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The Founding Fathers sign the Declaration of Independence.
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Thomas Jefferson becomes the U.S.'s third president.
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Thomas Jefferson purchases all French Territory in present-day U.S. from Napoleon Bonaparte for $15 million.
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Meriwether Lewis leads a group of explorers on an expedition westward, to scout out the land for Thomas Jefferson.
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The War of 1812 with Britain started.
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Francis Scott Key pens the "Defence of Fort McHenry, which went on to be set to music and used as the national anthem of America.
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The Treaty of Ghent had been signed and had ended the War of 1812.
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Andrew Jackson was sworn into office.
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The first immigrants to Oregon blazed a trail for fellow immigrants in 1841 when a small band of 70 left Independence, Missouri. They followed a route which took them west along the Platte River through the Rocky Mountains through the South Pass in Wyoming and then northwest to the Columbia River.
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James K. Polk was sworn into office on March 4, 1845.
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The term "Manifest Destiny" was first used by John L. O'Sullivan in an article about the annexation of Texas in 1845.
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The Mexican-American War was America's first war on foreign soil. America received lots of territory, including present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and part of Texas.
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The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo is signed and Mexico cedes it's territory north of the Rio Grande.
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The discovery of gold nuggets in the Sacramento had been spread around the nation, and thousands of gold prospectors headed west.
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The Star-Spangled Banner becomes the National Anthem.