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The U.S. Capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.
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U.S. Congress meets for the first time in Washington D.C.
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Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third president in Washington, D.C.
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Landmark Supreme Court decision greatly expands the power of the Court by establishing its right to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.
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United States agrees to pay France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory of 830,000 square miles, nearly doubling the size of the U.S.
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Lewis and Clark set out from St. Louis, Mo. to explore the West and find a route to the Pacific Ocean.
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Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated for his second term as president.
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Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean.
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James Madison is inaugurated and the fourth president.
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U.S. declares war on Britain over British interference with American maritime shipping and westward expansion
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James Madison is inaugurated for his second term as U.S. president.
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The British capture Washington, D.C. and set fire to the White House and Capital.
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Francis Scott Key writes Star-Spangled Banner as he watches the British attack Fort McHenry at Baltimore.
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Treaty of Ghent is signed, officially ending the war.
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James Monroe is inaugurated as the fifth president.
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Spain agrees to cede Florida to the U.S.
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Landmark Supreme Court decision upholds the right of Congress to establish a bank, a power implied but not specifically stated in the Constitution.
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In and effort to maintain the balance between free and slave states, Maine is admitted ad a free state so the Missouri can be admitted as a slave state. Except for Missouri, slavery is prohibited in the Louisiana Purchase land north of latitude 36deg 30min.
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James Monroe is inaugurated for his second term as president.
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Denmark Vesey, a former slave is hanged along with 34 co-conspirators, for attempting to lead a slave revolt and lay siege to Charleston, SC
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In his annual address to Congress, President Monroe declares that the American continents are henceforth off-limits for further colonization by European powers.
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Landmark Supreme Court decision that broadly defines Congress's right to regulate interstate commerce.
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John Quincy Adams is inaugurated as the sixth president.
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Erie Canal, linking the Hudson River to Lake Erie, is officially opened.
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Construction started on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first public railroad in the U.S.
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Andrew Jackson is inaugurated as the seventh president.
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President Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, which authorizes the forced removal of Native Americans living in the eastern part of the country to lands west of the Mississippi River.
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William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing The Liberator, a weekly paper that advocates the complete abolition of slavery. He becomes one of the most famous figures in the abolitionist movement.
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Nat Turner, an enslaved preacher, leads the most significant slave uprising in American history. Nat and 80 others launch a bloody rebellion in Southampton County VA. The militia puts down the uprising and Turner is eventually hanged. Virginia institutes much stricter slave laws.
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Andrew Jackson is inaugurated for his second term as president.
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Texan defenders of the Alamo are all killed during a siege by the Mexican Army.
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Texas declares its independence from Mexico
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Texans defeat the Mexicans at San Jacinto
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Martin Van Buren is inaugurated as the eighth president.
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More than 15,000 Cherokee Indians are forced to march from Georgia to Indian Territory in present day Oklahoma. Approximately 4,000 die from starvation and disease along the "Trail of Tears."
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William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as the ninth president.
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Following the death of William Henry Harrison one month into his term, his vice president John Tyler succeeds him as president.
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By joint resolution of Congress, the U.S. annexes Texas.
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James Polk is inaugurated as the 11th president.
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The term "Manifest Destiny" is first used in print in an article written by John L. O'Sulivan in the Democratic Review.
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The U.S. declares war on Mexico in an effort to gain California and other territory in the Southwest
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The Oregon Treaty fixes the U.S. - Canadian border at the 49th parallel. U.S. acquires the Oregon territory.
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While the Wilmot Proviso was blocked, its introduction by Democratic representative David Wilmot, in an attempt to block slavery from the lands gained in the Mexican War, added to the ongoing debate over slavery.
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Gold is discovered in Sutter's Mill, CA.
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The signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo end the Mexican War. For $15 million Mexico recognizes the Rio Grande as the boundary with Texas and cedes California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico and Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming to the U.S.
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Zachary Taylor is inaugurated as the twelfth president.
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Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery and becomes one of the most effective and celebrated members of the Underground Railroad.
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The Compromise of 1850 admits California as a free state, Utah and New Mexico territories left to decide slavery issue by popular sovereignty. Slave trade in Washington, D.C. is prohibited. A much stricter fugitive slave law is passed.
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President Taylor dies and is succeeded by his vice president, Millar Fillmore.
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Harriet Beecher Stow publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin. It goes on to become one of the most influential works stirring anti-slavery sentiments.
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Franklin Pierce is inaugurated as the fourteenth president.
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The Gadsden Purchase treaty is signed. The U.S. acquires border territory from Mexico for $10 million.
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Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act, establishing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The legislation also repealed the Compromise of 1820 and renewed tensions over slavery.
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James Buchanan is inaugurated as the fifteenth president.
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Dred Scott v. Sanford: A landmark Supreme Court decision that stated that Congress does not have the right to ban slavery in states and, furthermore , that slaves are not citizens.
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Abraham Lincoln gains national attention debating Senator Stephen A. Douglas.
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Abolitionist John Brown and 21 others capture the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, VA, in an attempt to spark an slave revolt.
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Abraham Lincoln is elected president.
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South Carolina secedes from the Union.
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Mississippi secedes from the Union
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Florida secedes from the Union.
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Alabama secedes from the Union
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Georgia secedes from the Union
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Louisiana secedes from the Union
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Texas secedes from the Union
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The Confederate States of American is established.
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Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederacy
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Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the sixteenth president.
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Confederates attack Ft. Sumter in Charleston, S.C., marking the start of the Civil War.
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Conflict between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) over the expansion of slavery into western states.
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Virginia secedes from the Union
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North Carolina secedes from the Union
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Arkansas secedes from the Union
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Tennessee secedes from the Union
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The Emancipation Proclamation is issued, freeing slaves in the Confederate States.
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The Homestead Act becomes law, allowing settlers to claim land (160 acres) after the have lived on it for 5 years.
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The Battle of Gettysburg is fought
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President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address
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General William T. Sherman captures Atlanta,
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Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated for his second term as president.
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General Ulysses S. Grant captures Richmond, VA, the capital of the Confederacy.
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Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, VA.
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Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in Washington, D.C., and is succeeded by his vice president, Andrew Johnson.
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The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, prohibiting slavery.
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Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million.
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President Johnson is impeached by the House of Repreentatives.
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Johnson is acquitted at his trial in the Senate.
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The Fourteenth Amendment is ratified, defining citizenship.
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Ulysses S. Grant is inaugurated as the eighteenth president.
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The Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads are joined at Promontory, UT.
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The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, giving blacks the right to vote.
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The Chicago Fire kills 300 people leaves 90,000 homeless.
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The Credit Mobilier scandal involving several members of congress breaks.
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Ulysses S. Grant is inaugurated for his second term as president.
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Lt. Col. George A. Cluster's regiment is wiped out by the Sioux Indians.