APUSH DATES

1492

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