Events from the year 1819 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government
President: James Monroe (DR-Virginia) Vice President: Daniel D. Tompkins (DR-New York) Chief Justice: John Marshall (Virginia) Speaker of the House of Representatives: Henry Clay (DR-Kentucky) Congress: 15th (until March 4), 16th (starting March 4)
Events
January 2 – The Panic of 1819, the first major financial crisis in the United States, begins. January 25 – Thomas Jefferson founds the University of Virginia. January 30 – Romney Literary Society established as the Polemic Society of Romney, West Virginia. February 2 – The Supreme Court under John Marshall rules in favor of Dartmouth College in the famous Dartmouth College v. Woodward case, allowing Dartmouth to keep its charter and remain a private institution. February 15 – The United States House of Representatives agrees to the Tallmadge Amendment barring slaves from the new state of Missouri (the opening vote in a controversy that leads to the Missouri Compromise). February 22 – Spain cedes Florida to the United States by the Adams–Onís Treaty signed in Washington, D.C. (effective 2 years hence). March 1 – The U.S. naval vessel USS Columbus is launched in Washington, D.C. March 2 – Arkansas Territory is created. March 6 – McCulloch v. Maryland: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Bank of the United States is constitutional. May 22 – The leaves port at Savannah, Georgia on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The ship arrives at Liverpool, England on June 20. June 22 – In Nacogdoches, Texas, Dr James Long and his force of 195 men declares a new government, with Long as President and a 21-member Supreme Council. June 23 – James Long issues a Declaration of Independence for his "Republic of Texas" (known as the Long Republic to avoid confusion with the later Republic of Texas); the document is based on the United States Declaration of Independence and cites grievances including "Spanish rapacity" and "Odious tyranny", promising Religious freedom, Freedom of the Press and Free trade.
July 4 – Arkansas Territory is effective. August 6 – Norwich University is founded by Captain Alden Partridge in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States. August 24 – Samuel Seymour sketches a Kansa lodge and war dance at the present location of Manhattan, Kansas, while part of Stephen Harriman Long's exploring party. This work is now the oldest drawing known to be made in the state of Kansas. October – The ʻAi Noa movement assumes power in Hawaii. November 3 – The , commanded by Captain John D. Henley, becomes the first U.S. warship to visit China, landing at Lintin Island off of the coast of Canton. December 14 – Alabama is admitted as the 22nd U.S. state (see History of Alabama). The African Slave Trade Patrol is founded to stop the slave trade on the coast of West Africa.
Ongoing
Era of Good Feelings (1817–1825)