1800-1876

  • Second Great Awakening

    The Second Great Awakening begins and promotes the idea of free will which spurs the creation of reform movements that work to abolish slavery, lower alcohol consumption, and fight for women’s rights.
  • Louisiana purchase

    President Thomas Jefferson purchased ​​828,000 square miles from France for 15 million dollars.
  • War of 1812

    The War of 1812 began over issues like the British impressment of American soldiers and ships.
  • Treaty of Ghent

    The Treaty of Ghent was signed. This treaty ended the War of 1812, halted warfare between the countries, and set the territorial boundaries back to how they were prior to the war.
  • Missouri Compromise

    The Missouri Compromise made Missouri a slave state, Maine a free state, and set the 36'30” line as the dividing line for slave and free states in the Louisiana Purchase territory.
  • Monroe Doctrine

    In the Monroe Doctrine, the US promised to stay neutral in European issues as long as no other nations formed new settlements in the Western Hemisphere.
  • Erie Canal

    The Erie Canal (which connected the Hudson River to the Great Lakes) was completed.
  • Indian Removal Act

    Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act which gave him the authority to force Native Americans off their land and relocate them west of the Mississippi River.
  • Trail of Tears

    The Trail of Tears began. The Trail of Tears describes the forced relocation of many different Native American tribes.
  • Abolitionist Movements

    Many different abolitionist movements begin to form. Different groups had different methods of ending slavery. For example, The Garrisonians tried to convince the public to end slavery through moral suasion while political abolitionists tried to take legal action against slavery. Frederick Douglass focused on direct action and convincing foreign governments to put an end to slavery in the United States.
  • Nat Turner's rebellion

    Nat Turner hosted a rebellion in Southampton County. He killed his enslaver and attempted to free the nearby slaves. By the end of the rebellion, 57 men had been killed and the participants in the rebellion were executed.
  • Manifest destiny

    Manifest destiny, a term coined by John O'Sullivan, encouraged westward expansion.
  • Texas annexation

    Texas was annexed into the United States.
  • Mexican American war

    The Mexican American War began over disputes about the Texas/ Mexico border.
  • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

    The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican American War and gave the US parts of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, and Utah.
  • Seneca Falls Convention

    The Seneca Falls Convention was held to fight for women’s rights, specifically suffrage.
  • Bleeding Kansas

    Bleeding Kansas began as pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups begin to debate and fight about slavery in the new state of Kansas.
  • Abraham Lincoln election

    Abraham Lincoln is elected.
  • South Carolina secedes

    South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union following Abraham Lincoln's election and the fear of slave states losing influence in the democracy as no new slave states were added to the Union.
  • Civil War begins

    The Civil War began at the First Battle of Bull Run. This battle ended in a Confederate victory.
  • Emancipation Proclamation

    Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation which declared all of the slaves in the rebelling states to be free.
  • End of the Civil War

    Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse.