1580s |
Raleigh’s
ill-fated English colony at Roanoke (1585-158?)
1587 128 men, women and children are settled at Roanoke (today's coastal North Carolina)
1588 The English defeat of the Spanish Armada organized by Queen Elizabeth
1591 A relief ship finally able to get to Roanoke most mysteriously finds no settlers there |
| 1600s |
Jamestown:
The first successful English settlement in the New World
1606 King James I of England creates the Virginia Company - (both in London and Plymouth)
1607 Jamestown is established along the James River in Virginia (1607) in Powhatan territory
1608 John Smith establishes work discipline on the Virginia settlers in order to save the colony
The despised Separatists ("Pilgrims")
of Scrooby (northern England) begin to flee to Holland
The French establish their first American colony at Quebec
1609 Henry Hudson (working for the Dutch) looking for a water passage across North America, discovers
the "Hudson River"
1609-1610 Virginia's "starving time" |
| 1610s |
The
Jamestown settlement begins to take on its specific Virginia "character"
1612 John Rolfe begins the successful/profitable cultivation of tobacco in Virginia
1618 Chief Powhatan dies - his anti-English brother Opechancanough becomes chief
1619 The first African indentured servants arrive in Virginia
Representatives of local Virginia
communities gather as the House of Burgesses at Jamestown |
| 1620s |
The Separatists' (Pilgrims') Plymouth Colony is established in New England; religious
persecution in England increases; Virginia experiences the first Indian War
1620 With permission from James I and financial backing from London investors ('adventurers'), the
Pilgrims sail on the Mayflower to America - arriving north of Virginia in the "New England"
territory; possessing
no specific land grant for the place ("Plymouth") where they are forced
to
settle, the Pilgrims themselves draw up an agreement for self-government: The Mayflower
Compact
1621 Despite a deadly winter and early spring, half the colony survives - and celebrates a Thanksgiving
for its "success"
with its Indian friends: Squanto, Massasoit and braves from the
Wampanoag tribe
William Bradford is repeatedly elected
to the one-year term of Governor of the Plymouth Colony.
1622 Opechancanough leads the first Indian war in Virginia
1623 A small English commercial settlement is located at Cape Ann (Massachusetts)
1624 The Dutch establish Fort Orange up the Hudson River at present-day Albany
1625 The Dutch establish New Netherland with New Amsterdam (lower Manhattan) as its center
James I dies; his son Charles I
becomes king; he is even less tolerant of religious "dissenters"
1628 The Massachusetts Bay Company (heavily Puritan) secures a grant from the king to
establish
colonial settlements in New England; the first Puritan settlement is at
Salem |
| 1630s |
Thousands of Puritans join the Pilgrims in New England; Maryland is founded for Catholics
1630 John Winthrop leads 11 ships and 700 Puritan settlers in a move to Massachusetts in 1630;
20,000
more ("the Great Migration") will arrive in Massachusetts over the next
ten years
1634 "Freemen" in Massachusetts begin to elect their officers annually to the General Court;
The Calverts
found a colony for English Catholics (and others) in Maryland
1635 Puritans begin to pour into the Connecticut River valley: Thomas Hooker takes a group of
religious
dissenters to found the town of Hartford; Puritan 'purist' Roger
Williams dissents from
the Massachusetts authorities and is expelled
1636 Williams establishes his Providence Colony (Rhode Island) along the Naragannsett Bay; he
purchases the land from the
local Indians and thus considers the colony his; no religious
restrictions are placed on citizenship in his colony;
Harvard college is founded - principally to train pastors
1637 A Pequot Indian uprising against Puritan settlers in the Connecticut Valley; 300+ settlers are killed;
but it ends disastrously for
the Indians (400 Pequots killed; the rest sold as slaves)
1638 Anne Hutchinson is expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1638); she takes up residence
near Williams' Providence
Colony [but soon moves on to the Hudson River frontier area - where
she is killed in 1643 by local Indians]
1639 Hartford and two other towns establish their own colony and government - under The Fundamental
Orders of Connecticut - giving voting rights to a wider group of citizens; the New Haven colony
(even stricter Puritan) is also founded in Connecticut |
| 1640s |
Virginia,
Maryland and the New England colonies settle in
1642-1649 The English Civil War (1642-1649) slows down immigration to America dramatically
1642 Sir William Berkely elected Virginia Governor (1642-1652 and 1660-1677)
1644 The General Court evolves into a 2-house legislature (by 1644): an upper house of the Governor and
his Council and
a lower House of Deputies elected by all male citizens of the
Massachusetts Bay
Colony
1649 Charles I is executed (Jan) by order of Parliament
Calvert grants the Toleration Act of
1649 for Maryland (to attract non-Catholic settlers) |
| 1650s |
Chaotic
political developments in England seem not to touch the
colonies
1650-1660 England under the Puritan rule of
Oliver Cromwell, bringing briefly to England a "republican"
form
of
government (Parliament
rules without a king) known as the Puritan Commonwealth |
| 1660s |
Charles
II takes the English throne; grants American "proprietary" colonies to
his supporters
1661 Virginia passes a law determining slave status based on the mother's slave status
1662 Massachusetts Puritans create the Halfway Covenant to bring their youth to church membership
1663 Charles grants wealthy friends the proprietary colony of Carolina
1664 The English defeat the Dutch and seize New Netherland; The Dutch colony is given to the King's
brother James, Duke of York, thus becoming "New York";
The Maryland Act of 1664 turns African indenture into permanent slavery
1665 James grants a portion of his New York colony to Carteret and Berkeley as New Jersey |
| 1670s |
The
colonies suffer troubles from restless Indians and rebellious poor
whites
1674-1682 Carteret and Berkeley sell sections of New Jersey to various proprietors, including Penn
1675 Chief Metacomet ("King Philip") leads his Wampanoag tribe in an anti-English uprising ("King Philip's
War") in New England; over 1000 settlers are killed;
1676 The uprising is crushed - with death or slavery for the Indians - and the end of the Wampanoag tribe
"Bacon’s Rebellion" of English
commoners against aristocratic authorities at Jamestown fails |
| 1680s |
The
idea of "human rights" grows both in England and in her northern American
colonies
1681 Charles II grants land ("Pennsylvania") to the Quaker William Penn in compensation for a large debt
1682 Penn founds the carefully designed Philadelphia as his colony’s capital
1685 James, Duke of York, (and crypto-Catholic) assumes the English throne as James II
1688
Parliament rises up against James (beginning the "Glorious
Revolution"); Dutch Protestant cousin
William of Orange leads the military effort (1688-1689)
1689 Parliament calls William to the throne to co-rule with his wife (James's Protestant daughter) Mary;
the co-monarchs accept the Whig-dominated Parliament's Declaration of Rights
The philosopher John Locke writes the Two Treatises of Government justifying this action in
terms of the
"natural rights" of Englishmen and the implicit "social contract"
between ruler and
ruled - which the King had violated; (Jefferson
will draw heavily from Locke's work in his drafting
of the Declaration of Independence in 1776)
1688-1697 King William's War erupts between the French and English, involving Indians on both sides
(the fierce Iroquois
as English allies; the Wabanaki Confederation as French allies) |
| 1690s |
French
and Indian problems grow; the Puritan experiment is dying out in New England;
"Enlightenment" comes to the colonies
1691 Massachusetts is forced to become a royal colony
1692 The Salem witch hysteria breaks out; 24 people put to death as witches or die in prison (1692)
1693 Boston authorities bring the event to a halt
The College of William and Mary is
founded in (Williamsburg) Virginia as the colonies' 2nd college
1696 Deist John Toland publishes Christianity Not Mysterious
1699 Jamestown burns again; Virginia’s capital is moved to Middle Plantation (renamed "Williamsburg") |
| 1700s |
Mounting
problems with the French and Indians
1701-1713 Queen Anne's War [Europe: "War of Spanish Succession"]
1702 Mobile (Alabama) becomes the capital of the huge French territory of Louisiana
1704 The French-Indian massacre of the English settlement at Deerfield Massachusetts (Feb) |
| 1710s |
England
comes under the Hanoverian dynasty - adding to the remoteness of the
colonies
1712 Carolina makes slavery
permanent
1713 The Treaty of Utrecht assigns French Canada’s
Maritime provinces (Acadia) to the English; the war
has left Spanish
Florida in turmoil and depopulated much of the Indian lands in the
South
1714 Hanoverian (very German) George I becomes English King
(1714-1727)
1718 A newly built New Orleans is established on the
Mississippi as the capital of French Louisiana |
| 1720s |
Life in the colonies is increasingly comfortable - with a consequent spiritual
deadening
1717 Another quite German Hanoverian George II becomes English King
(1727-1760)
1729 A dispute between differing cultures splits Carolina into two colonies, North and South |
| 1730s |
Georgia founded; the 1st Great Awakening erupts in reaction to Deistic rationalism
1730 Deist Matthew Tindal publishes Christianity as Old as the Creation (1730)
1732 Georgia (notably Savannah) is founded by soldier, philanthropist James Oglethorpe as an
experiment in
social rehabilitation - and as an English buffer against Spanish
raids coming from
Florida
1735 A "Great Awakening" breaks out in Jonathan Edwards' congregation in Massachusetts
1738-1739 John Wesley and George Whitefield start up the Great Awakening in England
1739 Whitefield arrives in the colonies to carry forward the Great Awakening; Franklin, though a Deist,
becomes a lifetime friend of Whitefield's |
| 1740s |
Once again hostilities among the European powers draw the colonies into their conflict
1740s The Great Awakening gathers strength (first half of the 1740s) - then slowly loses momentum
(second half of
the 1740s) ... though elements continue well into the 1750s
The "War of Jenkins' Ear" (mostly
early 1740s) over the right of English to sell slaves to Spanish
colonies; conflict
between Georgia and Spanish Florida ends inconclusively
1744-1748 King George's War [Europe: "War of Austrian Succession"]; Americans take the initiative to
seize the vital French
fortress at Louisbourg (1745); in the final peace treaty, the English
return
the fort to the French ... deeply disappointing the Americans (1748)
1749-1754 The French build a number of forts in the Ohio Valley to stop the spread of the English |
| 1750s |
The French and Indian War [Europe: the "Seven Years' War"] erupts (1754-1763)
1750 Georgia ends Oglethorpe’s ban on slavery
1753 George Washington builds Fort Necessity (Southwestern Pennsylvania);
1754 ... but loses it to the French who build Fort Duquesne; The effort of English Gen. Braddock (with
Washington) to take Fort Duquesne ends in disaster
The Albany Congress meets to
negotiate an alliance with the Iroquois; Benjamin Franklin proposes
a plan (the Albany
Plan) for permanent union - but the colonial assemblies fail to support
the idea
1755 The English-French contest becomes global ... and total; The "Great Expulsion" (1755-1763) of
11,500 French Acadians
from the Maritime Provinces of Canada; 1600 Acadians (the "Cajuns")
trek to the Gulf Coast bayous of lower Louisiana
1758-1759 the British take the French forts in Canada, and Quebec is seized |
| 1760s |
Economic and political tensions mount between England and the colonies
1760 A young George III becomes English king, determined to hold his rule over the colonies tightly
1762 Spain enters the war on France's side; Spain loses Gibraltar, but is awarded the Louisiana territory
by the French (thus Spanish until 1802, when secretly given back to
Napoleon's France)
Americans resist
strongly the move of George to place Anglican bishops (answering only
to the king)
over the churches in colonial America
1763 The French and Indian War ends; the Proclamation of 1763 prohibits English settlement west of
the Appalachian
Mountains; Pontiac leads a major Indian uprising ... which is crushed
by Amherst
1765 In part in order to cover military expenses, the English Parliament passes the Quartering Act and
the Stamp Act; the
"Stamp Act Congress" gathers in New York City to appeal the Act
1766 Parliament repeals the Stamp Act
1767 ... but extends Parliament's mercantile control over the colonial economies with the Townshend
Acts, taxes on imports to the colonies
1769 Four (subsequently just two) British regiments are sent to occupy a noncompliant Boston |
| 1770s |
Full-scale conflict breaks out between England and the colonies
1770 The "Boston Massacre" - British sentries at the Customs House fire on an angry crowd, killing 5
1772 "Committees of correspondence" are established to strengthen the unity of the colonies
1773 The British Tea Act of 1773 ... and the Boston "Tea Party"
1774 George infuriates the colonists when he adds to his promise to his Indian allies to block English
settlement west of the
Appalachian Mountains also recognition of that same land as simply an
extension of Catholic Quebec
Parliament passes the "Intolerable (or "Coercive") Acts" in reprisal;
the 1st Continental Congress
gathers in
Philadelphia, passing the Suffolk Resolves and adopting the Declaration
of Rights and
Grievances. George III: "The die is cast."
1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord occur (Apr) when Gage moves to seize colonial military supplies;
The 2nd Continental Congress gathers in Philadelphia (May)
Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold capture Fort Ticonderoga (May)
The Battle of Bunker Hill is a mixed victory for the British (Jun)
Washington is appointed Commander of the Continental Army (Jul)
Americans under
Arnold and Daniel Morgan fail to capture Quebec (Dec) despite a valiant
effort
The Transylvania Company purchases
a huge section of Kentucky from the Cherokee; Daniel Boone
ignores Charles'
orders and leads a group across the mountains to his new settlement via
the
"Wilderness Road": Boonesboro founded
1776 The Deist Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense (Jan)
Henry Knox brings cannon from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston
(Mar)
The British, sensing their weak position in Boston, abandon the city
(Mar)
British efforts to take Charleston fail (Jun)
Thomas Jefferson composes The Declaration of Independence (Jul)
Washington's army escapes at Brooklyn Heights but loses New York to the British (Aug);
Washington defeats the Hessians at Trenton and Princeton (Dec) - reviving American spirits
1777 The Articles of Confederation defining the colonies' new political alliance are proposed by Congress
Washington is unable at Brandywine to stop Howe’s British advance on
Philadelphia (Sep) or dislodge
them at Germantown (Oct);
However,
Americans under Horatio Gates (with a lot of help from Arnold and
Morgan) defeat a huge
British army at Saratoga (Oct)
Washington’s exhausted troops enter winter quarters at Valley Forge
(Dec)
Gates
participates in the failed Conway Cabal to take command from Washington
(late 1777 -
early 1778)
1778 The Saratoga victory leads to the French Alliance (Feb);
Jones captures the British battleship HMS Drake (Apr)
The British now under Clinton
decide to vacate Philadelphia in order to better defend New York City
Because of the cowardice of
American Gen. Lee, Washington narrowly miss a potential victory over
Clinton’s British army at Monmouth (New Jersey) on its move to New York (Jun);
Clinton
then decides to shift the war to the American South where Tory
(pro-British) sentiments are
stronger
The British take a lightly defended Savannah (Dec)
1779 Spain joins France as an American ally (Apr);
An American effort to retake Savannah fails (Oct) |
| 1780s |
The conflict ends in American victory; a new Federal Republic is created
1780 Clinton captures a huge American army under Southern commander Gates at Camden (South
Carolina) (May)
Charleston also falls to the British (May) – another huge American loss
Arnold switches sides; his plan to surrender West Point fails and he
narrowly escapes capture (Sep)
But Arnold – now serving the British – captures Richmond (Dec)
1781 The Articles of Confederation are ratified, creating the Congress of the Confederation (1781-1789)
Morgan defeats Tarleton’s Raiders at Cowpens [a major American victory] (Jan);
America's new
Southern commander Nathanael Greene draws British Gen. Cornwallis into
Virginia
Arnold even burns New London, Connnecticut (his home state) (Sep)
However ... with
considerable French help, and skillful American meneuvering, a trapped
British army
of over 7,000 troops under Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, Virginia (Oct)
The British interest in pursuing the war subsequently fades away
1782 Lord North resigns as Prime Minister (Mar)
Parliament votes to end the war (Apr)
Preliminary peace terms are agreed on at Paris (Nov)
1783 Washington quashes the Newburgh Conspiracy [some of his offices want to seize power from a
corrupt Congress](Mar);
The formal
signing of the Treaty of Paris (Sep); all territory west to the
Mississippi River is ceded to
the Americans (Britain's Indian allies are furious)
1786 Virginia adopts Jefferson’s Statute for Religious Freedom (Jan);
The Continental Congress adopts the Indian Ordinance of 1786;
The Annapolis Convention calls for a
full conference in Philadelphia to propose changes to the
Articles of Confederation (Sep)
1787 Shay’s Rebellion In Massachusetts is crushed (Jan), but awakens American leaders to the need for
a stronger national union
A Convention of the various state representatives meets during a long hot summer in Philadelphia
(May-Sep), debating the
interests of the small states (equal representation of all states vested
in the New Jersey Plan)
versus the interest of the large states (proportional representation
according to population size vested in the Virginia Plan)
With debate
largely deadlock between the contending interests, the American sage,
Ben Franklin,
in late June, calls for daily meetings to begin in prayer, to get the
representatives to think higher
than merely their own
state's political interests ... reminding them that God had plans for
America
that had nothing to do with their respective political interests
Roger Sherman's "Connecticut Compromise (or "Great Compromise") is
gradually (Jul) accepted,
finally opening the
way finally to the drafting of a Constitution for the new Federal Union
The Continental
Congress meanwhile passes the Northwest Ordinance (Jul) setting up
plans for
a number of slave-free
states, eventually to become members of the new Federal Union
1788 Federalists (nationalists) and Anti-Federalists (states-righters) debate constitutional ratification;
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay write The Federalist Papers (some 85 articles)
advocating ratification
The Federalists
carry the day, bringing the new Constitution to ratification (summer)
1789 Washington inaugurated in New York as the first U.S. president (Apr);
The French Revolution breaks out (Jul)
spurred by the ideals of the Enlightenment ... and the example
of the new American Republic
|
| 1790s |
The Republic struggles to establish new (and hopefully viable) political norms
early 1790s Mounting political feud rises in Washington's Presidential cabinet between Treasury Secretary
Hamilton (Federalist) and Secretary of State Jefferson
("Republican"/strong states-righter), with
Washington generally supporting Hamilton (to Jefferson's great ire)
1790 Hamilton announces a new national bank’s "assumption" of all public debt (national and state);
Jefferson and his
political ally Madison are strongly opposed to this centralizing of
economic power
1791 Congress approves Hamilton’s plan for a US Bank and the plan for central financing of the public debt
The states ratify 10 Constitutional
Amendments (Bill of Rights), guarantying key political protections
against the
unlimited growth of central (or ‘national’) governmental power
1793 The French Republic has alienated all other European monarchies; all of Europe is again at war
The political hostility between
Hamilton (pro-British) and Jefferson (pro-French) deepens
Washington’s Proclamation of Neutrality is a rather pro-British position
"Citizen Genet"' welcomed by Jefferson as French
Ambassador ... but proves to be an unwelcome
meddler in American
politics
The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Jay in the Chisolm v. Georgia case affirms that a
citizen has the right to sue a state government in a federal court
1794 As an immediate reaction to the Chisolm case, the 11th Amendment is added to the Bill of Rights,
affirming the immunity of
the states from such lawsuits (unless a state agrees to a hearing)
The French Republic dissolves into a state
of unbounded political slaughter (the Reign of Terror)
Massachusetts farmers rebel against
Hamilton's excise tax on their whisky production; Washington
personally leads a
13,000-man army to swiftly crush the "Whiskey Rebellion"
The Jay Treaty seems to surrender
American maritime rights to the increasingly aggressive English
The cotton gin is invented, vastly
deepening the importance of slavery to the Southern economy
1796 Washington steps aside, serving only 2 terms (and glad to be going home to his farm), ...
establishing a
tradition of a peaceful transfer of limited presidential power (to John
Adams)
1798 French aggressions on the high seas lead arch-Federalists to want to go to war with France (and
to political war with
the pro-French Jeffersonian Republicans ... with the Alien and Sedition
Act)
Adams agrees to a
treaty with the French, thus avoiding war, but getting him no gratitude
from the
Republicans and costing him
the support of a number of arch Federalists (and re-election in 1800) |
| 1800s |
The Federalist/Republican rivalry deepens ... within a rapidly expanding America (growing by
25% each decade)
1800 The American capital is moved to Washington, D.C., a town mostly yet an ideal rather than a reality
Jefferson is narrowly elected President
(over Burr); Adams is humiliated by his loss
1801 As his last act in office, Adams signs the midnight judicial appointments, including John Marshall as
Supreme Court Chief Justice; Marshall will greatly expand the powers of the Federal judiciary
branch (1801-1835)
1802-1810 Jefferson’s Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin reverses Hamilton's policies, cutting federal
expenditures in half
(importantly the army and navy) and reducing the federal debt, but
proposing
massive road and canal building to open the interior to
settlement, favoring Republican farmers of
the American South and West
and undercutting Federalist bankers and merchants of New England
1803 Marshall’s Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison (questioning the "midnight" judicial appointments)
assumes the power of "constitutional review" of Congress's legislation
Jefferson's envoys to Napoleon
secure the Louisiana Purchase for $15 (actually $11.2) million
(acquiring land for settlers
who will most likely be supporters of Jefferson’s Republican Party!)
1804-1806 Lewis and Clark lead a party exploring (to the Pacific) the newly purchased Louisiana territory
1804 The 12th Amendment eliminates the confusion caused by the 1800 presidential election
Jefferson orders the (small) navy to
end the piracy of the Barbary States (the Libyan coast)
Following a long-simmering political feud, Burr kills Hamilton in a duel
1806 Pike leads a military party to further explore parts of the American West (today's Colorado)
1806-1807 Britain moves to block American shipping to France, and seize sailors deemed to be
"English"
1807 Jefferson responds by outlawing exports to or from France or England ... infuriating New
England exporters
1808 Jefferson's Secretary of State and chief supporter Madison is elected President |
| 1810s |
Another war with England (the "War of 1812") promotes the rise of a younger, more "national,"
American generation ...
and further undercuts Indian power east of the Mississippi
1810 British arrogance on the high seas, plus young American War Hawks, push America toward war
In Fletcher v. Peck, Marshall's Supreme Court claims that federal authority takes precedence over
the laws of the individual states
1811 Harrison defeats British allies, the Shawnee Indians, at Tippecanoe, Indiana, restarting Indian wars
1812 A Republican Congress affirms Madison's call for war with England (the "War of 1812"); Federalist are
cool on the idea even though it
is mostly New Englanders suffering from British actions
1812-1814 Three American military expeditions to Canada are major failures ... although Americans do
succeed foolishly in burning the Canadian capital at York (modern
Toronto) to the ground, almost
guaranteeing that the
British would do the same to the American capital should they get a
chance to do so
Although (thanks
to Jefferson) America had no navy to speak of, American privateers do
well on
the high seas in attacking British ships
1814 Having defeated Napoleon at Leipzig (late 1813) England now sends an experienced army to
America ... and
proceeds to annihilate American troops ... also burning Washington,
D.C. to the
ground in the process
But the British are blocked at Baltimore (the Star Spangled Banner) and then lose battles to the
Americans on Lake Champlain and at Chippewa New York
Meanwhile, Federalist New Englanders are
planning a separate treaty with England ... even the
possibility of seceding from the Union
But a war-weary America and Britain
(Britain's ongoing war with Napoleon's France ise finally over)
are hungry for peace
... and sign a treaty (Dec 24) in Ghent (Belgium). The War of
1812 is over
... almost!
1815 Meanwhile England has sent an army to occupy New Orleans, which is stunningly crushed (Jan 8)
by Americans under
Andrew Jackson ... neither side aware that a peace treaty has just been
signed back in Europe!
The war has led Americans to a sense of true
national unity ... and brought respect from Europe.
It also finished off the
Federalist Party, with many members joining the Republican Party ...
but
as "National
Republicans" (a younger breed who will eventually form the Whig Party);
even the
old guard of the Jeffersonian Republicans are losing ground
politically to new ways of doing
politics
And the war has been disastrous for a huge
number of Indian tribes who got caught up in the
conflict; they are thrown
on the defensive everywhere, with little to protect themselves from
westward-advancing hordes of White settlers
1816 The Second Bank of the United States (BUS) is formed (the charter of the first one was not
renewed in 1811)
James Monroe scores a landslide victory
for the presidency over the Federalist candidate; he is a
congenial man,
hoping to promote national unity and end the political partisanship
characteristic
of the Federalist-Republican feuding; but he is also
too accommodating to be able to curb the
feuds that grow within his cabinet
1818 Jackson marches an army into Spanish Florida, ostensibly to break Seminole Indian power ... and
then overruns Spanish
positions (an act of war with no Congressional authorization)
1819 The stunned Spanish sign the Adams-Otis Treaty acknowledging the loss of Florida (and also any
claims to the Pacific
Northwest) ... they are paid $5 million in compensation for Florida
McCulloch v. Maryland denies the right of the states to tax federal agencies (the Maryland branch
of the BUS); Dartmouth College v. Woodward confirms the sanctity of all contracts
A tight money policy by the BUS has thrown the country into deep
recession ... at the same time
that cotton from India emerges as a new challenge to the South’s cotton
production
Ultimately Federal spending and farmer's overborrowing produce a huge speculative crash
|
| 1820s |
A restless spirit infects the nation in this "Era of Good Feelings"
(closely identified with Monroe's
presidency: 1817-1825)
1820s Inspired by the dedication of the highly active Bishop Francis Asbury (1790s to 1816), Christian
"Methodism" spreads
quickly ... especially in the isolated and hardscrabbled western
frontier
lands – where hundreds of circuit riders work feverishly to spread the Christian Gospel
Finney
turns religous camp meetings into something of a religious science ...
his carefully
engineered religious program soon followed by other revivalists
Millennialism (expecting the 2nd coming of Christ) infects the
American religious heart everywhere
Thus the "Second Great Awakening" (actually started in the 1790s)
gathers momentum .. most
notably in Western New York (later
termed the "Burned-Over District")
This is
coupled with the growth of various Christian organizations uniting
various Protestant
denominations:
American Bible Society, American Sunday School Union, Board of Foreign
Missons,
Anti-Slavery Society, American Temperance League (anti-alcoholism), etc.
America is fast becoming an
industrial nation (agriculture, textiles, heavy industry) ... and within
20
years will equal or surpass British productivity in many
industrial areas
At the invitation of the Mexican government (needing Europeans to
counter fierce Indian
resistance) Stephen Austin (and others) flock to Tejas ... mostly
land-hungry Southerners
Americans also head Southwest, towards New Mexico via the Santa Fe Trail
1820 Henry Clay proposes the "Missouri Compromise" setting a north-south boundary distinguishing the
Slave and the
Free states ... determining which category new states will belong to in
entering
the Union; this
"solution" to the problem merely highlights a deepening North-South
divide
1821 Cohens v. Virginia: Marshall declares that the Supreme Court has review powers over state courts
1823 Monroe announces to Congress his "Monroe Doctrine" dedicating America to the defense of the
Latin American
Republics which had recently secured their independence from Spain (the
English
were major silent partners in this policy, offering the necessary
military backup)
1824 Gibbons v. Ogden holds that only the federal government can regulate inter-state commerce
1825 John Adams' son John Quincy Adams becomes president ... and offers America four year of
amazingly calm government
The 8-year project of the Erie Canal is completed, opening a water
route from New York City all
the way to Lake Erie in the Great Lakes region
1828 The first segment of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is started up (completed in 1830) ...
beginning a rush to build railroads that will continue unabated through
the entire 1800s
1829 War hero Andrew Jackson becomes President ... instituting a very "populist" version of democracy
for the country
|
1830s
|
This restless spirit of growth and movement is noticeable among Americans everywhere
1830s Cheap land creates a land-hungry spirit (much to the continuing distress of the harassed Indians)
and much questionable or shady land trading
Marshall fails to block
Jackson's "Indian removal" program ... which then runs through the
entire
1830s, forcing
all Indian tribes East of the Mississippi River to move to new "Indian
territory"
(principally Oklahoma) in the West
Unitarianism and Deism show strong growth in America (supported greatly
by Jeffeson)
1830 Joseph Smith publishes the Book of Mormon, beginning the Latter Day Saints (LDS or
"Mormons") ... also birthed in the "Burned Over District" of New York!
Daniel Webster and Robert Hayne debate the future of slavery in the fast-developing American
West
Overwhelmed by the American buildup in Tejas (Texas), Mexico now blocks
further immigration
1831 Cyrus McCormick demonstrates his new mechanical reaper ... revolutionizing the farming industry
1832 Sensing rising Mexican resistance, "Texians" increasingly look to the idea of independence
1833 William
Miller (also based in the Burned Over District) predicts Christ's
second coming to take
place in 1844
... birthing what eventually becomes the Seventh-Day Adventist
movement
1835 The Frenchman Alexis de Toqueville will detail what he observes of the unique America spirit in
his two volume study Democracy in America (1835/1840)
Mexicans send soldiers north
to break the Texan spirit of independence ... but only deepen it
1836 The
Mexicans respond immediately in sending a large force North ... to
overrun (and massacre)
Texans gathered at the Alamo; Texans captured elsewhere are massacred
at Goliad (also Mar)
Texans defeat a huge Mexican army and capture Mexican general/dictator
Santa Anna at the
battle of San Jacinto (April); effectively, Texas is now independent
Congress tries to put a "gag rule" on the rising and increasingly bitter debate over slavery
1837 The Great Financial Crisis of 1837
Now begins the debate as to what Texas is to do ... possibly even join
the US – something
fiercely resisted by anti-slavery Northern politicians; however, the
American economic
depression underway at that point seems to be a higher national
priority
Alton newspaper publisher and preacher Elija Lovejoy (Alton, Illinois)
is murdered on the fourth
assault on
his newspaper by a proslavery mob furious over his Abolitionism
Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge severely restricts monopolistic practices
1839 Bank of Augusta v. Earle holds that corporations have legal rights even in other states
Late 1830s Emerson (and his neighbor Alcott) propose a Higher or more "Transcendental" religion ... one
drawing much of its character from Hinduism
1830s-1840s The examples of Britain ending slavery in its country (1807) and then in its overseas Empire
(1833) – and the French doing the same in France itself (1794) and then in its overseas colonies
(1848) – only pushes the Abolitionists to press harder for the American abolition of slavery
For many
Americans, the ongoing Christian "Second Great Awakening" also inspires
them to take a
strong anti-slavery position
|
| 1840s |
The
powerful American expansion to the West brings America to full war with
Mexico ... also intensifying the North-South's slavery dispute
1841 Newly elected President William Henry Harrison catches pneumonia delivering his inauguration
address and soon
dies ... making his Vice President John Tyler the new American President
The
ongoing economic crisis pits Tyler against Clay over the actions to be
taken
1842 America and Canada agree on complicated border questions (The Webster-Ashburton Treaty)
1845 As outgoing President (Polk had just won the 1844 election), Tyler pushed Congress to invite Texas
to become part
of the Federal Union; Texas agrees (Dec) ... infuriating Mexico
Publisher O'Sullivan popularizes the term "Manifest Destiny" in the matter of America's Westward
expansion
Frederick Douglass's autobiographies (1845 and 1855) of his life as a
slave sell big in the north
1846 Texas-Mexico border questions greatly complicate the issue (troops from both sides moving into
the border
region) and finally Polk gets Congress to declare war (May)
Americans
are quick to seize Mexican lands West to the Pacific Ocean (June)
Then
General Zacharly Taylor moves his troops into Mexico ... joined by
Winfield Scott's troops
Meanwhile, America and the British finally agree on boundary questions
west of the Rockies ...
Britain finally recognizing the
Oregon Territory (including the future state of Washington) as
American; this
clears the way for a huge rush of Americans to the lush Oregon region – and
California to the south – by way of the "Oregon Trail"
1847 American troops are able to enter Mexico City (Sep) as Santa Anna flees; the war is over
1848 America agrees (Jan – The Guadalupe Treaty) to pay Mexico $15 million for Texas and the Western
lands America now possesses ... resolving the issue somewhat
Also ... the tameness of the 1848 presidential elections and the
victory of the Mexican war
hero Taylor – whose views on the slavery issue are largely unknown – indicates a general
desire of most Americans to move past the burning issue of slavery
1849 The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in California inspires an even greater "gold rush" to
California
|
| 1850s |
Southern-Northern tensions over the slavery issue become increasingly bitter – even violent
1850 The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, promising the South to return escaped slaves, goes ignored
by the growing
"Undergrouind Railroad," secretly passing escaped slaves to the North
1851-1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin gains a huge audience in the North as a series
(1851) then as a book (1852)
1852 With death of both Clay (Jun) and Webster (Oct) that year, the political "Middle" loses much of its
voice – instensfying North-South animosities
Presidential
elections that year bring the Democrat Party's Franklin Pierce to the
White House ...
a much less radical
candidate than the Whig Party's Winfield Scott (still too Abolitionist
for the
tastes of most
Americans at that point); the Whig Party will not survive this defeat
1853 The Gadsen Purchase of land from Mexico ($10 million) will allow the South to extend a railroad all
the way to the Pacific Ocean (and move more Southerners there)
1854 A secret plan for the South to bring Cuba into the Union as a new Southern state is discovered
and blocked by an outraged North
A
compromise measure of Congress to let the Kansas-Nebraska territories
decide their own future
as slave or free
states merely serves to intensify hatred and violence there over this
issue
In
Congressional elections of that year, the Democratic Party survives
politically largely only in the
South, with the
new American Party (soon to give itself over to the Republican Party) – and a
number of other small parties – victorious in the North
1856 The new Republican Party takes the place of the former Whig Party – soon to be the ongoing
political opponent of the Democratic Party (even up to today!)
Pro-slavery raiders burn the town of Lawrenceville, Kansas, to
the ground (May)
Anti-slavery John Brown leads raiders to attack Pottawatome, Kansas
(May), killing five farmers ...
inspiring a pro-slavery counter strike (August) against Brown's town of
Osawatomie, killing a
similar number of individuals – including two of his sons
Former
diplomat and Democratic Party candidate James Buchanan is elected
president; but he
hopes simply to
be able to get the country to ignore the slavery issue ... or at least
let the
Supreme Court decide the issue
1857 Roger B. Taney's Supreme Court takes a strong pro-slavery position with its Dred Scott decision
(Mar) ... even
declaring that anti-slavery laws enacted in the North were
unconstitutional
A huge
crisis (the 1857 Panic) then hits the huge railway business and banking
industry ... when it
is feared that
the Dred Scott decision has thrown Western development into question
1858 Lincoln and veteran Democratic Party politician Stephen Douglas engage in seven public debates as
Illinois
candidates for the US Senate; Douglas is ultimately chosen by the
Illinois legislature ...
though the
opinion is held widely that Lincoln outclassed Douglas greatly – especially on the
slavery matter
1859 John Brown and a group of militant Abolitionists attack the military arsenal at Harpers Ferry ...
supposedly as
the spark designed to set off a massive slave revolt across the South;
the only
result is the
capture, killing or arrest, and soon execution of Brown and his men;
but it does set
off the legend of the amazing John Brown |
| 1860s |
A
horrible civil war breaks out between the North and the South; the
South is defeated; postwar North-South "Reconstruction" begins
1860 Lincoln delivers a stunning speech at the Cooper Union New York Republican convention (Feb)
Lincoln is elected US president ... sparking South Carolina
(Dec) to begin the break from the Federal
Union
1861 Confederates fire on a ship trying to bring supplies to Union
emplacements at Charleston (Jan)
Other Southern States come together to create the Confederate States of
America at a meeting
(Feb) in Montgomery, Alabama
... with Jefferson Davis appointed as Provisional President
Lincoln in inaugurated as president (Mar)
A massive Confederate attack on Fort Sumter forces Union troops there
to surrender (Apr)
Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina join the Confederacy; Kentucky remains "neutral" Western
Virginians
split from the state ... and eventually form their own new state:
West Virginia (May)
The chaotic Battle of Manassas
or Bull Run ... just south of the capital at DC (Jul)
An inconclusive battle at Wilson's Creek near Springfield, Missouri (Aug)
Grant distinguishes himself in an
othewise rather inconclusive battle at Belmont, Missouri (Nov)
Confederate officials aboard HMS Trent headed for Britain are seized ... then subsequently
released (Nov)
1862 Julia Ward Howe publishes (Feb) her poem, put to music, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," whic
becomes something of the Union army's marching song ... and which declares most
certainly that
it is God, going
before the Union troops, that is the guarantor of the Union's
ultimate victory in
the struggle to save the Union ... and end slavery
Union general Grant defeats
Confederate forces at Forts Henry and Donelson ... essentially taking
much of Tennesee out of action (Feb)
An inconclusive battle of the "Ironclads" between the South's Merimac (or Virginia) and the North's
Monitor at Hampton Roads near Norfolk, Virginia, surprises everyone (Mar)
An inclusive battle at Shiloh catches Grant by surprise; but the seeming Confederate "victory" is
very expensive for the
Confederates ... including the loss of their general A.S. Johnston Apr)
The very strategic
city of New Orleans is captured by Union Navy commander Farragut (Apr)
Union commander
McClellan marches the main Union army along coast Virginia ... fighting
battles in
a way to glorify his troops (and humself) – but of little strategic importance (Apr)
Grant moves his troops down the Mississippi River to Vickburg – the last key Confederate position
on the
strategic river ... thus cutting off Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas from
the rest of the
Confederacy – and outside the major action of the remainder of the war (May)
Confederate General
Joe Johnston (another Johnston!) is badly wounded in another round of
battle
with McClellan in
coastal Virginia (at the Chickahominy Creek); Robert E Lee thus takes
Confederate command (May)
McClellan meets and defeats Confederate forces (the 7-Days Battles) ... then pulls back to rest –
rather than finish off the Confederate military (Jun)
Union general Pope holds the ground at a Second Battle of Manassas or Bull Run ... unassisted by
McClellan, who decides simply to not join him in the action (Aug)
Lee is stopped by McClellan at Antietam Creek ... resulting in the highest single-day losses in the
war by
both sides; but McClellan then refuses to move to finish off the weary
Confederates (Sep)
Lincoln then (Sep) issues
the Emancipation Proclamation recognizing – as of the coming Jan 1st –
an official end to slavery in
the South – even inviting
former slaves to join the Union army
Lincoln finally removes McClellan from command ... giving the position to Ambrose Burnside (Nov)
Burnside attempts to live up to Lincoln's expectations and sends his army into Virginia ...
only to
face disaster at the city of Fredericksburg across the wide
Rappahannock
River (Dec)
1863 Burnside's second attempt on Fredericksburg ends in no less of a disaster (Jan)
The new commanding
general Hooker moves Union troops around Fredericksburg ... but loses
his
nerve when he runs into
unexpected Confederate oppositon at Chancellorsville (May); huge losses
occur on both sides;
but especially hard on the Confederates was the accidental loss of
Stonewall
Jackson
Vallandigham and his
anti-war Northern Democrats ("Copperheads") attempt to stir widening
resistance in the North
to "Mr. Lincoln's War"; Vallandigham is arrested (May) ... but is
allowed
by Lincoln to slip off
to Canada; Vallandigham then tries to continue his campaign from there
The Union scores a
huge victory at the Battle of Gettysburg (early Jul); but new commanding
general Meade fails to
move against Lee's exhausted, retreating Confederate troops ... missing
the opportunity to end the war with a full Union victory
But at exactly the
same time (early Jul) Grant finally brings Vicksburg to surrender,
completing the
Union control of the strategic Mississippi River
Irish immigrants are
infuriated to learn that citizenship (which New York City boss Tweed
has offered
widely in order to
build up his voting base) also means military service ... and thus riot
(Jul)
Battle now focuses on
the central border regions of southern Tennessee and northern Georgia
...
at Chicamauga (Sep) and Chattanooga (Nov), producing significant Union victories
Lincoln delivers his
famous Gettysburg Address (Nov) commemorating the lives of soldiers
lost in the
huge battle there ...
also clarifying considerably the Union cause and its vital importance
to all
1864 With Grant now in command of the Union army in Virginia, Lee finds he is up against an individual
that will not back off
to rest following relentless engagements: Wilderness,
Spotsylvania, Cold
Harbor, etc. (May-Jun)
But the Virginia town
of Petersburg has built strong defenses able to block Union progress
(Jul)
Mobile, the last open Southern port, is brought to defeat by Farragut's
Union navy (Aug)
On the Georgia front,
Sherman has advanced his troops south, to surround (May) and defeat
(Sep)
the strategic city of Atlanta; Atlanta then burns widely (Nov)
While Petersburg
continues to hold out, Sheridan moves his cavalry into Western
Virginia, raiding and
crushing the Confederate spirit in the Shenandoah region (Sep-Oct)
With the war now
headed clearly in the Union's favor, Lincoln is easily reelected (Nov)
Sherman heads his
troops through Southern Georgia to Savannah, capturing Savannah as a
"Christmas present"
for Lincoln ... and giving the Union full control of the mid-South
(Nov-Dec)
1865 Congress passes the 13th Amendment ending slavery in the US (Jan); it is fully ratified (Dec)
Sherman heads
his troops north from Savannah through the Carolinas (Feb-Mar) ... with
Confederate resistance collapsing everywhere
Lincoln delivers
his famous Second Inaugural Address ... reminding Americans of their
covenant with
God
Both Petersburg
and Virginia's capital at Richmond are brought to defeat (Apr 3)
Lee surrenders to Grant at the Appomattox Court House (Apr 9)
Lincoln is
assassinated by Booth (Apr 14)... ending any possibility of some kind
of post-war
reconciliation between the North and the South
Vice President
Johnson becomes American president ... but faces the wrath of Northern
Republican
"Radicals" – led principally by Stevens and Sumner – when he attempts to follow Lincoln's idea of
North-South
reconciliation; Radicals view the Democrat Johnson as being simply
"pro-South" ...
and do everything they can to block his presidency
1866 Johnson's effort (Mar) to block Congress's authorization of the 14th Amendment (equality of all
citizens before
the law ... but also excluding from federal office anyone who had
fought against
the Union) merely
produces a strong political reaction in the North ... one that
increases greatly
the Republican
position in Congress in the elections (Nov) ... which in turn then
enables the
Republicans/Radicals
to easily overturn Jounson's vetoes of their other Reconstruction
programs
Former
Confederate General Forrest forms the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) to fight
Southern Reconstruction
1868 Johnson is impeached by the House (Mar) and only one vote short of being convicted by a required
two-thirds Senate vote (May) of "high crimes and misdemeanors"
The 14th Amendment is finally ratified (Jul)
Grant is elected
president (Nov); but he does not monitor his supporting politicians the
way he once
monitored his troops
... and corruption on a grand scale seeps into his presidency
1869 Congress passes (Feb) – Republicans supportive, Democrats fully opposed – the 15th Amendment,
granting the right to
vote by all citizens, regardless of "race, color, or previous condition
of
servitude" (slavery); the following Feb (1870) it is ratified
|
| 1980s | The "Regan Era" marks
a decade of a return to more traditional values
1980 Former actor and 2-term California
governor Reagan (of the old "Vet" generation) crushes Carter in
the November
elections
Reagan pursues American foreign relations
negotiating from strength (not "moral purity") - challenging Russia in
a new arms race in outer space ("Star Wars") – which infuriates Liberals.
Russia tries to keep up – but begins
to break down from its own built-in economic inefficiency. Gorbachev
tries to reform the Russian Communist system with glasnost (personal freedom)
and perestroika (new economic and social programming) – but merely exposes
all its weaknesses.
In England Conservative Party Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher breaks the trades unions power to cripple the
economy – and masterminds the military defeat of the Argentineans
in their grab of British islands (the Falklands) in the South Atlantic
(1982), making her the "Iron Lady." The British economy and spirit
finally soar. She a Reagan become close friends.
Meanwhile America initiates a veritable
revolution in communications technology based especially on the personal
computer.
A new minority ‘victim’ group is
found for Liberals to champion: homosexuals dying from AIDS. How
exactly they are "victims" is not clear since their disease is entirely
self-inflicted; but sympathy for AIDS "victims" gives Liberals a new way
to vent against (straight) White Anglo male domination of American culture.
Feminists join the homosexuals in the anti-male campaign.
With the Boomers moving up into positions
of social influence, the cultural revolution spreads along a number of
fronts – united by a clear vision of "the enemy": the Anglo, Christian,
straight, White male who has so long directed American life
Traditional (Christian) America fights
back, with the issues of abortion, prayer in public life, and a free
choice in schooling (vouchers) being the major points of contention
For a while it looks as if Liberals
have found their opportunity to chase another Conservative president from
the White House with the "Iran-Contra Affair." Congress had
passed laws shackling the president in the conduct of foreign relations
– which Reagan ignores. The exposure of his secret dealings looks
as if Liberals now have their cause – except that the American people make
it very clear to Congress that they do not want a repeat of Watergate.
They like their president.
In 1988 Vice President Bush is elected
President – and the Reagan policies continue much as before.
Toward the end of the 1980s the Soviet
empire falls apart. Countries in Eastern Europe are set free (East
Germany, Poland, Hungary, etc.) and even former Soviet Republics declare
national independence (Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan, etc.)
China, under the direction of Deng
Xiaoping, meanwhile has been moving away rapidly from its Communist or
Maoist past in an attempt to gain access to the larger world of international
investment and trade by which Deng hopes to modernize China.
|
| 1990s | The sole Superpower
enjoys a decade of incredible prosperity and international leadership –
and cultural hedonism
1991 A Bush (Sr.) victory against Iraq
in the Gulf or "Desert Storm" War (early 1991) puts Vietnam
defeatism
behind America – restoring a sense of America's rightful place as a sole superpower
leading the world
1992 But US economic difficulties (another
economic bubble in the US housing and banking bursts)
undercuts Bush in
his re-election bid – and brings in the young Boomer (former Arkansas
governor and
Democratic Party candidate) Clinton to the White House in 1993
Clinton undertakes a Liberal reform
agenda (national health insurance and open homosexuality in
the military)
which explodes in his face – and he backs down ... to the distress of his wife
Hillary, who had been heading up his medical program effort
1993 To everyone's great shock, Muslim terrorists – soon connected to the al Qaeda organization –
succeed in destroying six stories of the North Tower of New York's World Trade Center and
killing six people and injuring a thousand others (Feb)
Clinton
hosts a successful peace conference between Israeli Prime Minister
Rabin and PLO leader
Arafat (Sep) ...
which however is undone when Rabin is killed by a Jewish radical (Nov
1995)
The UN
requests American help in getting food relief past Somali gangs to a
starving Somali public
... which Clinton answers (Oct) – and then wisely backs down from when he realized he was
not getting much Somali support
1994 A cautious Clinton slowly responds to another UN request for American assistance – in Haiti,
where a miliary junta had taken over and had created a huge
humanitarian crisis; when he saw
he would have
real support, he sent US representatives, then military to Haiti ...
forcing the
junta to restore the elected President to power in Haiti
1995 Republican leader Gingrich’s Contract with America inspires a Republican takeover of Congress
(Jan), based on the
Republican promise to balance the budget, reduce Federal government
spending (especially
endless welfare payments) and lower taxes
To save his presidency, Clinton gradually moves
to take up much of Gingrich’s program himself
Once
again, America is asked to step in to fix a crisis ... "ethnic
cleansing," mostly by Serbs of
non-Serbs, in much of the former Yugoslavia – but in the province of Bosnia in particular
Clinton
responds with NATO air strikes (Aug-Sep) and with other allies to
attack Serbian positions
... resulting in
the willingness of the Serbs to agree to the Dayton (Ohio) Accords (Nov)
1998 Muslim terrorists destroy and kill workers at the American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya (Aug)
Clinton responds with air attacks on al Qaeda training camps in
Afghanistan ... and (mistakenly)
a site in the Sudan
1998-1999 Ethnic strife breaks out in Kosovo
(also part of former Yugoslavia) with America again
taking up the role as the world policeman – separating the warring ethnic
groups (Serbs and
Kosovars this round) in the former Yugoslavia and bringing peace to the
region
Yeltsin's Russia struggles with corruption
in its effort to find stability as a "democracy;" the
Russian love
of Western culture cools.
An ongoing computer revolution continues to bring unprecedented prosperity to many Americans
Towards the end of his presidency
Clinton gets caught in a sex scandal (Monica) – but manages to
survive Republican impeachment efforts
|
| 2000s | Muslim terrorist destruction of the World Trade Center focuses Bush Jr.'s presidency -
producing military/diplomatic resolve to "remake" Afghanistan and Iraq politically and
culturally - also helping to plunge the American government into deep indebtedness
2000 Putin comes to power in Russia (2000) to put the country back on a more traditional authoritarian
political course – to the distress of America
Republican Bush (Jr.) narrowly defeats
Democrat Gore in the 2000 presidential elections
2001 Bush, as a "compassionate conservative,"
proposes a new look for the Republican party – which
slowly reveals itself
as being rather similar to the Democratic Party's vision of political
"progressivism"
run from Washington: Bush, Jr. pushes hard for his "No Child Left
Behind"
program – which proposes to put American education under close
federal government supervision
But Muslim (al-Qaeda) terrorist destruction
of the World Trade Center (Sep 11 or 9/11) refocuses
Bush's presidency, producing
American military/diplomatic resolve in Afghanistan against the
al-Qaeda
terrorists and their Taliban hosts (who have sworn themselves to the total
destruction
of Western civilization); in this, America and Bush' will receive deep world sympathy, confidence
and support
(However, Bush
dared not do the same with respect to nuclear armed and supposedly
friendly
Pakistan – where there was an even greater al Qaeda presence);
But oddly and
dangerously foolish enough, a strong push of his Neo-Conservative
advisors Cheney
and Rumsfeld to expand in the Middle East America's "democratic in Saddam Hussein's quite
secular Iraq (no connection with al Qaeda) undermines that same global support
2003 Indeed, in the face of widespread opposstion to the Iraq invasion, Bush decides to invade Iraq
anyway (Mar), plunging
American troops into what Cheney clearly knew was a "quagmire"
Bush equally foolishly sends
incompetent Bremer to Iraq (May) ... who undercuts the support
America was actually
receiving from the Iraqis ... most importantly, its military and
professional
classes that initially were quite cooperative; Bremer now makes enemies of them
2004 Bush then tries to turn the running of an agonizingly long war over to the Iraqis (Jun); but Arab
Sunni and Shi'ite hatreds and Kurdish independent-mindedness produce such deep political
schisms that "democratic" self-government does not automatically spring forth in Iraq; America
is now stuck in the "quagmire" trying to hold the country together
Most amazingly,
Bush defeats very Liberal Democrat John Kerry in the November elections
... and
the Republicans increase their majorities in both the House and Senate
2005 A Federal District Judge declares in 2005 that only a Darwinist, not Biblical, explanation of the
origins of life can be taught in public schools ... and fines a school
board $1 million in damages
for its "inanity" for suggesting that a child might also personally and
privately want to consult a
non-Darwinian viewpoint
2006 Unsurprisingly, Congressional elections (Nov) by a now disillusioned American electorate end the
Republican control of
Congress ... with huge Republican losses in both the House and Senate
China's economy
continues to boom, presenting a challenge for the world's resources +
America's
economic dominance in the world; indeed, China has moved into the position
of now being one
of the economic powerhouses in the world – running up
a huge surplus in the balance of trade
with America – and helping offset
a growing American national indebtedness by buying American
public debt
Nuclear North Korea and near-nuclear
Iran (with only mild disapproval from Russia and fast-rising
China) move
to challenge Western (American) world dominance
2008 A ballooning American government deficit takes on monumental proportions (growing from $5 trillion
to well over $10 trillion in the 8 years of the Bush presidency)
A near financial meltdown of a number of major American banks – inspired in great part by foolish
mortgage lending to "subprime" customers (and the overbuilding of homes) pushes the financial
world to the brink of
collapse (2008); but a US government "bailout" in the last days of the
Bush
presidency provides an expensive a rescue of the banks
National
elections (Nov) pit the seasoned military and political veteran and
proven war-hero
(Republican) John McCain against the inexperienced political celebrity and multi-racial (Democrat)
Barack Obama; in the
vote, the Republicans lose not only the White House but suffer an even
bigger political loss
in Congress (now numbering 257 Democrats to 178 Republicans in the
House;
59 Democrats to 41 Republicans with 2 left-leaning independents in the Senate)
2009 As President, Obama quickly follows Bush's program of a buyout of troubled American businesses,
extending the Federal buyout to much of the American
automotive industry (GM and Chrysler)
He also runs up the public
debt with "economic incentives" to try to put life back into the economy
Obama delivers a speech in Egypt
affirming America's new support for the Islamic world (Jun)
Brazil, Russia, India
and China hold a summit conference agreeing to bring their economies
together
in closer cooperation
(Jun) … designed to make them less dependent on the West's economy –
and in particular the American dollar – for their development;
South Africa
will join the next year – now constituting an organization known by the
initials BRICS
The American
economy does not recover from the financial crisis, despite vast
amounts of Bush
and Obama
government funding to "stimulate" the economy; this increases greatly
the national
debt
A
Democrat-controlled Congress pushes through Obama's national health
program (Nov-Dec)
... which Obama signs into law (Mar 2010)
|
| 2010s | America struggles to locate its national identity at home and to find its way abroad in a
multipolar political, economic and cultural universe
2011 During the "Arab Spring" (2011) the Middle East is shaken by the rise of Muslim rebel groups,
particularly in
Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Libya; America and the West try to stay out
of the mess
Osama bin Laden is finally killed by Navy SEALs in Pakistan (May)
2012 Obama threatens Assad with US counteraction if he does not stop his repression in Syria ...
but fails to deliver on the threat, helping to add to the Syrian
confusion ... and driving Assad to
Putin's Russia for support
Obama is re-elected in a race with the Republican Romney (Nov)
2014 Masked Russian troops seize Crimea from Ukraine (Feb); America and the West react only
with anger ... and some economic threats aimed at Putin's Russia
Jihadists
announce the creation of an Islamic state/caliphate in Iraq and Syria -
ISIS (Jun)
2015 The Supreme Court decides 5-4 that "marriage" must also include homosexual unions (Jun)
China claims ownership of
the South China Sea by starting construction of naval air bases on
dredged islands
2016 Because of negotiations undertaken by Secretary of State Kerry, American economic sanctions
are lifted
against Iran ... who supposedly has ended nuclear weapons development
(Jan)
The American
federal debt reaches nearly $20 trillion by the end of the Obama
Presidency
Businessman and TV celebrity Donald Trump defeats Hillary Clinton in
the 2016 presidential
elections. Democrats protest that the election
was not fair (he won the electoral college vote
but not the popular
vote) ... and become determined to bring down the Trump Presidency by
whatever means possible.
ISIS is crushed
when its capital at Raqqa is taken by pro-American forces (2017) ...
but ISIS's
forces are
merely scattered and spread into the surrounding areas of the Middle
East
2018 Confirmation hearings of Supreme Court appointee Kavanaugh turn ugly as Democrats bring out
claims of a misogynist
event during his high school years ... stirring "Me Too" feminist wrath
when he is confirmed
Horrible living
conditions in Central America (and elsewhere) send hundreds of
thousands of Latinos
(and others) north to attempt to cross the border into America ...
2018-2019 But House Democrats block efforts of Trump to erect a wall to stop this invasion (2018/19)
2019 Democrats' efforts to find impeachable "collusion" in the 2016 election between Trump and Russia
are hurt by the
Mueller inquiry ... which finally finds insuficient basis to bring
criminal charges
against Trump (Mar)
A global pandemic originates at the end of 2019 in China (Covid-19)
|
| 2020s | The political-moral problems challenging America and the Western world continue to mount
2020 This coronavirus pandemic hits the world at the beginning of the year ... killing millions across the
globe, deeply
undermining national economies (includin America's) ... and disrupting
life in
general
2020 A very elderly professional Washington politician (A Democrat serving almost a half-century in
Washington), Biden is elected US President (Nov)
2021 Trump protests that the 2020 election was not fair ... and encourages protesters to march on the
Capitol Building
the day Congress is affirming the vote (January 6); a violent disaster
results;
numerous court cases are filed against Trump
In his first
day in office, Biden issues Executive Order after Executive Order ...
in order to bring
the country more fully under the "progressive" control of the
Washington bureaucracy … in
every possible realm of life
The massive invasion by
"illegals" crossing into America from Mexico continues to go largely
unblocked
Biden completes Trump's
plan for an American withdrawal from Afghanistan … but the actua l
operation (Aug) proves to be merely a disastrous abandonment of
American assets and
allies there
2022 America and Europe swing to strong support of Ukraine when Putin's Russia suddenly (Feb)
attacks Russia ... starting up a war which drags on and on
2024 Several Middle Eastern countries join BRICS … and begin to move against the American dollar's
place of prominence in the world's economy
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Miles
H. Hodges
