.

1968

Democratic National Convention in Chicago

* Youth and minorities became largely involved in voting
* 68% of citizens voted

1968

Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated

* Prompted outbreaks of racial violence
* Fasttracked equal housing bill
* Angered black Americans

1968

Bobby Kennedy assassinated

* Prompted start of protection of presidential candidates from Secret Service agents
* Assassination of presidential nominee
* Second Democratic candidate ultimately lost election

1968

Tet offensive

* Weakening of public support of Vietnam
* U.S. suffers heavy losses to advancing Viet Cong

1969

 Woodstock

* Major counterculture art fair
* Escape for Americans, encouragement of peace and anti-war messages

1969

Moon landing

* America ends the space race
* First humans to step foot on the moon

1970

Kent State massacre

* First student killed in anti-war gathering (Jeffery Miller)
* Deepend distrust of government as the National Guard killed the students

1972

Watergate Scandal

* Led to Nixon’s resignation
* Deepened distrust of government
* Many cabinet members also convicted of crimes

1973

Roe v. Wade

* Decriminalized abortion
* Right to privacy
* Major victory for women’s rights

1979

Iranian Hostage Crisis

* Decreased support of Jimmy Carter
* Unsuccessful rescue mission

1981

Outbreak of the AIDS pandemic

* Major health crisis in the United States
* Accelerated fear of homosexuality

1981

Sandra Day O’Connor becomes 1st female Justice

* Became the deciding vote in many important civil rights and environmental protection Supreme Court cases
* Victory for women

1989

Berlin Wall comes down

* First step towards German reunification
* Weakened East Germany and eastern Europe, led to dissolution of USSR

1991

Soviet Union disbands

* End of the Cold War
* Democracy somewhat restored to eastern Europe

1991

Operation Desert Storm

* Kuwait liberated
* Massively successful U.S. military move
* First use of modern technology in warfare (cell phones, space equipment, etc.)

1995

Oklahoma City Bombing

* Largest domestic terrorist attack in United States

1998

President Clinton impeached

* 2nd impeached president
* Weakened Democratic party for upcoming election
* Lying under oath and obstruction of justice

1999

Columbine High School massacre

* First major school shooting
* Started a chain reaction and rise of school shooters for the name of fame
* Spawned new security measures in school

2001

September 11th terrorist attacks in the U.S.

* Changed relations with Islam and severely worsened them
* Took away many rights we never get back w/ Patriot Act
* Start of military invasion of middle east and search for Osama bin Laden

2008

Election of President Obama

* First African American president
* Was a far left swing so it caused the likelihood of a far right swing to counter that