Brief Timeline of American Literature and Events
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1810-1819
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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.
- Charles Jared Ingersoll (1782-1862), Inchiquin,
the Jesuit's Letters, a volume defending the American scene against the
criticisms of English travel writers.
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.
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.
- 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.
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.
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- Embargo Act is officially repealed.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.
- Francis Scott Key, "The Star-Spangled Banner"
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)
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.
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.
- William
Cullen Bryant, "Thanatopsis"
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.
- William
Cullen Bryant, "To a Waterfowl"
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.
- 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.
The War of
1812 site (commercial site) contains brief descriptions and images
of the war.
The Sage
Page for American History and Literature contains lecture notes and links
to documents from this and other eras of American history.
Comments
to D. Campbell.
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