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Battle of Lexington & Concord
First military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. Fought in Middlesex Country, Massachusetts between the 13 american colonies and British authorities. This battle is important because it was the true start of the American Revolution against Great Britain. -
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Battle of Saratoga
Turning point of the American Revolution. It was very important because it convinced the French to give the U.S. military support. It lifted American spirits, ended the British threat in New England by taking control of the Hudson River, and, most importantly, showed the French that the Americans had the potential to beat their enemy, Great Britain. -
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Battle of Yorktown
Last major battle of the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis and his troops were trapped in the Chesapeake Bay by the French fleet. He was sandwiched between the French navy and the American army. it was important because Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington as French and American forces trapped the British at Yorktown. The British surrender at the Battle of Yorktown ended the American Revolutionary War. -
Northwest Ordinance
Passed by Congress. Provided rules for governing the northwest territory. Divided into several states of Middle West. Banned slavery in the territory, making it the first major act of Congress to abolish slavery from new land. Out of the three acts this is the most important one because: "it laid the basis for the government of the Northwest Territory and for the admission of its constituent parts as states into the union -
Alien & Sedition Acts
Federalist Congress and President Adams passed these four laws in 1798. the laws involved new powers to transport immigrants and making it hard for them to vote. sought to restrict the public activities of political radicals who sympathized with the French Revolution and criticized John Adam's Federalist policies. -
Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions
Political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799, in which the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. It argued that the states had the right and the duty to declare as unconstitutional those acts of Congress -
Louisiana Purchase
Was a massive western region of North America, consisting of 828,000 square miles, sold by France to US. Was important because it gave the U.S. control of the Mississippi River and the port city of New Orleans, both of which were used by farmers to ship their crops and get paid -
Marbury v. Madison
Supreme Court case established the principle of judicial review. The power of the federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional. Marbury v. Madison is arguably the most important case in supreme court history, was the first U.S. Supreme Court case to apply the principle of "judicial review"- the power of federal courts to void acts of Congress in conflict with the Constitution. -
Missouri Compromise
A settlement of a dispute between slave and free states, contained in several laws passed during 1820 and 1821. Northern legislators had tried to prohibit slavery in Missouri, which was then applying for statehood. An effort by Congress to defuse the sectional and political rivalries triggered by the request of Missouri late in 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery would be permitted. At the time, the United States contained twenty-two states, evenly divided between slave and free. -
Monroe Doctrine
A statement of foreign policy issued by President James Monroe in 1823, declaring that the United States would not tolerate intervention by European nations in the affairs of nations in the Americas. Monroe also promised that the United States would not interfere with European colonies already established or with governments in Europe. was important because it was a foreign policy statement originally set forth in 1823 which created sphere of Europeans and american influences. -
Nullification Crisis
In U.S. history, confrontation between the state of South Carolina and the federal government in 1832–33 over the former’s attempt to declare null and void within the state the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832. The resolution of the nullification crisis in favor of the federal government helped to undermine the nullification doctrine, the constitutional theory that upheld the right of states to nullify federal acts within their boundaries. -
Texas Annexation
Was the 1845 annexation of the Republic of Texas into the United States of America, which was admitted to the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845. The Republic of Texas declared independence from the Republic of Mexico on March 2, 1836. Is important because the annexation led quickly to war with Mexico in 1846. The victorious United States came away with control of the American Southwest and California through the Treaty of Guadalupe in 1848. -
Oregon Treaty
This agreement set the boundary between the United States and Canada at the 49th parallel west of the Rocky Mountains, veering around Vancouver Island and then proceeding through the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. The Oregon Treaty was on of the first successes of Manifest Destiny, the signing of the treaty in 1846 was important to Manifest Destiny because it showed the U.S. was willing to fight for westward expansion -
Mexican Cession
The region in the modern-day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S. in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. Was important to our history. After the war with Mexico ended, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed. As a result, this treaty established our Mexican-United States border at Texas at the Rio Grande River. We also got California, Utah, and Nevada from Mexico. -
Compromise of 1850
Was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 which defused a 4 year political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired during the Mexican American War. The south gained by the strengthening of the fugitive slave law the north gained a new free state California Texas lost territory but was compensated with 10 million dollars to pay for its debt Slave trade was prohibited in Washington DC but slavery was not -
Kansas Nebraska Act
Allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north´. which organized the remaining territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase so that such territories could be admitted to the Union as states. Probably the most important result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was its language concerning the contentious issue of slavery. -
Bleeding Kansas
The Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in the United States between 1854 and 1861 which emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas. An important staging ground for what some people argue is the first battles of the Civil War, because it is this battlefield on which the forces of anti-slavery and the forces of slavery meet. ... That is, the war between slavery and anti-slavery in the Kansas territory. -
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Battle of Fort Sumter
Was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston South Carolina by the Confederate States Army, and the return gunfire and subsequent surrender by the United States Army that started the American Civil War. After South Carolinas secession plans were made to have Major Robert Anderson remain at Fort Moultrie However security issues forced Anderson to leave with his men and Fort Sumter is historically significant because it is the place where the first battle of the American Civil War was fought -
Battle of Bull Run
Was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. On July 16, 1861, the untried Union army under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville. -
Battle of Antietam
A battle of the American Civil War,between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac, near Sharpsburg, Maryland and Antietam Creek. Part of the Maryland Campaign, it was the first field army–level engagement in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It was the bloodiest day in United States history, with a combined tally of 22,717 dead, wounded, or missing. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Despite this expansive wording, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the United States, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy (the Southern secessionist states) that had already come under Northern control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union (United States) military victory. did not end slavery in the nation -
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Battle of Vicksburg
A key strategic battle in the Civil War. It allowed the union to culminate a large part of land and naval campaign. The Union gained control of Mississippi river. One of the most successful victories in the war. It tore the Confederacy in two. As a result, they surrendered in battle. This is important to history because it also ensured the strength that the Union had, which influenced the overall outcome in war. -
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Battle of Gettysburg
was a Union victory that stopped Confederate General Robert E. Lee's second invasion of the North. More than 50,000 men fell as casualties during the 3-day battle, making it the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War. Northern victory led by Mead; beat the south and lee. Big turning point; had the north lost south might have been able to conquer North. Now Lee/ South can never conquer North again. -
Gettysbrug Address
Dedication of Soldier's National Cemetery, a cemetery for Union soldiers killed at the Battle Of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Was a Union victory that stopped Confederate General Robert E. Lee's second invasion of the North. More than 50,000 men fell as casualties during the 3-day battle, making it the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War -
13th Amendment Passed
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Was important because it created a constitutional amendment that banned slavery in ALL of the American states. The US Constitution outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. -
14th Amendment Passed
Granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and slaves who had been emancipated after the American Civil War, including them under the umbrella phrase “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.” -
15th Amendment Passed
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” -
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court issued in 1896. It upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal".Is an important Supreme Court decision made in 1896. The Court ruled on the concept of 'separate but equal' and set back civil rights in the United States for decades to come.
