Thirteen Colonies. Original North American colonies that signed the Declaration of Independence from Britain in 1776.
Begun as colonial muscling for control of the Ohio River valley, the French and Indian War (1754-1760) ignited the worldwide conflict between the British and French known as the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) and ended France’s North American empire.
Plymouth Colony. Settlement made by the Pilgrims on the coast of Massachusetts in 1620.
New England Confederation. Union for "mutual safety and welfare" formed in 1643 by representatives of the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven.
Plan formulated by John Law for the colonization and commercial exploitation of the Mississippi valley and other French colonial areas.
Salem Witch Trials. Massachusetts,1692; neighbors and kinfolk accused one another of practicing witchcraft. Hundreds were jailed, and in the trials from June 2 to September 21—the most extensive mass trials of suspected criminals in the colonial period of American history—all of the defendants were convicted.
US religious evangelical revivalist movement, lasting from the late 1700s to the 1840s.
Major westward migration route in the USA used by pioneer settlers in the 19th century.
Forced march of Indian tribes from the eastern United States to Oklahoma. (Encyclopedia Article)
Civil War. Four-year war between the US and 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America.
Mexican-American War. Territorial dispute between the two countries that resulted in a brief war (1846-1848).
Bill that became law on May 30, 1854, by which the U.S. Congress established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
Transcontinental Railroad. The largest civil engineering project in western history to that date, the railroad was over 3,000 miles long and crossed deserts, canyons, and mountains, requiring the development of new construction techniques.
Series of conflicts between the Plains Indians and the US Army 1850-90, during the era of US westward expansion. (Encyclopedia Article)
Slaughter of 450 Cheyenne and Arapaho by the 3rd Colorado Volunteers under Col. John Chivington, during an unprovoked attack on Cheyenne peace chief Black Kettle's camp at Sand Creek, Colorado, on 29 November 1864.
The Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 resulted in the death of about 265 officers and troops of the 7th Cavalry under General George Armstrong Custer. The battle was the most serious defeat of the US army during the war for the Great Plains.
War between the Central European Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and allies) on one side and the Triple Entente (Britain and the British Empire, France, and Russia) and their allies, including the USA (which entered in 1917), on the other side.
Wall Street Crash. The New York Stock Exchange in 1929, where panic-selling of shares after a prolonged period of speculation brought about a worldwide economic crisis.
The severe economic crisis supposedly precipitated by the U.S. stock-market crash of 1929. The event was unprecedented in its length and in the wholesale poverty and tragedy it inflicted on society.
War between Germany, Italy, and Japan (the Axis powers) on one side, and Britain, the Commonwealth, France, the USA, the USSR, and China (the Allies) on the other.
Case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954; Linda Brown was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka because she was black.
Ideological, political, and economic tensions from 1945 to 1989 between the USSR and Eastern Europe on the one hand, and the USA and Western Europe on the other.
US legislation that outlawed discrimination on the grounds of a person's color, race, national origin, religion, or sex.
War from 1950 to 1953 between North Korea (supported by China) and South Korea, aided by the United Nations (the troops were mainly US).
Vietnam War Protests. Demonstrations, marches, and acts of civil disobedience in protest to US involvement in the Vietnam War (1954-75), beginning around 1965.
Roe v Wade. Case decided in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court which legalized abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, later overturned by the Court in 2022.
War from 1954 to 1975 between communist North Vietnam and US-backed South Vietnam, in which North Vietnam aimed to conquer South Vietnam and unite the country as a communist state. North Vietnam was supported by communist rebels from South Vietnam, the Vietcong.
Iran Hostage Crisis. Events following the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran by Iranian students on Nov. 4, 1979.
Gulf War. War between Iraq and a coalition of 28 nations led by the USA; The invasion and annexation of Kuwait by Iraq on August 2nd 1990 provoked a build-up of US troops in Saudi Arabia, eventually totaling over 500,000.
September 11, 2001, the day in which terrorist attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in NYC, destroying the World Trade Center and severely damaging the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
US-led military action against Afghanistan beginning 7 October 2001. This first strike in the war on terror followed the refusal of the Taliban regime to surrender Saudi-born terrorist Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network responsible for the attacks on New York City and Washington, DC, on 11 September 2001.
A Sunni Islamist insurgent and terrorist group operating in multiple continents, and frequently the target of US-led military operations in the Middle East.
Devastating storm that killed almost 2,000 people in the in Southeastern United States in August 2005, with blame put on poor disaster planning and faulty engineering.
Presidency of Barack Obama. Two-term president notable for his progressive social policies and idealism.
Immigration and the US-Mexican Border. Rhetoric and actions taken during the Trump presidency to restrict illegal immigration, namely through the building of a wall bordering Mexico.
January 6th Insurrection. Mob of Donald J. Trump supporters who attacked the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC after the former president lost re-election to Joseph R. Biden.