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The U.S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC
The U.S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC. U.S. Congress meets in Washington, DC, for the first time. Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved African American blacksmith, organizes a slave revolt intending to march on Richmond, Virginia. The conspiracy is uncovered, and Prosser and a number of the rebels are hanged. Virginia's slave laws are consequently tightened. -
Marbury v. Madison
Marbury v. Madison: Landmark Supreme Court decision greatly expands the power of the Court by establishing its right to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional. 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. -
War of 1812
War of 1812: U.S. declares war on Britain over British interference with American maritime shipping and westward expansion. Madison's second inauguration. British capture Washington, DC, and set fire to White House and Capitol. Francis Scott Key writes Star-Spangled Banner as he watches British attack on Fort McHenry at Baltimore. Treaty of Ghent is signed, officially ending the war. -
Spain agrees to cede Florida to the United States
Spain agrees to cede Florida to the United States. 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. -
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. -
President Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act
President Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, which authorizes the forced removal of Native Americans living in the eastern part of the country to lands west of the Mississippi River (May 28). By the late 1830s the Jackson administration has relocated nearly 50,000 Native Americans. -
Texas declares its independence from Mexico
Texan defenders of the Alamo are all killed during siege by the Mexican Army. Texans defeat Mexicans at San Jacinto. -
U.S. annexes Texas by joint resolution of Congress
James Polk is inaugurated as the 11th president. The term “manifest destiny” appears for the first time in a magazine article by John L. O'Sullivan. It expresses the belief held by many white Americans that the United States is destined to expand across the continent. -
Mexican War
U.S. declares war on Mexico in effort to gain California and other territory in Southwest (May 13, 1846). War concludes with signing of Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mexico recognizes Rio Grande as new boundary with Texas and, for $15 million, agrees to cede territory comprising present-day California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico and Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. -
Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California
Gold rush reaches its height the following year. Women's rights convention is held at Seneca Falls, N.Y. -
Congress passes the Land Act of 1851
An attempt to sort out competing land claims by Mexican Americans, called Californios, who were longtime settlers in California, and the immigrants, often from other areas of the United States, who contested their claims. The net result was a loss of land by the Californios, as depicted in María Amparo Ruiz de Burton's novel The Squatter and the Don. -
John Brown leads an armed group of 21
16 October. John Brown leads an armed group of 21 to seize the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, is captured, and is executed.
Georgia passes a law forbidding owners from manumitting slaves in their wills. -
Congress passes the Civil Rights Bill of 1866
First appearance of a 5-cent coin, soon called "the nickel."
The Sioux nations are angered as the US Army begins building forts along the Bozeman Trail, an important route to the gold fields of Virginia City; Capt. Fetterman and 80 soldiers are killed. -
Union Pacific-Central Pacific transcontinental railroad is completed as the two lines meet at Promontory Point, Utah.
Wyoming passes first woman's suffrage act.
Susan B. Anthony elected president of the American Equal Rights Association.
Number of justices on the Supreme Court rises from 7 to 9.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton elected president of the National Woman Suffrage Association, which demands federal voting rights for women. -
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY DECLARES WAR ON SERBIA. WORLD WAR I BEGINS
“This is a dark day and a dark hour. The sword is being forced into my hand. This war will demand of us enormous sacrifice in life and money, but we shall show our foes what it is to provoke Germany.”
– Kaiser Wilhelm II, July 31, 1914 -
RUSSIANS ARE DEFEATED AT BATTLE OF TANNENBERG
On the eastern front, Germans shatter the Russian Second Army and take over 92,000 prisoners at the Battle of Tannenberg. -
Treaty of Versailles signed
By Allied Powers (Britan,France,Italy,Japan,America)
By Other Countries including Belgium,Bolivia,Brazil,China, Ecuador,Panama,Peru and many more
By countries part of the British Empire such as Australia and New Zealand. -
The stock market crashes
The stock market crashes, marking the end of six years of unparalleled prosperity for most sectors of the American economy. The "crash" begins on October 24 (Black Thursday). By October 29, stock prices will plummet and banks will be calling in loans. An estimated $30 billion in stock values will "disappear" by mid-November.
