HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES: US GOVERNMENT—A SYSTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES Native peoples lived throughout the Americas for centuries—arriving from Asia by a land bridge—and they developed complex, diverse cultures. The arrival of Europeans completely changed their way of life. Soon after Columbus landed in North America, other European explorers followed. Within a century, European countries were planning permanent colonies in North America. c. AD 1000Leif Eriksson is the first European to set foot in North America c. 1400Native tribes move into the southwest 1492Christopher Columbus sails west from Spain for Asia and lands in the West Indies 1513Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain 1519–21Hernán Cortés conquers the Aztec Empire 1532Francisco Pizarro conquers the Inca Empire 1585–87Two unsuccessful attempts are made to colonize Roanoke Island 1607Jamestown founded 1620Mayflower compact; Pilgrims found Plymouth 1621First Thanksgiving 1660King Charles II of England assigns land to be sold to colonists 1692Salem witch trials 1754Outbreak of French and Indian War 1763Treaty of Paris ends French claims in North America 1779Boston Massacre 1773Tea Act; Rebellious colonists stage the Boston Tea Party 1774The 13 colonies form First Continental Congress 1775–83American Revolution begins at Lexington and Concord; ends after British surrender at Yorktown July 4, 1776Declaration of Independence signed 1781Articles of Confederation ratified 1787Constitution signed 1789George Washington elected first US president 1791Bill of Rights ratified 1803Louisiana Purchase doubles land area of US 1812–14US at war with Great Britain; British burn Washington, D.C.; “Star-Spangled Banner” written 1820Missouri Compromise signed in attempt to avoid crisis over slavery 1823Monroe Doctrine 1830Indian Removal Act creates “Indian territories” 1840Telegraph first used 1841Oregon trail opens 1846US war against Mexico; US borders extended to Pacific Ocean 1849California Gold Rush 1861Civil War erupts when southern states secede from Union, forming Confederate States of America 1863Battle of Gettysburg; Gettysburg Address; Emancipation Proclamation 186513th Amendment abolishes slavery 1865Lee surrenders to Grant; President Lincoln assassinated 1867Reconstruction Act 186814th Amendment grants citizenship to African Americans 1869Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads meet at Promontory Point 187015th Amendment gives African Americans the right to vote 1876Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone 1879Thomas Edison makes the electric light bulb 1882Chinese Exclusion Act 1886Haymarket riot; American Federation of Labor organized 1890Frontier closes; massacre of American Indians at Wounded Knee 1898Spanish-American War; US acquires the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii 1903First flight by Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk 191316th Amendment places federal tax on income 1914Panama Canal opens 1915German U-boat sinks theLusitania 1916Child Labor Act 1917US enters World War I; end of Progressivism 1918End of World War I 191918th Amendment begins Prohibition 192019th Amendment gives women the vote 1927Charles Lindbergh makes flight across Atlantic; first “talkie” released 1929Stock market crashes; Great Depression 1933Great Plains become the “Dust Bowl”; President Roosevelt launches the New Deal 1939Germany invades Czechoslovakia and Poland; Great Britain and France declare war on Germany Dec. 7, 1941Pearl Harbor attacked; US enters war 1942Relocation of Japanese-Americans begins; Bataan Death March; Battles of Coral Sea and Midway June 6, 1944D-Day May 8, 1945Germany surrenders Aug. 6, 1945US drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima Aug. 9, 1945US drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki Aug. 15, 1945Japan surrenders 1948Marshall Plan implemented; Berlin airlift 1950McCarthy hearings begin; start of Korean War 1954Supreme Court ruling onBrown v. Board of Education 1955Montgomery bus boycott 1957Sputnik Ilaunched 1958First American satellite goes into orbit 1961Bay of Pigs fiasco 1962Cuban Missile Crisis 1963March on Washington, D.C.; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers “I Have a Dream” speech Nov. 22, 1963President Kennedy assassinated 1965American troops sent to Vietnam 1968My Lai massacre Apr. 4, 1968Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated; violence erupts in 125 cities 1969Apollo 11crew lands on the Moon 1972Watergate break-in 1974President Nixon resigns 1975US personnel evacuated from Saigon; South Vietnam surrenders 1979Global oil shortage; gas rationing 1979Iranian rebels seize US Embassy 1981Scientists identify Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Jan. 28, 1986Space shuttleChallengerexplodes 1986Iran-Contra scandal 1989Berlin Wall torn down; fall of communism in eastern Europe begins 1991US leads coalition in Operation Desert Storm 1992US troops join UN mission in Somalia 1995Oklahoma City bombing 1998President Clinton impeached, later acquitted