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Period: Jul 1, 1492 to
US History
The history of our country dates back a few centuries. This timeline is a visual of those first centuries.
Links:
history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/roanoke-colony.htm
www.historyisfun.org/history-jamestown.htm
www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/massacre.htm
www.ducksters.com/history/battle_of_lexington_and_concord.php
www.history.com/topics/shays-rebellion
education-portal.com/academy/lesson/the-louisiana-purchase-of-1803-summary-facts-importance.html#lesson -
First Attempt of Colonization in Roanoke
Roanoke was England's first attempt of colonizing the Americas. There were three groups of British who went- a group who went to look at the landscape, a small group of men who lived a little less than a year, and a bigger group of men, women, and children. The last group traveled to Roanoke with Governor John White. John White went to Britain to get more supplies and when he came back, none of his people or colonial buildings were there. He found "Croaton" carved into a tree. -
Settlement of Jamestown
Jamestown was England's first permanent colony in the Americas. The Virginia Company of London was the major benefactor of the colony. The colonists had a poor relationship with the local Natives and many got sick and died. Captain John Smith led the colony strictly, but then had to leave when he got seriously injured. The colony suffered after his departure.The colonists eventually relied on tobacco farming to make money. -
Boston Massacre
Many people in the colonies were angry with the British policies. The Massacre started when angry locals assaulted British troops. British Captain Thomas Preston called in more troops, who were also assaulted. The troops started shooting into the crowd, killing three and wounding eight. They were tried for murder. They were initially released, but then two soldiers were found guilty. This was one of the many events that sparked the Revolution. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
These were the first two battles of the Revolution. The British troops set out to detain some Revolutionary leaders, but the colonists had already been informed. When the British arrived in Lexington, there were 80 men waiting. The colonists were outmatched and some were killed, so they fled. The British continued to Concord, where they met a lot more resistance. The colonists defeated them there and continued to assault them as they retreated to Boston. -
Federalism
Federalism is the belief that a country should be unified and should have proud citizens. They wanted a big navy/army to protect the U.S from domestic and international enemies. The first Federalists were split into two socioeconomic groups: the political leades (like George Washington) and the business/wealthy class people who had similar beliefs and interests. The Federalists fought with the Anti-Federalists on many occasions over differing interpretations of the Constitution. -
Shay's Rebellion
A string of protests performed by farmers led by Daniel Shays. The protests were in response to the state government being too strict (in their opinion) about them paying taxes and being punished when they didn't pay. The protests were very concentrated in Massachusetts and were frequently squashed by the state miltia. Shay's Rebellion began to be talked about during political debates, including writing/ratifying the Constitution. -
Louisiana Purchase of 1803
Napoleon (the French Emperor) owned some land in North America. He wished to grow his empire there by taking over the United States. But with time, he realized that the extensive distance between France and North America would make it very hard for him to keep other countries from also invading the area. So he decided to take over England instead, which required more money than he had. So, Napoleon sold the Louisiana territory (828000 sq. miles) to the US for 15 million dollars. -
War of 1812
It was a war between the US and England caused by the US getting angry with England for disallowing American trade with France. The US also wanted to show England that they were independent. The British fought more offenivey throughout the war, but the US won some important battles that increased American morale. The Treaty of Ghent ended the war and declared that neither country had lost any land. The war ended in 1815. -
Nationalism
Nationalism is the sense of a shared background with the one's fellow citizens. This background can be ethnic or religious. Nationalism is also the goals and qualities that make a nation unique. A third quality of nationalism is how the national government interacts with individual states. In the US, though the states are independent to a degree, they make up one bigger and stronger country. -
Missouri Compromise
Missouri wanted to enter the US as a slave state, which would make the amount of free and slave states unbalanced. Congress decided to let Missouri enter as a slave states because they also let Maine enter as a free state. Congress then made a line through the Louisiana Territory that separated free and slave territories. Many southerners complained about the Compromise, but it kept national unity for three decades. -
Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is the belief that what we know to be real originates from the exploration of our thoughts. It is also the belief that the existence of a God comes from our thoughts or intuition. There were Unitarians and agnositcs in the nineteenth century who together worked to expand this idea. Emerson and Thoreau are two famous members of groups in New England who thought about Transcendentalism. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
A group of over 40 slaves led by Nat Turner went on a day long killing spree. They started out at the Travis house and made their way to the town of Jerusalem. When the group arrived in Jerusalem, the whites had already been informed of what they were doing and had set up a militia to fight them off. The group killed at least 55 whites. Turner went into hiding, but was captured and hung. This rebellion caused the Virginia govenment to consider abolishing slavery, but didn't ultimately do so. -
Signing of The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This treaty ended the Mexican-American War. The US benefitted more from the treaty than Mexico. The treaty gave the US most/all of Arizona, Utah, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming. The treaty also declared that the official boundary between the two countries was the Rio Grande. The war was caused by a disagreement about where the real boundary was. Although the US won, the president lost his popularity and the slavery debate resurfaced (which would turn into the Civil War). -
Seneca Falls Convention
The first woman's rights conference in the US was held in Seneca Falls, NY. It was organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and had around 200 participants. For the conference, Stanton wrote and read her "Declaration of Sentiments and Grievances". It was oganized similarly to the Declaration of Independence, but listed and described all of the ways in which women had been mistreated in the US and told them to work for their rights. This conference started happening annually. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise settled the fight over which territories won from the Mexican-American War would be accepted as free states or slave states. California would enter as a free state. Utah and New Mexico could decide for themselves if they wanted slavery by popular sovereignty. In D.C the slave trade would stop. The Compromise also marked the boundary between Texas and New Mexico, which was being fought over. Southerners would be able to find and get slaves back more easily than before. -
Publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and was read by a lot of people (enough to get Abraham Lincoln's attention). She wrote the book after seeing that the fugitive state laws had become stricter. Her book had a big impact on Americans, who shifted their beliefs on slavery as a result of reading it. She earned a lot of fame from the book in the US as well as in England. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
It declared that each new territory could determine for itself whether or not slavery is legal within it. The Act was proposed by Stephen A. Douglas and it being passed ended the effectiveness of the Missouri Compromise. He suggested the Act in the hopes that as a result, a railroad would pass through his state-Illinois. By the time it passed and Kansas entered the country, southern states were already breaking off. The railroad was made, but not to Douglas' liking. -
Republicanism
Republicanism is the belief that a country's citizens have rights that can't be taken away by election. Republicanism doesn't accept fraud. The belief's roots lie in the US Revolution Era political leaders, who were worried about repeating the British government system that had been disastrous in the colonies. The first political party to use the name was the Republican Party in 1792. In the Reconstruction Era, a new Republican Party formed, with Northerners against slavery. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Five days after the official end of the Civil War, John Wilkes Booth shot and killed Abraham Lincoln at a theater production at Ford's Theater. His plan for the attack was to kill Abraham Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward. Killing the three most powerful American politicians would give him/his accomplices the opportunity to break down the government. The Union army set the farmhouse where Booth was staying on fire, but he was dragged out alive. -
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Johnson was sworn in as president as a result of Lincoln being assassinated. Congress didn't like how lenient he was towards the South. Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, which limited his freedoms. After trying twice to remove Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton from office, Congress started working towards impeaching him. At his impeachment trial, the senators couldn't reach the 2/3 majority marker needed to impeach him, so he finished his term.
