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The U.S. Capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington D.C.
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The White House
The construction of the White House began in 1790s. It was until 1800 that an American President came to live in it for the first time. Although it was still unfinished at the time, President John Adams and his wife Abigail Adams took up residence in the White House. Thus began the long tradition of White House becoming the seat of U.S. presidents. -
Thomas Jefferson Inaugurated 3rd President
Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third president in Washington, DC. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, he would serve from 1801-1809. The Primary draftsman of the Declaration of Independence, the statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase. -
Danbury Baptist Letters
“ I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State”
-Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Danbury Baptists -
William Marbury v. James Madison (Secretary of state)
Important Supreme Court Case: found Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 179 is unconstitutional. This declaration formed to concept of Judiciary Review- Congress cannot pass laws that are contrary to the Constitution. -
Ohio- 17th State of the Union
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Louisiana Purchase
United States agrees to pay France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory, which extends west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and comprises about 830,000 sq mi. As a result, the U.S. nearly doubles in size. -
Lewis & Clark
Set out from St. Louis, Mo., on expedition to explore the newly acquired West and find a route to the Pacific Ocean. They would reach the Pacific Ocean, later that year, on November 15th. -
12th Amendment Ratified
Passed in the wake of the chaotic presidential election of 1800, in which Thomas Jefferson and his fellow Democratic-Republican Aaron Burr received the exact same number of votes in the Electoral College, the 12th Amendment provides the method for selecting president and vice president of the United States. -
James Madison Inaugurated 4th President
Writer of the Federalist papers, would later be referred to as the "Father of the Constitution." He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. -
Louisiana 18th State of the Union
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War of 1812
U.S. declares war on Britain over British interference with American maritime shipping and westward expansion. -
Star Spangled Banner
Francis Scott Key writes Star-Spangled Banner as he watches British attack on Fort McHenry at Baltimore. -
Treaty of Ghent
Treaty signed, officially ending the war. Great Britain agreed to relinquish claims to the Northwest Territory and both countries pledged to work toward ending the slave trade. -
Remington Arms Founded
Elipalet Remington in Ilion New York becomes the first firearm manufacturer in the United Sates. E. Remington was an amateur gunsmith and marksman that was commissioned to start making rifles for peers. -
Indiana 19th State of the Union
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James Monroe Inaugurated 5th President
Oversaw the major westward expansion of the U.S. and strengthened American Foreign policy in 1823 with The Monroe Doctrine, a warning to European countries against further colonization and intervention in the western hemisphere. -
Mississipi 20th State of the Union
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Illinois 21st State of the Union
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McCulloch v. Maryland
Landmark Supreme Court decision upholds the right of Congress to establish a national bank, a power implied but not specifically enumerated by the Constitution. -
Spain agrees to cede Florida to the U.S.
Spain renounced all claim to West Florida, they received no compensation, but the US agreed to assume liability for $5 million in damage done by the American citizens who rebelled against Spain. -
Alabama 22nd State of the Union
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Maine 23rd State of the Union
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Missouri 24th State of the Union
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Pastor Denmark Vesey plans revolt
Denmark Vesey, an enslaved African American carpenter who had purchased his freedom, plans a slave revolt with the intent to lay siege on Charleston, South Carolina. The plot is discovered, and Vesey and 34 coconspirators are hanged. -
Monroe Doctrine
In his annual address to Congress, President Monroe declares that the American continents are henceforth off-limits for further colonization by European powers. -
John Quincy Adams Inaugurated as 6th President
A member of the Whig Party, he served from 1825-1829. -
Construction on Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Construction began on the first public railroad in the U.S. -
Erie Canal open for traffic
Linking the Hudson River to Lake Erie. -
The Alamo
On the heels of Texas declaring it's independence from Mexico, Texan defenders of the Alamo are all killed during siege by the Mexican Army. -
Samuel Colt Receives Patent
For the Cold Revolver, the first revolving barrel multishot firearm. -
Arkansas 25th State of the Union
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Michigan 26th State of the Union
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Martin Van Buren inugurated 8th President
Formed the new Democratic party from a coalition of Jeffersonian Republicans. He was not re-elected due to a stock market crash. -
Trail of Tears
More than 15,000 Cherokee Indians are forced to march from Georgia to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. Approximately 4,000 die from starvation and disease along the ?Trail of Tear -
William Henry Harrison-9th President
Died one month after his inaguration. -
John Tyler - 10th President
Vice president that succeeded William Henry Harrison upon his death. -
Florida 27th State of the Union
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Texas 28th State of the Union
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Iowa 29th State of the Union
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Wisconsin 30th State of the Union
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California 31st State of the Union
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Minnesota 32nd State of the Union
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Oregon 33rd State of the Union
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Jelly Bean Invented
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Twist Drill invented
A bit with two cut grooves in opposite sides of a round bar to drill holes in metal, plastic or wood. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, a federal outpost in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, marks the first military engagement of the American Civil War. After some 34 hours of bombardment, the fort surrenders on April 13, and Federal troops evacuate the fort the next day. -
Kansas 34th State of the Union
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Confederate States of America Formed
Representatives of seceded states meet in Montgomery, Alabama, and form the Confederate States of America, electing Jefferson Davis as president. The CSA constitution ensures the extension of slavery into new states and territories. -
Abraham Lincoln Inauguration
Abraham Lincoln, candidate of the antislavery Republican Party, is elected president. As a result, between December 1860 and April 1861, 11 Southern states secede from the Union. -
First Battle of Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run, or the First Battle of Manassas, takes place near Manassas in northern Virginia and ends in a Confederate rout of Union forces. -
Battle at Shiloh
In a fierce battle at Shiloh, in southwestern Tennessee, Union forces rally from almost near defeat to drive back the Confederate army. Both sides are immobilized for the next three weeks because of the heavy casualties, including more than 13,000 on the Union side and more than 11,000 on the Confederate side. -
Battle of Monitor & the Merrimack
In the first battle of ironclad warships, the Merrimack (which had been rechristened by the Confederates as the Virginia) clashes with the Union Monitor. Although the Union navy blockades 3,500 miles (5,600 kilometers) of Confederate coastline during the war, the Confederates excel at running the blockade -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. It states that “all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” The proclamation also allows black men to serve in the Union army. Up until this time, the Confederate government and people had expected that the English and French governments would intervene on their side in the war, but the conversion of the struggle into a crusade against slavery makes European intervention impossible. -
Battle at Gettysburg
After invading the North, Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee meet Union forces at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle rages over three days, involving heavy artillery duels and high casualties on both sides. The battle is considered a major turning point in the eastern theater. Lee withdraws and is forced to fight a defensive campaign for the rest of the war. -
Confederates Surrender
In the western theater of the war, General Ulysses S. Grant lays siege to the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Confederates surrender on July 4. The victory leaves the Mississippi River completely under Union control and splits the Confederacy in half. -
Breakfast Cerial First packaged for sale
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West Virginia 35th State of the Union
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Nevada 36th State of the Union
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Abraham Lincoln Assassination
On April 14 President Lincoln is shot in Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., by John Wilkes Booth. The president dies on April 15. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes president. The death of Lincoln will make reconciliation between the North and South more difficult. -
Nebraska 37th State of the Union
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14th Amendment Ratified
Section 1 of the amendment reversed the Supreme Court’s notorious decision in 1857’s Dred Scott v. Sandford by stating that anyone born in the United States is a citizen. It also extended the civil rights of citizens and their right to due process by protecting civil rights from infringement by the states as well as the federal government. Finally, Section 1 guarantees “equal protection under the laws” to all citizens -
15th Amendment is adopted
Prohibits the federal government and each state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote "on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude." It was ratified as the third and last of the Reconstruction Amendments. -
Colorado 38th State of the Union