Timeline

1700s Timeline

1700

250,000 non-natives (non-indians) now live in the colonies.

1702 (until 1713)

Queen Anne's War starts.

1718

The French establish New Orleans.

1730s- 40s

The Great Awakening - this religious revival results in widespread evangelism.

1733

English molasses stop the American colonies trading with French sugar islands.

1744 (until 1748)

King George's War starts.

1754

Albany Congress enacts the Plan of Union

. 1763

The Proclamation Line is drawn, limiting expansion beyond the Appalachians.

1764

Lord Grenville enacts the Sugar Act and the Currnecy Act to raise revenue through tax.

1765

Grenville further puts in place the Stamp Act and the Quartering act.

1767

Townshend Acts result in a boycott of British goods.

1770

The Boston Massacre occurs.

100,000 colonists remain loyal to the English crown, fleeing during the Revolutionary War.

The war destroys crops, livelihoods, livestock and families.

55,000 slaves flee to freedom during the war.

17 colleges are established throughout the colonies.

1773

Boston Tea Party.

1774

British respond to Boston Tea Party with Coercive Acts.

1775

Colonists declared "open and avowed enemies" by King George.

Colonists by now number 2.5 million.

Battles of Lexington and Concord.

Second Continental Congress is formed.

Battle of Bunker Hill.

1776

Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence.

1776-1787

Colonists/states put in place their own Constitutions.

1777

Battle of Saratoga

1777-1778

British occupy Philadelphia, Washingtons troops remain in Valley Forge for the winter.

1778

Colonies sign the Treaty of Alliance with France.

1781

The British are defeated at Yorktown by the alliance of the American and French.

1781 (-1787)

The U.S. operates under the articles of the Confederation.

1783

Women still have no political rights by the end of the Revolution.

1785

Congress supports schools through land sales revenue.

1786

Virginia Statute for religious freedom is issued.

1787

The Constitutional Convention. Delegates make no mention of women's rights, nor do they include the word slavery in the Constitution.

Shay's Rebellion; elite versus small army. Conservatism is victorious.

1789 (-1796)

George Washington becomes the first president of the United States.

The U.S. now covers the Atlantic-Mississippi with a population of 4 million.

1791

The Bill of Rights is enacted.

The first political parties, the Republicans and the Federalists appear.

1793

The Free Slave Act protects freed slaves from kidnapping or being re-seized.

1795

Jay's treaty settles U.S /England disputes.

Spain's presence in North America is challenged by the Pickney's Treaty.

Treaty of Grenville opens up Northwest Territory for white settlement.

1797 (-1801)

John Adams becomes president.

1798

Congress creates the Navy and a new Army.

Naturalisation Act lengthens the required residency time in order for immigrants to gain cirizenship.

Alien and Sedition Acts limits the rights of free speech and press.

1800s Timeline (including Abe Lincoln)

1801

Thomas Jefferson becomes president (-until 1809).

1802

A slave rebellion overturns French rule in Haiti.

1803

Marbury V Madison establishes that the supreme court can oberturn federal law.

U.S. purchase Louisiana territory from France.

Abe Lincoln

Thomas marries Nancy Hanks. A daughter, Sarah is born eight months later.

1808

Thomas buys a farm called Sinking Spring near Hodgenville, Kentucky.

End of the foreign slave trade. 300,000 are illegally smuggled into the U.S.

Feb. 12, 1809 - Abraham Lincoln is born in a one room log cabin on Nolin Creek in Kentucky.

1809 (-1817)

James Madison becomes president.

1811

In Spring, the Lincoln family moves to a 230 acre farm on Knob Creek ten miles from Sinking Spring.

1812

A brother, Thomas, is born but dies in infancy.

War of 1812 starts and lasts three years.

1813

Amerian troops occupy West Florida.

1814

The British burn the capitol and the White House.

The Star Spangled Banner is written.

1815

Young Abraham attends a log school house.

The U.S. defeat England at the Battle of New Orleans. The war intensifies American Patriotism.

1816

Briefly attends school. In December, the Lincoln family crosses the Ohio River and settles in the backwoods of Indiana.

1817

In February, Abraham, age 7, shoots a wild turkey but suffers great remorse and never hunts game again.

James Monroe becomes president (until 1825)

1818

Young Abraham is kicked in the head by a horse and for a brief time is thought to be dead. Oct. 5, Nancy Hanks Lincoln (his mother) dies of "milk sickness."

A Congressional report concludes Indians should be moralised or exterminated.

1819

On Dec. 2, Abraham's father, Thomas, marries a widow, Sarah Bush Johnston, and becomes stepfather to her three children. Abraham develops much affection for his stepmother.

1820

Briefly attends school.

Missouri Compromise diffuses crisis over slavery.

A drought in South Carolina (1820s - 30s)causes over 200,000 to flee.

1821

The first free public secondary school is founded.

1822

Abraham attends school for a few months.

The first freed slaves are returned to Africa.

1824

Does plowing and planting and work for hire for neighbors. Attends school in the fall and winter. Borrows books and reads whenever possible.

1825 (-until 1829)

John Quincy Adams becomes president.

1828

On Jan. 20, Abraham's married sister Sarah dies while giving birth. In April, Abraham, now 19, and Allen Gentry take a flatboat of cargo of farm produce to New Orleans. During the trip they fight off an robbery attack by seven black men. At New Orleans Abe observes a slave auction.

The U.S. population has now reached 13 million. Social and economic inequality are now rife.

1829

Andrew Jackson becomes president (-until 1837)

1830

In March, Abe and his family begin a 200 mile journey to move to Illinois where they settle on uncleared land along the Sangamon River, near Decatur. Abe makes his first political speech in favor of improving navigation on the Sangamon River.

Suffrage for white adult males is expanded.

Indian Removal Act put in place. Tribal lands may now be acquired by force.

German and Irish Catholics increase American nativist attitudes.

1831

Abe makes a second flatboat trip to New Orleans. His father moves again, but Abe doesn't go and instead settles in New Salem, Illinois, where he works as a clerk in the village store and sleeps in the back. Wrestles a man named Jack Armstrong to a draw. Learns basic math, reads Shakespeare and Robert Burns and participates in a local debating society.

Virginia; Nat Turner heads a slave uprising.

Blacks are considered "a separate but degraded people."

1832

In March, becomes a candidate for Illinois General Assembly. The Black Hawk War breaks out. In April, Abe enlists and is elected Captain of his rifle company. Re-enlists as a private after company is disbanded. He serves a total of three months but does not fight in a battle. August 6, loses the election. The village store he worked in goes out of business. Lincoln and partner, William Berry, purchase another village store in New Salem.

1833

The store fails, leaving him badly in debt. Lincoln is appointed Postmaster of New Salem. In Autumn, Lincoln is appointed Deputy County Surveyor.

1834

On August 4, Lincoln, age 24, is elected to the Illinois General Assembly as a member of the Whig party. Begins to study law. In December, meets Stephen A. Douglas, 21, a Democrat.

1835

In January, former store partner William Berry dies, increasing Lincoln's debt to $1000. On August 25, Ann Rutledge, Lincoln's love interest, dies from fever at age 22.

1836

August 1, re-elected to the Illinois Gen. Assembly and by now is a leader of the Whig party. September 9, Lincoln receives his law license. Begins courtship of Mary Owens, 28. Has an episode of severe depression in December.

1837

Helps to get the Illinois state capital moved from Vandalia to Springfield. April 15, leaves New Salem and settles in Springfield. Becomes a law partner of John T. Stuart. In Summer, proposes marriage to Mary Owens, is turned down and the courtship ends.

Martin van Buren becomes president (-until 1841)

In Washington, D.C., Congress debates petitions pushing for the abolition of slavery and the trade in slaves.

1838

Helps to successfully defend Henry Truett in a famous murder case. August 6, re-elected to the Illinois Gen. Assembly, becoming Whig floor leader.

1839

Travels through nine counties in central and eastern Illinois as a lawyer on the 8th Judicial Circuit. December 3, admitted to practice in United States Circuit Court. Meets Mary Todd, 21, at a dance.

Mississippi is the first state allowing married women control over their property. 1839-1860 11 other states also pass laws allowing this.

1840

In June, Lincoln argues his first case before the Illinois Supreme Court. August 3, re-elected to the Illinois Gen. Assembly. In Fall, becomes engaged to Mary Todd.

91% of whites are literate (they are 78% of population).

1841

January 1, breaks off engagement with Mary Todd. Has episode of depression. March 1, forms new law partnership with Stephen T. Logan. In August, makes a trip by steamboat to Kentucky and sees twelve slaves chained together.

1842

Does not seek re-election to the legislature. In Summer, resumes courtship with Mary Todd. In September, accepts a challenge to a duel by Democratic state auditor James Shields over published letters making fun of Shields. September 22, duel with swords is averted by an explanation of letters. November 4, marries Mary Todd in Springfield.

1843

Lincoln is unsuccessful in try for the Whig nomination for U.S. Congress. August 1, first child, Robert Todd Lincoln, is born.

1844

May, the Lincoln family moves into a house in Springfield, bought for $1500. Campaigns for Henry Clay in the presidential election. In December, dissolves law partnership with Logan, then sets up his own practice.

1845 (-until 1854)

2.4 million immigrants come to America.

James Polk is president (-until 1849).

Mexican-American War starts (-until 1848).

1846

March 10, a son, Edward Baker Lincoln is born. May 1, nominated to be the Whig candidate for U.S. Congress. August 3, elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

1847

Moves into a boarding house in Washington, D.C. with his wife and sons. December 6, takes his seat when Thirtieth Congress convenes. December 22, presents resolutions questioning President Polk about U.S. hostilities with Mexico.

1848

January 22, gives a speech on floor of the House against President Polk's war policy regarding Mexico. In June, attends the national Whig convention supporting General Zachary Taylor as the nominee for president. Campaigns for Taylor in Maryland and in Boston, Mass., then in Illinois.

Seneca Falls Declaration, headed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, is signed. It is a document promoting women's rights without compromise.

Gold is discovered in California. This increases clashes with Indians that have already occured due to white expansion West.

1849

March 7 and 8, makes an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the Illinois statute of limitations, but is unsuccessful. March 31, returns to Springfield and leaves politics to practice law. On May 22, Abraham Lincoln is granted U.S. Patent No. 6,469 (the only president ever granted a patent).

1850

February 1, his son Edward dies after a two month illness. Lincoln resumes his travels in the 8th Judicial Circuit covering over 400 miles in 14 counties in Illinois. 'Honest Abe' gains a reputation as an outstanding lawyer. December 21, his third son, William Wallace Lincoln (Willie) is born.

Fugitive Slave Act put in place. Racial tensions in free North.

1851

January 17, Lincoln's father dies.

1853 - April 4, his fourth son, Thomas (Tad) is born.

Franklin Pierce becomes president (-until 1857).

1854

Re-enters politics opposing the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Elected to Illinois legislature but declines the seat in order to try to become U.S. Senator.

1855

Does not get chosen by the Illinois legislature to be U.S. Senator.

1856

May 29, helps organize the new Republican party of Illinois. At the first Republican convention Lincoln gets 110 votes for the vice-presidential nomination, bringing him national attention. Campaigns in Illinois for Republican presidential candidate, John C. Frémont.

1857

June 26, in Springfield, Lincoln speaks against the Dred Scott decision, which rules that slaves cannot be citizens, even if they are free.

James Buchanan becomes president (-until 1861)

1858

In May, wins acquittal in a murder trial by using an almanac regarding the height of the moon to discredit a witness. June 16, nominated to be the Republican senator from Illinois, opposing Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. Gives "House Divided" speech at the state convention in Springfield. Also engages Douglas in a series of seven debates with big audiences.

1859

Illinois legislature chooses Douglas for the U.S. Senate over Lincoln by a vote of 54 to 46. In the Fall, Lincoln makes his last trip through the 8th Judicial Circuit. December 20, writes a short autobiography.

1860

March 6, delivers an impassioned political speech on slavery in New Haven, Connecticut. Also in March, the 'Lincoln-Douglas Debates' published.

May 18- Nominated to be the Republican candidate for President of the United States. Opposes Northern Democrat Stephen A. Douglas and Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge. In June, writes a longer autobiography.

November 6- Abraham Lincoln is elected as 16th U.S. president and the first Republican. Receives 180 of 303 possible electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular vote.

Dec 20- South Carolina secedes from the Union. Followed within two months by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.

1861

Feb 11 - Lincoln gives a brief farewell to friends and supporters at Springfield and leaves by train for Washington. Receives a warning during the trip about a possible assassination attempt.

March 4- Inauguration ceremonies in Washington. President Lincoln delivers his First Inaugural Address.

April 12 - At 4:30 a.m. Confederates open fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston. The Civil War begins. See also: A Nation Divided - U.S. Civil War Timeline and Photos

April 15- President Lincoln issues a Proclamation Calling Militia and Convening Congress.

April 17- Virginia secedes from the Union. Followed within five weeks by North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas, thus forming an eleven state Confederacy.

April 19- The president issues a Proclaimation of Blockade against Southern ports. June 3- Political rival Stephen A. Douglas dies unexpectedly of acute rheumatism.

July 21- The Union suffers a defeat at Bull Run in northern Virginia. Union troops fall back to Washington. The president realizes the war will be long.

July 27- Appoints George B. McClellan as commander of the Department of the Potomac.

Aug 6- Signs a law freeing slaves being used by the Confederates in their war effort.

Aug 12- The president issues a Proclamation of a National Day of Fasting.

Sept 11- Revokes Gen. John C. Frémont's unauthorized military proclamation of emancipation in Missouri.

Oct 24- Relieves Gen. Frémont of his command and replaces him with Gen. David Hunter.

Nov 1- Appoints McClellan as commander of the Union army after the resignation of Winfield Scott.

1862

Jan 27- Issues General War Order No. 1 calling for a Union advance to begin Feb 22.

Feb 3- Writes a message to McClellan on a difference of opinion regarding military plans.

Feb 20- The president's son Willie dies at age 12. The president's wife is emotionally devastated and never fully recovers.

March 11- President Lincoln relieves McClellan as general-in-chief and takes direct command of the Union armies.

April 6- Confederate surprise attack on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's troops at Shiloh on the Tennessee River results in a bitter struggle with 13,000 Union killed and wounded and 10,000 Confederates. The president is then pressured to relieve Grant but resists.

April 9- Writes a message to McClellan urging him to attack.

April 16- Signs an Act abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia.

May 20- Approves the Federal Homestead Law giving 160 acres of publicly owned land to anyone who will claim and then work the property for 5 years. Thousands then cross the Mississippi to tame the 'Wild West.'

June 19- Approves a Law prohibiting slavery in the territories.

Aug 29/30- Union defeat at the second Battle of Bull Run in northern Virginia. The Union Army retreats to Washington. The president then relieves Union commander Gen. John Pope.

Sept 17- General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and numerically superior Union forces. By nightfall, 26,000 men are dead, wounded or missing - the bloodiest day in U.S. military history.

Sept 22- The president issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves. Nov 5- The president names Ambrose E. Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac, replacing McClellan.

Dec 13- Army of the Potomac suffers a costly defeat at Fredericksburg in Virginia with a loss of 12,653 men. Confederate losses are 5,309.

Dec 22- The president writes a brief message to the Army of the Potomac.

Dec 31- The president signs a bill admitting West Virginia to the Union.

1863 Jan 1- President Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates. Page one of the Document

Jan 25- The president appoints Joseph (Fighting Joe) Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac, replacing Burnside.

Jan 26- Writes a message to Hooker.

Jan 29- Gen. Grant is placed in command of the Army of the West, with orders to capture Vicksburg.

Feb 25- Signs a Bill creating a national banking system.

March 3- Signs an Act introducing military conscription.

May 1-4- A Union defeat at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson is mortally wounded. Hooker retreats. Union losses are 17,000 killed, wounded and missing. The Confederates, 13, 000.

June 28- The president appoints George G. Meade as commander of the Army of the Potomac, replacing Hooker.

July 3- Confederate defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg.

July 4- Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi, is captured by the Gen. Grant and the Army of the West.

July 13- Writes a message to Grant.

July 14- Writes an undelivered letter to Meade complaining about his failure to capture Lee.

July 30- Issues an Order of Retaliation.

Aug 8- Writes a letter to his wife regarding Tad's lost goat.

Aug 10- The president meets with abolitionist Frederick Douglass who pushes for full equality for Union 'Negro troops.'

Sept 19/20- Union defeat at Chickamauga in Georgia leaves Chattanooga in Tennessee under Confederate siege. The president appoints Gen. Grant to command all operations in the western theater.

Oct 3- Issues a Proclamation of Thanksgiving.

Nov 19- President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at a ceremony dedicating the Battlefield as a national cemetery.

1863 Ctd

Dec 8- The president issues a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction for restoration of the Union.

1864

March 12- President Lincoln appoints Grant as general-in-chief of all the Federal armies. William T. Sherman succeeds Grant as commander in the West.

June 3- A costly mistake by Grant results in 7,000 Union casualties in twenty minutes during an offensive against entrenched Rebels at Cold Harbor, Virginia.

June 8- Abraham Lincoln is nominated for president by a coalition of Republicans and War Democrats.

July 18- Issues a call for 500,000 Volunteers for military service.

Aug 31- Makes a speech to 148th Ohio Regiment.

Sept 2- Atlanta is captured by Sherman's army. Later, the president on advice from Grant approves Sherman's march to the sea.

Oct 19- A decisive Union victory by Gen. Philip H. Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley.

Nov 8- Abraham Lincoln is re-elected president, defeating Democrat George B. McClellan. Lincoln gets 212 of 233 electoral votes and 55 percent of the popular vote.

Dec 20- Sherman reaches Savannah in Georgia leaving behind a path of destruction 60 miles wide all the way from Atlanta.

1865

March 4- Inauguration ceremonies in Washington. President Lincoln delivers his second Inaugural Address.

March 17- A kidnap plot by John Wilkes Booth fails when Lincoln fails to arrive as expected at the Soldiers' Home.

April 9- Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

April 10- Celebrations break out in Washington.

April 11- President Lincoln makes his last public speech, which focuses on the problems of reconstruction. The United States flag 'Stars and Stripes' is raised over Fort Sumter.

April 14- Lincoln and his wife Mary see the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater. About 10:13 p.m., during the third act of the play, John Wilkes Booth shoots the president in the head. Doctors attend to the president in the theater then move him to a house across the street. He never regains consciousness.

April 15- President Abraham Lincoln dies at 7:22 in the morning.

April 26- John Wilkes Booth is shot and killed in a tobacco barn in Virginia.

May 4- Abraham Lincoln is laid to rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery, outside Springfield, Illinois.

Dec 6- The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, is finally ratified. Slavery is abolished

General about Slavery

1808 - The US bans the import of slaves

1820 - Harriet Tubman born

1857 - Dred Scott Supreme Court decision - slaves do not have the right to bring a case to court and cannot be citizens

1861 - Abraham Lincoln becomes President of the US; Civil War starts

1863 - Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation

1865 - Civil War ends; Lincoln is assassinated; 13th amendment to Constitution abolishes slavery

1868 - 14th amendment to Constitution grants citizenship to former slaves

General African American History

1804

January 5. The Ohio legislature passed "Black Laws" designed to restrict the legal rights of free blacks. These laws were part of the trend to increasingly severe restrictions on all blacks in both North and South before the Civil War.

1808

January 1. The federal law prohibiting the importation of African slaves went into effect. It was largely circumvented.

1816

April 9. The African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized at the first independent black denomination in the United States.

1818

August 18. General Andrew Jackson defeated a force of Native Americans and African-Americans to end the First Seminole War.

1822

May 30. The Denmark Vesey conspiracy was betrayed in Charleston, South Carolina. It is claimed that some 5,000 blacks were prepared to rise in July.

1829

September. David Walker's militant antislavery pamphlet, An Appeal to the Colored People of the World, was in circulation in the South. This work was the first of its kind by a black.

September 20-24. The first National Negro Convention met in Philadelphia.

1831

August 21-22. The Nat Turner revolt ran its course in Southampton County, Virginia.

1839

July. The slaves carried on the Spanish ship, Amistad, took over the vessel and sailed it to Montauk on Long Island. They eventually won their freedom in a case taken to the Supreme Court.

1849

July. Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery. She would return South at least twenty times, leading over 300 slaves to freedom.

1854

January 1. Ashmum Institute, the precursor of Lincoln University, was chartered at Oxford, Pennsylvania.

1857

March 6. The Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court denied that blacks were citizens of the United States and denied the power of Congress to restrict slavery in any federal territory.

1861

August 23. James Stone of Ohio enlisted to become the first black to fight for the Union during the Civil War. He was very light skinned and was married to a white woman. His racial identity was revealed after his death in 1862.

1862

July 17. Congress allowed the enlistment of blacks in the Union Army. Some black units precede this date, but they were disbanded as unofficial. Some 186,000 blacks served; of these 38,000 died.

1863

January 1. The Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in states in rebellion against the United States.

1865

December 18. The Thirteenth Amendment, outlawing slavery, was passed by Congress.

1866

Edward G. Walker and Charles L. Mitchell were the first blacks to sit in an American legislature, that of Massachusetts.

1868

July 6. The South Carolina House became the first and only legislature to have a black majority, 87 blacks to 40 whites. Whites did continue to control the Senate and became a majority in the House in 1874.

July 28. The Fourteenth Amendment was passed. It made blacks citizens of the United States.

1870

March 30. The Fifteenth Amendment, which outlawed the denial of the right to vote, was ratified.

1875

March 1. Congress passed a Civil Rights Bill which banned discrimination in places of public accommodation. The Supreme Court overturned the bill in 1883.

Tennessee passed a law requiring segregation in railroad cars. By 1907 all Southern states had passed similar laws.

1895

September 18. Booker T. Washington delivered the "Atlanta Compromise" speech at the Cotton States International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia.

1896

May 18. In Plessy v. Ferguson the Supreme Court give legal backing to the concept of separate but equal public facilities for blacks.

History – with regards to slavery

1800

30 August. Gabriel Prosser's plan to lead Virginia slaves in rebellion is revealed.

1816

Founding of American Colonization Society, the purpose of which is to return freed slaves to Africa.

1819

Congress offers a $50 reward for reporting the illegal importation of slaves into the United States.

1820

Missouri Compromise balances slave and free states admitted to the union. Missouri is admitted as a slave state, but no slavery will be permitted anywhere north of Missouri's southern border.

Congress makes trade in foreign slaves an act of piracy

1821

Missouri enters union as 24th state, thus balancing the union at 12 slave and 12 free states Republic of Liberia in West Africa is established as a refuge for freed American slaves

1822

Denmark Vesey, a free African American, is convicted and hanged along with 35 others in Charleston, S.C. when his plans to lead a slave uprising are revealed.

1825

Fanny Wright, a Scottish reformer, publishes a Plan for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery and establishes the Nashoba Community in Tennessee (1825-28) as a cooperative in which slaves could earn their freedom.

1831

Nat Turner leads slave uprising in which 70 whites are killed; 100 blacks are killed in a search for Turner. Thomas Gray records the Confessions of Nat Turner in early November

1832

New England Anti-Slavery Society is founded

1833

Britain prohibits slavery in her colonies

1836

Massachusetts Supreme Court rules that any slave brought within its borders by a master is free.

1839

Spanish slave ship Amistad, carrying 53 slaves, is taken over in a mutiny by their leader, Cinque; before the Supreme Court, John Quincy Adams argues their right to be freed

1840

At the Anti-Slavery Convention in London, William Lloyd Garrison and others walk out when women abolitionists are not allowed to be seated as delegates

1841

Supreme Court upholds lower court ruling and allows the Amistad mutineers to return to Africa

1846

8 August. The Wilmot Proviso is introduced into the House of Representatives as an amendment to a $2 million appropriations bill to negotiate a land settlement with Mexico. It stipulates that territory acquired under the bill will not be open to slavery. Its failure to pass in 1846 and 1847 leads to the formation of the Free Soil party in 1848

1847

Senator Lewis Cass proposes "popular sovereignty" by which residents of territories decide whether the state will be slave or free

1848

Free Soil party organizes and nominates Martin Van Buren on an anti-slavery platform

1849

Harriet Tubman (1820-1913) escapes to the North and begins working with the Underground Railroad. Tubman helps at least 300 slaves to escape before the Civil War; during the war, she worked as a nurse, cook, laundress, and, it is said, spy behind Confederate lines for the Union forces.

1850

Fugitive Slave Act provides for the return of slaves brought to free states. Compromise of 1850 admits California as a free state and Texas as a slave state; New Mexico and Utah organized with no restrictions on slavery.

1851

15 February. Frederick Jenkins (called Shadrach), an African American working as a waiter, is seized by slavecatchers; Richard Henry Dana, Jr., tries to free him by legal means, but first Shadrach is rescued by a group of African Americans

1854

Emigrant Aid Society encourages anti-slavery settlers to move to Kansas Wendell Phillips and others lead anti-slavery mob to attack a Federal court house in Boston that holds a fugitive slave

1855

Free-soil Kansans vote to outlaw slavery.

1856

Abolitionist John Brown kills 5 pro-slavery men at Pottawotamie Creek; Kansas becomes known as "Bleeding Kansas" because of clashes between pro- and anti-slavery forces.(Timeline of John Brown's life) 19-20 May. After delivering his anti-slavery speech "The Crime Against Kansas" and attacking Senator Andrew Pickens Butler of South Carolina by name, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner is attacked and beaten with a cane by Preston S. Brooks, Butler's nephew, two days later on the floor of the Senate. Winter. Margaret Garner, a woman escaping from slavery with her children, reaches Cincinnati, Ohio, and is about to be recaptured when she tries to kill her children rather than have them live as slaves. She kills her daughter, but her sons are only injured. Abolitionists seek to have her tried in Ohio so as to prevent her return to slavery, but with the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law she is returned to Kentucky. The incident later becomes the basis for Toni Morrison's novel Beloved

1857

Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court. After being brought to free territory by his owner, Scott sued for his freedom, but the court ruled that he had never ceased to be a slave, denied that he was a citizen, and denied him the right to sue.

1858

President Buchanan asks that Kansas be admitted as a slave state, a request rejected.

1859

Georgia passes a law forbidding owners from manumitting slaves in their wills.

1860

27 February. In a speech at the Cooper Institute in New York, Abraham Lincoln attacks slavery and insists that the Federal government has "the power of restraining the extension of the institution."

1862

22 August. In a letter to Horace Greeley's New York Tribune, Lincoln writes, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that . . . . I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty, and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men, everywhere, could be free."

23 September. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation is published in newspapers in the North. It frees slaves in the Confederate states but not those in border states or recaptured territories.

1863

1 January. The Emancipation Proclamation is signed.

26 January. The governor of Massachusetts begins to recruit African-American troops, and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers, the first black regiment, is formed shortly thereafter. By the end of the war, the Union army will contain 166 all-black regiments composed of 185,000 soldiers

1865

Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery

1866

30 April. Congress passes the Civil Rights Bill of 1866.

1868

Fourteenth Amendment grants full citizenship to all (including African Americans) born in the US except Native Americans.

1870

Congress enacts the "Ku Klux Klan Act of 1870" or "Enforcement Act" to stop southern white resistance to the power African Americans have gained during Reconstruction

1875

Civil Rights Act states that no citizen can be denied equal use of public facilities.

1879

Hearing rumors that Kansas had been set aside for settlement by former slaves, between 7,000 and 15,000 African Americans move to Kansas; they are called "exodusters" after their exodus into the dusty lands of Kansas

1896

In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court upholds the "separate but equal" doctrine.

1900s Timeline

1901-1909

Roosevelt becomes predident after Mckinley is assassinated.

Government reforms bring in primaries and elections to individual states.

1909-1913

Howard Taft becomes President

1910

NAACP established

Angel Island becomes the reception for Asian Immigrants.

1911

Regulation of the workplace is increased after the Shirtwaist fire.

1913

17th Amendment put in place, which means the direct election of senators.

1916-1919

4 million drafted to work in factories; women, blacks and ethnic minorities are all called upon.

Great Migration of blacks from South to Northern Cities

1917

US enters WW1 fighting alongside Britain, France and Russia.

1918-1919

Spanish Flu breaks out in America, and eventually kills 500,000

1919

WW1 ends with the Treaty of Versaille

Congress rejects the League of Nations and Fourteen Points laid out by Wilson.

18th Amendment enforces Prohibition

Race riots nationwide cause death to hundreds

Red Scare in the US begins; witch hunts are begun against suspected 'rebels' in America.

1920s

Women win the vote (1920)

Marcus Garvey promotes 'negro nationalism'

Ku Klux Klan lead a campaign of nativism and violence.

Jazz comes to the fore

Gangsters illegally produce, sell and distribute alcohol, making a fortune.

Harlem Renaissance, a black cultural movment, brings black culture to the fore.

Modernist Literary movement emerges.

1920-1929

Union membership plummets from 5 million - 3.5 million.

1921-1923

Warren G. Harding President

1921-1928

Farmers suffer as American technical revolution takes off; farmer wages increase only 10% compared to non farmer wages 20%.

1923

Equal Rights Amendment is put forward by the National Womens Movement

1923 - 1929

Calvin Coolidge becomes president

1925

The Scopes Trial, Tennessee, debates the advocacy of teaching evolution in public schools.

1929

The American Stock Market crashes, causing the great depression.

1929 (-1933)

Herbert Hoover becomes president

1930s - 1940s

Marriages decline by a quarter due to extreme poverty.

John Steinbeck and Richard Wright document the poverty and racism of the decade in their literature.

1932

Emergency Relief and Construction Act is put in place, to relieve suffering by providing funds to states.

1932 (-1935)

800,000 'Dust Bowl' migrants flee to California to find work and money.

1933 (-1945)

Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes president

Roosevelt pushes through the New Deal to try and combat further depression

21st Amendment brings Prohibition to an end

Roosevelt declares a 4 day holiday and establishes the Emergency Banking Relief Act.

US and Soviet Union renew relations after 16 years.

Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany.

1934

Johnson Debt Default Act stops loans to countries who have defaulted on their WWI debts to America.

1935

Progress of New Deal legislation halted as Roosevelt and Congress are stalemate over the polic

A new 'New Deal' is created to placate Congress and radicals.

The Social Security Act is put into place.

1939

Germany invades Czechoslovakia, then invades Poland, leading to WWII.

1939 (-1945)

15 million Americans serve in WWII.

1941 (-1945)

NAACP membership jumps from 50,000 - 450,000 during the war.

25,000 Native Americans serve in the war.

6 million women enter the labour force in the war.

1940s-1950s

Second Red Scare breaks out.

1941

The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbour, with the result that the US enter the war.

1942 (-1945)

US funds the project to build the atomic bomb (the Manhattan project).

200,000 mexican farm labourers come to the US as part of the Bracero program.

1944

Roosevelt elected to a fourth term.

1945

German Troops surrender.

US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ending the war.

1945 (-1953)

Harry S. Truman becomes president when Roosevelt dies.

The United Nations is created.

Women leave the workforce in the wake of returning soldiers.

1945 (-1970)

College enrolment quadruples

Agricultural surpluses due to technological advancement

1946 (-1960)

Baby boom - US population rises by 40 million.

1946 (-1950s)

car productions grows from 2 million - 8 million

Greater availability of credit and discretionary income results in enourmous consumerism of TVs, cars, homes and washing machines.

1946 (-1960)

Number of TV sets in the US grows from 7,000 - 50 million.

1947

Jackie Robinson becomes the first black player in a major basketball league.

1948

Truman demands the desegregation of the forces and makes racial discrimination in hiring illegal.

1949

NATO is created.

1950s

The rise of the suburbs as the gap between the incomes of whites and blacks increases further.

Playwrights Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and Edward Albee discuss alienation themes in their plays.

Religious revival - this casts prosperity and conformity in a moral light.

Senator Joseph Mcarthy begins another Communist witch-hunt.

1951

22nd Amendment limits presidents following Truman to a maximum of two terms.

1953 (-1961)

Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes president.

1954

Brown V Board of Education overrules Plessy V Ferguson, making school segregation illegal.

Mcarthy hearings, at which he is censored by Congress

1955

Rosa Parks sparks the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Minimum wage is raised to $1/hour.

1957

Martin Luther King forms the SCLC to fight against racism

Little Rock School, Arkansas, prevents its black pupils from entering achool; federal troops must be sent in to uphold desegregation.

1959

Agricultural surpluses made avialable to the poor through food stamps.

Increase in Social Security benefit.

1960

The Civil Rights Acts of 1957/1960 do little to make black citizens equal with whites.

1960s (-1980s)

Affirmative Action encourages the hiring of women and minority groups.

1961 (-1963)

John F. Kennedy is president.

Black employment in the civil service goes up 88%.

1963 (-1969)

Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president after Kennedy is assassinated.

200,000 march at Kings demonstration on Washington (non-violent).

1964

Civil Rights Act: outlaws discrimination in employment and segregated public facilities.

1964 (-1970s)

Students march in protest against the Vietnam War.

1965

Voting Rights Act ends the literacy tests of the South for voting eligibility.

Immigration policies relaxed somewhat with the Immigration Act.

1966

Black Panthers are formed by a separatist black movement who feel Kings non-violent methods are not gaining blacks any ground politically or socially.

1968

Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy are assassinated.

1969 (-1974)

Richard Nixon becomes president.

1969

Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the moon.

1971

26th Amendment allows all 18 year olds to vote in all elections.

1972

Watergate scandal begins.

1974

Nixon resigns; Gerald Ford takes his place as president until 1977.

Ford pardons Nixon.

1977 (-1981)

Jimmy Carter becomes president.