-
The U.S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC.
-
Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third president in Washington, DC.
-
United States agrees to pay France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory, which extends west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and comprises about 830,000 sq mi. As a result, the U.S. nearly doubles in size.
-
President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Great Britain because of the British restriction on U.S. trade and America's desire to expand it territory. The U.S. proceeded to take on the greatest naval power in the world of the time.
-
British capture Washington, DC, and set fire to White House and Capitol.
-
James Monroe is inaugurated as the fifth president.
-
The Mexican-American War was a conflict between the United States and Mexico. It stemmed from the annexation of the Republic of Texas by the U.S. in 1845 and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (the Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (the U.S. claim).
-
The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states. It was fought between the United States and 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America.