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Thomas Jefferson Elected as 3rd President
Thomas Jefferson served two terms from 1801 to 1809. He cut army and navy expenditures, reduced the budget, and removed the tax on whiskey. Despite this, he helped reduce the national debt by one third. -
Louisiana Purchase
A negotiated treaty between Thomas Jefferson and France for the Louisiana Territory. It doubled the size of the U.S., stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. -
Robert Fulton Invents the Steamboat
The invention of the steamboat provided a quicker means of transportation by water, making a trip from New York to Albany on the Hudson River in thirty-two hours. Other boats traveling that same path required four days to sail that same path. -
The British Burn Washington, D.C.
Losing multiple fights to the British, the United States was left weakened and the British marched into Washington, D.C., setting the Capitol building, White House, and other landmarks on fire. This resulted in Congress moving its meeting place to Philadelphia. -
Spain Cedes Florida to the United States
Spain ceded Florida to the U.S., fearing it would lose its land by war. This removed another European power from the U.S. continent as well as a tension over the borders. -
Monroe Doctrine Proclaimed
The Monroe Doctrine prohibited European nations from interfering with affairs in North and South America and creating more colonies. -
John Quincy Adams is elected as 6th President
John Quincy Adams served one term from 1825 to 1829 and the son of John Adams. He proposed a national program that had the Federal Government bring the sections of the U.S. together through a network of highways and canals. -
Samuel Colt Develops His Revolver
Samuel Colt designed a gun that could be fired multiple times without reloading, naming it the Colt Revolver. This gun would be the most commonly used revolver in the Civil War. -
Samuel Morse Develops the Electric Telegraph
The electric telegraph was the first of its kind that allowed for communication to be sent over long distances, allowing for quick spreading and exchanging of information. -
James K. Polk is Elected as 11th President
James K. Polk served one term from 1845 to 1849 and favored expansion. During his presidency, the Mexican-American War began due to Mexico being unwilling to sell California to the U.S. As a result, the U.S. won and obtained vast new territories. -
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Mexican-American War
A war between Mexico and the U.S. The U.S. tried to buy Texas and California from Mexico, but Mexico refused, viewing it as an insult. A war broke out and the U.S. took control of Mexico, emerging victorious. As a result, Mexico ceded the lands of Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, new Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming and received compensation of over $18 million. -
Abraham Lincoln is Elected as 16th President
Abraham Lincoln served from 1861 to the day of his assassination in 1865. He opposed secession of the South and slavery, built up the Republican Party, and freed the slaves within the Confederacy. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Lincoln and declared that slaves within the Confederacy would be forever free, ending slavery. -
Ulysses S. Grant is Elected as 18th President
Ulysses S. Grant served two terms from 1869 to 1877. He worked to implement radical reconstruction in the South and to remove the remnants of slavery.
