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Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson is elected to be the third president from 1801-1809. -
Louisiana Purchase
Thomas Jefferson buys Louisiana from France, doubling the size of the United States. -
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Explorers Lewis and Clark set off on their 2 year, 8,000 mile expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase. -
Burr-Hamilton Duel
U.S. founding fathers, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, fight a duel. Hamilton is killed and Burr is destroyed. -
James Madison
James Madison becomes the fourth president of the U.S. -
The National Road
The first 10 miles of road are constructed westward from Cumberland, Maryland, making westward migration possible. -
Battle of Tippecanoe
Indigenous people, led by Tecumseh, fight and lose a major battle opposing white settlement. -
War of 1812 Begins
The United States declares war to the British for interfering with westward expansion. -
War of 1812 Ends
Border issues were settled with the peace Treaty of Ghent. -
Battle of Waterloo
Napoleon Bonaparte surrenders after a devastating loss at the Battle of Waterloo, ending the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. -
The Missouri Compromise
Admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave state, and Maine as a free state. It stopped Northern attempts to prohibit slavery's expansion. -
Erie Canal
A canal from the east coast to inner North America. Made New York the Empire State -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
A rebellion of enslaves Virginians. The rebels killed between 55 and 65 people, at least 51 of whom were White. -
Manifest Destiny
The 19th-century belief that the westward expansion of the US was both justified and inevitable. -
Texas Annexation
Texas was admitted to the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845. The Republic of Texas declared independence from the Republic of Mexico on March 2, 1836, and applied for annexation to the United States the same year, but was rejected by the Secretary of State. -
Mexican-American War Begins
A battle for land where Mexico was fighting to keep what they thought was their property, and the U.S. desired to attain the disputed land of Texas and obtain more land in Manifest Destiny. -
Mexican American War Ends
Ended by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in favor of the United States. Mexico agreed to surrender all claims to Texas and the Rio Grande River became the boundary. The treaty halved the size of Mexico and doubled the territory of the United States. -
California Gold Rush
President James K. Polk confirms the discovery of gold mines in California and thousands of people immigrate. -
Compromise of 1850
A series of five bills passed that deal with the issue of slavery in territorial expansion. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Allowed the northern territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide if they wanted to allow slavery within their borders. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Seven public confrontations between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas over the issue of enslavement. Abraham Lincoln, with the Union, opposed slavery, but Douglas, with the South, supported slavery. -
South Carolina secedes
South Carolina seceded the Union due to increasing fears that northern, non-slavery states would impede on the rights of southern states to keep slaves. -
Civil War Begins
War between the north and south over the issue of slavery. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Issued by Abraham Lincoln to declare the freedom of all slaves in any state of the Confederate States of America. -
Gettysburg Address
A speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. It came to be one of the most influential statements of American national purpose. -
Confederate Surrender
Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant. -
13th Amendment
Slavery is prohibited with the thirteenth Amendment.
