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Declaration of Independence
On July 4th, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. This document stated the Colonies' independence from Great Britain. -
Constitution
In 1788, the Constitution was ratified. Delaware was the first state to ratify, or give consent to put the Constitution into effect. Rhode Island was the last state to ratify the Constitution in 1790. At least nine states had to approve the the Constitution for it to be adopted by the United States government. -
First President
In April of 1789, George Washington was the first elected president of the United Sates of America. He did not campaign for his presidency and did not really want to be elected president. He was the first president to be unanimously voted for by the electoral college and chose to retire after two terms. -
President Thomas Jefferson
On February 2nd, 1801, Thomas Jefferson was elected as the third president of the United States. When running for president the first time, he lost against the second president, John Adams. When Jefferson ran for the second time, he beat Adams by a margin of 73 to 65 votes. -
Louisiana Purchase
In 1803, Thomas Jefferson purchased 828,000 square miles of land west on the Mississippi River from the French. He bought this land for $15 million (about $420,000,000 today), doubling the size of the United States. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 or the "second war of independence," started when the British took American soldiers from their ships and forced them to serve in the British Navy. This war established boundaries between Canada and The United States, paved the way for westward expansion, and forced the British to give up practices that violated American rights that initiated the war. -
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December of 1814 and went into effect in February of 1815. This treaty determined the end of the War of 1812. There were no major changes made to the territories and relations between the US and Britain went back to how they were before the war. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a law that admitted Missouri as a slave state, Maine as a free state, and prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Territory (North of the 36'30' parallel. This temporarily settled disputes over slavery in new states and maintained balance the amount of power between slave and free states. -
The Annexation of Texas
In 1836, Texans voted for annexation but were rejected. In 1845, while James K. Polk was president, he signed the annexation bill into law and Texas became the 28th states. After the annexation of Texas, disputes began between the US and Mexico over the a border which initiated the start of the Mexican American War in 1846. -
Mexican-American War
The Mexican-American War began after the annexation of Texas, when disputed began between the two countries over where the borders would be located. The US declared war on Mexico and won several key battles. This confirmed Texas' southern border and led to westward expansion of US territory. The United States gained territories including present-day California, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and parts of Colorado, Arizona, and Wyoming.