1. Pre-Colonial America 1. 1492: Columbus discovers America 2. 1513: Ponce de Leon discovers Florida 3. 1539-1541: Hernando de Soto discovers the Mississippi River 1. Colonial America 1. 1607: Jamestown established 2. 1620: Plymouth Colony established 3. 1629: Massachusetts Bay Colony established 4. 1692: Salem Witch Trials 1. America’s Independence 1. 1765: Stamp Act 2. 1768: British troops sent to Boston 3. 1770: Boston Massacre 4. 1773: Boston Tea Party 5. 1775: Battles of Lexington and Concord 6. 1776: Declaration of Independence signed 7. 1777: Articles of Confederation established 8. 1783: Treaty of Paris signed 1. The Federalist Government 1. 1789: George Washington elected first president 2. 1791: Bill of Rights adopted 3. 1800: Washington, D.C. becomes capital; Thomas Jefferson elected president 4. 1812: Congress declares war against Britain 1. The Civil War 1. 1848: First Women’s Rights Convention 2. 1857: Dred Scott v. Sandford case 3. 1860: Abraham Lincoln elected president 4. 1861: States secede 5. 1863: Gettysburg Address 6. 1865: Lee surrenders at Appomattox; Lincoln assassinated 1. Reconstruction 1. 1866: Civil Rights Bill passed 2. 1868: President Andrew Johnson is impeached 1. The Age of Transformation 1. 1898: Spanish American War 2. 1899: U.S. proposes the Open Door Policy 3. 1912: Woodrow Wilson elected president 4. 1915: Federal Reserve established 1. World War I 1. 1914: Outbreak of WWI 2. 1917: America enters WWI 3. 1919: Peace Treaty of Versailles