US History Unit Review

Unit 1: 1491-1607

• Start Date: 1491
  • Why? The year before European contact with the Americas, marking the pre-Columbian era.
• End Date: 1607
  • Why? The founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America.
• Key Chronological Dates:
  • 1492: Voyage of Christopher Columbus.
  • 1494: Treaty of Tordesillas
    • Divided newly discovered lands outside Europe between Portugal and Spain.
  • 1512: Encomienda System Begins
    • Granted Spanish settlers the right to demand labor and tribute from local Native American populations.
  • 1525: Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Unit 2: 1607-1754

• Start Date: 1607
  • Why? Founding of Jamestown.
• End Date: 1754
  • Why? Beginning of the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War).
• Key Chronological Dates:
  • 1607: Founding of Jamestown.
  • 1608: Founding of Quebec
    • The first significant French settlement in Canada.
  • 1619: First enslaved African sold in Virginia.
    • Marks the beginning of chattel slavery in the English colonies.
  • 1620: Founding of Plymouth Colony.
    • Established by the Pilgrims for religious freedom.
  • 1640s: Beaver Wars
    • Series of conflicts fought between the Iroquois and the Huron and other tribes over control of the fur trade.
  • 1664: New Amsterdam Captured (Now New York).
    • The English seized the Dutch colony of New Netherland, renaming it New York.
  • 1675: Metacom's War (King Philip's War)
    • Armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of New England and English colonists and their Native American allies.
  • 1676: Bacon's Rebellion
    • An armed rebellion in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon against the colonial government.
  • 1680: Pueblo Revolt
    • A successful uprising of Pueblo Indians against Spanish colonizers in present-day New Mexico.
  • 1730s: First Great Awakening
    • An evangelical and revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, especially the American colonies, in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American Protestantism.

Unit 3: 1754-1800

• Start Date: 1754
  • Why? Beginning of the Seven Years' War.
• End Date: 1800
  • Why? Jefferson's "Revolution" of 1800 (his election as president).
• Key Chronological Dates:
  • 1754: Seven Years' War (French and Indian War).
  • 1763: Pontiac's Rebellion
    • A war launched by Native American tribes primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British postwar policies after the British victory in the French and Indian War (1754–1763).
  • 1763: Proclamation of 1763
    • Issued by the British government, forbade all settlement west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains.
  • 1765: Stamp Act
    • A direct tax imposed by the British Parliament on the colonies, requiring that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp.
  • 1773: Boston Tea Party
    • A political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, against the tax policy of the British government and the British East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies.
  • 1775: Battles of Lexington & Concord.
    • The first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.
  • 1776: Declaration of Independence.
    • Declared that the thirteen American colonies were independent of Great Britain.
  • 1778: Alliance Between France & US.
    • A formal alliance between France and the United States during the American Revolutionary War.
  • 1781: Battle of Yorktown
    • A decisive victory by the American Continental Army and French forces over the British army.
  • 1783: Treaty of Paris
    • Officially ended the American Revolutionary War.
  • 1786: Shays' Rebellion
    • An armed uprising in Massachusetts in response to a debt crisis among the citizenry and the state government's increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades & properties.
  • 1787: Constitutional Convention
    • A meeting to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation.
  • 1789: Washington's First Term Begins.
  • 1791: Bill of Rights Ratified
    • The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.
  • 1794: Whiskey Rebellion
    • A tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington, the so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government.
  • 1796: Washington's Farewell Address.
    • A letter written by U.S. President George Washington to "friends and fellow-citizens" near the end of his second term of office.
  • 1798: Alien and Sedition Acts
    • A series of four laws passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress and signed into law by President John Adams.
  • 1800: Jefferson is Elected President.
    • Referred to as the "Revolution of 1800" because it marked the first time that power in the United States was transferred from one political party to another.