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Election of George Washington
President George Washington was elected on January 10, 1789. He was the first president of the United States and the only one whose election was not in a year that was a multiple of four. He ran unopposed with John Adams as his Vice President. Up until this election, the States had had no chief executive. -
Bill of Rights Added to Constitution
The Bill of Rights was added to the US Constitution on December 15, 1791. It guaranteed us the liberties that everyone agreed that the citizens should add. This was opposed by the Federalists because they thought that all of the rights were implied and a lot of the states already had their own Bills of Rights. They are currently Amendments 1-10 in our current Constitution. -
Beginning of Federalist Party
The Federalist party was the first political party in America that was formed by Alexander Hamilton. Starting as a New York lawyer, Hamilton was eventually nominated, by George Washington, to become the Secretary of Treasury. During the election of 1800, the Federalist party lost to the Democratic-Republicans. They never returned to power, but the federalists left a major impact on the government we know today. -
Beginning of Democratic-Republican Party
The Democratic-Republican Party was the name for the group of people that supported Thomas Jefferson. This was the first party and it was founded in 1793. The Democratic-Republican Party was formed by Thomas Jefferson in order to oppose the Federalist Party to fight for their views of the Bill of rights. The Democratic-Republican eventually separated and became Democrats and Republicans. -
Whiskey Rebellion
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Election of John Adams
Because of the fact that George Washington did not want to run for office for the third time, Vice President John Adams became a candidate representing the Federalists. Eventually, the election was no longer between John Adams, Thomas Pinckney, Thomas Jefferson, and Aaron Burr. As the campaigns grew, it quickly became the election between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson; the election between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Thomas Jefferson received more electoral than Pinckney did -
XYZ Affair
The XYZ Affair was when during the French Revolution, the new French Republic demanded major “donations” to continue diplomatic associations with the US. This started when the French captured ships that the US sent to trade with Britain. We then went to France to convince them to stop. Instead of seeing the Foreign Minister, Talleyrand, he sent three agents, X, Y, and Z, who demanded we fund them with loans. We eventually tried again and talked Napoleon into stopping because he could not afford -
Alien Act
The Alien Act was one of a set of four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists. The other three were the Sedition, Alien Enemies, and Naturalization Acts. The Alien Act allowed the President to deport any foreigners who were thought to be spys or caused trouble. This act was widely opposed by the Democratic Republicans, and did not get renewed when it expired. -
Sedition Act
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Election of Thomas Jefferson
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John Marshall Appointed
President John Adams appointed John Marshall to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on January 20, 1801. He was chosen because he had great morals and had previous experience having been one of the ambassadors who was sent to France during the XYZ affair. From then to his death, he participated in at least 1,000 cases, and wrote 517 himself. During his term, the Court completely redefined the the structure of the powers that the Federal Government carried. -
Marbury v. Madison
Marbury vs. Madison was a monumental case taken to the Supreme Court that established the power of judicial review. During the time after Adams lost his election to Jefferson in 1800, the Senate made more lower-level courts and Adams placed Federalists in those. Before those appointments could be delivered, Jefferson took office and ordered the stop of those deliveries. Marbury then went to the Supreme Court and demanded that those appointments be delivered because they had been already appointe -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was when the US acquired the French territory named Louisiana. Andrew Jackson had just intended to buy New Orleans from the French, but because they needed funds for war, they gave us a deal and sold us all of the Louisiana territory. When we bought it, we disassembled it into the states of: Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, and parts of Louisiana, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. We purchased the Louisi -
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition was the first US expedition to reach the Pacific Ocean. It was funded by President Thomas Jefferson, and led by two Indian War veterans, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Their main goals were to see how far the continent went, discover plant, animal, and human life that is possibly there. Jefferson’s goal was to find a waterway across the continent to allow direct trade with Asia. -
Embargo Act
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Election of James Madison
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Non-intercourse Act
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War of 1812
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Battle of New Orleans
In June of 1812, the Battle of New Orleans took place as the last major battle of the War of 1812. This battle was won by America, leaving the British in disbelief. The hero of the Battle of New Orleans was Andrew Jackson. The Battle of New Orleans is considered the greatest American land victory in the entire War of 1812. -
Election of James Monroe
James Monroe’s presidency, also known as the “Era of Good Feelings”, brought an end to our nation’s Founding Fathers. Monroe is most well known for the Monroe Doctrine, which prevented any intervention caused by European countries in the growth and progress of America. One major key point to this election, was that this was the last case in which the candidate ran unopposed. President James Monroe ran again in 1820, and won by popular vote. -
Expanded Suffrage to All White Males
In 1850, Congress passed a bill allowing all white males to vote regardless of wealth. Previously, only those who owned property could vote, making the government more of an aristocracy. Now, every white male is allowed to vote, so now we were more democratic and geared towards the common man. Now, the term universal suffrage is starting to come into play even though they only mean universal white male suffrage, not true universal suffrage. -
Missouri Compromise
In 1820, there was an agreement proposed and passed that limited the slavery within the western territories. This agreement was known as the Missouri Compromise. Any land north of the 36° 30’ latitude was prohibited from slavery. Maine was declared a slave free state and Missouri allowed slaves. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was introduced on December 12, 1823. It stated that the countries in Latin America were having revolutions of their own and that the Europeans should not interfere. The reason that they could say that with no fear that they would be attacked was because they knew that Britain backed them, as Britain frequently traded with Latin America. With two of the greatest navies in the world defending that side of the world, it is no wonder that they had not been attacked during that. -
Gibbons v. Ogden
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McCulloch v. Maryland
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Election of 1824
An election in 1824 between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson that was known as the election of 1824. Andrew Jackson won the popular vote but lost to John Quincy Adams thanks to House of Representatives. Andrew Jackson was a part of the Democrats while John Quincy Adams was a part of the Republican party. John C. Calhoun was elected as the vice president for John Quincy Adams. -
Election of Andrew Jackson
The election in 1828 was definitely an important election composed of many reasons, promises, and differences. John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson were two complete opposites, and this made it complicated for the general people. Jackson was definitely seen as a “people-person”; the common people loved him. When the election came into the scene, Andrew Jackson won the popular vote and became America’s seventh president. -
Beginning of Democratic Party (Jacksonian Democracy)
During the Jacksonian Democracy, the common man became more involved with the democratic way. Andrew Jackson was considered “a man of the common people”, meaning the merchants, peasants, and basically anybody not considered royalty. It was the Jacksonian era that caused the electorate to include almost every white man. It was this that caused Jackson to become the man of the common people. -
Indian Removal Act
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Worcester v. Georgia
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Closing of the US Bank
By the time the 1930’s came around, Jackson had come to thoroughly dislike the Second Bank of the United States. Then, Jackson started to investigate the Bank’s actions, and then discovered that they had begun to influence the Presidential elections by means of their massive control over the country’s money. Although the Bank was soon to expire, Jackson set out to put it down sooner. Seeing that Jackson was setting out to remove the Bank, its president, Nicholas Bittle, set out for early renewal
