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American History Atlas

An encyclopedia of the United States

American History Atlas

From the earliest Indigenous societies to the present day — 217 connected entries on the events, people, documents, and ideas that made the United States, each with its sources.

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  1. Before 1492Before European Colonization
  2. 1492–1607Exploration and Early Colonization
  3. 1607–1763Colonial America
  4. 1763–1789Revolution and Independence
  5. 1789–1828The Early Republic
  6. 1828–1860Expansion and Sectional Conflict
  7. 1861–1877Civil War and Reconstruction
  8. 1877–1900Industrialization and the Gilded Age
  9. 1900–1920The Progressive Era and World War I
  10. 1920–1939The Twenties and the Great Depression
  11. 1939–1960World War II and the Early Cold War
  12. 1954–1980Civil Rights and Social Transformation
  13. 1980–2001Conservative Realignment and the End of the Cold War
  14. 2001–presentThe United States in the Twenty-First Century

Turning Points

Moments after which the country was never quite the same.

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Map of the four voyages of Columbus

Oct 12, 1492 – 1504Event

The Voyages of Columbus

On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus, a Genoese sailor seeking a western sea route to Asia on behalf of Spain, landed on an island in the Bahamas that its Lucayan inhabitants called Guanahani. His four voyages did not reach Asia, but they began permanent contact between Europe and the Americas — setting off the Columbian Exchange, Spanish conquest and colonization, and a catastrophe for the Taíno and other Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean.

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Replicas of the ships that carried the Jamestown colonists

May 13, 1607Event

The Founding of Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, 1607

Howard Chandler Christy’s painting of the signing of the Constitution

May 14 – Sep 17, 1787Event

The Constitutional Convention

Fifty-five delegates meet in secret to redesign the American government

Map of the Louisiana Purchase within the present-day United States

Apr 30, 1803Event

The Louisiana Purchase

The United States doubles in size, 1803

Map of the forced removal routes of the Five Tribes

May 28, 1830 – 1850Event

Indian Removal

The forced expulsion of Native nations from the East, 1830–1850

Dorothea Lange’s photograph Migrant Mother

Aug 1929 – 1941Event

The Great Depression

The deepest economic collapse in American history, 1929–1941

Rows of barracks at the Manzanar War Relocation Center

Feb 19, 1942Event

Japanese American Incarceration

The forced removal and imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II

Martin Luther King Jr. among the crowd at the March on Washington

Aug 28, 1963Event

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

The 1963 march where King delivered “I Have a Dream”

Electron microscope image of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19

Jan 20, 2020Event

COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic in the United States, 2020–2023

Key Figures

Presidents and protesters, writers and warriors, judges and organizers.

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Portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Siffred Duplessis

1706–1790Person

Benjamin Franklin

Printer, scientist, diplomat, and the Revolution’s elder statesman

Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart

1732–1799Person

George Washington

Commander of the Continental Army and first president

Portrait of Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull

1757 (disputed)–1804Person

Alexander Hamilton

First secretary of the Treasury and architect of the federal financial system

Portrait of Andrew Jackson

1767–1845Person

Andrew Jackson

Seventh president, champion of the “common man,” and architect of Indian removal

Photograph of Abraham Lincoln

1809–1865Person

Abraham Lincoln

Sixteenth president, who preserved the Union and ended slavery

Photograph of Frederick Douglass

1818–1895Person

Frederick Douglass

Escaped slave, orator, editor, and the foremost Black leader of the nineteenth century

Photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt

1882–1945Person

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Thirty-second president, architect of the New Deal and wartime leader

Official portrait of Barack Obama

born 1961Person

Barack Obama

Forty-fourth president and the first African American president

American Culture

Music, books, sports, holidays, landmarks, and legends that shaped how Americans see themselves.

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T. H. Matteson’s 1855 painting of the 1692 witchcraft trial of George Jacobs in Salem, with an accuser pointing at the old man

Feb 1692 – 1693Event

The Salem Witch Trials

The 1692 witch hunt in Puritan Massachusetts that sent twenty people to their deaths

John Lewis Krimmel’s painting of a crowded Fourth of July celebration in Philadelphia’s Centre Square, around 1812

Jul 4, 1776Event

Independence Day (the Fourth of July)

The nation’s birthday, celebrated since 1776 and a federal holiday since 1870

Alice Cooper’s statue of Sacagawea at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon

c. 1788–c. 1812Person

Sacagawea

The Lemhi Shoshone teenager who traveled with Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery

George Washington’s printed Thanksgiving Day proclamation of October 3, 1789

Nov 26, 1789 – Dec 26, 1941Event

Thanksgiving Day

How a day of thanks became a fixed national holiday, from Washington to Roosevelt

Mark Twain in a white suit, photographed in his later years

1835–1910Person

Mark Twain

Humorist and novelist who turned American speech into literature

Portrait photograph of Thomas Edison, seated, around 1922

1847–1931Person

Thomas Edison

Inventor of the phonograph and a practical electric light, and creator of the modern research laboratory

The handwritten text of General Order No. 3, issued at Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865

Jun 19, 1865Event

Juneteenth

June 19, 1865: freedom announced in Texas — now a national holiday

The Statue of Liberty on its pedestal, holding up her torch

Oct 28, 1886–presentPlace

Statue of Liberty

France’s gift to the United States, and a welcome to generations of immigrants

Explore by Period

All periods
Map of possible routes of the first peopling of the Americas through Beringia
Before 1492Before European Colonization
Map of the four voyages of Columbus
1492–1607European Exploration and Early Colonization
Replicas of the ships that carried the Jamestown colonists
1607–1763Colonial America
John Trumbull’s painting of the Committee of Five presenting the draft Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress
1763–1789Revolution and Independence
Map of the Louisiana Purchase within the present-day United States
1789–1828The Early Republic
Portrait of Andrew Jackson
1828–1860Expansion and Sectional Conflict
Currier and Ives print of the Battle of Gettysburg
1861–1877Civil War and Reconstruction
Crews celebrating the completion of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit
1877–1900Industrialization and the Gilded Age
Jacob Riis’s photograph of Bandits’ Roost, an alley on Mulberry Street in New York
1900–1920The Progressive Era and World War I
Dorothea Lange’s photograph Migrant Mother
1920–1939The Twenties and the Great Depression
Japan’s foreign minister signing the instrument of surrender aboard USS Missouri
1939–1960World War II and the Early Cold War
Civil rights demonstrators at a segregated public beach in Fort Lauderdale
1954–1980Civil Rights and Social Transformation
Official portrait of Ronald Reagan
1980–2001Conservative Realignment and the End of the Cold War
Smoke rising from the World Trade Center behind the Statue of Liberty
2001–presentThe United States in the Twenty-First Century

Founding Documents

The texts Americans have argued over, sworn by, and rewritten — with links to the originals.

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John Trumbull’s painting of the Committee of Five presenting the draft Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress

Jul 4, 1776Document

Declaration of Independence

The Continental Congress explains why thirteen colonies are breaking with Britain

The first page of the original engrossed Constitution, beginning “We the People”

Sep 17, 1787Document

The Constitution of the United States

The framework of the federal government, written in 1787 and amended twenty-seven times

The engrossed Bill of Rights as sent to the states in 1789

Dec 15, 1791Document

The Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution

Francis Bicknell Carpenter’s painting of Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet

Jan 1, 1863Document

The Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln declares freedom for enslaved people in the Confederacy, 1863

Lincoln’s handwritten Bliss copy of the Gettysburg Address

Nov 19, 1863Document

The Gettysburg Address

Lincoln’s brief speech on the meaning of the war

First page of the Fourteenth Amendment

Jul 9, 1868Document

The Fourteenth Amendment

Citizenship, due process, and equal protection, 1868

The Nineteenth Amendment

Aug 18, 1920Document

The Nineteenth Amendment

Women’s right to vote, 1920

President Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, surrounded by onlookers

Jul 2, 1964Document

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The law that outlawed segregation in public places and job discrimination

Explore on the Map

Homelands, settlements, battlefields, and places where history turned.

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Alcatraz IslandAngel Island Immigration StationCahokiaLittle Rock Central High SchoolChaco CanyonEllis IslandHarpers FerryIndependence HallManzanarMesa VerdeMount RushmoreThe National MallSt. AugustineStatue of LibertyStonewall Inn and Stonewall National Monument
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Who made this

Made by Alexander

I run an English speaking club about American culture and built this atlas for curious readers and learners. The project keeps growing. On my Telegram channel I share new entries, materials, and stories from America’s past and present.

Telegram: @maybealexander1

Every entry lists its sources, chosen from archives, museums, and government historical offices. Images are public domain or openly licensed, with credits on each page. About this atlas