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1810-1819 |
Political and
Social History |
Literature |
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1810 |
Third national census records 7,239,881 people
John Jacob Astor founds the Pacific Fur
Company. In 1811, this company establishes a trading post at Astoria at the
mouth of the Oregon River. Astor loses this post during the War of 1812.
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Charles Jared Ingersoll (1782-1862),
Inchiquin, the Jesuit's Letters, a volume defending the American scene
against the criticisms of English travel writers. |
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1811 |
7 November. Battle of Tippecanoe at
which
William Henry Harrison and his troops engage Shawnee and Creek forces
led by The Prophet. Tecumseh has earlier sought allies among the Creek
Indian tribes. |
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1812 |
State of Louisiana enters the union.
1 June. Despite the opposition of most
New England and Middle Atlantic states, President Madison asks for a
declaration of war against Great Britain because of the impressment of
seamen and the blockade of American ports. War is declared on 19 June. The
British attack Sacketts Harbor, New York, on Lake Ontario in early July.
James Madison re-elected to a second term as
president, defeating New York's DeWitt Clinton.
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James Kirke Paulding (1778-1860), The
Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan, a satiric account
of the founding and rebellion of the American colonies |
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1813 |
 War
of 1812 continues as various negotiations break down. (Image
of HMS Shannon firing a broadside at the US frigate Chesapeake off Boston
Harbor on 1 June 1813 courtesy of the
War of 1812 website.)
5 October. Death of Tecumseh and defeat
of the British in the Battle of the Thames (north of Lake Erie).
17 December. Embargo on British trade
becomes law.
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1814 |
Embargo Act is officially repealed.
Creek War ends with the Creek nation ceding
two-thirds of its land in southern Georgia to the U. S.
 24-25
August. British forces invade Washington and set fire to the Capitol,
the White House, and other buildings. (Image courtesy of the
Images of
American Political History site.)
11 September. American naval forces
gain control of Lake Champlain.
Congress purchases Thomas Jefferson's
7,000-volume library to replace the books burned in the Library of Congress.
24 December.
Treaty of Ghent ends the War of 1812.
Francis Cabot Lowell builds the first American
factory to combine cotton weaving and spinning in Waltham, Massachusetts.
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Francis Scott Key, "The Star-Spangled Banner" |
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1815 |
8 January. Unaware that the War of 1812
has ended, the British attack Andrew Jackson in New Orleans, losing 2,036
soldiers. U. S. casualties include eight killed and 13 wounded. |
Philip
Freneau, Poems
The North American Review (1815-1939) |
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1816 |
In Philadelphia, African Americans establish
the first African Methodist Church.
This is the "year of no summer" in New
England; 10 inches of snow fall in Massachusetts in June.
Indiana is admitted to the union as a free
state.
Founding of American Colonization Society, the
purpose of which is to return freed slaves to Africa.
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1817 |
James Monroe is inaugurated as fifth president
of the U. S.
N. Y. legislature authorizes construction of
the Erie Canal, which opens in 1825.
"Era of Good Feeling" ensues since both
Democratic-Republicans and Federalists are pleased at Monroe's election.
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William
Cullen Bryant, "Thanatopsis" |
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1818 |
First Pension Act provides for veterans of the
Revolutionary War.
Congress limits the number of stripes on the
flag to 13 for the original colonies.
Andrew Jackson begins his First Seminole War
campaign in Florida.
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William
Cullen Bryant, "To a Waterfowl" |
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1819 |
Arkansas County of the Missouri Territory
reorganized as the Arkansas Territory.
Congress offers $50 reward for reporting the
illegal importation of slaves into the United States.
William Ellery Channing's sermon "Unitarian
Christianity" underscores the differences between Unitarians and other
Christian denominations.
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Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" appears in the May 1819 first
installment of The Sketch Book
Mordecai Noah's drama She Would Be a
Soldier is produced and then published. It is the story of Christine,
who disguises herself as a soldier during the Battle of Chippewa (5 July
1814) and is rescued by the American soldier she loves.
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