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Eli Whitney Patents the Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney patented his invention, the Cotton Gin, in 1794. The machine increased the production of cotton in the South. -
Thomas Jefferson was elected President
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Gabriel Prosser Slave Revolt
Prosser organized a revolt outside the city of Richmond. However, the plan was leaked, and they were stopped b the Virginia militia before the revolt could begin. He and 24 others were hung. -
Second Great Awakening Begins
The Second Great Awakening stressed a religious philosophy of salvation through good deeds and tolerance for all Protestant sects. The revivals attracted women, Blacks, and Native Americans. It also had an effect on moral movements such as prison reform, the temperance movement, and moral reasoning against slavery. -
Louisiana Purchase
President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France for $15M, securing the US's control over the Mississippi river and doubling the size of the nation. -
Marbury v. Madison
This Supreme Court Case determined that the Supreme Court had the right to interpret the Constitution, and also established the Court's use of judicial review over Acts of Congress. -
Beginning of Lewis and Clark Expedition
President Thomas Jefferson tasked Lewis and Clark with exploring the land West of the Mississippi River, and mapping everything before people would settle there. Their guide was Sacajawea, a Native American girl who translated for them when they encountered different tribes and guided them along their journey. -
Embargo Act
The Embargo Act forbid all exports from the US. It hurt the US's economy, and was repealed in 1809. It caused a revival of the Federalists, and also led to the War of 1812. -
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair
A British ship, the Leopard, wanted to board an American ship, the Chesapeake, to look for deserters. The Chesapeake refused the request, and were fired upon by the Leopard as a result. America then banned all British ships from American waters until an apology was issued. -
James Madison Elected President
James Madison was elected president on December 7, 1808 He is often called the "Father of the Constitution" and believed in separation of powers and checks and balances. -
Non-Intercourse Act
The Non-Intercourse Act replaced the Embargo Act of 1807. Rather than banning trade with all foreign countries, it only ban trade with Britain and France. -
Francis Cabot Lowell Smuggled Memorized Textile Mill Plans from Manchester, England
Lowell toured British textile mills and sketched what he saw in the mills. He used these sketches to help improve Samuel Slater's cotton spinning machine. -
Death of Tecumseh
Tecumseh and his brother, Tenskwatawa, made a confederacy of Indian tribes East of the Mississippi, called the Prophet. The Prophet attacked the US Army, and Tecumseh was killed in the Battle of the Thames. His death would put an end to the hopes of an Indian confederacy. -
Battle of New Orleans
During the War of 1812, the British attempted to take New Orleans. However, they failed and Andrew Jackson defeated him, giving him a large boost in popularity. -
The British Burn Washington DC
During the War of 1812, the British captured Washington DC late in the war and set fire to most of the city in response to the Americans burning Canadian government buildings earlier in the war. -
Treaty of Ghent Ratified
The Treaty of Ghent was ratified in 1814, ending the War of 1812. Under the treaty, most of, if not all, land captured during the war was returned to its original owner. It also helped to settle the dispute over the US and Canada border. -
Lyman Beecher Delivered His "Six Sermons on Intemperance"
Beecher's sermons were reprinted frequently and greatly aided the temperance reform movement. -
Hartford Convention
The Hartford Convention was a meeting of Federalists in New England. The Federalists opposed the War of 1812 and held the meeting to address their grievances against it. -
James Monroe Elected President
James Monroe was elected president in 1816, beating his Federalist opponent, Rufus King. King was the last Federalist to run in a presidential race, and Monroe's election marked the start of the Era of Good Feelings. -
Era of Good Feelings Began
During the Era of Good Feelings, the Federalist party was no longer a political party, and everyone was basically a Democratic-Republican. -
Rush-Bagot Treaty
Demilitarized the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, and was meant to improve relations between Britain and the US after the War of 1812. -
Anglo-American Convention
The Anglo-American Convention allowed for New England fisherman to have access to Newfoundland fisheries. It also set the northern border for the Louisiana Territory and allowed for joint occupation of the Oregon Country. -
Adams-Onis Treaty
AKA The Florida Purchase or The Transcontinental Treaty, the US purchased Florida from Spain for $5M, and in turn, the US relinquished Texas to Mexico. Spain also realized the US's claims to the Oregon Country. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
The Supreme Court ruled that the states did not have the power to tax the federal government, and that the federal government had more power than the states. -
Panic of 1819
To try and control inflation, the Second Bank of the US tightened credit, and it greatly affected people in the West. -
Dartmouth College v. Woodward
New Hampshire wanted to make Dartmouth a private institution. The Supreme Court ruled this unconstitutional, and this showed how federal powers have more control than state powers. -
Missouri Compromise
Missouri wanted to enter the Union as a slave state. It was allowed, but Maine was admitted to the Union as a free state. The compromise also said that all states North of the Southern border of Missouri must be free states. -
Denmark Vesey Slave Revolt
Vesey and a group of slaves were to kill their masters, take over Charleston, SC, and then sail to Haiti. However, two slaves who opposed Vesey's plan leaked it and the revolt ultimately failed. Vesey and 34 others were hung as a result. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine stated that the US was no longer open to European colonization. -
Gibbons v. Ogden
New York wanted a steamboat license that would allow for Ogden to travel between NY and NJ, which Gibbons had already been doing without a license. The Court ruled that only Congress had the power to regulate interstate commerce. -
John Quincy Adams Elected President (Corrupt Bargain)
Neither candidate won the popular vote in the election of 1824, but the current Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, convinced Congress to elect Adams in the Corrupt Bargain of 1824. -
End of the War of 1812
The War of 1812 ended with the Treaty of Ghent, which secured US maritime rights and peace around Europe and the US, and also said that all captured territory would be returned to the rightful owners. -
Erie Canal Completed
The Erie Canal connected the New York cities of Albany and Buffalo. -
Robert Owen Founds New Harmony Community
Society focused on Utopian ideals, very similar to socialism. It was started by Robert Owens but failed because everybody did not share a fair load of the work. -
Charles G. Finney Leads Religious Revivals in Western NY
Known as the "Father of Modern Revivalism," Finney was a pioneer of peace and cooperation between Protestant denominations. -
Horace Mann Elected Secretary of Massachusetts Board of Education
Mann (a.k.a. the "Father of the Common School Movement") instituted many reforms, like increased spending on schools, a lengthened school year, improved courses of study, a teachers' association, and the division of students in classes with standardized textbooks. -
Tariff of Abominations
The goal of the tariff was to protect Northern industry by increasing the price of European goods. The South was upset with the tariff because it harmed the Antebellum South's economy. -
Andrew Jackson Elected President
Andrew Jackson believed in the Federal Government's power over state governments, and was seen as a "common man." -
First McGuffey Reader Published
These books were first published in the 1830's & sold 122 million copies in the following decades. They talked about things like morality, idealism, and patriotism -
Indian Removal Act
Often called the "Trail of Tears," this act allowed President Andrew Jackson to perform land negotiations with Indian tribes that lay East of the Mississippi. -
Joseph Smith Founds the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints
Smith claimed to have a vision of God which said that some branches of Christianity were bad. Their headquarters were in Salt Lake City, Utah -
Black Hawk War
War in Illinois between and alliance of Sauk and Fox Indians under Black Hawk against white settlers in an effort to overturn what Black Hawk considered an illegal treaty ceding tribal lands in that state to the United States. -
Worcester v. Georgia
The Supreme Court reversed its original order and said that the state of Georgia could not have control of the Cherokee Indians in their territory, only the federal government could do that. -
Andrew Jackson Vetoes the Re-Charter of the Second Bank of the United States
Jackson's veto against the Second Bank was a blow against monopolies, aristocracy, and foreign domination, while being a great help to labor in the country. -
Nullification Crisis Began
Battle between Andrew Jackson and the legislature of SC. SC declared the 1832 tariff null and void in the state and threatened secession if the federal government tried to collect duties. -
Creation of the Whig Party in the US
The Whig Party was formed in opposition to the Democratic Party and President Andrew Jackson. -
Treaty of New Echota
Treaty which stated that all Cherokees must leave their land and head for the Louisiana Territory within two years; otherwise, they would be forcibly removed by the US Army. -
Catherine Beecher Publishes "Essays on the Education of Female Teachers"
Said that women were better teachers than men, and women teachers would expand the supply of teachers and give jobs to the middle class. -
Transcendental Club's First Meeting
The Club discussed things like philosophy, religion, and literature. -
Texas Declares Independence from Mexico
Fighting and small revolts in Texas escalated from 1835 to 1836 as more Mexican troops entered the state, until eventually Texas declared its independence from Mexico. -
Battle of the Alamo
Fortress in Texas where four hundred American volunteers were slain by General Santa Anna. -
Martin Van Buren Elected President
Van Buren created the system of party government, and also claimed that political parties were necessary to "check" the government from abusing its power. -
Andrew Jackson Issues Specie Circular
Was meant to stop land speculation caused by states printing paper money without proper specie (gold or silver) backing it. -
Panic of 1837
The system that was created took the federal government out of banking. All payments to the government were to be made in hard cash and it was to be stored in government vaults until needed. -
Trail of Tears Began
Indians were forced from Georgia to Oklahoma Indian country under military supervision. Many Indians died from either exposure or disease. -
Ralph Waldo Emerson Gives the "Divinity School Address"
Said many congregations had lifeless/ meaningless preaching. -
Beginning of Manifest Destiny
The nineteenth century idea that Americans were destined to expand and into the West and cultivate and civilize the country from coast to coast. -
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
A treaty resolving several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies, particularly a dispute over the location of the Maine-New Brunswick border, and it also banned the slave trade on the ocean. -
Treaty of Wanghia with China
The treaty assured the United States the same trading concessions granted to other powers, greatly expanding America's trade with the Chinese. -
James Polk Elected President
During his presidency, America's territory grew by more than one-third and extended across the continent for the first time. -
US Annexation of Texas
The US annexation of Texas made Texas a US state in 1845 -
Start of the Mexican War
A conflict after the US annexation of Texas; Mexico still considered Texas its own. -
Bear Flag Revolt
A revolt against Mexico proclaimed by California settlers in Sonoma, and it was declared during the Mexican American war. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This treaty ended Mexican-American War, and Mexico gave up all claims to land from Texas to California for $15 million. -
John Humphrey Noyes Founds the Oneida Community
The Oneida Community was a radical Utopian community established in New York, in which polygamy, male consistence, and controlled breeding to create a new superior generation, were all practiced. It lasted for 30+ years because artisans made advanced steel traps and the Oneida Community Plate, which were made of silver. -
Henry David Thoreau Publishes "Civil Disobedience"
Thoreau wrote this essay where he expressed opposition to the Mexican War. -
Gold Rush Begins in California
The gold rush began when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. -
Commodore Matthew Perry Entered Tokyo Harbor Opening Japan to the US
Commodore Matthew Perry led his four ships into the harbor at Tokyo Bay, seeking to re-establish for the first time in over 200 years regular trade and discourse between Japan and the western world. -
Gadsden Purchase
1853 treaty in which the United States bought from Mexico parts of what is now southern Arizona and southern New Mexico. Southerners wanted this land in order to build southern transcontinental railroad, it also showed the American belief in Manifest Destiny. -
Kanagawa Treaty
This treaty ended Japan's two-hundred year period of economic isolation, establishing an American consulate in Japan and securing American coaling rights in Japanese ports.
