The following outline is provided as an overview of and a topical guide to the history of the United States.

By period Prehistory of the United States History of the United States Pre-Columbian era Colonial history of the United States 1776–1789 1789–1815 1815–1849 1849–1865 1865–1917 1917–1945 1945–1964 1964–1980 1980–1991 1991–2016 2016–present

Named eras and periods These multi-year periods are commonly identified in American history. The existence and dating of some of these periods is debated by historians.

Plantation era () First Great Awakening (1730s–1740s) American Revolution (1775–1783) Confederation period (1781–1789) Federalist Era (1788–1800) Second Great Awakening () First-wave feminism (19th century–early 20th century) Manifest Destiny () Era of Good Feelings () Jacksonian Era () The Slave Power () California Gold Rush (1848–1855) Greater Reconstruction () American Civil War (1861–1865) Reconstruction era (–1877) Gilded Age (1869–) Jim Crow era (1876–1965) Gay Nineties (1890s) Nadir of American race relations (–1940) Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) Lochner era () American Century (20th century) Great Migration () World War I () First Red Scare (1917–1920) Prohibition in the United States (1919–1933) Roaring Twenties (1920s) Jazz Age (1920s) Great Depression (1929–1939) Dust Bowl (1930–1936) New Deal era (1933–1938) World War II (1939-1945) Second Great Migration () Cold War (1947–1991) Second Red Scare (1947–1957) Civil rights era (1954–1968) Space Race (1957–1975) Second-wave feminism (1960s–1970s) New Great Migration (1965–present) Détente (–1979) 1970s energy crisis (1973–1980) Reagan Era (1980–1992) Neoconservatism (1980s–2000s) Dot-com bubble (–2000) United States housing bubble () War on terror (2001–2021)

Political parties These periods are commonly identified as the large changes within political parties. Newer Party Systems are typically disputed by experts and historians due to the complexity of changes in political parties. First Party System () Second Party System () Third Party System () Fourth Party System () Fifth Party System () Sixth Party System () Seventh Party System (–present)

Wars See List of wars involving the United States.

Timelines and lists Timeline of pre–United States history Timeline of the history of the United States (1760–1789) Timeline of the history of the United States (1790–1819) Timeline of the history of the United States (1820–1859) Timeline of the history of the United States (1860–1899) Timeline of the history of the United States (1900–1929) Timeline of the history of the United States (1930–1949) Timeline of the history of the United States (1950–1969) Timeline of the history of the United States (1970–1989) Timeline of the history of the United States (1990–2009) Timeline of the history of the United States (2010–present) List of years in the United States

Pre–1776

On October 12, 1492, three Spanish ships under the command of Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus) landed on the Lucayan island of Guanahani which he names San Salvador (The Savior). On November 14, 1493, a Spanish fleet under the command of Columbus lands on a large inhabited island which he names Santa Cruz (Holy Cross, now Saint Croix). Columbus then visits and names San Tomas (Saint Thomas) and San Juan (Saint John). Columbus names the archipelago Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes (Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgins, now the Virgin Islands). On November 19, 1493, Columbus lands on the large Taíno island of Borikén which he names San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist, now Puerto Rico and part of the United States). On August 8, 1508, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León establishes Capárra, the first European settlement on the island of San Juan Bautista in Puerto Rico. On Easter Sunday, April 2, 1513, a Spanish expedition led by Juan Ponce de León lands on a huge inhabited island (later determined to be a continental peninsula) which he names La Pascua Florida (the Feast of Flowers, now Florida). On March 6, 1521, three Spanish ships under the command of Fernão de Magalhães (Ferdinand Magellan) land on the Island of Guam after a seemingly endless eleven week voyage across the Pacific Ocean. Magellan names the archipelago Las Isles de las Velas Latinas (The Islands of the Latine Sails). When the Spaniards refuse to pay for supplies, natives take iron from the ships. Magellan renames the archipelago Las Islas de los Ladrones (The Islands of the Thieves). In May 1539, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto lands nine ships at southern Tampa Bay in Florida with 620 men and 220 horses. In 1540, Hernando de Soto leads his expedition through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi. In May 1541, Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River and explores Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee and Oklahoma. A Spanish expedition led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo lands at a bay of the Pacific Ocean which he names San Miguel (Saint Michael, now San Diego, California) on September 28, 1542. A Spanish expedition led by Tristán de Luna y Arellano establishes a colony at Santa Maria de Ochuse (Pensacola, Florida) on August 15, 1559. A hurricane destroys most of the Ochuse colony five weeks later on September 19, 1559. Jean Ribault explores the Atlantic coast of Florida for France in 1562. French Huguenots led by René Goulaine de Laudonnière establish Fort de la Caroline on June 22, 1564 Spanish Governor Pedro Menéndez de Avilés establishes a colony about 10 leagues (56 kilometers or 35 miles) farther south at San Agustín (St. Augustine, Florida) on September 8, 1565 Spanish Governor Pedro Menéndez de Avilés captures Fort de la Caroline on September 20, 1565 Governor Menéndez orders the execution of 140 Huguenots from Fort de la Caroline and orders fort rebuilt as Fuerte San Mateo on September 29, 1565 Governor Menéndez orders the execution of Jean Ribault and 350 shipwrecked Huguenots on October 12, 1565 French raiders led by Dominique de Gourgues destroy Fuerte San Mateo and murder all its defenders on April 27–28, 1567 Spanish Jesuit priests establish Mission Santa Maria on Ajacán (the Virginia Peninsula) on September 10, 1570 – 1572 Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth adopt the new Gregorian calendar on October 15, 1582 (New Style) English establish Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Virginia (now North Carolina) in July 1585 On August 18, 1590, a resupply party finds the Roanoke Colony dismantled and deserted. The fate of the settlers remains a mystery. Spanish Governor Juan de Oñate Salazar founds the colony of Santa Fé de Nuevo Méjico (New Mexico) at San Juan de los Caballeros on July 11, 1598 French establish the colony of l'Acadie (Acadia) on Île Sainte-Croix (Saint Croix Island, Maine), June 1604 – 1605 English establish the Virginia Colony on Jamestown Island on May 14, 1607 English establish the Popham Colony along the Kennebec River (Maine) on August 13, 1607 – August 1607 First Anglo-Powhatan War, 1609–1613 Spanish Governor Pedro de Peralta moves the capital of Santa Fé de Nuevo Méjico (New Mexico) from San Juan de los Caballeros to La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís (Santa Fe) in 1610 The first slave ship arrives in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 English Puritans establish the Plymouth Colony on November 11, 1620 Netherlands establish the province of Nieuw-Nederland (New Netherland) along the Hudson River in May 1624 English Puritans establish the Newe-England Colony on September 6, 1628 King Charles I of England grants the Newe-England Colony a royal charter as the Governour and Company of the Mattachusetts Bay in Newe-England on March 4, 1629 The Town of Boston is chartered and named capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, September 7, 1630 English Puritans establish the Saybrook Colony along the Connecticut River, 1635 English Puritans establish the River Colony along the Connecticut River, March 3, 1636 Roger Williams establishes the Colony of Providence, June 1636 Pequot War, July 20, 1636 – May 26, 1637 Swedish establish the colony of Nya Sverige (New Sweden) along the Delaware River, March 29, 1638 English establish the Newe-Haven Colony, April 14, 1638 Anne Hutchinson establishes the first of the colonies of Rhode Island, 1638 King Charles II grants a charter for the Colony of Providence Plantations including the Colony of Providence and the colonies of Rhode Island, March 1644 Second Anglo-Powhatan War, 1644–1646 The Connecticut Colony annexes the Saybrook Colony, 1644 King Charles II of England grants the River Colony a royal charter as the Colony of Connecticut, May 1662 King Charles II of England grants a royal charter for the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 1663 England seizes New Netherland from the Netherlands, August 27, 1664. England splits New Netherland into the Province of New-York and the Province of New-Jersey. The Colony of Connecticut annexes the New-Haven Colony, January 5, 1665 Second Anglo-Dutch War, March 4, 1665 – July 31, 1667 Third Anglo-Dutch War, April 7, 1672 – March 5, 1674 A Netherlands fleet under the command of Cornelis Evertsen de Jongste captures the Province of New-York, August 1673. Netherlands military government of New Netherland, August 1673 – March 5, 1674 Treaty of Westminster, February 19, 1674 England regains control of the Province of New-York, March 5, 1674 The Province of New-Jersey is split into the Province of East Jersey and the Province of West Jersey, March 18, 1673 King Philip's War, June 8, 1675 – August 12, 1676 Pueblo Revolt in Santa Fé de Nuevo Méjico, August 10, 1680 – September 14, 1692 Popé leads revolt of Puebloan peoples against Spanish rule, European culture, and Christian religion, August 10, 1680 Spanish settlers flee Santa Fé for El Paso del Norte, August 21, 1680 New Spanish Governor Diego de Vargas Zapata y Luján Ponce de León y Contreras reconquers Santa Fé de Nuevo Méjico, September 14, 1692 King Charles II of England grants William Penn a charter for the Province of Pennsylvania, March 4, 1681 William Penn leases the three lower counties on the Delaware River (Delaware) from James, Duke of York, March 1682 William Penn writes the first Frame of Government of Pennsylvania (including the three lower counties on the Delaware River), April 2, 1682 Dominion of New-England in America, June 3, 1686 – May 18, 1689 England creates the Dominion of New-England in America to rule the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, the Colony of New-Plymouth, the Province of New-Hampshire, the Province of Main, and the Narraganset Country or King's Province, June 3, 1686 England adds the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and the Connecticut Colony to the Dominion of New England in America, September 9, 1686 England adds the Province of New-York, the Province of East Jersey, and the Province of West Jersey to the Dominion of New-England in America, May 7, 1688 The government of the Dominion of New-England in America collapses, May 18, 1689. The Colony of Massachusetts Bay, the Colony of New-Plymouth, the Province of New-Hampshire, the Province of Main, the Narraganset Country or King's Province as the Dominion of New-England in America, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the Connecticut Colony, the Province of New-York, the Province of East Jersey, and the Province of West Jersey resume their previous self-governance. King William's War, 1689 – September 20, 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, September 20, 1697 English diarchs William III and Mary II organize the Province of Massachusetts Bay as a crown colony including the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the New-Plymouth Colony, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket Island, the Province of Maine, and the English claims in Nova Scotia, October 7, 1691