Top 10 Most Exciting Topics

1. 1803 Louisiana Purchase-Thomas Jefferson purchases new land from France for 3c an acre (11,250,000) plus cancellation of debts 18 million francs (3,750,000) a total cost of 15 million dollars for the Louisiana territory. The purchase is of 14 current states today and 2 Canadian states. The purchase was a vital moment in the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. This is an exciting topic for my top 10 most exciting topics because if Thomas Jefferson had never bought the Louisiana Purchase we wouldn’t have the current states we have now.
   
2. War of 1812-This war was between the United States and the British Empire. The Americans were at war with Britain for many reasons. Britain was not letting America trade with France because they were at war with them for a while now Britain was breaking an international law, second the impressments (forced recruitment) of U.S. into the royal navy, finally the British support the native Americans offering them armed resistance to help them revolt in the American frontier northwest. This topic is exciting because it talks of how the United States decided to take a stand and stop being bullied by Britain.
   
3. 1789-1797 George Washington- George Washington was one of the founding fathers who helped win the American revolutionary war in 1775-1783. He is the first president of the United States. This topic is exciting because it talks of the founding father George Washington who was the “father of our country” as people sometimes called him because he was a great strategist and a great leader of the United States. He set the precedent for all the Presidents that followed.
   
4. 1801-1809 Thomas Jefferson-one of our founding fathers who wrote the Declaration of Independence, also promoted the idea of republicanism in the United States. He also had a major moment in his presidency when he bought the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. This topic is exciting because of the fact that the founding father wrote the Declaration of Independence and made the United States an independent country from Great Britain with the help of politician like Jefferson.
   
5. 1798 Alien and Sedition Act- Alien and Sedition Act were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalist in the United States Congress who were waging an undeclared naval war with France, later known as the Quasi-War. The act was to not give any power to the alien (citizen of other country at war with) enemy power because if they had power they would attack and weaken the government which would be bad for the war and the U.S. This is one of the exciting acts that I like because it helped protect the government and citizens of the U.S. from foreign enemies.
   
6. 1848-1855 California Gold Rush-begin on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered by James Wilson Marshall at Sutter’s mill, in Coloma, California. News of the discovery soon spread and soon 300,000 men, women, and children were coming to California throughout the U.S. and the world. Half of the 300,000 came from sea while the other half came from land. They all had one thing in mind they wanted to find gold. The gold rush was an exciting part of U.S. history because the U.S. became richer. It inspired the idea that there might be more gold throughout the U.S., and it also inspired even more people to come to the western U.S. to settle there.
   
7. 1793 Eli Whitney invents cotton gin- his invention was one of the key inventions in the industrial revolution. It shaped the economy of the antebellum south. Despite the social and economic impact of his invention Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin is one of the best inventions that were made because it made cotton production a lot easier, and is also a revolutionary invention.
   
   
8. 1823 Monroe Doctrine- the Monroe doctrine was a policy introduced in December 2, 1823. The policy said that if any Europeans decided to colonize more land or interfere with the states of America it would be viewed by the United States as acts of aggression requiring intervention of the Untied States army. The Monroe Doctrine asserted that the western hemisphere not be furthered colonized by European countries. The United Sates will not interfere with existing European colonies or in the internal concerns of European countries. The policy was issued when many Latin American countries were on the verge of becoming independent from Spain (I guess the United States rebelling against Britain showed an example to all). This is exciting because it made the United States became a world power.
   
9. 1841-1845 John Tyler- John Tyler was the tenth president of the United States. A long time democratic-republican John Tyler was elected vice president by a Whig ticket. Upon the death of President William Henry Harrison on April 4, 1841 vice president John Tyler became president of the United States. The nation was briefly in a state of confusion regarding the process of successor. Ultimately the situation was settled by Tyler becoming president. Tyler took the oath of office on April 6, 1841, a setting that would govern future successions. At fifty-one years old he was the youngest to take office to that point (whereas Harrison was the oldest man to take office as president). This topic is exciting because it speaks of a person who made history not discovered it but made history and an amendment in later times it also explains that if one person can make a difference then we all can John Tyler showed all future presidents that if he can become the youngest president and still be a good successor then they can to.
   
10. 1804-1806 Lewis and Clarke expedition-the expedition was one of the first to be recorded crossing from St. Louis to the pacific. Having been preceded to the pacific coast on July 20, 1793 by a Canadian expedition led by explorer Sir Alexander Mackenzie who had previously crossed North America in 1789 as well but instead of continuing on his expedition he turned north at the Continental Divide. He became the first European to reach the western Arctic Ocean. In 1536, Cabeza de Vaca and four others of the Narvaez expedition reached the Pacific Ocean after crossing the continental through parts of what later became the United States. The Lewis and Clarke expedition is an exciting topic to put on my list of top 10 because it talks about how they traveled all of the U.S. and were the first to travel to the coast and back.