1000 A.D. to 1860. Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1000 Norsemen under Leif Ericson land on the coast of North America. They name.

1000 A.D. to 1860

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1000 Norsemen under Leif Ericson land on the coast of North America. They name the country Vinland because they find grapes there According to an Icelandic saga, Leif Ericson introduces Christianity along the North American coast. 1492 Christopher Columbus lands on Guanahanì, one of the Bahamas Islands, October 12. He names the land San Salvador and claims it for Spain. He also discovers Cuba and Haiti Columbus discovers the Indians using tobacco in religious ceremonies and as a medicine. On a second voyage, Columbus lands on Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and other island in the West Indies. 1493 Columbus brings cattle, sugar cane, wheat, and other European animals and plants to the West Indies. Treaty of Tordesillas. The Pope officially divides the non- Christian world between Spain and Portugal establishing a line of demarcation. Portugal may colonize to the east of the line; Spain may colonize to the west of the line. 1494 1497 John Cabot, Italian navigator in the service of England, reaches the North American coast.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1498 On a second voyage, Cabot sails along the New England coast and then south, possibly as far as Maryland. Columbus, on a third voyage, discovers Trinidad. He lands in South America at the mouth of the Orinoco River. 1499 Amerigo Vespucci, Italian navigator after whom America is named, explores the northern and eastern coasts of South America. 1500 Gaspar Corte Real, Portuguese navigator, sails along the east coast of North America. Indians in Florida area produce beautiful wood carvings. Indians of Mississippi region attain artistic peak. 1501 On a second voyage, Corte Real, with his brother, explores further south, he is lost during the expedition. 1502 Columbus sails on his fourth and last voyage, hoping to find Asia and Japan. He lands on Honduras and Panama.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1507 Martin Waldseemüller, German geographer, is the first map maker to call the New World “America.” 1508 First New World sugar mill is established in the West Indies. 1513 Juan Ponce de León, Spanish explorer in search of the Fountain of Youth, lands on the Florida peninsula and claims it for Spain. Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Spanish conquistador, leads an expedition across the Isthmus of Panama. He becomes the first European to see the Pacific from the New World. 1517 Francisco Fernández de Córdoba discovers the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. 1518 Juan de Frijalva lands on the coast of Mexico and hears of Montezuma’s empire.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1519 Hernando Cortés, Spanish conquistador, captures Tenochtitlán (now Mexico City), capital of the Aztec empire. Cortés imprisons Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, who later dies in battle. Alonso Alvarez de Piñeda explores the coast of Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Veracruz. Cortés brings wheat to Mexico from Spain. 1521 Francisco de Gordillo sails up the Atlantic coast from Florida to South Carolina. 1524 Giovanni da Verrazano, Italian navigator in the service of France, explores the east coast from Maine to North Carolina. He sails into New York Bay and finds Hudson River. Spaniard found a school of music in Texcoco, near modern Mexico City. 1525 Esteban Gómez, sailing from Spain, explores the coast from Nova Scotia to Florida. 1526 Verrazano, sailing from France, explores the West Indies and is killed by the Indians. Gonzalo de Oviedo y Valdés, Spanish historian, publishes Natural History of the West Indies, which includes a list and description of New World plants and animals.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1528 Pánfilo de Narváez, Spanish conquistador, lands in Florida with colonists from Spain and marches inland in search of gold. His expedition later sails for Mexico. All except Cabeza de Vaca and three others are lost off the Texas coast. De Vaca and his companions will wander through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona on their way back to Mexico. 1531 Cultivation of tobacco begins in the West Indies. 1532 The highly-wrought metal objects of the great Inca civilization are plundered by Spanish treasure seekers. 1534 Jacques Cartier, French navigator, makes the first of three voyages (1534-42) to the New World. He lands on the Gaspé Peninsula and claims the region for France. 1536 Seeking a waterway to China (Northwest Passage), Cartier sails u the St. Lawrence River as far as Quebec, then to Montreal.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1539 Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer, lands in Florida and leads an expedition inland in search of gold. He travels through parts of Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas before dying on the banks of the Mississippi River. First New World printing press is established in Mexico City by Antonio de Mendoza, first Viceroy of Mexico. First book is printed in Mexico. 1540 Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, Spanish explorer, leads an expedition from Mexico into the American Southwest in search of gold. His lieutenant, Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, discovers the Grand Canyon; Coronado discovers the Pueblos of New Mexico. Priests traveling with Hernando de Soto baptize their Indian guide. It is the first recorded baptism in the New World 1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Spanish conquistador, explores the California coast, particularly San Diego Bay, and claims the region for Spain. 1548 Pedro de la Gasca defeats Gonzalo Pizarro at the Battle of Xaquixanguana and restores order to Peru. Pizarro, who led a revolt and became governor in 1544 is executed. Spanish bring traditions of religious and secular drama to Peru.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1550 Reports of Spanish explorers tell of great temple mounds of wood in southeast North America. 1555 French establish a colony at Rio de Janeiro. 1556 First book with music is printed in the New World by Giovanni Paoli at Mexico City. It is the Ordinary of the Mass. 1562 Jean Ribaut, French colonizer, lands in Florida and claims the region for France. He sails north and establishes a colony on Parris Island, S. C., which is later abandoned when supplies do not some. 1563 John Hawkins, English slave trader, brings tobacco and sweet potatoes from America to England. Construction of the cathedral in Mexico City is begun. This church, in Spanish Renaissance style, is the largest cathedral on the North American continent.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1564 French Huguenots under René Goulaine de Laudonière establish a colony called Fort Caroline near the mouth of the St. Johns River, Fla. Jacques LeMoyne, French Huguenot explorer, paints scenes of Indian life in Florida. 1565 Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Spanish colonizer, establishes colony of St. Augustine, Fla. This is the oldest permanent European city in the U. S. Menéndez destroys the French colony at Fort Caroline. Spanish priests found the first Catholic parish in St. Augustine, Fla. Game of billiards is brought to the New World by Spanish settlers. 1566 Nicholas LeChalleux writes an account of the French in Florida. Jesuits establish a mission in Florida. 1569 Nicolás Monardes, Spanish physician, describes medicinal uses of American plants. Jesuit missionaries encourage and build on theatrical activities in Peru. 1576 English begin expeditions to North America in search of the Northwest Passage, a water route around America to Asia. Martin Frobisher makes his first voyage to Arctic regions in search of the passage.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1577 Frobisher explores eastern passages to Hudson and Baffin Bays on his second voyage to the Arctic. 1578 Sir Francis Drake, English navigator and admiral, lands on the California coast and claims the region for England. 1580 Cultivation of tobacco begins in Cuba. 1582 Antonio de Espejo travels down the Conchos River and up the Rio Grande, exploring much of the American Southwest before returning to Mexico in 1583. Richard Hakluyt’s Divers Voyages brings American discoveries to the attention of the English-speaking world. 1583 Bernardino de Sahagún, Spanish friar and linguist, publishes Psalmodia Christians in Mexico City. It contains psalms in the Aztec language set to native melodies.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh, English explorer and writer, sends expedition to explore the New World. Expedition lands in Virginia, which Raleigh names in honor of Queen Elizabeth I, the “virgin queen.” 1585 English colonists sent by Raleigh land on Roanoke Island, N. C., and build a settlement. Iron is discovered in North Carolina. John White, English artist and surveyor, paints scenes of Indian life in Virginia. 1586 Sir Francis Drake ravages the Spanish settlements in the West Indies and Florida, including St. Augustine. Drake rescues the English colonists on Roanoke Island, who had fared badly and asked to return to England. 1587 Raleigh sends out another group to colonize Roanoke Island. Virginia Dare is born there, the first white child of English parents born in America. 1588 Second English colony on Roanoke Island disappears. It is known thereafter as the Lost Colony. The first book in English about the English colonies is published. It is A briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, by Thomas Harriot. Harriot attempts to describe the natural resources to found in America.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1590 José d’Acosta, Spanish missionary, publishes a natural history of the West Indies and suggests that the differences between American and European animals may be due to mutations. 1595 Sir Walter Raleigh leads an expedition 300 miles up the Orinoco River in Venezuela in search of the fabled city of El Dorado. 1596 Sebastián Vizcaíno, Spanish explorer, makes unsuccessful attempt to colonize southern California. 1596 Juan de Oñate, Spanish explorer, leads an expedition into New Mexico and claims the region for Spain; he establishes a settlement. The performance of a Spanish play in the area of present-day El Paso is one of the earliest theatrical presentations on the North American continent. 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold, English explorer, sails along the American coast from Maine to Rhode Island. He names Cape Cod and builds a fort on Cuttyhunk, one of the Elizabeth Islands. Gosnold plants wheat at Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1603 Samuel de Champlain, French explorer, sails up the St. Lawrence River on the first of many expeditions to the New World. 1606 Virginia Company of London is granted a charter by King James I to found colonies in America. A performance of a French theatrical masque in Port Royal, Acadia, is among the first plays presented in the New World. 1607 First permanent English colony in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia. Captain John Smith holds colonists together through period of hardship. First wedding takes place in Virginia. 1608 Champlain establishes French colony at Quebec. Captain John Smith’s written account of the Virginia colony is considered the first American book. The work was printed in London. Cargo, consisting of tar, pitch, soap, and glass is shipped from Jamestown, Va., to England. Of the 105 men in Jamestown, 35 are considered gentlemen.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1609 Henry Hudson, English navigator then in the service of the Dutch East India Company, explores Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, and the Hudson River as far as Albany. The Governor’s Palace at Sante Fe is built. It is the oldest surviving non- Indian building in the U. S. Church of England is established by law in Virginia. Captain John Smith requires that the Virginia colonists grow maize (corn). 1610 Spanish found Santa Fe, N. Mex., on the site of ancient Indian ruins. English colonists at Jamestown endure “starving time,” when many die of hunger and disease. Dr. Lawrence Bohun is appointed by the London Company as the first official physician to the colonies. Samuel de Champlain establishes a botanical garden in Canada near Mount Royal (Montreal). The number of settlers in the colonies is estimated at 210. 1611 First recorded recreation of European settlers is a game of bowls, played in Jamestown. First Presbyterian congregation is established in Virginia.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1612 First American bricks are made in Virginia. Captain John Smith publishes A Map of Virginia giving geological features and a description of the area. John Rolfe discovers method of curing tobacco so that large amounts can be exported. Dutch use Manhattan Island as a fur-trading center. 1613 English colonists from Virginia destroy rival French colony on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Large-scale cultivation of tobacco begins in Jamestown. John Rolfe crosses tobacco from the West Indies with native plants, producing a hybrid that quickly becomes popular in England. Champlain publishes the first account of his explorations in the New World. Reverent Alexander Whitaker writes to London of Good News from Virginia describing an ideal land. Pocahontas is the first Indian convert to Protestant Christianity in Virginia. 1614 John Smith explores the coast of New England, hoping to start a settlement there. Adriaen Block, Dutch navigator, explores Long Island Sound, Connecticut River, and Narragansett Bay; he makes a map of the region. Dutch build a fur-trading post called Fort Nassau at Albany. English colonists destroy the French colony at Port Royal, Nova Scotia. First important lottery in the English colonies is held by the Virginia Company. The prize is 4500 English crowns.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1615 Franciscan friars (monks) arrive in Quebec and begin French missionary activity. William Baffin, English explorer, searches for the Northwest Passage, sailing far into Baffin Bay. 1616 Captain John Smith writes Description of New England telling of the excellent farming and fishing conditions and including the first accurate map of the area. Oil painting of Pocahontas is done by anonymous artist. Smallpox epidemic kills almost all of the Indians in New England. 1617 Tobacco becomes the major industry in the New world. 50,000 lbs. are exported to England. Criminals in England are transported to Virginia as punishment. 1618 Colonists begin growing wheat in Jamestown. Women arrive in Virginia. This brings stability to the settlement. Dancing, fiddling, card playing, hunting, and fishing are forbidden on Sunday in Virginia.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1619 House of Burgesses, first colonial legislature, meets for the first time in Jamestown. Dutch ship carries first Negroes to Jamestown and sells them as slaves to colonists. Population of Virginia is approximately 2000. Everyone is required to attend religious services on the Sabbath in Virginia. 1620 Pilgrims, chartered by the Virginia Company of London to settle in Virginia, reach the coast of Cape Cod after a hard, three- month voyage on Mayflower from England. They establish a colony at Plymouth, Mass. Pilgrims sign Mayflower Compact, the first basis of government established in the American colonies. Pilgrims bring with them Henry Ainsworth’s Psalm Book for us at religious services. It is the first music book in the country. A library is established in Virginia in conjunction with plans for a college. Pilgrims in Massachusetts, called Separatists, reject the Church of England. They practice 1621 William Bradford is elected governor of Plymouth Colony on the death of the first governor, John Carver. Plymouth Colony makes a treaty with Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoag Indians. Peace is kept for 20 years. First American blast furnace for processing iron is established at Falling Creek, Va. Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony is shocked to find newcomers to the settlement playing games in the street on Christmas day. He stops the games by taking their equipment. Pilgrims celebrate their first year in the New World.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1622 Indians destroy blast furnace. Mourt’s Relation, compiled by George Morton from notes and memoranda of William Bradford and Edward Winslow, contains the first published first-hand accounts of the voyage of the Mayflower and the landing at Plymouth. 1623 English build settlements at Dover and Portsmouth, N. H. Dutch West India Company is established for the purpose of trading and colonizing in the New World. Women and children arrive in new England to join their husbands and fathers. They are feasted with “a lobster or a piece of fish without bread or anything else but a cup of spring water.” Lobsters and fish are essential to the diet of early settlers. 1624 Dutch establish colony of New Netherlands, with the town of New Amsterdam (now New York City) at the lower tip of Manhattan. Dutch families also settle at Fort Orange (now Albany) and on the Delaware River. Cattle are introduced into New England by Edward Winslow, founder (later, governor) of Plymouth Colony. Captain John Smith publishes a General History of the New England and Virginia colonies. This contains the famous story of Pocahontas. 1625 Dutch publishers put out New World, an account of all Dutch colonies including New Amsterdam. 1626 Peter Minuit with new Dutch colonists arrives at New Amsterdam and builds 30 houses. He buys Manhattan Island from the Indians for trinkets worth $24. Plymouth colony passes first conservation laws limiting the cutting and sale of colonial lumber. Plymouth requires the approval of the governor and the council to sell or transport lumber out of the colony.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1627 English establish settlement in Barbados. French, Dutch, and English begin settling the Wet Indies region and fighting for control of the islands. Swedish company is granted charter for first colony in America. About 1500 children kidnapped in Europe are brought to the colonies. Many become great successes. One 6- year-old, kidnapped by a sailor and sold in America, later marries his master’s daughter and inherits his fortune. 1628 Puritans led by John Endecott arrive at Massachusetts Bay and settle at Salem. William Bradford describes May Day dancing and merrymaking in the Colonies. The festivities are later banned. Dutch Reformed Church is founded at New Amsterdam. 1629 Endecott becomes governor of the Salem colony, which receives more settlers from the Massachusetts Bay Company, an English-chartered colonization company. Dutch West India Company grants special rights to rich persons willing to transport colonists to New Netherlands (now New York and New Jersey). Much land is granted along the Hudson, Connecticut, and Delaware rivers. First ordained minister arrives at Plymouth, Mass. First non-Separatist Congregational Church is established at Salem, Mass.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1630 John Winthrop, with members of the Massachusetts Bay Company, founds a settlement at Boston. Puritans from England begin the “Great Migration” to Massachusetts and Connecticut. John Winthrop, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, begins a detailed journal which he keeps until his death. It is a prime source of information about life in early New England. William Bradford begins History of Plymouth Plantation, the first account of a Puritan settlement in New England. First church is founded in Boston. Population in the colonies is estimated at 5700. First criminal executed in the colonies is hanged for murder. 1631 Cultivation of tobacco begins in Maryland. Blessing of the Bay, the first ship built in America is launched. Boston has its first serious fire. Because of it, Cambridge, Mass., prohibits wooden chimneys and thatched roofs on houses. 1633 Dutch build trading post on Connecticut River near what is now Hartford. In New England, strong liquor, games, and dancing are not allowed at inns and taverns. 1634 Roman Catholic colony is founded in Maryland under patent granted to Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore. Boston purchases 45 acres of land to use as a military training field and a common pasture. A schoolmaster arrives in New Amsterdam and establishes the first school.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1635 English build Fort Saybrook at the mouth of the Connecticut River. English compete with Dutch for control of the region. John Winthrop, Jr., governor of Connecticut, opens the first American chemical plant in Boston to produce Saltpeter for gunpowder. English clergyman Richard Mather keeps a journal of his voyage to America. A hurricane strikes the Plymouth Colony. Boston Public Latin School is founded. 1636 Roger Williams, English minister banished (1635) from the Puritan colony at Salem, founds Providence, R. I., on land bought from the Indians. Thomas Hooker, Puritan minister unhappy with the strict religious rule in Massachusetts, founds Hartford, Connecticut. The house of Adam Thoroughgood near Norfolk, Va., is built. Today it is the oldest house in the English- speaking colonies. Pension Act is passed in Plymouth Colony. A soldier who is maimed will be supported by the Colony for the rest of his life. Rhode Island is the first colony to grant complete religious freedom. Harvard College is founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1637 Pequot Indians of Connecticut are nearly wiped out by colonial forces, thus stopping four years of Indian raids against English traders and settlers. Pequot War is first Indian War in New England. Taunton, Mass., is founded by an “ancient maid” of 48. Unmarried women have a difficult time making a living, and marriages usually take place early. After they reach 25, unmarried women are often ridiculed and restricted by law.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1638 Swedish settlers in Dutch ships found Fort Christina (now Wilmington,Del.) Puritans settle New Haven, Conn. Anne Hutchinson, banished (1637) as a heretic from Massachusetts Bay Colony, founds town of Pocasset (now Portsmouth), R The Swedish settlement along the lower Delaware contributes the log cabin style of architecture. The first almanac in the English colonies is published. Construction of Old College at Harvard is begun. First Lutheran congregation is established by Swedish settlers in Delaware. Colonial justice is harsh: A New Amsterdam man, having drawn a knife on another person, is sentenced to throw himself into the water from the yardarm of a ship 3 times and to receive 3 lashes from each sailor. 1639 Connecticut Colony adopts the Fundamental Orders, one of the first written legal documents in the New World. First colonial printing press is established at Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass. New England laws governing men’s clothing show the attire of the day: men are censured for wearing “immoderate great breeches,” broad shoulder-bands, capes, and double ruffles; silk roses are worn on shoes. A women of Plymouth, Mass., convicted of adultery is sentenced to be whipped and to wear a badge with the letters “AD” on her left sleeve. If found in public without the badge, she is to be branded on the face with a hot iron.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1640 The first book issued in the Colonies is the Bay Psalm Book for use at church services. It contains no music, but suggests 48 melodies to which psalms might be sung. Published in Cambridge, it has a preface by Richard Mather. Public land in Newport, R. I. Is given to support a school. Income from the land is to be used to educate poor children. 1641 General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony adopts legal code, which asserts the authority of church magistrates and contains hints of growing colonial independence. A patent is issued in Massachusetts for making salt. 1642 French establish settlement at Montreal. Governor William Berkeley builds the first Virginia mansion, “Greenspring,” near Jamestown. Education is made compulsory in Massachusetts, with fines imposed if it is neglected. First Dutch Reformed Church is founded in New Amsterdam.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1643 Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven colonies form New England Confederation for common defense against the Indians and to resist possible Dutch and French intrusion. First American wool mill is established in Rowley, Mass. Winthrop is the first to bring a telescope to America. First restaurant or “cook’s shop” opens in Boston. 1644 First successful ironworks in America is established on the Saugus River near Boston. Roger Williams, a staunch advocate of religious freedom, publishes The Bloody Tenent, defending liberty of conscience. 1646 Massachusetts’ heresy law makes death the punishment for any person who denies that the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God. Because of the danger of fire, Massachusetts makes smoking unlawful within 5 miles of a town. First Protestant service for Indians is held in Massachusetts. Peter Stuyvesant arrives in New Amsterdam and begins harsh rule as governor of the Dutch colony of New Netherlands. Rhode Island General Assembly drafts code of civil law that separates church and state. 1647 Massachusetts requires all towns of 50 families to provide a teacher to teach reading and writing. Towns of 100 families must establish a Latin grammar school. Massachusetts forbids Catholic priests to enter any Puritan colony.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1648 Margaret Jones of Charlestown, Mass., is the first person in the colonies to be executed as a witch. Shoemakers and coopers (barrel makers) in Boston are allowed to meet as a group of workers. Margaret Brent, a landowner and an attorney, asks for a vote in the Maryland Assembly, an unheard action by a woman at this time. Her request is rejected. 1649 Maryland Assembly passes the Act of Toleration for Christians. 1650 English and Dutch try to decide respective boundaries of their American colonies. Iron is exported from Lynn, Mass., to England. Anne Bradstreet, the first poet in New England, publishes a volume of verse in London, The Tenth Muse. Population in the colonies is estimated at 52,000.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1651 Parliament prohibits trade with the colonies, a move which stimulates New England shipbuilding. English portrait painter Robert Walker completes an oil portrait of Edward Winslow. It is the only existing authentic likeness of any of the Mayflower Pilgrims. Two Baptist ministers, John Clarke and Obadiah Holmes, are arrested in Massachusetts during a service in a private home. Clarke is released against his wishes because a friend pays his fine, but Holmes is whipped in the streets of Boston. 1652 Massachusetts General Court rules that Maine is part of the Bay colony. A form of miniature golf is popular in the New Netherlands Colony. Coins (pine-tree shillings) are minted at Boston. New Amsterdam regulates the speed of traffic. Resistance against Stuyvesant’s harsh rule forces him to give local self-government to New Amsterdam. Puritan missionary John Eliot prints Catechism in the Indian Language, probably the first book in Indian in the Colonies. Boston has its first “great fire,” after which it adopts a fire code. 1654 1653 Twenty-four Jewish immigrants arrive in New Amsterdam.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1655 Stuyvesant, with Dutch forces, seizes Swedish forts on the Delaware River. 1656 Members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) arrive in Boston. They are imprisoned for 15 weeks and then deported. Quakers are prohibited from coming to Massachusetts. 1657 Measles epidemic strikes Boston. Virginia organizes a postal system. Quakers arrive in New Amsterdam. They are imprisoned, then freed to go to Rhode Island. 1658 Typhoid fever epidemic strikes New Amsterdam. Police force of 10 men is formed in New Amsterdam. The men are paid about 50 cents a night.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1659 Joseph Jencks, iron worker, builds the first “fire engine,” a portable water pump with a self-contained water supply. Two Quakers who return to Massachusetts after having been banished are hanged on Boston Common. First classical elementary school is established in New Amsterdam. 1660 Virginia Colony proclaims Charles II King of England. It restores Sir William Berkeley as governor. Puritans had ousted him in 1652. Massachusetts fines violators 5 shillings for celebrating Christmas. John Eliot, colonial missionary, establishes the first American Indian church in Massachusetts. Wigs come into fashion. The authorities in Massachusetts try to prevent their use. Connecticut requires all men to live with their wives. A man separated from his wife for more than 3 years is ordered out of the colony. 1661 John Winthrop, Jr., is elected as the first American Fellow of the Royal Society of London. John Eliot’s translation of the New Testament into Algonquian is printed by Samuel Green of Cambridge, Mass. It is the first Bible printed in North America. Persecution of Quakers ends in Massachusetts. 1662 Virginia requires that children be baptized. If they are not, parents are fined. Printed material is censored in Puritan New England.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1663 John Eliot completes his translation of the Old Testament into Algonquian. A New Amsterdam court sentences a man to be flogged and to have his right ear cut off for selling his wife. 1664 English forces capture New Amsterdam (rename it New York) and Fort Orange (rename it Albany). Dutch power in the region is broken. England’s attempt to regulate its New England colonies is opposed by General Court of Massachusetts. Wills and diaries attest to the presence of viols, guitars, and virginals in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Drums and trumpets were used for military and civil purposes throughout New England. Marriage by a justice of the peace instead of by a clergyman is made legal in new York. Maryland law provides for life-long servitude of Negro slaves. Similar laws are passed in other colonies. 6. Horse races are run regularly on Long Island, N. Y. 1665 New Haven colony united with Connecticut. English laws are introduced into New York, providing for organization of courts and militia. Colony of New Jersey is founded. English colony, called Clarendon Colony, is established near Wilmington, N. C.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1666 Puritans from Connecticut settle Newark, N. J. First Presbyterian Church is established in New Jersey. 1668 French establish Jesuit mission and fur-trading post at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. First sports trophy, a silver porringer, is presented to the winner of a horse race on Long Island, N. Y. 1669 Plan of government for Carolina is drawn up; religious freedom is granted, but revision in 1670 officially recognizes only the Church of England. 1670 First permanent colony is South Carolina is established by the English at Albemarle Point, near present-day Charleston. Act of Virginia says that servants who are not Christians before coming to America are slaves for life. Act is repealed in 1682. The first section of Salem’s House of the Seven Gables, made famous by Hawthorne’s novel, is built. Population in the colonies is estimated at 114,500. Virginia has 40,000 residents. 1671 First Seventh-Day Baptist Church is founded in Newport, R. I.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1673 Dutch forces occupy New York until the English regain control in early 1674. Jacques Marquette, French missionary, and Louis Joliet, French explorer, travel down the Mississippi River as far as the Arkansas River. Regular mounted mail service begins between New York and Boston. 1674 By the Treaty of Westminster between England and the Netherlands, the inhabitants of New York and New Sweden are recognized as English subjects. First commercial corporation, the New York Fishing Company, is chartered. Samuel Sewall begins the diary which he kept for more than 50 years. Much of our knowledge of colonial life comes from its pages. 1675 More than 600 ships and 4000 men are now involved in New England fishing. Fire in Boston destroys 46 houses and other buildings. Massachusetts passes laws to control fashions, particularly that of men wearing long hair–whether it be their own hair or wigs. Massachusetts law requires that church doors be locked during services because too many people leave before the long sermon is completed.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1676 Indian tribes under Philip, son of Massasoit, are subdued after a year of vicious Indian attacks on settlements (King Philip’s War). Philip is shot and killed, thus ending the bloodiest Indian war in New England. Nathaniel Bacon leads rebellion against severe rule of governor of Virginia in attempt to gain protection against the Indians; Bacon dies, but Indian attacks end. Connecticut forbids anyone to wear clothes that do not match their place in society. This applies to the wearing of silk, gold or silver lace, or any other luxurious fabric or metal. Massachusetts regulates the price of shoes: five pence half penny for all plain and wooden heeled shoes, and more than seven pence half penny for well-made “French falls.” 1677 Quakers from England settle in Burlington, N. J. 1678 Anne Bradstreet publishes Several Poems in Boston. 1679 England proclaims New Hampshire a royal colony, separate from Massachusetts. 1680 French plan colonial empire stretching from Quebec to the mouth of the Mississippi River. Population in the colonies is estimated at 155,000.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1681 Sieur de La Salle (Robert Cavelier), French explorer, travels to the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims entire region from Quebec to Gulf for France, and names it Louisiana after King Louis XIV. William Penn, English Quaker, receives charter from King Charles II of England for lands that become the state of Pennsylvania. He founds the city of Philadelphia. William Penn decrees that at least 30% of the land in Pennsylvania must remain forested. William Penn writes Frame of Government, giving his ideas on religious liberty. First dancing master appears in Boston and is quickly driven out by the authorities. Dancing is a constant source of complaint among ministers. 1682 French establish first white settlement in Arkansas. Governor Berkeley suppresses an attempt to establish a printing press in Virginia. 1683 Mennonites from Germany settle Germantown, near Philadelphia. Increase Mather and others form the Philosophical Society in Boston to promote scientific research and experimentation in the colonies. 1684 England issues new royal charter making Maine and Plymouth part of Massachusetts, revoking original charter of Massachusetts Bay Colony. First excise tax on liquor goes into effect in Pennsylvania.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1685 La Salle leads French expedition that explores east Texas. William Bradford sets up a printing press in Philadelphia, the first outside Boston. Pennsylvania orders evacuation of caves being used for homes in order to fill them in. Because early settlers lacked sawmills, saws, and facilities for cutting and using stone, many of them lived in caves dug into the sides of hills. Huguenots flee France and settle in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, and South Carolina. 1686 England establishes a Dominion of New England, including New York New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. It is governed by Sir Edmund Andros. Harsh rulings by Andros cause much colonial dissent. 1687 Yamasee Indians revolt under Spanish rule in Florida and Georgia and flee northward. John Clayton writes about medical practices among the Indians. This is his first in a series of scientific papers about the New World. First Anglican service (Church of England) is held in Boston. Malaria epidemic strikes Virginia 1688 Year-long measles epidemic ends in new England. An influenza epidemic strikes Virginia.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1689 England and France seek to gain control of eastern North America. King William’s War begins; French, aided by Indians from Maine and Canada, attack English settlements. Iroquois Indians aid English. Colonists rebel in Boston against Governor Andros, who is ousted and sent to England to stand trial for misconduct. First public school is founded in Philadelphia. Tuition is charged only to those who can afford it. 1690 French and Indians attack and burn English settlements at Schenectady, N. Y., and Casco Bay, Me. English forces seize Port Royal, Nova Scotia, from the French, who recapture it. William Rittenhouse and William Bradford establish the first American paper mill in Roxborough, a town near Philadelphia, Pa. Benjamin Harris puts out the New England Primer, an elementary textbook whose rhymed sayings are designed to teach colonial youth Christian virtues along with reading. The first newspaper in the colonies, Publick Occurrence, is soon suppressed by Boston authorities. Paper money is issued in Massachusetts. Population in the colonies is estimated at 213,000. 1691 English forces regain control of New York. Jacob Leisler, German trader who led a revolt in the name of William and Mary of England and seized control (1689), is caught, tried for treason, and hanged. Ducking stool, a form of punishment for scolds, is built in New York. Although not used frequently in New York, it is common in the South.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1692 Trials for witchcraft begin in Salem, Mass. Of the 20 people condemned as witches, 18 are executed and two die in prison. Maryland officially recognizes the Church of England. 1693 Bradford established a printing press in New York. William and Mary College is founded in Virginia. Postal service is established between New York and Philadelphia. 1696 French successfully hold Quebec against attacks by the English and Iroquois. The first book printed in new York is Advice to a Young Gentleman Leaving the University by Richard Lyon. 1697 King William’s War ends; Treaty of Ryswick restores all possessions to status quo before the war. Smallpox strikes Charleston, S. C. Massachusetts law provides that anyone denying the divine nature of the Bible can be imprisoned for 6 months, confined to a pillory, whipped, or have his tongue bored through with a hot iron.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1698 Colonies offer prizes of tobacco to the colonists who produce the best linen. The new edition of the Bay Psalm Book contains music for the first time– 13 tunes, in 2-part harmony. It is the oldest existing music of American imprint. The tunes come from Playford’s book. 1699 Sieur d’Iberville (Pierre le Moyne) founds Old Biloxi (now Ocean Springs, Miss.)–first permanent white settlement in the French territory of Louisiana. Connecticut exempts the New Haven Iron works from taxes for seven years. Such financial inducements are becoming common and do much to stimulate increased industrialization in the colonies. Yellow fever epidemic in Charleston, S. C., and Philadelphia kills nearly one sixth of the population. Captain Kidd, the notorious pirate, visits a friend in Narragansett, R. I., and leaves some treasure. Legend says that Kidd murdered a helper and buried him with the treasure to keep others away. 1700 Whaling increases along the New England coast. Samuel Sewall writes The Selling of Joseph, an anti-slavery tract. Approximately 275,000 people live in the Colonies. Boston, the largest city, has about 7000 inhabitants; New York, 5000; Newport, R. I., fewer than 2000. 250 families live in Charleston, S. C., and Philadelphia has about 700 houses.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1701 Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, with a band of French colonists, establishes Fort Pontchartrain (now Detroit, Mich.). French soon guild other forts and fur- trading posts in Michigan and Illinois region. An anonymous writer calling himself “An American” publishes, in London, An Essay Upon the Government of the English Plantations on the Continent of America, which includes a proposed plan for a union of the colonies. 1702 Queen Anne’s War begins; England fights France and Spain for control of territory. English sack and burn St. Augustine, Fla. To combat delinquency in Massachusetts, Cotton Mather forms the “Society for the Suppression of Disorders,” a sort of vigilante committee to keep an eye and ear open for swearing, blaspheming, and patronage of bawdy houses. Act of Establishment in Maryland officially recognizes the Church of England. 1703 Quaker colony of Pennsylvania gives three Delaware counties the right to a separate assembly. First professional actors to perform in the colonies present a play in Charleston, S. C. Instrumental and organ music flourishes in some colonies of Pennsylvania.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year French and Indians massacre 50 men, women, and children at Deerfield, Mass., and carry off more than 100 others. English colonial forces attack the French fort of Port Royal, Nova Scotia. 1704 First continuous newspaper, the News- Letter, is printed in Boston. Ministers in Maryland have the right to separate a man and a woman if the minister disapproves of her. If the man does not obey, he can be brought into court, and, if convicted, can be fined, or whipped until blood begins to flow. 1705 Virginia’s slavery act states all imported Negroes are to be life-long slaves unless they are Christians. Thomas Odell of Boston, arrested for counterfeiting the new pound note, is sentenced to pay a fine and to spend a year in jail. Counterfeiting is a new crime since paper money is just coming into use. 3.Anglican Church is established by law in North Carolina. 1706 Invading Spanish-French flotilla is driven out of the harbor at Charleston, S. C. Customhouse (government office for collecting revenue) is built at Yorktown, Va.–port of entry for New York, Philadelphia, and other northern towns. Hunting season on deer is limited on Long Island, N. Y., because continued hunting has almost eliminated them. First Anglican parish is established in Connecticut. First Presbytery, an organization of the Presbyterian Church, is established in Philadelphia. 1707 English expedition tries to capture the French colony of Acadia (now Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island). First meeting of the Baptist Association is held in Philadelphia.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1709 German and Swiss Protestants flee from Europe and settle in the Carolinas. Quakers of Philadelphia establish the first private home for mental illness. In 1751 it becomes part of Pennsylvania Hospital. 1710 New Englanders, aided by British ships and marines, capture Port Royal from the French. It is renamed Annapolis Royal, and part of Acadia becomes the British province of Nova Scotia. Colonial population is estimated at 357,000. Colonial fashion includes high heels and stiff stays (corsets). Large curled wigs are worn by both men and women. 1711 Tuscarora Indians massacre more than 150 settlers in North Carolina. Campaign by British colonials against Montreal and Quebec fails. Sperm whale is captured by a whaling boat from Nantucket. Parliament prohibits Americans from cutting trees in the colonies. All lumber is reserved for use by the Royal Navy. Book selling flourishes. There are almost 30 shops in Boston doing a profitable business. 1712 Carolina militia, aided by friendly Indians, attacks and kills more than 300 Tuscarora Indians near the Neuse River. Negro slave uprising in New York City results in the execution of more than 100 Negroes.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1713 Territory of Carolina is divided into North and South Carolina. Tuscarora War ends with the capture of the Indians’ stronghold in South Carolina. Tuscarora Indians flee north and join the Iroquois Confederacy. Treaty of Utrecht ends Queen Anne’s War. Britain receives Hudson Bay region, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. France retains Cape Breton Island. New York City prohibits children from sleighing and coasting in the winter. 1714 The first play composed and printed in the colonies is Androboros, a political satire by Robert Hunter, the governor of New York. Tea is introduced into the colonies. The favorite nonalcoholic beverage is chocolate, but rum is popular in New England and beer in the Middle Colonies. 1715 Yamasee Indians go on the warpath and massacre more than 200 settlers in South Carolina. The Indians are driven southward into Georgia and Florida where they become allies of the Spanish against the British. Alexander Spotswood, governor of Virginia, opens an iron plant near Fredericksburg and establishes the town of Germanna for the workers, most of whom are German.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1717 John Law, a Scottish financier in France, acquires monopoly of trade rights in Louisiana and forms the Mississippi Company. 1718 New Orleans, La., is founded by French settlers from Canada and France. San Antonio, Tex., is founded as a Spanish mission and presidio (military post). William Douglass opens medical practice as one of the first colonial physicians with a medical degree and license. Alexander Spotswood, governor of Virginia, offers rewards for pirates– dead or alive. Aimed chiefly at Blackbeard who has a hideout in North Carolina, it brings results. The Governor’s men capture Blackbeard’s ship and bring his head back on a pole. 1719 French Mississippi Company encourages settlement in the southern Mississippi Valley. New Jersey law states that a person under 21 years of age cannot be married without the consent of a parent or guardian. 1720 William Burnet, English governor in New York and New Jersey, extends trade with the Indians. He seeks to bind the Iroquois to the British and keep them away from the French. French Canadians begin settling the Illinois region. Spanish set up missions in Texas to counter the French threat from Louisiana. Colonial population is estimated at 474,388: Boston, 12,000; Philadelphia, 10,000; New York, 7000; Charleston, S. C., 3500; Newport, R. I., 3800.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1721 Cotton Mather publishes the first report on American hybrid plants. Smallpox epidemic strikes Boston. William Douglass leads opposition of smallpox inoculations. Zabdiel Boylston, Boston physician, is the first American to inoculate patients against smallpox. When 6 of 250 patients die, riots break out. Connecticut law provides that no person may leave home on Sunday except to attend worship or to do some essential task. 1722 Iroquois Confederation of Six Nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora Indians) makes treaty with Virginia settlers, agreeing not to cross the Potomac River of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Boylston uses statistics to prove the success of his smallpox inoculations. Benjamin Franklin contributes a series of 14 satirical essays to the New- England Courant under the pseudonym “Silence Dogood.” 1723 Boston police force consists of 12 men. Their beats are designated by the Selectmen, who instruct them to walk silently and slowly, to stand still now and then, and listen to what is going on. They are not allowed to smoke on their rounds. 1724 To protect settlers from Indians, English build Fort Dummer (near Brattleboro), first permanent white settlement in Vermont. Irrigation of rice fields begins in South Carolina.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1725 British settlers in northern Maine kill French Jesuit missionary for inciting trouble among the Abenaki Indians. British build border forts to contain French expansion. Abenakis ally themselves with French against the British. Dudley discovers that ambergris, a fragrant liquid later used in perfume, is produced by male sperm whales. First newspaper in New York is the Gazette, operated by William Bradford. First separate church of Colored Baptists is established at Williamsburg, Va. 1726 British governor puts down riot by the poor in Philadelphia. 1727 Reverend Jonathan Edwards goes to the church at Northampton, Mass., the most influential parish in the Connecticut Valley. He remains there more than 20 years. James Franklin establishes the first printing press in Rhode Island. Benjamin Franklin establishes Junto, a society for scientific and philosophical discussion. Junto later inspires the formation of the American Philosophical Society. 1728 John Bartram plants America’s first botanical gardens near Philadelphia and begins experiments with hybrids. Samuel Higby produces America’s first steel in Hartford, Ct. William Byrd surveys the border between North Carolina and Virginia. Boston begins to enclose the Common to preserve the grass from carts and horses. Soon it becomes the custom after tea for people to stroll about the green. Jews in New York build the first synagogue.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1729 North and South Carolina become royal colonies after giving up their charters. Indian raids force French settlements in Mississippi Valley to be confined to the lower part (now the state of Louisiana. Isaac Greenwood publishes Arithmetick Vulgar and Decimal, America’s first textbook in mathematics. 1730 French construct a stone fort at Crown Point on Lake Champlain, N. Y. Thomas Godfrey invents the reflecting quadrant, an instrument for determining position at sea. A craze for white stockings for both men and women sets in. Made mostly of silk or cotton thread, they are supported by means of fancy garters. Often the name of a gentleman or a lady is woven into the garter. Population in the colonies is estimated at 655,000. 1731 First circulating library is founded in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin. 1732 Royal charter is granted to James Oglethorpe for an English colony in Georgia. Benjamin Franklin begins publishing Poor Richard’s Almanac. For the first time, the game of ninepins is played in New York City. Land at the south end of Broadway is used as a bowling green. First stagecoach line is established between Burlington and Amboy, N. J.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1733 Oglethorpe founds Savannah in Georgia, the last of the original 13 colonies to be settled. Oglethorpe’s colony is a defense against the Spanish in Florida and the French in Louisiana and is a refuge for the poor and the persecuted. Molasses Act puts prohibitive duties on sugar, rum, and molasses brought to the colonies from the French, Spanish, and Dutch West Indies. Benjamin Franklin is public printer for the colonies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. Jonathan Edwards preaches “The Great Awakening” in New England. It is a religious revival that stresses man’s sinful nature. John Peter Zenger, publisher of the New York Weekly Journal, is arrested for seditious libel. His later acquittal is a landmark for freedom of the press (1735). 1735 Increasing wealth in the colonies causes a change in the status of women. More women leave their husbands when they find living together incompatible; newspapers tell of runaway wives and elopements. 1736 Britain cannot enforce the Molasses Act. New England merchants continue to import low-priced sugar, rum, and molasses from other than British islands in the West Indies. 1737 Copper money is first coins in Connecticut. The coins are stamped “I am good copper” and “Value me as you will.”

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1738 Caspar Wistar starts America’s first successful glass factory in Salem County, N. J. Thomas Clap, president of Yale College, begins teaching astronomy and natural philosophy (science). John Lining begins recording daily weather observations and theorizes that weather affects–and may cause– certain diseases. One of the first umbrellas is owned by Edward Shippen. There is much religious opposition to the use of umbrellas, particularly among Quakers. Strict codes of behavior in New England are relaxed somewhat. Permission is given to Charles Bradstreet to teach French dancing, “so long as he keeps good order.” Population in the colonies is estimated at 880,000. 1739 English colonists of South Carolina and Georgia declare war on the Spanish in Florida. Border difficulties and mistreatment of captured British seamen are the chief grievances against the Spanish. British begin raiding Spanish towns in the Caribbean 1740 Oglethorpe leads an unsuccessful expedition against St. Augustine, Fla. British bombard Spanish town of Cartagena, Colombia, and raid foreign colonies in the West Indies. Fire destroys half of Charleston, S. C. Laws prohibit slaves from using drums.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1741 Captain Vitus Bering, Danish explorer in the service of Russia, discovers Alaska. He dies after his ship is wrecked on the shore of Bering Island. British make unsuccessful attack on Santiago, Cuba, and seize Spanish treasure ships. Colombia, and raid foreign colonies in the West Indies. Jonathan Edwards delivers the most famous sermon of colonial times, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Drunkenness is prevalent. Each colony has strict laws to control drinking. Boston goes so far as to post the names of drunkards. First strike takes place in New York City when bakers protest the regulation of the price of bread. 1742 Spanish attack Georgia. They withdraw after being defeated by Oglethorpe’s forces at the Battle of Bloody Marsh on St. Simons Island. Fishing industry grows in New England; there are almost 1000 fishing ships. 1743 Oglethorpe again invades Florida but fails to capture St. Augustine. Franklin establishes the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia to promote colonial science. 1744 French make unsuccessful attack on Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. King George’s War begins between British and French colonies. Iroquois Confederation cedes Ohio Valley territory north of the Ohio River to Britain. Franklin invents the Pennsylvania Fireplace (or Franklin Stove) which provides much more heat on much less fuel than regular fireplaces.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1745 New Englanders, supported by a British fleet, capture the French fortress at Louisburg on Cape Breton Island, Canada. French and Indians raid Maine towns and forts and burn Saratoga, N. Y. Thomas Cadwalader publishes America’s first medical pamphlet describing the treatment of lead poisoning caused by drinking rum distilled in lead pipes. The writings of Montesquieu appear in American periodicals. They influence the formation of the Constitution. Whist, a popular card game, is played by men and women. 1746 French fail to retake Cape Breton and Nova Scotia from the British. Franklin explains weather patterns, pressure systems, and water spouts. He begins his experiments with electricity. 3. Winthrop claims that lightning is a sign of God’s anger. He begins experiments in physics. First boarding school for girls is started in Pennsylvania by the Moravians. Princeton University is founded. 1747 Ohio Company is formed to extend colonial settlements of Virginia westward. Rivalry for the West, especially for the upper Ohio Valley, increases between France and Great Britain. Mark Catesby publishes On Migration claiming that birds migrate to areas where there is better weather and more food. Catesby is later called the “Father of American Ornithology.” First legal society, the New York Bar Association, is established in New York City. 1748 King George’s War ends; Louisburg is returned to France. British strengthen hold on Nova Scotia by founding the town of Halifax. John Mitchell classifies American plants and animals by the Linnaean system of scientific names and claims to have discovered 25 new plant genera. He is the first to describe accurately the lifestyle and pouch of the opossum

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1749 Ohio Company obtains royal charter with a large land grant around the forks of the Ohio River. In an effort to break the British- Iroquois alliance, the French establish a mission and trapping-post at Ogdensburg, N. Y. French build Fort Rouille (near Toronto) to counteract British trade and influence in the Niagara region. French also send expedition to take possession of the Ohio Valley. Franklin invents the lightning rod and installs one on his Philadelphia home. 1750 Ohio Company sends Christopher Gist to explore its western lands. He descends the Ohio River, explores eastern Kentucky, and maps the region. Parliament passes the Iron Act of 1750, ordering all colonial finishing plants to close and dropping import taxes on pig iron to encourage the colonists to produce raw iron for finishing in England. First American coal mine opens on the James River in Virginia. First appearance in Pennsylvania of the flatboat for navigating the inland rivers and of the Conestoga wagon, eventually the common pioneer transportation and original form of the prairie schooner. Jonathan Edwards is forced to resign from his church in Northampton, Mass., by members of his congregation who oppose his emphasis on the sinful nature of man. Edwards’ departure marks the end in New England of “The Great Awakening”.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year Ohio Company engages in active British colonization of the Ohio Valley. Rivalry between Britain and France for control of the area increases. 1751 Franklin publishes Experiments and Observations on Electricity describing electricity as a single fluid and using the terms positive and negative for the first time. Calculus is introduced into the Harvard curriculum by John Winthrop, Jr. 1752 French begin building forts across Pennsylvania and into Ohio to stop British invasion of their territory. Franklin performs his famous kite experiment demonstrating that lightning is electricity. Thomas Bond establishes the first general hospital in the colonies in Philadelphia. Pest-houses (contagious disease hospitals) had been started in Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston, S. C. 1753 the forks of the Ohio River. French defeat Virginia militiamen led by Washington at Great Meadows (Fort Necessity)--the first battle of the French and Indian War (1755- 1763). Albany Plan of Union. The London Board of Trade holds a convention at Albany, N. Y. Delegates from 7 colonies meet with Iroquois chief to prepare defenses: Franklin proposes a Plan of Union where a “Grand Council” of colonies would oversee defense, Indian relations, and trade and would have taxing power, and where a royally appointed executive would have veto power. Both colonial assemblies and Parliament rejected the plan. Franklin publishes, in the Pennsylvania Gazette, a cartoon calling for unity against the French. It is believed to be the first such cartoon in America (“Unite or Die”)

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1755 French and Indians ambush and defeat colonial militiamen and British regulars under Gen. Edward Braddock, near Fort Duquesne. Braddock is mortally wounded; Washington takes command. Maps of Virginia and the Middle British Colonies are printer. 1756 French under Gen. Montcalm capture Fort Oswego and restore control of Lake Ontario to France. Seven Years’ War begins in Europe. The war involves colonial rivalry between Britain and France and the struggle for power in Germany between Austria and Prussia John Bartram proposes a geological survey of the colonies in hopes of discovering buried minerals Through stagecoach line is established between Philadelphia and New York. 1757 French under Montcalm capture Fort William Henry on lake George from the British. Indian allies of the French massacre many British prisoners in the garrison. Washington acquires Mount Vernon Plantation. First street lights are used in Philadelphia: whale-oil lamps, designed by Franklin, are installed on a few streets. 1758 French under Montcalm repulse British attack on Fort Ticonderoga, N. Y. British capture Louisburg on Cape Breton Island, and Fort Frontenac on lake Ontario. French burn and abandon Fort Duquesne, which the British rebuild and rename Fort Pitt. A school for Blacks is established in Philadelphia by the Anglican missionary group. First North American Indian reservation is established in New Jersey.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1759 British capture Fort Niagara. French abandon Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point, N. Y., as British threaten siege. Colonial troops destroy village of the Saint Francis Indians in southern Canada. British under Gen. James Wolfe defeat the French under Gen. Montcalm at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, near Quebec. Both generals are killed. Quebec surrenders to the British. Colonial shipbuilders are producing nearly 400 vessels each year. Peter Harrison designs the Touro Synagogue in Newport, R. I. It is the first synagogue in the U. S. In Pennsylvania, religious opposition to the theater results in a penalty of 500 pounds for performing a play. Thomas and Richard Penn establish the first recorded life insurance company, the Presbyterian Ministers Fund, in Pennsylvania 1760 British capture Montreal; French Governor of Canada surrenders the entire province to the British French surrender Detroit to the British. Cherokee Indians massacre the garrison at Fort Loudoun on the Tennessee River. Governors of frontier colonies are told not to honor land grants that have permitted trespass on Indian lands. George III becomes King of England. Tobacco prices in England drop sharply forcing many colonists to begin planting corn and wheat instead. Jared Eliot, a Connecticut agriculturist, writes Essays Upon Field Husbandry in New England, modifying British farming techniques for use in America. Population in the colonies is estimated at 1.6 million. New York requires that all physicians and surgeons pass a test and be licensed to practice medicine.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1761 James Otis opposes British writs of assistance (search warrants), claiming they violate the natural rights of British colonials. George Washington begins experimenting with crop rotation, soil fertilization, and livestock management and breeding. One of the earliest known cookbooks, The Complete Housewife, is published in new York City. The first musical society in America, the St. Cecilia Society, is founded in Charleston, S. C. 1762 By the Treaty of Fontainebleau, France secretly cedes the Louisiana Territory to Spain, thus keeping it from falling under British control Ethan Allen establishes an ironworks and blast furnace in Salisbury, Conn. This plant will produce many of the cannons used by colonists in the Revolutionary War.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year Treaty of Paris ends the French and Indian War. France cedes to Great Britain all its territories east of the Mississippi River, except the Island of Orleans. Spain gives up Florida to Britain for return of Cuba and the Philippines. France and Britain exchange and receive islands in the West Indies. Pontiac’s Rebellion. Indian tribes attack forts and settlements, now held by the British in the Ohio-Great Lakes region. Indians destroy all forts except Forts Pitt and Detroit before making peace in 1766.1) Proclamation of 1763. To prevent escalation of the Indian fighting in the west, the British government draws a line down the Appalachian Mountains. Americans were forbidden to settle west of the line in Indian and former French areas. A new colony of Quebec was created west of the proclamation line. Two Indian superintendents were appointed: John Stuart, for tribes in the south, and Sir William Johnson, for the northern tribes. Paxton Boys Revolt in Pennsylvania over taxes and help in fighting the Indians. George Grenville becomes finance minister 1763 The technology of printing is firmly established in all 13 colonies. Henry William Steigel, German manufacturer, establishes the American Flint Glass Manufactory in Mannheim, Pa. America’s first medical society is formed in New London, Conn. Beginnings of the free Black tradition in New England is seen: there are 5214 Blacks in Massachusetts’ population of 235,810. Most Blacks, however, work at menial jobs in shipyards and homes.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1764 British Parliament enacts the Sugar Act to raise money in the colonies to pay the British war debt. The Currency Act prohibits the plantation colonies from issuing money (colonies of New England had been under such restriction since 1751). Colonials protest against the two acts. Smallpox epidemic sparks the opening of two inoculation hospitals in the Boston area. 1765 British Parliament enacts the Stamp Act, requiring the purchase of tax stamps to be affixed to newspapers, pamphlets, documents, playing cards, licenses, dice, etc. Quartering Act requires the colonies to provide food and lodging for British soldiers. Virginia Assembly opposes Stamp Act (the Virginia Resolves). Sons of Liberty force British stamp agents to resign. Stamp Act Congress in New York City adopts Declaration of Rights and Grievances to be submitted to the King and Parliament. Colonial policy of non- importation of British goods goes into effect. John Dickinson, “Penman of the Revolution,” criticizes the Stamp Act in Late Regulations Respecting the Colonies Considered. John Morgan establishes America’s first medical school at the College of Philadelphia. Chocolate is first manufactured at Dorchester, Mass.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1766 Stamp Act is repealed after London merchants cite business failures caused by loss of American market for their goods. British Parliament enacts Declaratory Act, stating its right to make laws for the colonies. Mason-Dixon Line marks boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland. Stagecoach between New York City and Philadelphia advertises itself as a “flying-machine, a good stage wagon set on springs.” Trips take two days (in good weather). 1767 New York Assembly is suspended for refusing to comply fully with the Quartering Act. Townshend Acts are passed, requiring the colonies to pay import duties on tea, glass, lead, oil, paper, and painters’ colors. Non-importation policy is revived by the colonies King’s College in New York opens America’s second medical school. Daniel Boone, starting from North Carolina, makes his first exploration west of the Appalachian Mountains. He travels along the present-day Kentucky-West Virginia border. 1768 Colonial assemblies urge opposition to Townshend Acts. Cherokee and Iroquois Indians negotiate treaties. Indian land in Virginia extends to the Ohio River. British control western New York and Pennsylvania. Colonists refuse to provide quarters to British troops in Boston. Bodo Otto, German physician, produces cottonseed oil in Bethlehem, Pa. Medical School at Philadelphia College graduates its first physicians. First Methodist Church is established in New York City.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1769 British governor dissolves Virginia Assembly for its resolutions against the British taxes and other policies. Colonial seaports draw up non- importation agreements against the British 1770 British soldiers kill several colonists in Boston. Colonial resentment over the Townshend and Quartering Acts caused the incident, now known as the Boston Massacre (March 5). British Parliament repeals the Townshend Acts, but retains the tax on tea. Colonists end their embargo on British goods. Frederick North (Lord North) becomes British Prime Minister. Population in the colonies is estimated at 2.2 million. Benjamin Banneker builds a wooden clock that keeps accurate time for more than 50 years. Paul Revere publishes the engraving “the Bloody Massacre.” It is actually a copy of an earlier rendition by Peter Pelham, another important engraver of the period. 1771 British troops suppress uprising of back-country farmers in North Carolina (Regulators), who protest discriminatory laws, excessive taxes, and under-representation in the colonial legislature. Poems on Various Subjects by Phyllis Wheatley, a Black poet from Boston, is published in London.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1772 Governors and judges in Massachusetts are to be paid by the Crown, making them independent of the Assembly’s financial control Rhode Islanders attack and burn the British revenue cutter Gaspee in Narragansett Bay. John Hobday invents the threshing machine and is awarded a gold medal by the Virginia Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge. Charles Willson Peale, the most important painter of the Revolutionary period, completes a life-sized portrait of George Washington. 1773 Parliament passes the Tea Act to save British East Indian Company from bankruptcy and to reassert its right to tax the colonies. Colonial anger leads to the Boston Tea Party (December 16), in which men dressed as Indians dump British tea shipments into the Boston harbor. Oliver Evans proposes steam-powered “horseless carriage.” An early mental hospital, the Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds, opens in Williamsburg, Va. First large-scale street lighting begins in Boston: 310 street lamps are installed and kept lighted evenings from October to May. 1774 British Parliament passes measures (Intolerable Acts) to punish the Massachusetts colonists for the Boston Tea Party. Boston port is closed until payment is made for the tea destroyed. Colonists are forced to quarter British soldiers and are deprived of many chartered rights. First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia (September 5) with delegates from all of the colonies except Georgia. Petitions of grievances are sent to the king. Thomas Paine arrives in America and becomes the editor of Pennsylvania Magazine. Thomas Jefferson writes his first important work, A Summary View of the Rights of British America, in which he asserts that the British have no right to rule or legislate for the colonies. Ann Lee arrives from England with a group of followers called the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Coming (Shakers). She establishes a community at New Lebanon, N. Y. Royal American Magazine, the first to use illustrations regularly, is published. Paul Revere contributes engravings attacking the British oppression of the colonies.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1775 Patrick Henry delivers speech against tyrannical British rule, closing with “Give me liberty or give me death.” Paul Revere alerts colonists that British soldiers are on the way to Concord to destroy arms. Minutemen fight British at Lexington and Concord (April 19), beginning the American Revolutionary War. Green Mountain Boys under Colonel Ethan Allen capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British. Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia (May 10) and appoints Washington Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army (June 15). British defeat colonial forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17). David Bushnell invents a one-man, hand- operated submarine, the “American Turtle.” Colonies are supplying nearly 15% of the world’s iron. Postal system is established by the Second continental Congress, and Franklin is appointed Postmaster General. “Yankee Doodle” becomes popular as a rallying song with which to taunt the British. First abolition society, the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, is organized in Philadelphia by Franklin and Benjamin Rush, physician and political leader.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1776 British forces evacuate Boston. Congress adopts a resolution made by Richard Henry Lee (June 7) advocating independence. Congress then adopts the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson General William Howe leads British troops in the successful Battle of Long Island, captures New York City, and defeats the Continental Army at White Plains, N. Y. Washington retreats; he defeats Hessians (German soldiers hired by the British) at the Battle of Trenton, N. J. (December 26). British hang, without trial, Nathan Hale as a spy. British defeat small colonial fleet under Benedict Arnold on Lake Champlain. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense is published and sells more than 100,000 copies in 3 months. It urges the end of the union with England. Philip Freneau, “Poet of the American Revolution,” writes biting satires against the British. David Bushnell unsuccessfully tries to sink a British warship by attaching time bombs to the hull. 1777 Washington defeats the British at the Battle of Princeton British forces under General John Burgoyne seize Fort Ticonderoga, but fail to capture Albany. Revolutionary forces surround and defeat Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga (October 7), ending the British plan to split the colonies along the Hudson River. Burgoyne surrenders his entire army to General Gates (October 17). British forces under General Howe defeat Washington’s forces at Brandywine and Germantown, Pa. British control and occupy Philadelphia (September 27). Washington sets up winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pa. Congress adopts and sends to the states for ratification the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. Congress specifies the design of the U. S. flag: “thirteen stripes alternate red and white…thirteen stars of white on a blue field.” The New Testament of the bible is published in English for the first time in America. Washington orders his soldiers to be inoculated against smallpox. California’s oldest building still in existence, the chapel of the San Juan Capistrano mission, is built.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1778 Congress ratifies treaty of alliance with France and rejects British peace offer. British evacuate Philadelphia, fearing blockade by French fleet. Baron Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette help Washington train Continental Army. Washington defeats British at the Battle of Monmouth, N. J. British capture Savannah, Ga. British Tories and Indians massacre inhabitants of Wyoming Valley, Pa., and Cherry Valley, N. Y. 1779 Virginians under George Rogers Clark complete their conquest of the Old Northwest, capturing Vincennes, Ind. General Anthony Wayne defeats the British at Stony Point, N. Y. Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, wins naval victory against British frigate Serapis off the east coast of England. French and colonial land-sea forces fail to recapture Savannah, Ga. Spain enters the war against Britain. Under Thomas Jefferson, William and Mary College creates schools of medicine, law, and modern languages. The system allowing students to choose courses is introduced. John Murray establishes the First Universalist Congregation at Gloucester, Mass.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1780 British capture Charleston and overrun South Carolina. Benedict Arnold’s plot to surrender West Point to the British is discovered through the capture of a British spy. Arnold flees and joins the British, with whom he campaigns. British win the Battle of Camden, S. C. Colonial frontiersmen win the Battle of Kings Mountain. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is organized in Boston. Philadelphia Humane Society is established to teach first aid (reviving drowning victims). Franklin proposes mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. U. S. population is estimated at 2.7 million. 1781 Colonials win the Battle of Cowpens, S. c., but lose at Guilford Court House, N. C. British suffer heavy losses. French fleet defeats British naval force at Hampton Roads and blockades the Chesapeake Bay. Revolutionary troops surround the British at Yorktown, Va. General Charles Cornwallis surrenders to Washington (October 19), ending hostilities of the American Revolution. Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union are ratified. Congress charters Bank of North America. Jeremiah Wilkinson produces cold-cut iron nails from iron plate.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1782 Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay negotiate peace treaty (Treaty of Paris) with British in Paris. British troops evacuate Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S. C. Holland recognizes U. S. independence. J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur publishes Letters From An American Farmer, a series of 12 essays about his extensive travels in North America. Robert Aitken, printer, publishes the first complete English-language Bible in America. Harvard Medical School opens. Great seal of the United States is adopted. Use of the scarlet letter for adulterers in New England is discontinued 1783 Treaty of Paris between Britain the U. S. ends American Revolution; Britain recognizes U. S. independence. British evacuate New York City. Continental Army is disbanded; Washington resigns as Commander-in- Chief. U. S. independence is recognized by Sweden, Denmark, Spain, and Russia The first daily newspaper in the U. S., the Pennsylvania Evening Post, begins publication. Abel Buell makes first map of the United States. Josiah Flagg, America’s first native-born dentist, opens practice in Boston. Noah Webster published The American Spelling Book. The work helps standardize spelling of American English. Population of the U. S. is estimated at 2.4 million. Decrease is due mainly to war deaths and the departure of Loyalists during the Revolutionary War. It takes Thomas Jefferson five days to travel by public transportation from Philadelphia to Baltimore, Md., a distance of about 90 miles.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1784 Congress adopts Jefferson’s plan for governing western lands. North Carolina cedes its western lands to the U. S. The state of Franklin (present-day east Tennessee) exists until 1888, when settlers accept renewed jurisdiction of North Carolina. Congress, with no power of taxation under the Articles of Confederation is unable to raise needed revenue. Oliver Evans establishes an automatic production line in a flour mill near Philadelphia. Jefferson published Notes On Virginia. Franklin invents bifocal eyeglasses. The ship Empress of China sails to Canton, China. This trade route enables American commerce to recover from the British blockade of the Revolutionary War. Salem, Mass., becomes the center in New England for the China trade. 1785 U. S. and Spain argue over navigation rights on the Mississippi River and the boundaries of Florida (returned to Spain by Britain in 1783). U. S. and Prussia sign treat of commerce and friendship. Thomas Jefferson becomes Minister to France; John Adams to Great Britain. Congress enacts a land ordinance that provides that a section of each township in the Western Reserve (northeast Ohio) be set aside for the support of public schools. Mt. Vernon conference. First American edition of Mother Goose Rhymes is published by Isaiah Thomas. John Greenwood, George Washington’s dentist, begins using porcelain for false teeth. Regular stagecoach routs linking New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia begin operation.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1786 Britain tells U. S. it will not evacuate Great Lakes region until U. S. debts to Britain are paid. Barbary pirates raid U. S. ships in the Mediterranean Sea. Debt-ridden farmers in western Massachusetts, led by Daniel Shays, revolt against the state government, protesting high taxes, shortage of money, and insistent creditors. Shay’s Rebellion is crushed (1787). Annapolis Convention. Representatives of 5 states meet at Annapolis, Md., in September. Invitations are sent to all of the states to send delegates to meet in Philadelphia in May the following year to discuss amending the Articles of confederation. First Ice cream is made commercially in New York City. A “golf club” is established at Charleston, S. C. Physician Benjamin Rush suggests that some illnesses may be psychosomatic. 1787 Congress enacts Northwest Ordinance, providing for government for the Northwest Territory east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio. Territory is to be divided into three to five states when population is large enough. Congress calls for Constitutional convention to meet in Philadelphia on May 5. Delegates draft and sign the Constitution of the United States (September 17), which is sent to the states for ratification. Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey ratify it. John Fitch launches first American steamboat on the Delaware River. First American cotton mill opens in Beverly, Mass. John Rumsey invents a “jet-propelled” steamboat which shoots a stream of water through the stern (rear).

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1788 Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire ratify the Constitution, thereby achieving the necessary nine- state acceptance to put it into effect. Virginia and New York, the two most populous states, ratify the Constitution after heated debate. Rhode Island and North Carolina refuse to ratify the Constitution. Bill of Rights is recommended by anti- Federalists. The Federalist Papers, written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay are published. Maryland and Virginia give land on the Potomac River to Congress as the site for a federal capital. 1789 Supporters of ratification of the Constitution form the Federalist Party. George Washington and John Adams (both Federalists) are chosen President and Vice President, respectively. Federal Judiciary Act creates Supreme Court, 13 district courts, and three circuit courts. John Jay becomes first chief Justice. Congress creates Departments of State, War, and Treasury and adopts the first ten amendments to the Constitution (the Bill of Rights) and sends them to the states for ratification. North Carolina ratifies the Constitution (Rhode Island ratifies it in 1790). New York City becomes the first capital of the U. S. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated as a national holiday for the first time. First organized temperance group is formed by 200 farmers in Connecticut, who pledge not to drink alcoholic beverages during farming season. Political buttons first appear.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1790 Congress adopts financial programs of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Federal government assumes national debt; Bank of the United States is proposed; revenue is raised by import tariffs and excise taxes. Seat of government moves from New York City to Philadelphia, which becomes the new capital. Noah Webster is instrumental in gaining passage of the Copyright Act. Samuel Slater builds the first American steam- powered cotton-processing machines in Rhode Island, an event that marks the beginning of the industrial Revolution in America. Congress rejects a proposal by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, that the U. S. adopt a decimal system of measurement (an early metric system). First American patent is awarded to Samuel Hopkins for his process of manufacturing potash. John Greenwood invents foot- powered dental drill. First national census sets U. S. population at 4 million; approximately 25% in New England, 25% in the Middle States, and 50% in the South. The largest city is Philadelphia with 42,000 inhabitants, followed in order by New York, Boston, Charleston, and Baltimore. 1791 Indians armed by the British attack settlements in the Northwest Territory. Indians defeat U. S. forces near the Wabash River in Ohio. Vermont becomes 14th state, ending 14 years as an independent republic. States ratify the Bill of Rights, which becomes part of the U. S. Constitution. First important turnpike is opened, a 620 mile road between Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pa. It is the first macadam road. Congress passes the first internal revenue law. Fourteen revenue districts are set up, and a tax of 20 to 30 cents a gallon is put on distilled spirits. John Rumsey receives patents for his improved steam boiler. First successful American sugar refinery is opened in new Orleans by Antonio Mendez Anthracite coal is discovered in Pennsylvania. Franklin’s Autobiography is published in Paris. Pierre-Charles L’Enfant, engineer, completes the design of Washington, D. C.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1792 Republican Party (later Democratic- Republican) is formed to oppose the Federalists. Republicans led by Jefferson feel Federalists’ policies favor urban financial and commercial groups and are harmful to the farmers. Republicans, who are pro-French, oppose a strong centralized government favored by the Federalists, who are pro- British. Congress passes a national conscription act to require “each and every free able-bodies white male citizen of the republic” to serve in the U. S. Militia. Kentucky becomes 15th state. Edmond Genet, minister of the French government, tries to goad the U. S. government into a pro-French position. A mint is established in Philadelphia. New York Stock Exchange is organized. 1793 Washington declares U. S. neutrality in British-French war. Washington and Adams are re-elected president and Vice President, respectively. Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act, making it illegal to aid or to prevent the arrest of runaway slaves. Work begins on the Middlesex Canal in Mass. (Completed in 1803.) Work begins on the Santee Canal in South Carolina. (Completed in 1800.) Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin. (“Gin” is short for engine.) Irish-American architect James Hoban designs the White House. George Washington lays the cornerstone of the U. S. Capitol building. Eli Whitney’s cotton gin greatly increases cotton production and revives the dying slave economy of the south.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1794 Neutrality Act forbids U. S. citizens serving in the military forces of foreign countries and forbids the giving of supplies to foreign warships in U. S. ports. Militia puts down Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. Farmers protest the excise tax places on liquor in 1791. U. S. Army under General Wayne defeats the Indians at Fallen Timbers. Indian resistance in the Northwest Territory is broken. U. S. and Britain conclude Jay’s Treaty. British promise to evacuate Great Lakes posts, but British interference with neutral U. S. ships continues. David Wilkinson invents the sliding rest lathe for making delicate pieces of machinery. Postal rates are usually paid by the person receiving the mail: 6¢ up to 30 miles, 15¢ up to 200 miles, and 25¢ over 400 miles. Use of powder on men’s hair goes out of fashion after more than 100 years. Hair is still worn in a braid, tied with black ribbon. 1795 Naturalization Act makes five-year residence a requirement for citizenship. Members of the nobility entering the U. S. must give up titles. General Wayne signs Treaty of Greenville with the chiefs of 12 Indian tribes. Indians cede lands in the Northwest Territory to white settlers. Treaty of San Lorenzo (or Pinckney’s Treaty) between Spain and the U. S. establishes Florida boundary and gives U. S. right of navigation on the Mississippi River and the “right of deposit” at New Orleans. Robert Fulton patents the first power-shovel for digging canals. One of the earliest unions, the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (shoemakers), is organized in Philadelphia. Artist Gilbert Stuart executes famous portraits of Washington. The engraving of one of them is now on the $1 bill.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1796 Tennessee becomes 16th state. Washington’s “Farewell Address” warns against U. S. involvement in foreign affairs. He refuses the Presidency for a third term. John Adams (Federalist) is elected President; Thomas Jefferson (Democratic- Republican) is elected Vice President. Congress authorizes the construction of Zane’s Trace, a road from Wheeling (now in West Virginia) to Limestone (now Maysville), Ky. It becomes one of the main routes traveled by west-bound settlers. America’s first suspension bridge is built across Jacob’s Creek in Westmoreland, Pa., by James Finley. The first complete works of Shakespeare are published in the U. S. Travelers along the Philadelphia- Baltimore roads complain of chasms 6 to 10 feet deep along the way, sometimes causing vehicles to overturn. It often takes a stagecoach 5 days to make the trip. 1797 XYZ Affair. France, believing Jay’s treaty shows U. S. bias toward Britain, interferes with U. S. shipping. Three agents of French Foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand try to extort money from U. S. commissioners in Paris. The U. S. ministers were Gerry, Pinckney, and Marshall, who indignantly refused to bribe the French government. Charles Newbold patents America’s first cast iron plow amid reports that the iron would poison the soil and increase the weeds. 1798 Congress repeals all treaties with France and orders navy to capture French armed ships. Federalist majority in Congress amends Naturalization Act to require a residence period of 14 years. Alien and Sedition Acts permit the arrest and deportation of any “dangerous” alien and restrict political opposition Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, framed by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson respectively, declare the Alien and Sedition Acts unconstitutional and declare that states may “nullify” acts of Congress (states’ rights). Eli Whitney invents a milling machine to produce muskets with standard and interchangeable parts. He is later hailed as the “Father of Mass Production.” Robert Fulton invents the Nautilus, a hand- operated, four-man submarine.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1799 Settlement of the Mississippi Territory, created by Congress in 1798, is hampered by hostile Indians and by Spanish control of the Gulf ports. President Adams avoids war with France by reopening negotiations; pro- war group of Federalists, led by Hamilton, bitterly attacks Adams’ friendly policy toward France. Alexander Hamilton describes the state of American industry in Report on the Subject of Manufactures First recorded use of the word ‘scab” comes in the strike of shoemakers in Philadelphia. The term of abuse refers to workers hired to replace strikers. A 14 year-old boy graduates from Rhode Island College. Intellectual ability among children is not uncommon during colonial times. Infants of 3 are sometimes taught to read Latin as soon as they are taught English. Timothy Dwight, President of Yale College, was able to read the Bible at age 4. 1800 Seat of government moves from Philadelphia to Washington, D. C., which becomes the new capital. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr (Democratic-Republicans) run for President against John Adams and Charles Pinckney (Federalists). Because candidates for President and Vice President are not separately nominated, Jefferson and Burr end in a tie with 73 votes each in the electoral college. The election was resolved in the House of representatives early the following year after more than 30 votes were taken. Congress enacts a law dividing the Northwest Territory into two territories, Indiana and Ohio. By secret treaty (the Treaty of San Idlefonso), Spain cedes the Louisiana Territory to France. Benjamin Waterhouse gives America’s first smallpox vaccination to his son. Fireboats are used in New York Harbor. The Library of Congress is founded. Rembrandt Peale paints a portrait of Thomas Jefferson. Second national census shows a population of 5.3 million, including more than 800,000 slaves. William young of Philadelphia is the first shoemaker in America to make different shoes for the right and left feet. 4-tined forks come into common use in American homes at this time, replacing 2- or 3-tined forks. John Chapman (“Johnny Appleseed”) visits pioneer settlements in the Ohio Valley, distributing religious material and apple seeds.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1801 Thomas Jefferson elected President by the House of Representatives. Aaron Burr is elected Vice President John Marshall becomes Chief Justice of the United States. 1802 Congress empowers the President to arm merchant ships to protect them in a “war” with the Barbary Pirates in Tripoli. The government repeals the excise tax, the Naturalization Act, and the Judiciary Act of 1801. The Alien and Sedition Acts are allowed to expire. John Stevens of New York builds a screw-driven steamboat. Maryland physician James Smith opens a clinic that gives free smallpox vaccinations to the poor Congress establishes a military academy at West Point, New York. 1803 Ohio becomes the 17th state. Louisiana Purchase. Napoleon sells the 828,000 square mile territory to the U. S. for $15 million. This doubled the size of the country for approximately 3 cents an acre. Marbury v. Madison. Supreme Court decision written by Chief Justice Marshall establishes the principal of judicial review. John Sibley sets out to explore the Red River as far as the present site of Shreveport, La. Lewis and Clark Expedition. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark begin their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase west of the Mississippi River. Following the Ohio, Missouri, and Columbia Rivers to the Pacific, their journey west and back covers approximately 8,000 miles.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1804 U. S. expedition under Stephen Decatur sinks the captured U. S. frigate Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli. Extremists plan a separate northern confederacy in alliance with Aaron Burr. The plan fails when Hamilton blocks Burr’s attempt to become governor of New York by attacks on Burr’s character in the press. Burr challenges Hamilton to a duel in which Hamilton is killed. Thomas Jefferson is re-elected President in the first election with separate balloting for President and Vice President. George Clinton is elected Vice President. Both are Democratic-Republicans. 1805 U. S. and Tripoli sign a treaty granting American ships free passage in the Mediterranean. Barbary piracy continues until 1815. Michigan Territory is formed out of the northern part of Indiana Territory. First important shipment of ice from New England is made by Frederick Tudor, who exports it to Martinique in the West Indies. Shipping ice to India becomes a profitable New England business. General Zebulon Pike explores the Upper Mississippi River Charles Wilson Peale helps to found the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. First American to win distinction as a boxer is Bill Richmond, an African- American, who knocks out Jack “Tome Tough” Holmes in the 26th round in England. Richmond never boxed in the United States.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1806 Jefferson protests Britain’s interference with and France’s restrictions on neutrality of U. S. shipping. Congress passes the Non-importation Act, forbidding the purchase of British goods. Aaron Burr plans to establish an independent republic in the Southwest. His plot fails when Jefferson has him arrested. Gas street lighting is introduced by David Melville, who sets up lamps on a street in Newport, R. I. Noah Webster publishes his dictionary of the English language establishing i and j and u and v as separate letters. Pike explores the southwestern territory, traveling through Kansas, southern Nebraska, Colorado, and New Mexico. He first sees Pike’s Peak on this trip. Trial of striking Philadelphia cordwainers (shoemakers) is the first prosecution of a trade union in a criminal conspiracy for the purpose of increasing their wages. The union is disbanded. 1807 Chesapeake affair. British frigate Leopard attacks the U. S. frigate Chesapeake; four American seamen, alleged to be British subjects, are seized by the British. Jefferson, opposed to war, orders British warships to leave U. S. waters. Congress passes the Embargo Act which prohibits U. S. trade with any foreign country. The act tries to force Britain and France to remove restrictions on and to stop interference with U. S. trade. New England merchants oppose the Act as a scheme to deprive them of business. Aaron Burr is tried for treason and found innocent. Robert Fulton launches the Clermont, a 150 foot long steamboat that travels 150 miles up the Hudson River in 32 hours. Eli Terry and Seth Thomas of Connecticut begin the manufacture in quantity of clocks with interchangeable parts.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1808 Congress prohibits the importation of African slaves. Congress tries to enforce the Embargo Act. Opposition by farmers and merchants results in smuggling and other illegal trade. France confiscates U. s. ships and cargoes in European ports James Madison is elected President, and George Clinton is re-elected Vice President on the Democratic-Republican ticket. John Stevens launches the Phoenix, a 100 foot long steamboat powered by a low-pressure engine. Jacob Astor establishes the American Fur Company, the first of several companies founded by him in the West that make him the dominant figure in the fur industry. 1809 Congress passes the No intercourse Act, repealing the Embargo Act and resuming trade with all countries except France and Britain. Illinois Territory is formed from the western part of the Indiana Territory. The Phoenix becomes the first sea-going steamboat as it travels from New York to Philadelphia. William MacLure publishes the first detailed geological survey of the United States. 1810 Macon’s Bill No. 2 repeals restrictions on trade with France and Britain. It states that if either nation removes its restrictions on U. S. Trade, the President will break off trade with the other. Madison, believing France has removed her restrictive decrees, reopens trade with France and renews Nonintercourse Act with Britain. France continues to seize U. S. ships. Southerners revolt against Spanish rule in West Florida. U. S. annexes the area. Third U. S. census shows a population 7.2 million, including 60,000 immigrants and about 1.2 million slaves. Population west of the Appalachian Mountains is slightly more than 1 million.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1811 General William Henry Harrison, Governor of the Indiana Territory, defeats the Indians in the Battle of Tippecanoe. Western “War Hawks” in Congress urge U. S. expansion and protest British interference with U. S. shipping. First steamboat to sail down the Mississippi River reaches New Orleans (January 1812) and causes a sensation. Boat then makes a regular New Orleans-Natchez run, charging $18 for the trip downstream and $25 for the trip upstream. Beginning of the Cumberland Road at Cumberland, Md. By 1840 the road reaches Vandalia, Ill., at a cost of $7million Earthquake rocks the Ohio-Mississippi Valleys. Tremors are felt over an area of 300,000 square miles. 1812 Congress declares war (War of 1812) on Great Britain. Canadians, allies of the British, defeat U. S. forces at Detroit. Northwest Indians under Tecumseh join the British. U. S. frigate Constitution defeats British frigate Gueriere off Novo Scotia and destroys British frigate Java off Brazil, thus earning herself the nickname “Old Ironsides.” Madison is re-elected President and Elbridge Gerry is elected Vice President on the Democratic-Republican ticket. Louisiana becomes 18th state. Louisiana Territory becomes the Missouri Territory. Large-scale drug production begins in Philadelphia as America’s first drug mill opens. William Monroe of Concord, Mass., begins manufacturing lead pencils. Lucy Brenner, serving under the name of Nicholas Baker, is a member of the crew of the Constitution. She serves for 3 years, successfully disguising her sex. Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on Lives is incorporated in Philadelphia. It is the first insurance company primarily involved with life insurance. Samuel Wilson, a meat-packer from Troy, N. Y., becomes the original “Uncle Sam.” Soldiers call the meat “Uncle Sam’s” because of the stamp “U. S.” on the provision boxes. 1813 U. S. forces capture York (now Toronto). The British seize Fort Niagara and burn Buffalo, N. Y. British blockade coastal ports U. S. fleet under Captain Oliver Perry defeats the British in the Battle of Lake Erie British evacuate Detroit. General Harrison defeats the British in the Battle of the Thames, Ontario, in which the Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh is killed. Powerful Indian confederacy in Northwest collapses, depriving the British of their Indian allies.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1814 Creek Indian War ends when General Andrew Jackson defeats the Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Ala. U. S. fleet defeats British fleet on Lake Champlain, halting the British drive from Canada into the Hudson Valley. British capture Washington, D. C., and burn the Capitol and the White House. British fleet bombards Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor but fails to captures it. Federalists at Hartford Convention, opposed to war, propose to revise the Constitution. Convention ends in ridicule with news of the Treaty of Ghent between Britain and the U. S. Frances Cabot Lowell, Massachusetts industrialist, opens the first totally mechanized factory for processing raw cotton into finished cloth. During the bombardment of Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key writes the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” now the U. S. national anthem. First large library network west of the Alleghenies is established from several circulating libraries in Pittsburgh, Pa. First school for the higher education of women is started by Emma Hart Willard in Middlebury, VT. Cost of education at Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass., is about $300 a year. 1815 General Andrew Jackson defeats the British at the Battle of New Orleans. Anglo-American commercial treaty ends discriminatory British duties against U. S. ships and vice versa. Robert Fulton launches America’s first steam- powered warship, the Demologos. New England textile mills are processing 90,000 bales of cotton a year–up from only 500 bales in 1800. Benjamin Latrobe supervises the rebuilding of the Capitol and White House following the burning of Washington, D. C. Most colorful method of transportation during this time is the Conestoga wagon with its lively colors, a 4 to 6 horse team decorated with bells. It carries a load of several tons and is about 60 feet in length.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1816 James Monroe and Daniel Tompkins are elected President and Vice President on the Democratic-Republican ticket Indiana becomes the 19th state. Supreme Court affirms the right of federal courts to review decision of state courts. First tariff bill to protect domestic industry rather than to raise revenue is enacted by Congress. World’s first wire suspension bridge is built over the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia 1817 Rush-Bagot Agreement between the U. S. and Britain limits naval forces on the Great Lakes. Mississippi Territory is divided; western part becomes Mississippi, the 20th state; eastern part becomes Alabama Territory. Seminole Indians attack white settlers in Florida and Georgia. Construction of the Erie Canal begins. Designed by DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York, to connect the great Lakes with the Hudson River and, thus, the Atlantic Ocean Baltimore lights its streets with gas lamps. American Society for the Return of Negroes to Africa is founded in Richmond, Va. Headed by a succession of distinguished Virginians, the Society first sends Negroes to Sierra Leone, then buys and establishes a neighboring area called Liberia. 1818 U. S. and Britain establish the U. S.- Canadian boundary at the 49th parallel from Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. Oregon boundary is left undecided. U. S. forces under Jackson invade Florida to punish the hostile Seminoles. Jackson captures Pensacola and kills two British men accused of aiding the Indians. Spain is told either to control the Indians or cede Florida to the U. S. Illinois becomes the 21st state. Thomas Blanchard of Massachusetts designs a lathe for making irregularly shaped objects such as gun stocks. The Savannah, using its sails through most of the journey becomes the first steam-powered ship to cross the Atlantic. Peter Durrand of England introduces the tin can in America. School for children as young as 4 years is made part of the public school system in Boston. Transatlantic packet lines (under sail) begin operation between New York City and Liverpool. The average time for the trip is 30 days.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1819 Adam-O_is (or Transatlantic) Treaty. Spain cedes Florida to the U. S.; western border of Louisiana Purchase is agreed on (giving the U. S. a western border to the Pacific Ocean); U. S. assumes $5 million in claims of its citizens against Spain. The Supreme Court under John Marshall upholds the right of Congress to create the Bank of the United States and expresses strongly the doctrine of implied powers in the Constitution (McCulloch v. Maryland). Alabama becomes the 22nd state. Major Stephen Long leads an expedition to the Rocky Mountains (1819-1820). 1820 Congress passes the Missouri Compromise whereby slavery is prohibited in the Louisiana Territory north of latitude 36° 30'. Maine is admitted to the Union as a free state (23rd); Missouri as a slave state in 1821 (24th). Monroe and Tompkins are re-elected President and Vice President. Government offers land to settlers at $1.25 an acre, reduces minimum purchase to 80 acres, and abolishes credit provisions. William Underwood opens a canning factory in Boston. Henry Burden invents an improved plow and cultivator. Daniel Treadwell builds a hors-powered printing press. Expedition led by Major Stephen Long sets out from Pittsburgh to explore the region between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains. Fourth national census shows that population is 9.6 million. New York is the largest city (124,000), followed by Philadelphia (113,000), Baltimore (63,000), Boston (43,000), and New Orleans (27,000). Population west of the Appalachian Mountains is 2.2 million. First football games are played in American colleges as a form of hazing at Yale and Harvard.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1821 Spanish governor grants charter to Moses Austin for the settlement of 300 families in Texas. His son, Stephen Austin, establishes the first legal settlement of Anglo-Americans in Texas in 1822. These Anglo recruiters were known as empresarios. New York abolishes property qualifications for voting, following similar action by Connecticut in 1818 and Massachusetts in 1821. Official U. S. occupation of Florida takes place; Andrew Jackson is made military governor. Zachariah Allen designs a hot-air heating system for homes. America’s first tunnel–450 feet long, 18 feet high, 20 feed wide–opens near Auburn, Pa. Congress rejects a proposal by John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, that the U. S. convert to the metric system. Sequoya develops an Indian alphabet that is used to teach thousands of Cherokees to read and write. First women’s college-level school, the Troy Female Seminary, is founded by Emma Willard in Troy, N. Y. First public high school, English Classical School, is established in Boston. 1822 Florida is organized as a territory. Rebellion of slaves is discovered and suppressed in Charleston, S. C. The slave leader is Denmark Vesey who is hanged along with 34 others. Dr. William Beaumont of Connecticut begins his famous digestion experiments in the exposed stomach of Alexis St. Martin, an injured soldier. Quinine production begins in Philadelphia First patent for making false teeth is awarded to W. C. Graham. Cotton mills begin production in Massachusetts with water-powered machinery. By 1826, one plant in Lowell turns out 2 million yards of cloth a year. A female labor force is used. Football is prohibited at Yale. Violators are reported and fined. Clement C. Moore writes the Yuletide ballad “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” for his children. 1823 President Monroe announces the Monroe Doctrine in his annual message to Congress. European nations are warned not to interfere in the western hemisphere. U. S. intends not to take part in European wars. James Fennimore Cooper published The Pioneer, a brilliant portrait of frontier life and the first of his Leatherstocking Tales.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1824 None of the four presidential candidates–Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William H. Crawford, and Henry Clay–receives an electoral majority. All are Democratic- Republicans, except Adams, who is a National-Republican. U. S. signs a territorial treaty with Russia which agrees to 54° 40' as the southern limit of her territory. America’s first school of science and engineering opens. It is later called Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Jedediah Smith of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company discovers the gateway to the west through the Rocky Mountains at South Pass, Wyo. Weavers’ strike at Pawtucket, R. I., is the first recorded strike by women. Great Salt Lake is discovered by James Bridger. 1825 House of Representatives chooses Adams as President. John C. Calhoun was elected Vice President during the 1824 election. Texas is opened to settlement by U. S. citizens. Creek Indians reject treaty ceding to the U. S. government all their lands in Georgia. Congress adopts policy of removal of eastern Indian tribes to territory west of the Mississippi River. Whites settle on Indian lands; Indian frontier is established. Erie Canal is completed. John C. Stevens builds Action, an experimental stream locomotive Thomas Kensett patents tin-plated cans. Thomas Cole establishes the Hudson River School of landscape painting. Scottish-born social reformer, Frances Wright, established the Nashoba community near Memphis, Tenn., for training Negroes to make possible their colonization outside the U. S. Robert Dale Owen establishes a community at New Harmony, Indiana. First significant strike for a 10-hour day is called in Boston by 600 carpenters.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1826 Creek Indians sign Treaty of Washington which voids previous treaty and cedes less land to the government. Indians must move in 1827. Samuel Morey patents an internal combustion engine. America’s first reflecting telescope is built by Amasa Holcomb in Massachusetts. James Fennimore Cooper publishes The Last of the Mohicans. Jedediah Smith leads an expedition from Great Salt Lake to explore the Southwest and blazes the first overland route to California. First railroads built are short-line systems, powered by cable systems, horses, or sails. The first passenger line is the Baltimore and Ohio. Charles Follen, an instructor at Harvard, introduces physical education into college education. Millbury Lyceum Number 1 is established at Millbury, Mass., by Josiah Holbrook. This is the beginning of the adult self-improvement movement. 1827 U. S. and Britain agree to joint occupation of the Oregon Territory. Dispute between the North and the South over higher tariffs to protect manufacturer begin a sectional dispute. Massachusetts requires a high school in every town having more than 500 families. First city central trade union, the Mechanics Trade Union Association, is established in Philadelphia. French-American students in New Orleans organize a procession of street maskers on Shrove Tuesday starting the Mardi Gras celebration.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year Democratic Party is formed advocating Jeffersonian principles. Andrew Jackson is elected first Democratic U. S. president. John Calhoun is re- elected Vice President on the Democratic ticket. Congress passes the protectionist “Tariff of Abominations.” Northern mercantile interests conflict with the Southern agricultural economy dependent on foreign markets. Resolutions by South Carolina legislature declare the Tariff of Abominations oppressive and unconstitutional. Legislatures of Georgia, Mississippi, and Virginia issue similar protests. 1828 Noah Webster publishes American Dictionary of the English Language, in which many of the American characteristics of the English language are introduced. Thomas “Jim Crow” Rice introduces the song “Jim Crow” between acts of a play. It is the first international song hit of American popular music. First Indian newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, is published in Echota, Ga. Its editor is Elias Budinot, a full-blooded Cherokee. First recorded strike of textile factory workers occurs in Paterson, N. J. The militia is called into control the violence. The workers strike for a 10-hour day, but the strike fails. 1829 Jackson introduces the spoils system into national politics–the practice of basing appointments on party service. Jackson’s unofficial political advisers are called his “Kitchen Cabinet.” Workingmen’s Party is formed in New York. Party advocates social reform, free public education, new banking laws, and non-imprisonment for debt. Movement spreads to other states in the north. William A. Burt, a Massachusetts surveyor, invents the “typographer,” an early typewriter. Erastus Bigelow coins the word “technology” and publishes The Elements of Technology. First modern hotel, the Tremont, opens in Boston. It has 170 rooms. First school for the blind opens in Boston. Encyclopedia Americana is published in Philadelphia by Francis Lieber. It is the first American encyclopedia.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1830 Senators Robert Y. Hayne (S. C.) And Daniel Webster (Mass.) Engage in debate on the nature of the Union: Hayne upholds states’ rights; Webster defends the Constitution and the Union. Mexico forbids further U. S. colonization in Texas. Congress passes Removal Bill authorizing resettlement of eastern Indians in the Oklahoma Territory. Sauk and Fox Indians in Illinois forced to move west of the Mississippi River. Joseph Henry discovers electromagnetic induction and electromotive force when he uses magnetism to produce electricity. Peter Cooper builds Tom Thumb, America’s first commercially successful steam locomotive. It loses a race against a horse when an engine belt slips. Charles Grice, America’s first veterinarian, opens an animal hospital in New York City. Fifth national census shows a population of 12.8 million, including about 150,000 immigrants who arrived between 1820 and 1830. Census also shows that 8.8% of the population lives in cities of 2500 or more inhabitants. Joseph Smith founds the Church of Jesus Christ of 1831 Nat Turner leads unsuccessful slave revolt in which about 55 white people are killed in Southampton County, Va. Turner is captured and hanged. Anti-Masonic Party, first political third party in the U. S., meets in Baltimore. Party is opposed to Jackson and is absorbed by the Whigs after 1836. Supreme Court upholds Georgia’s order for the removal of the Cherokee Indians beyond the Mississippi. Joseph Henry builds the first electric motor, electrical relay, electromagnetic telegraph, and electric bell. Samuel Guthrie develops a process for producing chloroform. Robert L. Stevens buys the 30- horsepower British locomotive, the John Bull, and sets up America’s first steam railway. He also invents a flanged railroad track called the “T-rail” or “Stevens rail.” William Lloyd Garrison founds and publishes the abolitionist periodical The Liberator which urges the immediate release of all slaves. First use of the term “Old Glory” to mean the U. S. flag. The term caught on during the Civil War when Union troops commonly used it.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1832 Black Hawk War occurs when Chief Black Hawk with Sauk Indians returns to Illinois to plant crops. State militia and U. S. troops massacre Black Hawk’s tribe at the Bad Axe River in Wisconsin. Andrew Jackson is re-elected President; Martin Van Buren is elected Vice President on the Democratic ticket. South Carolina passes Ordinance of Nullification, declaring the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void. Samuel F. B. Morse designs an improved electromagnetic telegraph (he applies for a patent in 1837). Walter Hunt invents, but does not patent, a lock-stitch sewing machine. Massachusetts legalizes the dissection of cadavers in medical schools A reaper invented by Cyrus H. McCormick is successfully demonstrated. The Boston Academy of Music is founded. It offers free music lessons to children and classes for adults and music teachers. Horse-drawn street cars are used in New York City. Cholera epidemic sweeps major American cities. 1833 Congress passes a Force Bill giving President Jackson authority to use the armed forces to execute the tariff laws. After enactment of a compromise tariff, South Carolina rescinds its Ordinance of Nullification. Jackson orders public funds to be withdrawn from the Bank of the United States and deposited in state (“pet”) banks. He charges the Bank is a monopoly. American Anti-Slavery Society is founded by abolitionist groups from New York and New England. Early form of baseball is played in Philadelphia by the Olympic Ball Club. Many of the rules are like those of English cricket. Oberlin College is established in Ohio as a center of abolitionist activity. It is the first college to admit both men and women. In 1835 it becomes the first college to admit African-Americans.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1834 Whig Party is formed, succeeding the National Republicans as the anti-Jackson party. Party ends after 1852 election. Senate adopts Henry Clay’s resolution censuring President Jackson for removing public funds from the Bank of the United States. Anti-abolitionist riots break out in New York City and Philadelphia. 4. Under a treaty signed in 1832, U. S. government orders the Seminole Indians to leave Florida. U. S. and Spain settle territorial claims. Zachariah Allen patents an automatic cutoff valve for steam engines. Cyrus McCormick patents a successful reaper which he invented in 1831. Jacob Perkins patents a compressor. Later models are used in air conditioners and refrigerators. Amalgam (a mercury alloy) is introduced as a filling material for decayed teeth. First printed rules for a game resembling baseball are published in The Book of Sports. Methodist minister Jason Lee leads an expedition that explores the Willamette Valley in Oregon and founds the first mission and first farming settlement. Americans begin to eat tomatoes which had been considered poisonous and had been used ornamentally as “love apples.” 1836 Texas declares its independence from Mexico. A Mexican army under Santa Anna massacres Texan forces at the Alamo and at Goliad. Sam Houston’s army defeats the Mexicans and captures Santa Anna at the Battle of ?San Jacinto. Texas becomes an independent republic with Houston as president. Arkansas becomes the 25th state. Wisconsin Territory is formed from western part of the Michigan Territory Martin Van Buren (Democrat) is elected President. Since none of the four Vice Presidential candidates receives an elector majority, the Senate, for the first and only time, chooses Richard M. Johnson (Democrat) for the office. Ralph Waldo Emerson publishes Nature in which he explains the basic tenets of the Transcendentalist movement. A First and Second Reader compiled by William Holmes McGuffey is published for use in public schools. Except in New England, McGuffey’s Readers become standard elementary school textbooks for nearly 100 years. Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (later Mount Holyoke College) at South Hadley, Mass. Massachusetts child labor law requires children to attend school for at least 3 months a year until they are 15. Manufacturers are not allowed to hire children in their mills for more than 9 months a year.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1837 Michigan becomes the 26th state. U. S. troops under Zachary Taylor defeat the Seminoles at the Battle of Okeechobee. Act of Congress increases the Supreme Court membership from seven to nine. Thomas Davenport patents a crude electric motor. Charles Page designs an early induction coil. Blacksmith John Deere invents the first plow with a steel moldboard, necessary for plowing heavy, sticky prairie soil. This improvement eventually revolutionizes prairie farming. 1838 Iowa Territory is formed from part of Wisconsin Territory Congress adopts “gag resolutions” against anti-slavery petitions and motions. U. S. troops forcibly move the Cherokee Indians from Georgia to Indian Territory (eastern Oklahoma). Some northern states pass Personal Liberty Laws which obstruct enforcement of the Fugitive Slave clause of the U. S. Constitution. Opponents of slavery begin developing a series of escape routes for runaway slaves that becomes known ad the Underground Railroad. Samuel Morse introduces the Morse code. Charles Spencer makes America’s first microscope. Chauncey Jerome invents a one-day brass movement clock that is so inexpensive and accurate that it soon floods the British and American markets and gives rise to the expression “Yankee ingenuity.” Charles Wilkins (for the U. S. Navy) sails on a 6-vessel expedition to the Pacific Ocean and the South Seas. During the 4- year voyage, he discovers that the land in the Antarctic Ocean is actually a continent.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1839 Maine tries to prevent Canadian lumbering in Aroostook territory claimed by both Maine and New Brunswick. The so-called Aroostook War is averted by an agreement to refer the dispute to a boundary commission. The Liberty Party, the first anti-slavery party, holds national convention in Warsaw, N. Y. Charles Goodyear produces vulcanized rubber when he accidentally spills India rubber and sulfur on a hot stove (patented in 1844). John Jacob Audubon publishes Birds of North America. Baltimore College of Dental Surgery opens. First baseball diamond is laid out at Cooperstown, N. Y., by Abner Doubleday First “normal” school is started in Lexington, Mass., offering a two-year course to high school graduates preparing to become teachers 1840 Congress enacts the Independent Treasury Act establishing subtreasuries for the deposit of federal funds in major U. S. cities. All government payments are to be in specie (coined money) by 1843. William Henry Harrison (Whig) is elected President using the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.” John Tyler (Whig) becomes Vice President. Graphite is produced commercially in Ticonderoga, N. Y. First steamship line with scheduled transatlantic sailings is established by Samuel Cunard, a Canadian An order by the President establishes the 10-hour day for federal employees. This had long been a goal of U. S. labor. First use of the expression O. K. It referred to “Old Kinderhook,” birthplace of President Martin Van Buren, and was the name of a Democratic Club in New York City. Sixth national census shows a population of more than 17 million. About 600,000 immigrants have arrived since 1830. President Harrison dies one month after inauguration. Tyler becomes the first Vice President to succeed to the Presidency. Tyler twice vetoes a bill creating a national bank with state branches. Whigs denounce Tyler whose entire Cabinet except for Daniel Webster resigns. Congress passes Preemption Act. Settlers on surveyed government land have the right, after about 14 months of residence, to buy it before anyone else can. 1841 Earliest use of oil begins about this time. “Rock oil” skimmed from the surface of streams in northwestern Pennsylvania is renames “Seneca Oil,” and sold as patent–or “Indian”–medicine. The New York Tribune is published by Horace Greeley. It becomes the most influential newspaper in the North and West until the Civil War. Brook Farm, a cooperative program based on an economy of farming and handcrafts is founded in West Roxbury, Mass., by George Ripley, a Unitarian Minister and a Transcendentalist.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1842 Dorr’s Rebellion in Rhode Island leads to a new state constitution with liberalization of voting requirements. U. S. troops, after destroying the Seminoles’ crops and villages, force the Indians to sign peace treaty. Seminoles are moved to Indian Territory in the West (eastern Oklahoma). Webster-Ashburton Treaty between the U. S. and Britain ends Northeast boundary dispute and establishes U. S.-Canadian border from Maine to Lake of the Woods (northern Minnesota) Congress passes Whig tariff law with high protective levels. Crawford Long performs the first successful surgery on a patient anesthetized with ether, but does not publicize his results until 1849. The New York Philharmonic is founded. It is the oldest symphony orchestra in America. Massachusetts law regulates the work day for children under 12 years. They are limited to a 10-hour day. Barnum’s American Museum opens in New York City. P. T. Barnum exhibits General Tom Thumb and other “freaks” as well as many hoaxes, attracting the public with extravagant advertising. Explorer John Charles Fremont leads an expedition to explore the route to Oregon beyond the Mississippi River as far as South Pass in Wyoming. 1843 U. S. sends diplomatic representatives to Hawaii. Settlers begin great migration westward over the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Territory. Mexican President Santa Anna declares that U. S. annexation of Texas will mean war with Mexico. British and French intrigues to make Texas an independent buffer state against U. S. expansion arouse U. S. concern. Southerners push for the annexation of Texas. Oliver Wendell Holmes, physician, suggests that since puerperal fever (a disease associated with childbirth) is so contagious, doctors should be careful not to spread the disease from one patient to the next. He stresses that doctors should put on clean clothes and wash their hands before delivering a baby. Congress grants $30,000 for Morse to erect a 40-mile telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington, D. C. Soap powder, “Babbitt’s Best Soap,” is introduced by Benjamin T. Babbitt. Fremont’s second expedition surveys the route to Oregon and he maps and names the Great Basin, the independent system of lakes and rivers divided from the ocean by the mountains. The word “millionaire” is used by newspapers for the first time in reporting the death of Pierre Lorillard, banker and tobacco grower.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1844 Secretary of State John C. Calhoun negotiates treaty of annexation with Texas government Britain and U. S. argue about Oregon boundary, which was unofficially set at latitude 54° 40' N by U. S. settlers James K. Polk (Democrat) is elected President; George M. Dallas (Democrat) is elected Vice President. U. S. and China sign treaty of peace, friendship, and commerce. Morse sends the first telegraph message, “What hath God wrought!” from Washington, D. C. to Baltimore. Iron is used for railroad tracks. First private bath in an American hotel is installed in the New York Hotel, and the first bridal suite is available at the Irving House in New York City. 1845 Florida becomes 27th state Texas accepts annexation to the U. S. and becomes the 28th state. U. S. envoy is sent to Mexico to settle Texas boundary and to negotiate the purchase of New Mexico and California. Mexico refuses to see him and begins military operations to stop U. S. annexation of Texas. Congress puts presidential election day in the first week in November, after harvest but while roads are still passable. Horace Wells fails in a public attempt to remove a tooth painlessly from a patient anesthetized with nitrous oxide (laughing gas). Although earlier private attempts were successful, this public demonstration failed because Wells began the operation before the patient was completely anesthetized. Alfred Beach establishes Scientific American magazine. Erastus Bigelow builds power looms for weaving carpets and tapestries. Margaret Fuller publishes the feminist work Woman in the Nineteenth Century. One of the earliest labor organizations, the Industrial Congress of the United States, is organized in New York City. First formal rules for baseball are written by Alexander Joy Cartwright. First written examinations begin in elementary schools in Boston. U. S. Naval Academy (“Naval School”) opens at Annapolis, Md.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1846 Mexican War begins. U. s> forces under General Zachary Taylor defeat the Mexicans at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma and capture Monterrey (Mexico). U. S. naval force occupies Monterey (California) and San Francisco. Michigan becomes first state to enact law abolishing capital punishment. Oregon boundary is established at latitude 49° N. Congress fails to enact the Wilmot Proviso which bans slavery from any territory acquired from Mexico. U. S. and New Granada sign commercial treaty giving U. S. right of way across the Isthmus of Panama. Iowa becomes 29th state. William T. G. Morton publicly demonstrates the effectiveness of ether as an anesthetic. John C. Warren, New England’s leading surgeon, performs the operation. Elias Howe patents a lock-stitch sewing machine Herman Melville publishes his first novel, Typee, dealing with his life among a primitive Polynesian tribe. First recorded baseball games is played at Elysian Field in Hoboken, N. J., between the New York Nine and the Knickerbockers. The New York Nine win, 23-1. Smithsonian Institution for scientific research is established by Congress with £1,000,000 left by the will of James Smithson, and English chemist. 1847 U. S. forces under General Taylor defeat the Mexicans under General Santa Anna at Buena Vista. U. S. forces under General Winfield Scott capture Veracruz, defeat the Mexicans at Cerro Gordo, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec, and enter Mexico City. Peace negotiations with Mexico begin. All of California comes under U. S. control. Joseph Leidy, Pennsylvania paleontologist, suggests the environment effects changes (evolution) within a species. American Medical Association is established in Philadelphia. Richard M Hoe develops rotary and web printing presses. Samuel Kier sells bottled petroleum as a medicine. Adhesive postage stamps are first used. Irish immigration reaches 105,000 (3 times that of the previous year) because of the potato famine in Ireland.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican War. Mexico give up claims to Texas, recognizes Rio Grande as the border, and cedes to the U. S. present- day California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of new Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming in exchange for $15 million and U. S. payment of its citizens’ claims against Mexico. Free-Soil Party is formed opposing slavery in the New U. S. territory. Wisconsin becomes 30th state. Zachary Taylor (Whig) is elected President; Millard Fillmore (Whig) is elected Vice President. James Bogardus constructs a 5-story factory building using cast iron throughout. Air conditioning is installed in the Broadway Theater in New York City. The management promises (3000 Feet of Cool Air per Minute.) John B. Curtis of Maine manufactures the first chewing gum commercially sold. John Humphrey Noyes establishes the Perfectionist Community at Oneida, N. Y. Women’s Rights Convention is held at Seneca Falls, N. Y. This is the beginning of the modern feminist movement, led by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. 1849 U. S. Department of the Interior is created to meet the needs of Western settlers. Congress establishes the Minnesota Territory. California convention adopts a constitution that forbids slavery and request admission to the Union. Sectional conflict deepens between pro- and anti-slavery factions. George Corliss patents an efficient steam engine with four valves instead of one. Pacific Railroad Company is chartered. It becomes the first railroad west of the Mississippi River. To satisfy a $15 debt owed to J. R. Chapin, Walter Hunt of New York spends 3 hours bending wire into various forms and designs the first modern safety pin. Elizabeth Blackwell receives her medical degree from a medical school in Geneva, N. Y. She is the first woman in the world to receive an M. D. California’s giant redwood trees are names Sequoias in honor of Sequoya.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1850 President Taylor dies and Fillmore becomes President. Congress bitterly debates the right of states and territories to permit or prohibit slavery. Compromise of 1850 passes: California is admitted as a free state (becoming the 31st state); New Mexico and Utah territories are formed and allowed to make their own decision about slavery; more effective Fugitive Slave Act is set up; and slave trade is abolished in the District of Columbia. Clayton-Bulwer Treaty is signed. U. S. and Britain agree to neutrality of canal project across the Isthmus of Panama; neither country is to occupy any part of Central America. William Bond makes the first clear daguerreotype (a type of photograph) of the Moon. Nathaniel Hawthorne publishes The Scarlet Letter. The Spanish introduce silver smithing to the Navaho Indians. It soon becomes one of their major art forms. U. S. population is 23.1 million, including about 3.2 million slaves and about 1.7 million immigrants. First overland mail delivery west of the Missouri River is organized on a monthly basis from Independence, Missouri, to Salt Lake City, Utah Fugitive Slave Act requires citizens of the free states to turn in runaway slaves. Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania is the first regularly organized school for the medical education of women. First national convention of women advocating woman suffrage (the right to vote) is held in Worcester, Mass. In July the first woman’s rights convention meets in Seneca Falls, N. Y. 1851 Congress authorizes the coinage of three- cent pieces and reduces postage rates. A half ounce letter can now be sent 3000 miles for three cents. Maine enacts prohibition law which forbids the manufacture and sale of alcoholic liquors in the state. Sioux Indians give all their land in Iowa and most of their land in Minnesota to the U. S. Charles Sumner becomes U. S. Senator from Massachusetts. He is a strict abolitionist. Isaac Singer patents a continuous-stitch sewing machine. Charles Page designs an electric locomotive. Herman Melville publishes Moby Dick. Nathaniel Hawthorne publishes The House of the Seven Gables, based on a curs supposedly placed on his family during the Salem witch trials. Massachusetts passes the first law that allows towns to tax inhabitants for the support of free libraries. First American chapter of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) is organized in Boston. First baseball uniforms are worn by the New York Knickerbockers. Glass eyes are introduced. Many people believe that they will restore sight to the blind.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1852 Democrats and Whigs adopt party platforms accepting the Compromise of 1850. Democrats also endorse the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. Free Soil Party opposes the Compromise and slavery itself. Franklin Pierce and William R. King are elected President and Vice President, respectively, on the Democratic ticket. Horse-drawn steam pumpers (fire engines) are invented by Alexander Latta, an Ohio engineer. Elisha Otis designs a passenger elevator. Sparrows are imported from Germany to help control caterpillars in the U. S. in an example of biological control. American Society of Civil Engineers is founded in new York City. Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel that had a profound influence on the abolition of slavery. Massachusetts passes the first effective school attendance law requiring all children between ages 8 and 14 to attend school at least 12 weeks a year, 6 of them consecutive. Caroline Fry Marriage Association advertises “wives for poor and deserving young men.” Matrimonial agencies are popular. 1853 Washington Territory is formed from part of the Oregon Territory. U. S. fleet under Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrives in Edo Bay (now Tokyo Bay), Japan. Perry seeks protection for shipwrecked U. S. seamen and the opening of Japanese ports to trade. U. S. purchases from Mexico for $10 million a 30,000-square-mile area, the Gadsden Purchase, in what is now southern new Mexico and Arizona. This territory was the last addition to the U. S. continental boundaries, the contiguous states. Congress authorizes survey for a transcontinental railroad route to the Pacific Antioch College, which welcomes male and female students, opens in Ohio. New York Central Railroad is formed by consolidating 10 small railroads connecting New York City and Buffalo, N. Y. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is completed to the Ohio River and its first trains begin operating from Baltimore to Wheeling, W. Va. For the first time Chicago, Ill., is connected by rail to the East.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, introduced by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, repeals the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Congress establishes the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. All territories can decide whether to permit or prohibit slaver. Act is condemned by abolitionists. Republican Party is formed as a reaction against the Kansas-Nebraska Act. It calls for the abolition of slavery, high protective tariffs, and a transcontinental railroad. Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society is organized to encourage anti-slavery emigration to Kansas. U. S. Ministers to Britain, France, and Spain draw up the Ostend Manifesto saying that the U. S. should seize Cuba by force if Spain refuses to sell it. Native American, or Know-Nothing Party, wins many local offices in New York, Massachusetts, and Delaware. U. S. and Japan sign the Treaty of Kanagawa, declaring peace, friendship, and commerce. Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson invent the Smith and Wesson revolver and a device that is later used in Winchester repeating rifles. David Alter discovers that the elements in a gas can be identified by using a spectroscope. A railroad suspension bridge is built at Niagara Falls. The first train crosses a year later. Thoreau publishes Walden. Arrival of 13,000 Chinese marks the beginning of large-scale immigration from China. The highest number in any previous year had been 42. Chinese workers are employed largely in building the transcontinental railroad. First “fire-proof” building is built in New York City using wrought-iron beams set in masonry walls.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1855 “Bleeding Kansas.” Settlement of Kansas under Douglas doctrine of “popular sovereignty” leads to bloody war between pro-and anti-slavery factions for control of the territorial government William Walker with a small force lands in Nicaragua, overthrows the government, and makes himself president in 1856. He is forced out of power by a coalition of Central American states in 1857. President Pierce signs act establishing the first U. S. Court of Claims. Citizens can press claims against the federal government without petitioning Congress. Samuel Kier builds America’s first oil refinery in Pittsburgh. James Simms organizes the Women’s Hospital of New York City. John Dalton, Massachusetts physician, operates on living animals to demonstrate internal anatomy and physiology to his students Walt Whitman anonymously publishes Leaves of Grass, a collection of 12 poems including “Song of Myself.” U. S. citizenship laws provide that all children born abroad of U. S. citizens are assured of citizenship. First oil business in the U. S., the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company, is formed by George H. Bissell and Jonathan J. Eveleth. Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper (later Leslie’s Weekly), most successful of the early illustrated papers, begins publication in New York City. 1856 President Pierce recognizes pro-slavery legislature in Kansas Territory. Pro-slavery border ruffians sack Lawrence, Kansas. In return, abolitionist John Brown, with four of his sons and three other men, murders five pro-slavery colonists at Pottawatomie Creek. Civil war continues between Free State and pro-slavery factions until federal troops restore peace. Senator Sumner makes anti-slavery speech bitterly criticizing Senator Andrew Butler and Stephen Douglas. Preston Brooks, Butler’s nephew, severely beats Sumner with a cane in the Senate chamber. Sumner’s slander and Brooks’s brutality show the deep rift between North and South. James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge are elected President and Vice President, respectively, on the Democratic ticket. David E. Hughes patents a printing telegraph. Gail Borden of Texas receives a patent for condensing milk. First street trains in New England begin running between Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. They are pulled by steam engines. Western Union Company is established. H. L. Lipman receives a patent for a pencil with

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1857 Dred Scott decision by the U. S. Supreme Court holds that a Negro slave’s residence in free territory does not make him free. It declares the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional and says that Congress has no authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. Indians and whites under John D. Lee massacre about 140 non-Mormon emigrants at Mountain Meadows, Utah. Kansas elects Free State legislature. Pro-slavery delegates meet at Lecompton, Kansas and draw up constitutional rigged so that slavery could not be eliminated from the territory. President Buchanan consents to Lecompton Constitution in Kansas, thus splitting the Democratic Party. U. S. and Japan sign treaty opening port of Nagasaki to U. S. trade. William Kelly of Pennsylvania patents a steel-making process that is similar to that of Henry Bessemer. The Kelly and Bessemer ideas are later combined and called the Bessemer Process. Louis Agassiz publishes Contributions to the Natural History of the United States. In his “Essay on Classification,” Agassiz proposes an early version of the biogenetic law stating that changes during the embryonic development of a single animal are similar to changes that occurred in that species over thousands of years. First baseball association is formed when 25 amateur baseball clubs become the National Association of Baseball Players.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1858 Minnesota becomes the 32nd state. Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Abraham Lincoln debates Senator Douglas on the slavery issue during senatorial contest in Illinois. Douglas wins re-election, but Lincoln gains national reputation. People of Kansas reject the Lecompton Constitution, and the territory becomes non-slaveholding. U. S. and China sign treaty of peace, friendship, and commerce. U. S. troops “suppress the Mormon militia” and “restore order” in the Utah Territory. Cyrus W. Field lays the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable. Messages are exchanged between Queen Victoria and President Buchanan, but a few weeks later, the cable stops working. Hamilton Smith invents a mechanical washing machine. Harvard University establishes a chemistry department and research lab. The first West Coast medical college is established at the University of the Pacific by Elias S. Cooper. Stagecoach service and mail delivery begins between San Francisco and St. Louis, Missouri, over a 2812 mile route. Macy’s department store is established in New York City. 1859 Oregon becomes the 33rd state. Abolitionist John Brown with 21 men seizes the U. S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va., hoping to start slave insurrection. U. S. Marines capture the raiders. Brown is hanged for murder, treason, and conspiracy. He becomes a martyr to the North, a traitor to the South. Southern convention at Vicksburg, Mississippi, urges repeal of all laws, state and federal, prohibiting the importation of slaves. President Buchanan’s message to Congress asserts U. S. enforcement of slave importation laws. Kansas ratifies anti-slavery constitution. Edwin L Drake drills America’s first successful oil well at Titusville, Pa. Moses Farmer experiments with incandescent lighting and develops a platinum filament that burns briefly in what may be the world’s first incandescent lamp. Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City installs the first passenger elevator in an American hotel. Many guest still prefer the stairs.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1860 Abraham Lincoln (Republican) is elected President, defeating Stephen A. Douglas (Democrat), John C. Breckinridge (National Democrat), and John Bell (Constitutional Union). Hannibal Hamlin (Republican) is elected Vice President. Lincoln receives no support from slave states; vote is purely sectional. Senator John J. Crittenden proposes resolution for amending the Constitution in order to conciliate the North and South. The Crittenden Compromise, calling for 36Ε 30' parallel as the boundary between free and slave states, is rejected by Lincoln and by Congress in 1861. South Carolina secedes from the Union, affirming the doctrine of states’ rights and condemning the North’s and Lincoln’s attack on slavery. South Carolina troops capture the U. S. arsenal at Charleston. Cotton production in the U. S. is more than 1 billion pounds per year. Pony Express begins fast overland mail service from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento, Ca., a distance of more than 1900 miles. When the transcontinental telegraph is completed a year later (1861), the pony Express is discontinued. Olympia Brown, admitted to St. Lawrence University, becomes the first woman to study theology along with men. U. S. Secret Service is established. First kindergarten in English is established in Boston by Elizabeth P. Peabody. A German kindergarten had been started in Wisconsin in 1856.

Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year

1000 A.D. to 1860. Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1000 Norsemen under Leif Ericson land on the coast of North America. They name.

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "1000 A.D. to 1860. Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1000 Norsemen under Leif Ericson land on the coast of North America. They name."— Presentation transcript:

Similar presentations

About project

Feedback

Log in

Auth with social network:

1000 A.D. to 1860. Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1000 Norsemen under Leif Ericson land on the coast of North America. They name.

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "1000 A.D. to 1860. Political Economic/Technological Social/Cultural Year 1000 Norsemen under Leif Ericson land on the coast of North America. They name."— Presentation transcript:

Similar presentations

About project

Feedback