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Written Expressly for Rapid Reference: Jefferson

He defeated his rival Thomas Jefferson by only two electoral votes.

1799-George Washington died at his home, Mount Vernon, Va., after a brief illness, Dec. 14. His last hours were marked by his habitual calmness and dignity.

1800-The Capital was transferred from Philadelphia to Washington. 1801-Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated third President of the United States, March 4. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and the embodiment of the Democratic principle. (

1801-The piratical Barbary States compelled Christian nations, to pay them an annual tribute for immunity against attack. The United States followed the example of the other European nations in the payment of this tribute. The Bashaw of Tripoli, not satisfied with the conduct of the United States in this regard, declared war against us. President Jefferson sent a fleet thither in 1803, which bombarded the city of Tripoli, and compelled the haughty pirates to agree to a treaty of peace, in 1805.

1802-Ohio, the seventeenth State, was received into the Union, Nov. 29. It derives its title from the river of that name, which signifies "beautiful river." It was first explored by the French, under La Salle, about 1680.

1803-On April 30, the United States purchased from France, (then under Napoleon) the Louisiana Territory, embracing all the regions west of the Mississippi not held by Spain. It extended from the Gulf of Mexico to the present British boundary, and embraced an area of over a million square miles. It was purchased for the sum of $15,000,000.

1804-Alexander Hamilton was killed by Aaron Burr in a duel, at Weehawken, N. J., July 11.

1807-On June 22, the British frigate Leopard, fired into the American frigate Chesapeake, off the Virginia coast. This act was done in sustainment of England's claim to search American vessels, and impress her subjects found on American ships into her service. The American Frigate being wholly unprepared for such an attack, struck her colors, whereupon four of her crew, three of them Americans by birth, were taken, on the pretext that they were deserters. England disavowed the act, but made no reparation, and the result was that an embargo was laid on American ships by Congress, and all intercourse with England suspended.

1807-Robert Fulton's steamboat Clermont, ascended the Hudson from New York to Albany, Sept. 14, and the success of steam navigation was assured.

1809-James Madison was inaugurated fourth President of the United States, March 4.

1811-The battle of Tippecanoe was fought Nov. 7, between Gen. Harrison, and the famous chief Tecumseh, who had formed a confederacy of the northwestern tribes. The Indians who had been instigated to hostilities by the British, were defeated and dispersed.

1812-Louisiana, the eighteenth State, was admitted to the Union, April 8. The territory was so named, in honor of the French King, Louis XIV.

1812-On June 19, the United States declared war against Great Britain. On the 16th of May of the preceding year, the American frigate President, having hailed the British Sloop of war Little Belt, was fired on by the latter. The American vessel returned the fire, disabled the British ship, and received a civil answer. Meantime the British Government continued to seize our vessels and impress our seamen. All hope of inducing the British Government to relinquish its offensive course being abandoned, war was declared.

1812-Gen. Hull invaded Canada, July 12, but on the approach of the British under Brock, and the Indians under Tecumseh, he retreated to Detroit, which without even stipulating for the honors of war, he surrendered in the most cowardly manner.

The British were handed over all Michigan with its garrison and stores, Aug. 16.

1812-On Oct. 13. Gen. Van Rensselaer fought the battle of Queenstown Heights. The English were dislodged from their position, and their Gen. Brock killed; but the American militia denying the constitutional right to take them out of the State, refused to cross over to the aid of Van Rensselaer's force. The latter after an roic struggle was compelled to surrender.

1812-August 19, the British frigate Guierrier was captured off the east coast of Massachusetts, by the American frigate Constitution (old ironsides), Captain Isaac Hull commanding, after a fierce fight.

1812-On Oct. 13, the English brig Frolic, was defeated by the American sloop Wasp, off the coast of North Carolina. The man at the helm was the only one on board the Frolic who remained uninjured. During this year American privateers captured over three hundred British prizes.

1813-On June 1, the American frigate Chesapeake, Captain Lawrence commanding, was captured by the British ship Shannon, near Boston. It was there that the heroic Lawrence, as he was being carried below mortally wounded, uttered the memorable saying: "Don't give up the ship."

1813-On August 30, the massacre of Fort Mimms was perpetrated by the Creek Indians, who broke into the fort and slew the garrison, and women and children. Gen. Jackson was despatched against them, and came upon them at Horse-shoe Bend March 27, 1814; he slew six hundred of them and compelled the remainder to sue for peace.

1813-On Sept. 10, Perry won his great victory over the British on Lake Erie. Capt. Perry at the time was only twenty-seven years old. He had never seen a naval battle, while his opponent Capt. Barclay was one of Lord Nelson's veterans, and had lost an arm in the service. Perry's vessels were crude, made out of the trees of the forest, while the British vessels were of the best type of the time. The American flotilla consisted of nine vessels of fifty-four guns; the British of six vessels, with sixty-three guns. When his flagship, which had engaged two English vessels, was disabled, and only eight of the crew left he jumped into an open boat, and bore his flag to the Niagara. He passed through the enemy's line, at pistol shot range unscathed, and fifteen minutes after he had gained the deck of the Niagara, he was able to write to President Villiam Harrison the famous despatch: "We have met the enemy and they are ours." 1813-On October 5, was fought the battle of the Thames, between the forces of Gen. Harrison and the British and Indians under Proctor and Tecumseh. The British were defeated and surrendered; Proctor escaped through the fleetness of his horse; Tecumseh was slain during the action; and the victory in connection with Perry's on Lake Erie, virtually ended the war.

1814-Gen. Scott defeated the British, July 5, at the battle of Chippewa.

1814-On July 25, Gen. Scott won the battle of Lundy's Lane, with only a thousand men. This action was singularly bloodless, considering the numbers of those engaged, and was barren of results.

1814-On Sept. 11, Commodore McDonough almost annihilated the British squadron on Lake Champlain. Simultaneously with this victory, the American forces numbering only fifteen hundred men, repulsed the advance of Gen. Prevost, the British commander in Plattsburg, at the head of twelve thousand men who had served under the Duke of Wellington. They retreated so precipitately before the Americans, that they left their sick, wounded and military stores behind them.

1814-The British under Gen. Ross, captured Washington, Aug. 24, and vandallike burned the Capitol, Congressional Library, the Public buildings with records, as well as store-houses and private buildings. Having then moved to attack Baltimore, Gen. Ross rode forward with a part of his staff to reconnoitre, but was mortally wounded by two mechanics who were awaiting his advance, and fired upon him from a tree. The two patriots were immediately shot.

1814-Treaty of peace with England signed at Ghent, Dec. 24.

1815-On January 8, General Andrew Jackson won the battle of New Orleans. Although the treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent on the 24th of December, the intelligence had not yet reached America. General Packenham, the brother-in-law of the duke of Wellington, with twelve thousand veteran troops who had served under Wellington in the Peninsula, sustained by a powerful fleet, marched to the capture of New Orleans. General Jackson's force did not consist of one half that number, and was made up of raw recruits, Tennessee and Kentucky riflemen. The British were defeated with a loss of over two thousand of their number, and General Packenham was slain, while the Americans lost only seven killed and six wounded.

The effect of this victory was incalculable. Had Packenham gained that battle, and that he would gain it seemed doubtful to nobody in Washington, in New England, or throughout the country, two things to all appearances must inevitably have happened. In the first place England would have occupied the Louisiana territory, and done what France essayed to do-unite Canada with the west bank of the Mississippi by indissoluble bonds. In the second place, no agency now discoverable could have averted the secession of the New England States, which in turn must have brought about an eventual resumption of their colonial relation to Great Britain. Thus caught in a vise between the dependencies and the allies of England, the middle, southern and western states could not have held together New York, and probably New Jersey and Pennsylvania, would have joined New England; Kentucky and Tennessee must have gravitated toward the power which controlled the Mississippi. It could only have been a question of time, and of a short time, when Virginia and the remaining states would have acquiesced in the old status of dependence on Great Britain. Such were the issues that were present to Jackson's mind, when with a smaller force than had been beaten at Bladensberg, he met and routed the brother-in-law of Wellington at the head of British legions that had driven Napoleon's best marshal out of the Spanish peninsula. With Jackson, peace was needless. By Jackson, the secession of New England was made worse than impossible; it was made ridiculous. These are two memorable facts, connected with the battle of New Orleans, are the most memorable in the history of the United States, between the period of Yorktown and Antietam.

1815-The Algerians, during our war with England, having renewed their depredations on our commerce, Decatur was sent with a squadron to chastise them; and in a short time he obtained the liberation of all the American prisoners, with full indemnity for our losses.

1816-On December 11, Indiana, the nineteenth state was received into the Union. The state derives its name from the word Indian, and was the second state that entered the Union from the northwest territory.

1817-On March 4, James Monroe was inaugurated fifth President of the United States. His administration which lasted two terms was one of great material prosperity. It was Monroe, then minister to France, during Jefferson's administration, who secured the Louisiana purchase.

1817-Mississippi, the twentieth state admitted to the Union, December 10. It is named from the great river of that name, which means "Great Father of Waters."

1818-Illinois, the twenty-first state, entered the Union, December 3. Its name is taken from its principal river, which means "River of Men."

1819-Alabama, the twenty-second state, was received into the Union December 14. Its name is derived from the Indian, and signifies "Here we Rest."

1819-On February 22, Florida was ceded to the United States by Spain. The treaty was signed by the Spanish king October 20, 1820, and the United States entered into full possession July 17, 1821.

1820-The Missouri Compromise was passed March 3. When it was proposed to admit Missouri into the Union, the slavery difficulty was brought up; and through the efforts of Henry Clay, the new state was admitted as a slave state under the compromise that slavery should be prohibited in all the other territories west of the Mississippi, and north of the southern boundary of Missouri. 1820-Maine, the twenty-third state, was received into the Union March 15. It was named the Mayne (main) land to distinguish it from the islands along the coast, at the time of the original grant.

1821-Missouri, the twenty-fourth state, entered the Union August 10. It is named from its principal river which means "Muddy Water."

1824-Lafayette visited the United States, as "the nation's guest," August 15. He traveled through each of the twenty-four states, and was everywhere received with the highest honors.

1825-John Quincy Adams was inaugurated sixth President of the United States, March 4. Four candidates were in the field, and as none of them obtained a plurality of votes, the election was decided by the House of Representatives.

1826-Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, ex-Presidents, died on the same day, July 4.

1829-Andrew Jackson was inaugurated seventh President of the United States, March 4. He was distinguished for his probity, energy, and rugged patriotism, and with Jefferson left an indelible mark on the political history of his party.

1832-South Carolina passed the Nullification Ordinance, threatening to withdraw from the Union, should the customs duties be collected at Charleston by force. Jackson despatched troops to Charleston, but a "Compromise Bill" was adopted by the Senate, through the efforts of Clay, and peace was restored.

1832-The Black Hawk war disturbed for a time the northwest territory.

1835-The Florida war broke out, owing to the refusal of the Seminole chief Osceola to move west of the Mississippi, in accordance with the terms of a treaty. He plotted a massacre of the whites, and General Thompson, Major Dade and one hundred men were killed. The Indians took refuge in the Everglades of Florida, but were pursued thither, and defeated by Colonel Taylor at the battle of Okechobee, December 25, 1837. They were not fully subdued, however, until 1842.

1835-December 16, a great fire occurred in the city of New York in which six hundred stores were burned, and $18,000,000 of property destroyed.

1836-Arkansas, the twenty-fifth state, was received into the Union, June 15. Its name its derived from an extinct tribe of Indians.

1837-Michigan, the twenty-sixth state, was admitted to the Union, January 26. The name is of Indian origin, and signifies "Great Lake."

1837-Martin Van Buren, the eighth President of the United States, was inaugurated March 4. During his administration a severe financial crisis prevailed throughout the country. Eight states failed in whole or in part; and the losses in New York city alone in March and April exceeded $100,000,০০০.

1841-William Henry Harrison was inaugurated the ninth President of the United States, March 4, and died April 4, after an illness of eight days duration. 1841-John Tyler, the vice-President, was inaugurated tenth President of the United States, in accordance with the Constitution, on April 6. His succession to the presidency was the first instance of the kind in the history of the United States. His administration was not successful.

1842-The Ashburton treaty, by which the disputed boundary between Maine and New Brunswick was settled, was negotiated, Lord Ashburton and Daniel Webster, being the commissioners.

1842-Dorr's rebellion broke out. This difficulty arose from an effort to secure a more liberal constitution for Rhode Island, wherein the right of suffrage was limited by the charter of Charles II., which was still in force. The uprising was quelled without bloodshed, and a more liberal constitution was secured in 1843.

1844-The anti-rent rebellion in New York broke out. The tenants on some of the old "patroon" estates refused to comply with the feudal customs of the patroon landlords, and resisted and killed the officers sent to serve warrants on them. The rent was very light, consisting only of a few bushels of wheat, three or four fat fowls, and a day's work with horses and wagon per year. But the tenants considered it illegal and refused to pay it. The disturbances were quelled by the militia, and the allodial substituted for the feudal tenure in 1846.

1845-Florida, the twenty-seventh state, was received into the Union, March 3, having been organized as a territory, March 3, 1819.

1845-James K Polk was inaugurated eleventh President of the United States on March 4. He was opposed by Henry Clay, and one of the chief questions of the campaign was whether Texas should be annexed to the United States. Polk's party, the Democratic, favored annexation.