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1607 – The first permanent English settlement in North America is established by the Virginia Company at Jamestown in what is now the state of Virginia.
The first English settlement was founded on the banks of the James river on May 14, 1607. Known as the Virginia Company, it consisted of approximately 100 members. -
1620 - The Mayflower arrives at Cape Cod, bringing the "Pilgrims" who establish the Plymouth Colony
The Pilgrims & Puritans seeking religious freedom from the Roman Catholic church, sailed on the Mayflower towards Virginia in the 1500's to America, where they formed the Church of England. -
1743 - Benjamin Franklin forms the American Philosophical Society, which helps bring ideas of the European Enlightenment, including those of John Locke, to colonial America.
Benjamin Franklin challenged the religious beliefs of his time when he formed the American Philosophical Society which embraced John Locke's ideas of European Enlightenment, and secularism and human reasoning.and a preclude to diversity. -
1788 - The U. S. Constitution is ratified by the required number of states
In 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth and last necessary state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, thereby making the document the law of the land. -
1812-1815 - The War of 1812
The War of 1812, (June 18, 1812–February 17, 1815),between the United States and Great Britain was based on the British violations of U.S. maritime rights. It ended with the exchange of ratifications of the Treaty of Ghent. -
1861 - The U.S. Civil War
In 1861, following years of simmering dissention between northern and southern states over slavery, states’ rights and westward expansion, the United States began the Civil War. -
1875 - The Civil Rights Act
Enacted on March 1, 1875, the Civil Rights Act affirmed the “equality of all men before the law” and prohibited racial discrimination in public places and facilities such as restaurants and public transportation. -
1881 - Booker T. Washington becomes the first principal of the newly-opened normal school in Tuskegee, Alabama, now Tuskegee University.
When classes began on September 19, 1881, Washington was the only teacher. He instructed the inaugural class of 30 students out of a one-room shanty near the Butler Chapel AME Zion Church. Under his leadership, the school’s enrollment swelled to more than 1500 students and accumulated an endowment of nearly $2 million.
