United States History

United States of America &gt; United States History

Effective family research requires some understanding of the historical events that may have affected your family and the records about them. Learning about wars, governments, laws, migrations, and religious trends may help you understand political boundaries, family movements, and settlement patterns. These events may have led to the creation of records that your family was listed in, such as land and military documents.

Some key dates and events in United States history:

Colonization Period
In 1564 the French Protestants (Huguenots) attempted to colonize North America, building a colony nearby the modern day Jacksonville, Florida. The Spanish had already staked claim in that locality and soon rid the area of the French. The London Company sent out it's explorers in 1606. Meantime, the Basque, English and French fishing fleets were frequenting the coasts from Cape Cod to Newfoundland. The colonies grew from Jamestown with the English at Chesapeake Bay to Quebec with the French. The Dutch settled in New York and other areas. European colonization of North America (the "new world") was an intrusion of terrain controlled and established for centuries by Native Americans. With the interactions of this melting pot of diverse people began the complex process of European colonization in the western hemisphere.


 * 1492: Christopher Columbus sails across the Atlantic Ocean and reaches an island in the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea.
 * 1513: Juan Ponce de León explores the Florida coast.
 * 1524: Giovanni da Verrazano explores the coast from Carolina north to Nova Scotia, enters New York harbor.
 * 1540: Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explores the Southwest.
 * 1565: St. Augustine, Florida, the first town established by Europeans in the United States, is founded by the Spanish. Later burned by the English in 1586.
 * 1607: Jamestown, Virginia, the first English settlement in North America, is founded by Captain John Smith and English gold seekers
 * 1609: Henry Hudson sails into New York Harbor, explores Hudson River. Spaniards settle Santa Fe, New Mexico.
 * 1614: Dutch claim New Netherland.
 * 1619: The first African slaves are brought to Jamestown. (Slavery is made legal in 1650.)
 * 1620: Pilgrims from England arrive at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the Mayflower.
 * 1626: Peter Minuit buys Manhattan island for the Dutch from Man-a-hat-a Indians for goods worth $24. The island is renamed New Amsterdam.
 * 1630: Boston is founded by Massachusetts colonists led by John Winthrop.
 * 1634: Maryland is founded as a Catholic colony, with religious freedom for all granted in 1649.
 * 1640: French and Iroquois Wars escalate to full warfare.
 * 1664: The English seize New Amsterdam from the Dutch. The city is renamed New York.
 * 1677: Province of Maine absorbed by Massachusetts Bay Colony
 * 1699: French settlers move into Mississippi and Louisiana.
 * 1670: Charles Town (Charleston) founded in present-day South Carolina
 * 1672-1673: Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette explore the Illinois Country
 * 1682: Province of Pennsylvania founded by William Penn
 * 1687: Yamasee Indians from Spanish Florida move to South Carolina, becoming an important ally of the British
 * 1689: December 16; The English Parliament adopts a Bill of Rights.
 * 1692: Salem witchcraft trials in Salem Colony in Salem, Massachusetts
 * 1698: Pensacola, Florida established by the Spanish
 * 1699: Biloxi, Mississippi by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
 * 1702: Queen Anne's War (War of the Spanish Succession) begins; The name "Queen Anne's War" is used only in the United States. It is call the War of the Spanish Succession by Canada, Britain, and France.
 * 1702: East Jersey and West Jersey become crown colonies
 * 1704: February 28; The French/Indian forces destroy Deerfield, Massachussetts.
 * 1712: January 28; American forces attack the Tuscarora Indians during the Tuscarora Indian War.
 * 1729: Province of Carolina proprietors sell out to Crown
 * 1732: First Great Awakening
 * 1706 - 1790: Benjamin Franklin was a great American leader, printer, scientist, and writer.
 * 1751: Georgia became a slave state
 * 1752: Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment
 * 1752: September 2; Britain and the colonies under its control adopt the Gregorian calendar.
 * 1754: French and Indian War begins, part of the Seven Years' War
 * 1754: Albany Congress, in which a "Union of Colonies" is proposed.
 * 1758: Treaty of Easton
 * 1759: Battle of the Plains of Abraham, part of the Battle of Quebec (1759
 * 1754 -1763: French and Indian War between England and France. The French are defeated and lose their lands in Canada and the American Midwest.
 * 1760: Jeffrey Amherst becomes the First British Governor-General of North America, replacing Pierre de Rigaud, Governor of New France
 * 1764-1766: England places taxes on sugar that comes from their North American colonies. England also requires colonists to buy stamps to help pay for royal troops. Colonists protest, and the Stamp Act is repealed in 1766.
 * 1770: March 5; The Boston Massacre: English troops fire on a rock throwing crowd protesting English taxes.
 * 1771: May 16; Battle of Alamance in North Carolina
 * 1772: June 9; The 1st naval Battle of the American Revolution off the coast of Rhode Island. The Gaspée Affair.
 * 1772: The Watauga Association in what would become Tennessee declares itself independent.
 * 1773 May 10; The Parliament passes the Tea Act
 * 1773: Association of the Sons of Liberty in New York published by local Sons of Liberty (December 15
 * 1773: December 16; Boston Tea Party: English tea is thrown into the harbor by residents disguised as indians to protest a tax on tea.
 * 1774: Dunmore's War
 * 1774: June 2; Martail Law is declared in Massachussetts.
 * 1774: October 26; The Minute Men are established in America.
 * 1775: Fighting at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, marks the beginning of the American Revolution.
 * 1774 to 1783: Revolutionary War
 * 1776: July 4; The Declaration of Independence is approved by the Continental Congress (made up of representatives from the American colonies).
 * 1781: British General Cornwallis surrenders to the Americans at Yorktown, Virginia, ending the fighting in the Revolutionary War.
 * 1783: September 3; The Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolutionary War
 * 1783: The British withdraw from ports in New York and the Carolinas
 * 1784: "The state of Frankland," later known as Franklin, secedes from North Carolina
 * 1785: Congress refuses admission of Franklin to the Union
 * 1787: Northwest Ordinance of 1787 created the first organized territory in the United States out of the region south of the Great Lakes, north and west of the Ohio River, and east of the Mississippi River.
 * 1787:May 25 to September 17; Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia the result of which is the United States Constitution.
 * 1787: Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey ratify the constitution
 * 1788: North Carolina reconquers Franklin, which ceases to exist.
 * 1788: Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia and New York ratify the constitution
 * 1789: U.S. presidential election, 1789
 * 1789: Constitution goes into effect
 * 1789: George Washington becomes President
 * 1789: North Carolina ratifies the constitution

United States History
The following are only a few of the many sources that are available:


 * The Almanac of American History, This provides brief historical essays and chronological descriptions of thousands of key events in United States history.


 * Dictionary of American History, Revised ed This includes historical sketches on various topics in U.S. history, such as wars, people, laws, and organizations. A snippet view is available at Google books.


 * Webster's Guide to American History: A Chronological, Geographical, and Biographical Survey and Compendium  This includes a history, some maps, tables, and other historical information.


 * Writings on American History Has the full text available at Google Books

Local Histories
Some of the most valuable sources for family history research are local histories. Published histories of towns, counties, and states usually contain accounts of families. They describe the settlement of the area and the founding of churches, schools, and businesses. You can also find lists of pioneers, soldiers, and civil officials. Even if your ancestor is not listed, information on other relatives may be included that will provide important clues for locating your ancestor. A local history may also suggest other records to search.

Most county and town histories include separate sections or volumes containing biographical information. These may include information on as many as 50 percent or more of the families in the locality.

In addition, local histories should be studied and enjoyed for the background information they can provide about your family's life-style and the community and environment in which your family lived.

About 5,000 county histories have been published for over 80 percent of the counties in the United States. For many counties there is more than one history. In addition, tens of thousands of histories have been written about local towns and communities. Bibliographies that list these histories are available for nearly every state. See the search method below for Bibliographies.

Local histories are extensively collected by the Family History Library, public and university libraries, and state and local historical societies. Two useful guides are:


 * A Bibliography of American County Histories
 * United States Local Histories in the Library of Congress

You can find national, state, or local histories of the United States in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under one of the following:


 * UNITED STATES - HISTORY
 * [STATE] - HISTORY
 * [STATE], [COUNTY] - HISTORY
 * [STATE], [COUNTY], [TOWN] - HISTORY
 * [STATE], BIBLIOGRAPHY
 * [STATE], HISTORY - BIBLIOGRAPHY

Websites

 * Discovering Lewis and Clark discusses one of the significant events in the expansion of the United States was the Lousiana Purchase and the subsequent Lewis and Clark Expedition.