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1776 to 1861 Timeline
American Revolution to Civil War (1776 ~ 1861) -
Politcs
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In mid-June 1776, a five-man committee including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin was tasked with drafting a formal statement of the colonies' intentions. The Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence written largely by Jefferson in Philadelphia on July 4, a date now celebrated as the birth of American independence. -
Politics
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The summer of 1778, ten of the states had ratified the Articles of Confederation. Three states with no land claims in the west — Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware -
Society
CitationThe period (1793-1794) of the French Revolution during which thousands of people were executed.The people of France revolted against their king after being inspired by the American Revolution. A bloody Reign of Terror followed. -
Innovation
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In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin and later received a patent on March 14, 1794.The cotton gin uses a combination of a wire screen and small wire hooks to pull the cotton through the screen, while brushes continuously remove the loose cotton lint to prevent jams. -
Expansion
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President Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from the French government for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans, and it doubled the size of the United States. To Jefferson, westward expansion was the key to the nation’s health!! -
Slavery
Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1807
A United States federal law that stated that no new slaves were permitted to be imported into the United States.
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Society
The United States declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions brought about by Britain's continuing war with France, the impressment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy and British support of American Indian tribes against American expansion
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Slavery
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Missouri Compromise
Missouri is admitted to the Union as a slave state, Maine as a free state. Slavery is forbidden in any subsequent territories north of latitude 36°30'. -
Society
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Lucretia Mott, a Quaker preacher and teacher, was one of four women to participate at the formation of the American Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia in 1833, and became president of the Female Anti-Slavery Society.Philadephians were also involved with the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society -
Innovation
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Walter Hunt invented the first lock-stitch sewing machine in 1833.
Most modern sewing machines use the lockstitch technique of sewing invented by Walter Hunt, which consists of two threads, an upper and a lower. -
Innvation
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In 1843, Richard Hoe invented a revolution in printing by rolling a cylinder over stationary plates of inked type and using the cylinder to make an impression on paper.
A rotary printing press is a printing press in which the images to be printed are curved around a cylinder. Perfected in 1846. -
Expansion
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On December 29, 1845, Texas entered the United States as a slave state, broadening the irrepressible differences in the United States over the issue of slavery and setting off the Mexican-American War. -
Expansion
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In February 1848, the two countries signed the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
The Mexican Cession included land that would later become California, Nevada, and Utah, as well as portions of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. -
Society
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As early as 1849, Abraham Lincoln believed that slaves should be emancipated, advocating a program in which they would be freed gradually. -
Slavery
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Kansas-Nebraska Act
Setting aside the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Congress permits these two new territories to choose whether to allow slavery. Violent clashes erupt. -
Politics
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Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. Lincoln received only 40 percent of the popular vote but handily defeated the three other candidates: John C. Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephen Douglas
