1800s
Often called the "Revolution of 1800," this political event marked the first peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another in the U.S.
What is the Election of 1800 (or the transition from Federalists to Democratic-Republicans)?
Signed on Christmas Eve in 1814, this peace agreement officially ended the War of 1812 by restoring the pre-war territorial status quo (status quo ante bellum).
What is the Treaty of Ghent?
Devised by Henry Clay, this 1820 agreement admitted Missouri as a slave state, paired it with Maine as a free state, and drew a latitude line across the Louisiana Territory to ban slavery north of 36°30'.
What is the Missouri Compromise?
In response to the "Tariff of Abominations" and the Tariff of 1832, this Southern state adopted the Ordinance of Nullification, declaring federal tariffs void within its borders.
What is South Carolina?
Rallying under the famous slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too," this Whig candidate easily defeated incumbent Martin Van Buren in the election of 1840.
Who is William Henry Harrison?
President Thomas Jefferson stretched his strict interpretation of the Constitution to purchase this massive territory from France for $15 million.
What is the Louisiana Territory?
Fought on January 8, 1815—two weeks after a peace treaty had been signed in Belgium—this resounding American victory made Andrew Jackson a national hero.
What is the Battle of New Orleans?
Delivered in an 1823 address to Congress, this foundational U.S. foreign policy stance warned European powers against further colonization or intervention in the Western Hemisphere.
What is the Monroe Doctrine?
In the 1832 Supreme Court case Worcester v. Georgia, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that this Native American nation was a distinct community in which the laws of Georgia had no force.
What are the Cherokee?
Signed in 1846 during the Polk administration, this agreement with Great Britain extended the U.S. border along the 49th parallel to the Pacific Ocean, securing the Oregon Territory.
What is the Oregon Treaty?
This landmark Supreme Court case established the principle of judicial review, allowing the Supreme Court to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional.
What is Marbury v. Madison?
In this landmark 1819 Supreme Court case, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that Congress possessed implied powers to create a national bank under the Necessary and Proper Clause, and that Maryland could not tax it.
What is McCulloch v. Maryland?
Andrew Jackson's supporters labeled this alleged backroom deal "corrupt" when Speaker of the House Henry Clay threw his support to John Quincy Adams, securing Adams the presidency and Clay the office of Secretary of State.
What is the "Corrupt Bargain"?
President Andrew Jackson signaled the destruction of the Second Bank of the United States by ordering his secretaries of the Treasury to deposit federal funds into these state-chartered banks.
What are "pet banks"?
Signed in February 1848, this treaty ended the Mexican-American War and ceded over 500,000 square miles of Mexican territory to the United States for $15 million.
What is the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
Intended to punish Britain and France for violating American neutral shipping rights during the Napoleonic Wars, this 1807 law instead devastated the U.S. economy.
What is the Embargo Act of 1807?
Coined to describe the administration of President James Monroe, this glowing two-word phrase masked rising sectional tensions, a one-party political landscape, and the onset of an economic depression.
What is the Era of Good Feelings?
Completed in 1825, this massive engineering feat connected the Hudson River at Albany to Lake Erie, supercharging trade and anchoring New York City's status as a commercial hub.
What is the Erie Canal?
Published starting in January 1831 in Boston, this militant anti-slavery newspaper edited by William Lloyd Garrison demanded the immediate, uncompensated emancipation of all enslaved people.
What is The Liberator?
Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott in July 1848, this historic gathering produced the Declaration of Sentiments, marking the birth of the organized women's rights movement in the U.S.
What is the Seneca Falls Convention?
Commissioned by Thomas Jefferson shortly after the Louisiana Purchase, this expedition explored the newly acquired western lands with the guidance of a Shoshone woman named Sacagawea.
What is the Corps of Discovery (the Lewis and Clark Expedition)?
Triggered in 1819 by over speculation in western lands and the Second Bank of the United States tightening credit and calling in loans, this event marked the end of the post-war economic boom.
What is the Panic of 1819?
Passed in 1828 (and vehemently denounced by Southern planters as the "Tariff of Abominations"), this high protective tariff triggered fierce debates over states' rights and nullification.
What is the Tariff of 1828 (Tariff of Abominations)?
Fought between 1835 and 1836, this rebellion resulted in the capture of General Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto and the establishment of an independent republic.
Sparked by a discovery at Sutter's Mill in 1848, this massive migration brought hundreds of thousands of "Forty-Niners" pouring into a future western state.
What is the California Gold Rush?