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The Winter at Valley Forge
The winter of 1777-78 was not the coldest nor the worst winter experienced during the war, but regular freezing and thawing, plus intermittent snowfall and rain, coupled with shortages of provisions, clothing, and shoes, made living conditions extremely difficult. -
Benedict Arnold turns traitor
Benedict Arnold betrayed the Continental Army to the British when he made secret overtures to British headquarters in May 1779. In 1780 he informed the British of a proposed American invasion of Canada, and he also offered to surrender West Point, New York, to the British for £20,000. -
The Battle of Cowpens
The Battle of Cowpens description. It began shortly after dawn on a bitterly cold morning and resulted in a devastating defeat for the British army, ending a brief string of victories for the Crown in the southern colonies. -
The USS Constitution defeats the HMS Guerriere
On August 19, 1812, USS Constitution met and defeated HMS Guerriere, a 38-gun British frigate under the command of Captain James Richard Dacres. While relatively inconsequential in strategic terms for the War of 1812, the stunning victory provided a much needed morale boost for the American public. -
The Battle of Baltimore
The Battle of Baltimore was a sea/land battle fought on September 13 1814. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the port city of Baltimore, Maryland. -
The Battle of New Orleans
The British gambled and lost on a forward attack that sent a force of 5,300 against about 4,000 Americans dug into fortified mud and cotton bale earthworks on the east bank of the Mississippi. -
The Election of Andrew Jackson
The 1828 United States presidential election was the 11th quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, October 31 to Tuesday, December 2, 1828. -
The Battle of the Alamo
Battle of the Alamo, battle during the Texas Revolution that occurred from February 23 to March 6, 1836, in San Antonio, Texas. It ended in a decisive victory for Mexican forces over “Texian” volunteers, who were annihilated -
Mexico loses California, New Mexico, and Arizona
This treaty, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the war between the United States and Mexico. By its terms, Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory, including the present-day states California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
Lincoln was the first member of the recently established Republican Party elected to the presidency. Lincoln successfully presided over the Union victory in the American Civil War, which dominated his presidency and resulted in the end of slavery. He was succeeded by Vice President Andrew Johnson. -
South Carolina secedes from the United States
- Charleston Mercury on November 3, 1860. South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union on December 20, 1860. The victory of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election triggered cries for disunion across the slaveholding South.
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The First Battle of Bull Run
Union and Confederate armies clashed near Manassas Junction, Virginia. The engagement began when about 35,000 Union troops marched from the federal capital in Washington, D.C. to strike a Confederate force of 20,000 along a small river known as Bull Run. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was Fought by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. -
The Treaty at Appomattox Courthouse
The heart of the terms was that Confederates would be paroled after surrendering their weapons and other military property. If surrendered soldiers did not take up arms again, the United States government would not prosecute them. Grant also allowed Confederate officers to keep their mounts and side arms. -
The sinking of the USS Maine
President William McKinley sends the battleship USS Maine to Havana to protect U.S. interests in Cuba. The Maine explodes in Havana Harbor, killing 266 men. An inquiry conducted by the U.S Navy concludes that the explosion was caused by the detonation of a mine under the ship -
Battle of the Philippines
he main theatres of combat in the Spanish-American War were the Philippines and Cuba. Fighting centred on Manila, where U.S. Commodore George Dewey destroyed the Spanish Pacific fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay (May 1, 1898), and on Santiago de Cuba, which fell to U.S. forces after hard fighting in July. -
The Adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem
“Star-Spangled Banner” facts and figures: In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an Executive Order to make it our national anthem. In 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a Public Law that made it the official national anthem.