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The Second Great Awakening was a defining era of American religion. Circuit riders began to pop up, making the rural and disconnected West more religious. More informal, emotional sermons called revivals began, with the 1801 Cane Ridge Revival being one of the largest revivals in 19th century America. New denominations started, with religious communes like the Oneida community experimenting with radical ideals. This Awakening stirred up abolitionist ideals that radicalized many Northerners.
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One of the largest land deals in history, The Louisana Purchase was an acquisition of 828 thousand square miles of land for only $15 million. This doubled the size of the already sizable U.S, and was what started America on her thought process of Manifest Destiny.
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Robert Fulton's invention of a boat powered by steam engine is shown to work when The Clermont first launched in the Hudson River. This invention would make waterway travel much faster and bind the large U.S of A even closer together in the terms of economy, since the shipment of goods was never as fast as it was then!
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Being the first proper war America had since the Revolutionary War, it once again had to fight Great Britain. But this time Great Britain was winning most of the battles fought, and in the end, the treaty made reverted everything back to where it was prior to the war.
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On this day, Samuel Morse transmitted a message from Washington D.C to Baltimore using an invention called the telegraph. It let information travel at the speed of light and binded America even tighter together.
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Emboldened by the thought of Manifest Destiny, America went to war with Mexico over disputes on Texas, who had not yet been recognized by Mexico as its own territory. The U.S had been able to take land from Mexico and by September of 1847 they had invaded the capital of Mexico, Mexico City. The resulting Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo gave the U.S a good chunk of land, and so this new land would have to debated on whether or not it should be anti-slavery. America would have a renewed debate.
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In 1860, the rising Republican party managed to get their candidate Abraham Lincoln elected, even though the entire South voted for other candidates. Following through on their promise to secede if Lincoln won, the Confederate States of America was formed since they were afraid of slavery (and their economy) being destroyed, as Lincoln was against it. Even though they seceded from the Union, the CSA didn't declare war. Until...
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Beginning with the Siege of Fort Sumter, this war would go on for 4 very long years, inflicting over 600 thousand casualties and destroying the South.
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The first battle of the Civil War, it started over the fort refusing to hand over control to the Confederacy, and 4 unarmed supply ships that Lincoln had sent over to the fort. The Confederacy opened fire and took the fort within a day.
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The Emancipation Proclamation came on the heels of the Battle of Antietam, whose Union victory gave power to Lincoln to make the proclamation. It granted the emancipation of all slaves currently in the Confederacy, This edict made the war not just about rebellion, but about slavery and equality. It also prevented the CSA from ever being recognized by Europe, since the European powers didn't want to be seen fighting against abolition.
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The Battle of Gettysburg was the battle that caused the most deaths in the entire war, with over 50 thousand men dying in the almost 3 days of battle. This is considered to be the end of General Robert E. Lee's campaign towards the North, as the Confederacy lost the battle and never managed to get any farther than there. 4 months later Abraham Lincoln arrived at Gettysburg and gave the Gettysburg Address, a now renowned speech.
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This battle is considered to be the last major battle of the Civil War. Lee's forces surrendered at noon with just around 700 casualties taken. With the surrendering of Lee's forces, there was no major Confederate army standing in the field, and so the rebellion ended.
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The 14th Amendment states that no state could not violate the rights of a U.S citizen, and all persons became U.S citizens. This was the end of slavery, or at least the legal version of it. This was one of the few Reconstruction Amendments that were passed to help rebuild America after its Civil War.
