U.S. History — Essential Timeline & Documents
Founding documents, key amendments, major eras, landmark court cases — every U.S. History CBE essential timeline event in one place.
U.S. History CBE quick-reference — founding documents, key amendments, major eras, landmark court cases.
Founding Documents
- Declaration of Independence (1776): Jefferson; "life, liberty, pursuit of happiness"; lists grievances against George III
- Articles of Confederation (1781): first constitution; too weak (no taxation, no executive)
- Constitution (1787): ratified 1788; separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism
- Bill of Rights (1791): first 10 amendments
Key Amendments
- 1st: speech, religion, press, assembly, petition
- 2nd: right to bear arms
- 4th: unreasonable search and seizure
- 5th: due process, no double jeopardy, no self-incrimination
- 13th (1865): abolished slavery
- 14th (1868): citizenship, equal protection, due process
- 15th (1870): Black men's right to vote
- 19th (1920): women's right to vote
- 26th (1971): voting age lowered to 18
Major Eras
- Colonial (1607–1763): Jamestown 1607, Mayflower 1620, Great Awakening
- Revolution (1763–1783): Stamp Act, Tea Party, Lexington/Concord 1775, Saratoga, Yorktown 1781
- Early Republic (1789–1820s): Washington's farewell, Louisiana Purchase 1803, War of 1812
- Westward Expansion: Manifest Destiny, Trail of Tears 1838, Mexican-American War 1846–48
- Civil War (1861–1865): Fort Sumter, Emancipation Proclamation 1863, Gettysburg, Appomattox 1865
- Reconstruction (1865–1877): 13/14/15 amendments, Jim Crow rises
- Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1870s–1910s): industrialization, trust-busting, women's suffrage
- WWI (1917–1918): Wilson's 14 Points, League of Nations rejected
- Great Depression (1929–early 1940s): FDR's New Deal
- WWII (1941–1945): Pearl Harbor, D-Day, atomic bombs
- Cold War (1945–1991): Truman Doctrine, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Berlin Wall falls 1989
- Civil Rights (1950s–60s): Brown v. Board 1954, MLK, Civil Rights Act 1964, Voting Rights Act 1965
Landmark Supreme Court Cases
- Marbury v. Madison (1803): established judicial review
- McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): federal supremacy + implied powers
- Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857): Black people not citizens (overturned by 14th)
- Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): "separate but equal" (later overturned)
- Brown v. Board of Education (1954): school segregation unconstitutional
- Miranda v. Arizona (1966): Miranda rights
Foundational Concepts
- Federalism: shared power between federal and state governments
- Separation of powers: legislative, executive, judicial
- Checks and balances: each branch limits the others
- Popular sovereignty: government power derives from the people
Common Test Mistakes
- Confusing Articles of Confederation with the Constitution
- Mixing the order of 13/14/15 amendments (abolition → citizenship → voting)
- Thinking Emancipation Proclamation freed all enslaved people (it only applied to Confederate states)
- Forgetting Plessy v. Ferguson came before Brown v. Board