Download Timelines Chronology of European Empires and the Americas

Timelines
Chronology of European Empires and the Americas
Portuguese efforts:
1419-1460, Henry the Navigator of Portugal financed several naval explorations
1420s, Portuguese colonized Madeira and Canary Islands
1430s, Portuguese colonized the Azores
1460-1480, Portuguese discovered:
Sierra Leone (1460)
Sao Tome (1472)
Angola (1480)
1488, Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope
1498, Da Gama reached India
1500, Portugal reached and began colonizing Brazil
Spanish efforts:
1492, Reconquista of Iberian Peninsula complete, last of the Muslim rulers kicked out of Iberia
1492, Columbus reached Hispaniola (Caribbean)
1519-22, Magellan’s fleet circumnavigated (sailed around) the world
1522, Cortes conquered the Aztecs
1533, Pizarro conquered the Incas
1545, Potosi silver mines in Peru discovered
French efforts:
1604, Acadia in Northeast America established
1608, Quebec founded
English efforts:
Late 1500s, England undertook several expeditions looking to finding a path to Asia through the
Northwest Passage (going north and around the Americas)
1577-80, Francis Drake led the second circumnavigation of the world
1607, Jamestown founded in Virginia
Chronology of Jamestown and the Chesapeake Colonial Enterprise and Puritanism and the
“Exodus” to New England
Chesapeake Settlements
1584, 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh dispatched two settlement attempts on Roanoke Island; both
attempts ended in failure
1607, Jamestown established by Virginia Company of London
1614, tobacco first exported from Jamestown
1619, African slaves first arrived in Jamestown
1622-32, after close to a decade of uneasy peace between the English settlers and the
natives, Opechancanough, the indigenous leader of the Powhatan Confederacy, directed a
surprise attack on Virginia, which led to war with the English colonists
1634, Maryland colonization began
1660 - The English Crown approved a Navigation Act requiring the exclusive use of English
ships for trade in the English colonies and limited exports of tobacco and sugar and other
commodities to England or its colonies. The act was not vigorously enforced
1660s, Overproduction of tobacco led to drastic reduction in tobacco price
1670, start of colonization of Carolina (both north and south)
1676, Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion (Bacon’s Rebellion), supported by frontier blacks and
whites alike, against colonial authority of Jamestown, Virginia, after the latter’s refusal to attack
Native Americans. The rebellion was crushed by colonial authority shortly after Bacon’s death
New England Settlements
1620-40, Puritan migration to New England
1620, Pilgrims (Puritans who left England for the Netherlands) arrived in Massachusetts
1630, Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony
1634-8, Pequot War between Pequot tribe and the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies
1636, Rhode Island founded by Roger Williams after he was banished from Massachusetts
1637, Anne Hutchinson banished from Massachusetts
1692, Salem witch trials led to the prosecution of over one hundred people and the death of
nineteen
Chronology of Colonial American Society and Contact and Conflict with Native Americans
Colonial American Society
1676, Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion (Bacon’s Rebellion), supported by frontier blacks and
whites alike, against colonial authority of Jamestown, Virginia, after the latter’s refusal to attack
Native Americans. The rebellion was crushed by colonial authority shortly after Bacon’s death
1681, William Penn, a Quaker, founded Pennsylvania
1733, Georgia founded by James Oglethrope, a social reformer
1700-1750, Early slave revolts:
1712, New York slave revolt was suppressed
1739, Stono Rebellion occurred where 80 armed African slaves led an armed campaign
against slave owners in South Carolina. It was later suppressed
Wars of Colonial America
1640s-1701, the Beaver Wars were fought between the Iroquois Confederacy, backed by English
and Dutch, and several native tribes, including the Huron, who were supported by the French
1664, English took over New Netherlands, which was renamed New York, from the Dutch
1675-6, King Philip’s War/Metacom’s War broke out between New Englanders and surrounding
natives over land disputes and continual expansion of English settlements, leading to heavy
losses on both sides but eventual New England victory
1715, Yamasee and Creek uprising in South Carolina ended with the tribes’ defeat
1754-63, the French and Indian War, fought as part of the conflict between France and Great
Britain (called the Seven Years’ War), led to France’s loss of Canada and the Mississippi area to
Britain
1763-6, Pontiac, a Native American leader, with support from numerous other local tribes, led a
war against Great Britain in the historic Northwest Territory. While the war (Pontia’s War)
ended with the natives’ defeat, Britain later recognized land rights held by certain tribes
Chronology of The Road to American Independence (1763-73), Proclaiming Independence
(1773-6), and The American War of Independence (1775-1783)
Prelude to war (1760-1775)
1754, Benjamin Franklin drafted the Albany Plan of Union
1754-63, the French and Indian War, fought as part of the conflict between France and Great
Britain that originated in Europe, led to France’s loss of Canada and the Mississippi area to
Britain and high debt on both sides
1763, Britain’s king issued the Proclamation of 1763
1764 and 1765, Sugar Act and Stamp Act, both tax measures targeting the American colonies,
were passed, leading to protests from colonists
1767, the Townshend Acts were passed to help raise revenue for colonial administration. This
was done by imposing new taxes on products imported into the colonies
1770, British soldiers in Boston fired upon hostile civilians demonstrating against British
military presence
1773, Britain passed the Tea Act to raise revenue for colonial administration, after the
Townshend Acts were repealed (except taxation on tea). The Sons of Liberty responded by
dumping tea from ships that arrived in Boston (known as the Boston Tea Party)
1774, Britain responded to the Boston Tea Party by passing the Intolerable Acts, which
punished the Massachusetts colonists with the closure of the Boston port, limitations of colonial
charters, and forced housing of British soldiers in unoccupied buildings. These acts led the
colonists’ convening of the Continental Congress
American War of Independence (1775-83)
1775, Virginia governor Dunmore issued a proclamation declaring martial law and promising to
free slaves and indentured servants willing to fight for Great Britain
1775, Battles at Lexington and Concord, the first battles in the war, was fought
1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress, formally
announcing the independence of the colonies from Great Britain
1777, the colonists defeated the British at the Battle of Saratoga, helping secure future French aid
1778, France signed alliance treaty with American representatives
1781, Battle of Yorktown led to the British general Cornwallis’s surrender
1783, Treaty of Paris ended the war with American independence
Chronology of Creating a Constitution and Duals of the First Party System
Creating a Constitution
1781, Articles of Confederation ratified
1786-7, Shay’s Rebellion in Massachusetts highlighted many of the problems that can develop
from a decentralized government system
1787, Constitutional Convention convened to rewrite a new constitution
1787-9, US Constitution was ratified and the Articles of Confederation dissolved
1789-9, Bill of Rights was introduced and ratified
Duals of the First Party System
1789-97, Presidency of George Washington (no affiliation but Federalist leaning)
1789, Washington signed Northwest Ordinance of 1787 into law, thereby setting the
precedent for establishing new states
1791, First Bank of the United States established
1794, Jay’s Treaty was signed, which led to British withdrawal from forts in the historic
Northwest and brought US closer economic ties to Britain.
1794, Whiskey Rebellion occurred when Pennsylvanian distillers refused to pay a tax
meant to pay off the national debt.
1797-1801, Presidency of John Adams (Federalist)
1798-1800, Quasi War between US and France
1798, Alien and Sedition Acts passed
1801-1809, Presidency of Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republicans)
1803, the Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of US
1808, Congress prohibited importation of slaves to the US
1809-1817, Presidency of James Madison (Democratic-Republicans)
1812-4, US and Britain fought the War of 1812
1829-1837, Presidency of Andrew Jackson (Democratic-Republicans)
Chronology of The American Republic and Native American Experience and The West in the
American Imagination
The Republic and Native Americans
1785-95, Northwest Indian War was fought over the historic Northwest, with US gaining a large
territorial concession
1787, Northwest Ordinance established a formal procedure for territories to become states, which
became the model for US expansion into the West
1803, Thomas Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of US territory
1811-3, Tecumseh's War, fought in part as part of the War of 1812, was an attempt by Tecumseh,
a Native American leader, to prevent further US expansion in the historic Northwest
1813-4, US intervened in the Creek War, a civil war within the Creek nation, leading to US
territorial gain and fame for Andrew Jackson, later to become the seventh President of the US
1830, Indian Removal Act passed
1831-9, US removal of Native American tribes (Choctaw, Seminole, Cherokee, Chickasaw,
Creek) from the South to present day Oklahoma
The West
1835-6, Texas War of Independence (Texan Revolt) ended with Texan victory
1843, over a thousand people migrated to Oregon in the Great Migration
1845, Andrew O’Sullivan coined the term “manifest destiny”
1845, US annexed Texas
1846, Oregon became part of US territory
1846-8, US-Mexican War; ended with US obtaining huge land gains
1848, gold discovered in California
1862, Homestead Act of 1862 passed, spurring further settlement of the West by providing a
procedure for settlers to apply for ownership of federal land
Chronology of Early Industrialization, Immigration and Nativism and Slavery and the Political
Economy of the South
Industrialization
1790, first factory established in US
1807, 1st successful commercial steamship produced
1813, Boston Manufacturing Co. opened the first full cotton textile factory at Waltham, MA
1817, Erie Canal construction began
1825, New Harmony established as a utopian community to
1828, Delaware & Hudson Canal and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad construction began
1837, The Panic of 1837 led to a 5-year recession of the American economy
1840, 10-hour work day for federal employees signed by executive order
1859, value of industrial products exceeded value of agricultural products
1869, the First Transcontinental Railroad that connected eastern US with the west was completed
Immigration
1790, The Naturalization Act of 1790 limited naturalized citizenship to “free white persons”
1840s, Crop failures in Germany and the Irish Potato Famine led to spike in emigration to the US
1845, The Know-Nothing Party, a primarily anti-Catholic political organization, was founded
1850s, German and Irish immigration peaked
Slavery and the Political Economy of the South
1794, Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin, which pulls seeds from cotton. The invention turned
cotton into the cash crop of the American South—and created a huge demand for slave labor
1800, cotton production began to expand throughout the South
1808, Congress prohibited importation of slaves to the US
1800-1860 Slave revolts
1800, Gabriel Prosser’s Conspiracy
1811, Louisiana Revolt
1822, Denmark Vesey’s Conspiracy
1831, Nat Turner’s rebellion
1859, John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry
1850, Fugitive Slave Law passed, dictating punishment for those who helped slaves escape
Chronology to Antebellum Reform Movements and The Road to the Civil War
Antebellum Reform Movements
1790s-1840s, the Second Great Awakening led to a wave of religious revivals
1816, American Bible Society established to promote reading of the Bible, especially through
Sunday school
1816, American Colonization Society established with the intended goal of emancipating blacks
and settling them in Africa or elsewhere
1825, New Harmony, a utopian settlement, was established
1826, American Temperance Society founded
1831, The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper was founded
1833, American Anti-Slavery Society founded
1834, Female Moral Reform Society organized
1839, First Married Women’s Property Act passed
1848, Seneca Falls Convention
1860, public school system established with compulsory education in every state
The Road to the Civil War
1820, In the Missouri Compromise, Missouri is admitted to the Union as a slave state and Maine
as a free state. Slavery is forbidden in any subsequent territories north of latitude 36
1846-8, US victory in the US-Mexican War led to a large territorial increase that also
exacerbated the slaver state-free state question
1850 (Sept.), Compromise of 1850 was settled. In exchange for California’s entering the Union
as a free state, a harsher Fugitive Slave Act was passed
1852, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel that depicts the horrors of slavery, was published
1854, Kansas-Nebraska Act Setting aside the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Congress allows
these two new territories to choose whether to allow slavery
1854, Republican Party established, with a anti-slavery platform
1856, Bleeding Kansas
1857, Dred Scott Decision The United States Supreme Court decides, seven to two, that blacks
can never be citizens and that Congress has no authority to outlaw slavery in any territory
1859, John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry
1860 (Nov.), Abraham Lincoln, a Republican of Illinois, was elected president
1860 (Dec.), South Carolina seceded from the Union, with much of the South doing the same in
the following months
Chronology of The American Civil War and Reconstruction
The American Civil War
1860 (Nov.), Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election of 1860
1860 (Dec.), secession of Southern states began with South Carolina
1861 (Apr.), Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter, a federal military installation
1862 (Sept.), Battle of Antietam ended in Union victory
1863 (Jan.), Lincoln proclaimed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves from rebel
territory
1863 (July), Battle of Gettysburg ended in decisive Union victory
1863 (July), New York City draft riots occurred in response to North’s institution of a national
draft
1865 (Mar.), Union forces captured Richmond, Virginia
1865 (Apr.), General E. Lee of the South surrendered his army at Appomattox Court House
Reconstruction
1863 (Jan.), Lincoln proclaimed Emancipation Proclamation
1864 (Nov.), Lincoln reelected
1865 (Jan.), Sherman ordered Field Order 15
1865 (Mar.), Freedmen’s Bureau was established to help former slaves
1865 (Apr.), Lincoln assassinated, leading to Andrew Johnson to succeed the presidency
1865 (Dec.), 13th Amendment (abolished slavery) passed
1865-67, Presidential Reconstruction, a period in which Johnson headed a conciliatory approach
to dealing with the Southern states, seeking to restore them to statehood as soon as possible
1867-1877, Radical Reconstruction, a period in which Radical Republicans created five military
districts in the South with each directed by a military general and supported by the military
1868 (July), 14th Amendment (citizenship and due process) passed
1870 (Feb.), 15th Amendment (right to vote) ratified
1875, Civil Rights Act of 1875 passed, prohibiting discrimination of anyone from equal
treatment in public accommodations
1877, Rutherford B. Hayes assumed the presidency, leading to the withdrawal of troops from the
South and the end of Reconstruction