98 Important Dates To Know for AP US History

The Most Comprehensive APUSH Timeline

There will never be a question on the APUSH exam that specifically requires you to remember a date. However, you do need to know the timeline of events to place cause and effect. Plus, you can earn evidence points in your essays for knowing dates. The following are the key dates to know in the APUSH timeline!

Study Tips:

Create your own quizlet deck and study these dates! There are tons of decks already made with these dates (ex. here), but actually creating the deck is an important step in studying

• • To maximize your productivity when preparing for the exam, try using a pomodoro study timer.

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Period 1 Dates

1492 – Columbus’ first voyage

👉Check out our Period 1 study guide!

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Period 2 Dates – Colonial America 

1607 – Jamestown

1649 – Toleration Act

1688 – Glorious Revolution

1692 – Salem Witch Trials

👉Check out our Period 2 study guide!

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Period 3 Dates – The American Revolution

1754–1763 – Seven Years’ War

1763 – Proclamation of 1763

1765 – Stamp Act

1770 – Boston Massacre

1773 – Boston Tea Party

1775 – Lexington & Concord

1776 – Dec. of Independence

1777 – Battle of Saratoga

1781 – Battle of Yorktown

1783 – Treaty of Paris

1787 – Constitutional Convention

1788 – Washington’s Election

1798 – XYZ Affair

1798 – Alien & Sedition Acts

👉Check out our Period 3 study guide!

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Period 4 Dates – Expansion & Democracy

1800 – Jefferson’s Election

1803 – Louisiana Purchase

1812–1815 – War of 1812

1815 – Battle of New Orleans

1816–1824 – Era of Good Feelings

1820 – Missouri Compromise

1823 – Monroe Doctrine

1820s – Sectionalism

1828 – Jackson’s Election

1830 – Indian Removal Act

1832 – Nat Turner’s Rebellion

1830–1850 – Manifest Destiny

1836 – Battle of the Alamo

👉Check out our Period 4 study guide!

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Period 5 Dates – The Civil War

1845 – Annexation of Texas

1845–1848 – Mexican-American War

1848 – Seneca Falls Convention

1850 – Fugitive Slave Law

1852 – Uncle Tom’s Cabin

1854 – Bleeding Kansas

1857 – Dred Scott Case

1860 – Lincoln’s Election

1861–1865 – Civil War

1862 – Homestead Act

1863 – Gettysburg

1867 – Reconstruction Acts

1867 – Purchase of Alaska

1877 – Compromise of 1877

👉Check out our Period 5 study guide!

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Period 6 Dates – The Gilded Age

1876 – Little Bighorn

1886 – Haymarket Square Riot

1887 – Dawes Act

1887 – Interstate Commerce

1890 – Wounded Knee

1890 – Sherman Antitrust Act

1894 – Pullman Strike

1896 – “Cross of Gold” speech

1896 – Plessy v. Ferguson

👉Check out our Period 6 study guide!

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Period 7 Dates – Progressivism & Global Conflict 

1898 – Annexation of Hawaii

1898 – Spanish American War

1903 – Wright Brothers

1917 – US enters WWI

1920 – Women’s Suffrage

1920s – Red Scare

1920s – Prohibition

1929 – Stock Market Crash

1932 – Bonus Army

1935 – Social Security Act

1939 – WWII starts in Europe

1941 – Attack on Pearl Harbor

1944 – D-Day

1945 – Atomic Bomb dropped

👉Check out our Period 7 study guide!

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Period 8 Dates – The Cold War

1945–1991 – Cold War

1947 – Truman Doctrine

1950–1953 – Korean War

1950s – McCarthyism

1954 – Brown v. Board of Ed.

1955 – Montgomery Bus Boycott

1957 – Sputnik

1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis

1963 – March on Washington

1963 – JFK assassinated

1964 – Civil Rights Act

1968 – MLK killed, RFK killed

1968 – Tet Offensive

1968 – Chicago Convention

1969 – moon landing

1972 – Watergate break-in

1973 – Roe v. Wade

1979 – Iranian hostage crisis

👉Check out our Period 8 study guide!

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Period 9 Dates – The Modern Era

1980 – Reagan elected

1989 – Cold War ends

1991 – Persian Gulf War

1994 – Contract with America

1995 – Oklahoma City Bombing

2000 – Bush v. Gore

2001 – 9/11 Attacks

2008 – Great Recession

2008 – Obama elected

2011 – Affordable Care Act

👉Check out our Period 9 study guide!

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