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Thomas Jefferson's Presidency
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States. He was known for writing the Declaration of Independence and being a scholar in many fields of study. Although he penned the words in the Declaration that "All men are created equal", he was a slave holder who raped one of his slaves and had a child with her. He also extended presidential power despite wanting a small government. -
Cane Ridge Revival
The Cane Ridge Revival was one of the largest events in the Second Great Awakening. -
The Louisiana Purchase
Jefferson bought the Louisiana purchase from Napoleon at an incredibly low price. Jefferson originally only wished to purchase New Orleans, but Napoleon offered him all of France's territory on the mainland of the New World on top of New Orleans. -
Robert Fulton creates the first commercial steamboat
The ability of the steamboat to move upriver against the flow of water and the steamboat's increased speed advanced water transportation. -
Embargo Act of 1807
When British ships did not respect American ships' neutrality in the war in Europe and opened fire on the USS Chesapeake, Jefferson decided the best course of action would be to cease all foreign trade. The embargo ended in economic disaster for America. Eventually Jefferson was forced to lift the embargo in order to save America from financial crisis. -
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The War of 1812
Britain rejected American neutrality in their war with France and began to attack American ships and impress American sailors into their navy. Eventually the War Hawks in Congress persuaded president Adams to convince Congress to go to war with Britain. -
Francis Scott Key writes "The Star-Spangled Banner"
As Francis Scott Key looked on from a British ship where he was a prisoner at the Battle of Fort McHenry, he wrote what would eventually become the national anthem. -
The Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent was the treaty that ended the War of 1812. The treaty set everything back to its original state before the war. -
Battle of New Orleans
After the war had already ended, Andrew Jackson won the Battle of New Orleans. While the victory didn't affect the war as it had already ended, it did boost America's morale. -
The Missouri Compromise of 1820
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a solution to the Missouri Crisis. It stated that Congress would admit Missouri as a slave state, admit Maine as a free state, and that all other states would be divided along the southern border of Missouri. All states below that border would be slave states; all the states above, with the exception of Missouri, would be free.1 -
The first modern American mill
The first modern American mill was created in the town of Lowell by Francis Cabbot Lowell. It was operated by farm girls hoping to make some money before they married. This revolutionized work, as now instead of the goods being shipped to the workers to be worked on, now the workers were coming to a physical workplace. -
The Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was a decree that stated that if Europe tried to establish any more colonies in the New World it would be taken as an act of aggression. This was made primarily to help the rebelling nations of South America. -
Completion of the Erie Canal
This was a monumental innovation, as it started a flood of new canals which improved transportation and commerce greatly. -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act called for the removal and relocation of several Native American tribes, most notably the Cherokee. The subsequent march became known as "The Trail of Tears" due the vast number of Native Americans who died on the trail. -
Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner, a Virginian slave, led one of the deadliest slave revolts in American history. The over fifty rebels had killed fifty-seven men, women, and children. They were eventually all captured or executed. This lead to the creation of illiteracy laws and the breaking up or strict oversight of African American churches. -
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The Texas Revolution
After Mexico began limiting immigration into their northern provinces, the Americans that settled there declared independence. -
The Battle of San Jacinto
The battle lasted only eighteen minutes, but it was a decisive victory for the Texians. -
The Treaty of Velasco
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was forced to sign this document stating that he would withdraw his troops and recognize Texas' independence. -
Panic of 1837
Due to Andrew Jackson's veto of the charter of the second bank of the United States, two federal acts involving currency and the banks, and economic bubbles that had been rising for several years, America faced an economic depression. -
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The Mexican-American War
This war was to annex Texas into the union and to add the Nueces Strip onto Texas. The US gained lands that would eventually become California, Utah, and Nevada; most of Arizona; and parts of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. -
Gold discovery in California
James W. Marshall, a contractor hired by John Sutter, discovered gold on Sutter’s sawmill, setting off the California gold rush. -
The Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo
This treaty ended the Mexican-American War. -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was an attempt to settle the dispute over the Mexican cession territory's status on slavery. It declared that a new fugitive slave law would be created, that New Mexico and Utah would have popular sovereignty, and that California would be admitted as a free state. -
The Publishing of Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom's Cabin to raise support for the abolitionist cause, which it did spectacularly, becoming a best seller. -
The Dred Scott Decision
In the supreme court case Scott v. Sanford, the court ruled that African Americans could not be citizens of the United States. This essentially dissolved the Missouri Compromise and destroyed the idea of a free state. -
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Abraham Lincoln's presidency
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the US and was the president throughout the Civil War. -
South Carolina secedes
After the election of Lincoln to the presidency, South Carolina voted to secede and issued its Declaration of Immediate Causes. It claimed its cause for secession was the federal government's failure to assert authority over the Northern states. -
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The Civil War
It was one of the bloodiest wars in American history. Although it began as a war to reunite the union, it was soon clear that the issue that divided the union, slavery, had to be eradicated before peace could be obtained. -
The first shots on Fort Sumter
Confederate Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard fired on the fort after Major Robert Anderson refused to evacuate it. Anderson surrendered the next day and evacuated his troops. -
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The Battle of Shiloh
This was one of the deadliest battles in American history. It was a union victory that helped aid the capture of New Orleans. -
Battle of Antietam
One of the bloodiest battles of the civil war with over twenty thousand dead, wounded, or missing. It was also the first major battle on Union soil. -
The Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect
Lincoln issued this document after the Battle of Antietam to free a large amount of slaves under Confederate authority. The document also made to weaken the Confederacy's economy and morale. -
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Reconstruction
President Lincoln started planning the reuniting of the Union during the Civil War. However, after the Civil War ended and Lincoln was assassinated, reconstruction was carried out by Andrew Johnson. Reconstruction was largely enforced by northern soldiers staying in the South to make sure federal law was carried out. When the North drew out of the South to focus on the economy, the South regained power and ended Reconstruction. -
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The Battle of Chancellorsville
It was a significant Confederate victory, but it resulted in the death of General "Stonewall" Jackson. -
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The Battle of Gettysburg
Robert E. Lee's last northern assault was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. -
The Thirteenth Amendment
It ended slavery in the United States. -
Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House
This was the end of the major battles in the Civil War. -
President Lincoln is assassinated
President Lincoln was shot in the head while watching Our American Cousin at the Ford Theater by John Wilkes Booth. -
The fourteenth amendment is added
The fourteenth amendment granted citizenship to all citizens regardless of color (except for Native Americans).