Original Peoples- Native Americans- Iroquois, Algonquin, Aztec, Maya, Inca
First Explorers- Vikings, Columbus
Colonization
1492 - Christopher Columbus sets sail.
Spanish settle South America
1513 - Juan Ponce DeLeon establishes the 1st colony in what is now the United States (St. Augustine, Florida).
1609 - Jamestown is founded.
1619 - The House of Burgesses is created.
1620 - The Puritans land at Plymouth.
1630 - The Massachusetts Bay Colony is founded.
1634 - Maryland founded by Lord Baltimore
1636 - Rhode Island founded by Roger Williams, Connecticut also founded.
1638 - New Hampshire is founded.
1663 - Carolinas founded
1664 - The English take New Netherland
1664 - New Jersey founded
1675 - King Philip's War
1676 - Bacon's Rebellion
1682 - Pennsylvania founded by William Penn
1686 - Dominion of New England created.
1730's - Great Awakening
1732 - Georgia founded by James Oglethorpe
7/3/1754 - The French and Indian War- French forces take Fort Necessity.
9/8/1760 - France surrenders, ending the French and Indian War.
2/10/1763 - Treaty of Paris 1763 ends the French and Indian War.
The Road to Revolution
4/5/1764 - The Sugar Act is passed in Britian.
11/1/1765 - The Stamp Act went into effect.
1766 - Stamp Act Repealed
6/29/1767 - The Townshend Revenue Acts are passed.
3/5/1770 - The Boston Massacre takes place.
4/27/1773 - Britain passes the Tea Act.
12/16/1773 - The Boston Tea Party.
3/25/1774 - Britain passes the 1st of the Intolerable Acts.
The Revolutionary War
4/19/1775 - The Revolutionary War begins with the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
7/4/1776 - The United States declares its Independence from Britain.
9/6/1776 - The first submarine, the Turtle, is used in Battle in New York Harbor.
9/19/1777 - American forces win the 1st Battle of Saratoga.
10/17/1777 - American forces win the 2nd Battle of Saratoga.
5/4/1778 - The Continental Congress ratifies the Treaty of Alliance with France.
3/1/1781 - The Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation.
10/19/1781 - American/French forces win the Battle of Yorktown.
11/5/1781 - John Hanson is elected the 1st President of the United States by the
Continental Congress.
9/3/1783 - The Treaty of Paris 1783 is signed by Britain and the United States,
officially ending the Revolutionary War as the United States is recognized as a sovereign
nation.
The New Nation
5/14/1787 - Delegates begin meeting in Philadelphia to draw up a new
constitution.
9/17/1787 - The Continental Congress approves the Constitution and sends it to
the states to have it ratified.
1792 - The United States Postal Service, The United States Mint are established.
1794 - The United States Navy and The United States Post Office are established.
8/1/1794 - The Whiskey Rebellion begins.
7/11/1798 - The United States Marine Corps is established.
6/10/1801 - Tripoli declares war on the United States.
4/30/1803 - The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory for $15 million,
containing what is now Arkansas, part of Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, part of Minnesota,
Missouri, part of Montana, part of North Dakota, part of Oklahoma, South Dakota, and part
of Wyoming.
5/17/1804 - Louis & Clark begin their expedition of the Louisiana Territory..
6/4/1805 - Tripoli and United States sign a peace treaty.
11/18/1805 - Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean.
10/27/1810 - The United States annexes what is now part of Alabama, part of Louisiana, and part of Mississippi.
6/18/1812 - United States declares war on Britain.
8/24/1814 - The British set fire to Washington, D.C.
12/24/1814 - The United States and Britain sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the
War of 1812.
2/22/1819 - The United States annexes Florida.
6/30/1834 - The Indian Territory is established in what is now Oklahoma.
4/12/1844 - The United States annexes what is now part of Colorado, part of New
Mexico, part of Kansas, part of Kansas, part of Oklahoma, and part of Texas.
5/8/1846 - The Mexican War begins with the Battle of Palo Alto.
5/13/1846 - The United States declares war on Mexico.
8/22/1846 - The United States annexes what is now part of Arizona and part of New
Mexico.
2/2/1848 - Mexico and the United States sign the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
ending the Mexican-American War.
8/14/1814 - The United States annexes the Oregon Territory containing what is now
Idaho, part of Montana, Oregon, Washington, part of Wyoming.
12/30/1853 - The United States purchases what is now part of Arizona and New
Mexico.
Secession
12/20/1860 - South Carolina is the 1st state to secede from the Union. Followed
by Miss. on Jan. 9, 1861, Florida on Jan 10, Alabama on Jan. 11, Georgia on Jan. 19,
Louisiana on Jan. 26, Texas on Feb. 23, these were the first 7 states to secede.
2/4/1861 - The Confederate States of America is formed.
2/18/1861 - Jefferson Davis is sworn in as the 1st President of the Confederate
States of America. Alexander Stevens as the 1st Vice President.
The Civil War
4/12/1861 - Confederate forces begin an assault on Fort Sumter, begining the
Civil War.
4/17/1861 - Virginia is the 8th state to secede from the Union. Followed by
Arkansas on May 6, N. Carolina on May 21, and Tenn. on June 8. This makes an 11 state CSA.
4/27/1861 - 48 counties in western Virginia secede to rejoin the Union (reducing
Virginia's size to 42,326sq. miles).
5/6/1861 - The Confederacy declares war on the Union.
1/1/1863 - The Emancipation Proclomation is issued.
4/9/1865 - The Confederate States of America surrender at Appomattox Courthouse,
ending the Civil War.
Reconstruction
Lincoln shot!!!!
6/24/1866 - Tennessee is the 1st state to be readmitted to the Union.
3/30/1867 - The United States purchases the Alaska Territory from Russia for $7.2
million.
6/22/1868 - Arkansas is the 2nd state to be readmitted to the Union.
6/25/1868 - Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina are
to readmitted into the Union.
6/27/1870 - Virginia is the 8th state readmitted into the Union. It was followed
by Miss. on Feb 23, Texas on Mar. 30, and Georgia on Jul. 15.
The Spanish-American War
4/20/1898 - The United States declares war on Spain.
7/7/1898 - The United States annexes Hawaii.
8/12/1898 - The United States and Spain sign the Treaty of Paris 1898, ending the
Spanish-American War.
2/6/1899 - The United States annexes Guam, the Phillipines, and Puerto Rico.
World War I
7/28/1914 - World War I starts when the Triple Alliance (The Central Powers:
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) declares war on the Triple Entente (The Allied
Powers: France, Great Britain, and Russia).
8/4/1916 - The United States purchases the West Indies and the Virgin Islands for
$25 million.
3/8/1917 - American forces invade Cuba.
4/6/1917 - The United States enters World War I on the side of the Allies.
3/3/1918 - Russia pulls out of World War I.
11/11/1918 - The Allied and Central Powers sign an armistice, ending World War I.
6/28/1919 - The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending World War I.
The Great Depression
10/29/1929 - The New York Stock Market crashes to an all time low (referred to as
"Black Tuesday"), signaling the start of the Great Depression.
World War II
12/7/1941 - Japanese forces attack the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii.
12/8/1941 - The United States declares war on Japan.
12/11/1941 - Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.
6/26/1945 - The United Nations is established.
8/6/1945 - The United States drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima, Japan and then on
Nagaski, Japan, Aug. 9.
7/4/1946 - The Phillipines, a United States protectorate, gains its independence.
4/4/1949 - North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established.
The Cold War
6/25/1950 - The Korean War officially starts as North Korea invades South Korea.
6/27/1950 - The United Nations declares war on North Korea.
1955 - Warsaw Pact
1955 - Rosa Parks Arrested
1957 - Eisenhower sends troops to end segregation
4/17/1961 - An American backed Cuban invasion force landed at Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs).
11/1/1963 - American/Vietnamese forces stage a coup in Vietnam.
1963 - JFK assassinated.
1965 - Voting Rights Act
1968 - Martin Luther King assassinated
1969 - Neil Armstrong 1st man to walk on the Moon.
1973 - Watergate hearings.
1973 - Vietnam War ends
Early 1970's - Nixon resigns.
1976 - U.S. Bicentennial
1976 - James Earl Carter elected President
1980 - Ronald Reagan wins in landslide election
1981 - First Space Shuttle
1989 - Soviet Union collapses
The Modern Era
8/2/1990 - Iraqi forces invade Kuwait.
2/28/1991 - A cease fire is signed between the United Nations and Iraq.
1992 - L.A. Riots
2/1/1992 - The United States and Russia sign a treaty officially ending the Cold War.
1992 - William Jefferson Clinton elected President.
12/19/1998 - Bill Clinton impeached on perjury yet there were not enough votes to remove him from office.
2000 - George W. Bush elected President in most controversial election ever
9/11/2001 - Four airplanes are highjacked and three hit the World Center and the Pentagon.
9/29/2005 - Hurricane Katrina destroys New Orleans.
