American History Timeline 1500-1900 Flashcards
1513
Juan Ponce de Leon
Spanish Explorer
Lands on coast of Florida
1565
Saint Augustine, Florida
First permanent European colony in North America
Settled by the Spanish
1607
Jamestown, southeast Virginia
First permanent English settlement
1619
House of Burgesses
First representative assembly in America
Meets in Virginia (July)
1620
Mayflower Compact
Plymouth Colony, established in Massachusetts
41 men disembarking the Mayflower, sign the Compact
Forms basis of colony’s gov
1664
English seize New Amsterdam from Dutch
Rename it New York (Sept)
1770
Boston Massacre
British troops open fire into mob
5 killed, sparked intense public protests
1773
Boston Tea Party
Colonial patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians board 3 ships in Boston harbor
Dumped more than 300 crates of tea
Protest against British tea tax
1774
First Continental Congress
56 delegates met in Philadelphia
Only Georgia wasn’t represented
1775-1783
American Revolution
War of Independence between Great Britain and 13 British colonies
Apr 75 - Lexington/Conord battles start war
Oct 81 - British gen surrender at York Town
Sept 83 - GB formally acknowledges American independence (Treaty of Paris)
July 4th 1776
Declaration of Independence
Signed in Philidelphia
1777
First official flag of United States approved (June)
Continental Congress adopts Articles of Confederation (1st U.S. Constitution)
1787
Constitutional Convention
Made up of delegates from 12 of the 13 original colonies
Draft U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia
1789
George Washington
Unanimously elected president (Feb)
U.S. Constitution goes into effect, ratified by nine states (Mar)
Washington inaugurated in NYC (Apr)
1790
U.S. Supreme Court
Meets for first time, NYC (Feb)
Made up of a Chief Justice and five associate justices
Hears first case 1792
1791
Bill of Rights
First 10 amendments to Constitution ratified
1793
Eli Whitney
Invented the cotton gin
Greatly increased demand for slave labour
1800
U.S. Capital
Moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC (June)
Congress first meets in new capital (Nov)
1803
Marbury v. Madison (Feb) Supreme Court decision expands its power - Right to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional Louisiana Purchase (May) US pays France $15 mil which nearly doubles the country in size
1812-14
U.S. War with Britain
Declares war over shipping/expansion interference from GB (June)
British take Washington DC and set fire to the White House and Capitol (Aug)
Treaty of Ghent ends war (Dec)
1819
Spain cedes Florida to the U.S. (Feb)
1820
Missouri Compromise
Missouri admitted as free state, Maine as a slave state
Slavery is prohibited in the Louisiana purchase lands north of 36*30’ line