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Louisiana Purchase
The United States bought the Louisiana Purchase for 15 million from France. The country gained 827,000 square miles, doubling the size of the United States. The purchase of this new land would increase the prosperity of the country and provide future protection. -
Trail of Tears (1831 – 1877)
The Trail of Tears was a tragic, forceful migration of Native Americans to territories west of the Mississippi River. The Indian Removal Act would allow Andrew Jackson to exchange unsettled lands in the west for their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States. In 1838 and 1839, the Trail of Tears killed over 4000 out of 15000 Cherokees due to starvation, disease, and exhaustion. -
Mexican and American War (April 25, 1846 – February 2, 1848)
Disputes over boundaries in Texas and control of California resulted in a war between Mexico and the United States. After the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Mexico would recognize the Rio Grande as the border and would lose over half of its territory. The new land helped America fulfill the idea of "manifest destiny." However, more land would also bring about the idea of slavery into the new territory. -
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
The Fugitive Slave Act would require fugitive slaves to be returned to their owners, and even in the Northern States where all slaves were free. These laws on slaves would further pressure people to take sides on the issue of slavery -
Abraham Lincoln (March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865)
Abraham Lincoln was an American lawyer and statesmen who served as the 16th president of the United States. He was a Republican who won the presidential election of 1860 and was reelected again in 1864, but was assassinated only 42 days into his second term. -
Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861 – April 13, 1861)
The Battle of Fort Sumter occurred near Charleston, South Carolina and it marked the beginning of the Civil War. The South Carolina militia attacked the fort which was controlled by the United States army because they wanted to separate from the country. This battle would be declared a Confederate victory. -
13th Amendment Passed
The 13th amendment of the United States states that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." In 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which didn't officially end slavery in the nation. The 13th amendment, which was ratified on December 6, 1865, would abolish slavery in the country. -
General Lee surrenders at Appomattox Court House, Virginia
As the Union forces were pushing back the Confederate forces, General Robert E. Lee and his army abandoned Richmond, Virginia, and retreated in hopes of meeting up with more Confederate troops in North Carolina. However, they were caught off their retreat and forced to stop at Appomattox, Virginia. The Confederate general would surrender his 28000 troops to General Grant which would end the Civil War. -
Alexander Graham Bell's Telephone
The 29-year-old inventor receives a patent for his revolutionary telephone invention which would serve as a way to transmit speech over long distances.
