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Battle of Lexington and Concord
This event was the first military engagement of the revolutionary war. -
Declaration of Independance
The Declaration of Independence was created in order to establish the United States as its own country instead of an extension of Great Britain. The Declaration was never technically legally binding, though it was considered to be powerful. The Declaration was the main cause of the Revolutionary War and was supported by Thomas Paine, who believed independence was our natural right. Speaking of people named Thomas, Thomas Jefferson was the main author of the document. -
Battle of Saratoga
This was the turning point of the revolutionary war. This battle showed that the Us had more strength than our enemies had thought,and this helped us gather allies such as France. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation were essentially the early version of the Declaration of Independence. The articles served as a document to form our government after we initially separated from Great Britain. The articles were flawed due to the fact that they gave equal power to large and small states. This made it difficult to pay dept from the Revolutionary war, as well as made the US weak. The articles themselves were weak because they gave us a weak government and loose confederation. -
Battle of Yorktown
This battle marked the end of the revolutionary war, in which Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington. The French and American forces trapped the British within Yorktown, which forced them to surrender. -
Northwest Ordinance
Northwest ordinance helped establish the government of the northwest, which assisted in the later creation of admitting new states into the union. The ordinance was important due to the fact that it was one of the most important legislative acts. Northwest ordinance also helped to protect civil liberties and outlaw slavery in new territories. -
Constitution
The Constitution is our main governing document we use when referring to the laws and governing bodies of our country. It speaks of a rough summary of each of our three branches, executive, legislative, and judiciary. -
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution by anti-federalists due to the fact they believed the Constitution didn't protect their basic rights. It features the first 10 amendments. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
These acts allowed Adams to define treason, including any false claims of treason. -
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
The Kentucky Resolution believed that the national government could not do anything beyond its Constitutional powers. This was important due to that it helped end the Alien and Sedition Acts. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was purchased in 1801 from France by the Us. It was bought for 15 million dollars. The Louisiana purchase was ultimately the largest piece of land bought during westward expansion, increasing our amount of land by 827,000 square miles! The most important part of this deal was the passage of control of the Mississippi river, which was used to ship crops. -
Marbury V Madison
This event was the first meeting of the Supreme Court in which it declared an act of Congress unconstitutional. President Adams had appointed several federalists into the courts. However, Madison did not deliver the commissions he was supposed to deliver. Marbury insisted that Madison deliver the commissions, but ultimately the court refused this request. This event led to the creation of judicial review. -
War of 1812 begins
The War of 1812 was fought between the Us and United Kingdom. The war was caused due to the Americans getting angry because of British impressment. This war caused several trading problems. -
Battle of New Orleans
A battle between the Us and British. It was the last major battle of 1812. It was won by repelling the British forces with the help of general Andrew Jackson. -
Missouri Compromise
Because the Us was split into slave and free countries we had a bit of trouble when Missouri came along. Missouri believed that it could be useful because of its large population but because it was a slave state, free states did not believe that was fair. As a result, a compromise had to be made. -
Monroe Doctrine
The policy of opposing the colonization of Europeans in the Us. This stated that the Us could not allow could not colonize upon their land or interfere with our conflicts. Additionally, the same was applied for the Us for Europe. -
Nullification Crisis
A high tariff was adopted, and due to this, John C. Calhoun began to become concerned because he feared this would support the spread of slavery. The Nullification Crisis was caused by Southerners, because they believed the tariffs were unconstitutional. This was one of the leading events that helped create the basis of the civil war. The reason being was that the south began to believe democrats weren't supporting their beliefs. -
Texas Annexation
The annexation of Texas was the event that admitted Texas into the union. This helped Texas declare independence from Mexico. -
Oregon Treaty
This treaty created the boarder between the Us and Canada. This was important due to the fact that it helped manifest Destiny, and showed that the Us was willing to fight to expand westward. -
Mexican Cession
This treaty was the treaty that recognized Texas as a state in the Us. Half of Mexico's territory was given to us for 15 million. This treaty was important because it helped create the Us-Mexican boarder. -
Declaration of Sentiments
The declaration of sentiments was a document promoting the rights of women in 1848. It was signed during the women's rights convention in Seneca Falls. It was written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. -
Compromise of 1850
This was a compromise between Northern and Southern states in order to help create peace. This compromise passed the Fugitive slave law, which required Northerners to return runaway slaves. This compromise replaced the Missouri Compromise. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin is published
Uncle Tom's Cabin is an Anti-Slavery novel that was created by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The novel helped create tension that may have led to the civil war, as it made people more aware about the cruelties of slavery. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act allowed the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide whether or not to allow slavery within their boarders. Though the act was originally started in order to help create the transcontinental railroad, in order to help farmers. -
Bleeding Kansas
This event is considered the staging ground for the first battles of the Civil War. This was one of the first battlefields where pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces met. -
John Brown's Raid at Harper's Ferry
A slave revolt lead by John Brown. It was dangerous as the slaves were armed, but luckily they were stopped before too much harm could happen. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
The battle of fort Sumter was a battle that took place within South Carolina. This was the start of the civil war which began when the Union returned fire. -
Battle of Bull Run
This was the first large-scale land battle of the Civil War. The battle was actually called Manassas by the Confederacy. This was one of the ony battles that were actually won by the confederacy. The Battle of Bull run was also the first battle where railroads were used to transport soldiers. -
Battle of Antietam
This event was the bloodiest day in American history. The Union won the battle and ultimately stopped the invasion of Maryland by General Lee. This victory lead to the creation of the emancipation proclamation. -
Congressional Reconstruction
Lead by the Radical Republicans, this event lead to protests about Black Codes and Mass-Killings. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was an order created by president Abraham Lincoln in order to free slaves. Not all slaves were freed though, especially in the South. The main goal of the proclimation was to let black soldiers serve in the Union army. -
Battle of Vicksburg
This was the final major military battle in the Civil War. -
Battle of Gettysburg
This was rumored as the turning point of the war. This battle had the most casualties of the war. -
Gettysburg Address
This Address was a short speech given by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. -
Sherman's March to Sea
A military campaign led by General Sherman. This used the tactic of total war, in which everything is destroyed in the path of the attacker. -
Presidential Reconstruction
Presidential Reconstruction was a plan implemented by Andrew Johnson in order to help the South transition out of slavery. This was added in order to give the Us a reconstruction plan. -
Freedman's Bureau Established
The freedman's bureau was created in order to help newly freed slaves have some grounding and get back on their feet. It provided food, legal assistance, housing, schooling, and medical aid. The majority of jobs given were sharecropping. -
13th Amendment Passed
This amendment made slavery illegal. And people could be punished for making someone work against their will. -
14th amendment passed
The 14th Amendment is one of the longest amendments in the Constitution. It was ratified in order to help give freed slaves more rights after the civil war. -
15th amendment passed
The fifteenth amendment was made in order to protect voting rights for citizens regardless of race. The main goal of this was to protect the voting rights of former slaves. -
Plessy V Ferguson
Plessy V Ferguson was a case against the Jim Crow laws. The state still supported separate but equal facilities after this. This case made it almost impossible to disband segregation for quite a while as well as made segregation legal.
