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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.
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The U.S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC.
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U.S. Congress meets in Washington, DC, for the first time.
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Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third president in Washington, DC.
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Landmark Supreme Court decision greatly expands the power of the Court by establishing its right to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.
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The 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.
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Lewis and Clark set out from St. Louis, Mo., on an expedition to explore the West and find a route to the Pacific Ocean.
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The U.S. declares war on Britain over British interference with American maritime shipping and westward expansion
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British capture Washington, DC, and set fire to White House and Capitol.
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Francis Scott Key writes Star-Spangled Banner as he watches British attack on Fort McHenry at Baltimore.
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Treaty of Ghent is signed, officially ending the war.
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Landmark Supreme Court decision upholds the right of Congress to establish a national bank, a power implied but not specifically enumerated by the Constitution
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In an effort to maintain the balance between free and slave states, Maine (formerly part of Massachusetts) is admitted as a free state so that Missouri can be admitted as a slave state; except for Missouri, slavery is prohibited in the Louisiana Purchase lands north of latitude 36°30'
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Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation, the first U.S. constitution.
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In his annual address to Congress, President Monroe declares that the American continents are henceforth off-limits for further colonization by European powers.
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Landmark Supreme Court decision broadly defines Congress's right to regulate interstate commerce
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John Quincy Adams is inaugurated as the sixth president
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U.S. Constitution goes into effect, having been ratified by nine states
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Construction is begun on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first public railroad in the U.S.
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Andrew Jackson is inaugurated as the seventh president.
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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.
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Nat Turner, an enslaved African American preacher, leads the most significant slave uprising in American history. He and his band of about 80 followers launch a bloody, day-long rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. The militia quells the rebellion, and Turner is eventually hanged. As a consequence, Virginia institutes much stricter slave laws.
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William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing the Liberator, a weekly paper that advocates the complete abolition of slavery. He becomes one of the most famous figures in the abolitionist movement.
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Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin greatly increases the demand for slave labor.
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Texan defenders of the Alamo are all killed during siege by the Mexican Army
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Martin Van Buren is inaugurated as the eighth president
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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 Tears.”
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William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as the ninth president.
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He dies one month later and is succeeded in office by his vice president, John Tyler
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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.
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James Polk is inaugurated as the 11th president
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The Wilmot Proviso, introduced by Democratic representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania, attempts to ban slavery in territory gained in the Mexican War The proviso is blocked by Southerners but continues to enflame the debate over slavery
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The U.S. declares war on Mexico in an effort to gain California and another territory in Southwest.
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Oregon Treaty fixes the U.S.-Canadian border at 49th parallel; the U.S. acquires Oregon territory.
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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.
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Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California. The gold rush reaches its height the following year.
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War concludes with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
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Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery and becomes one of the most effective and celebrated members of the Underground Railroad.
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Zachary Taylor is inaugurated as the 12th president.
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U.S. abolitionist and writer Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896) publishes Uncle Tom’s Cabin as a book and sells 300,000 copies in its first year.
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act breaks the previous compromises over slavery.
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Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest and most remembered presidents of America, was elected on this day. His election spurred on the most brutal and deadliest war in American history. Soon after he was elected, South Carolina seceded from the Union and was then followed by the Civil War
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Civil War begins
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The Confederate States left America
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President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation abolishing slavery
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A hero of the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) becomes president of the United States
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President U.S. Grant establishes Yellowstone Park as the first National Park.
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Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893) wins the hotly contested 1876 presidential election, although not the popular vote.
