The Nation Expands West and The Nation Breaks Apart

By sarahneal

  • Mexican War for Independence begins

  • Moses Austin received contract for settling Texas

  • Mexico wins its independence from Spain

  • Stephen F. Austin begins a colony in Texas

  • John Tyler becomes the 10th President of the U.S.

  • The U.S. & Great Britain agree to jointly occupy Oregon Country

  • Mexico ends Spanish mission system in California

  • The Texas Revolution begins

  • Texas declares independence, writes a constitution

  • Mexican troops defeat Texan forces at the Alamo

  • Sam Houstan leads Texans to victory over Mexico at San Jacinto

  • Austin becomes the capital of Texas

  • William Henry Harrison elected 9th President of the U.S.

  • Westward expansion is promoted the phrase manifest destiny

    Westward expansion is promoted the phrase manifest destiny

    Senator Calhoun shared a view that the U.S. was sure to expand to the Pacific Ocean, and that nothing could stop this growth from taking place. By the 1840's he had many Americans beleiving that same view known as manifest destiny. Americans began moving westward because expansion would allow the growing eastern population to find new opportunities on the frontier. It encouraged many Americans to build settlements beyond U.S. boundaries.

  • Territorial government set up in Oregon Country

  • James K. Polk elected 11th President of the U.S.

  • Texas President Sam Houstan signs a peace agreement with Mexico

  • Texas is annexed and becomes 28th U.S. state

  • Oregon officially becomes a territory of the U.S.

  • The U.S. declares war on Mexico

  • U.S. troops capture Mexico City

  • The Mormans found Salt Lake City

  • Gold is discovered in California

  • The California Gold Rush

  • The U.S wins the Mexican War

    The U.S wins the Mexican War

    When General Winfield Scott captured Mexico City on Sept. 14, 1847 the U.S. won the war and it ended. The Treaty of Hidalgo markked the new peace, and turned over, much of Mexico's northern territory to the U.S. This land was known as the Mexican Cession and it totaled almost 500,000 square miles. In the end the continental boundaries of the U.S. were finally fixed.

  • The Free-Soil Party is formed

  • Zachary Taylor is elected as the 12th President of the U.S.

  • The Compromise of 1850

  • Milliard Fillmore becomes the 13th President of the U.S.

  • California becomes a state

  • Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin is published

  • The Gadsen Purchase

  • Franklin Pierce is inaugurated as the 14th President of the U.S.

  • The Kansas- Nebraska Act

  • The new Republican Party is formed

  • The Sack of Lawrence

  • John Brown and his followers kill five pro-slavery settlers

  • James Buchanan Becomes 15th President of the U.S.

  • The Supreme Court decides the Dred Scott Case

  • The Lincoln-Douglas debates begin in Illinois

  • John Brown takes control of the federal arsenal in Virginia

  • The Constitutional Union Party is formed

  • Abraham Lincoln is elected 16th President of the U.S.

    Abraham Lincoln is elected 16th President of the U.S.

    After the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln became a important leader of the Republican Party. In the election of 1860 Lincoln was elected as the candidate for the Republican Party because he was against the spread of slavery. Licoln was elected President because he had 180 of the 183 electoral votes in the free states. Although he gained less than 40 percent of the overall popular vote. Lincoln promised that he would not abolish slavery where it already existed when he became President .

  • South Carolina votes to secede from the U.S.

  • The Confederate States of America is established

  • Lincoln is inaugurated as President

  • The Cicil War begins

    The Cicil War begins

    Soon after Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the U.S., seven former states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. On April 12, Confederate soldiers opened fire on Union soldiers in Fort Sumter. This attack outraged the North and Licoln declared war on the South.

  • Confederate forces win at the First Battle of Bull Run in Virginia

  • Union forces defeat Confederates in New Mexico

  • Union takes both Fort Henry and Fort Donelson

  • Union forces capture Nashville Tennessee

  • The Monitor and Virginia ironclads fight and the Union wins

  • The nion wins atthe Battle of Pea Ridgein Arkansas

  • Union forces win at the Battle of Shiloh in Tenn.

  • The Seven Days Battle brings in another win for Confederate

  • The Second Battle of Bull Run

  • The Union wins the battle of Antietam

  • Gen Robert Lee's Confederate win huge victory at Fredericksburg

  • Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect

  • Confederates beat Union forces at Chancellorsville, Virginia

  • Union captures Vicksburg, Mississipi

  • General Lee loses at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania

    General Lee loses at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania

    The Battle of Gettysburg began on July 1, when Confederate soldiers charged the Union, pushing them back into a nearby town.General Lee then planned that his soldiers rushed the union line. The attack was a disaster because only half of the troops reached the Union wall, and the rest were captured of killed. This was a big victory for the Union.

  • President Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address

  • President Lincoln is reelected

  • Confederate forces fight in the Wilderness Campaign

  • Gen.Sherman takes Atlanta and Savannah

  • Union Gen.Sherman begins his march through the South

  • Gen. Lee surrenders to Gen. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse

    Gen. Lee surrenders to Gen. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse

    General Grant and Union troops finally broke through Confederate defences and poured into the Confederate capital, on April 2 the final days of the war began. Grant surronded Lee's army and demanded they surrender. The Union and Confederate leaders met on Palm Sunday where Lee signed surrender documents ending the war.