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Second Great Awakening Began
The Second Great Awakening was extremely important as it led to the establishment of reform movements to address injustices and alleviate suffering such as the Temperance Movement, the Women's suffrage Movement and the Abolitionist Movement in which people advocated for emancipation on religious grounds -
Thomas Jefferson Elected President
Thomas Jefferson called his election "the Revolution of 1800" because it marked the first time that power in America passed from one party to another. -
Gabriel Prosser Slave Revolt
Gabriel planned the revolt during the spring and summer of 1800. He intended to lead slaves into Richmond, but the rebellion was postponed because of rain. The slaves' owners had suspicion of the uprsing, and two slaves told their owner about the plans. -
Louisiana Purchase
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
The most important case in Supreme Court history, and was the first US 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. -
Beginning of Lewis and Clark Expedition
Their mission was to explore the unknown territory, establish trade with the Natives and affirm the sovereignty of the United States in the region. One of their goals was to find a waterway from the US to the Pacific Ocean -
Embargo Act
Attempted to prohibit American ships from trading in foreign ports. It was intended to punish Britain and France for interfering with American trade while the two major European powers were at war with each other. -
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair
A naval engagement that occurred off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia between the British warship HMS Leopard and the American frigate USS Chesapeake. The crew of Leopard pursued, attacked, and boarded the American frigate, looking for deserters from the Royal Navy. -
Eli Whitney Patented the Cotton Gin
The cotton gin was a machine that revolutionized the production of cotton by greatly speeding up the process of removing seeds f rom cotton fiber. Despite its success, the gin made little money for Whitney due to patent infringement issues. -
James Madison Elected President
He was a Democratic Republican who defeated the Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. -
Non Intercourse Act
This act lifted all embargoes on American shipping except for those bound for British or French ports. Its intent was to damage the economies of the United Kingdom and France. Like its predecessor, the Embargo Act, it was mostly ineffective, and contributed to the coming of the War of 1812 -
Death of Tecumseh
Tecumseh and the Indian resistance movement allied with the British against the Americans during the War of 1812, but his death at the Battle of the Thames in 1813 and the end of War of 1812 led to the collapse of the alliance. -
The British Burn Washington DC
After defeating the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg, a British force led by Major General Robert Ross burned down buildings including the White House and the Capitol, as well as other facilities of the US government -
Treaty of Ghent Ratified
Treaty of Ghent was a peace treaty ending the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States. It was signed on Christmas Eve in the city of Ghent, which is located in what is now Belgium. All conquered territory was to be returned, and commissions were planned to settle the boundary of the United States and Canada -
Harford Convention
A series of meetings in Hartford, Connecticut in which the New England Federalist Party met to discuss their grievances concering the ongoing War of 182 and the political problems. -
Francis Cabot Lowell Smuggled memorized Textile Mill plans from Manchester, England
He had memorized all the workings of British power looms without writing anything down. The BMC was the first "integrated" textile mill in America. -
Robert Owen Founded the New Harmony Community
While the Owenite social experiment was an economic failure two years after it began, the community made some important contributions to American society. -
End of the War of 1812
The War of 1812 was different, the Treaty of Ghent said nothing about the maritime issues that had caused the war and contained nothing to suggest that America had achieved its aims. -
Battle of New Orleans
The decisive victory was followed shortly afterward by news of a peace treaty, many Americans at the time mistakenly believed the Battle of New Orleans had won the war. The Battle of New Orleans is also important because it propelled Andrew Jackson to fame as a war hero. -
Era of Good Feelings Began
A period in the political history of the United States during President Monroe's administration that reflected a sense of national purpose and a desire for unity among Americans in the aftermath of Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812. -
James Monroe Elected President
He was elected president as the Republican candidate, defeating Rufus King, the Federalists candidate. Monroe received 183 electoral votes and King 34. By 1820, when he was reelected, receiving all the electoral votes but one, the Federalists had ceased to function as a party. -
Rush-Bagot Treaty
The treaty's goal was to significantly eliminate both countries' burgeoning naval fleets stationed in the Great Lakes. Both nations aimed to ease tensions as a way to prevent another Anglo-American war. -
Anglo American Convention
The convention respecting fisheries, boundary and the restoration of slaves between the United States and the United Kingdom and Ireland. -
Adams-Onis Treaty
A treaty between the United States and Spain that ceded Florida to the U.S and defined the boundary between the U.S and New Spain. -
McCulloch v Maryland
One of the first and most important Supreme Court cases on federal power. In this case, the Supreme Court held that Congress has implied powers derived from those listed in Article 1, Section . -
Panic of 1819
The impressive post War of 1812 economic expansion ended. Banks throughout the country failed, mortgages were foreclosed, forcing people out of their homes and off their farms. Falling prices impaired agriculture and manufacturing, triggering widespread unemployment. -
Dartmouth College v. Woodward
An issue of state power and contracts. The Supreme COurt ruled in their favor, saying that New Hampshire had violated the so called contract clause of the United States Constitution -
Missouri Compromise
An effort made 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. -
Denmark Vesey Slave Revolt
Denmark Vesey was a literate, skilled carpenter and leader among African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina/ He was accused and convicted of being the ringleader of "the rising," a major potential slave revolt planned for the city. -
Monroe Doctrine
A foreign policy statement originally set forth in 1823 which created separate spheres of European and American influence. The United States promised to stay out of European business and told the Europeans to stay out of the Western Hemisphere's business -
John Quincy Adams Elected President (Corrupt Bargain)
When John Quincy Adams named Henry Clay to be his secratary of state, Andre Jackson denounced the election as "the corrupt bargain" As for Adams, he served 4 years as president before being defeated by Jackson when he ran for reelection in 1828 -
Gibbons v Ogden
A landmark decision in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the power to regulate interstate commerce, granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, encompassed the power to regulate navigation. -
Erie Canal
Connected Lake Erie with the Hudson River. An event of major importance in Michigan history because it greatly facilitated the transportation of passengers and freight between the eastern seaboard and Michigan ports. -
Charles B Finney Lead Religious Revivals in Western New York
He did not merely lead revivals, he actively marketed, promoted, and packaged them. Finney also argued that both men and women had a moral obligation to be active in social reform. -
Tariff of Abominations
The third protective tariff implemented by the government. The protective tariffs taxed all foreign goods, to boost the sale of US products and protect Northern manufacturers form cheap British goods. It followed the wave of Nationalism in the country following the War of 1812. -
Andrew Jackson Elected President
Jackson and the Democratic Party accused John Quincy Adams of engaging in disgraceful politics in order to ensure his victory in the election of 1824. -
Lyman Beecher Delivered His "Six Sermons on Intemperance"
He was a Presbyterian minister, leading revivalist and social reformer, Lyman Beecher helped build the organizations that became known as the "benevolent empire" and gave religion in America its distinctive voluntary stamp. -
Indian Removal Act
Authorized the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. -
Joseph Smith Founded the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints
An American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Members of the church were later called "Latter Day Saints" or "Mormons" -
Worchester v Georgia
A case in which the United States Supreme Court vacated the conviction of Samuel Worchester and held that the Georgia criminal statute that prohibited non Native Americans from being present on Native American lands without a license from the state. -
Black Hawk War
Black Hawk hoped to return his people to their homes, or at least to lands on the Rock River, and restore his honor as a warrior. He believed he could force the Americans to accept the justice of Sauk and Fox claims. -
Andrew Jackson Vetoed the Re Charter of the Second Bank of the United States
He vetoed this bill by arguing that in the form presented to him it was incompatible with "justice", "sound policy" and the Constitution -
Nullification Crisis Began
The convention declared that the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and unenforceable within the state of South Carolina. -
Creation of the Whig Party
The party was formed opposing the policies of President Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party. The WHigs supported the importance of Congress over the importance of the executive branch. -
Treaty of New Echota
It cost three mean their lives and provided the legal basis for the Trail of Tears, the forcible removal of the CHerokee Nation from Georgia. -
Catherine Beecher Published Essays on the Education of Female Teachers
In 1829, she published a seminal essay on the importance of women as teachers, "Suggestions Respecting Improvements in Education." In 1841, she published her most well-known work, A Treatise on Domestic Economy, which aimed to codify domestic duties and emphasized the importance of women's labor. -
Texas Declared Independence from Mexico
On March 2, 1836, Texas formally declared its independence from Mexico. The Republic of Texas won its independence on April 21, 1836, with a final battle along the San Jacinto River. -
Andrew Jackson Issued Specie Circular
In July 1836, President Andrew Jackson issued the Specie Circular. Under this act, the government would only accept gold or silver in payment for federal land. ... The principal reason for Jackson's implementation of the Specie Circular was high inflation -
Transcendental Club's First Meeting
People met to discuss the formation of a new club; their first official meeting was held eleven days later at Ripley's house in Boston -
First McGuffey Reader Published
The first widely used textbooks in the US. -
Battle of the Alamo
The Alamo was an 18th century Franciscan Mission in San Antonio, Texas, which was the location of an important battle for Texans fighting for independence from Mexico. In 1836, a small group of Texans was defeated by Mexican General Santa Anna. -
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a crisis in financial and economic conditions in the nation following changes in the banking system initiated by President Andrew Jackson and his Specie Circular that effectively dried up credit. -
Ralph Waldo Emerson gave the "Divinity School Address"
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Trail of Tears Began
As part as Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present day Oklahoma. -
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, was a treaty that resolved several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies -
James Polk Elected President
Democrat James K. Polk defeated Whig Henry Clay in a close contest that turned on the controversial issues of slavery and the annexation of the Republic of Texas. -
Treaty of Wanghia with China
Under the terms of this treaty, negotiated by Caleb Cushing, the United States gained the right to trade in Chinese ports, as well as gaining additional legal rights inside China. -
U.S. Annexation of Texas
The 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. -
Beginning of Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny held that the United States was destined—by God, its advocates believed—to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent. -
Start of the Mexican War
From 1846 to 1848, U.S. and Mexican troops fought against one another in the Mexican-American War. Ultimately, it was a battle for land where Mexico was fighting to keep what they thought was their property and the U.S. desired to retain the disputed land of Texas and obtain more of Mexico's northern lands. -
Bear Flag Revolt
During the Bear Flag Revolt, from June to July 1846, a small group of American settlers in California rebelled against the Mexican government and proclaimed California an independent republic -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The war officially ended with the February 2, 1848, signing in Mexico of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to United States territory, including the land that makes up all or parts of present-day Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. -
Gold Rush Began in California
It began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California The Gold Rush had severe effects on Native Californians and resulted in a precipitous population decline from disease, genocide and starvation. -
Horace Mann Elected Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education
Mann was an American educational reformer inspired by the work of the Whig dedicated to promoting public education. -
John Humphrey Noyes Founded the Oneida Community
He an American preacher, radical religious philosopher, and utopian socialist. He founded the Putney, Oneida, and Wallingford Communities, and is credited with coining the term "complex marriage". -
Henry David Thoreau Published Civil Disobedience
Thoreau's Civil Disobedience espouses the need to prioritize one's conscience over the dictates of laws. He presents his own experiences as a model for how to relate to an unjust government: In protest of slavery, Thoreau refused to pay taxes and spent a night in jail. -
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase, or Treaty, was an agreement between the United States and Mexico, finalized in 1854, in which the United States agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for a 29,670 square mile portion of Mexico that later became part of Arizona and New Mexico. -
Commodore Matthew Perry Entered Tokyo Harbor Opening Japan to the US
American Commodore Matthew Perry entered the waters of what is now Tokyo Bay, Japan, with four armed steamships. Perry's show of military strength forced Japan to open its ports to trade with the West for the first time in more than 200 years. -
Kanagawa Treaty
the first treaty between Japan and the United States was signed. The Treaty was the result of an encounter between an elaborately planned mission to open Japan and an unwavering policy by Japan's government of forbidding commerce with foreign nations -
Martin Van Buren Elected President
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States, after serving as the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, both under President Andrew Jackson. ... President Jackson rewarded Van Buren by appointing him Secretary of State.
