-
United States acquired a huge section of the midwest from France. It sold for about two cents and acre.
-
This expediton was meant to farther learn about the land the U.S. bought in the Louisiana purchase. To go through this expedition Thomas Jefferson asked $2,500 dollars, but in the end the total cost was around $50,000.
-
Gold RushAfter gold was found at Sutter's Mill thousands rushed to California starting the gold rush. After only a couple of years of "Gold Fever" over $2 billion dollars of gold was taken from the ground in California alone.
-
Civil WarThis war was between the Union (north) and the Confederate (south). It started when the Confederate fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.
-
Homestead ActAbraham signed the act on May 20, 1862. This act was meant to give small farmers public land at a low cost. To get land off of the homestead act you had to be 21 years of age and you had to be the head of the household.
-
Began building the railroadPacific Railway ActThis date is when the government passed a law that money would be spent on the transcontinental railroad. The year they acually began building though was 1863.
-
Before meeting at Promontory Point, Utah the men that worked on the TCRR laid around 2,000 miles of track. The last spike put into the ground was made of real gold hence its name the golden spike.
