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The Louisiana Purchase
The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from the French for the bargain price of fifteen million dollars. This territory doubled the size of the U.S.; however, it caused controversy over whether the new land would become slave or free. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise consisted of 3 parts. First, Missouri would be admitted into the union as a slave state. Second, Maine would be admitted as a free state. Third, the remaining land in the Louisiana Purchase Territory would be divided slave vs. free along the 30/60 line of latitude, the southern border of Missouri. -
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Canal-Building Boom
Beginning with the Erie Canal, the 350-mile-long waterway built by the New York State that connected the Great Lakes with the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, a canal-building boom began. Quickly, crops grown near the Great Lakes were carried via waterways to eastern cities and supplies crafted in the east would make the reverse trip. The success of the Erie Canal motivated others to build similar "artificial rivers." -
Joseph Smith Founds Mormonism
After claiming to have had a vision where God commanded him not to join any of the existing churches because they were wrong, Joseph Smith founded Mormonism. He published the Book of Mormon and founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and gathered a community of Mormons in Ohio along the shores of the Great Salt Lake. These Mormons performed secret rites and practiced polygamy (although it was not openly practiced until 1852). -
The Ten-Hour Movement
The Ten-Hour Movement was the result of labor activists's efforts to limit working hours and shield children from factories. The New England Association of Farmers, Mechanics and Other Workingmen (NEA) worked to institute 10-hour work days. They declared that fewer working hours would improve the conditions of the laborers and allow them time to improve both intellectually and morally. -
The Telegraph
In 1843, Samuel Morse invented the telegraph, a device that changed the course of human communication and redefined the limits of technology. Morse convinced Congress to fund a 40-mile telegraph line that would run from Washington D.C. to Baltimore. After the machine was completed, news from the battle lines of the Mexican-American War could be reported via the telegraph, resulting in much faster communication. -
South Carolina Secession
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. They issued their Declaration of the Immediate Causes, which stated the federal government's failure to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act. It was later acknowledged that the state seceded primarily to preserve states rights, but the reason listed in their first declaration highlighted the government's failures. -
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The Civil War
The Civil War determined what kind of nation America would become. With the victory of the North, the United States ended slavery; however this came at the cost of 625,000 lives. The war began at when the Confederate army claimed Fort Sumter and opened fire on the federal Garrison, forcing it to lower its American flag in surrender. After years of fighting, the Confederates finally surrendered when the Union captured Jefferson Davis, the Confederate President, on May 10, 1865.
