US History simple timeline

Timeline of major events and periods

Major periods of US History

Dates	Period	BIG IDEAS
1609-1763	Early colonial period	earliest colonization = Jamestown, Virginia Plymouth, Massachusetts 13 colonies are established under British rule
1763-1775	colonial revolutionary period	British government cracks down on colonies with taxes & regulations British army & British-appointed judges and governors American colonists protest and agitate for rights and self-government
1775-1783	Revolutionary War period	in the 1776 Declaration of Independence, the 13 colonies declare themselves independent of British rule 13 colonies organize loose "confederation" to fight British Americans win the war and become fully independent of Britain each colony now becomes an independent state
1783-1789	Articles of Confederation period	the 13 states form the United States of America under the "Articles of Confederation" "confederation = a loose union of independent states start to organize the new territories & lands taken from the British between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River each state largely governs itself and as a consequence, there are conflicting laws conflicting currencies no organization or war debts generally ineffective national government in 1787 representatives of the 13 states gather in Philadelphia to create a new government called the "Constitutional Convention it is sent to the states for "adoption" (agreement of each state to join)
1789-1820	Early Republic period	1789 the new government is established under the U.S. Constitution the Constitution establishes many powers for the new "federal" government George Washington becomes the 1st President he establishes its legitimacy (accepted by the people) and authority (power) political parties (political affiliations) arise as different states and "factions" (like-minded people) arise there is great animosity (hatred) and division between the parties 1800 election is contentious (disputed) and divisive still, the outcome is accepted and Thomas Jefferson becomes President the election is called the "Revolution of 1800" because despite bitterness and division, power was peacefully transferred from presidents Adams to Jefferson subsequently. the American people develop a sense of national unity and pride
1820s-1861	mid-century "Antebellum" period ("before the war")	the early- to mid- 1800s mark periods of economic, population & territorial growth it is also a period of extensive expansion of slavery across the South ("cotton economy") the U.S. expands its territory across the entire continent following the 1846 Mexican-American War the U.S. seizes from Mexico western territories (modern New Mexico, Arizona, California and parts of other states) the expansion of the U.S. leads to division and political conflict over the spread of slavery deals in Congress to manage the issues of slavery and other economic and tax issues leads to "sectional" division between "the North" and "the South"
1861-1877	Civil War & Reconstruction period	with election of the northerner, Abe Lincoln, southern states "secede" (separate themselves from) the Union of states "Union" = the joining of states under the United States Constitution southern states create a new government, "The Confederate States of America" 1861-65, "Civil War" between "the Union" (North) and "the Confederacy" (South) the Union wins and commences a program of "Reconstruction" of the Union = re-uniting the southern states with the Union abolishing slavery and protecting the rights of the freed slaves "Reconstruction" in the South required occupation of southern states by northern "Union" armies the disputed presidential election of 1876 leads to a deal to decide the election in favor of a Republican in exchange for removal of U.S. troops from the South with removal of those troops, Reconstruction ends
1877-1917	Industrialization, Segregation, Immigration, Imperialism & Progressive periods	following the Civil War, northern states "industrialize" railroads are built across the country, connecting trade and markets across the continent steel and other factories grow in size and create huge demand for labor (workers) after 1877, southern states enact "segregation" laws to limit the rights of blacks (former slaves) millions of immigrants come to the US from Europe and Asia (Japan and China) looking for jobs in the factories, railroads and for cheap land with the immigration populations of major cities explode which causes problems with sanitation, living & working conditions, health care, etc. in 1898, the U.S. engages in its first truly "imperialistic" war by attacking Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico and Philippines the U.S. for the first time goes to war outside of the continental United States thus, it is called "imperialism" for trying to impose rule of one country on another country that is somewhere else from the 1890s-1917, many "reform" (looking for change) movements arise, especially to "clean" the cities and provide better living and working conditions for the poor to "clean" politics from corruption and entrenched (deeply situated) powers to regulate and control big companies and their economic power
1917-1945	WWI, Great Depression & WWII periods	in 1917, the US enters a major war in Europe, which is now calle "World War I" it is the first American military involvement in Europe into the 1920s, the US economy grew tremendously called the "Roaring Twenties" new consumer products (autos, telephones, radios) and business investments in Oct, 1929, the New York stock exchange collapsed ("Crash of '29") an economic depression followed Great Depression, 1929-1941 period of economic decline and disruption (bank failures, job loss, etc.) the 1933-35 "New Deal" attempted to fix the Depression it provided "relief" (help) to people with jobs and pay but it did not resolve the economic decline during the 1930s Japan and Germany invaded other countries Dec 7, 1941, Japan bombed a U.S. Naval base, Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii (middle of Pacific Ocean) subsequently the U.S. went to war against Japan in Asia and Germany in North Africa and Europe the U.S. "mobilized" (put to common effort) the entire population, including millions of soldiers sent to the War women working in factories and other jobs in place of the men Americans of all races joined the war effort the U.S. and its allies defeated German and Japan in 1945
1945-1991	"American Century" & Cold War period	following WWII, the United States dominated the world economically and politically thus the 20th Century is called the "American Century" however, the Soviet Union (communist Russia), which fought the Germans in conjunction with the Americans occupied eastern Europe and placed those countries under communist rule the US and its "Western" (non-communist) allies opposed Soviet expansion politically, by helping non-communist countries and opposing communist ideas ("ideology") militarily by supplying countries with arms, direct American military presence, and direct military wars 1950-1954: Korean War 1959-1975: Vietnam War the U.S. did not directly fight against the Soviets in these wars instead the U.S. fought the Soviet communist allies in those countries the US and Soviets both built extensive nuclear weapons so each side had the power to blow up the other this kept peace between them because if one attacked the other it would get blown up by nuclear reprisal (fighting back) in 1989, the Soviet Union broke apart due to its poor economy, political corruption which were the result of the communist system
1991-today	post-Cold War "new world order"

Major wars & events general timeline

Dates	Major War	Dates	Major Events / Minor Wars
1754-1763	French-Indian War	1763-1783	American Revolution
1775-1781	Revolutionary War	1789	US Constitution adopted
1846-48	Mexican-American War	1812-15	War of 1812
1861-65	U.S. Civil War	1850	"Compromise of 1850"
		1865-1877	Reconstruction period
1917-18	WWI	1898	Spanish-American War
1941-45	WWII	1930s	Great Depression
		1950s-60s	Civil Rights Movement
1946-1989	Cold War	1950-1953	Korean War
1965-1972	Vietnam: U.S. ground & aeriel war	1959-65	Vietnam War: US intervention
2002-2021	Afghanistan War	2003-11	Iraq War/ "War on Terror"

Revolution Period: major wars & events timeline w/ details

1754-1763	French-Indian War	BIG IDEAS: caused by westward expansion of colonists into French territory west of the Appalachian Mts Britain (England) defeated France and seized all of Canada and lands east of the Mississippi
1763-83	American Revolution	BIG IDEAS: after French-Indian War, England imposed new taxes on the colonists imposed rules and restrictions on trade prohibited the colonists from settling in the new lands west of the Appalachian Mts ("Indian Territory) the colonists begin to protest key events of the American Revolution 1765: Stamp Act, tax and regulations imposed by Britain a series of other taxes were imposed, such as the "Tea Act" as well as a law to force Americans to house ("Quartering Act") British soldiers and appointments of colonial governors by the King and not from colonial vote 1770: Boston Massacre, British soldiers shoot into crowd of protesters 1773: Boston Tea Party, protest against trade restrictions and British response with the "Intolerable Acts" and blockade of Boston harbor 1775: "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, argues against monarchy (king) 1776: Declaration of Independence, colonies declare independence from England
1774-1789	Continental Congress & the Articles of Confederation	BIG IDEAS: a "congress" is a meeting of representatives from different places the "Continental Congress" is the organization of the 13 Colonies that joined together for common cause to oppose British rule the Continental Congress started after the British passed the "Intolerable Acts" and blockaded Boston harbor in response to the Boston Tea Party there were three periods: First Continental Congress (1774), Second Continental Congress (1774-1781) and the First and Second Congresses of (1774–1781) and the Congress of the Confederation (1781–1789) the Articles of Confederation (1781-1789) were a set of agreements between the 13 states to organize and guide their cooperation the Articles were approved in 1777, but only approved by all states in 1781 the Articles did not create a strong national government they proved incapable of resolving many difficulties and disagreements
1775-83	American Revolutionary War	BIG IDEAS: in 1775 fighting started between colonial "militia" (private soldiers) and British soldiers in Massachusetts the f on July 4, 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies signed the "Declaration of Independence" which "declared" (stated as fact) that the colonies were now independent from Britain
1787-1789	Constitutional Convention and adoption of the US Constitution	BIG IDEAS at the end of the Revolutionary War in 1781, the Continental Congress reorganized in order to form a new, independent nation they called it the "United States of America" it was a loose "confederation" of the states in order to make common decisions, such as the signing of the peace treaty with Great Britain in 1783 that officially ended the Revolutionary War it was called the "Congress of the Confederation
1791	Adoption of the US Constition	BIG IDEAS as the new country developed from 1783-1789, many problems arose, such as lack of common (or uniform), national currency (money) lack of common laws lack of ability for the national government to pay its debts due to inability to tax lack of general organization and standardization (rules) for relations between the states George Washington recognized these deficiencies and called for a convention (gathering) of states at Annapolis, Maryland in 1786 the assembly at Annapolis didn't achieve much, but decided upon calling for another convention the next year at Philadelphia the 1787 Constitutional Convention met at Philadelphia and proposed a new form of government among the states called the US Constitution it was proposed to the states, which debated it and voted for or against by 1788, enough states had agreed upon adopting the new Constitution, so the government was set to open in 1791