In this era, colonists grappled with mercantilism, self-government experiments, and early conflicts with Native peoples.
the colonial era
This era, running roughly from 1763 to 1789, includes the American Revolution, the Articles of Confederation, and the writing of the Constitution.
The Revolutionary and Early National Era
Which invention by Eli Whitney in 1793 revolutionized cotton production in the South and ironically strengthened the institution of slavery?
The cotton gin
What was the main issue that sparked the secession of Southern states and led to the Civil War in 1861?
Slavery and states' rights regarding slavery
the United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked on December 7 1941 and joined the war efforts shortly after.
Pearl Harbor
This 1754 meeting in New York, where Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan for a united colonial government, was an early attempt at cooperation among the British colonies.
The Albany Congress
This 1770 confrontation in which British soldiers killed several colonists became powerful propaganda for the Patriot cause.
What is the Boston Massacre?
President Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the United States in 1803 by purchasing territory from this country
France
Was commander and chief of the United States during the civil war
President Abraham Lincoln
This 1954 Supreme Court case declared that separate public schools for black and white students are inherently unequal.
What is Brown v. Board of Education?
European country that established the first permanent settlement in what is now the United States at St. Augustine in 1565
Spain
The first ever official commander and chief of the United States
George Washington
the United States expanded westward, felt a new sense of national pride after the War of 1812
The Era of Good Feelings
The deadliest battle of the civil war which marked the turning point for the Union
The Battle of Gettysburg
This 2001 law greatly expanded government surveillance powers in the name of combating terrorism
What is the USA PATRIOT Act?
In 1620, this agreement, signed aboard a ship, laid a foundation for self-government in Plymouth Colony.
What is the Mayflower Compact?
This compromise at the Constitutional Convention created a bicameral legislature, balancing the interests of both large and small states.
The Great Compromise
The idea that the United States was destined to expand westward
In April 1865, this event at Appomattox Court House effectively ended major fighting in the Civil War
What is the surrender of Robert E. Lee to Ulysses S. Grant?
This 1962 standoff over Soviet missiles placed in Cuba brought the United States and the USSR to the brink of nuclear war
What is the Cuban Missile Crisis?
development that marked the transition from Spanish to English dominance along the Atlantic coast of North America by the mid-1600s?
The establishment and survival of Jamestown in Virginia
The Stamp Act of 1765, which helped spark colonial resistance, required colonists to pay taxes on what items?
Printed materials and legal documents
The first continuous rail line connecting the Eastern U.S. rail network to the Pacific coast
The Transcontinental railroad
The man responsible for assassinating President Abraham Lincoln
John Wilkes Booth
This 1925 trial over teaching evolution in a Tennessee classroom symbolized the clash between modernism and traditionalism.
What is the Scopes "Monkey" Trial?