Talk:Timeline of United States history/Archive 1

Archive 1

Further split

Proposition to make break up two sections: I'm thinking that 1860-1899 and could do with a further split into 1860-1878or1879 and 1878or1879-1899; and that 1970-present could do with a further split into 1970-1989 and 1989-present. Whaddya think? jengod 21:28, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Wikipedia in Portuguese

I found an article in Portuguese Wikipedia which it have all dates from days and months. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.0.81.76 (talk) 17:22, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Out of sync

American history has been cut into different eras for the purpose of both the timeline and history of the United States articles, but shouldn't they cover the same time periods? Snood199 (talk) 19:35, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Merge pre-US subarticles

The timeline is overly fragmented into many subarticles. I propose merging the first three stubs

• Timeline of United States pre-history (before 1600)
• Timeline of United States pre-history (1600–1699)
• Timeline of United States pre-history (1700–1759)

into Timeline of pre-United States history (covering anything from before 1760). This also tweaks the wording from "pre-history" to "pre-United States" as suggested at Talk:Timeline of United States pre-history (1700–1759) and is similar to Category:Pre-state history of U.S. states. —Mrwojo (talk) 05:22, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Done. —Mrwojo (talk) 02:33, 18 October 2010 (UTC)

SOPA Protests

Was this not a big part of American History? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.108.76.50 (talk) 23:29, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Post 2005 timeline is a complete f$%&ing mess.

All the campaigns and elections of the last decade really deserve to be on a really broad, general timeline of American history? I might do some editing to get rid of them... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.239.158.87 (talk) 18:09, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

2010 phrase?

The list contained this for 2010:

| || A surge of suicides, 2010|reduce the Democratic majority in the Senate]].

Any idea what this originally said? I pulled it for now. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Khazar (talk • contribs) 04:14, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

Alaska became the 49th State in 1959, not 1917. See Wikipedia article on Alaska. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.124.107.64 (talk) 23:35, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

Native American History

The history of Native American should be included. Their heritage is as much United States history as the whites'. --Menchi 03:57 May 10, 2003 (UTC)

None of you Americans want to do it? I'll try to do some of it. But help me. I'm a Canadian and Taiwanese, I don't know that much about Native American. --Menchi 17:18 May 10, 2003 (UTC)

Since this is a timeline of the United States, I feel we should focus on contact between its citizens and other cultures, but not focus on those other cultures in and of themselves. They are relevant in this context only insofar as they relate to the activities of the European colonists and, later, the private citizens and state/federal governments of the US. I don't mean to dismiss Native cultures as undeserving of a full, balanced treatment. But that treatment should take place in another entry, such as Native American, or a Timeline of Native American History, or entries on specific tribes, or some such. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Timmansfield (talk • contribs) 21:48, 10 May 2003 (UTC)

Quebec?

Why is "*1608-French establish colony at Quebec" here? --Menchi 17:38 May 10, 2003 (UTC)

I added it because Quebec's founding was a powerful symbol of France's competing claims in North America. And specifically, that city figured in the French and Indian Wars, in which the English colonists (who would soon become the founding citizens of the United States) were embroiled. There is a solid, if slightly veiled, link to the pre-Independence history of the United States.

tim — Preceding undated comment added 21:48, 10 May 2003 (UTC)

tobacco cultivation

What is the signifiance of tobacco cultivation? There are many other more important domesticatic plants used daily in the USA. Is this fatoid for the interest of smokers? --Menchi 19:28 May 10, 2003 (UTC)

It's because tobacco cultivation was crucial to the survival of Jamestown. By 1630, over a million and a half pounds of tobacco were being exported from Jamestown every year. And tobacco cultivation was labor intensive, which led directly to the slave trade.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Timmansfield (talk • contribs) 21:48, 10 May 2003 (UTC)

Split

this page is getting too big -- edits take a long time to commit, and the system gave me a warning that over 32K, some browsers can no longer edit the page... so i have break it up into chronological segments

tim — Preceding undated comment added 16:23, 11 May 2003 (UTC)

It looks very organized to break it down. However, for slow-modem users, it is very inconvenient to click on 11 links when they just want to get an overview of the history, not a detailed account. The same applies to those who, due to age, education or upbringing, cannot distinguish which of these seven-hundred events are truly crucial, consequential, and most importantly, worth memorizing. Instead, they'll be overwhelmed. On the other hand, if they need additional information, they can always click on those 11 subpages to their hearts' desire.

It wouldn't be too difficult to eliminate those events which are not instrumental as massacres, wars, treaties, creations of some of the acts (not every single one of them), founding of the significant settlements, desegregation, Civil Rights movement, and emancipation that occurred on the United States' political boundary.

Some of the miscellaneous examples that could be excluded are Salem witch trials, tobacco cultivation, Roger Williams banishment, the publication of books (Common Sense, Noah Webster's dictionary, A Century of Dishonor, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Moby Dick), cotton gin invention, sinking of warships, founding of academic or cultural institutions (Harvard Law School, US Naval Academy, Harvard College, Boy Scouts of America, Library of Congress), invention of typewriter, first graduate programs, founding of parks, invention of sports, creation of holidays (Mother's Day), opening of films (The Birth of a Nation), death of a robber (John Dillinger), completion of an architectures (Golden Gate Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge), etc, etc.

Events like the independence of the Philippines, Berlin Blockade, and the invasion of Manchuria, which the Americans may had played a role, but this role cannot be compared to the role of American soldiers in the USA.

While what the presidents are important, the exact year when they start and when they die, however emotional they may be, are probably not so, except for the major ones: Kennedy, Washington, etc. And if the reader needs that specific info, they can be easily found in the respective president pages.

We're not trying to deny or ignore the existence of these events or to imply that they have not impacted the American society. But it is impossible to include all that are relevant, even in the subpages created. But a concise overview would be really useful. --Menchi 01:10 May 12, 2003 (UTC)

I agree with many of your suggested omissions. I don't agree that for slow-modem users, it is "very inconvenient to click on 11 links". The point, actually, is to keep download times reasonable by having smaller pages. And all the pages have navigation links at the bottom, so users can just move back and forth at will. I also don't agree with your contention that foreign interventions by the US are not part of US history. To rebut a couple of your examples, US troops killed between 200,000 and 500,000 Filipinos in suppressing their insurrection -- you don't think this is a significant item of US history? And the Berlin Airlift was led and orchestrated by the US, led by a US Air Force general, using US transport planes. It demonstrated, firmly and obviously (over the course of 11 months), the US commitment to its policy of containment, and was a big symbol of the opening of the Cold War... you don't think this is a significant item of US history? You say that these events "cannot be compared to the role of American soldiers in the USA", but I don't understand what you mean. The main point of a nation-state having a military is -- along with quelling internal rebellion -- to use it against foreign powers. Why shouldn't America's foreign military adventures, major events of its foreign policy in general, be part of this timeline? Anyway, the upshot is -- I hear you. So, please just give me some time to shape this up, I just started on this. Being new, it'd be nice to hear some encouragement along with the criticism which, frankly, seems nitpicky at times, given that I am still at the initial stage of trying to quickly fill in huge holes here.

--Timmansfield 16:00 May 15, 2003 (UTC)

Support split - Article is well over 300 kB, and can be easily split into 5 or more articles, with 1400-1699 all lumped into one article. --Jax 0677 (talk) 05:18, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

Hello, I'm Bulba2036. I recently did a complete renovation of the 20th and 21st century sections. I added all the existing links and extensively looked into the many different timelines and Wikipedia pages on U.S. history to assess what should be added and what should be removed.

I struggled to draw the line of what is culturally significant (such as the release of books and movies, and radio and TV programs), but ended up keeping best sellers, highest grossing movies and events of symbolic firsts (such as the first colored movies and broadcasts). I would personally favor the removal of the release of all books, movies and events related to the history of Television. I don't know if that's me being anti-fun, or if it's just my overall ignorance and lack of understanding and caring for the history of U.S. culture.

Other things such as the creations of companies (McDonalds, Apple Microsoft) I would favor removing. And anything like the advancement of technology, that too should be open to debate.

As to the 'emotional deaths' of presidents and deaths of other famous people (such as criminals) I'm totally on board with you. But I'd like to get your opinion on keeping the deaths of non-assassinated celebrities (I think we're all agreed on the death of John Lennon) that are considered emotional (such as James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and Michael Jackson).

I tried to keep the article strictly bound to U.S. events, unless it was the signing of international treaties or had direct U.S. military involvement (such as the beginning of foreign wars, operations, invasions, coup d'etat's etc.) I included a few international events that may not have been lead by the U.S. (the Berlin Blockade and the Invasions of Manchuria, Poland and Kuwait), but directly sparked or symbolically lead to U.S. military intervention. Events like the U.S. relinquishing it's control over territories, and the independence of former U.S. territories such as the Philippines, to me, seem to be just as relevant to American history as the U.S. acquiring a territory.

I would say we should go into a detailed discussion of what is relevant and try to agree on what's a good tone to set for this page. I think we should try to save it how it is, Wikipedia's has way too many different timelines for too many different events, so I think it's good to have one central Timeline that focuses on U.S. history.

Bulba2036 (talk) 04:47, 30 November 2013 (UTC)

Oppose split

Oppose split: It looks like this discussion topic was initiated in 2003. One of the first arguments given to support splitting, was that some technolgy of the time could not handle such a large page. 10 yrs later that challenge is no longer a concern. Also, I personally favor a unified timeline, in a single article.(talk) user:Al83tito 23:15, 7 Mar 2014

Oppose split on the grounds of the article is quite involved and complete, I think the tables can be tidied up a bit, remove the bulk of the pictures, only 1 or 2 per century should suffice, these pictures are available in commons and on the main article anyway and remove duplicated link, this would make the article more navigable and this would speed up load time and address much of the issues the above, I am happy to do some work on this, please let me know if you wish me to help.The Original Filfi (talk) 15:43, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

Broken row

Ref. [541]/1977 should be fixed. --Mihai (talk) 22:25, 16 September 2015 (UTC)

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Unnecessary Content

The timeline appears to get cluttered with events that are unimportant to the overall political/economical/cultural history of the US, especially when it gets past 1970. For example, does this timeline really need to document annual all-star games and sports league drafts? I think sporting events that set important precedents, like Super Bowl I, should be included, but things like Super Bowl IV, or the 1970 NBA and ABA all-star games, which are currently included in this timeline, seem unnecessary. Also, there appears to be random election results in some places, such as William T. Cahill becoming Governor of New Jersey in 1970. That doesn't seem to have much of an impact on national history. 209.237.106.123 (talk) 01:09, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

Including 1741 Slave Uprising should be included on Timeline.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Conspiracy_of_1741

From the perspective of African-American U.S.History, this event, among other omissions, I'm sure... should be included. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:88:8200:EDB:19B5:F686:4DCF:84F (talk) 20:20, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

More settlements

It would be nice if more info on the 1600s settlements from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_settlements_by_year_of_foundation would be merged into this article.

Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:30A:2ED6:9470:7171:760E:F581:4BF6 (talk) 04:21, 21 April 2017 (UTC)

To do

To do:

• • check that multiple entries for the same year are in their proper chronological order
  • make at least one explanatory link per entry, and create target pages when missing
  • review list for missing entries, using the lenses of: foreign policy, war, international events that impact US policy, legislation, supreme court cases, culture
  • add entries about the Viking arrival in America prior to the Spanish arrival. The Viking settlement in America is not mentioned anywhere in this article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.58.28.207 (talk) 12:39, 11 July 2017 (UTC)

tim — Preceding undated comment added 16:47, 11 May 2003

Article length

This article is far too long. I've removed a bunch more of the "so-and-so Congressman died in 1830" crap, but there's a lot more that needs to be done.

As there are already a lot of subpages, there's no point splitting this page. Any other suggestions? Power~enwiki (talk) 17:45, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

I'd suggest eliminating items below the country level, unless subsequent history makes it a serious event. There's a lot of stuff about state and county level events that don't have a major subsequent result; e.g., "1945 Florida State Road renumbering: Florida's state roads were renumbered., "1920 Alabama coal strike: Some fifteen thousand UMW miners went on strike in Alabama." and "Republican congressman Mahlon Morris Garland died." don't seem to have major repercussions on the nation as a whole. I'd also generally suggest that sports championships aren't notable enough for this list.

Generally, trying to trim back anything in the past 30 years is apt to be a lost cause (too many people will want their specific event memorialized), but prior to that we can probably trim it down.

I suspect the right thing to do is start from the 15th century, and century-by-century (or later, decade-by-decade) propose things to delete. If someone is willing to sanity check my suggestions (I'll post a list on this talk page), I'll get started on that. Tarl N. (discuss) 23:11, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

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History from long before the U.S. existed

How much of the crud from before the U.S. do we want to keep? I just removed the Clovis culture entry because the date was simply wrong, but looking at it in general, there's a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with the U.S., or even the territory it currently occupies. Given the title of the article, I'm guessing we should really trim this back to events dating from 1775. Comments? Tarl N. (discuss) 01:24, 15 November 2018 (UTC)

Well, honestly, we should remove all pre-columbian events and only include events in the territory of the US or that the US was involved in. For example, the US was never involved in the german invasion of Poland, so there isnt much of a reason for it to be there. We should include at least most, if not all, of the events in the thirteen colonies, and maybe even columbus' discovery of america. Apersonthatdoesthings (talk) 00:31, 19 November 2018 (UTC)

Entries should be moved to Timeline of pre–United States history. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 18:37, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

Page size

I was about to start splitting up this very long page, but I see we already have:

• Timeline of pre–United States history
• Timeline of United States history (1790–1819)
• Timeline of United States history (1900–1929)
• Timeline of United States history (1930–1949)
• Timeline of United States history (2010–present)

etc., (see All pages with titles beginning with Timeline of United States history () so this page should just link to those, where appropriate. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:54, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

Sounds reasonable to me, removing duplication is always good. You do need to sanity check to make sure significant items don't get dropped. A lot of the trivia isn't necessary and could be dropped, it has to be a conscious decision. Tarl N. (discuss) 20:39, 28 December 2018 (UTC)