Key events and figures in US history from early colonization through Reconstruction, tested on the CLEP US History I exam. Front: the term, event, or figure. Back: a one to two sentence explanation of its significance.
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- Christopher Columbus
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Italian explorer whose 1492 voyage across the Atlantic Ocean initiated sustained European contact with the Americas, marking the beginning of European colonization.- Jamestown
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First permanent English settlement in North America, founded in Virginia in 1607; established the model for English colonization on the continent.- Mayflower Compact
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Agreement signed in 1620 by Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower; established self-governance principles and became a foundation for American democratic traditions.- Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
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First written constitution in America, adopted in 1638-1639 by Connecticut colonists; expanded the concept of democratic self-governance beyond church membership.- Bacon's Rebellion
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1676 uprising in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon against colonial governor William Berkeley; marked early conflict between frontiersmen and colonial authorities.- Salem Witch Trials
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1692 crisis in Massachusetts where mass hysteria led to the execution of twenty people accused of witchcraft, exposing dangers of unchecked judicial authority.- Navigation Acts
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Series of English laws (17th-18th centuries) regulating colonial trade; required American goods to pass through England first, generating colonial resentment.- Great Awakening
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Religious revival movement of the 1730s-1740s emphasizing personal faith and emotional conversion; increased colonial religious diversity and challenged established authority.- Stamp Act
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1765 British tax on printed materials in the colonies; repealed after a year but sparked the first organized colonial resistance movement, including the Sons of Liberty.- Boston Tea Party
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December 1773 protest where colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor to oppose the Tea Act; escalated tensions between Britain and its American colonies.- Declaration of Independence
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Document adopted July 4, 1776, declaring American independence from Britain and asserting natural rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness; written primarily by Thomas Jefferson.- Thomas Jefferson
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Virginia planter and political thinker who wrote the Declaration of Independence and served as third president; champion of individual liberty and limited government.- George Washington
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Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the Revolution and first president; provided military and political leadership that established the presidency's precedents.- Benjamin Franklin
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Printer, inventor, and diplomat who played key roles in securing French support during the Revolution and shaping American colonial and founding-era policy.- Articles of Confederation
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First governing document of the United States (1781-1789), creating a weak central government; proved ineffective, leading to the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
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