| 1. Colonial (1607-1775) Period |
| 1 | The first 13 colonies |
| 2 | Early Native American tribes |
| 3 | Beginning of slavery |
| 4 | British taxing the colonials |
| 5 | The call for revolution |
| 6 | The first battle of the war |
| 2. Independence (1776-1781) |
| 7 | The formal break with Britain |
| 8 | Early American losses |
| 9 | The tide begins to turn |
| 10 | The British surrender |
| 3. New Government (1781-1787) |
| 11 | America’s 1787 Constitution |
| 12 | The Bill of Rights |
| 13 | Initial boundaries on slavery |
| 14 | President George Washington |
| 4. Dual Economies (1787-1829) |
| 15 | Early expansion of slavery |
| 16 | Competing economic visions |
| 17 | The movement west begins |
| 18 | Another battle with Britain |
| 19 | Blacks fight for survival |
| 20 | The 1820 Missouri Compromise |
| 21 | America asserts its hegemony |
| 22 | The Age of Jackson begins |
| 23 | First signs of Southern secession |
| 24 | Opposition to Jackson appears |
| 5. Great Awakening (1829-1835) |
| 25 | America seeks spiritual guidance |
| 26 | The search for racial justice |
| 27 | Abolitionists get organized |
| 6. Manifest Destiny (1835-1848) |
| 28 | The movement west accelerates |
| 29 | Native tribes lose homelands |
| 30 | “Slavery as a positive good” |
| 31 | Churches divide over slavery |
| 32 | The search for new slave states |
| 33 | The Mexican War adds land |
| 34 | The Wilmot Proviso resists expansion |
| 7. Broken Union (1848-1861) |
| 35 | The Free Soil Party is a political threat |
| 36 | “Popular Sovereignty” fails in Kansas |
| 37 | 1850 Compromise fails both sides |
| 38 | Abolition gains ground |
| 39 | Kansas-Nebraska Act proves fatal |
| 40 | The Republican Party is founded |
| 41 | High Court ruling denies slave’s rights |
| 42 | The Harper’s Ferry fuels secession |
| 43 | Lincoln’s election ensures schism |
| 44 | The Confederate States secede |
| 45 | Failure of President Buchanan |
| 46 | The Crittenden Compromise fails |
| 47 | The Civil War begins |