APUSH Timeline Flashcards- Important Events in American History

1491-1607: Period 1 - Conquest/Colonization

• Significance:
  • 1491: Last year before European contact in the Americas.
  • 1492: Columbus lands in the Americas, marking first European contact.
  • 1607: Founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America.

1607-1754: Period 2 - Colonial America

• Significance:
  • 1619: First ship of enslaved Africans arrives in Jamestown, establishing slavery in North America.
  • 1680: Pueblo Revolt is the most successful indigenous revolt against Europeans.
    • The Spanish were driven away for 12 years.
    • Upon return, better terms for indigenous people were established.
  • 1730s: First Great Awakening.
    • Based on Puritan ideals, reacting to the Enlightenment.
    • Featured powerful and emotional sermons.
    • Anti-authority ideals contributed to the American Revolution.
  • 1754: Beginning of French and Indian War.
    • British increased taxes on colonists to pay off war debt after victory.
    • Leads to colonial resentment and the American Revolution.

1754-1800: Period 3 - Revolutionary America

• Significance:
  • 1776: Declaration of Independence.
    • Signed during the war, summarizing colonists’ motivations for independence.
    • Drew on Enlightenment ideals.
  • 1781: Battle of Yorktown.
    • British General Cornwallis surrenders.
    • Americans officially win the Revolutionary War.
  • 1787: Constitutional Convention.
    • Replaced the weak Articles of Confederation with a stronger Constitution.
  • 1800: Revolution of 1800.
    • Democratic-Republican Jefferson wins over Federalist opponents.
    • First time power in America successfully and peacefully transfers from one party to another.

1800-1848: Period 4 - American Expansion

• Significance:
  • 1820: Missouri Compromise of 1820.
    • Temporary solution to sectional division over slavery.
    • Represents Era of Good Feelings (1815 - 1825).
  • 1828: Andrew Jackson Elected.
    • Expanded democracy for white male citizens.
    • Reorganized banking system to lessen federal control.
    • Forced Indian Removal Act of 1830.
  • 1830s: Second Great Awakening.
    • Protestant revival movement.
    • Diverse sects such as Mormons emerge.
    • Women play a large role.
    • Increased political participation of common citizens, helps lead to new reforms.
  • 1848: Seneca Falls Convention.
    • Led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.
    • First women’s rights convention in the United States, marking the beginning of efforts by women to achieve equality.
    • Resulted in the Declaration of Sentiments.

1844-1877: Period 5 - Civil War

• Significance:
  • 1844: Election of James Polk (Expansionist).
    • Polk ran on a platform of Manifest Destiny.
    • Oversaw significant expansion to the US, including the Oregon territory and the Mexican-American War.
  • 1850: Compromise of 1850.
    • Attempted to address sectional divisions by admitting California as a free state, allowing popular sovereignty in New Mexico/Utah, ending the slave trade in DC, and strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act.
    • Ultimately heightened tensions rather than resolving them.
  • 1860: Election of Abraham Lincoln; South Carolina secedes. Begins Civil War.
  • 1865: Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.
    • Ends the Civil War.
    • Also the year Abraham Lincoln is assassinated, ushering in a new era of Reconstruction in the South.
  • 1877: Compromise of 1877.
    • Ended Reconstruction era, resulting in loss of protection for African-Americans in the South and leading to the rise of Jim Crow laws.

1865-1898: Period 6 - Gilded Age

• Significance:
  • 1869: First Transcontinental Railroad completed.
    • Connected East and West coasts leading to massive economic/industrial growth.
  • 1882: Chinese Exclusion Act.
    • First major restrictive immigration law in American history, setting precedent for future similar acts.
    • Remained in place until 1943.
  • 1890: Closing of the western frontier.
    • Ended era of westward expansion, leading US to shift to imperialism to gain new territories/resources.
  • 1892: Homestead Strike.
    • Created a lasting impact on how the nation viewed the relationship between labor and management.
  • 1896: Plessy v Ferguson.
    • Established “Separate but Equal” doctrine - ie, racial segregation is constitutional.

1890-1945: Period 7 - Progressive Era, World War

• Significance:
  • 1898: Spanish American War Begins.
    • US gains Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines- established as a major world power.
  • 1917-1919: US enters WWI.
    • US emerges with stronger industrialization/economy, leading economic power.
    • WWI was also a catalyst for social change/reform such as Great Migration, women’s suffrage.
  • 1920: 19th Amendment Ratified.
    • Constitutional Amendment guarantees women the right to vote.
  • 1929: Great Depression begins.
    • Following stock market crash, profound economic crisis.
  • 1933: FDR becomes President; New Deal begins.
    • New Deal policies expand federal government’s role in the economy, laid groundwork for a welfare state, established key institutions.
    • Overall government is now more involved with its citizens.
  • 1941: US enters WWII.
    • Marks US emergence as a global superpower, sets stage for Civil Rights Movement.
    • US establishes concentration camps for Japanese-Americans.
  • 1945: US drops 2 atomic bombs on Japan.
    • Ended WWII.
    • Led to massive civilian casualties/long-term suffering for Japanese citizens, both highlighting the dangers of nuclear weaponry and marking the beginning of the nuclear age.

1945-1980: Period 8 - Cold War and The Fight for Civil Rights

• Significance:
  • 1954: Brown v Board.
    • Desegregated schools; Southern states resist.
  • 1950s-1970s: Vietnam War.
    • Proxy war of the Cold War; led US to be more cautious in foreign involvement in the future, led to new social/civil rights movements and a new counterculture.
  • 1964: Civil Rights Act passed.
    • Victory for Civil Rights activists, prohibiting discrimination in public spaces, enforcing desegregation, ending Jim Crow.
  • 1979: Iran hostage crisis.
    • Carter’s failure to rescue hostages increases a sense of vulnerability and anti-Iranian sentiment. This legacy continues today.

1980-Present: Period 9 - Reagan, Conservatism, Partisan Divisions

• Significance:
  • 1981: Reagan becomes President.
    • Sign of rising conservatism in the US, start of modern conservative movement and “Reaganomics”.
  • 1989: Destruction of the Berlin Wall.
    • Marks symbolic end to Cold War.
  • 2001: 9/11 Terrorist Attacks.
    • Begins American War on Terror, heightens Islamophobia in the US.
  • 2008: Election of Barack Obama.
    • First Black president elected in the United States.