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The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord is what kicked off the American Revolutionary War.On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache -
The Winter at Valley Forge
General George Washington moved the Continental Army to their winter quarters at Valley Forge By the time the army marched into Valley Forge on December 19, they were suffering not only from cold, hunger, and fatigue, -
Benedict Arnold turns traitor
In 1779, he entered into secret negotiations with the British, agreeing to turn over the U.S. post at West Point in return for money and a command in the British army. -
The Battle of Cowpens
Battle of Cowpens, , in the American Revolution, brilliant American victory over a British force on the northern border of South Carolina that slowed Lord Cornwallis's campaign to invade North Carolina. -
The USS Constitution defeats the HMS Guerriere
. During the exchange of broadsides, Guerriere was dismasted and reduced to a sinking condition. -
The Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans is referred to by many historians as the greatest American land victory of the war. American troops, led by future President Andrew Jackson, defeated the much larger British force, which bolstered U.S. hopes for a speedy end to the war. -
The Battle of Baltimore
The Battle of Baltimore was a sea/land battle fought between British invaders and defenders in the War of 1812. American forces sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland, and killed the commander of the invading British forces. -
The Election of Andrew Jackson
It featured a rematch of the 1824 election, as President John Quincy Adams of the National Republican Party faced Andrew Jackson of the Democratic Party -
The Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was fought between the Republic of Texas and Mexico. It took place at a fort in San Antonio, Texas called the Alamo. The Mexicans won the battle, killing all of the Texan soldiers inside the fort. -
Mexico loses California, New Mexico, and Arizona
Under the terms of the treaty negotiated by Trist, Mexico ceded to the United States Upper California and New Mexico. This was known as the Mexican Cession -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States over a deeply divided -
South Carolina secedes from the United States
South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union The secession of South Carolina precipitated the outbreak of the American Civil War in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861. -
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. -
The Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania , was the largest battle of the American Civil War as well as the largest battle ever fought in North America, involving around 85,000 men in the Union's Army of the Potomac under Major General George Gordon Meade -
The Treaty at Appomattox Courthouse
General Robert E. Lee surrendering his Army of Northern Virginia to Union Army General Ulysses S. Grant in Appomattox, Virginia, Officers would keep their side arms, and Lee's starving men would be given Union rations. -
The sinking of the USS Maine
On February 15, 1898, an explosion of unknown origin sank the battleship U.S.S. Maine in the Havana, Cuba harbor, killing 266 of the 354 crew members. -
The Adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem
U.S military made the song for ceremonial purposes, playing it to accompany the raising and lowering of the colors. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order designating it “the national anthem of the United States.”