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Industrialization
The industrial history of the United States describes the US' emergence as a technologically advanced nation. The availability of land, literate labor, the diversity of climate and a free market all contributed to America's rapid industrialization. The availability of capital, navigable rivers, coastal waterways, and the abundance of natural resources facilitated the cheap extraction of energy all contributed to America's rapid industrialization. -
Cotton Gin
US born inventor Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin, a machine that revolutionized the production of cotton by greatly speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber. By the mid-19th century, cotton had become America’s leading export. His invention offered Southern planters a justification to maintain and expand slavery even as a growing number of Americans supported its abolition. -
Market Revolution
The Market Revolution is a model that argues there was a drastic change of the economy that began the process of globalization and international trade. Arguably it was one of the most significant transformations of America within the first half of the nineteenth century, the evolution from an agrarian to a capitalist society. -
Interchangeable parts
Interchangeable parts are parts that are nearly identical. They are made so that they will fit into any assembly of the same type. This interchangeability allows easy assembly of new devices, and easier repair of existing devices, while minimizing both the time and skill required of the person doing the assembly or repair. Interchangeability was crucial to the introduction of the assembly line, and has become an important element of some modern manufacturing. -
The Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from France. In return for fifteen million dollars, or approximately eighteen dollars per square mile, the United States nominally acquired a total of 828,000 sq mi. -
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition was the first expedition to cross the western portion of the United States. It began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, made its way westward, and crossed the Continental Divide of the Americas before reaching the Pacific coast. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition shortly after the Louisiana Purchase 1803 to explore and to map the newly acquired territory. The campaign's secondary objectives were scientific and economic. -
Embargo Act of 1807
The Embargo Act of 1807 was a general trade embargo on all foreign nations enacted by Congress. It was the successor to the 1806 Non-importation Act, and it represented an escalation of attempts to coerce Britain to stop its impressment of American sailors. -
The War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a conflict fought between the United States and the United Kingdom. Some see it as a minor theater of the Napoleonic Wars, while others see it as a war in its own right. From the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain had enforced a naval blockade to block trade to France. Britain pressed American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy. American sentiment grew hostile toward Britain. In 1812, President James Madison signed into law the American declaration of war. -
The Tariff of 1816
The Tariff of 1816 is notable as the first tariff passed by Congress with an explicit function of protecting US manufactured items from overseas competition. -
The Era of Good Feelings
The Era of Good Feelings marked a period in the political history of the United States that reflected a sense of unity among Americans in the aftermath of the War of 1812. The era saw the collapse of the Federalist Party. The period is closely associated with Monroe's presidency (1817–1825). -
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a canal in New York. It runs 363 miles from the Hudson River in Albany to Lake Erie in Buffalo. It was built to create a navigable water route from New York City and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. When completed in 1825, it was the second longest canal in the world and greatly enhanced the development and economy of New York, New York City, and the United States. -
The Adams–Onís Treaty
The Adams–Onís Treaty was a treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 that ceded Florida to the U.S. and defined the boundary between the U.S. and the to be Mexico. It settled a standing border dispute between the two countries. -
The Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the early 19th century. It spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching, sparked a number of reform movements. Revivals were a key part of the movement and attracted hundreds of converts to new Protestantism -
The Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was federal legislation that admitted Maine to the United States as a free state, simultaneously with Missouri as a slave state—thus maintaining the balance of power between North and South in the Senate. As part of the compromise, the legislation prohibited slavery north of the 36°30′ parallel, excluding Missouri. -
The Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was a United States policy that opposed European colonialism in the Americas. The Doctrine was issued on December 2, at a time when nearly all Latin American colonies had achieved independence from the Portuguese and Spanish Empires. It stated that further efforts by various European states to take control of any independent state in North or South America would be viewed as "the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." -
Revolution of 1828 / Election of 1828
Jackson became the first President whose home state was neither Massachusetts nor Virginia. Historians debate the significance of the election, with many arguing that it marked the beginning of modern American politics by removing key barriers to voter participation and establishing a stable two-party system. -
Spoils System
A spoils system is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government civil service jobs to its supporters, friends, and relatives as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party. -
Indian Removal Act of 1830
The Indian Removal Act was signed President Andrew Jackson. The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Native American tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for white settlement of their ancestral lands. -
Specie Circular
The Specie Circular is a United States presidential executive order issued by President Andrew Jackson. It required payment for government land to be in gold and silver. -
The Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major depression that lasted until the mid-40s. Profits, prices, and wages went down while unemployment went up. The panic had both domestic and foreign origins.
