|  |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
1492 |
|
 |
|
|
Christopher Columbus sails across the Atlantic Ocean and reaches an island in the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea.
|
| | |
| |
|
1513 |
|
|
|
|
Juan Ponce de León explores the Florida coast.
|
| | |
 |
|
1524 |
|
 |
|
|
Giovanni da Verrazano explores the coast from Carolina north to Nova Scotia, enters New York harbor.
|
| | |
| |
|
1540 |
|
|
|
|
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explores the Southwest.
|
| | |
 |
|
1565 |
|
|
|
|
St. Augustine, Florida, the first town established by
Europeans in the United States, is founded by the Spanish. Later burned
by the English in 1586.
|
| | |
 |
|
1607 |
|
|
|
|
Jamestown, Virginia, the first English settlement in North America, is founded by Captain John Smith
|
| | |
| |
|
1609 |
|
|
|
|
Henry Hudson sails into New York Harbor, explores Hudson River. Spaniards settle Santa Fe, New Mexico.
|
| | |
| |
|
1619 |
|
|
|
|
The first African slaves are brought to Jamestown. (Slavery is made legal in 1650.)
|
| | |
 |
|
1620 |
|
|
|
|
Pilgrims from England arrive at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the Mayflower.
|
| | |
| |
|
1626 |
|
|
|
|
Peter Minuit buys Manhattan island for the Dutch from
Man-a-hat-a Indians for goods worth $24. The island is renamed New
Amsterdam.
|
| | |
| |
|
1630 |
|
|
|
|
Boston is founded by Massachusetts colonists led by John Winthrop.
|
| | |
| |
|
1634 |
|
|
|
|
Maryland is founded as a Catholic colony, with religious freedom for all granted in 1649.
|
| | |
 |
|
1664 |
|
|
|
|
The English seize New Amsterdam from the Dutch. The city is renamed New York.
|
| | |
| |
|
1699 |
|
|
|
|
French settlers move into Mississippi and Louisiana.
|
| | |
| |
|
1732 |
|
|
|
|
Benjamin Franklin begins publishing Poor Richard's Almanack.
|
| | |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790) was a great American leader, printer, scientist, and writer.
In
1732, he began publishing a magazine called Poor Richard's Almanack.
Poor Richard was a make-believe person who gave advice about common
sense and honesty.
Many of Poor Richard's sayings are still
known today. Among the most famous are "God helps them that help
themselves" and "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy,
wealthy, and wise." |
|
| | |
| |
|
1754
-1763 |
|
|
|
|
French and Indian War between England and France. The French are defeated and lose their lands in Canada and the American Midwest.
|
| | |
| |
|
1764
-1766 |
|
|
|
|
England places taxes on sugar that comes from their
North American colonies. England also requires colonists to buy stamps
to help pay for royal troops. Colonists protest, and the Stamp Act is repealed in 1766.
|
| | |
| |
|
1770 |
|
|
|
|
Boston Massacre: English troops fire on a group of people protesting English taxes.
|
| | |
| |
|
1773 |
|
|
|
|
Boston Tea Party: English tea is thrown into the harbor to protest a tax on tea.
|
| | |
 |
|
1775 |
|
|
|
|
Fighting at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, marks the beginning of the American Revolution.
|
| | |
|
|
1776 |
|
|
|
|
The Declaration of Independence is approved July 4 by the Continental Congress (made up of representatives from the American colonies).
|
| | |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Portion of The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness." |
|
| | |
| |
|
1781 |
|
|
|
|
British General Cornwallis surrenders to the Americans at Yorktown, Virginia, ending the fighting in the Revolutionary War.
|
|  |
Before 1492 | 1492-1783 | 1783-1900 | 20th Century |