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Battle of Lexington and Concord
Starting the Revolutionary War, it was the outcome of the tensions between Britain and the 13 Colonies. On that night, the infamous line "The British are coming!" was said by Paul Revere. This is was because of the taxes that Britain had placed the colonies under as well as multiple incidents involving violence and violation of rights as Englishmen. It's important to U.S History because it was the shot hear around the world as well as demonstrating the world the development of a new nation. -
Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the war for the colonists where later the French became involved and helped the colonists by giving invaluable supplies & resources. Place of the Battle of Saratoga: Saratoga on the Hudson River in New York State. Combatants at the Battle of Saratoga: British and German troops against the Americans. It's important to U.S history because the revolutionary war was one of the reasons the country was founded and had the ability to declare independence. -
Battle of Yorktown
The main significance of the Battle of Yorktown was that it was a victory for the colonists that eventually led to the surrender of the British and the declaration of independence, it ended the revolutionary war.It's considered the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Army, led by General George Washington, won against the British Army, led by General Cornwallis. Cornwallis was forced to surrender after being surrounded by Washington's army. -
Northwest Ordinance
Adopted in 1787, by the Second Continental Congress, chartered a government for the Northwest Territory, provided a method for admitting new states to the Union from the territory, and listed a bill of rights guaranteed in the territory. It allowed new states to be admitted into the country. It was apart of the manifest destiny, where the U.S had a god given right to rule from sea to sea.The ordinance provided freedoms and public education for the new territories, but did not allow slavery. -
Alien & Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts were issued in 1798 by the federalist congress, it was a series of laws that allowed the U.S Government to deport immigrants/foreigners as well as making it harder for them to vote.The Sedition Act prohibited public opposition to the Government. Punishments could range from fines or imprisonment to those who write/publish anything that could accuse the Government.This violated the individual rights under the 1st amendment which eventually established Judicial Review. -
Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions
Passed in 1798-99, they were originally a protest to the Alien and Sedition Acts. Written by Thomas Jefferson & James Madison, it stated that the if the national government were to pass any law that could harm the states, then the states could null or void the law. It also stated that the federal government had no authority to exercise power not specifically delegated to it on the constitution.These resolutions were important to the foundation of the U.S government the development of the nation. -
Marbury V. Madison
The U.S. Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison, established the principle of judicial review—the power of the federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional. This all was made possible by John Marshall who was appointed by John Adams in his last year of presidency. He was one of the many midnight appointees. The case was mainly focused on the fact that during Adam's last day of presidency, the secretary of state failed to deliver the commissions. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase brought into the United States about 828,000,000 square miles of territory from France, almost doubling the size of the newly founded country.It stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. It is considered one of the greatest achievements under Jefferson's presidency. Even though he felt guilty about the purchase since he believes in a strict interpretation of the Constitution. He also founded Lewis & Clark expedition.to explore the new territories. -
Missouri Comprimise
Tensions began to rise between states within the the country. They reached a point after Missouri’s request for admission to the Union as a slave state, which was a threat to the balance between slave states and free states. To keep the peace, Congress created a two-part compromise, granting Missouri’s request but also admitting Maine as a free state. It also passed an amendment that drew an imaginary line across the Louisiana Territory, establishing a boundary between free and slave states. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine established many points, such as; the United States would not interfere in the internal affairs of or the wars between European powers, the U.S recognized and would not interfere with existing colonies in the Western Hemisphere, the Western Hemisphere was closed to future colonization, any attempt by a European power to oppress or control any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States. It was used more often later in time. -
Nullification Crisis
Originally in 1832-33, it was mostly protests from the states against the Government for the protective tariff. It didn't benefit the southern states as much as it did the northern states and the government. It was essentially saying that the states could nullify any law that they find unconstitutional & if it harms the state.The example here was the protective tariff which the states thought was harming them. It's important to U.S history because it lead to court cases founding judicial review. -
Texas Anneation
This is the same annexation that later lead to the war with Mexico in 1846. Originally apart of Texas, Texans used to be Americans who moved to Mexico for former promises such as continuing agriculture and keeping slavery. This however was temporary and later Mexico changed their laws so that the Texans couldn't do that anymore. This angered the Texans which later caused them to leave and asked the U.S if they could be apart of their country. Battles like the Alamo were apart of the conflict. -
Oregon Treaty
The Oregon Treaty settled the dispute between the United States and Great Britain over the area in Oregon located between the 49th parallel. In 1818, both countries had agreed to a occupy Oregon, and this agreement had been renewed by treaty in 1827. President Polk wanted to satisfy his people by wanting to extended the ownership to 54 and 40 degrees. It was later agreed to 49 degrees, this is important to history because it also continued to expand their territory and handled foreign issues. -
Mexican Cession (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo)
The “Mexican Cession" refers to lands surrendered, or ceded, to the United States by Mexico at the end of the Mexican War. The terms of this transfer were spelled out in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848. It was a huge amount of land that caused conflict between the states. It was debated whether slavery should be allowed in the new territories and if so, which ones? This is important to U.S History because it completed Manifest Destiny. As well as expanding their power through the world. -
Compromise of 1850
Divisions over slavery in territory gained in the Mexican-American. War were resolved in the Compromise of 1850. It consisted of laws admitting California as a free state, creating Utah and New Mexico territories with the question of slavery to be determined by popular sovereignty, settling a boundary dispute in the former’s favor, ending the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and making it easier for southerners to recover fugitive slaves. It was created the balance free/slave states. -
Kansas - Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebrask Act bill that mandated “popular sovereignty”–allowing settlers of a territory to decide whether slavery would be allowed within a new state’s borders. the Bill overturned the Missouri Compromise’s use of a boundary between slave and free territory. The conflicts that arose between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in the aftermath of the act’s passage led to the period of violence known as Bleeding Kansas, and helped paved the way for the American Civil War -
Battle of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is an island fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Originally constructed in 1829, Fort Sumter is most famous for being the site of the first shots of the Civil War. The south mostly occupied this fort during the civil war and after their secession. The reason for the altercation was because of the Abraham Lincoln election and the southern secession to turn into the confederacy.Today, it's a very important and famous memorial that attracts thousands of tourists. -
Battle of Bull Run
On July 21, 1861, Union and Confederate armies fought near Manassas Junction, Virginia, in the first major land battle of the American Civil War. Also known as the Battle of Manassas, the altercation began when about 35,000 Union troops marched from the federal capital in Washington, D.C. to fight the Confederacy of 20,000 along a small river known as Bull Run. The Confederate victory boosted moral and shocked many in the North, who realized the war would not be won as easily as they had hoped. -
Bleeding (Bloody) Kansas
Bleeding Kansas is the term used to described the period of violence during the settling of the Kansas territory. In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act overturned the Missouri Compromise’s use of a boundary between slave and free territory and instead, using the principle of popular sovereignty,The residents could decide if they wanted slavery or not. Pro-slavery and free-state settlers flooded into Kansas to try to influence the decision. Which caused John Brown to lead a raid on Harper's Ferry. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam, also called the Battle of Sharpsburg, occurred September 22, 1862, at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland. It was a loss for Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia against Union General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac and was the climax of Lee’s attempt to invade the north. The battle’s outcome would be vital to shaping America’s future, and it remains the deadliest one-day battle in all American military history. -
Battle of Vicksburg
From 1862 until 1863, during the American Civil War, Union forces waged a campaign to take the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi, which lay on the east bank of the Mississippi River, halfway between Memphis to the north and New Orleans to the south. The Siege of Vicksburg divided the Confederacy and proved the military genius of Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Vicksburg was one of the Union’s most successful campaigns of the war. It was a very important victory for the North. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln was a free-soiler however near the end of the civil war he did free all the slaves in the union in order to have them fight for the union. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free all slaves in the United States. Rather, it declared free only those slaves living in states not under Union control. It also tied the issue of slavery directly to the war. It's important to U.S history because it later lead to future movements that freed more slaves. It also impacted the culture. -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln at the November 19, 1863, dedication of Soldier’s National Cemetery, a cemetery for Union soldiers killed at the Battle Of Gettysburg during the American Civil War.He wasn't the main speaker however his speech is one his most famous speeches and one of the most famous speeches in U.S History. It was only around 260 words and 2 minutes to speak while the previous speaker took two hours. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the most important engagement of the American Civil War. On July 3, Lee ordered an attack by fewer than 15,000 troops on the enemy’s center at Cemetery Ridge. The assault, known as “Pickett’s Charge,” managed to pierce the Union lines but eventually failed, at the cost of thousands of rebel casualties, and Lee was forced to withdraw his battered army toward Virginia on July 4. It was a very important battle for the war. -
13th Amendment passed
On December 6th, 1865, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." This was the outcome of the Civil War along side other amendments. Lincoln believed that a constitutional amendment was necessary to ensure the end of slavery. After his assassination it was the idea was much more radical and enforced. -
14th Amendment passed
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including former slaves—and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.” One of three amendments passed during the Reconstruction era to abolish slavery and establish civil and legal rights for black Americans, it became the basis for many landmark Supreme Court decisions over the years. It's was one of the great outcomes from the civil war. -
15th Amendment passed
The 15th Amendment, granted African-American men the right to vote, it was adopted into the U.S. Constitution in 1870. Despite the amendment, by the late 1870s discriminatory practices were used to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote, especially in the South.Such as a poll tax or literacy test. It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that legal barriers were outlawed at the state and local levels if they denied blacks their right to vote under the 15th Amendment. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
It was the court case where the phrase "separate but equal" was created and used. Where it supported racial discrimination and violated the defendant's constitutional rights. At the end, the decision was that he couldn't sue the court or the government because he was still considered property. As a result, restrictive Jim Crow laws and separate public accommodations based on race became common. Known as the Jim Crow era, it was a time full of racism and complex differences between races.