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Thomas Jefferson Elected
Thomas Jefferson is elected as the 3rd president of the united states. He was the first democratic republican to become president. -
Louisiana Purchase
In a move that became the crowning achievement of his presidency, Jefferson authorized the acquisition of Louisiana from France in 1803 in what is considered the largest real estate deal in American history.Napoleon offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory for $15 million—roughly equivalent to $250 million today. Negotiations between Livingston and Napoleon’s foreign minister, Talleyrand, succeeded more spectacularly than either Jefferson or Livingston could have imagined. -
Embargo Act of 1807
Under the Embargo Act of 1807, American ports were closed to all foreign trade in hopes of avoiding war. Jefferson hoped that an embargo would force European nations to respect American neutrality. -
James Madison Elected
James Madison is made the 4th president of the United States. He is also the first president to have previously been the previous president's Secretary of State rather than the Vice President. This trend would continue until Andrew Jackson's election in 1829 -
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War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a conflict fought between the United States, the United Kingdom, and their respective allies from June 1812 to February 1815. It was primarily fought over the fact that Britain kept attacking U.S. ships and forcing U.S. citizens into the British Navy, although there were other influences. -
James Monroe Elected
James Monroe is elected as the 5th president of the United States. He would write the Monroe Doctrine, one of the most influential documents in U.S. history. He was previously the Secretary of State under James Madison. -
Monroe Doctrine Established
The Monroe Doctrine proclaimed the United State's position that any actions taken to attempt taking control of any region in the Americas would be taken negatively by the United States. This position solidified the United States as a world super power. -
John Quincy Adams Elected as President
John Quincy Adams was elected as the 6th president of the United States. He was the last in a line of Democratic-Republican presidents beginning with Thomas Jefferson. He was also the last of the trend of Secretaries of State succeeding the President they had served under. -
Andrew Jackson Elected
Andrew Jackson is elected as President. Andrew Jackson was elected largely out of a fear of a sort of presidential dynasty, which came out of the fact that the last several presidents had either been the secretary of state or the vice president to the president they succeeded. Andrew Jackson also greatly appealed the "Common People" and was, in many ways, a man of the people. He also effectively established Jacksonian Democracy, and was incredibly influential. -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was passed by Andrew Jackson to make room for white settlers in traditionally indian lands. It led to the trail of tears. -
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Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was a series of forced relocations of Native American peoples from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States, to areas to the west (usually west of the Mississippi River) that had been designated as Indian Territory. The forced relocations were carried out by government authorities following the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. -
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Civil War
The Civil War is the bloodiest war to ever have occurred on U.S. soil, and was largely caused by the issue of Slavery. It began when a number of states seceded from the United States. The secession was based in Abraham Lincoln's election and the Republican Party's platform, which was seen as an attack on the supposed "right" to own slaves. This lead to those states which had not seceded declaring war on those that had, leading to what would be known as the Civil War. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected
Abraham Lincoln is elected as president. Abraham Lincoln is a very influential president, partly because he was president during the Civil War, and in many ways his election was one of the triggers for that war. He also issued the Emancipation Proclamation, effectively freeing slaves in America. -
Emancipation Proclamation.
The Emancipation Proclamation was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. It changed the federal legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the designated areas of the South from slave to free. Ultimately, the rebel surrender liberated and resulted in the proclamation's application to all of the designated former slaves. -
First Transcontinental Railroad Finished
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a 1,912-mile continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail network at Omaha, Nebraska/Council Bluffs, Iowa with the Pacific coast at the Oakland Long Wharf on San Francisco Bay. It greatly increased the speed at which a person could cross the continent, and greatly furthered the industrial progress of the United States.