1900s in The United States - 19th Century

19th Century

Year Date Event
1801 Jefferson was elected President by the House of Representatives. Burr became Vice President.
Adams appointed John Marshall as Chief Justice.
1803 The Supreme Court issued a decision in Marbury v. Madison which overturned the Judiciary Act of 1789.
Louisiana Purchase: The purchase was made.
Mar 1 Ohio, formerly the Northwest Territory, became the 17th state.
1804 The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified.
New Jersey abolished slavery.
July 11 Burr–Hamilton duel: Alexander Hamilton was fatally wounded.
Lewis and Clark set out.
November 2 – December 5 U.S. presidential election, 1804: Jefferson was reelected President; George Clinton was elected Vice President.
1807 The Embargo Act of 1807 was passed.
Robert Fulton invented the steamboat.
1808 The slave trade was ended.
November 4 – December 7 U.S. presidential election, 1808: James Madison was elected president. Clinton was reelected as Vice President.
1809 Madison was inaugurated.
March 1 The Non-Intercourse Act was passed.
1810 The Supreme Court issued a decision in Fletcher v. Peck which overturned a state law.
1811 The charter of the First Bank of the United States expired.
1812 War of 1812: The war began.
Daniel Webster was elected to the United States Congress.
Louisiana became the 18th state.
U.S. presidential election, 1812: Madison was reelected President; Elbridge Gerry was elected United States Vice President.
1814 August 24 Burning of Washington: British troops burned Washington, D.C. but were forced back at Baltimore.
Dec 14 War of 1812: The Treaty of Ghent ended the war.
1815 Jan 8 War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans: The battle took place before notification of the Treaty of Ghent made it to the frontier.
1816 U.S. presidential election, 1816: James Monroe was elected President. Daniel D. Tompkins was elected Vice President.
The Second Bank of the United States was chartered.
Dec 11 Indiana became the 19th state.
1817 Monroe was inaugurated.
The Rush–Bagot Treaty was signed.
Harvard Law School was founded.
Dec 10 Mississippi became the 20th state.
1818 Cumberland Road opened.
Dec 3 Illinois became the 21st state.
The Jackson Purchase in Kentucky was obtained.
1819 Panic of 1819: The panic took place.
The Adams-Onís Treaty, which provided for the acquisition of Florida, was signed.
The decision in McCulloch v. Maryland prohibited state laws from infringing upon federal Constitutional authority.
The decision in Dartmouth College v. Woodward protected the principle of honoring contracts and charters.
Dec 14 Alabama became the 22nd state.
1820 The Missouri Compromise was passed.
March 15 Maine became the 23rd state.
U.S. presidential election, 1820: Monroe was reelected President, Tompkins Vice President.
1821 Aug 10 Missouri became the 24th state.
1823 The Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed.
1824 The decision in Gibbons v. Ogden affirmed federal over state authority in interstate commerce.
U.S. presidential election, 1824: An election was held with inconclusive results.
1825 John Quincy Adams was elected President by the House of Representatives; John C. Calhoun was elected Vice President.
The Erie Canal was completed
1826 July 4 Former Presidents Jefferson and John Adams died within hours of each other on Independence Day
1828 Nullification Crisis: The South Carolina Exposition and Protest was published.
Construction began on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
U.S. presidential election, 1828: Andrew Jackson was elected President. Calhoun continued as Vice President.
1829 Jackson was inaugurated.
1830 Second Great Awakening: A religious revival movement took place.
The Oregon Trail came into use by settlers migrating to the Pacific Northwest.
May 28 The Indian Removal Act was passed.
1831 A revolt led by Nat Turner occurred.
Publication of The Liberator began.
Cyrus McCormick invented the reaper.
Petticoat affair: The affair took place.
1832 The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee Nation in Worcester v. State of Georgia.
Black Hawk War: The war took place.
The Tariff of 1832 was passed.
The Ordinance of Nullification was passed by South Carolina.
The Department of Indian Affairs was established.
United States presidential election, 1832: Jackson was reelected President; Martin Van Buren was elected Vice President of the United States.
Bank War: Jackson vetoed the charter renewal of the Second Bank of the United States.
Calhoun resigned the Vice Presidency.
1833 The Force Bill, expanding Presidential powers, was passed.
Jackson's second inauguration was held.
1834 Slavery debates took place at Lane Theological Seminary.
1835 Texas Revolution: The revolution began.
Alexis De Tocqueville's Democracy in America was published.
Second Seminole War: A war began in Florida with Seminole resistance to relocation.
1836 Battle of the Alamo: The battle took place.
Battle of San Jacinto: The battle took place.
Creek War of 1836: The war took place.
Samuel Colt invented the revolver.
The original "Gag Rule," a bar on discussion of antislavery petitions passed by the House, was imposed.
The Specie Circular was issued.
Jun 15 Arkansas became the 25th state.
U.S. presidential election, 1836: Van Buren was elected President, Richard Mentor Johnson Vice President.
1837 Van Buren was inaugurated.
The United States recognized the Republic of Texas.
Caroline Affair: The affair took place.
Jan 26 Michigan became the 26th state.
Oberlin College began enrolling female students.
Panic of 1837: The panic took place.
A decision in Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge reversed a decision in Dartmouth College v. Woodward and affirmed that property rights can be overridden by public need.
1838 The forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from the Southeastern United States along the Trail of Tears led to over four thousand Native American deaths.
Aroostook War: The war took place.
1840 United States presidential election, 1840: An election was held.
1841 William Henry Harrison became President.
John Quincy Adams argued the case United States v. The Amistad before the Supreme Court.
United States v. The Amistad was decided.
President Harrison died after only a month in office.
John Tyler became President.
1842 August 9 The Webster-Ashburton Treaty was signed.
Dorr Rebellion: A civil war took place in Rhode Island.
1843 An attempt to impeach Tyler failed.
1844 U.S. presidential election, 1844: An election was held.
The anti-suffragist Helen Kendrick Johnson was born.
1845 Texas Annexation: The annexation took place.
James K. Polk became President of the United States.
Mar 3 Florida became the 27th state.
Dec 28 Texas became the 28th state.
1846 Mexican–American War: The war began.
Dec 28 Iowa became the 29th state.
The Wilmot Proviso was introduced.
1848 U.S. presidential election, 1848: An election was held.
May 29 Wisconsin became the 30th state.
Feb 2 Mexican–American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war.
1849 Zachary Taylor became President.
California Gold Rush: The gold rush began.
1850 Taylor threatened to veto the Compromise of 1850 even at the risk of civil war.
Taylor died. Millard Fillmore became President.
The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty was signed.
The Compromise of 1850 was passed.
Sep 9 California became the 31st state.
1852 U.S. presidential election, 1852: An election was held.
1853 Franklin Pierce became President.
Commodore Matthew Perry opened Japan.
1854 The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, nullifying the Missouri Compromise.
Jun 8 The Gadsden Purchase was finalized.
The Ostend Manifesto was issued.
The Convention of Kanagawa was signed.
William Walker led an expedition.
1855 The Farmers' High School, later Penn State University, was founded.
1856 Sacking of Lawrence: The sacking of Lawrence took place.
May 24-May 25 Pottawatomie Massacre: The massacre, led by John Brown, took place.
Preston Brooks beat Charles Sumner with his walking stick in the Senate chamber.
U.S. presidential election, 1856: An election was held.
1857 James Buchanan became President.
A decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford declared that blacks were not citizens of the United States and could not sue.
May Utah War: The war started.
The LeCompton Constitution was rejected in the Kansas Territory.
Panic of 1857: The panic took place.
1858 The first transatlantic cable was laid.
May 11 Minnesota became the 32nd state.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates: The debates were held.
The United States became party to the Treaty of Tientsin.
1859 John Brown led a raid on Harper's Ferry.
Feb 14 Oregon became the 33rd state.
The Comstock Lode was discovered.
1860 The Pony Express was founded.
The Crittenden Compromise was reached.
Nov 6 United States presidential election, 1860: Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States.
Dec 20 South Carolina seceded from the Union.
1861 Ten more states seceded from the Union and established the Confederate States of America.
Jan 29 Kansas became the 34th state.
Jefferson Davis was elected President of the Confederacy.
American Civil War: The war began at Fort Sumter.
First Battle of Bull Run: The battle took place.
1862 Battle of Hampton Roads: A naval battle between the Monitor and Merrimack took place.
The Homestead Act was passed.
The Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act was passed.
General Robert E. Lee was placed in command of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Second Battle of Bull Run: The battle took place.
Battle of Antietam: The battle took place.
Aug-Dec Dakota War of 1862: The war was fought.
1863 Battle of Gettysburg: The battle took place.
Jan 1 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in the rebel states.
Siege of Vicksburg: The siege took place.
New York Draft Riots: Draft riots took place.
Jun 20 Pro-Union counties which had seceded from Virginia became the 35th state, West Virginia.
1864 General Ulysses S. Grant was put in command of all Union forces.
The Wade–Davis Bill was passed.
Sand Creek Massacre: The massacre took place.
Oct 31 Nevada became the 36th state.
U.S. presidential election, 1864: An election was held.
Sherman's March to the Sea: The march took place.
1865 Lee was made commander-in-chief of all Confederate forces.
Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital, was captured by a corps of black Union troops.
Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House.
April 15 Abraham Lincoln assassination: Lincoln was assassinated; Andrew Johnson became President.
American Civil War: The war ended with the surrender of the last elements of the Confederacy.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed, permanently outlawing slavery.
The Freedman's Bureau was established.
1866 The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was passed.
The Ku Klux Klan was founded.
1867 The Tenure of Office Act (1867) was enacted.
Mar 1 Nebraska became the 37th state.
The Alaska Purchase (also known as "Seward's Folly"): The Alaskan territory was purchased from Russia.
1868 Impeachment of Andrew Johnson: The attempted impeachment ended in an acquittal by the Senate.
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, second of the Reconstruction Amendments, was ratified.
Grant was elected President.
1869 The First Transcontinental Railroad was completed at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory.
1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed.
The first graduate programs, at Yale University and Harvard, began.
The Force Acts were passed.
1871 Great Chicago Fire: The fire occurred.
The Treaty of Washington, 1871 was signed with the British Empire regarding the Dominion of Canada.
1872 Yellowstone National Park was created.
Crédit Mobilier scandal: The scandal took place.
The Amnesty Act was passed.
The Alabama Claims were settled.
U.S. presidential election, 1872: An election was held.
1873 Panic of 1873: The panic took place.
Virginius Affair: The affair took place.
1874 Red River Indian War
1875 Kentucky Derby: Aristides (horse) won the first Kentucky Derby.
The Resumption Act was passed.
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was passed.
The Art Students League of New York was founded.
1876 The National League of baseball was founded.
Centennial Exposition: The Exposition, in Philadelphia, was held.
A decision in Munn v. Illinois established the public regulation of utilities.
Colorado became the 38th state.
Battle of Little Bighorn: The battle took place.
Wild Bill Hickok was killed by a shot to the back of the head by Jack McCall while playing poker in Deadwood, South Dakota.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.
U.S. presidential election, 1876: The election produced an unclear, result with twenty Electoral College votes disputed.
1877 The Electoral Commission awarded Rutherford B. Hayes the Presidency.
Reconstruction era of the United States: The era ended.
Nez Perce War: The war took place.
1878 The Bland-Allison Act was passed.
The first Morgan silver dollars were minted.
1879 Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.
The Knights of Labor went public.
1880 The University of Southern California was founded.
The Population of the United States passed fifty million.
1881 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral: A gunfight took place in Tombstone, Arizona Territory.
James Garfield was inaugurated President of the United States.
Garfield was assassinated.
Chester A. Arthur was inaugurated President of the United States.
Clara Barton created the Red Cross.
The Tuskegee Institute was founded
Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett.
A Century of Dishonor was written by Helen Hunt Jackson.
1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed.
Jesse James was shot and killed by Robert Ford and Charlie Ford.
1883 Buffalo Bill Cody debuted his Wild West Show.
A decision in the Civil Rights Cases legalized the doctrine of racial segregation.
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act was passed.
The Brooklyn Bridge opened.
1885 Grover Cleveland was inaugurated as President.
The Washington monument was completed.
1886 Haymarket Riot: The riot took place.
The American Federation of Labor was founded in Columbus, Ohio.
1887 The United States Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The Dawes Act was passed.
The Hatch Act was passed.
1888 Looking Backward, by Edward Bellamy, was published.
The National Geographic Society was founded.
1889 Benjamin Harrison becomes President
Nov 2 North Dakota, South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states.
Nov 8 Montana became the 41st state
Nov 11 Washington became the 42nd state.
Johnstown flood: A flood occurred in Pennsylvania.
Jane Addams founded Hull House.
April 22 Land Run of 1889: The land run began.
1890 The Sherman Antitrust Act was passed.
Jacob Riis published How the Other Half Lives.
The Sherman Silver Purchase Act was passed.
The McKinley tariff was passed.
Yosemite National Park was created.
Jul 3 Idaho became the 43rd state.
Jul 10 Wyoming became the 44th state.
Wounded Knee Massacre: The massacre took place.
The National American Woman Suffrage Association was founded.
1891 Baltimore Crisis: The crisis took place.
James Naismith invented basketball.
1892 Homestead Strike: The strike took place.
General Electric was founded.
The Sierra Club was founded
1893 Cleveland was inaugurated President for a second term.
Panic of 1893: The panic took place.
The Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed.
1894 Coxey's Army marched on Washington, D.C.
Pullman strike: The strike took place.
The Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, including an income tax, was passed.
1895 Stagger Lee Shelton shot Billy Lyons.
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Company was decided, striking down part of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act.
1896 A decision in Plessy v. Ferguson affirmed the legality of "separate but equal" facilities.
William Jennings Bryan delivered his Cross of Gold speech.
Gold was discovered in the Yukon's Klondike region.
Jan 4 Utah became the 45th state.
1897 William McKinley became President.
The Boston subway was completed.
The Dingley Act was passed.
1898 The USS Maine exploded in Havana harbor.
The De Lôme Letter was published.
Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris (1898) ended the war.
Jul 7 Republic of Hawaii was annexed.
The Newlands Resolution was passed.
The American Anti-Imperialist League was organized.
1899 The Teller Amendment was passed.
American Samoa was occupied.
The Open Door Policy was announced.
1900 The United States population exceeded seventy-five million. see Demographics of the United States.
The Foraker Act was passed.
The Gold Standard Act was passed.
Boxer Rebellion: The United States helped put down the rebellion.
1900 Galveston hurricane: The hurricane took place.

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