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Second Great Awakening Began
Led to the establishment of reform movements to address injustices and alleviate suffering such as the Temperance Movement, the Women's suffrage Movement and the Abolitionist Movement in which people advocated for emancipation on religious grounds. -
Thomas Jefferson was elected President
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Gabriel Prosser Slave Revolt
Gabriel intended to lead slaves into Richmond, but the slaves' owners had suspicion of the uprising, and two slaves told their owner about the plans -
Louisiana Purchase
Doubled the size of the US, bought from France -
Marbury vs. Madison
The First U.S. Supreme Court case to apply the principle of "judicial review" -
Beginning of Lewis and Clark Expedition
The first American expedition to cross what is now the western portion of the United States. -
Embargo Act
Prohibited American ships from trading in all foreign ports -
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair
A naval engagement that occurred off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia between the British warship HMS Leopard and the American frigate USS Chesapeake. The crew of Leopard pursued, attacked, and boarded the American frigate, looking for deserters from the Royal Navy. -
Eli Whitney Patented the Cotton Gin
(applied for a patent of his cotton gin on October 28, 1793; the patent was granted on March 14, 1794, but was not validated until 1807) a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, allowing for much greater productivity than manual cotton separation -
James Madison Elected President
Fourth president of the United States -
Non-Intercourse Act
Lifted all embargoes on American shipping except for those bound for British or French ports (Illegal to import US made goods to France & Britain) -
Francis Cabot Lowell smuggled memorized textile mill plans from Manchester, England
Smuggled drawing of British textile machines into US, opened Boston Manufacturing Co in Waltham, hired young farm girls as mill workers -
Death of Tecumseh
Killed in War of 1812, death is important because it marked the end of Tecumseh's Confederacy (who sought to stop Anglo-Americans from seizing American Indian land) -
The British Burn Washington DC
A British attack against Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, during the War of 1812. -
Treaty of Ghent Ratified
Ended the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain -
Hartford Convention
A series of meetings held in Hartford, Connecticut where the New England Federalist Party met to discuss their grievances concerning the ongoing War of 1812 and the political problems arising from the federal government's increasing power. -
End of the War of 1812
Main result was two centuries of peace between the US and Britain -
Battle of New Orleans
Last major battle of the War of 1812. Under the command of General Andrew Jackson, American forces successfully repelled the invading British army -
Era of Good Feeling Began
The mood of victory that swept the nation at the end of the War of 1812. Exultation replaced the bitter political divisions between Federalists and Republicans, the North and South, and the East Coast cities and settlers on the American frontier. -
James Monroe Elected President
Fifth President of the United States -
Rush-Bagot Treaty
Treaty between the US and UK limiting naval armaments on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, following the War of 1812 -
Anglo-American Convention
Set the boundary between the Missouri Territory in the United States and British North America (later Canada) at the forty-ninth parallel. -
Adams-Onis Treaty
Gave Florida to the US, bought from Spain -
McCulloch vs. Maryland
Determined if the United States government had the right to establish a bank in Maryland and if the state had the right to tax the government for doing so. (United States government did have the right to establish a bank in Maryland and that the state of Maryland could not tax the bank for doing so) -
Panic of 1819
The first major financial crisis in the United States. It featured widespread foreclosures, bank failures, unemployment, and a slump in agriculture and manufacturing. It marked the end of the economic expansion that had followed the War of 1812. -
Dartmouth College vs. Woodward
New Hampshire had attempted to take over Dartmouth College by revising its colonial charter. The Court ruled that the charter was protected under the contract clause of the U. S. Constitution; upholds the sanctity of contracts. -
Missouri Compromise
Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, and was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act -
Denmark Vesey Slave Revolt
Failed slave revolt that resulted in The African Methodist Episcopal Church being torn down and stricter laws on southern states -
Monroe Doctrine
Opposed European Colonialism in the Americas -
John Quincy Adams Elected President (Corrupt Bargain)
No candidate had received a majority of the Presidential Electoral votes, so the outcome was left to House of Representatives. Following the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment only the top three candidates in the electoral vote were admitted as candidates. Surprisingly the House elected John Quincy Adams over rival Andrew Jackson. It was believed that Clay, the Speaker of the House at the time, convinced Congress to elect Adams, who then made Clay his Secretary of State -
Gibbons vs. Ogden
Clarified the commerce clause and affirmed Congressional power over interstate commerce. -
Erie Canal Completed
Longest artificial waterway and the greatest public works project in North America, put New York on the map as the Empire State—the leader in population, industry, and economic strength. -
Robert Owen Founded the New Harmony Community
The Harmonists built a new town in the wilderness, but in 1824 they decided to sell their property and return to Pennsylvania. Robert Owen, a Welsh industrialist and social reformer, purchased the town in 1825 with the intention of creating a new utopian community and renamed it New Harmony. -
Lyman Beecher Delivered His "Six Sermons on Intemperance"
The excessive use of alcohol, known as "intemperance," was a source of concern in New England and the United States. In 1826 he delivered and published six sermons on intemperance. They were sent throughout the United States, ran rapidly through many editions in England, and were translated into several languages on the European continent, and had a large sale even after the lapse of 50 years -
Tariff of Abominations
Designed to protect industry in the northern United States. -
Andrew Jackson Elected President
Seventh president of the United States -
Catherine Beecher Published Essays on the Education of Female Teachers
She declared that the primary goal of education should be to provide a basis for the development of the student's conscience and moral makeup. -
Indian Removal Act
Authorizing the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. -
Joseph Smith Founded the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints
Deciphered the book of mormon from some golden plates given to him by an angel. -
Worcester vs. Georgia
Established tribal autonomy within their boundaries, i.e. the tribes were "distinct political communities, having territorial boundaries within which their authority is exclusive." -
Andrew Jackson Vetoed the Re-Charter of the Second Bank of the United States
Jackson vetoed the bill re-chartering the Second Bank by arguing that in the form presented to him it was incompatible with “justice,” “sound policy” and the Constitution. -
Nullification Crisis Began
South Carolina adopted the ordinance to nullify the tariff acts and label them unconstitutional. Despite sympathetic voices from other Southern states, South Carolina found itself standing alone. -
Black Hawk War
A brief conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. -
Creation of the Whig Party in the U.S.
Originally formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party. Supported the supremacy of the US Congress over the Presidency and favored a program of modernization, banking, and economic protectionism to stimulate manufacturing. -
Treaty of New Echota
Ceded Cherokee land to the U.S. in exchange for compensation. The treaty had been negotiated by a Cherokee leader, Major Ridge, who claimed to represent the Cherokee Nation when, in fact, he spoke only for a small faction -
Charles B. Finney Lead Religious Revivals in Western New York
Membership rose rapidly among Baptist and Methodist congregations whose preachers led the movement. -
Battle of the Alamo
A pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio Texas) killing all of the Texian defenders. Santa Anna's cruelty during the battle inspired many Texians both Texas settlers and adventurers from the United States to join the Texian Army. Looking for revenge, the Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto -
Transcendental Club's First Meeting
Frederic Henry Hedge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Ripley, and George Putnam met in Cambridge, Massachusetts on September 8, 1836, to discuss the formation of a new club; their first official meeting was held eleven days later at Ripley's house in Boston. -
First McGuffey Reader Published
Nearly every schoolchild read from, also had contained both English lessons as well as patriotic and moral lessons -
Texas Declared Independence from Mexico
Many American settlers and Tejanos, or Mexicans who lived in Texas, wanted to break away from Mexico. They did not like laws made by Santa Anna, Mexico's president. -
Andrew Jackson Issued Specie Circular
It required payment for government land to be in gold and silver. -
Horace Mann Elected Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education
Made a major reform movement that won widespread support and was the effort to make education available to more children. -
Panic of 1837
A financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major recession that lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages went down while unemployment went up. Pessimism abounded during the time. -
Martin Van Buren Elected President
Eighth President of the United States -
Ralph Waldo Emerson gave the "Divinity School Address"
The speech Ralph Waldo Emerson gave to the graduating class of Harvard Divinity School -
Trail of Tears Began
As part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. -
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
A treaty resolving several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies (i.e. the region that became Canada) -
Treaty of Wanghia with China
Signed by the U.S. and China, it assured the United States the same trading concessions granted to other powers, greatly expanding America's trade with the Chinese. -
Beginning of Manifest Destiny
The attitude prevalent during the 19th century period of American expansion that the United States not only could, but was destined to, stretch from coast to coast. This attitude helped fuel western settlement, Native American removal and war with Mexico. -
James Polk Elected President
Eleventh President of the United States -
U.S. Annexation of Texas
The incorporation of the Republic of Texas into the United States of America, which was admitted to the Union as the 28th state -
Start of the Mexican War
Mexico claimed the Nueces River as its northeastern border, while the U.S. claimed the Rio Grande River, and the day that both troops met at the Rio Grande and the Mexican army opened fire, the Mexican American War began. -
Bear Flag Revolt
The California Republic was an unrecognized breakaway state that, for twenty-five days in 1846, militarily controlled an area north of San Francisco, in and around what is now Sonoma County State of California. -
John Humphrey Noyes Founded the Oneida Community
The community believed that Jesus had already returned in AD 70, making it possible for them to bring about Jesus's millennial kingdom themselves, and be free of sin and perfect in this world, not just in Heaven (a belief called Perfectionism). They practiced communalism (in the sense of communal property and possessions), complex marriage, male sexual continence, and mutual criticism. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Ended the Mexican-American War and added an additional 525,000 square miles to United States territory, including the land that makes up all or parts of present-day Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. -
Gold Rush Began in California
The California Gold Rush began when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. -
Henry David Thoreau Published Civil Disobedience
An outspoken opponent of slavery and bitterly opposed the Mexican-American War, which he viewed as an act of American aggression. In protest, Thoreau refused to pay his poll taxes. Thoreau lectured before the Concord Lyceum in January of 1848 on the subject "On the Relation of the Individual to the State." -
Commodore Matthew Perry Entered Tokyo Harbor Opening Japan to the U.S.
Commodore Matthew Perry led his four ships into the harbor at Tokyo Bay, seeking to re-establish for the first time in over 200 years regular trade and discourse between Japan and the western world. -
Commodore Matthew Perry Entered Tokyo Harbor Opening Japan to the U.S.
Commodore Matthew Perry led his four ships into the harbor at Tokyo Bay, seeking to re-establish for the first time in over 200 years regular trade and discourse between Japan and the western world. -
Gadsden Purchase
A 29,670-square-mile region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States purchased via a treaty signed by James Gadsden, U.S. ambassador to Mexico at that time. -
Kanagawa Treaty
Japan's first treaty with a Western nation. Concluded by representatives of the United States and Japan at Kanagawa (now part of Yokohama), it marked the end of Japan's period of seclusion.
