1789

Marbury vs. MadisonThe Supreme Court ruled that they did not get their powers from Congress, but from the U.S. Constitution. This case established the power of Judicial Review.

1800
Samuel Slaters cotton mill kicks off the Industrial Revolution which leads to: a factory system interchangeable parts division of labor mass production

1803
Thomas Jefferson & the Senate authorize the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon of France for $15 million.

1807
Thomas Jefferson places an embargo on trade with Britain and France to force them to stop seizing American ships and sailors.

1812
President Madison asks Congress to declare war against Great Britain, citing three main reasons: British troops still occupy forts in the Northwest Territory and in the west. British are inciting Native Americans against Americans. British been seizing sailors and cargo of American ships.

August 1814
The British attack and burn the capital, Washington, D.C.

September 1814
Francis Scott Key writes the Star Spangled Banner in response to the American stand at Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor. In 1931 it becomes our countrys national anthem.

December 1814
The Treaty of Ghent end the War of 1812.

January 1815
Unaware that a peace treaty has been signed, the Americans led by Andrew Jackson defeat the British in the Battle of New Orleans.

1819
Spain cedes Florida to the U.S. in the Adams-Onis Treaty.

1820
Henry Clay suggests the Missouri Compromise, to keep the balance of slave states equal to free states. The Compromise stated that all newly admitted states north of Missouris southern border would only be allowed to enter the union as free states.

1821
Mexico wins independence from Spain. Stephen Austin founds the colony of Texas.

1823
President James Monroe issues the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that America would not tolerate the colonization of land in the Americas.

1830
President Andrew Jackson asks Congress to approve the Indian Removal Act.

1836
Texas gains its independence from Mexico.

1838
President Martin Van Buren forces the Cherokee Indians out of the southeast along the Trail of Tears.

1846
Mexican War begins.

1848
California Gold Rush begins. Mexican War ends with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.

1853
The Gadsden Purchase completes the boundary between the U.S. and Mexico and the expansion of the U.S. across the continent.

1857
The Dred Scott caseSupreme Court ruled that Dred Scott, an African American, was not a citizen and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories.

November 1860
Abraham Lincoln is elected as President.

April 1861
Civil War begins.

January 1863
Emancipation Proclamation issued.

April 1865
President Lincoln is assassinated.

May 1865
Civil War ends.

December 1865
13th Amendment abolishes slavery.

1870
15th Amendment allows previous enslaved African American men the right to vote.