American History Timeline
Travel through time and discover the amazing story of America! Learn how to read timelines and explore the important events that shaped our nation.
What is a Timeline?
A Timeline Shows Events in Order!
A timeline is like a number line for history. It puts events in the order they happened, from oldest (long ago) to newest (recent times). Timelines help us understand when things happened and how they connect!
Parts of a Timeline
Dates
Years or time periods that tell us WHEN events happened
Events
Important things that happened - the WHAT of history
Order
Events arranged from first to last - the SEQUENCE
Labels
Words that describe each event so we know what happened
Americans often use the letters "AD" and "BC" on timelines. AD means "Anno Domini" (Latin for "in the year of our Lord") and counts years forward. BC means "Before Christ" and counts years backward!
Major Eras in American History
American history can be divided into different time periods, called eras. Each era has its own important events and stories!
Exploration
European explorers sailed across the ocean to find new lands. Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492!
Colonial Period
People from Europe came to live in America. They built the 13 colonies along the East Coast.
Revolution
The colonies fought for freedom from Britain. America became an independent country!
Westward Expansion
Americans moved west across the continent. The country grew from sea to shining sea!
American History Timeline
Explore major events that shaped America! Click on each event to learn more.
Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain and landed in the Caribbean. This opened the way for European exploration of the Americas.
Jamestown, Virginia became the first permanent English settlement in America. The colonists faced many challenges but survived.
The Pilgrims sailed on the Mayflower and started Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. They celebrated the first Thanksgiving with Native Americans.
The 13 colonies declared their freedom from Britain on July 4th. Thomas Jefferson wrote this famous document.
Leaders met in Philadelphia to write the Constitution. This document still guides our government today!
President Jefferson bought a huge piece of land from France. This doubled the size of the United States!
Explorers Lewis and Clark traveled west to the Pacific Ocean. They mapped new lands and met Native American tribes.
The railroad connected the East Coast to the West Coast. Now people could travel across America in days instead of months!
The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 brave people. The youngest was only 26 years old, and the oldest was 70! Benjamin Franklin joked, "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."
Activity: Put Events in Order!
Drag the events to the correct spots on the timeline. Match each event to its year!
Drag events to their correct years:
Activity: Match Events to Eras
Click an event, then click the era it belongs to!
Events
Eras
Practice Questions
Test what you learned! Choose the best answer for each question.
1. What does a timeline show?
2. When did Christopher Columbus arrive in the Americas?
3. Which event happened FIRST?
4. What did the Declaration of Independence do?
5. On a timeline, where do you find the OLDEST events?
6. What doubled the size of the United States in 1803?
Ordering Challenge
Can you put these events in the correct order? Drag the events to arrange them from FIRST (top) to LAST (bottom).
- ? Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth (1620) ☰
- ? Columbus sails to America (1492) ☰
- ? Lewis and Clark expedition (1804) ☰
- ? Jamestown founded (1607) ☰
- ? Declaration of Independence (1776) ☰
Check Your Understanding
What is the purpose of a timeline?
During which era did America become an independent country?
If Event A happened in 1750 and Event B happened in 1650, which came first?
What We Learned
Timelines
Show events in order from past to present
Exploration
Columbus arrived in 1492, opening the Americas to Europe
Colonies
Jamestown (1607) and Plymouth (1620) were early settlements
Independence
America declared freedom from Britain in 1776
Next Steps
- Create your own timeline of important events in your life!
- Ask a family member about events they remember from history
- Look for timelines in books and museums
- Learn more about your favorite era in American history