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First American Flag
Betsy Ross created the first American flag. Her flag would be the outline for the flag as we know it today. -
The Declaration of Independence is Signed!
The Declaration of Independence was a document that listed grievences to the King and announced the splitting of the colonies from the mother country. This document is important to America because it made the colonies of America free and independent from Great Britain. -
End of the Revolutionary War
Although we signed the Declaration of Independence back in 1776, we continued fighting until Great Britain pulled out all military in 1783. -
Signing of the US Constitution
The United States Constitution was adopted September 17, 1787 following the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania "First page of the Constitution." -
First President Elected!
George Washington takes the oath during his inauguration as the first president of the United States, in 1789. -
American begins to Industrialize
The start of the American Industrial Revolution is often attributed to SAMUEL SLATER who opened the first industrial mill in the United States in 1790 with a design that borrowed heavily from a British model. While he introduced a vital new technology to the United States, the economic takeoff of the Industrial Revolution required several other elements before it would transform American life. -
Political Parties Develope
Thanks to Alexander Hamiliton and John Adams, the country was split in two, and two major parties arose the federalist and the democratic-republicans. -
Slavery Rises
Given the agricultural demands, most enslaved Africans of the 1800s worked in the plantation fields. Their days were long—dawn to dusk—and they faced intolerable living conditions. -
The Louisiana Purchase
With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States purchased approximately 828,000,000 square miles of territory from France, thereby doubling the size of the young republic. What was known as Louisiana Territory stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. -
War of 1812
In the War of 1812, the United States took on the greatest naval power in the world, Great Britain, in a conflict that would have an immense impact on the young country’s future. Causes of the war included British attempts to restrict U.S. trade, the Royal Navy’s impressment of American seamen and America’s desire to expand its territory. The ratification of the Treaty of Ghent on February 17, 1815, ended the war but left many of the most contentious questions unresolved. -
Monroe Doctrine
President James Monroe (left) and members of his cabinet discuss the Monroe Doctrine issued in 1823. The policy was designed to deter European countries from future colonization in the Western Hemisphere. -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act allowed President Jackson to negotiate with the Indians for them to leave to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their homelands. -
Mexican - American War
The Mexican-American War marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil. It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. President James K. Polk, who believed the United States had a “manifest destiny” to spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. When the dust cleared, Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory, including present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. -
California Gold Rush
The discovery of gold nuggets in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 sparked the Gold Rush, arguably one of the most significant events to shape American history during the first half of the 19th century. As news spread of the discovery, thousands of prospective gold miners traveled by sea or over land to San Francisco. A total of $2 billion worth of precious metal was extracted from the area during the Gold Rush, which peaked in 1852 -
Abolition of Slavery
Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States and provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.".
