U.S.

History Timeline - 1492 to 2020

by David Lisker

1492 Indigenous peoples including the Cherokee, Navajo and Sioux tribes lived in what
is now North America for thousands of years. In 1492, an Italian explorer,
Christopher Columbus, sailed from Spain with three ships, the Nina, Pinta and Santa
Maria, gifts from the Queen of Spain to find a new passage from Europe to India.
After months at sea, Columbus “discovered” America. Thinking he had discovered
a new passage to India, Columbus called the indigenous people he found there
“Indians.” The race to the new world began.

1620 The Pilgrims, a religious group from England, sailed to America on the ship, the
Mayflower, in search of religious freedom, or the right to practice any religion one
chooses. The Pilgrims and their captain, John Smith, landed at Plymouth Rock in
Massachusetts and began a settlement called Jamestown. The Indians taught the
Pilgrims how to grow food and hunt. The two peoples celebrated their friendship
and good fortune together with a feast of Thanksgiving, America’s first holiday.

1776 – 1787 As more English came to America, they formed colonies that later made up the first
thirteen (13) states that are represented by the thirteen (13) stripes on the flag.
These included New York, Delaware and Pennsylvania. The people in the colonies
wanted to be free from England. They did not believe that American colonists
should have to pay taxes to the King of England. One patriot, Patrick Henry
declared, "Give me liberty or give me death." Thomas Jefferson, who later became
the third President of the United States (his picture is on the two-dollar bill), wrote the
Declaration of Independence to the King of England that announced America’s right
to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It was signed on July 4th, 1776 at
Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a national historic site.

Thomas Jefferson also wrote the US Constitution, or the highest law in the land. It
was based on writings called “The Federalist Papers, mostly written by Alexander
Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury, and signed by all of the delegates gathered
at the Constitutional Convention. It begins with the words, “We the People” to
symbolize the ideals of democracy. It explains how our Federal, State and local
governments work. The oldest delegate to the Constitutional Convention was
Benjamin Franklin, who started America’s first bank, public library and post office.
He was also the writer of "Poor Richard's Almanac," a daily calendar of weather
predictions and practical advice for early Americans. Also at the Convention was
George Washington, who was Commander-in-Chief during the American
Revolutionary War against England. In 1787, he was elected the new country’s first
President. He is known as “The Father of Our Country.”

Changes or additions or amendments may be added to the US Constitution.

There are twenty-seven (27) amendments to the Constitution. The first ten
amendments are called the Bill of Rights. The first amendment in the Bill of
Rights guarantees everyone the right to free speech, religion, and press. Other
amendments concern the right to vote and state that all citizens who are eighteen
years have the right to vote. The Constitution also describes “the rule of law”
which states that everyone must follow the law; including the Government and its
leaders and that no one is above the law. All people in the U.S. are protected by
the rights of the US Constitution whether they are citizens or not.
There are three branches of government. They are the Presidential or Executive
branch, the Legislative or Congressional branch and the Judicial or Legal branch.
The Constitution includes a system of “checks and balances” to ensure that none of
the three branches of government has more power than another.

The first of these three branches of government is the Presidential or Executive

Presidential branch. As the official Commander in Chief, the President is
responsible for overseeing the US military (armed forces). The President has a
cabinet or group of advisers to help him make policy decisions. The cabinet is made
up of the leaders or Secretaries of National Departments These Departments
include the State Department (responsible for US foreign affairs), the Defense
Department (responsible for the US military), the Department of Health and Welfare,
the Department of Transportation and the Department of the Interior (responsible for
the country’s vast natural resources and national parks).

When there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court, the Chief Executive (President)
appoints a Justice (judge) to the court. The nine Supreme Court justices are
appointed for life and must be approved by the Congress, an example of the “checks
and balances” of the government as outlined by the US Constitution.

A President is elected to a term of four years and may hold the office for two terms or
eight years. Elections for the President are held in the month of November. The
current President of the United States is Donald Trump and the Vice-President is
Mike Pence. Both are members of the Republican Party or GOP (Grand Old Party).
If the President dies or resigns while in office, the Vice-President becomes
President. If both the President and Vice-President cannot serve, the Speaker of the
House of Representatives (CA Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi)
becomes President.

The President signs Federal bills into laws after they are passed by both Houses
of Congress, the House and the Senate. The President may veto or refuse a bill if
he does not agree with it. The Senate may override the President’s veto with a
two thirds majority vote. This is another example of how the US government’s
system of “checks and balances” works to ensure an equal sharing of power in
government.

The second branch of government is the Legislative or Congressional branch.

Congress is the political institution that makes the laws for the nation or the Federal
laws. There are two houses of Congress, the Senate (the upper house) and the
House of Representatives (the lower house). There are two Senators from each of
the fifty states or 100 Senators. They are elected for a term of six years and may be
re-elected until death. There are 435 members of the House of Representatives, the
number of representatives from each state depending on the state’s population.
These representatives are elected for a term of two years with no term limits. The
two US Senators from California are Senator Diane Feinstein (former San Francisco
Mayor) and Senator Kamala Harris (also San Francisco District Attorney). Our local
representative in the House of Representatives is Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi,
now Speaker of the House (of Representatives). Both Senators and Members of
Congress represent all of the people in their state or district. Both houses of
Congress have the power and the responsibility to declare war while the upper
house, the Senate, votes on the President’s nominees to the Supreme Court.

Under our Constitution, some powers and responsibilities belong to the States.
These include providing schools and education, police, fire and emergency services
 and issuing of drivers’ licenses. State laws may differ from state to state.

The third branch of government is the Judicial or legal branch that governs our
courts or judicial system. The judicial branch explains laws to the public and
resolves disputes (disagreements) often through fines or imprisonment. There are
three levels of courts – the same as the three levels of government. They are the
federal (national), state and local level from small town and municipal (city) courts
to the US Supreme Court, the highest court in the land. The Chief Justice or head
of the Supreme Court is John Roberts. (The Roberts Court)

1803 After a slave rebellion in Haiti caused the French to leave North American, the US
purchased Louisiana from the French in the Louisiana Purchase and extended its
land holdings in North America to west of the Mississippi.

1820’s Lewis and Clark, American explorers, were sent by President Thomas Jefferson to
map the country from the Atlantic Ocean on the country’s east coast to the Pacific
ocean in the west. The explorers were the first white men to make their way west
of the Mississippi River, the longest river in the US. They were helped on their
journey by an Indian woman, Sacajawea (whose image may be found on a US
dollar coin). As the US grew larger, many Native American Indian and Mexican
people who traditionally lived on the lands were chased off or killed to make room
for white settlers. Many were relocated to poor lands in OK on the “Trail of Tears.”
1848 - 1849 Gold was discovered in California. Fortune hunters from around the world came to
California to “strike it rich.” As most came in 1849, they were called “the “‘49ers”.
San Francisco became a major city overnight and CA became a state in 1850. More
Indians were killed or displaced during this time to make room for white settlers.

1861 - 1865 From the beginning of the young country’s history, slaves from Africa were brought
here by force to harvest the US cotton and tobacco crops. Most of these slaves and
cotton and tobacco plantations were located in the Southern part of the US.
President Abraham Lincoln urged the Southern slave states to abolish (make illegal)
their system of slavery but the South claimed state’s rights and said that the federal
government at the nation’s capitol in Washington, DC had no right to interfere with
their state’s political and economic system. To protect their economic system, the
South fired guns and canons on the Northern side and declared their own
government, the Confederate States of America (CSA). President Lincoln did not
want the Southern states to leave the United States. He said, “A house divided
cannot stand”. The Civil War between the North and the South lasted for four years
from 1861 – 1865.

1862 During the Civil War, President Lincoln issued an order freeing the slaves in the
Southern states. This order was called "The Emancipation Proclamation.” Lincoln
wrote, “If my name ever goes into history, it will be for this act.”

1865 At the end of the Civil War, the North was victorious and the United States remained
the United States of America (USA). Still many Southerners were angry about the
result of the war and blamed President Lincoln. One man, an actor, John Wilkes
Booth assassinated President Lincoln as he watched a play at Ford’s Theater in
Washington, D.C. The nation mourned the loss of this great man. The nation sang:
“Glory, glory hallelujah – his truth is marching on”.
 During this same period of history, Susan B. Anthony worked to win equal rights for
women including the right to vote. The right to vote for women was granted by the
passing of the nineteenth (19th) amendment in 1920. Ms. Anthony did not live to see
this history change as she passed away peacefully in 1906 at the age of 86.

1914 - 1918 World War I. In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson sent US troops (soldiers)
overseas (“over there”) to Europe to help its allies (friends) fight the Germans. With
US help, the allies won the war and the US became a world power.

1929 - 1941 The Great Depression began with the stock market crash in 1929. The Depression
saw severe drought, hunger and unemployment in America. One third of the country
was ill-fed, ill-housed and ill-clothed. President Franklin Roosevelt took office in
1932 and began his New Deal policies to help its people by providing government
assistance to the poor with government-funded jobs, schools, hospitals and training.

1939 – 1945 World War II - On December 7 th, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The
next day America went to war with Japan. The national war effort provided jobs for
everyone. Overnight, the great depression ended. The US joined the fight with their
allies (or friends), England, France, Russia and China against the two European
enemy countries; Germany and Italy. By the end of the war, 20 million Russian
soldiers were killed by the Nazis. Six million Jews were also killed by the Nazis, in a
period known as the Holocaust. Partly out of shame because they did not do more
to help the Jews during the time of the Holocaust, the allies voted to create the state
of Israel in 1947. This act forced Palestinians living on this land to be relocated to
refugee camps. The tensions between these two groups over this land continue
today as each side in the struggle claim ownership of these ancient lands.

1945 The US dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
bringing an end to World War II.

1947 As the world entered a new and terrifying “nuclear age,” the US began to fight a
"cold war" with Russia and China to stop Communism from spreading around the
world. Conformity becomes the rule as Americans with liberal views were suspected
of being Communist sympathizers. In the South, segregation (the legal separation
of races) continued and blacks continued to be treated as second class citizens
unable to vote or earn a fair wage.

1951 - 1953 The Korean War - The United States joined South Korean military forces to stop
Communist aggression from spreading from the North to the South. Because China
supported North Korea, it stopped the advancing US Army from taking over the
entire country. During the war, President Eisenhower, who was a US Army General
during World War II, was the President. There was no winner in the Korean War
and the two countries remain separated today.

1959 Alaska and Hawaii became the 49th and 50th states in the United States. The 50
stars on the American flag represent the 50 states in the United States. The colors
of the flag are red, white and blue.

1960 John F. Kennedy was elected 35th President of the United States. He worked with
Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, a Civil Rights Leader to help bring equality to black
people in the United States. In 1963, President Kennedy tried to slow down
America’s increased involvement in Vietnam. That same year, he was assassinated
 in Dallas, Texas. Soon, the new President, from Texas, Lyndon Johnson ordered
more than 500,000 men into Vietnam to stop “communist aggression”.

1968 Both President Kennedy's younger brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy who was
running for President to stop the war in Vietnam, and Civil Rights leader, Dr. Martin
Luther King were assassinated. Both leaders had been working to bring peace and
social justice to America. In protest, there were riots in US cities.

1963 - 1975 The Vietnam War - The US sends troops to help South Vietnam stop Communist
aggression from overtaking South VN. In a continuation of the cold war, China and
Russia support North Vietnam. Many American youth protest the Vietnam War. In
1975, the US lost the war in Vietnam and Vietnam became a Communist country as
did its neighbors, Laos and Cambodia, both of which were bombed heavily by the
US during the war. In 1974, Republican President Nixon resigned as a result of the
Watergate scandal in which he helped plan the burglary of the Democratic Party
offices at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Republican VP Gerald Ford
pardons Nixon. Democratic Governor Jimmy Carter takes office in 1976.

1980 Former CA Governor Ronald Reagan was elected President and ex-CIA Chief
George Bush became Vice-President. As the “conservative revolution” began,
federal social programs begun in the time of Franklin Roosevelt were cut resulting in
a widening economic gap between the richest and poorest Americans. Nationwide,
poverty and homelessness increased. The number of new prisons built also
increased. New issues appeared on the national stage as the debate over abortion,
death-penalty, gay rights, AIDS, homelessness and the environment increased.

1988 George Bush, ex-CIA Chief and Texas oilman was elected President. Soon after
taking office, America went to war in Iraq to protect American oil interests.

1992 Bill Clinton is elected President. America enjoyed a great economic boom (growth)
during his time in office which lasted two terms or eight years until the year 2000.

2000 Americans, deeply divided on many issues, voted between conservative candidate
George W. Bush Jr. and President Clinton’s Vice-President Al Gore for US
President. While there were irregularities with the voting process, the US Supreme
Court ruled that the election was fair and declared Bush the new President.

2001 The New York Twin Towers were attacked by terrorists. President George W. Bush
declared war on Afghanistan and Iraq although the 9-11 plotters were from US ally
Saudi Arabia. The “weapons of mass destruction” Bush claimed Iraq possessed as
the prime reason to invade the country were never found.

2008 The first African-American President, Barack Obama is elected and again in 2012.

2011 Osama Bin Laden is killed by US Navy Seals. The US presence in Iraq ends after
nine years as Iraq insists on jurisdiction over US personnel stationed in their country.

2016 TV Host Donald Trump becomes US President amid allegations that he is a Russian
operative. Special Counsel Robert Muller investigates.

2019 Trump plans US – North Korean Summit in Vietnam, takes emergency action to
build a security wall on the US Southern border between US and Mexico. Trump
is impeached but not convicted.
2020 Corona-virus ravages the world. Donald Trump catches it. In last month of his
administration, Trump nominates Amy Barrett to Supreme Court. Amidst
unproven allegations of voter fraud, he runs for re-election against Obama’s
Vice-President Joe Biden. Trump runs behinds in the polling near election day.

The Mayflower Pilgrims Pilgrims and Indians

The Spirit of ’76 US Revolution US Constitution Lewis and Clark

Slave Auction Branding Iron Slave Trade

Indian Removal Act -1830 The CA Gold Rush - 1849 The Transcontinental Railroad -
1869

Korean War 1950-1953 Vietnam War – 1959-1974 Anti-War Demonstration

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Gulf War I 1990-1991 George Bush Sr Gulf War II 2003 – 2011 George Bush Jr.
John F. Kennedy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Barack Obama Donald Trump