1800 - 1876

By janetfernando
  • Period: to

    1800 - 1876

  • Capital

    The U.S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC.

  • Thomas Jefferson

    Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third president in Washington, DC.

  • Louisiana Purchase

    United States agrees to pay France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory, which extends west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and comprises about 830,000 sq mi. As a result, the U.S. nearly doubles in size.

  • Thomas Jefferson

    Second inauguration.

  • Lewis and Clark

    Set out from St. Louis, Mo., on expedition to explore the West and find a route to the Pacific Ocean.

  • Lewis and Clark

    Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean

  • James Madison

    James Madison is inaugurated as the fourth president.

  • War of 1812 Begins

    U.S. declares war on Britain over British interference with American maritime shipping and westward expansion.

  • James Madison

    Second Inauguration

  • Francis Scott Key

    Francis Scott Key writes Star-Spangled Banner as he watches British attack on Fort McHenry at Baltimore.

  • War of 1812 Ends

  • Treaty of Ghent

    Treaty of Ghent is signed, officially ending the war.

  • James Monroe

    James Monroe is inaugurated as the fifth president.

  • Missouri Compromise

    In an effort to maintain the balance between free and slave states, Maine (formerly part of Massachusetts) is admitted as a free state so that Missouri can be admitted as a slave state; except for Missouri, slavery is prohibited in the Louisiana Purchase lands north of latitude 36°30'.

  • James Monroe

    Second inauguration.

  • Treaty of Paris

    Great Britain formally acknowledges American independence in the Treaty of Paris, which officially brings the war to a close.

  • Articles of Confederation

    Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation, the first U.S. constitution.

  • Monroe Doctrine

    In his annual address to Congress, President Monroe declares that the American continents are henceforth off-limits for further colonization by European powers.

  • John Quincy Adams

    John Quincy Adams is inaugurated as the sixth president.

  • Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

    Construction is begun on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first public railroad in the U.S.

  • Andrew Jackson

    Andrew Jackson is inaugurated as seventh president.

  • Indian Removal Act

    President Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, which authorizes the forced removal of Native Americans living in the eastern part of the country to lands west of the Mississippi River.

  • Nat Turner

    Nat Turner, an enslaved African American preacher, leads the most significant slave uprising in American history. He and his band of about 80 followers launch a bloody, day-long rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. The militia quells the rebellion, and Turner is eventually hanged. As a consequence, Virginia institutes much stricter slave laws.

  • William Lloyd Garrison

    William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing the Liberator, a weekly paper that advocates the complete abolition of slavery. He becomes one of the most famous figures in the abolitionist movement.

  • Andrew Jackson

    Second inauguration.

  • Texas Independence

    Texas declares its independence from Mexico.

  • The Alamo

    Texan defenders of the Alamo are all killed during siege by the Mexican Army.

  • Martin Van Buren

    Martin Van Buren is inaugurated as the eighth president.

  • William Henry Harrison

    William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as the ninth president.

  • John Tyler

    William Henry Harrison dies one month later and is succeeded in office by his vice president, John Tyler.

  • James Polk

    James Polk is inaugurated as the 11th president

  • Mexican War Begins

    U.S. declares war on Mexico in effort to gain California and other territory in Southwest.

  • Mexican War Ends

    War concludes with signing of Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

  • Harriet Tubman

    Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery and becomes one of the most effective and celebrated members of the Underground Railroad.

  • Zachary Taylor

    Zachary Taylor is inaugurated as the 12th president.

  • Millard Fillmore

    President Taylor dies and is succeeded by his vice president, Millard Fillmore.

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin

    Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin is published. It becomes one of the most influential works to stir anti-slavery sentiments.

  • Franklin Pierce

    Franklin Pierce is inaugurated as the 14th president.

  • Gadsden Purchase treaty

    Gadsden Purchase treaty is signed; U.S. acquires border territory from Mexico for $10 million.

  • Kansas-Nebraska Act

    Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act, establishing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.

  • James Buchanan

    James Buchanan is inaugurated as the 15th president.

  • Abolitionist John Brown

    Abolitionist John Brown and 21 followers capture federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va. (now W. Va.), in an attempt to spark a slave revolt.

  • Abraham Lincoln

    Abraham Lincoln is elected president.

  • South Carolina

    South Carolina secedes from the Union.

  • Confederate States of America is established.

  • Jefferson Davis

    Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederacy.

  • Abraham Lincoln

    Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th president.

  • Civil War Begins

    Conflict between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) over the expansion of slavery into western states.

  • Confederates attack Ft. Sumter in Charleston, S.C., marking the start of the war.

  • Homestead Act

    Homestead Act becomes law, allowing settlers to claim land (160 acres) after they have lived on it for five years.

  • Emancipation Proclamation

    Emancipation Proclamation is issued, freeing slaves in the Confederate states.

  • Battle of Gettysburg

  • Gettysburg Address

    President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address.

  • Civil War Ends

  • Abraham Lincoln

    Lincoln's second inauguration.

  • Lincoln Assassination

    Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in Washington, DC, and is succeeded by his vice president, Andrew Johnson.

  • Thirteenth Amendment

    Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, prohibiting slavery.

  • Alaska

    U.S. acquires Alaska from Russia for the sum of $7.2 million.

  • President Johnson

    President Johnson is impeached by the House of Representatives.

  • Johnson Aquitted

    Johnson is acquitted at his trial in the Senate.

  • Fourteenth Amendment

    Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, defining citizenship.

  • Ulysses S. Grant

    Ulysses S. Grant is inaugurated as the 18th president.

  • Fifteenth Amendment

    Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, giving blacks the right to vote.

  • Ulysses S. Grant

    Second inauguration.

  • Lt. Col. George A. Custer's

    Lt. Col. George A. Custer's regiment is wiped out by Sioux Indians under Sitting Bull at the Little Big Horn River, Mont.