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Election of 1800
picinfoThere was an electoral vote tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr at 73 votes each. Because of this, the House of Representatives decided who would be president and who would be vice president. Due to an intense campaign by Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson was selected over Aaron Burr after 35 ballots. The Election of 1800 resulted in the passage of the 12th amendment in 1804 requiring that electors vote specifically for the offices of President and Vice President. -
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Louisiana purchase
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The Louisiana Purchase is considered the greatest real estate deal in history. The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France at a price of $15 million, or approximately four cents an acre. The ratification of the Louisiana Purchase treaty by the Senate on October 20, 1803, doubled the size of the United States and opened up the continent to its westward expansion. -
Steamboat Invented
infopicMr. Fulton's newly invented Steamboat, which is fitted up in a neat style for passengers, and is intended to run from New York to Albany as a Packet, left here this morning with 90 passengers, against a strong head-wind. Notwithstanding which, it was judged she moved through the waters at the rate of six miles an hour. Thomas jefferson was president -
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Adams-Onís Treaty
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Between the United States and Spain was negotiated by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and the Spanish Minister to the United States, Don Luis de Onís, and signed in February 1819. The principal elements in the treaty were the acquisition of Florida by the United States and the establishment of a boundary line between Spanish territory and the United States -
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telegraph invented
picinfoWhile a professor of arts and design at New York University in 1835, Samuel Morse proved that signals could be transmitted by wire. He used pulses of current to deflect an electromagnet, which moved a marker to produce written codes on a strip of paper - the invention of Morse Code. The following year, the device was modified to emboss the paper with dots and dashes. He gave a public demonstration in 1838, but it was not until five years later that Congress (reflecting public apathy) funded $30, -
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Annexation of Texas
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The Southern people were anxious to have the State of Texas annexed to the United States, and such a desire was a prevailing feeling in that sovereign State. The proposition, when formally made, was opposed by the people of the North, because the annexation would increase the area and political strength of the slave power, and lead to a war with Mexico. Tyler was president during this time. -
"54 - 40 or Fight"
picinfoThe southern boundary of the United States with Mexico was not the only western territory under dispute. The Oregon Territory spanned the modern states of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, as well as the western coast of Canada up to the border of Russian Alaska. Both Great Britain and America claimed the territory. James polw was president. -
California Gold Rush
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The California Gold Rush remains an iconic part of American history and lore. The California Gold Rush began in January 1848 when a man named James W. Marshall, a foreman for pioneer John Sutter, found traces of gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California, near Sacramento. Sutter wanted to keep the find secret, but word got out. James Knox Polk was president during the time. -
Gadsden purchase
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Strip of land purchased (1853) by the United States from Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) had described the U.S.-Mexico boundary vaguely, and President Pierce wanted to insure U.S. possession of the Mesilla Valley near the Rio Grande—the most practicable route for a southern railroad to the Pacific. James Gadsden negotiated the purchase, and the U.S. Senate ratified (1854) it by a narrow margin. -
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Pickney's treaty
picinfoPinckney’s Treaty, also called Treaty of San Lorenzo, (Oct. 27, 1795), agreement between Spain and the United States, fixing the southern boundary of the United States at 31° N latitude and establishing commercial arrangements favourable to the United States. U.S. citizens were accorded free navigation of the Mississippi River through Spanish territory. The treaty granted Americans the privilege of tax-free deposit (temporary storage of goods) at New Orleans. Each side agreed to restrain Indian
