Copyright © 2008-2009 Wesley Lee. All rights reserved.

1492 – Christopher Columbus discovers the Americas

1651 – Navigation Ordinance banned all imports coming from outside of Europe to Britain & it specifically targeted the
Dutch who were competitive

1660 – Navigation Act of 1660 stipulated that enumerated products could only go to England with three quarters of crew
complements English

1730s-1740s – The First Great Awakening

1763 – The Proclamation of 1763 prohibited white settlers to advance over the Appalachians into Native American
territories

1764 – Sugar Act, the first of British taxes

1765 – Stamp Act of 1765 -> required that many printed materials in the colonies carry a tax stamp. The purpose of the tax
was to help pay for troops stationed in North America following the British victory in the Seven Years' War.

1766 – Townshend Acts, the British Parliament repealed most of the taxes, but tax on tea was retained, leading to Boston
Tea Party, “Taxation without representation”

1773 – Tea Act causes Boston Tea Party, catalyst for American Revolutionary War

1774 – Intolerable Acts are created, First Continental Congress assembles in response to the Intolerable Acts

1775-1783 – American Revolutionary War

July 4, 1776 – Declaration of Independence ratified, Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense,

1777 – Second Continental Congress convenes to discuss the Articles of Confederation, the constitution of the
revolutionary wartime alliance of the thirteen colonies. The Articles' ratification was completed in 1781. The confederation
was capable of making war, negotiating diplomatic agreements, and resolving issues regarding the western territories, where
the states retained sovereignty over all governmental functions not specifically relinquished to the central government.

1781 – Congress of the Confederation formed (to 1789)

1783 – American Revolutionary War ends

1786 – Charles Pinckney of South Carolina proposes revision of Articles of Confederation, James Madison writes up the
Constitution, Shays' Rebellion – poor western Massachusetts farmers against unsympathetic government attacked the
courts through uprising,

1787 – Northwest Ordinance was the only meaningful thing to come out of Articles of Confederation creating the
Northwest Territory

1788 – The US Constitution replaces the Articles of Confederation

George Washington – 1789 – Led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), a
capable influential prominent leader, Farewell Address – a warning about the danger of political factions and don't let the
nation get into foreign entanglements, Bill of Rights is ratified (1791), Jay's Treaty (1794) appeases British but angers
French, Judiciary Act (1789) establishes Supreme Court, First Bank of the Untied States (1791) created by Alexander
Hamilton, Coinage Act (1972) creates US Mint,
John Adams – 1797 – XYZ Affair (1798) were mainly bribes wanted by the French which led to the Quasi-War between
America and France which was sparked by French contempt for America's Jay's Treaty, Jeffersonians (Republicans) vs.
Federalists on how much power the government should have, a Federalist, Abigail Adams supports more independence for
women, When Adams became President, the war between the French and British was causing great difficulties for the
United States on the high seas and intense partisanship among contending factions within the Nation, Hamiltonian full fury
against Adams, Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) are passed as attempts to censure Jeffersonians, declares independence from
Hamiltonian wing of the Federalist Party (1799) and negotiates a peace with French commerce, Alien and Sedition Acts
(1898) were Federalists' schemes to unconstitutionally stop seditious attacks upon the government during the Quasi-War
which was an undeclared naval war with France,

Thomas Jefferson – 1801 – The man by the Constitution, doubled the nation's size through Louisiana Purchase for $15
million from Napoleon after he lost in Haitian Revolution (1803), dealt with Barbary pirates in the Barbary War, drafted the
Declaration of Independence (1776), saw the emergence of the Democrat-Republicans and the demise of the Federalists.

James Madison – 1809 – War of 1812 with British-failed invasion of Washington due to “chance hurricane”, Hartford
Convention (1814-1815) disgraces Federalists because they ridiculed handling of the War of 1812, Second Bank of the
United States (1816) is created five years after the First Bank was dismantled,

James Monroe – 1817 – Issued the Monroe Doctrine (1823) - further efforts by European governments to colonize land or
interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed by the United States of America as acts of aggression,

John Quincy Adams – 1825 – son of John Adams & Abigail Adams, leading opponent of the slave power, developed the
American System - consisting of a high tariff to support internal improvements such as road-building & a national bank to
encourage productive enterprise and form a national currency, modernization that included roads & canals & a national
university & education, refusal, on principle, to replace members of his administration who supported Jackson (on the
grounds that no one should be removed from office except for incompetence), Tariff of Abominations (1828) tax on
imported goods. The South, however, was harmed by having to pay higher prices on goods the region did not produce. By
reducing the importation of British goods, it also made it difficult for the British to pay for the cotton they imported from
the South, established relations of reciprocity between US and European nations,

Andrew Jackson – 1829 – start of spoils system unlike John Q. Adam's administration, Indian Removal Act of 1830
relocated Native Americans “5 Civilized Tribes” westward to Indian (Oklahoman) Territory, Nullification Crisis (1832)
sparked by South Carolina's disgust with Tariff of 1828 hurting their businesses with Europe, Jackson did away with the
Second Bank of the US & Nicholas Biddle, Specie Circular (1836) required payment for government land to be in gold and
silver and led to Panic of 1837 for Martin Van Buren, Bank War (1832)

Martin Van Buren – 1837 – Opium War (1839) British vs. China, Panic of 1837 created by Jackson's stresses on specie
circular,

William Henry Harrison – 1841 – Died a month after presidency, results in a brief constitutional crisis but resolves
questions pertaining to presidential succession
John Tyler – 1841 – “Tyler and Texas”, helped to annex Texas after the Texan Revolution (1845),

James K. Polk – 1845 – An advocate for American expansionism, formally annexed Texas, led the nation into the Mexican-
American War (1846-1848), Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) led to Mexican Cession of California Nevada Utah for
$15 million, Wilmot Proviso does not pass -> prevent the introduction of slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico,
Free Soil party emerges (1848-1852) trying to oppose expansion of slavery into western territories but is later consumed by
the newly formed Republican Party in 1854, Mormon migration to Utah (1847-1869), Seneca Falls Convention (1848),

Zachary Taylor – 1849 – a capable general with a 40-year military career in the U.S. Army, served in War of 1812, Black
Hawk War (1832), and Second Seminole War [or Florida War] against Native American Seminoles (1835-1842), famous for
leading U.S. troops to victory at several critical battles of the Mexican–American War, Southern slaveholder who opposed
the spread of slavery to the territories, uninterested in politics but recruited by the Whig Party as their nominee in 1848
presidential election, urged settlers in New Mexico and California to bypass territorial stage and draft constitutions for
statehood [leading to Compromise of 1850], dies 16 months into his term of acute gastroenteritis,

Millard Fillmore – 1850 – The Compromise of 1850 by Henry Clay -> [resolved territorial and slavery controversies arising
from the Mexican-American War, slave trade terminated in DC, requirement for the return of runaway slaves strengthened –
Fugitive Slave Act strengthened, California free state],

Franklin Pierce – 1853 – Gadsden Purchase (1853) purchased Arizona and New Mexico for $10 million, Kansas-Nebraska
Act of 1854 -> [created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened new lands, repealed the Missouri Compromise of
1820, and allowed settlers in those territories to determine if they would allow slavery within their boundaries causing
Republicans to get angered because of its conciliation towards Southern pro-slavery interests],

James Buchanan – 1857 – Bleeding Kansas (1855-1861) – pro-slavery vs anti-slavery in Kansas, Senator Stephen A.
Douglas for popular sovereignty, (1857) Dred Scott v Sandford denies African Americans of rights of citizenship and states
they are slaves of servitude, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry (1859) was an armed slave revolt led by John Brown in
Virginia & John Brown became martyr,

Abraham Lincoln – 1861 – Secession of South & Fort Sumter in South Carolina, Cotton manufacture moved westward, Led
the nation through the American Civil War (1861-1865), preserving the Union and ending slavery, radical Republicans
criticized him for being too slow in abolishing slavery, Gettysburg Address (1863), moderate and gradual Reconstruction,
battled Stephen Douglas and his “popular sovereignty” ideas, Emancipation Proclamation (1862), Radical Republicans
(~1864) controlled Congress and demanded more aggressive action against slavery, Copperheads were Democrats who
wanted an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates - opposing the war favoring the Union and blaming
abolitionists and blaming the president, Homestead Act (1862)

Andrew Johnson – 1865 – Impeachment by Congress because he wanted to radically and swiftly bring about the restoration
of the South and because of his conciliatory policies towards the South, Purchase of Alaska (Seward's Folly, 1867),
Burlingame Treaty (1868) established friendly trade + emigration relations with China, scalawags were southern whites who
supported Reconstruction following the Civil War, KKK (1865) is formed -> terrorism, violence, and lynching to intimidate,
murder, and oppress African Americans, Jews and other minorities, carpetbaggers were northerners who moved to the South
during the Reconstruction era to “plunder” and presumably control the South,
Ulysses S. Grant – 1869 – Incompetent, scandals in politics, Whiskey Ring (1875) was where government agents &
politicians & whiskey distillers too much money went to business corporations, corrupt bargains ensued between
businesses, hurting common people, National Women Suffrage Association (1869) is organized by Anthony and Stanton to
work for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women suffrage, Jim Crow laws (1876-1964) mandated segregation, the
First Transcontinental Railroad (1869) is completed, Standard Oil (1870-1911) created by John D. Rockefeller

Rutherford B. Hayes – 1877 – Compromise of 1877 was a bargain between Republicans and Democrats where Republicans
get to win the nomination but Democrats & South still gain control of Congress due to Grant's corrupt presidency last term,
among other things, ended military Reconstruction, was nicknamed Fraud* before

James A. Garfield – 1881 – Looked forward to reuniting the sectionalized Republican Party, which was sectionalized
through differing opinions on the tariff and the South. He wanted to lower tariffs and work strategically with Latin America.
Disappointed office seekers seeking for high office positions tormented Garfield, with one shooting him in the back, which
he later died from the wound.

Chester A. Arthur – 1881 – Lowered tariff, approved of construction of American navy (Naval Advisory Board established),
approved of Pendleton Act to reform civil service, Scramble for Africa happened & imperialism (1883), Populist Party
(1884-1908)

Grover Cleveland – 1885 – Vetoed more than two-thirds of all bills passed through him. First Democratic President since
1861. He curtailed federal policies. Republicans accused Cleveland of undermining American industries by lowering tariffs,
thus resulting in a Republican President for the next term, Interstate Commerce Commission (1887) was created, American
Federation of Labor (1886) represented a conservative "pure and simple unionism" that stressed foremost the concern with
working conditions, pay and control over jobs, relegating political goals to a minor role & created by Samuel Gompers,

Benjamin Harrison – 1889 – Disappearing quorum used by Democrats against Republicans to refuse the passage of
legislation in Congress, Republican laws during this time churned out like crazy, Sherman Antitrust Act, Sherman Silver
Purchase Act increased amount of silver the government was required to purchase every month causing inflation, caused
people to hate Republicans thus allowing Democrat Cleveland to come to presidency again, populism and poor farmers and
their opposition to gold standard + desired free silver <-- in the election of 1892, Sherman Antitrust Act , NAWSA formed
from merging of NWSA and AWSA, lynching of African Americans continue (1890-1908),

Grover Cleveland – 1893 – As a leader of the Bourbon Democrats, he opposed imperialism, taxes, subsidies and inflationary
policies, but as a reformer he also worked against corruption, patronage, and bossism, Pullman Strike of 1894, overwhelmed
by depressions and strikes, Panic of 1893 resulting from silver coinage inflation from last years,

William McKinley – 1897 – Known for leading the nation into the Spanish-American War (1898) <-- Spanish navy entirely
destroyed, Annexed Hawaii (1898), division of Samoan territory between Britain, Germany, and US (1899), Treaty of Paris,
Philippine-American War (1898-1902), anti-imperialism sentiment ran high though was not acted upon, Forsaker Act to
Puerto Rico, Platt Amendment to Cuba replacing Teller Amendment – secured American intervention in Cuban affairs,
Open Door Policy & Notes (1900) – Chinese government shall be respected for its independence, foreign countries shall
respect each other and spheres of influence, trade shall flourish, Boxer Rebellion by Chinese nationalists and anti-foreign
groups (1900), Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) legalizes “separate but equal”, wanted neutrality with Spain and wanted to adhere
to Monroe Doctrine, but with Dupuy de Lome's censorious letter and USS Maine mysterious explosion, he declared war on
Spain on April 25, 1898, Congress passed Teller Amendment (April 19, 1898) which refuted US intentions to annex Cuba,
Platt Amendment (1901) replaces Teller Amendment asserted US power over some of Cuba's political affairs, Treaty of
Paris (1898) gave Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, Philippines, and Wake Islands to the US, Philippine-American War (1898-
1902) eventually precipitated in the Far East, voter turnout decreased , assassinated (1901)

Theodore Roosevelt – 1901 – Progressive Era brought about by industrialization - “investigate, educate, legislate”, New
Nationalism -> a powerful federal government could regulate the economy and guarantee social justice and promoted
special interest groups instead of use of court arbitration, social-justice movement, the purity crusade, mediated a Japan-
Russia peace agreement (Russo-Japanese War, 1905) when he felt that the war between the two would change the balance of
power in the east and threaten American business, people wanted social reform but women's rights, child labor rights,
African American rights, temperance rights, factory rights were ignored and unresolved until later in the century, rise of
Socialism and socialist party in US – wanted equal rights to everyone, values of expert opinion and collective action &
unions, corruption of the American meatpacking industry & so The Jungle by Sinclair (1906), Pure Food and Drug Act
(1906) provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food
products and poisonous patent medicines, Meat Inspection Act of 1906 – mandatory inspection & postmortem inspection &
sanitation, Square Deal -> attacked the plutocracy and trusts while at the same time protected business from the extreme
demands of organized labor, Insular Cases (1901) -> full constitutional rights did not automatically extend to all areas under
American control justifying white cultural dominance, Panamanian independence achieved through US naval support
(1903), Socialist party of America (1901) created by moderate socialist Eugene V. Debs, supported muckrakers in revealing
the internal crises and social issues within the nation, Big Stick policy by negotiating peacefully with military might such as
in Panama and Cuba, US Steel (1901) created by Andrew Carnegie, Niagara movement (1905) led by DuBois was a call for
opposition to racial segregation and disenfranchisement as well as policies of conciliation promoted by such leaders as
Booker T. Washington,

William Howard Taft – 1909 – Conservative president who was criticized by Progressives, he was anti-Progressive,
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911), WEB DuBois vs. Booker T. Washington -> NAACP (1909), new immigration of
Southern and Eastern Europeans into the US causes resentment and “Americanization” programs, Dollar diplomacy to
further its foreign policy aims in Latin America and East Asia through use of its economic power by guaranteeing loans
made to foreign countries, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire (1911) in New York City, voter turnout drops in this quarter-
century turning more to interest groups and trade associations,

Woodrow Wilson – 1913 – WWI (1914-1918), New Freedom antitrust modification, tariff revision, and reform in banking
and currency matters, encouraged competition among small companies, led the nation through a period of economic
proliferation through trade with Europe following a US recession, created Federal Trade Commission, the Clayton Antitrust
Act (1914) further strengthens Sherman Antitrust Act supporting the antitrust law regime, the Federal Farm Loan Act,
federal progressive income tax in the Revenue Act of 1913, the Federal Reserve Act (1913) created the Federal Reserve
System with a private central banking system, maintained neutral stance on WWI but was forced to intervene in the war
when Germany threats unrestricted submarine warfare & sinking of Lusitania two years before, Liberty Bonds, War
Industries Board oversaw war materiel production and money spending allocations, Direct election to Senate (17th
amendment 1913), Committee on Public Information (1917) – Government-created war propaganda agency, socialism
movement versus government authority, Espionage Act (1917) punished people who were seditious, Sedition Act (1918)
created as an amendment to Espionage Act, League of Nations created after WWI but the US doesn't join because of Senate
disapproval, American Protective League (1917) would try to find people who were avoiding draft duty, weren’t buying
liberty bonds, and would go into schools and try to find people who were talking badly about the war and report it to the
government, completion of Panama Canal (1914), Jones-Shafroth Act (1817) conferred United States citizenship on all
citizens of Puerto Rico and revised the system of government in Puerto Rico, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns break with
NAWSA to form the NWP National Women's Party (1916) to more radically support women's rights to suffrage by actively
picketing, Prohibition of alcohol (18th amendment 1919), Women's suffrage (19th amendment 1920), First Red Scare
(1919), Moral diplomacy where “the force of America is the force of moral principle”, American Civil Liberties Union
(1920) formed to protect the rights of individuals guaranteed to people by the Constitution and the laws of the United States,
Warren G. Harding – 1921 – Formation of the Soviet Union (1922), called for peacemaking with Germany and Austria,
emergency tariffs, new immigration laws, regulation of radio and trans cable communications retrenchment in government,
tax reduction, repeal of wartime excess profits tax, reduction of railroad rates, promotion of agricultural interests, a national
budget system, a great merchant marine and a department of public welfare, called for the abolition of lynching, Teapot
Dome scandal (1921) transferred oil fields in Wyoming to people via the aid of Secretary of the Interior Albert Falls & he
gets incarcerated for it, Harlem Renaissance (1920s-1930s) saw many African American artists and writers emerge
celebrating black dignity,

Calvin Coolidge – 1923 – Succeeded upon Harding's death, maintained peace in the nation, didn't look for a second term &
didn't seek out popularity, he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express
their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Many later
criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. His reputation underwent a renaissance during
the Ronald Reagan Administration, but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve
of his reduction of the size of government

Herbert Hoover – 1929 – Great Stock Market Crash (Fall of 1929), Great Depression (1929-1933), had a bad image among
Americans due to the Bonus March (1932) & mismanagement of economy & , rise of collective bargaining & organized
labor, Dust Bowl (1930-1936) was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to
American and Canadian prairie lands, Japan invades Manchuria (1931) and begins the Second Sino-Japanese War with
China,

Franklin D. Roosevelt – 1933 – New Deal (1933-1938), “alphabet soup” programs New Deal legislation and agencies,
Works Progress Administration (created 1935) employed millions of Americans to aid those suffering in the Depression,
Social Security Act (1935) provided pensions and aid to people older than 65, three-term presidency, WWII (1939-1945),
Wagner Act (1935) protected the rights of most workers to organize labor unions, neutrality acts (1935-1937), the television
is incepted (1940),

Harry S. Truman – 1945 – Cold War (1945-early 1990s) --> [conflict was expressed through military coalitions, espionage,
weapons development, invasions, propaganda, and competitive technological development, which included the space race.
The conflict included costly defense spending, a massive conventional and nuclear arms race, and numerous proxy wars,
such as in Korea (Korean War 1950-1953), China, Vietnam, Cuba], Taft-Hartley Act (1947) weakened and restricted power
of labor unions - amended Wagner Act of 1935, wanted to enact Fair Deal (1949) – health, education, and civil rights
measures – but failed due to opposition, McCarthyism & Second Red Scare (1949), National Security Act (1947) establishes
Department of Defense over army, navy, and air force + CIA + NSC, Marshall Plan (1947) provided economic aid to Europe
and mostly to Britain and France, NATO (1949) created a military-treaty alliance constituting a system of collective
defense, First Indochina War (1946-1954), Berlin Blockade (1948-1949) & Operation Vittles & Berlin airlift, General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1947-1994) was an organization to regulate trade as part of a larger plan for economic
recovery after World War II, United Nations (1945) created to facilitate cooperation in international security, economic
development, social progress, human rights, and ultimately achieving world peace via peacekeeping forces and UN
agencies,

Dwight D. Eisenhower – 1953 – worked with Secretary of State Dulles to create massive retaliation initiative, Gary
Powers's failed U-2 spy flight (May 1960), Vietnam War (1959-1975), Geneva Conference (1954) establishes split in
Vietnam, Soviet first human-made satellite Sputnik 1 is launched (1957), NASA is formed (1958), Warsaw Pact (1955)
forms a military-treaty organization in the Eastern Bloc, Domino theory (1954) conceptualization, National Defense
Education Act (1959) promoted science by providing $887 million to science in schools, Suez Crisis (1956) was where US
and Soviet Union help to mediate British and French conflict with Egypt over control of Suez Canal, Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka (1954) reverses Plessy v. Ferguson (1897) in that “separate but equal” is inherently wrong,
John F. Kennedy – 1961 – young and energetic, erection of Berlin Wall (1961-1989), Vietnam War (1959-1975),
assassinated (1963), sends 12,000 “advisers” to Vietnam (1962) who later become involved in the fighting in the civil war,
United Farm Workers (1962) boycotted table grapes and was a merger of numerous smaller agricultural organizations, Bay
of Pigs (1961) was an attempted and failed invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles and CIA supported by Kennedy to thwart
communism and Fidel Castro in Cuba, Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) led to brink of nuclear war,

Lyndon B. Johnson – 1963 – enacted Great Society reform program attacking poverty and tackling civil rights issues, March
on Washington (1963) for civil rights, Civil Rights Act (1964) outlaws racial segregation and discrimination based on
gender and race, My Lai massacre (1968) where 200 villagers die from revenging trigger happy soldiers, National
Organization for Women (1966) formed & attempted to pass the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, Tet
Offensive (1968) leaves Johnson not seeking reelection in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated (1968), Robert
Kennedy assassinated (1968), Six-Day War (1967) a war between Israel and the armies of the neighboring states of Egypt,
Jordan, and Syria, Gulf of Tonkin (1964) & its Resolution provided Johnson with power to wage war in North Vietnam
without formal declaration of war, Immigration and Nationality Act (1965) abolishes national-origins quotas,

Richard M. Nixon – 1969 – invasion of Cambodia (1970), invasion of Laos (1971), Watergate scandal (1972) is committed
to harass Daniel Ellsberg who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, Watergate scandal is exposed (1974) and
forces Nixon to resign, Fall of Saigon (1975) & US forces abandon South Vietnam, Committee to Re-Elect the President
(1972) paid legal expenses for the five Watergate burglars, Burger Court upheld legality of desegregation, October War
(1973) Egypt & Syria attack Israel,

Gerald Ford – 1974 – Spiro Agnew resigns as vice president (1974) due to acceptance of bribes as governor, Vietnam War
ends (1975) with US helicopters leaving Saigon,

Jimmy Carter – 1977 – Met with Egypt and Israel to settle the Camp David accords (1977) which was a framework for
negotiations, Iranian hostage crisis (1979) where support for Iranian shah led to Iranian militants taking hostage of 53
Americans in US embassy in Teheran & hostage dragged on into 1981, Oil shock (1979) caused yet another recession &
unemployment & rising cost of living, SALT II (1979) limited weapons to a ceiling of 2250 nuclear delivery systems,
Brzezinski “stuck it to the Russians” and advocated development of MX missile & reversed detente of Nixon's
administration, Soviet Union invades Afghanistan (1979),

Ronald Reagan – 1981 – Vietnam Veteran's Memorial “The Wall” is completed (1982), Rise of Conservatism, Boland
Amendment (1984)

George H.W. Bush – 1989 – Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait, Chinese students call for
internal liberation (1989) in Tiananmen Square, Berlin Wall is demolished (1989), Iron Curtain countries fall and open up to
the West (1989), Mikhail Gorbachev was responsible for the liberation of Eastern Europe, START I (1991) reduced nuclear
weapons to less than ten thousand apiece, START II (1992) eliminated land missiles with multiple warheads & reduced
nuclear weapons to just over 3000 apiece, Saddam Hussein emerges (1990) to invade Kuwait and threaten Saudi Arabia and
oil-rich Persian Gulf region & persecuting Kurds in northern Iraq & persecuting Shi'ite Muslims in the south,

Bill Clinton – 1993 –

George W. Bush – 2001 – Global financial crisis (2008),

Barack Obama – 2009 –