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Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord was fought on Apr 19, 1775. It started the American Revolutionary War. Hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to cut off the Redcoats. The colonists formally won their
independence. The significance of these battles is that they were the first battles of the Revolutionary War. -
Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was fought from September 19, 1777 until October 17, 1777. It was fought in Stillwater, New York. The Battles of Saratoga marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. It is considered the turning point of the Revolutionary War. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown took place from September 28, 1781 until October 19, 1781. It was fought in Yorktown, Virginia. It is considered the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. The significance of the conflict was that Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington as French and American forces trapped the British at Yorktown. The British surrender at the Battle of Yorktown ended the American Revolutionary War. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance, adopted Jul 13,1787, by the Second Continental Congress. The Northwest Territory provided a method for admitting new states to the Union from the territory,and listed a bill of rights guaranteed in the territory.Slavery and involuntary
servitude were forbidden in the Northwest Territory. This made the Ohio River a natural dividing line between the free and slave states of the country.Unanimous consent from the states was required for the Northwest Ordinance to be passed. -
Virginia and Kentucky resolutions
The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions were political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799, In these resolution, Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. The resolutions stated that acts were unconstitutional because they infringed on the reserved powers of the states.The principles stated in the resolutions became known as the "Principles of 98" -
Alien and Sedition act
Alien and Sedition act was passed by Federalist Congress and signed into law by Adams.The Alien and sedition act is a series of four passed laws, which can restrict the activities of foreign residents in the country and limited freedom of speech and press.The president could also deport foreigners and make it harder for them to vote.The alien act targeted immigrants, sedition act targeted,writing,printing or publishing bad things about the government. -
Louisiana purchase
The Louisiana Purchase happened in 1803. It was a land deal between the United States and France. In this deal, the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million.The Louisiana Purchase is important because it gave the U.S. control of the Mississippi River and the port city of New Orleans, which were used by farmers to ship their crops and get paid. -
Marbury v Madison
Marbury v. Madison was a The U.S. Supreme Court case that happened in 1803. This case established the principle of judicial review—the power of the federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional. President John Adams named William Marbury as one of forty-two justices of the peace on March 2, 1801. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820. It was an effort to keep the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states. This compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It also divided the rest of the Louisiana Purchase into slave and free territory. It was felt that this compromise made the north seem more aggressive in its anti slavery views and contributed to southern resentment, which may have led to the Civil War. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine is the best known U.S. policy toward the Western Hemisphere. Buried in a routine annual message delivered to Congress by President James Monroe in Dec 1823. The doctrine warns European nations that the United States would not tolerate further colonization or puppet monarchs. The Monroe Doctrine, was an attempt by president James Monroe in 1823 to prevent other European powers from establishing colonies or any new presence in the Western Hemisphere. -
Nullification Crisis
The Nullification Crisis was a United States political crisis in 1832–1833. This crisis happened during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The convention declared that the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and unenforceable within the state of South Carolina after February 1, 1833. They said that attempts to use force to collect the taxes would lead to the state's secession. -
Texas annexation
The Texas Annexation was the 1845 annexation of the Republic of Texas into the United States of America. Texas was admitted to the Union as the 28th state. The Republic of Texas declared independence from the Republic of Mexico on March 2, 1836. The annexation led to war with Mexico. The United States was victorious. They came away with control of the American Southwest and California through the Treaty of Guadalupe in 1848. -
Oregon territory
The United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Oregon on June 15, 1846. This treaty was signed by President James K. Polk. This ending 28 years of joint occupancy of the Pacific Northwest. The treaty established the 49th parallel as the border between the two countries. This agreement set the boundary between the United States and Canada at the 49th parallel west of the Rocky Mountains, veering around Vancouver Island and then proceeding through the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. -
Mexican cession
The “Mexican Cession" refers to lands surrendered to the United States by Mexico at the end of the Mexican War. The terms of this transfer were spelled out in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848. The treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to US territory, including the land that makes up all or parts of present-day Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the oldest treaty still in force between the US and Mexico. -
Compromise of 1850
Senator Henry Clay introduced a series of resolutions on Jan. 29,1850,in an attempt to seek a compromise and stop a crisis between North and South.As part of the Compromise of 1850,the Fugitive Slave Act was amended and slave trade in DC was abolished.The south gained by the strengthening of the fugitive slave law,the north gained a new free state,California.Texas lost territory but was compensated with 10 million dollars to pay for its debt.Slave trade was prohibited in DC,but slavery was not. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´.The Kansas- Nebraska Act did not to end the national conflict over slavery. Kansas soon became a battleground over slavery. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bloody Kansas or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in the United States between 1854 and 1861.These conflicts happened because of debates over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas.Kansas is an important staging ground for what some people argue is the first battles of the Civil War, because it is this battlefield on which the forces of anti-slavery and the forces of slavery meet.That is, the war between slavery and anti-slavery in the Kansas territory -
Battle of Bull Run
The Battle of Bull Run is also known as the First Manassas Battle. It was fought on July 21, 1861. It was the first major battle of the Civil War and resulted in a Confederate victory. Northerners expected a quick victory. They were surprised with a southern victory. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
The Battle of Ft Sumter was the first battle of the American Civil War. After 7 southern states ratified their declarations of secession, the state of SC demanded that Federal troops at Ft Moultrie, leave the fort. On Dec 26, 1860, Union Major General Anderson moved his troops from Ft Moultrie to Ft Sumter. Two weeks later, President Buchanan authorized reinforcements to Ft Sumter. The ship with reinforcements was fired upon by batteries from the SC shore and the reinforcements never made it. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam was also called the Battle of Sharpsburg. It was fought on Sept 22, 1862, at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland. In this battle, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia fought against Union General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. This was General Lee’s
attempt to invade the north. This battle’s outcome would be vital to shaping the future of America because it remains the deadliest one-day battle in all American military history. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln. It was issued on January 1, 1863. The proclamation freed all slaves. The purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation was to encourage the rebellious states to rejoin the union. The Emancipation Proclamation led the way to abolishing slavery in the United States. -
Battle of Vicksburg
It was a campaign by Union forces to capture a key position during the American Civil War.Lincoln saw the importance of a town on a 200-foot bluff above the MS River.The effects of Vicksburg were big.Union forces had control of the MS River and cut the Confederacy in two.Confederate forces in AK,LA,and TX were isolated from the rest of the South. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. There were up to 10,000 Union and Confederate troops dead and another 30,000 wounded. Lasting three days, Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point. -
Gettysburg Address
The Battle of Gettysburg is considered the turning point of the Civil War. The address is a speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln. He delivered this speech on Thursday, Nov 19, 1863, during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, PA. In the speech, President Lincoln advocates the words of the Declaration of Independence. He spoke about equality to all citizens and all people being created equally. -
13th Amendment Passed
The 13th amendment abolished slavery in the US.This amendment was passed by Congress on Jan 31,1865, and ratified on Dec 6,1865.To protect the rights of newly freed people.Lincoln realized that the Emancipation Proclamation would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment to guarantee the abolishment of slavery.The 13th amendment was passed at the end of the War before Southern states had been restored to the Union and should have easily passed the Congress. -
14th amendment passed
The 14th amendment is a document that grantees citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws. It was made to give slaves rights after the civil war. Once the amendment was ratified former slaves could start there own business.The amendment also gave equal protections from the law.The 14th amendment is important because it gave African Americans freedom.It also gave the same rights to African Americans that whites had. -
15th amendment passed
The 15th Amendment was passed by Congress Feb 26,1869,and ratified Feb 3,1870.This Amendment granted African American men the right to vote.It stated that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."On Mar 30, President Grant officially proclaimed the 15th Amendment as part of the Constitution. -
Plessy v Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson, was a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court issued in 1896. It was passed by a seven-to-one majority. The ruling upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality – a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal." “Separate but equal” was a policy that stated that black people could be segregated if granted equal opportunities and facilities, as for education, transportation,or jobs.