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Election of George Washington
Washington was the first president of the United States. He was appointed because he was the obvious choice for the country, he became president right after we made our new constitution. His election wasn’t an actual “election” because not everything was set up in our country yet. -
Bill of Rights added to the Constitution
Many Americans wanted their rights to be listed in America’s constitution. After much debate it was added to list some of the many rights people have in America. The Bill of Rights are the first 10 amendments in the constitution. -
Beginning of the Democratic- Republican Party
In the 1790’s, the Democratic-Republican party was created after George Washington was president. Thomas Jefferson and his supporters were known as the Democratic- Republicans and were often shortened to “republicans.” The supporters of the Democratic- Republicans were small farmers, artisans, and some wealthy planters. -
Beginning of the Federalist Party
On Dec 5th, 1792, the Federalist party was created after George Washington was president. Alexander Hamilton and his supporters were known as the Federalists because they preferred a stronger federal government. The major federalist supporters were from major businesses such as merchants and manufacturing -
Whiskey Rebellion
Incident in which farmers of western Pennsylvania rose up in protest against the excise tax on whiskey. Many farmers disliked this tax and started a rebellion. George Washington didn’t put up with this so he marched to where the rebellion was located and put it down. -
Election of John Adams
The election of John Quincy Adams was not a very fair and was closely decided. Andrew Jackson ran against John Quincy Adams and took it the the legislature for the final decision. Henry Clay, Adams partner, persuaded congress to vote for Adams. Of course, they did vote for Adams and he won presidency but it wasn’t a fair race to win. -
XYZ affair
The French were capturing our ships so Jefferson sent three American diplomats to meet with the French. Instead of coming himself, the king send three men know as x,y,and z. They said they would only leave America alone if we paid their bribe; we refused and showed that America was not week. “Millions for defence, not one cent for tribute.” -John Adams -
Alien Act
The Alien Act was passed in order to protect America. This Act said that the president could send any foreigner thought to be dangerous. Many people thought this act was unfair but the president thought it was vital to protect the nation and it’s secret documents. -
Sedition Act
made it a crime to publish "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" against the government or certain officials. This act was passed to protect John Adams during his first year of presidency. This was also passed to help him win the next election. -
Election of Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson was the 3rd president of the United States. He doubled the size of our country with the Louisiana Purchase. He was John Adams Vice-President, which made him a huge advantage. -
John Marshall appointed
He was appointed chief justice of the supreme court. He gave more power to the federal government and defined the judicial branch through many of his important cases. He also made the supreme court more powerful and balanced the 3 branches more equally. -
Marbury Vs. Madison
This was a very important court case under John Marshall. It led to the Supreme court being able to declare laws unconstitutional. This is one of the many cases that led to the federal government having more power, it also helped define the judicial branch. -
Louisiana Purchase
Vast Territory between the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains; purchased from France. This doubled our nations area. It made us realize that Manifest Destiny was achievable. -
Lewis and Clark Expedition
After the Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson sent two men to explore the land. He chose Lewis and Clark to lead the expedition. They mapped out the land and met and Indian named Sacajawea on the way. -
Embargo Act
This Act banned trade between U.S. ports and foreign nations. The reason the Embargo Act was placed was to protect the United States policy of foreign neutrality Great Britain and France were at war with each other and threatened neutrality,trade, and it also risked going to war with France or Britain. -
Election of James Madison
Was president during the war of 1812. He was the leader of our “first war” in America. He had a deep concern for preserving very important documents. -
Non-Intercourse Act
The refusal of one state or nation to have commercial dealing with another. The Non-Intercourse Act forbade importation or exportation to and from Britain or France.This Act was used to try to make European powers respect American shipping, however, it did not. France stopped interfering with American trade for a couple of months while great Britain was still interfering. The United States a couple of months later declared war on Great Britain on June 18th, 1812. -
War of 1812
A conflict between the US and Great Britain, prompted by restrictions on US trade resulting from the British blockade of French and allied ports during other wars, and by British and Canadian support for American Indians trying to resist westward expansion. It was ended by a treaty that restored all conquered territories to their owners before outbreak of war. -
Election of James Monroe
In 1816, James Monroe easily defeated the opposing candidate, Rufus King. Monroe was a Democratic-Republican and him winning presidency, showed the major decline of the federalist party. Many people then left the federalist party and joined the Democratic Republican party and voted for Republicans in the following elections. -
Battle of New Orleans
The British fleet was approaching the mouth of the Mississippi River. The British soon attacked, and Andrew Jackson was waiting with his recently recruited army. Jackson fired on the British fleet with American sharpshooters, riflemen, and artillery from inland. Also, Sunken boats at the mouth of the river held up the British which caused more losses. The British lost well over 2,000 men while the Americans only lost 7. -
Expanded suffrage to all white males
When Jackson ran for president, for the first first time, more farmers started to put in votes. This expanded the countries political views. Therefore, he gained more votes and more common people took part in government elections. -
Missouri Compromise
An agreement proposed by Henry Clay to keep the number of slave and free states equal. Congress drew a imaginary line at the latitude of 36, 30 line and said that any states admitted north of this line were free states while the states admitted below this line could decide if they either wanted to be a free state or a slave state. Also, in order to balance out the free states and slaves states, Maine (originally part of Massachusetts) broke off of Massachusetts as its own free state. This equale -
Monroe Doctrine
President Monroe’s foreign policy statement warning European nations not to interfere in Latin America. He said America would no longer inter fear in Europe. This doctrine showed that America was serious about stopping all European affairs. -
Gibbons v. Ogden
was a landmark decision in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the power to regulate interstate commerce. It was all caused by a steamboat monopoly, along the borders of Maryland and New York, and another man who started another steamboat business. The case was solved and both men were allowed to navigate these waterways and be successful in their jobs. This case led to more power given to the supreme court and the federal government. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
McCulloch v. Maryland is an important court case under John Marshall. It led to the constitution being the supreme law of the land. It occured because McCulloch refused to pay a tax for the bank, and the case went to court. -
Election of 1824
In the election of 1824, John Quincy Adams, along with Henry Clay, ran against Andrew Jackson. John Adams was one of our “doomed” presidencies because he didn’t win the majority vote nor win the tie breaker “fairly”. Adams won because Henry Clay persuaded mostly all of the representatives and senators to vote for Adams. In return Clay won secretary of state and this was considered by Jackson and many others as a “corrupt bargain.” -
Election of Andrew Jackson
In the election of 1828, Jackson ran for president again and this time he defeated John Quincy Adams. In this election, there was a lot mud-slinging and both candidates were bashed with false accusations, but many missed the truth. However, Jackson was favored by the common man and won the election by a landslide and therefore won presidency. -
Beginning of the Democratic Party(Jacksonian Democracy)
Andrew Jackson was inaugurated in 1829 and reflected on the growing democracy in America. Since Jackson was the first person from the west to occupy the office, this spread in political power to other regions and more people in the United States was known as the Jacksonian Democracy. In relation to the spread of power, politics in the west grew and more people participated in following elections. -
Indian Removal Act
Was an act that gave the president the power to move Native Americans west of the Mississippi. This eventually lead to the trial of tears. The trial of tears is one thing that the U.S. can never make up for. -
Worcester v. Georgia
Chief Justice John Marshall declared that Georgia’s action of governing Native Americans within state boundaries, unconstitutional. All American Indians are protected by the constitution. This led to the Trial of Tears. -
Closing of the U.S. Bank
The U.S. bank had to close because they didn’t have a new charter. Jackson refused to wait. He ordered Roger Taney, Secretary of State, to stop putting government money in the bank, but Taney did the opposite. There was later a loss in Federal money that hunt the bank. The closing of the bank led to a national crises.
