Kate is doing her level headed best to give bloggers something new to argue about. The challenge is to list the 50 Most Defining Events in American History. I couldn't get it down to 50 so I cheated like the unscrupulous bastard that I am and grouped a bunch by overall concern/similarity/dependence. My list follows. Can you do better? Didn't think so.

1. Pontiac Uprising, Stamp Act (1763, 1765)
2. Boston Tea Party, The Declaration of Rights, The Declaration of Arms, Declaration of Independence (1773, 1774, 1775, 1776)
3. British surrender at Saratoga, French-American Alliance, Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, Treaty of Paris (1777, 1778, 1781, 1783)
4. Shay's Rebellion (1786)
5. The Articles of Confederation, Transmittal / Ratification of the Constitution (1783, 1787-88)
6. Northwest Ordinance (1788), Pinckney Treaty (1796), Louisiana Purchase (1802)
7. Bill of Rights ratified (1791)
8. The Whiskey Rebellion, The Naturalization Act, The Alien and Sedition Acts (1794, 1795, 1798)
9. Marbury v. Madison (Establishment of judicial review) (1803)
10. Jefferson defeats Adams & Burr for presidency, Burr Conspiracy (1800,1806)
11. Embargo Act (1807-1809)
12. War of 1812
13. Eli Whitney begins manufacture of cotton gins (1793)
14. NY Stock Exchange (1817)
15. Erie Canal (1817 - 1825)
16. McCulloch v. Maryland (increases power of federal gov), Monroe Doctrine (1819, 1823)
17. Baltimore & Ohio railroad company founded, Baltimore - Washington telegraph line (1830, 1944)
18. Indian Removal Act (1830)
19. Texan independence from Mexico, Texas annexation, War with Mexico (1836, 1845, 1846 - 1848)
20. Massive immigration of Irish potato famine refugees (1847)
21. Pottawatomie massacre, Secession of South Carolina, formation of Confederacy, Civil War, Emancipation Proclamation, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of Vicksburg, NY City draft riots, Cold Harbor, Atlanta burns, Wade-Davis Bill, Black Codes, 13th Amendment ratified, Reconstruction (1956-1865)
22. Civil Rights Act (1866)
23. Alaska purchase (1867)
24. Transcontinental railroad completed (1869)
25. Compromise of 1877 (end of Reconstruction)
26. Standard Oil Trust formed, Sherman Antitrust Act (1882, 1890)
27. Hay-Paunceforte Treaty (Panama Canal) (1901)
28. WWI, Selective Service Act, Sedition Act (1917, 1918)
29. 18th Amendment (Prohibition) (1919 - 1933)
30. 19th Amendment (Women's suffrage) (1920)
31. Immigration quotas enacted (1921)
32. Scopes Monkey trial (1925)
33. WWII, Lend-Lease aid for Britain, Pearl Harbor attacked, Internment of Japanese-Americans, Manhattan Project, D-Day, Allies liberate concentration camps, US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1939-1945)
34. House Un-american Activities Committee, McCarthy hearings (1947, 1950)
35. Israel established, NATO established (1948, 1949)
36. Korean War (1950-1953)
37. Brown v. Board of Education, Little Rock school desegregation crisis (1954, 1957)
38. Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy assassinated (1961, 1962, 1963)
39. Civil Rights Act (1964)
40. Vietnam War, Counterculture Movement, Neil Armstrong, Woodstock (1964-1965)
41. Medicare begins (1965)
42. Watts race riots, Malcolm X assassinated, Newark & Detroit race riots, Martin Luther King Jr assassinated, Killings at Kent State, Jackson State (1965-1970)
43. Cold War/Detente (1972-1989)
44. Watergate, Nixon impeached/resigned/pardoned (1972, 1974)
45. Roe v. Wade (1973)
46. Three-Mile Island nuclear accident (1979)
47. ERA fails ratification (1982)
48. Iraq Pt.1 (1991)
49. US wins cold war, USSR collapses (1989-1991)
50. 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq Pt.2 (2001-2003)