1455

Romanus Pontifex, first papal bull of the Doctrine of Discovery issued.

1492

Christopher Columbus claims the Americas for Spain.

1565

St. Augustine, FL founded.

1607

Jamestown Settlement founded in VA, first Protestant Episcopal parish.
First Anglican church established.

1619

First slaves arrive in VA.

1620

Plymouth, MA founded.

1628

Massachusetts Bay Colony founded by “Puritans.”

1629

Charlestown, MA founded.

1634

The Dove and the Ark arrive in Maryland bringing the first Catholics to the British colonies.

1636

Roger Williams founds Rhode Island.

1649

Maryland Toleration Act.

1654

First Jewish colony established in New Amsterdam.
Maryland Toleration Act repealed.

1655

First Quakers arrive in Boston.

1662

Halfway Covenant adopted.

1680

Pueblo Revolt.

1682

Pennsylvania founded.

1701

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel founded.

1718

San Antonio, Texas founded.

1727

Ursulines establish orphanage hospital and school in New Orleans.

1730

First synagogue in colonies founded in New York.

1732

First public Catholic mass in colonies said in Philadelphia.

1741

Jonathan Edwards preaches “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

1751

Georgetown founded.

1768

Qur’an portions translated.
Franciscans arrive and found missions in California.

1776

Declaration of Independence drafted.

1780

Battle of Springfield fought in New Jersey, ending northern Revolutionary War battles.

1784

Methodist Episcopal Church founded.

1789

George Washington elected president.

1790

District of Columbia founded.
Catholic population reaches at least 30,000 in the US.
John Carroll appointed first Bishop.
Muslims petition South Carolina for freedom.

1794

African Methodist Episcopal Church founded.

1796

John Adams elected.

1799

George Washington dies.

1801

Thomas Jefferson elected.

1801

Cane Ridge Revival, Kentucky.

1803

Louisiana Purchase.

1804

New Jersey abolishes slavery.

1808

James Madison elected; slave trade becomes illegal.

1812

War of 1812.

1816

James Monroe elected.

1820

Missouri Compromise.

1823

Monroe Doctrine.

1824

American Sunday School Union founded.

1825

John Quincy Adams elected.

1826

American Temperance Society founded.

1828

Andrew Jackson elected.

1830

Catholic population reaches 600,000 in the US.
Indian Removal Act.
The Protestant founded, published.
The Book of Mormon published by Joseph Smith.

1831

New York Protestant Association founded.

1833

Massachusetts is the last state to disestablish religion.
Lourette, first captivity narrative published in the US.
Washington National Monument Society founded.

1834

Ursuline convent burned.

1835

Lyman Beecher’s “Plea for the West” published.
Texas War for Independence.

1836

Awful Disclosures of the Hotel Dieu Nunnery published.
Martin Van Buren elected.

1837

Native American Association founded in New York.

1838

Trail of Tears, forced removal of Cherokees.

1840

William Henry Harrison elected.

1841

Harrison dies; John Tyler becomes president.

1842

Bible Burning in Champlain, NY.
Anti-Catholic Riots in Newark, NJ.
American Protestant Association founded, Philadelphia, PA.

1843

American Republican Party formed in New York.

1844

Philadelphia Anti-Catholic Bible Riots.
American Republican Party becomes the Native American Party.
Native American Party wins decisive victories.
James Polk elected president.
Nativist James Harper elected mayor of New York.
Joseph Smith, founder of LDS church, murdered.
The Millerites’ “Great Disappointment.”

1845

Native American Party holds national convention.
“Manifest Destiny” coined by John Sullivan.
Texas annexed by US.

1846

Mexican-American War begins.

1848

Zachary Taylor elected.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

1849

Order of the Star Spangled Banner (“Know Nothings”) formed.

1850

Catholics become largest religious denomination in the US with over a million adherents.
Taylor dies; Willard Fillmore becomes president.

1851

Catholic priest tarred and feathered in Maine.

1852

Franklin Pierce elected president.

1854

Destruction of the Pope’s Stone in Washington, DC.
American Party formed from merger of various nativists and Know Nothings.
Nativists John Tower and Robert Conrad elected mayors of DC and Philadelphia, respectively.
Anti-Catholic riots in Maine.

1855

Anti-Catholic riots in Louisville, KY.

1856

James Buchanan elected president.