AMERICAN HISTORY 100 FACTS
Mr. Tracy Cleland
Northwestern Middle School
Springfield, Ohio
Important Dates
1. 1607 – Jamestown, Virginia became the first permanent English settlement in the New
World.
2. July 4, 1776 – The Declaration of Independence was agreed upon (adopted) by
Congress.
3. 1787 – The U.S. Constitution was written and accepted.
4. 1861-1865 – The Civil War was fought in the United States.
Important Places and Events
5. The first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts in
April, 1775.
6. The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the American Revolution.
7. The British defeat at Yorktown, Virginia by George Washington’s Continental Army
marked the end of the American Revolution.
8. The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina.
9. The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the Civil War for the North.
Confederate troops were forced to retreat and never invaded the north again.
10. The Fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1863, gave Union troops control of the Mississippi
River and divided the Confederacy into two major parts.
11. General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate troops to Ulysses S. Grant at
Appomattox Court House to end the Civil War.
12. Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the site of where the Declaration
of Independence, Articles of Confederation, U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights were
created.
13. Washington, D.C. became the third and final location for the capitol of the United
States. New York and Philadelphia were the first two.
Important Vocabulary
14. Mercantilism – a financial theory that colonies exist for the sole purpose of raising
wealth for the mother country.
15. Abolitionist – a person who wanted to end slavery in the U.S.
16. Tariff – a tax on foreign goods brought into the U.S. in order to protect American
manufacturing.
17. Sectionalism – a strong sense of loyalty to a state or section of the country.
18. Manifest Destiny – is the belief that the U.S. should naturally own all of the land
between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
19. Temperance Movement – was a campaign against the sale or drinking of alcoholic
beverages.
20. Republic – is a nation in which voters choose representatives to govern its citizens.
21. House of Burgesses – was the first representative assembly in the World.
22. Three Branches of Government – The U.S. Constitution created a 3 branch government
including: Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches.
23. Checks and Balances – is a system set up by the U.S. Constitution in which each branch
of the federal government has the power to keep the other branches from gaining too
much power.
24. Separation of Powers – is the delegating of powers to the 3 branches of government.
25. Federalism – is the sharing of power between the federal and state governments.
26. Popular Sovereignty – allows each territory to vote to decide for itself to allow slavery
or not.
27. Amend – means to change. Amendments are changes to the U.S. Constitution.
28. Tyranny – a cruel and unjust government. Great Britain was accused of this by the
colonies.
29. Immigration – when people move from another country into the U.S.
30. Direct Democracy – the citizens vote directly on ALL issues.
31. Representative Democracy – the citizens elect representatives to make decisions for
them.
32. Ratify – means to approve by voting.
33. Judicial Review – the right of the Supreme Court to rule that a law is unconstitutional
and therefore not a valid law.
34. Federalists – were supporters of the U.S. Constitution and believed that the federal
government should be stronger than the state governments.
35. Anti-Federalists – were opposed to the U.S. Constitution and believed that the state
government should have more power than the federal government.
36. Nullification – is the idea that a state could determine for itself if a federal law was legal
or not and the state should have the power to nullify (cancel) the law if the state chose.
37. Primary Source – are original records of an event. They include eyewitness reports,
records created at the time of the event, speeches and letters by people involved in the
event, photographs, and artifacts.
38. Secondary Source – are later writings and interpretations of historians and writers.
Often secondary sources, like textbooks and articles, provide summaries of information
found in primary sources. However, secondary sources are not as reliable as primary
sources.
39. Republicanism – was an attitude toward society in the late 1700’s based on the belief
that good virtue and morality of the people was essential to sustain the republican form
of government.
40. Industrial Revolution – a time period during the 1800’s in which a change from working
on the family farm with your hands to the mass production in factories by machinery
powered by water and later steam.
41. Representative Government – a political system in which voters elect others to make
laws for its citizens.
42. Legislature – a part of the government that makes the laws. (ie. Congress)
43. Bill – a proposal for a law.
44. Law – a bill that is approved by the congress and signed by the President. This becomes
legally binding.
45. Secede – to break away from; to leave (ie. South Carolina left the Union and join the
Confederacy)
46. Precedent – establishes an example to be followed.
47. Discrimination – denial of equal rights or equal treatment to certain groups of people.
48. Mason-Dixon Line – This was a survey line drawn by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon
to settle a boundary dispute between Maryland and Pennsylvania. It later became the
line that separated the north (free states) and the south (slave states) in the 1800’s.
49. Reconstruction – is the term given to describe the time immediately after the Civil War
in which America attempted to fix all that was destroyed during the war. This included
the physical, emotional, and financial aspects of the country.
Important Documents and Policies
50. Magna Carta – Signed in 1215 A.D., King John of England agreed to limit the power of
the king (Monarch) and have a shared power with the Parliament of England.
51. English Bill of Rights – Protected the rights of English citizens and became the example
for the American Bill of Rights.
52. Declaration of Independence – Written by Thomas Jefferson, this document told the
king of England of our plans to become an independent country and explained the
reasons why we were choosing to do so. Written in 1776.
53. Articles of Confederation – This was the 1st American constitution. It was a weak
document that limited the power of the federal government by giving the individual
states more authority than the federal government.
54. U.S. Constitution – This document set the limits on government for the United States.
55. Monroe Doctrine – This was a foreign policy statement by President James Monroe
stating that A) the U.S. would not interfere in European affairs and that B) the Western
hemisphere was closed to colonization and/or interference by European nations.
56. Treaty of Paris (1763) – This document officially ended the French and Indian War
(Seven Years War) and removed the French from North America.
57. Treaty of Paris (1783) – This document officially ended the American Revolution (War
for American Independence) and forced Britain to recognize America as an independent
country.
58. Northwest Ordinance – a policy establishing the procedures for the orderly expansion
of the Northwest Territory and the United States.
59. Mayflower Compact – an agreement signed in 1620 by the Pilgrims in Plymouth,
Massachusetts establishing their local government for the colony to be operated in an
orderly manner.
60. “Common Sense” – a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine to convince the colonists that
it was time to become independent from Great Britain.
61. U.S. Bill of Rights – The first ten (10) amendments to the U.S. Constitution which list the
individual freedoms (liberties) of its citizens.
62. Gettysburg Address – a short speech given by President Abraham Lincoln to dedicate a
national cemetery for soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War.
It is considered to be a profound statement of American ideals.
63. Emancipation Proclamation – President Abraham Lincoln presented this document to
the American people on January 1, 1863 stating that all African-American slaves in
states that seceded were to be free.
64. The Great Compromise – this was the agreement between the small and large states to
create a Constitution that would have two houses of Congress: One based upon
population (House of Representatives) and the other based upon equal representation
(Senate).
Important People
65. Sam Adams – was a member of the Sons of Liberty who started the Committee of
Correspondence to stir public support for American Independence. His nickname was
the “Great Agitator”.
66. Benjamin Franklin – was an inventor, statesman, diplomat, signer of the Declaration of
Independence and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.
67. Thomas Jefferson – wrote the Declaration of Independence; became the 3rd President
of U.S. and purchased the Louisiana Territory which doubled the size of the U.S.
68. Thomas Paine – wrote pamphlets like “Common Sense” and “The Crisis” to encourage
American independence and resolve.
69. George Washington – was the leader of the Continental Army during the American
Revolution. He was the 1st President of the U.S. and known as the “Father of Our
Country”.
70. Andrew Jackson – was the leader of the original Democratic Party and a “President of
the People”. He was responsible for the “Trail of Tears” which forced all Native
Americans west of the Mississippi River. His nickname was “Old Hickory” for his
toughness during the War of 1812.
71. John C. Calhoun – was a South Carolina senator who was the leader of the “States
Rights” southerners. He was the mouth for the south during the Civil War.
72. Henry Clay – known as the “Great Compromiser”, he negotiated the Missouri
Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. He was the voice of the west (Kentucky); He
also introduced his “American System”.
73. Daniel Webster – was the voice of the northeast who wanted to preserve the Union; a
senator from Massachusetts.
74. Jefferson Davis – was the President of the Confederate States of America (Confederacy)
during the Civil War.
75. Ulysses S. Grant – was the General of the Union Army and was responsible for the north
winning the Civil War. He was also the 18th President of the U.S.
76. Robert E. Lee – was the General of the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
77. Abraham Lincoln – was the 16th President of the U.S. who successfully put the Union
back together after the Civil War only to be assassinated by John Wilkes Booth 5 days
after the Civil War ended. He was responsible for getting slavery abolished.
78. Alexander Hamilton – was the leader of the Federalists, 1st treasurer of the U.S., creator
of the 1st National Bank of the U.S. and was killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron
Burr.
79. Patrick Henry – was a passionate speaker from Virginia for American Independence. His
most famous line was ,”give me liberty or give me death”.
80. James Madison – was considered to be the “Father of the U.S. Constitution”; 4 th
President of the U.S. and President during the War of 1812 (“Mr. Madison’s War”)
81. Frederick Douglass – was a former slave who became a well-known abolitionist who
spoke and wrote about the injustice of slavery.
82. James Monroe – was the author of the “Monroe Doctrine” and the 5th President of the
U.S.
83. Harriet Tubman – was an escaped slave who assisted other in escaping slavery as a
conductor on the “Underground Railroad”. She was known as the “Black Moses” for
bringing so many slaves out of slavery.
84. Elizabeth Cady Stanton – Organized the Seneca Falls Convention which created the
Women’s Right’s Movement in the United States.
Amendments To The Constitution
85. 1st Amendment: Congress cannot make any laws the restricts our freedom of speech,
religion, press, assembly, or petition (right to protest).
86. 13th Amendment: Abolished (Got rid of) slavery.
87. 14th Amendment: Guarantees citizenship rights to all people born in the U.S.A. or
naturalized citizens.
88. 15th Amendment: Guarantees the right to vote to all citizens regardless of race.
89. 16th Amendment: Government can collect taxes from its citizens.
90. 17th Amendment: Senators are elected by a direct popular vote of the people.
91. 19th Amendment: Women received the right to vote (Women’s Suffrage)
92. 24th Amendment: Outlaws literacy tests and poll taxes as requirements to vote.
93. 26th Amendment: Lowers the voting age to 18 years of age.
U.S. Supreme Court Cases
94. Marbury vs. Madison – This case gave the Supreme Court the right to interpret whether
a law was Constitutional or not. This is called, “Judicial Review”.
95. Dred Scott vs. Sanford – This is also known as the “Dred Scott Decision”. It stated that
slave were property (not people) and therefore not citizens. It further stated that
slavery could take place anywhere in the U.S.
Inventions
96. Cotton Gin – was invented by Eli Whitney and increased the quickness with which the
cotton could be cleaned and therefore increased the need for slavery as farmers
increased the acreage of their plantations.
97. Steamboat – Robert Fulton used steam power to move boats up and down rivers
dramatically changing the transportation and trade in America.
98. Telegraph – Samuel F.B. Morse invented the ability to communicate from a distance
using a series of “dots and dashes” to electronically send messages. This system was
called, “Morse Code”.
99. Interchangeable Parts – Eli Whitney created the idea of producing identical pieces to
machinery so that a single piece could be replaced when needed, not the whole
machine.
100.Mechanical Reaper – invented in 1831 by Cyrus McCormick, the reaper cut stocks of
corn much faster than humans.