istoryworld
Events relating to north america
Anglo-US tensions are heightened by a clash between the frigates Leopard and Chesapeake off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia
US engineer Robert Fulton launches a steamboat, the Clermont, on New York's Hudson river
Thomas Jefferson puts an embargo on US exports, hoping to damage the economy of France and Britain
The German-born US entrepreneur John Jacob Astor establishes the American Fur Company
Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa set up a permanent base in Indiana, calling it Prophetstown
The Shakers define their Millennial laws in the Testimony of Christ's Second Appearing
Washington Irving uses the fictional Dutch scholar Diedrich Knickerbocker as the supposed author of his comic History of New York
16-year-old future millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt begins his career by establishing a ferry service to Manhattan
Work begins at Cumberland in Maryland on the construction of America's National Road
John Jacob Astor establishes Astoria, a settlement on the Pacific coast to develop his fur trade with China
An American army attacks and destroys Tecumseh's base at Prophetstown
Damage to US trade by British orders in council prompts war (the War of 1812) between the two nations
The British capture Detroit in an early engagement of the War of 1812
The US frigate Constitution, affectionately known as 'Old Ironsides', wins successes against British warships in the Atlantic
American forces push north into Canada and enter York (the modern Toronto), burning the parliament buildings and archives
The nickname Uncle Sam, supposedly based on the initials US, has its first recorded use in an issue of the Troy Post
American warships win a victory over the British on Lake Erie, strengthening the US presence in the Great Lakes
Tecumseh is killed fighting for the British against General Harrison east of Detroit in the Battle of the Thames
British forces enter Washington, burning the Capitol and the president's new house
US lawyer Francis Scott Key writes The Star-Spangled Banner after seeing the British bombard Fort McHenry
The Rappists establish a second American community, this time in Indiana, calling it New Harmony
Britain and the United States sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812
American volunteers under Andrew Jackson defeat British regulars near New Orleans, two weeks after peace has been agreed at Ghent
Robert Finley, a US anti-slavery campaigner, founds the American Colonization Society to settle freed slaves in Africa
US poet William Cullen Bryant publishes Thanatopsis, written seven years previously at the age of 16
