APUSH Turning Points Study Guide — 30 Key Dates
Period 1–2 (1491–1754): Colonization & Settlement:
1492 — Columbus’s voyage begins lasting European contact; Columbian Exchange starts.
1607 — Jamestown founded — first permanent English colony.
1619 — First Africans arrive in Virginia — beginning of institutional slavery.
1620 — Mayflower Compact — early self-government.
1676 — Bacon’s Rebellion — class tensions spur racialized slavery.
Period 3 (1754–1800): Revolution & New Nation:
1754–1763 — French & Indian War — ends French power, Britain tightens control.
1763 — Proclamation Line — end of salutary neglect; sparks unrest.
1776 — Declaration of Independence — formal break with Britain.
1781 — Yorktown/Articles — war ends, weak government exposed.
1787 — Constitutional Convention — creates enduring federal system.
1800 — Jefferson elected — peaceful power transfer.
Period 4 (1800–1848): Expansion & Reform:
1803 — Louisiana Purchase — doubles territory, accelerates westward push.
1820 — Missouri Compromise — tries to balance slavery, raises sectional tension.
1828 — Jackson elected — rise of ‘common man’ politics.
1848 — Seneca Falls Convention — launches the organized women’s rights movement.
Period 5 (1844–1877): Sectionalism & Civil War:
1848 — Guadalupe Hidalgo — U.S. reaches Pacific, spurs sectional debate.
1860 — Lincoln elected — secession follows.
1861–1865 — Civil War — Union preserved, slavery ends.
1865 — 13th Amendment — slavery abolished; Reconstruction begins.
1868 — 14th Amendment — grants citizenship and equal protection.
Period 6–7 (1865–1945): Industrialization & Global Power:
1890 — Frontier ‘closed’/Wounded Knee — Native resistance ends.
1896 — Plessy v. Ferguson — legalizes segregation; shapes race relations.
1898 — Spanish–American War — U.S. becomes imperial power.
1917 — U.S. enters WWI — shift to global involvement.
1929 — Stock Market Crash — Great Depression begins.
1941 — Pearl Harbor — ends isolationism, WWII starts.
1944 — G.I. Bill — expands education, reshapes postwar society.
1945 — WWII ends — U.S. emerges as superpower.
Period 8–9 (1945–Present): Modern America:4 Board of
1954 — Brown v. Board of Education — overturns Plessy; fuels Civil Rights Movement.
1964–1965 — Civil/Voting Rights Acts — end legal segregation.
1969 — Moon Landing — Cold War prestige; technological milestone.
1980 — Reagan elected — conservatism reshapes politics.
2001 — 9/11 — War on Terror; security priorities shift.