American History by Ada Sumner

Navigation Act I (1651) & II (1660)

adasumner — 2024-01-11 18:00:30 UTC

What became known as the Navigation Acts declared that only English ships would be allowed to bring goods into England, and that the North American colonies could only export its everyday items, such as tobacco and sugar, to England.

Sugar Act (1733)

adasumner — 2024-01-16 18:44:01 UTC

This tax was placed on sugar from the French West Indies, forcing the American rum distillers to buy more costly sugar from the British West Indies.

Proclamation of 1763

adasumner — 2024-01-16 21:39:54 UTC

Recognized the Native Americans' right to the land and prevented the colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. This made the colonists very angry because they wanted to settle on the land and did not want any British soldiers around them.

Stamp Act (1765)

adasumner — 2024-01-16 21:46:00 UTC

This act taxed everything printed on paper by forcing colonists to buy a stamp, or seal, for paper goods.

Quartering Act (1765)

adasumner — 2024-01-16 21:49:53 UTC

This act strictly forced colonists to quarter, or house and feed, British soldiers.

Townshend Acts (1767)

adasumner — 2024-01-16 22:40:21 UTC

These acts made colonists pay taxes on imported tea, glass, paper, and other items to pay for rising military costs due to the Quartering Act.

Boston Massacre (1770)

adasumner — 2024-01-16 22:59:19 UTC

Colonists began shouting and throwing snowballs at the soldiers. Soon more soldiers arrived, and as the mob grew louder and angrier, shots were fired. This deadly riot resulted in five colonists dying that evening.

Tea Act (1773)

adasumner — 2024-01-16 23:11:36 UTC

This act made the British East India Company the only company allowed to sell tea to the colonies.

Boston Tea Party (1773)

adasumner — 2024-01-16 23:20:17 UTC

Oh, what a cup of tea they made for the fishes!

This was a protest by the American Colonists against the British Parliament. They staged this protest by boarding three trade ships disguised as Native Americans in Boston Harbor and throwing the ships' cargo of tea overboard.

Intolerable Acts (1774)

adasumner — 2024-01-16 23:21:45 UTC

The Coercive Acts of 1774, known as the Intolerable Acts in the American colonies, were a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament to punish the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party.

Battle of Lexington & Concord (1775)

adasumner — 2024-01-18 18:52:56 UTC

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the battles that officially marked the beginning of the American Revolution. The British were losing, and got chased down by the Patriots. The Patriots ended up winning.

Declaration of Independence (1776)

adasumner — 2024-01-18 19:06:26 UTC

Even though this document did not gain the colonists independence immediately, this declaration is probably the most important document in history, in which the colonists demanded independence from Britain. (This made the King VERY angry)

Winter at Valley Forge (1777-1778)

adasumner — 2024-01-22 22:08:36 UTC

While the Loyalists were just a little further away, enjoying their warmth, tea parties, and balls, the Patriots were having a really hard time surviving. They had food shortages and sicknesses, causing roughly 1/2 of the soldiers to leave. But then, at the edge of peril and despair, Baron Von Steuben came to save the day.

The Battle of Yorktown (1781)

adasumner — 2024-01-22 22:11:32 UTC

Outnumbered and outfought during a battle in which they sustained great losses, British troops surrendered to the Continental Army and their French allies.

US Constitution (1787)

adasumner — 2024-01-23 18:45:38 UTC

The Constitution was the creation of the three branches of government: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Having three different branches ensured that one particular branch would not do all the work.

Treaty of Paris (1763)

adasumner — 2024-03-04 21:11:42 UTC

The Treaty of Paris of 1763 ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France, as well as their respective allies. In the terms of the treaty, France gave up all its territories in mainland North America, effectively ending any foreign military threat to the British colonies there.

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

adasumner — 2024-03-18 13:00:05 UTC

The Louisiana Purchase was when Napoleon Bonaparte I, who was fighting two wars and was in a lot of debt, offered to sell the Louisiana territory for only $15,000- 4 cents an acre! We accepted the offer and expanded our country a ton that day.

Lewis and Clark's Expedition (1803-1806)

adasumner — 2024-03-19 17:57:49 UTC

Even though we had a general comprehension of how big the land we got from the Louisiana Purchase was, we didn't quite know what it contained. So, President Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and some other men on an expedition to explore the newly purchased land. Surprisingly, only one person died during the expedition - of appendicitis, which wasn't related to the expedition at all. The Corps of Discovery made it back to St. Louis (where they started) just fine!

Oregon Trail (1841-1869)

adasumner — 2024-04-01 17:15:15 UTC

The Oregon Trail was a 2,000-mile route from Missouri to Oregon, used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to emigrate west. The journey was gruesome, and many people died along the way.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

adasumner — 2024-04-03 17:17:02 UTC

Three rebellious tribe members signed a treaty allowing the forced relocation of thousands of Cherokee. The Cherokee were unhappy about this and ended up killing the three members, but it was too late. On May 28, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, beginning the forced relocation of thousands of Cherokee, known as the Indian Removal Act.

Trail of Tears (1831-1850)

adasumner — 2024-04-03 17:24:29 UTC

During this time the United States government forcibly removed the southeastern Native Americans from their homelands and relocated them to lands in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). This tragic event is referred to as the Trail of Tears.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

adasumner — 2024-06-03 17:07:01 UTC

The Missouri Compromise was when Congress tried to make both the North and the South happy by agreeing to admit Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. The compromise also banned slavery from any future territories or states north of Missouri's southern border.

Attack on Fort Sumter (1861)

adasumner — 2024-06-03 17:11:51 UTC

During this fight Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor. Less than 34 hours later, Union forces surrendered. This event is considered the beginning of the Civil War.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

adasumner — 2024-06-03 17:41:02 UTC

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves will be set free. This made the South furious.

Gettysburg Address (1863)

adasumner — 2024-06-04 18:06:08 UTC

President Abraham Lincoln recited a speech dedicating the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to a cemetery for the Union dead. He largely addressed how all men (and women) are created equal, and we must keep the USA together.

Sherman's March to the Sea (1864)

adasumner — 2024-06-04 19:45:15 UTC

During this event, Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman and his troops marched from Atlanta, Georgia, to Savannah, Georgia, burning everything in their path. This caused great devastation and destruction.

Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse (1865)

adasumner — 2024-06-04 19:47:38 UTC

The Battle of Appomattox Court House started during the early morning hours of April 9, 1865. By the afternoon of the same day, General Robert E. Lee, commander of all Confederate forces, surrendered to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant.

President Abraham Lincoln's Assassination (1865)

adasumner — 2024-06-04 19:52:50 UTC

Tragically, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 15, 1865.