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Massacre at Mystic
The Mystic massacre took place during the Pequot War, when Connecticut colonists under Captain John Mason and their Narragansett and Mohegan allies set fire to the Pequot Fort near the Mystic River. -
The Scalp Act
Governor Robert Morris enacted the Scalp Act. Anyone who brought in a male scalp above age of 12 would be given $150, for females above age of 12 or males under the age of 12, they would be paid $130. The act turned all the tribes against the Pennsylvania legislature. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that took place in Massachusetts. American colonists were angry and bitter with Britain due to imposing “taxation without representation". Because of this, the American colonists got revenge by dumping 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. This signaled the start of the American Revolutionary war. The British Army set out from Boston to capture rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington as well as to destroy the Americans store of weapons and ammunition in Concord. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first ever engagements with the military involving the American Revolutionary War. These battles were what caused the British and King George III to prove that unfair behavior would no longer be allowed in America. -
The Declaration of Independence is Signed
The Declaration of Independence was the first proper statement by the nation's people explaining their right to choose their own government.The holiday the Fourth of July is the day we celebrate the signing, due to it the 13 American colonies severing their political connections with Great Britain and declaring themselves to be the United States of America. -
The Winter at Valley Forge
Valley Forge played its part as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body. This event was commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. This was a major turning point in the American Revolutionary War that led to replacing Washington, making him believe he was incompetent. -
The Winter at Valley Forge
Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. Here the Continental Army, a collection of disparate colonial militias, emerged under Washington's leadership as a cohesive and disciplined fighting force. -
Benedict Arnold turns traitor
Benedict Arnold was an early American hero of the Revolutionary War who later became one of the most infamous traitors in U.S. history after he switched sides and fought for the British.At the British surrender at Yorktown, Benedict Arnold was burned in effigy and his name has since become synonymous with traitor. The British didn't treat him very well after the war either. -
The Battle of Cowpens
Cowpens was the most decisive American victory of the War for Independence. It gave a major boost to Patriot morale, inflicted casualties that the British could not replace and ultimately led to Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown that fall. -
Article of Confederation are Ratified
The Articles of Confederation was an agreement to the 13 original states of the United States of America that served as its first constitution. It was approved. This was the guiding principle to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. -
The Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was a joint Franco-American land and sea campaign that took hold of a major British army on a peninsula at Yorktown, Virginia, and forced its surrender. This particular battle virtually ended military operations in the American Revolution. This battle was found important because of Virginia concluding the last major battle of the American Revolution, which started a new nation's independence. -
The 3/5ths Compromise
A compromise agreement between delegates from the Northern and the Southern states at the United States Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives. -
The Constitution is Ratified
The United States officially adopted the constitution after lastly being ratified by New Hampshire. The ratifying conventions served the necessary function of letting the public know about the provisions of the proposed new government. They also served as forums for proponents and opponents to articulate their ideas before the citizenry. -
Presidential Inauguration of George Washington
The Presidential Inauguration of George Washington was the ceremony that marked the start of the first four-year term of George Washington as President. This was the nation's first quadrennial presidential election. -
Washington’s Farewell Address
Washington’s Farewell Address made all American citizens aware that they should see themselves as "a cohesive unit" and avoid political parties along with the issued attachments and entanglements with other nations.Washington wanted them to learn that the best way is to hand power over peacefully. -
The Death of George Washington
George Washington, the first president of the United States, passed away due to epiglottis. Washington had a painful throat infection and died at the age of 67. -
Election Day, 1800
The Election Day of 1800 was when Vice President Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican Party defeated President John Adams of the Federalist Party. This election was a changing election that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican leadership. -
Marbury vs. Madison
Marbury vs. Madison was a supreme court case that established the principle of judicial review in the United States. Thus regarding the American courts having the power to take out laws, statutes, and certain government actions that they find to go against the Constitution of the United States. This date is important due to it proving respect to the Constitution and later on parallel state courts to state constitutions. -
Slave Trade Ends in the United States
The U.S. Congress passes an act to “prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States…from any foreign kingdom, place, or country.” -
Battle of Tippecanoe
Indiana governor William Henry Harrison defeated the Shawnee Indians at the Tippecanoe River in northern Indiana; victory fomented war fever against the British, who were believed to be aiding the Indians. -
The USS Constitution defeats the HMS Guerriere
USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere was an action between the two ships during the War of 1812, approximately 400 miles southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It took place shortly after war had broken out. -
The Battle of New Orleans
The United States achieved its greatest battlefield victory of the War of 1812 at New Orleans. The Battle of New Orleans thwarted a British effort to gain control of a critical American port and elevated Major General Andrew Jackson to national fame. -
The Missouri Compromise
In an effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, the Missouri Compromise was passed admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. -
The Election of Andrew Jackson
As President John Quincy Adams of the National Republican Party faced Andrew Jackson of the Democratic Part, Jackson's victory over Adams marked the start of Democratic dominance in federal politics. Known as the "people's president," Jackson destroyed the Second Bank of the United States, founded the Democratic Party, supported individual liberty and instituted policies that resulted in the forced migration of Native Americans. -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Native American tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for white settlement of their ancestral lands. -
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears happened when Hernando De Soto took his adventures to America.16,000 Native Americans were marched over 1,200 miles of rugged land. Over 4,000 of these Indians died of disease, famine, and warfare. The Indian tribe was called the Cherokee and we call this event the Trail of Tears. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
A rebellion of black slaves that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, led by Nat Turner. The rebels killed between 55 and 65 people, at least 51 of whom were white. -
The Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was fought between the Republic of Texas and Mexico and took place at a fort in San Antonio, Texas called the Alamo. The Mexicans won the battle, killing all of the Texan soldiers inside the fort. For Texans, the Battle of the Alamo became an enduring symbol of their heroic resistance to oppression and their struggle for independence, which they won later that year. -
Mexico loses California, New Mexico, and Arizona
The Mexican-American War marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil. When the dust cleared, Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory, including nearly all of present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. -
The Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was part of the Compromise of 1850. The act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. The act also made the federal government responsible for finding, returning, and trying escaped slaves. -
Dred Scott Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that having lived in a free state and territory did not entitle an slaved person, Dred Scott, to his freedom. In essence, the decision argued that, as someone's property, Scott was not a citizen and could not sue in a federal court. -
The Dead Rabbits Riot
The Dead Rabbits riot was a two-day civil disturbance in New York City evolving from what was originally a small-scale street fight between members of the Dead Rabbits and the Bowery Boys into a citywide gang war. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States over a deeply divided Democratic Party, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. Lincoln is remembered for his vital role as the leader in preserving the Union during the Civil War and beginning the process (Emancipation Proclamation) that led to the end of slavery in the United States. -
South Carolina secedes from the United States
Delegates at South Carolina's secession convention adopted a “Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union.” It noted “an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery” -
The First Battle of Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle of the American Civil War and was a Confederate victory. This cost some 3,000 Union casualties, compared with 1,750 for the Confederates. Its outcome sent northerners who had expected a quick, decisive victory reeling, and gave rejoicing southerners a false hope that they themselves could pull off a swift victory. -
Emancipation Proclamation
As the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war, the proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
The Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the Civil War, costing the Union 23,000 killed, wounded, or missing in action. The Confederates suffered some 25,000 casualties. -
13th Amendment
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. -
The Treaty at Appomattox Courthouse
The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought in Appomattox County, Virginia, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War. This led to Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender of his Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. -
The Ku Klux Klan is Established
The Ku Klux Klan, commonly called the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, as well as Jews, immigrants, leftists, homosexuals, and, until recently, Catholics. The Klan has existed in three distinct eras at different points in time during the history of the United States. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including former slaves—and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.” -
John D. Rockefeller Creates Standard Oil
By the early 1880s, Standard Oil controlled some 90 percent of U.S. refineries and pipelines. After critics accused Rockefeller of engaging in unethical practices, such as predatory pricing and colluding with railroads, in 1911 the U.S. Supreme Court found Standard Oil in violation of anti-trust laws and ordered it to dissolve. During his life Rockefeller donated more than $500 million to various philanthropic causes. -
15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits the federal government and each state from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." -
Alexander Graham Bell Patents the Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell's original telephone, patented in 1876, worked by converting sound into an electrical signal via a 'liquid transmitter'. When sound waves hit the membrane, it caused vibrations, varying the strength of the current passing between the needle and the contact. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
Native American forces led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeat the U.S. Army troops of General George Armstrong Custer in the Battle of the Little Bighorn near southern Montana's Little Bighorn River. -
The Great Oklahoma Land Race
Settlers flooded into the region of central Oklahoma known as the Unassigned Lands. President Benjamin Harrison signed a proclamation on March 23, 1889 which opened the land, allowing people to come from across the country to claim it. -
Battle of Wounded Knee
The Wounded Knee Massacre, also known as the Battle of Wounded Knee, was a domestic massacre of nearly three hundred Lakota people, by soldiers of the United States Army. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
A U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The case stemmed from an 1892 incident in which African American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a car for blacks. -
The sinking of the USS Maine
An explosion of unknown origin sank the battleship U.S.S. Maine in the Havana, Cuba harbor, killing 266 of the 354 crew members. The sinking of the Maine incited United States' passions against Spain, eventually leading to a naval blockade of Cuba and a declaration of war. -
The Wizard of Oz (Book) is Published
The book is one of the best-known stories in American literature and The Library of Congress has declared it "America's greatest and best-loved homegrown fairytale." Its success and the success of the Broadway musical adapted from the novel led Baum to write thirteen additional Oz books that serve as official sequels to the first story. -
J.P. Morgan Founds U.S. Steel
J. P. Morgan formed U.S. Steel by financing the merger of Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel Company with Elbert H. Gary's Federal Steel Company and William Henry "Judge" Moore's National Steel Company for $492 million. Morgan captured two-thirds of the steel market, and Schwab was confident that the company would soon hold a 75% market share. -
Teddy Roosevelt Becomes President of the United States
Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th President of the United States upon the assassination and death of President William McKinley. He brought new excitement and power to the office, vigorously leading Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy. -
Ford Motor Company is Founded
Ford Motor Company, commonly known as Ford, is an American multinational automaker that has its main headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. Henry Ford built his first experimental car in a workshop behind his home in Detroit in 1896. After formation of the Ford Motor Company, the first Ford car was assembled at the Mack Avenue plant in July 1903. -
Ida Tarbell Publishes Her Article About Standard Oil
The McClure's magazine journalist was an investigative reporting pioneer; Tarbell exposed unfair practices of the Standard Oil Company, leading to a U.S. Supreme Court decision to break its monopoly. -
The 16th Amendment is Passed
The 16th amendment established Congress's right to impose a Federal income tax. At first, Congress placed a flat 3-percent tax on all incomes over $800 and later modified this principle to include a graduated tax. -
Angel Island Opens to Process Immigrants
When it opened in 1910, the new detention facility on Angel Island was considered ideal because of its isolation. Access to and from the Island was very important to control and enforce the relatively new immigration laws and deal with the threat of disease from the many new people arriving daily to America. -
The 17th Amendment is Passed
The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution established the popular election of United States senators by the people of the states. This modified Article I, section 3, of the Constitution by allowing voters to cast direct votes for U.S. Senators. -
The Battle of Baltimore
The Battle of Baltimore was a combined land and naval battle fought between the United Kingdom and the United States during the War of 1812. This victory, together with the defeat of a British naval squadron on Lake Champlain showed the British government that the United States could hold out against British attacks. -
The Empire State Building Opens
The Empire State Building was constructed during a race to create the world's tallest building. This project was symbolizing the technological and economic power of the United States, and the Empire State building actually did win the title of “tallest building in the world”. -
The Adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem
By the time the song officially became the country’s anthem in 1931, it had been one of America’s most popular patriotic tunes for more than a century. The anthem’s history began when an attorney and amateur poet named Francis Scott Key watched U.S. soldiers raise a large American flag over Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. -
Battle of the Philippines
United States scores major victory against Japanese in Battle of the Philippine Sea. On June 19, 1944, in what would become known as the “Marianas Turkey Shoot,” U.S. carrier-based fighters decimate the Japanese Fleet with only a minimum of losses in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. -
Ellis Island Opens to Process Immigrants
Most of the immigrants who came to America through Ellis Island were from eastern and southern Europe. In many cases, they came to escape the poverty and religious intolerance that existed in small towns in countries such as Italy, Poland, and Russia.
