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The Louisiana Purchase
President Jefferson authorized the acquisition of Louisiana from France in what the largest real estate deal in American history. Pressures of war in Europe and the slave insurrection in Haiti forced Napoleon, the ruler of France, to rethink his vast North American holdings. He offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory for $15 million—roughly equivalent to $250 million today. Negotiations succeeded more spectacularly than either party could have imagined. -The American Yawp -
The first commercial steamboat service established
Robert Fulton established the first commercial steamboat service up and down the Hudson River in New York in 1807. Soon thereafter steamboats filled the waters of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Downstream-only routes became watery two-way highways. By 1830, more than two hundred steamboats moved up and down western rivers. -The American Yawp -
The War of 1812
The war stemmed from America’s desire to maintain its position as a neutral trading nation during the series of Anglo-French wars. American interests conflicted with those of the British Empire. In July 1812, the United States launched their first offensive against Canada. -The American Yawp -
Erie Canal is built
New York State completed the Erie Canal. The 350-mile-long human-made waterway linked the Great Lakes with the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean. Soon crops grown in the Great Lakes region were carried by water to eastern cities, and goods from emerging eastern factories made the reverse journey to midwestern farmers. The success of New York’s “artificial river” launched a canal-building boom. -The American Yawp -
Andrew Jackson elected president
Jackson’s broad appeal as a military hero won him the presidency. He was “Old Hickory,” the “Hero of New Orleans,” a leader of plain frontier folk. His wartime accomplishments appealed to many voters’ pride. Over the next eight years, he would claim to represent the interests of ordinary white Americans against the country’s wealthy and powerful elite. -The American Yawp -
Civil War starts
After years of arguing over slavery, the South finally seceded from the Union, because they believed the Union was violating the constitution by allowing escaped slaves to be free. This secession ultimately led to war. -
The Battle of Antietam
General Robert E. Lee and Confederate president Jefferson Davis planned to win a decisive victory in Union territory and end the Civil War. On September 17, 1862, McClellan’s and Lee’s forces collided at the Battle of Antietam near the town of Sharpsburg. This battle was the first major battle of the Civil War to occur on Union soil. It remains the bloodiest single day in American history: over twenty thousand soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing. -The American Yawp -
Civil War ends
The Union ultimately overpowered the COnfederacy, and General Robert E. Lee soon surrendered his last army to the Union.