Timeline of Significant Events
1522: First Spanish importation of slaves from Africa to America

1619: First Africans arrive in Virginia

1660: English colonies begin legal establishment of slavery

1700: Beginning of extensive slave importations into the English colonies from Africa

1720: Blacks begin to outnumber whites in South Carolina

1750s: Quakers campaign against slavery

1753-1763: French and Indian War results in the expulsion of the French from most of North America

1775, April 19: Revolutionary War officially begins with the Battles of Lexington and Concord

1776, July 4: United States officially declares its independence from Great Britain

1778, July 9: Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation

1780: Massachusetts and Pennsylvania abolish slavery

1783, September 3: Treaty of Paris is signed by Great Britain and the United States, officially ending the Revolutionary War and recognizing the United States as a sovereign nation

1787, September 28: Continental Congress sends the new Constitution to the states for ratification

1789, April 30: George Washington is sworn in as first president of the United States

1791, December 15: Bill of Rights (containing the first ten Amendments) is ratified by three-fourths of the states and becomes a part of the U.S. Constitution

1793: Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin

1800, December 12: Washington, D.C., becomes the official capital of the United States

1803, April 30: United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million

1808: Federal ban on the importation of slaves takes effect

1812, June 18: United States declares war on Great Britain, beginning the War of 1812

1814, December 24: United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812

1820: Missouri Compromise bars the extension of slavery north of the southern border of Missouri, which is admitted to the Union as a slave state

1822: Liberia is founded as an African colony for American blacks; Denmark Vesey's planned slave revolt is uncovered

1830: White churches initiate missions to slaves

1831: Nat Turner's slave revolt is quelled in Virginia

1846, May 8: Mexican War begins with the Battle of Palo Alto

May 13: United States declares war on Mexico

1848, February 2: Mexico and the United States sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American War and ceding Mexican territory, including Texas, New Mexico, and California, to the United States

1850: Compromise of 1850 is passed in an attempt to resolve the dispute over the extension of slavery into territories won from Mexico—among other things, the measure provides for California's admission to the Union as a free state and for passage of a new Fugitive Slave Act requiring the return of escaped slaves

1854: Kansas-Nebraska Act repeals the Missouri Compromise

1857: Supreme Court renders the Dred Scott decision

1789, April 30: George Washington is sworn in as first president of the United States

1791, December 15: Bill of Rights (containing the first ten Amendments) is ratified by three-fourths of the states and becomes a part of the U.S. Constitution

1793: Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin

1800, December 12: Washington, D.C., becomes the official capital of the United States

1803, April 30: United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million

1808: Federal ban on the importation of slaves takes effect

1812, June 18: United States declares war on Great Britain, beginning the War of 1812

1814, December 24: United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812

1820: Missouri Compromise bars the extension of slavery north of the southern border of Missouri, which is admitted to the Union as a slave state

1822: Liberia is founded as an African colony for American blacks; Denmark Vesey's planned slave revolt is uncovered

1830: White churches initiate missions to slaves

1831: Nat Turner's slave revolt is quelled in Virginia

1846, May 8: Mexican War begins with the Battle of Palo Alto

May 13: United States declares war on Mexico

1848, February 2: Mexico and the United States sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American War and ceding Mexican territory, including Texas, New Mexico, and California, to the United States

1850: Compromise of 1850 is passed in an attempt to resolve the dispute over the extension of slavery into territories won from Mexico—among other things, the measure provides for California's admission to the Union as a free state and for passage of a new Fugitive Slave Act requiring the return of escaped slaves

1854: Kansas-Nebraska Act repeals the Missouri Compromise

1857: Supreme Court renders the Dred Scott decision