Spirit of America BookstoreU.S. Timeline – 1801 to 1900
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Manifest Destiny
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Manifest Destiny
- 1801 Feb 27: District of Columbia placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.
- 1802 March 16: Congress established the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York; signed same day by President Jefferson.
- 1802 May 3: City of Washington, D.C. incorporated.
- 1803 April 30: Purchase agreement for the Louisiana Territory completed between France and the U.S., for a price of $15 million.
- 1803 May 25: Birthday of transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson; he died in 1882.
- 1803 Oct 20: Louisiana Purchase ratified by U.S. Senate.
- 1803 Dec 8: 12th Amendment proposed to states for ratification.
- 1803 Dec 20: Formal transfer of 800,000-square-mile Louisiana Territory by France to the U.S., which doubled the country's land area.
- 1804 March 10: Formal ceremonies transferring Louisiana Territory from France to U.S. in St. Louis on the Mississippi River, attended by Lewis & Clark.
- 1804 May 14: Under orders from President Jefferson, Lewis & Clarke's 'Corps of Discovery' expedition set out by keelboat up the Missouri River.
- 1804 July 27: 12th Amendment ratified by states.
- 1804 Sept 25: 12th Amendment went into effect.
- 1805 April 27: An American-led force of Marines & mercenaries captured the city of Dema 'on the shores of Tripoli', during the First Barbary War.
- 1805 Nov 7: Lewis & Clark reach Gray's Bay, Washington and assume that they have reached the Pacific Ocean.
- 1805 Dec 5: Lewis locates site for winter camp, called Fort Clatsop.
- 1805 Dec 24: Ft. Clatsop completed, all move in.
- 1806 March 23: Having stayed the winter on the Pacific Coast at Ft. Clatsop (near present-day Astoria, Oregon}, the Lewis & Clark expedition set out for home.
- 1806 Sept 23: Lewis & Clark arrived back at St. Louis.
- 1807 Jan 19: Birthday of Gen. Robert E. Lee in rural Virginia; he died in 1870.
- 1807 Aug 3: Federal court in Richmond, Virginia began trial on charges of treason against former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr (he was acquitted).
- 1809 Jan 19: Author Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1809 Feb 12: Birthday of Abraham Lincoln; he died in 1865.
- 1812 June 4: Louisiana Territory was renamed the Missouri Territory.
- 1812 June 18: At the urging of President Madison, Congress declared war against Britain by a vote of 98-62.
- 1814 Sept 14: Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner" after witnessing the bombardment by British gunboats of Fort McHenry in Maryland.
- 1814 Dec 24: Signing of the Treaty of Ghent officially ended the War of 1812, although fighting in the field continued thru February.
- 1815 Jan 8: U.S. forces led by Gen. Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans.
- 1817 Feb 17: First street in America to be lighted by natural gas from America's first gas company, in Baltimore, Maryland.
- 1817 July 12: Birthday of transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau; he died in 1862.
- 1817 July 4: Construction began on the Erie Canal between Albany {on the Hudson River} and Buffalo {on Lake Erie}.
- 1818 April 4: Congress passed a law defining the U.S. flag as 13 red-and-white stripes and a blue field with 20 stars, with one star to be added for each additional state.
- 1819 Feb 22: Spain ceded Florida to the U.S. (Adams-Onís Treaty)
- 1819 May 31: Birthday of poet Walt Whitman; he died in 1892.
- 1819 Aug 1: Birthday of author Herman Melville in New York City; he died in 1891.
- 1820 Nov 18: U.S. Navy Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer and his crew discovered the frozen continernt of Antarctica.
- 1821: The Santa Fe Trail opened.
- 1821 Feb 24: Mexico declared its independence from Spain as rebels proclaimed the "Plan de Iguala".
- 1822: Englishman William Underwood set up a small condiment business on Boston's Russia Wharf; his sons put Underwood's Deviled Ham on the market in 1868 (oldest U.S. trademark still in use).
- 1822 Feb 23: Charter granted to Boston, Massachusetts to incorporate as a city.
- 1822 March 30: Florida became a U.S. Territory.
- 1823 Dec 2: President Monroe outlined his doctrine opposing further European expansion in the Western Hemisphere.
- 1825: The first Mountain Man Rendesvouz at Henry's Fork, Wyoming.
- 1825 Oct 26: The 363-mile Erie Canal in New York was opened to traffic.
- 1827 Feb 28: Incorporation of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the first U.S. railroad chartered for both passengers & freight.
- 1828 July 4: Charles Carroll, the last-surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, participated in the ceremony laying the first stone of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
- 1830: Founding of Woolrich Outdoor Clothing in Woolrich, Pennsylvania.
- 1830 April 6: Joseph Smith established the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New York.
- 1830 May 24: First U.S. passenger railroad began service between Baltimore & Elliott's Mills, Maryland.
- 1831: Camden & Amboy Railroad of New Jersey imported the 'John Bull' locomotive from England; the steam engine is now the oldest operative self-propelled vehicle in the world, on exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
- 1832: Hot Springs, Arkansas was designated a 'National Preserve'; eventually received National Park status in 1921.
- 1832 May 21: Democratic National Party opened its first convention in Baltimore, Maryland.
- 1832 Nov 26: Launch of public streetcar service in New York City.
- 1835 Nov 30: Birthday of author / humorist Mark Twain in Hannibal, Missouri; he died in 1910.
- 1836 Feb 23: Start of the seige at The Alamo near San Antonio, Texas.
- 1836 Feb 25: Inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver.
- 1836 March 2: Texas declared its independence from Mexico.
- 1836 March 6: The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas fell to Santa Ana's army after a 13-day siege.
- 1836 April 20: Congress established the Wisconsin Territory.
- 1836 April 21: The Battle of San Jacinto (about 25 miles east of present-day Houston, Texas) was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Hundreds of Mexican soldiers were killed or captured, while there were only nine Texan casualties.
- 1836 May 14: Mexican President Gen. Santa Anna signed the Treaties of Velasco, granting the Republic of Texas independence from Mexico. (Mexico did not officially cede Texas until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War in 1848.)
- 1838 Jan 6: First public demonstration of the telegraph by Samuel F.B. Morse and Alfred Vail in Morristown, New Jersey.
- 1843: Hand-cranked ice cream freezer patented by Nancy Johnson.
- 1844 May 24: America's first telegraph line opened from Washington, DC to Baltimore, Maryland with inventor Samuel F.B. Morse transmitting the message 'What hath God wrought!'.
- 1844 June 15: Charles Goodyear received a patent for his process to strengthen rubber.
- 1845 Jan 29: First publication of Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven", in the New York Evening Mirror.
- 1846 April 25: Beginning of the U.S. War with Mexico.
- 1846 May: Founding of the Associated Press.
- 1846 June 14: A group of U.S. settlers in Sonoma, California proclaimed the Republic of California.
- 1846 July 7: Mexican garrison at Monterey surrendered to U.S. forces, who then claimed annexation of California.
- 1846 Aug 10: Congress established the Smithsonian Institution, named after donor James Smithson.
- 1846 Aug 22: The U.S. annexed New Mexico (which included present-day Arizona).
- 1846 Sept 10: Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine.
- 1847: New England ship captain Hanson Gregory invented the hole in the doughnut, to improve his mother's deep-fried pastries; commemorated by a bronze plaque at his hometown of Rockport, Maine.
- 1847 Feb 11: Birth of inventor Thomas Alva Edison in Milan, Ohio.
- 1847 Sept 14: U.S. forces under Gen. Winfield Scott took control of Mexico City.
- 1848 Jan 24: James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill on the American River in California, leading to the 'Gold Rush' of 1849.
- 1848 Feb 2: U.S. War with Mexico ended (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo).
- 1848 Feb 21: Karl Marx [1818-83] and Friedrich Engels [1820-95] published the pamphlet "Communist Manifesto" in London, U.K.
- 1848 March 19: Birthday of lawman Wyatt Earp; he died in 1929 in Los Angeles, California.
- 1848 May 30: William G. Young of Baltimore, MD received a patent for an 'Ice Cream Freezer'.
- 1848 August: First U.S. women's suffragist convestion in upstate New York.
- 1849 March 3: Congress established the Department of Interior.
- 1849 Oct 7: Author Edgar Allen Poe died in Baltimore, Maryland at age 40.
- 1850 April 4: Incorporation of the City of Los Angeles, California.
- 1850 April 15: Incorporation of the City of San Francisco, California.
- 1850 July 9: Zachary Taylor, 12th U.S. President, died after 16 months in office.
- 1851 Sept 18: First edition of the New York Times published.
- 1851 Nov 14: Herman Melville's masterpiece "Moby-Dick, or The Whale" was published by Harper & Bros. in New York City.
- 1852 March 13: First use of the Uncle Sam character, in the New York Lantern newspaper.
- 1852 March 20: Publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin". [historical site]
- 1853 July 8: U.S. Navy expedition led by Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Yedo {Tokyo} Bay in Japan on a mission to open diplomatic & trade relations with the Emperor.
- 1853 Aug 24: When railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt complained that his fried potatoes were too thick, the chef at Moon's Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York, an American Indian named George Crum, retaliated by slicing paper thin strips of potatoes and frying them to a crisp; Vanderbilt loved them, and 'Saratoga Chips' became an instant success.
- 1853 Dec 30: U.S. bought 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico, known as the 'Gadsden Purchase'.
- 1854 Feb 28: Anti-slavery political party created in Ripon, Wisconsin, which later became the Republican Party.
- 1854 Aug 9: Henry David Thoreau published "Walden".
- 1854 Aug 26: Launch of the last all-sail-powered U.S. warship Constellation, now a floating museum in Baltimore, Maryland. [Postage stamp issued 30 June 2004]
- 1855 July 4th: First edition of Walt Whitman's self-published "Leaves of Grass"; many revisions & additions until his death in 1892.
- 1856 May 15: Birthday of author L. Frank Baum, creator of "The Wizard of Oz"; he died in 1919.
- 1856 July 9: Birthday of genius inventor Nikola Tesla; he died in 1943 in New York City.
- 1857: Joseph C. Gayette of New York City invented toilet paper.
- 1857 March 6: U.S. Supreme Court Dred Scott vs. Sanford decision, holding that a slave could not sue for his freedom in federal court.
- 1857 July 30: Birthday of sociologist / economist Thorstein Veblen; he died in 1929.
- 1857 Sept 11: One hundred forty men, women, and children from Northwest Arkansas were slaughtered by local Mormon settlers and their Indian allies about 40 miles southwest of present-day Cedar City, Utah; the event was covered up at the time, but is now known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
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"Burying The Past: Legacy of The Mountain Meadows Massacre"
[Patrick Film 2004]
Historical documentary & re-enactment; produced, written & directed by Brian F. Patrick
VHS & DVD available at website;
full credits from IMDb •
official movie website
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"Effigy: Mormons, Polygamy, Taxidermy, Love" [2007]
by Alissa York
A fictional account of a Mormon household in Utah, ten years after the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Thomas Dunne Books hardcover [9/2008] for $17.13 
Random House Canada hardcover [4/2007] out of print/used
author's official website
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"September Dawn" [indep Aug 2007]
Fictionalized re-enactment of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, where the Mormon landowner decides to slaughter a wagon train of 'gentiles' because his son is attracted to one of the women.
Co-produced, co-written & directed by Christopher Cain; starring Jon Voight, Terence Stamp, Trent Ford, Jon Gries, Lolita Davidovich, Taylor Handley, Daniel Libman, Tamara Hope, Barbara Gates Wilson, Huntley Ritter & Dean Cain
Sony widescreen color DVD [1/2008] for $19.94
full credits from IMDb •
official movie site
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- 1858 April 6: President Buchanan declared Mormons in the Utah Territory rebels against the U.S. government.
- 1858 Nov 30: Patent 22,186 issued to tinsmith John Landis Mason for metal screw-on lids for glass fruit jars; the distinctive rubber ring of the 'Mason jar' was added later.
- 1859: The Great American Tea Company opened its first store; the name was changed to Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company in 1870; in 1912, the company began expanding into the A&P Economy Stores, America's first grocery chain.
- 1859 March 1: Birthday of author / activist Charles Fletcher Lummis; he died in 1928.
- 1859 Aug 27: Col. Edwin L. Drake drilled the first successful U.S. oil well, near Titusville, Pennsylvania.
- 1859 Oct 16: Kansas abolitionist John Brown and 19 men captured the Armory at Harper's Ferry, {West} Virginia. The insurrectionists were overtaken next day by U.S. Marines led by Lt.Col. Robert E. Lee & Lt. J.E.B. Stuart. Brown's men had killed four civilians and wounded nine; ten of Brown's men were killed, including two of his sons.
- 1859 Nov 20: Birthday of outlaw William Bonney aka 'Billy the Kid' in New York City; he died in 1881 at age 21.
- 1859 Nov 24: Publication of "On The Origin of Species" in London, U.K. by British naturalist Charles Darwin [1809-82].
- 1859 Dec 2: Hanging of abolitionist John Brown for his October raid at Harper's Ferry.
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![Postage stamp issued 30 June 2004]](images/USSconstellation2004stamp.jpg){kind=link}
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