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Louisiana Purchase
May 2, 1802; Thomas Jefferson approves the purchase of the Louisiana territory from France for $15 million dollars. On April 30th an agreement was reached to purchase the 530,000,000 acres. The acreage instantly double the size of the United States west of the Mississippi River. -
War of 1812
The U.S. and Britain engaged for a second time in a maritime war. Often called the "second American war of independence", it was fought over British attempts to restrict U.S. trade with other countries, the British Navy impressment of American seamen, and America's attempts to expand its territory. A notable event of the war was the burned down of the U.S. White House. -
Old Three Hundreds
Moses Austin secure a grant to relocate 300 Tennessee families into the Mexican territory of Texas. Although Moses died soon after securing the grant, his son Stephen Austin succeeded in relocating the families and thus becoming the first group of Anglos settling in Texas. -
Battle of San Jacinto
Texan's troops battle the Mexican army in the final battle of the Texan Revolution, the Battle of San Jacinto, near present-day Houston Bay. The Mexican army was defeated and Gen. Santa Ana signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo extending the boundaries of the United States west to the Appalachians. This agreement, along with the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, created the southern border of the present-day United States. -
Battle of the Alamo
A small contingence of Texans and Tennessee volunteers, defended the small mission of El Alamo against the well prepare Mexican Army under the command of Gen. Santa Ana. After 13 days of battle, the Alamo felt and many of its defenders massacre by Santa Ana's army. This battle was a turning point in the Texas Revolution and became a war cry for Texans, "Remember the Alamo." -
Great Irish Potato Famine
The Great Irish Potato Famine was known as a period of starvation in Ireland from 1845-1852. A fungus decimated potato crops across Ireland. It is estimated that 1,000,000 Irish peasants died of starvation and/or malnutrition. Some historians attribute the potato famine to the arrival of large numbers of Irish immigrants to the U.S. recorded during the famine years. -
Texas Annexation
Texas was annexed as the 28th state of the Union on December 1845. Annexation debates ranged from non-annexation due to be a slave territory, thus destabilizing the balance in Congress, to pro-annexation due to the extensive acreage the new state will add to the Union. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln proclamation that "all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, henceforward, and forever free;" Although all slaves were declared free, complete freedom for former slaves was not achieve until years later. -
U.S. Civil War
Union Troops (Northern States) battled against Confederate Troops (Southern States) over the issue of Slavery, and the southern states secession from the Union. The war lasted four years, 1861-1865, leaving most of the Southern states in ruins. -
Edison Incandescent Light
Thomas Alba Edison developed and patented the Incandescent Light with cooperation from German, British, and Swiss colleagues. The recent invention allowed million of households to have electric lights burn for long periods of time, at least 13 hours. This new development changed commerce and social attitudes around the world.