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First Industrial Revolution
First Industrial Revolution - The first wave of the Industrial Revolution lasted from the late 1700s to the mid-1800s. It industrialized the manufacture of textiles and began the move of production from homes to factories. Steam power and the cotton gin played an important role in this period -
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Jeffersonian Era
Jeffersonian democracy, named after its advocate Thomas Jefferson, was one of two dominant political outlooks and movements in the United States from the 1790s to the 1820s. -
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Second Great Awakening
American Protestant Christians' beliefs changed during the early 19th century in a period known as the Second Great Awakening. Marked by a wave of enthusiastic religious revivals, the Second Great Awakening set the stage for equally enthusiastic social reform movements, especially abolitionism and temperance. -
Revolution of 1800
In what is sometimes called the "Revolution of 1800", Vice President Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican Party defeated incumbent President John Adams of the Federalist Party. -
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Temperance Movement
The temperance movement took place in the United States from about 1800 to 1933. In the early 1800s, many Americans believed that drinking was immoral and that alcohol was a threat to the nation's success. These beliefs led to widespread support for temperance, which means not drinking alcohol. -
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Marshall Court
The Marshall Court, and this decision in particular, established the principle of "judicial review" whereby Congressional laws and executive actions may be judged by the Supreme Court to be within the bounds of the Constitution. -
Marbury v. Madison
The U.S. Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison (1803) established the principle of judicial review—the power of the federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional. The unanimous opinion was written by Chief Justice John Marshall. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the purchase of imperial rights to the western half of the Mississippi River basin from France by the United States in 1803. The deal granted the United States the sole authority to obtain the land from its indigenous inhabitants, either by contract or by conquest. -
End of Slave Trade
On the first day of January, 1808, a new Federal law made it illegal to import captive people from Africa into the United States. This date marks the end—the permanent, legal closure—of the trans-Atlantic slave trade into our country. -
Bank War
The Bank War (including Clay Trap) was the political struggle that ensued over the fate of the Second Bank of the United States during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. In 1832, Jackson vetoed a bill to recharter the Bank, and began a campaign that would eventually lead to its destruction. -
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War of 1812
Conflict was fought between the United States and Great Britain over British violations of U.S. maritime rights. It ended with the exchange of ratifications of the Treaty of Ghent. -
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Hartford Convention
The Hartford Convention resulted in a declaration calling on the Federal Government to protect New England and to supply financial aid to New England's badly battered trade economy. Ended the Federalist Party. -
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Era of Good Feelings
James Monroe's presidency (1817-1825) ushered in what became known as the Era of Good Feelings, based partly on the high level of morale and economic prosperity in the post-war period. -
Tariff of 1816
The Tariff of 1816, also known as the Dallas Tariff, is notable as the first tariff passed by Congress with an explicit function of protecting U.S. manufactured items from overseas competition. Prior to the War of 1812, tariffs had primarily served to raise revenues to operate the national government. -
American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society (ACS) was formed in 1817 to send free African-Americans to Africa as an alternative to emancipation in the United States. In 1822, the society established on the west coast of Africa a colony that in 1847 became the independent nation of Liberia. -
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Second National Bank
It had much in common with its forerunner, including its functions and structure. It would act as fiscal agent for the federal government — holding its deposits, making its payments, and helping it issue debt to the public — and it would issue and redeem banknotes and keep state banks' issuance of notes in check. Jackson objected to the bank's unusual political and economic power and to the lack of congressional oversight over its business dealings. -
Calhoun's Bonus Bill
Calhoun, passed the Bonus Bill of 1817. It provided for the use of Federal funds to finance the building of roads and canals. Madison, though a strong advocate of internal improvements, vetoed the Bonus Bill. -
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Erie Canal Built
The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing the costs of transporting people and goods across the Appalachians. -
Adam- Onis Treaty
In the treaty Spain gave East and West Florida to the United States, and the United States agreed to assume claims by citizens of the United States against Spain. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
The court decided that the Federal Government had the right and power to set up a Federal bank and that states did not have the power to tax the Federal Government. Marshall ruled in favor of the Federal Government and concluded, “the power to tax involves the power to destroy." -
Missouri Compromise
This legislation admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time, so as not to upset the balance between slave and free states in the nation. It also outlawed slavery above the 36º 30' latitude line in the remainder of the Louisiana Territory. -
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Market Revolution
The Market Revolution was a fundamental transformation of the United States economy throughout the first half of the 19thcentury, primarily due to the widespread mechanization of industry and the expansion and integration of various economic markets both domestic and foreign. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine is the best-known U.S. policy toward the Western Hemisphere. Buried in a routine annual message delivered to Congress by President James Monroe in December 1823, the doctrine warns European nations that the United States would not tolerate further colonization or puppet monarchs. -
American System
Clay first used the term “American System” in a speech he gave in 1824. It was a federal policy based on a market economy. Sections of the country would produce specific commodities which they would sell to other regions. -
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Jacksonian Era
The years from about 1824 to 1840 have been called the “Age of Jacksonian Democracy” and the “Era of the Common Man.” By modern standards, however, the United States was far from democratic. -
Tariff of Abominations
The tariff sought to protect northern and western agricultural products from competition with foreign imports; however, the resulting tax on foreign goods would raise the cost of living in the South and would cut into the profits of New England's industrialists. -
Creation of the Whigs & Second Party System
While Jackson never engaged in a duel as president, he had shot political opponents before and was just as determined to destroy his enemies on the battlefields of politics. The Second Party System came about primarily because of Jackson's determination to destroy the Second Bank of the United States. -
Indian Removal Act of 1830
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, authorizing the president to grant lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy leading to the Trail of Tears. -
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Nullification Crisis (South Carolina Exposition) & Force Bill
On March 1, 1833, Congress passed the Force Bill. South Carolina's isolation, coupled with Jackson's determination to employ military force if necessary, ultimately forced South Carolina to retreat. -
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Second Seminole War
The Second Seminole War (1835-1842), usually referred to as the Seminole War proper, was the fiercest war waged by the U.S. government against American Indians. The United States spent more than $20 million fighting the Seminoles. The war left more than 1,500 soldiers and uncounted American civilians dead. -
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Trail of Tears
Guided by policies favored by President Andrew Jackson, who led the country from 1828 to 1837, the Trail of Tears (1837 to 1839) was the forced westward migration of American Indian tribes from the South and Southeast. Land grabs threatened tribes throughout the South and Southeast in the early 1800s. -
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Brook Farm – Utopian Community
Brook Farm, as it would be called, was based on the ideals of Transcendentalism; its founders believed that by pooling labor they could sustain the community and still have time for literary and scientific pursuits. -
Seneca Falls Convention
Heralded as the first women's rights convention in the United States, it was held at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York, on July 19 and 20, 1848. At that conference, activist and leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted The Declaration of Sentiments, which called for women's equality and suffrage.