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Declaration of Independence
The significance of the DOI is that it is one of the most important documents to ever have been written in the history of the U.S. It is also significant because it stated that "all men are created equal."
The DOI was divided into five parts, the introduction, the preamble, the indictment, the denunciation, and the conclusion. It was signed on July 4, 1776. The DOI is the founding document of American history. -
War Of 1812
The significance of the war was that if we lost to Britain, the Britain might have taken over this country, but we defeated them again in this war. Another significance of this war is that this war was the Second War for Independence.
This war started June 18, 1812.This war was the second and last time that the U.S. fought against Great Britiain. The Treaty of Ghent was signed on Decenber 24, 1814 and it established that nobody lost any territory in the war. This war ended on February 17, 1815. -
Mexican American War
The significance of this war was that it increased the amount of land the U.S. had.
This war started when Mexico and the U.S. couldn't agree on what was the border betweeen them. The U.S. beat Mexico and the war ended when both sides signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848. Mexico was forced to give a lot of its territory to the U.S. including California. -
California Gold Rush
The significance of the California Gold Rush was that it was the main pull factor that populated the territory of California.
It all started when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The California Gold Rush lasted until 1855. -
Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention
The significance was that it the first womens rights movement in the United States that set the stage for a furthering of women's social, political, and civil rights.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott spearheaded this convention. The outcome of the Seneca Falls Convention and the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions was that women were now well on the way to making strides for their independence in a now formal, organized movement. -
Compromise of 1850
It was significant because the republicans and democrats were finally happy and slavery was still alive just in a form of labor and non-rights.
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills passed in the United States. New laws were added during the Copromise of 1850 including a slave law which said that any slaves escaping from the south to freedom in the north should be returned to their masters. -
Bleeding Kansas
The significance of Bleeding Kansas was that, that crisis really pushed the North and South apart and had a great deal to do with causing the Civil War.
When the U.S. was debating whether or not to end slavery, Kansas was about to become a state. The gov't decided to leave the decision of whether or not slavery would be legal or not up to the people of Kansas themselves. People disagreed on it so much that a sort of small civil war broke out all across Kansas. -
Election of 1860
The significance was that Lincoln and his party wanted to abolish slavery. His opponents, from the South didn't, because their plantation-based economy relied on slavery for free labor. When Lincoln won, several southern states seceded so slavery would still be legal. That then started the Civil War.
The Election of 1860 was the 19th quadrennial presidential election. -
Battle of Antietam
The significance is that it is the single deadliest battle ever fought by any American army.
The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single day in all of American history and the bloodiest day of the American Civil War. It ended Gen. Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of a northern state. -
Siege of Vicksburg
It was significant because when federal troops under Major General U.S. Grant took Vicksburg it gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in two.
Union forces under U.S. Grant assaulted the Confederate position at Vicksburg. After two assaults were repulsed with heavy losses, Grant settled in to besiege the Confederate position. It took about a month, but the Confederates ultimately gave up the position on July 4, 1863. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The significance was that it was a major turning point in the war and the North succeeded in cutting off the South's supply lines and ended victoriously at Gettysburg, which was the start of the South's loss of the war.
This battle lasted for three days and the Union won this war. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment was significant to abolish slavery.
The 13th Amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted on December 6, 1865. It was the first of the few Reconstruction Amendments adopted after the American Civil War.
