The U.S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC (June 15). U.S. Congress meets in Washington, DC, for the first time (Nov. 17). Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved African American blacksmith, organizes a slave revolt intending to march on Richmond, Virginia. The conspiracy is uncovered, and Prosser and a number of the rebels are hanged. Virginia's slave laws are consequently tightened.
In 1800, the United States Library of Congress is founded. U.S. President John Adams is the first President to live in the White House, then known as the Executive Mansion and sixteen days later, the United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D.C.
In 1808, the importation of slaves was outlawed, although between 1808 and 1860, more than 250,000 slaves were illegally imported. In 1809, The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the power of the Federal Government is greater than the power of any individual state.
The Louisiana Purchase has been described as the "greatest real estate deal in history." In 1803, The United States government purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon I of France for 60 million Francs, or, about $15,000,000. $11,250,000 was paid directly and the remainder was covered by French debt to U.S. citizens.
In 1860, Abraham Lincoln is elected as president of the United States. As a Republican, Lincoln opposed the extension of slavery into the new territories of the United States. Southern states view Lincoln's opposition as a violation of states' rights.
U.S. in 1812 declares war on Britain over British interference with American maritime shipping and westward expansion (June 18, 1812).
Madison's second inauguration: (March 4, 1813).
British capture Washington, DC, and set fire to White House and Capitol (Aug. 1814).
Francis Scott Key writes Star-Spangled Banner as he watches British attack on Fort McHenry at Baltimore (Sept. 13-14, 1814).
Treaty of Ghent is signed, officially ending the war (Dec. 24, 1814).
The Barbary Pirates were a band of privateers who served as part of the naval forces of the Ottoman Empire, a huge, multi-ethnic empire that spanned throughout southern Europe, northern Africa, the Mediterranean region, and the Middle East.
The end for the Barbary Pirates came in the early 1800's when they began seizing American ships in the Atlantic Ocean and enslaving their crews. This resulted in the birth of the U.S. Navy and the refusal of the American government to continue to pay the one million dollar annual tribute for free passage in the Mediterranean Sea.
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