United States History Time Line

Flashcards covering key events and terms from U.S. history based on the lecture notes.

Treaty of Tordesillas

Divided the New World between Spain and Portugal in 1494.

Protestant Reformation

Began in 1517 when Luther challenged the Catholic Church.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607.

Mayflower Compact

The first governing document of Plymouth Colony, established by the Pilgrims in 1620.

Boston Massacre

A deadly confrontation between British troops and colonial civilians in 1770.

Articles of Confederation

The first constitution of the United States, adopted in 1777.

Constitutional Convention

The gathering that drafted the Constitution of the United States in 1787.

Cotton gin

Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, it revolutionized cotton production.

Manifest Destiny

The belief in the 19th century that the expansion of the U.S. across the American continents was justified.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 that freed all slaves in Confederate-held territory.

New Deal

A series of programs and policies instituted by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s to combat the Great Depression.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A landmark piece of legislation that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Watergate scandal

A political scandal involving a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the subsequent cover-up by the Nixon administration.

Cold War

A period of political tension between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II.

9/11 Attacks

Terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, involving the hijacking of four airplanes by al-Qaeda.