TIMELINE

1763

In a treaty that ends the French and Indian War, France gives up Canada and the land in the Ohio Valley to England and its land west of the Mississippi River to Spain

1783

The United States wins the Revolutionary War with Great Britain and gains all the land from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and all the land from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River

1787

Congress passes the Northwest Ordinance, establishing government and laws in the area north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River

1800

France regains the North American land it ceded to Spain after the French and Indian War

1803

The U.S. buys 828,000 square miles (2.1 million square km) of land from France in the Louisiana Purchase

1804

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark take a group of explorers west to look for a water route to the Pacific Ocean

1830

Congress passes the Indian Removal Act, making Indian removal the official U.S. government policy

1838

Cherokee Indians are forced to move from Georgia to Indian Territory; their journey becomes known as the Trail of Tears

1840

Settlers began traveling west on the Oregon Trail

1845

The U.S. annexes the Republic of Texas

1848

The Gold Rush begins; the United States adds what would become the states of California, New Mexico, and Arizona after winning the Mexican War

1858

The last of the three Seminole Wars ends

1862

The Homestead Act offers settlers free land in the West

1863

Construction of the transcontinental railroad begins in California and Nebraska

1869

The transcontinental railroad is completed in Promontory, Utah

1876

General George Custer and about 200 of his soldiers are killed during the Battle of the Little Bighorn

1890

The Ghost Dance leads to the Battle of Wounded Knee in South Dakota; the U.S. Census Bureau announces that there is no longer a clear Western frontier line