History Timeline - 1800s What you would have experienced and how your life would change.
Immigration to America
Mass migration from Europe to America begins as people look for a better life.
Cotton is King
United States becomes the world’s biggest cotton producer.
Railroads Open Up the Nation
First Railway station opens in Baltimore, Maryland.
Factories Pop Up Across the Land
Railway tracks go from 100 to 3,500 miles. United States has 1,200 cotton factories. Increased use of factory-made farm machinery encourages the beginning of commercial farming.
The Oregon Trail
America settlers begin mass migration westward on the Oregon Trail Potato Famine in Europe and Ireland causes starvation and mass migration to United States. Many will settle on small family farms.
California Gold Rush
Commercial corn and wheat belts begin to develop across the south and great plains. Gold rush is taking place in California. Cholera epidemic continuers in the united states
First Oil Well
World trade increases almost 5 times of what it was in 1800. First successful oil well is drilled in Pennsylvania.
Lincoln Elected
Abraham Lincoln becomes president.
Paper Money Appears
First paper money is issued in the United States. The Homestead act gave free land to persons willing to farm it.
Civil War Ends
Civil war ends. President Lincoln is assassinated. The sharecropping system in the south replaces the old slave plantation system.
Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago fire will destroy most of the city . The increased use of barbed wire fencing ends an era of open range grazing.
Edison's Light Bulb
The light bulb is invented, and the telephone will come the next year.
First Subway in America
Southern states have abandoned their dependence on growing cotton to maintain their economy. The first subway is built in Boston.