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Period: to
American Revolution to Civil War
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Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress of the American colonies on July 4, 1776. Five men were appointed to the committee—Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. It is inspired by the political philosophies of John Locke and the ideals of a social contract between governments and their constituents. On August 2, 1776, 56 delegates of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. -
Battle of Saratoga
The American victory during the Battle of Saratoga maintained control of the vital Hudson River valley and convinced France to recognize the United States and sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. During the spring of 1777, British general John Burgoyne made a plan to isolate New York. Burgoyne attacked Gates at Freeman's Farm on September 19, 1777. With less supplies, Burgoyne retreated, but Gates surrounded him at Saratoga. So on October 17, he surrendered his force to Gates. -
Battle of Cowpens
The Battle of Cowpens during the American Revolution broke the threat of Col. Banastre Tarleton's green-uniformed legion to the patriots of the South. It raised the morale of the Americans and helped Gen. Nathanael Greene to wage a delaying campaign that eventually brought Gen. Charles Cornwallis to his doom at the Battle of Yorktown. -
Treaty of Paris
It was ratified by the Continental Congress on January 14, 1784. It ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on one side and the United States of America and its allies on the other. -
Constitutional Convention
Because of a lack of central power, as well as financial difficulties, the Articles of Confederation could no longer bind together the newly independent states. As a result, the Federal Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787. The structure that evolved remains the basis of our government today. -
Whiskey Rebellion
A federal excise tax on whiskey was passed by the government of the fledgling United States in an effort to increase revenues to the struggling nation. This tax created huge hardships for American grain farmers. Farmers in western Pennsylvania perpetrated several incidents against local authorities. The Whiskey Rebellion tested the principles of representative government and the powers of taxation in the new nation. -
Louisiana Purchase
The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France. The territory included 828,000 square miles, for which the United States paid $15 million—less than three cents an acre! -
Missouri Compromise
The speaker of the House Henry Clay, solved the problem at least temporarily by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine (formerly part of Massachusetts) as a free state. The law further provided that, Missouri excepted, slavery would be prohibited in the Louisiana Territory north of 36°30' north latitude and permitted south of that line. Below is an excerpt of the compromise. -
Lehigh Canal
The engineering survey on the Lehigh Canal started in 1818 and construction began on the Lehigh Navigation Canal in 1819 on the Lehigh River at the mouth of the Nesquahoning Creek. The Canal was completed from Easton to Mauch Chunk in 1829. By 1846, shipped more than 2 million tons of anthracite annually; in 1923 it shipped a record 5 million tons of coal. -
Cumberland Road
Also known as the National Road, was the first federal highway in the United States and for several years the main route to what was then the Northwest Territory. Built from 1811 to 1837, the road started in Cumberland, Maryland, and eventually reached Vandalia, Illinois. It currently forms part of U.S. Route 40. -
The Oregon Territory
The Oregon Territory stretched from the Pacific coast to the Rocky Mountains, encompassing the area including present-day Oregon, Washington, and most of British Columbia. -
Compromise of 1850
California was admitted to the Union as the 16th free state. In exchange, the south was guaranteed that no federal restrictions on slavery would be placed on Utah or New Mexico. Texas lost its boundary claims in New Mexico, but the Congress compensated Texas with $10 million. Slavery was maintained in the nation's capital, but the slave trade was prohibited. Also included the Fugitive Slave Act. -
Christiana Riot
In Christiana, Pennsylvania, a group of African Americans and white abolitionists skirmish with a Maryland posse intent on capturing four fugitive slaves hidden in the town. One member of the posse, landowner Edward Gorsuch, was killed and two others wounded during the fight. In the aftermath of the so-called Christiana Riot, 37 African Americans and one white man were arrested and charged with treason under the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law. Most were acquitted. -
Pennsylvania Railroad
It was chartered on April 13, 1846, and completed to Pittsburgh by 1852. It absorbed so many short railroad lines by 1860 that it had nearly a monopoly on rail traffic from Chicago through Pennsylvania. And whereas Pennsylvania had reached its maximum of 954 canal miles by 1840, total railroad trackage grew by 1860 to 2,598 miles. In miles of rail and in total capital invested in railroads, Pennsylvania led all other states on the eve of the Civil War. -
Gadsden Purchase Treaty
The Gadsden Purchase Treaty transferred ownership of a small strip of land covering approximately 30,000 square miles in the Southwest (part of present-day New Mexico and Arizona) from Mexico to the United States for the sum of $10 million. The United States wanted the land for the southern route of the transcontinental railroad. The Gadsden purchase marked the final acquisition in the continental expansion of the United States.
