Early American Timeline for U.S History

Whiskey Rebellion

Aug 26, 1794

ImageText Information President: George Washington The Whiskey Rebellion of August 1794 was the product of growing discontentment, which had been expressed as early as 1791, of grain farmers who resented a federal tax imposed on their distillery products. As growers threatened federal tax collectors with physical harm, Washington at first tried to prosecute the resistors in the court system. In 1794, however, 6,000 men angry at the tax gathered at a field near Pittsburgh and, with fake guillotines at the ready,

Jay's Treaty

Aug 18, 1795

ImageText information President: George Washington This treaty, known officially as the "Treaty of Amity Commerce and Navigation, between His Britannic Majesty; and The United States of America" attempted to diffuse the tensions between England and the United States that had risen to renewed heights since the end of the Revolutionary War. The U.S. government objected to English military posts along America's northern and western borders and Britain's violation of American neutrality in 1794 when the Royal Navy

Pinckney's Treaty

Oct 27, 1795

ImageText Information President: George Washington Spanish and U.S. negotiators concluded the Treaty of San Lorenzo, also known as Pinckney’s Treaty, on October 27, 1795. The treaty was an important diplomatic success for the United States. It resolved territorial disputes between the two countries and granted American ships the right to free navigation of the Mississippi River as well as duty-free transport through the port of New Orleans, then under Spanish control.

Pinckney's Treaty

Oct 27, 1795

ImageText Information President: George Washington Spanish and U.S. negotiators concluded the Treaty of San Lorenzo, also known as Pinckney’s Treaty, on October 27, 1795. The treaty was an important diplomatic success for the United States. It resolved territorial disputes between the two countries and granted American ships the right to free navigation of the Mississippi River as well as duty-free transport through the port of New Orleans, then under Spanish control.

Farewell Address

Sep 17, 1796

ImageText Information President: George Washington On this day in 1796, George Washington prepares a final draft of his presidential farewell address. Two days later, the carefully crafted words appeared in Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser, published in Philadelphia, officially notifying the American public that Washington would voluntarily step down as the nation's first president. The decision was extraordinary: rarely, if ever, in the history of western civilization had a national leader voluntarily rel

Election of 1800

Dec 1, 1800

ImageText Information President: John Adams The significance of the 1800 election lay in the fact that it entailed the first peaceful transfer of power between parties under the U.S. Constitution: Republican Thomas Jefferson succeeded Federalist John Adams. This peaceful transfer occurred despite defects in the Constitution that caused a breakdown of the electoral system. During the campaign, Federalists attacked Jefferson as an un-Christian deist, tainted by his sympathy for the increasingly bloody French Revo

Lewis & Clark Expedition

Jan 18, 1803

ImageText Information President: Thomas Jefferson On this day in 1803, Thomas Jefferson requests funding from Congress to finance the Lewis and Clark expedition. Jefferson officially asked for $2,500 in funding from Congress, though some sources indicate the expedition ultimately cost closer to $50,000. Lewis was joined by his friend William Clark and 50 others on the journey, including an African-American slave and a female Indian guide named Sacagawea. The team, which Jefferson called the Corps of Discovery

Louisiana Purchase

Apr 30, 1803

ImageText Information President: Thomas Jefferson 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. Part or all of 15 states were eventually created from the land deal, which is considere

Steamboat invented

Aug 9, 1803

ImageText Information President: Thomas Jefferson August 9, 1803, this steamboat was cast loose in presence of an immense concourse of spectators, including a committee of the National Academy, consisting of Bougainville, Bossuet, Carnot, and Perier. The steamboat moved but slowly, making only between three and four miles an hour against the current, the speed through the water being about 4.5 miles; but this was, all things considered, a great success. The experiment attracted little attention, notwithstanding

Start of War of 1812

Jun 18, 1812

Image UrlPresident: James Madison The day after the Senate followed the House of Representatives in voting to declare war against Great Britain, President James Madison signs the declaration into law--and the War of 1812 begins. The American war declaration, opposed by a sizable minority in Congress, had been called in response to the British economic blockade of France, the induction of American seaman into the British Royal Navy against their will, and the British support of hostile Indian tribes alon

Treaty of Ghent

Dec 24, 1814

ImageText Information President: James Madison On December 24, 1814, The Treaty of Ghent was signed by British and American representatives at Ghent, Belgium, ending the War of 1812. By terms of the treaty, all conquered territory was to be returned, and commissions were planned to settle the boundary of the United States and Canada.

Battle of New Orleans

Jan 8, 1815

Image Text Information President: James Madison Two weeks after the War of 1812 officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, U.S. General Andrew Jackson achieves the greatest American victory of the war at the Battle of New Orleans. In September 1814, an impressive American naval victory on Lake Champlain forced invading British forces back into Canada and led to the conclusion of peace negotiations in Ghent, Belgium. Although the peace agreement was signed on December 24, word did not reach the Briti

Adams-Onis Treaty

Feb 22, 1819

ImageText Information President: John Adams The Adams­Onís Treaty sometimes referred to as The Florida Treaty was signed in Washington on February 22, 1819 and ratified by Spain October 24, 1820 and entered into force February 22, 1821. It terminated April 14,1903 by a treaty of July 3, 1902. The treaty was named for John Quincy Adams of the United States and Louis de Onís of Spain and renounced any claim of the United States to Texas. It fixed the western boundary of the Louisiana Purchase as beginning at t

Monroe Doctrine

Dec 2, 1823

ImageText Information President: James Monroe During his annual address to Congress, President James Monroe proclaims a new U.S. foreign policy initiative that becomes known as the "Monroe Doctrine." Primarily the work of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the Monroe Doctrine forbade European interference in the American hemisphere but also asserted U.S. neutrality in regard to future European conflicts. The origins of the Monroe Doctrine stem from attempts by several European powers to reassert their influ

Election of 1824

Dec 1, 1824

ImageText Inormation President: James Monroe As no presidential candidate had received a majority of the total electoral votes in the election of 1824, Congress decides to turn over the presidential election to the House of Representatives, as dictated by the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In the November 1824 election, 131 electoral votes, just over half of the 261 total, were necessary to elect a candidate president. Although it had no bearing on the outcome of the election, popular votes were cou

Trail of Tears

Jan 1, 1839

ImageText information President: Andrew Jackson In 1838 and 1839, 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. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died.

Telegraph Invented

May 24, 1844

imageText information President: Henry Clay While a professor of arts and design at New York University in 1835, Samuel Morse proved that signals could be transmitted by wire. He used pulses of current to deflect an electromagnet, which moved a marker to produce written codes on a strip of paper - the invention of Morse Code. The following year, the device was modified to emboss the paper with dots and dashes. He gave a public demonstration in 1838, but it was not until five years later that Congress (reflectin

"54-40 or fight"

Dec 1, 1844

ImageText Information President: James K. Polk n 1844, James K. Polk was elected president with the slogan "54'40 or fight!" This slogan also showed the British that the United States was prepared for war if they did not turn over all of Oregon. "Fifty-four forty or fight" would have included all of present-day British Columbia, up to the tip of Alaska, or "Russian America." Polk appealed to Americans' "just and dear territorial rights, their own self-respect, and their national honor."

Annexation of Texas

Oct 13, 1845

imageText information President: John Tyler On this day in 1845, a majority of the citizens of the independent Republic of Texas approve a proposed constitution, that when accepted by the Congress, will make Texas the 28th American state. Despite having fought a war to win their independence from their old colonial master, Mexico, the people of Texas had long been eager to become part of the United States. Under the leadership of the Republic's first president, Sam Houston, Texas had proclaimed its independence

California Gold Rush

Jan 24, 1848

ImageText Information President: James K. Polk 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 and the surrounding area; by the end of 1849, the non-native population of the California territory was some 100,000 (compared with the pre-1848 figu

Gadsden Purchase

Dec 30, 1853

ImageText Information President: Franklin Pierce James Gadsden, the U.S. minister to Mexico, and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, sign the Gadsden Purchase in Mexico City. The treaty settled the dispute over the location of the Mexican border west of El Paso, Texas, and established the final boundaries of the southern United States. For the price of $15 million, later reduced to $10 million, the United States acquired approximately 30,000 square miles of land in what is now southern