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The Battles of Lexington and Concord, on April 19, 1775, were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War, erupting when British troops marched from Boston to confiscate colonial military supplies stored in Concord, Massachusetts. -
The winter at Valley Forge (1777-1778) was the Continental Army's encampment during the harsh winter of the American Revolutionary War, marked by immense suffering from hunger, disease, and lack of supplies, but also the crucible for training under Baron von Steuben, transforming the army into a more disciplined and professional force by spring. -
Benedict Arnold turned traitor in September 1780 by attempting to surrender the American fort at West Point to the British, but his plot was discovered when his intermediary, Major John André, was captured with incriminating papers. Frustrated by his treatment and lack of recognition, in financial debt, and influenced by his Loyalist wife, Arnold's betrayal was motivated by a mix of personal grievances and a desire for money and a position in the British army. -
The Battle of Cowpens was a military engagement during the American Revolutionary War fought on January 17, 1781, near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina. -
USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere was a battle between an American and British ship during the War of 1812, about 400 miles southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It took place on the 19th of August 1812, one month after the war's first engagement between British and American forces. -
The Battle of Baltimore was a decisive battle during the War of 1812 fought between September 12–14, 1814, where American forces repulsed both a land and naval invasion of the critical port city of Baltimore by British forces. -
The Battle of New Orleans was a decisive American victory on January 8, 1815, the last major engagement of the War of 1812. Led by General Andrew Jackson, American forces, using earthwork defenses, repelled a superior British army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham. -
Presidential elections were held in the United States from October 31 to December 2, 1828. Just as in the 1824 election, President John Quincy Adams of the National Republican Party faced Andrew Jackson of the Democratic Party, -
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar. -
Mexico lost California, New Mexico, Arizona, and other territories to the United States in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In this treaty, Mexico ceded over half a million square miles of land, which includes the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, and most of Arizona and New Mexico, as well as parts of Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming -
On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected as the first Republican president. His victory was entirely due to his support in the North and West. No ballots were cast for him in 10 of the 15 Southern slave states. -
South Carolina seceded from the United States on December 20, 1860, after the election of Abraham Lincoln, becoming the first state to do so. This act of secession led to other Southern states following suit and ultimately triggered the American Civil War. -
The First Battle of Bull Run, or First Manassas, was the first major land battle of the American Civil War, fought on July 21, 1861, in Virginia. A Confederate victory led by General P.G.T. -
The Battle of Gettysburg was a pivotal three-day conflict from July 1–3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War. Led by Union General George G. Meade and Confederate General Robert E. Lee -
The surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, was a pivotal event where Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the Civil War. -
The sinking of the USS Maine was a pivotal event that led to the Spanish-American War; the battleship exploded and sank in Havana, Cuba, on February 15, 1898, killing 261 sailors. -
During the Spanish-American War, the main engagements in the Philippines were the Battle of Manila Bay (May 1, 1898), a decisive American naval victory where Commodore George Dewey's fleet destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron, and the Battle of Manila (August 13, 1898), a land battle that concluded the war with the capture of the city by combined American and Filipino forces, leading to the end of Spanish rule and the beginning of American control -
The Star-Spangled Banner" became the official national anthem of the United States on March 3, 1931, when President Herbert Hoover signed the bill into law.