- 1820
| Feb 06 | US population announced at 9,638,453 (1,771,656 blacks (18.4%)). | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | Missouri Compromise passes, allowing slavery in Missouri. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 06 | The Missouri Compromise is enacted by Congress and signed by President James Monroe, providing for the admission of Missouri into the Union as a slave state, but prohibits slavery in the rest of the northern Louisiana Purchase territory. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 09 | Congress passes the Land Act, paving the way for westward expansion. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 15 | (new state) Maine is admitted as the 23rd state. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 04 | Czar Alexander declares that Russian influence in North America extends as far south as Oregon and closes Alaskan waters to foreigners. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 20 | Missouri puts a $1.00 tax on all bachelors between the ages of 21 and 50. | Ref: 3 |
- 1821
| Jan 06 | Indianapolis is designated at the capital of Indiana. | Ref: 17 |
| Jul 17 | Spain ceded Florida to the United States. (XDG, p 4A, 7/17/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Aug 04 | The Saturday Evening Post was published as a weekly for the first time. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 10 | (new state) Missouri or ‘muddy water’ was the name of the river and the Indian tribe that lived in the area ... long before Missouri became the 24th state of the USA on this day. Missouri, the gateway to the West, calls the hawthorn its state flower and the bluebird, its state bird. St. Louis (1820) and St. Charles (1821-1826) were both capital cities of Missouri before Jefferson City. Missouri is also known as the Show Me State. In 1899, Missouri Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver said, “...frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.” The phrase stuck. | Ref: 4 |
- 1822
| Jan 07 | Liberia colonized by Americans. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 09 | American Indian Society organizes. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 23 | Boston was granted a charter to incorporate as a city. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 19 | Boston MA incorporated as a city. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 30 | Congress combined East & West Florida into Florida Territory | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | John Phillips becomes the first mayor of Boston. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 18 | Part of US-Canadian boundary determined. | Ref: 5 |
- 1823
| Jan 27 | President Monroe appoints first US ambassadors to South America. | Ref: 5 |
| May 10 | First steamboat to navigate the Mississippi River arrives at Fort Snelling. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 27 | President Monroe appoints first US ambassadors to South America. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 02 | President James Monroe proclaims the principles known as the Monroe Doctrine, "that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by European powers." | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 19 | Georgia passes first US state birth registration law. | Ref: 5 |
- 1824
| Mar 02 | Interstate commerce comes under federal control. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 11 | The U.S. War Department creates the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Seneca Indian Ely Parker becomes the first Indian to lead the Bureau. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 29 | Society for the Rehabilitation of Juvenile Delinquents founded in N.Y.;1st reformatory opens. | Ref: 10 |
| Apr 17 | Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54º 40' N, Russia gets the Alaskan territory north of 54º40'. | Ref: 5 |
| May 26 | Brazil is recognized by US. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 03 | U.S. signs first treaty with South American Country-Republic of Colombia. | Ref: 10 |
- 1825
| Jan 03 | Scottish factory owner Robert Owen buys 30,000 acres in Indiana as site for New Harmony utopian community. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 27 | Congress approves Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the "Trail of Tears." | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 12 | Creek Indian treaty signed; Tribal chiefs agree to turn over all their land in Georgia to the government & migrate west by Sept 1, 1826. | Ref: 5 |
| May 11 | The American Tract Society, the first national tract league in America, was formed in NY City by the merger of 50 smaller societies. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 09 | The first Norwegian immigrants to America arrive on the sloop Restaurationen. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 26 | The Erie Canal, a 363-mile-long inland waterway connecting Lake Erie to New York City by way of the Hudson River, opens to boat traffic. | Ref: 39 |
-
- 1826
| Feb 13 | The American Temperance Society (later renamed the American Temperance Union) was organized in Boston. It quickly grew into a national crusade, and within a decade over 8,000 similar groups had been formed, boasting a total of 1.5 million members. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 03 | USS Vincennes leaves NY to become 1st warship to circumnavigate globe. | Ref: 5 |
- 1827
| Feb 27 | The first Mardi-Gras celebration is held in New Orleans. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 02 | Joseph Dixon begins manufacturing lead pencils. | Ref: 5 |
- 1828
| Apr 21 | Noah Webster publishes the first American dictionary. | Ref: 5 |
| May 13 | US passes Tariff of Abominations. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 19 | South Carolina declares the right of states to nullify federal laws. | Ref: 5 |
- 1829
| Jul 04 | Cornerstone laid for first US mint (Chestnut & Juniper St, Phila). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 16 | The Tremont Hotel opened in Boston. It was called the first modern hotel in America. Each of the Tremont's luxurious 170 rooms went for $2 a day and included four meals! | Ref: 4 |
| Oct 17 | Delaware River & Chesapeake Bay Canal formally opened. | Ref: 5 |
|
US History 1820 to 1829 Chronology