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Battle of Lexington & Concord
The Battle of Lexington & Concord was the first fight in the American Revolution. The British won the fight at Lexington but the Americans won the fight at Concord. After the this battle, the British retreated back to Boston, and proved that the Americans actually had a chance to win. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was written by the colonists. This document declared independence from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence used the ideas of John Locke which were ¨life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.¨ Other things it states is that all men are created equal, all men have human rights given to them by god, and the government must be by the consent of the governed. -
Battle of Saratoga
After declaring independence, this meant that the colonists could form alliances. The Battle of Saratoga led to a colonists victory and showed the French that they could win and the two formed alliances against the British. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the first form of government for the colonists after they declared independence from Great Britain. This government had a weak central government and this was proved after the Shay´s Rebellion. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was the last fight of the American Revolution and was an American victory and led to the British surrendering. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance was a strength of the Articles of Confederation. The Northwest Ordinance set the precedent for the creation of new states. -
Constitution
The Constitution was and still is the form of government after the people decided they needed a new government. This new form of government created a lot of controversy between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, also known as Democratic-Republicans. For the resolution, they decided to make the Bill of Rights and it states the states´ rights. -
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights were added to the Constitution as a compromise for the Anti-Federalists, or Democratic-Republicans, to ratify the Constitution. The Bill of Rights explains the states´ and the peoples´ rights. -
Alien & Sedition Acts
The Alien & Sedition Acts placed restrictions on citizenship and political speech. This act was placed when during the development of the two political parties. -
Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions
The Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions were made by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, Democratic Republican leaders, so the state legislature can nullify and protest the Alien & Sedition Acts. -
Marbury v. Madison
The Marbury v. Madison case was important cause it established judicial review and gave the federal government more power. The court ruled that the judicial branch has the power to examine the Constitution and say what the law is. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was a result of an expedition of Lewis and Clark. We bought the the section of land from the French for $15 million. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a conflict that was between the United States and Great Britain and its allies due to Napoleon Bonaparte´s expedition. -
Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans was fought on Sunday, January 8, 1815, between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham, and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was an attempt to settle rivalries between the North and the South about adding Missouri into the United States. Even though the Missouri state is above the Mason-Dixon line, it was added into the US as a slave state to balance the amount of free states and slaves states. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine mainly impacted foreign policy by giving justification for later U.S. presidents to deal with Latin America. It also says that the European don´t have the power to recolonize Latin America. -
Nullification Crisis
The Nullification Crisis was a United States sectional political crisis in 1832–33, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, which involved a confrontation between South Carolina and the federal government. -
Texas Annexation
The US acquired Texas after the state declared independence from Mexico. After 9 years, due to border and balance of free and slave states disputes, we took Texas through the process of annexation. -
Oregon Treaty
The Oregon Territory was jointly claimed by the US, Spanish, and the British, but after the Adams-Onis Treaty, the territory was claimed by the Spanish. Then came border disputes which led to the war with the Americans and the British and was headlined as ¨54´40¨ or Fight! Soon negotiations between the two countries led to the Oregon Treaty of 1846 giving the US control south of the 49th parallel. -
Mexican Cession (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo)
The Mexican Cession was a result of the Mexican-American War. The Mexican Cession was made up most of the southwest of the United States and it completed Manifest Destiny. -
Declaration of Sentiments
The Declaration of Sentiments was a document that was signed by women and men at the first women´s rights convention to be organized by women. -
Uncle Tom´s Cabin
The novel ¨Uncle Tom´s Cabin¨ was a contributing factor to anti-slavery movements and helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was an attempt to avoid a crisis between the North and the South and as a result, the Fugitive Slave Act was amended and slave trade in Washington, D.C., was abolished. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed and it allowed the states Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether they wanted to have slavery inside their border and it repealed the Missouri Compromise. It also prohibited slavery north of the 36´30 line. -
John Brown´s Raid at Harper´s Ferry
John Brown´s Raid at Harper´s Ferry was a raid on a Virginia arsenal to try and arm slaves and start a rebellion for abolition. This raid put fear in the hearts of slave owners and made them wonder about the North´s Intentions. John Brown was then captured and hung for his attack. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the first fight in the Civil War and was the first victory for the Confederates. The Confederates fired upon Union forces and the next day, the Union evacuated the area. -
Battle of Bull Run
The Battle of Bull Run was an unexpected Confederacy victory. The Union troops had the upper hand in the beginning but the Confederates defeated the Union and won the battle. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam was also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg. This battle was the bloodiest day in United States history. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was established by President Abraham Lincoln, which states that all slaves in the North must be freed. The main reason this was established was to keep the border states from seceding. -
Presidential Reconstruction
In 1865 President Andrew Johnson implemented a plan of Reconstruction that gave the white South a free hand in regulating the transition from slavery to freedom and offered no role to blacks in the politics of the South. -
Battle of Vicksburg
The Battle of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 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. -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address was a speech given by President Abraham Lincoln and to dedicate a cemetery for the fallen soldiers. He says that the Civil War was a struggle to fulfill the Declaration of Independence and to preserve the nation. -
Sherman´s March to Sea
Sherman's March to the Sea was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army. -
Freedman´s Bureau
Freedmen's Bureau was during the Reconstruction period after the American Civil War, popular name for the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, established by Congress to provide practical aid to 4,000,000 newly freed African Americans in their transition from slavery to freedom. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment was amended to abolish slavery. -
Congressional Reconstruction
In early 1866, Congressional Republicans, appalled by mass killing of ex-slaves and adoption of restrictive black codes, seized control of Reconstruction from President Johnson. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment was amended to protect the rights and equally protect African Americans. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment was amended to give suffrage to ALL men. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court issued in 1896. It upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality – a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal".