U.S. MAJOR EVENTS TIME LINE by YEAR #1~ School of Dad IVA

1836

"The Battle of the Alamo" A fort, once a chapel, in San Antonio, Texas, where a group of Americans made a heroic stand against a much larger Mexican force,led by Santa Anna, during the war for Texan independence from Mexico.

19 April 1775

"The Shot Heard Round The World: Battle Breaks Out At Lexington and Concord.

7:22 am 15 April 1865

Abraham Lincoln died at the Petersen House, the home of William and Anna Petersen. Doctors present decided the mortally wounded President Lincoln could not die in a theater and knowing he could not survive the journey back to the White House, asked audience members to carry him outside, ultimately bringing him into the Petersen House.

6 November 1860 16th President of the United States

Abraham Lincoln is elected

1928

Amelia Earhart is th first woman to fly solo over the Atlantic

5 May 1961

American astronaut Alan Shepard was successfully launched into space on a suborbital flight.

1498

Amerigo Vespucci explores South America and finds it to be a new land mass, not part of India as Columbus believed.

1829-1837 7th President

Andrew Jackson Democratic Party

1865 to 1869 17th President of the United States

Andrew Johnson succeeded Abraham Lincoln as president, and was the first president of the United States to be impeached. Andrew Johnson became president as he was vice president at the time of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination. A Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, Johnson came to office as the Civil War concluded. His lenient Reconstruction policies toward the South, and his vetoing of Reconstruction acts, embittered the Radical Republicans in Congress and led to his political downfall and impeachment, though he was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.

21 July 1861

Battle of Bull Run A battle of the American Civil War, fought in Virginia near Washington, D.C. The surprising victory of the Confederate army humiliated the North and forced it to prepare for a long war. A year later the Confederacy won another victory near the same place.

1728

Ben Franklin begins The Pennsylvania Gazette , one of America's first Newspaper

1732

Benjamin Franklin publishes "Poor Richard's Almanac".

1768

British Captain James Cook sails around the world for the first time.

1927

Charles Lindberg is the first person to fly solo over the Atlantic ocean

1492

Columbus first came to America in ____.

12 April 1861

Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina where the first battle of the Civil War began. Lincoln sent a supply ship to resupply the Fort and the supply ship was fired upon.

1789-1797 1st President,

George Washington becomes first U.S. President Took office from 1789-1797 No Party

1910

Harriett Quimby, a newspaper reporter, is the first woman to get a pilot's license.

1539

Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States (Florida, Georgia, Alabama and most likely Arkansas), and the first documented European to have crossed the Mississippi River. A vast undertaking, North American expedition ranged throughout the southeastern United States searching for gold, and a passage to China. De Soto died in 1542 on the banks of the Mississippi River and was buried there.

December, 1860

In response to Abraham Lincoln being elected as President, South Carolina is the first state to seceded from the Union.

1850

In response to the discovery of gold, California becomes the 31st state.

1609

In search of a northwest Passage, Englishman Henry Hudson, sailing for the Dutch, West India Company discovers the river and bay named for him.

1857- 4 March 1861 15th President of the United States

James Buchanan, Jr. His inability to identify a ground for peace or address the sharply divided pro-slavery and antislavery partisans with a unifying principle on the brink of the Civil War has led to his consistent ranking by historians as one of the worst presidents in American history.

1809-1817 4th President

James Madison Democratic-Republican Party

1817-1825 5th President

James Monroe Democratic-Republican Party

1797-1801 2nd President

John Adams, Father of the Constitution Federalist Party

1497

John Cabot, born in Italy, sailing for England, on the ship Matthew and claimed land in Canada (New Foundland, now New Newfoundland) for King Henry VII of England.

1825-1829 6th President

John Quincy Adams Democratic-Republican Party

1841-1845 10th President

John Tyler Whig Party

1804

Lewis and Clark begin their expedition to the Pacific Northwest with Sacagewra from St/ Louis on the Missouri River.

1215

Magna Carta is signed by King John.

1885

Mark Twain wrote "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". often called "The Great American Novel".

1876

Mark Twain wrote "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer".

1837-1841 8th President

Martin Van Buren Democratic Party

22 September 1776

Nathan Hale is hanged for being an American spy. "I have but one regret, that I only have one life to give to my country."

21 June 1788

New Hampshire becomes the 9th state, by ratifying the Constitution, thereby making it binding to all states/colonies..

17 December 1903

Orville and Wilbur Wright are credited with the first flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

March, 1775

Patrick Henry exclaims "Give me liberty, or give me death!" in a speech he made to the Virginia Convention.

18 April 1775

Paul Revere was instructed by Dr. Joseph Warren to ride to Lexington, Massachusetts, to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching to arrest them.

1626

Peter Minuit founded the Dutch colony of New Netherland. He purchased Manhattan Island from the Lenape, (Native Americans), which later became the city of New Amsterdam, now modern-day New York City, which was the core of the Dutch colony of New Netherland and the later the British colony of New York.

1638

Peter Minuit founded the Swedish colony of New Sweden.

12 April 1961

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth in the world's first manned space flight.

1819

The Adams-Onís Treaty, between the United States and Spain that ceded Florida to the U.S. and defined the boundary between the U.S. and New Spain.

1 March 1781

The Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, are ratified by all 13 colonies.

17 October 1777

The BATTLE OF SARATOGA: the turning point of the Revolutionary War. General John Burgoyne and 5,895 British and Hessian troops surrendered to General Horatio Gates. The victory gave France the confidence in the American cause to enter the war as an American ALLY. Later American successes owed a great deal to French aid in the form of financial and military assistance.

27 August 1776

The Battle of Long Island., also known as the Battle of Brooklyn, was a defeat for the Continental Army under General George Washington and the beginning of a successful campaign that gave the British control of the strategically important city of New York.

25 December 1776

The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal battle during the American Revolutionary War in Trenton, New Jersey. General George Washington and his troops surprised Hessian troops in a sneak attack, which is often depicted with a picture of "Washington Crossing the Delaware".

1791

The Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, is ratified. George Mason is considered to be the "Father of the Bill of Rights".

1770

The Boston Massacre, also known as the "Incident on King Street" by the British, that happened in ____ in which British Army soldiers killed five male civilians of the Massachusetts Colony and injured six others.

1849

The California Gold Rush. Gold is discover in California, causing large numbers of people to move there in hopes of striking it rich.

17 September 1787

The Constitution, which is the four-page document, that FORMED the United States of America, is signed by members of the Constitutional Convention. James Madison, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, are among the author's.

May 25 to 17 September 1787

The Constitutional Convention, in Carpenters Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although the Convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention from the outset of many of its proponents, chief among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was to create a new government rather than fix the existing one. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the Convention. The result of the Convention was the creation of the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States.

14 June 1777

The Continental Congress "the stars and stripes". Betsey Ross credited with making the first American flag purportedly, according to family tradition, upon a visit from General George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and changing the shape of the stars he had sketched for the flag from six-pointed to five-pointed.

15 November 1777

The Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States. However, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781.

8 September 1760

The French Surrender Montreal, ending the French and Indian War Governor-General Vaudreuil of New France surrenders the last French stronghold in North America, without firing a shot when a British army of 17,500 British regulars, American provincial troops, and Indians converge on the city from three directions.

28 May 1754

The French and Indian War begins when Washington Defeats French Lt. Colonel George Washington, having returned to the Ohio Valley with a regiment of Virginia provincial troops, defeats a French force near the Great Meadows. Also known as the Seven Years' War, the New World conflict marked another chapter in the long imperial struggle between Britain and France. When France's expansion into the Ohio River valley brought repeated conflict with the claims of the British colonies, a series of battles led to the official British declaration of war in 1756.

1906

The Great San Francisco Earthquake

1607

The London Company of Virginia establishes Jamestown, the first successful permanent English colony with John Smith leading it: "Those who don't work, don't eat." Popham Colony (AKA Sagadahoc Colony) also established by The London Company of Plymouth, in present-day Maine. by Raleigh Gilbert, nephew of Sir Walter Raleigh, after Gilbert's father passes in 1610, the colony is abandoned.

1768

The Massachusetts Circular Letter, a statement written by Samuel Adams and James Otis Jr., and passed by the Massachusetts House of Representatives in response to the Townshend Acts. Reactions to the letter brought heightened tensions between the British Parliament and Massachusetts, and resulted in the military occupation of Boston by the British Army, which contributed to the coming of the American Revolution.

1846-1847

The Mexican-American War. When Mexico got independence from Spain in 1821, Texas was part of Mexico. Americans and other settlers came into Texas when Mexico allowed non-Spanish settlers to settle there. After many settlers came to Texas, disputes led to the Texas Revolution in which Texas became independent. Mexico refused to recognize the Republic of Texas as an independent country. Texas soon asked to become a state of the United States. Years later, in 1845, the US annexed Texas, and Mexico broke off diplomatic relations. The United States offered to buy from Mexico the land extending from Texas to the Pacific Ocean, but Mexico wanted to keep that vast area. In 1846, a dispute over the border between Texas and Mexico resulted in armed conflict, and the Mexican-American War began.

Summer of 1775

The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. A Continental army was CREATED to oppose the British and, through John Adams, George Washington was appointed commander in chief. The reconciliation plan offered by Lord North's government was tabled. A diplomatic representative, Silas Deane, was sent to France. American ports were opened in defiance of the Navigation Acts imposed by the British. Finally, the momentous step was taken: Congress on July 4, 1776, adopted the Declaration of Independence. The Congress, a young and unsteady organization, had little money and limited means for obtaining more. Nevertheless, it struggled to press the conduct of the war while moving, under force of military circumstances, from place to place; it met at Philadelphia (1775-76), Baltimore (1776-77), Philadelphia again (1777), Lancaster, Pa. (1777), York, Pa. (1777-78), and Philadelphia once more (after 1778). There was friction between Congress and the military leaders, and the soldiers, contemptuous (sometimes justly) of the politicians, constantly agitated for their pay and their rights. The Congress, jealous of its powers, frequently hindered Washington in his strategy.

4 July 1776

The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the original 13 colonies that met in Philadelphia, PA, and approved the "Declaration of Independence" on ____ _, ____. This is also known as "America's Birthday".

19 October 1781

The Siege of Yorktown, VA The last battle of the Revolutionary War, fought near the seacoast of Virginia. There the British general Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army to General George Washington. and Marques de Lafayette.

1765

The Stamp Act An act of the British Parliament that taxed the American colonies by imposing a stamp duty on newspapers, legal and commercial documents. Colonial opposition led to the act's repeal and helped encourage the revolutionary movement against the British Crown.

24 December 1814

The Treaty of Ghent, was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between The United States Of America and the United Kingdom.

1848

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American War Mexico recognized the loss of Texas and thereafter cited the Rio Grande as its national border with the United States.

10 February 1763

The Treaty of Paris is ratified, ending the French and Indian War. In the treaty, France surrenders all of its former North American territories east of the Mississippi River to Britain, except New Orleans. Canada is also ceded to Great Britain. Spain, a late entrant into the war as an ally of France, surrenders Florida to Britain. As compensation, Britain returns Cuba, which it captured during the war, to Spain. Britain also returns to France most of the sugar islands in the Caribbean that it seized during the war. In a separate treaty, France cedes its territory west of the Mississippi River to Spain.

1812

The War of 1812, (AKA The Second Revolutionary War) between The United States Of America and the United Kingdom.

1585

The first (original) English settlement, established by Sir Walter Raleigh was called Roanoke Colony, was formed in ____.

1565

The first European "settlement" in America, St. Augustine, Florida, was founded in ____ .

1766

The repeal of the Stamp Act, an act of the British Parliament that exacted revenue from the American colonies by imposing a stamp duty on newspapers and legal and commercial documents. Colonial opposition led to the act's repeal and helped encourage the revolutionary movement against the British Crown.

1879

Thomas Edison patented and began commercializing his incandescent light bulb.

1801-1809 3rd President

Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, Democratic-Republican Party

1803

Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, agrees to the Louisiana Purchase with Napoleon, the ruler of France.

January, 1776

Thomas Payne writes "Common Sense", a pamphlet that inspired people in the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain. The pamphlet explained the advantages of and the need for immediate independence in clear, simple language. It was published anonymously at the beginning of the American Revolution, and became an immediate sensation.

1820s, 1830s and 1840s

Trail of Tears, the route along which the United States government forced several tribes of Native Americans, including the Cherokees, Seminoles, Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Creeks, to migrate to reservations west of the Mississippi River.

4 July 1881

Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama, is established by Booker T. Washington.

Winter of 1777-1778

Valley Forge, which was the low point in the Revolutionary War for the American Continental Army, was the military camp in southeastern Pennsylvania, approximately 20 miles (30 km) northwest of Philadelphia. Baron von Steuben used the time to bring discipline into the troops and is credited in history for his efforts.

1 Nov 1753

Washington is sent to the Ohio Valley Twenty-one year old Major George Washington departs Williamsburg, Virginia for the Ohio Valley. Virginia's governor Robert Dinwiddie has sent Washington to order the French to abandon the string of forts they are building between Lake Erie and the Forks of the Ohio River (the confluence of the Ohio, Monongahela, and Allegheny Rivers).

1620

William Bradford and his separatist Pilgrims first came to America, and land at what is NOW known as Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, in ____.

1841-1841 9th President

William Henry Harrison Whig Party

March 1849 until his death in July, 1850 12th President of the United States

Zachary Taylor Was a national hero as a result of his victories in the Mexican-American War. His top priority as president was preserving the Union

The Mayflower Compact is important because... a. it established the first democratic government to be established in the colonies. b. The colonists agreed to choose their leaders and make their own laws which they agreed to follow. c. Both a and b d. Neither a or b

c