Major Themes
This hand-out gives an overview of “continuity” or “change over time” of specific
topics in history. Review these events. You may not know them all in detail but you
should be familiar with them all. Review the ones you do not know.
Colonial History
1607: Jamestown Colony Founded
1619: First VA House Burgesses
1620: Plymouth Colony Founded
1636: Harvard
1639: Connecticut’s Fundamental orders drafted
1647: Mass Ed. Law
1649: MD Act Toleration
1676: Bacon’s Rebellion in VA
1735: Zanger Trial
1754: French and Indian War
1763: Treaty of Paris
American Revolution
1763: Proclamation of 1763, Treaty of Paris
1765: Stamp Act
1767: Townshend Duties
1770: Boston Massacre
1773: Tea Party
1775: Lexington & Concord
1776: Declaration of Independence
1777: Battle of Saratoga
1778: Alliance with France
1781: Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown
1783: Treaty of Paris
Confederation to Constitution
1781: Articles of Confederation
1783: Treaty of Paris
1786: Shay’s Rebellion
1787: Const. Convention, Northwest Ordinance
1789: Constitution
1790: RI Ratifies
1791: Bill of Rights approved
National Period
1789: Constitution
1793: Washington Proclamation of Neutrality
1797: VA & KY resolutions
1803: LA Purchase, Marbury vs. Madison
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1807:
1812:
1814:
1820:
1823:
1828:
1832:
Embargo Act
Congress declares war on Britain
Treaty of Ghent
Missouri Compromise
Monroe Doctrine
Tariff of Abominations, Jackson elected
Bank War / Jackson elected
Sectionalism, Civil War, and Reconstruction
1820: Missouri Compromise
1832: Tariff & Controversy Nullification
1833: Tariff Compromise
1846: Wilmot Proviso
1849: CA applies for statehood
1850: Compromise of 1850 POPFACT
1852: Uncle Tom’s Cabin published
1854: Kansas-Nebraska Act, Ostend manifesto
1857: Dred Scott decision
1858: Lincoln-Douglas debates
1859: John Brown’s raid
1860: Lincoln elected
1861: Ft. Sumter firing, Secession
1863: Emancipation Proclamation
1865: Appomattox, Lincoln assassinated
1867: Johnson impeached
1877: Compromise election of 1876
Intolerance and Threats to Civil Liberties
1798: Alien & Sedition Acts
1853: Know-Nothing Party
Civil War: Suspension Habeus Corpus, Reconstruction: Black Codes, KKK
End of 19th Century: Literacy tests, poll taxes, Jim Crow
1919: Red Scare
1920s: KKK, Sacco & Vanzetti, Immigration Act of 1924
WWII: Executive Order 9066
1950s: McCarthyism
Wars in American History
1754: French and Indian War
1763: Treaty of Paris
1775: Lexington & Concord
1783: Treaty of Paris
1812: Congress declares war with Britain
1814: Treaty of Ghent
1846: War on Mexico Declared
1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
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1861:
1865:
1898:
1917:
1918:
1941:
1945:
1950:
1953:
1954:
Firing on Ft. Sumter
Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, VA
Spanish-American War
US declares war on Germany and Austria-Hungary
Armistice ends Great War
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor Dec 7
V-E Day, V-J Day –days
Korean War Begins
Korean War ends with truce and demilitarized zone
French surrender at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam; begin of longest US was
Development of Political Parties
1792: Democratic – Republican Party, Federalist Party
1816: Era of Good Feelings
1824: Controversial election led split into Whig & Democratic
1860: 1st victory GOP
1936: Demos became a majority as result new coalition forged by FDR after long GOP
Immigration
1882: Chinese Exclusion Act
1907: Gentleman’s Agreement
1917: Literacy Tests
1924: Immigration Act of 1924
1929: Immigration Act of 1929
1952: McCarran-Walter Act
1965: Immigration Acts – substituted national need & family hardships for more
discriminatory quota based on national origins policy of 1920’s
Business Enterprise in America
1791: First Bank of United States chartered
1816: Clay’s American System
1828: Tariff of Abominations
1832: BUS re-charter controversy / veto
Civil War: Lincoln pro-business policies
1877: Munn vs. Illinois
1886: Wabash vs. Illinois
1887: Interstate Commerce Act
1890: Sherman Anti-Trust Act
1902: TR intervention coal strike
1903: Elkins Act
1906: Pure Food & Drug Act, Hepburn Act
1913: Underwood Tariff, Federal Reserve Act
1914: Clayton Anti-Trust Act
1930: Hawley-Smoot Tariff
1939: Fair Labor Standards Act
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Agriculture in American History
1619: First Africans arrive in VA
1793: Cotton Gin patented by Eli Whitney
1834: McCormick Reaper
1862: Homestead Act, Morrill Land Grant
1867: Grange founded
1877: Munn vs. Illinois
1878: Bland-Allison Act – limited coinage of silver dollars
1886: Wabash vs. Illinois
1887: Interstate Commerce Act
1890: Sherman Silver P. Act
1892: Populists organize
WWI: High-point farmers
1920s: Falling prices / early depression for farmers
1933: AAA
1961: Omnibus Farm Bill
Labor in American History
1869: Knights of Labor formed
1886: Haymarket Riot
1892: Homestead Strike
1894: Pullman Strike
1902: Anthracite Coal Strike
1914: Clayton Anti-Trust Act
1935: Wagner Act / Social Security
1938: Fair Labor Standards Act
1947: Taft-Hartley Act
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