1800
The Library of Congress is founded
The Library of Congress is founded
Noah Webster publishes the American Spelling Book
Average of 7.04 children born to each American woman
Congress convenes in Washington, DC for the first time on November 17th
The census records a population about 5.3 million people
The free blacks of Philadelphia present a petition opposing slavery to Congress. The petition expires in committee.
The University of Georgia opens
At a Presbyterian camp meeting in Cane Ridge, Kentucky, the religious Great Revival of the West begins
War with Tripoli begins
John James Beckley is appointed as the first Librarian of Congress
The Society of Fine Arts in New York is established as the first major American art academy
The Naturalization Act of 1802 declares that 5 years of residency are required in order to render an alien eligible for American citizenship
A government-sponsored expedition sets out down the Ohio river on a 3 year journey of exploration and discovery
Passage of the 12th Amendment means that the election of president and vice president occur on separate ballots
The start of America's expansion westward follows the Louisiana Purchase
The New York Historical Society is established, providing permanent preservation of the nation's historical documents and records
The Lewis and Clark Expedition leaves St Louis in May, beginning a journey westward up the Missouri River
Thomas Jefferson wins a second term as president and is inaugurated on March 4
The New York Free School Society is founded by Mayor DeWitt Clinton for the free education of poor children of no religious denomination
War with Tripoli ends with a peace treaty in June
Charles Willson Peale founds the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
Mercy Otis Warren publishes Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution, the first account of the era written by an American
Noah Webster publishes the Compendious Dictionary of the English Language
In Massachusetts, a group of five Williams College students establish 'The Brethren' to facilitate American missionary work in other countries
The first reliable steamboat travels from New York City to Albany, N.Y. up the Hudson River. The trip takes 32 hours.
The Embargo Act becomes law, which essentially bans all trade with foreign countries
Congress passes legislation prohibiting the importation of slaves into the U.S. after January 1, 1808
A series of essays titled Salmagundiis published, marking the beginning of the Knickerbocker school of writers
The first black private school, started at the beginning of the century by Prince Hall, moves to the African Meeting House on Beacon Hill
Importing slaves from Africa is prohibited
The Democratic-Republican candidate James Madison defeates Charles Cotesworth Pinckney to become President
The Theatre d'Orleans opens in New Orleans, the opera capital of the U.S.
The Osage, a Sioux tribe, sign the Osage Treaty ceding their lands to the U.S.
The Phoenix completes the first sea voyage by a steamboat by traveling around the shores of New Jersey. It was designed by John Stevens.
New England governors refuse to supply militia to enforce the Embargo Acts of 1807 and 1808
Washington Irving publishes History of New York
Yale Medical School opens
Aeronauts A.R.Hawley and Augustus Post complete a balloon flight of over 1000 miles from St Louis to Canada
Missionary societies such as the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and the American Home Missionary Society, brought together state societies with similar aims
Johann Christian Gottlieb Graupner founds the Boston Philharmonic Society, the first regular orchestra in the U.S.
Third national census records about 7.2 million people
Francis Cabot Lowell visits Britain and views a power loom. He invents his own power loom founds textile plants and factory towns in New England.
A group of Russian settlers lands at Bodega Bay in California. They establish Fort Ross.
A cabinet maker in Massachusetts produces the first wood pencils
James Madison is reelcted to a second term as President
War is declared on June 19th against Great Britain because of the impressment of seamen and the blockade of American ports
The court case 'Pennsylvania v. Addicks' introduces the concept of "the best interests of the child" in custody cases
Tecumseh, a Shawnee Chief is killed in the Battle of the Thames. He had tried to unify the different tribes in the region in order to stop the expansion of the white settlers.
Treaty of Ghent ends the War of 1812
Francis Scott Key writes The Star-Spangled Banner
Thomas Jefferson's library of 7,000 volumes is purchased by the Library of Congress to form the core of its collection
The first issue of the scholarly journal North American Review is published
John Pickering publishes Vocabulary, a dictionary of indigenous American words and phrases
Baltimore, Maryland is the first American city to use a gas company for the purpose of street lighting. The city is illuminated at night by coal gas.
The African Methodist Church is established as the first black church in the U.S. to be completely independent of white churches
The American Education Society was set up to train ministers
Robert Finley founds the American Colonization Society, the purpose of which is to return freed slaves to Africa
Harvard Law School is established as the first centre for professional training in law
The state-financed construction of the Erie Canal is authorised. The waterway will give New York City access to the West.
James Monroe is inaugurated as the fifth president of the U.S.
Approximately 30,000 immigrants enter the U.S.
The University of Virginia was founded by Thomas Jefferson
In New York, the Bank for Savings is the first place where women can open their own accounts
William Ellery Channing's speech on 'Unitarian Christianity' underlines the divisions between Unitarians and Christians
Congress offers a $50 reward for reporting the illegal importation of slaves into the United States
The first Roman Catholic school is founded in Boston
James Monroe is reelected as president
The Land Law fixes land price at a minimum of $1.25 per acre
The Hudson River School, America's first main school of painting emerge
U.S. population totals 9.6 million
Emma Hart Willard founds The Waterford Academy for Young Ladies. It is the first women's collegiate-level school.
Boston's English Classical School is the first public high school
The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) Zion Church is established
Missouri becomes the 24th state in the union
The republic of Liberia in West Africa is established as a refuge for freed slaves by the American Colonization Society
Locally run benevolent groups such as the Female Charitable Society of Rochester, New York, are established to aid the sick and the poor
The Monroe Doctrine is delivered to Congress on December 2nd, stating that the U.S. will not tolerate European intervention in the Americas
James Fenimore Cooper publishes The Pioneers
The Rensselaer School of Theoretical and Practical Science is established in Troy, New York as the first solely technical school
The American Sunday School Union is founded
John Quincy Adams is elected President
The Boston Philharmonic Society play their last concert at the Pantheon, Boston
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is established
Miami University in Ohio promotes a study program allowing students to substitute classical languages and mathematics for more modern subjects
The Erie Canal is completed, at 363 miles long
The United Tailoresses Society of New York, the first women's labor organization, is formed
The American Tract Society is organised and soon floods the country with Christian literature
The first section of American railroad is completed in Quincy, Massachusetts
Women from New England are recruited to work in factory towns, often working up to 14 hours a day but with more opportunites for education
The first American Temperance Society is founded in Boston. Within a decade there were more than 1.5 million members.
Samuel Griswold Goodrich publishes the Peter Parley textbooks
The law states that towns with 500 families or more are required to provide public high schools
One of the first American restaurants, Delmonicos, opens in New York City
The first black newspaper, Freedom's Journal, is printed in New York
Noah Webster publishes American Dictionary of the English Language containing over 70,000 definitions
The American Peace Society is set up to undertake missionary work
Andrew Jackson is elected President, defeating John Quincy Adams by an overwhelming majority
The Cherokee Phoenix is published - the first American newspaper published in a Native American language
The New England Asylum for the Blind (later The Perkins School for the Blind) opens its doors to disabled children
The first steam-powered locomotive in America is tested
Creek Indians receive orders to relocate across the Mississippi River
Cook stoves gain widespread use in homes
The first locomotive built in America runs on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Joseph Smith publishes the Book of Mormon and establishes the Church of Latter-Day Saints
Congress passes the Indian Removal Act
Godey’s Lady’s Book is launched and runs until 1898
U.S. population is 12.8 million
A new wave of German immigrants arrive in the U.S.
The Female Literary Association of Philadelphia and the African-American Female Intelligence Society of Boston are formed
Dr Samuel Francis Smith's song America, written to the tune of God Save the King, is sung for the first time in Massachusetts
The Liberator, an abolitionist paper is launched and runs until 1865
Prudence Crandall begins a two-year struggle to run a seminary which included African-American girls among its students
Samuel Morse develops the idea of electromagnetic telegraphy and a signalling alphabet known as Morse Code
Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society is founded
A pastoral letter from the Presbyterian General Assembly approves of women’s prayer meetings but forbids speeches to ‘promiscuous’ (mixed-sex) gatherings
Andrew Jackson is reelected President
The American Democratic Party is formed
The New England Anti-Slavery Society is founded
Oberlin College opens in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the first coeducational and multi-racial college in the United States.
The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society is founded
Massachusetts becomes the last of the states to sever the connection between church and state with the disestablishment of the Congregational Church
The first issue of Knickerbocker Magazine appears. It will be the country's most popular and influential literary magazine until it ceases publication in 1859.
George Bancroft publishes the first volume of History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent. It will take 40 years to publish the tenth and final volume.
The horse-drawn grain reaper is patented by Cyrus McCormick
Anti-Catholic protestors burn a convent in Somerville, Massachusetts
A Methodist mission is established in Oregon to work with Native Americans on the Willamette River
3000 lyceums exist in towns throughout the country. This method of adult education featured a mix of speakers and entertainment.
The nation's first women's prison opens in New York
National debt is paid off. The state banks begin to issue bank notes not backed by gold and silver, resulting in inflation.
Edgar Allen Poe is appointed editor of the newly published Southern Literary Messenger
Abolitionist writers are expelled from Southern states
Holmes McGuffey publishes the first of his Eclectic Readers, which become classic schoolbooks in America
Samuel Colt receives an American patent for his revolving pistol
Female workers in Lowell Massachusetts textile mills strike
Wesleyan Female College in Macon, Georgia, was the institution to first grant college degrees to women
A wagon train of missionaries and their wives arrive at Walla Walla on the Columbia and Snake Rivers
Around 500 abolitionist societies exist in the North
Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, the first four-year college exclusively for women
Horace Mann collects statistics on Massachusetts schools and issues his first Annual Report on education
John Deere developed and began commercially manufacturing the cast-steel plow
The first National Female Anti-Slavery Society convention meets in New York City. 81 delegates from 12 states attend.
Increasing inflation and shrinking credit causes financial panic, widespread bank failures and unemployment
Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine is published
Mary Ann Lee and Augusta Maywood are among the first American ballet dancers, making their debut together in Maid of Cashmere
The first public demonstration of the electrical telegraph occurs at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia
The Great Western steamship begins offering service between New York and Bristol, England
Kentucky legislature grants school suffrage to widows who have children of school age
The Unitarian leader William Ellery Channing publishes Self Culture, promoting the doctrine of 'self-improvement' and providing an alternative to strict Calvinist theology
Edward Hoyle publishes his Improved Edition of the Rules for the Playing of Fashionable Games. It becomes the handbook for card games.
Cherokee Indians are expelled from the East Coast and begin the 'Trail of Tears' toward reservations in the Midwest
Horace Mann starts the first public school for teacher training in the country at Lexington, Massachusetts. It enrols only young women.
Mississippi passes the first Married Woman's Property Act which allows women to retain their personal property after marriage
Abner Doubleday determines the first set of rules for the game of baseball
Common school systems become a popular form of education
The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery is established; the first specialist college of its kind
Wilkes Expedition, a flotilla of six small ships, discovers Antarctica
Lucretia Mott is denied a seat at the World Anti-Slavery Conference in London because of her gender
William Henry Harrison is elected President
The 'Transcendentalists' who discuss philosophy and literature, begin to publish their own journal The Dial
U.S. population is around 17 million
An unprecedented amount of immigrants begin to arrive from Germany, Ireland, Italy, England, Scotland, Wales, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Scandinavia, Russia and Canada
Oberlin College awards its first academic degrees to three women
William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia and Vice-President John Tyler becomes president.
Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories establish conventions of the detective fiction genre
Horace Greeley begins to publish the New York Tribune
Francis Wayland, president of Brown College publishes Thoughts on the Present Collegiate System in the United States, advising that students should be allowed to choose their own courses of study
P.T.Barnum opens his American Museum to the public in New York City
The New York Philharmonic is founded, presenting four programs per season
In New York City, German Jews organize the B'nai B'rith
Beginning of large migration westward
Samuel Morse adapts his design into a telegraph that could cover long distances
Joseph Smith, leader of the Mormons, is killed by a mob
Anti-Catholic riots in Philadelphia against the attempts by the Catholics in the city to end Bible-reading in the public schools
James K. Polk defeats Henry Clay for the Presidency
The pioneering Limestone Springs Female High School opens in South Carolina
Margaret Fuller publishes Woman in the Nineteenth Century, a collection of essays on the role of women in America
The Methodist Episcopal church splits into Northern and Southern conferences over the slavery question
The first American opera, Leonora is written by William Henry Fry
The potato famine in Ireland brings great numbers of Irish immigrants to the U.S.
Six women demand equal rights in a petition to New York's constitutional convention.
The Mormon emigration to Utah begins
Congress declare war on Mexico
The first match baseball game is played in New Jersey
The tuition-free Academy of New York City (later City College of New York), was chartered by the New York State Legislature
Maria Mitchell is recognized as the first woman astonomer in America when she discovers a comet. She is the first woman admitted to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Adhesive postage stamps, approved by Congress, go on sale in New York in July
The University of Mississippi opens to its first 80 students
The first women's rights convention in the U.S is held in Seneca Falls, New York organised by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Women's rights meetings are held on a regular basis from now on.
President Polk confirms the discovery of gold in California, sparking a rush to the West
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican War and cedes Texas, California, and New Mexico to the U.S.
Benjamin Baker writes a play, A Glance at New York, which starts a trend for plays portraying city life
The nation's first department store opens on Broadway
Elizabeth Blackwell graduates from Geneva College, N.Y and becomes the first woman to receive the M.D. degree
Amelia Bloomer begins publishing The Lily, supporting temperance and women's rights
The United Brethren charter Otterbein University in Ohio
The Baptists found William Jewell College in Missouri, and the Presbyterians found Austin College in Texas
Zachary Taylor becomes the 12th President of the U.S
Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery. Over the next ten years she leads many slaves to freedom by the Underground Railroad.
Although Congress abolishes flogging in the Navy, it remains legal for schoolteachers to use such punishment to make their pupils behave
The National Women's Rights Convention is held in Worcester, Massachusetts
The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania becomes the first medical school for women
Fugitive Slave Act provides for the return of slaves brought to free states
Millard Fillmore becomes President after the death of Zachary Taylor
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter becomes an instant bestseller, tackling the subject of adultery
U.S. population totals 23.1 million