1788–1817 - Early Republic

The Judiciary Act of 1789 was a law passed by Congress and signed by President George Washington that established the Federal Court System.

Marquis de Lafayette was a French aristocrat and soldier who is most well-known in America for his support of the Patriot Cause and service in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) was a military expedition that explored the upper regions of the Louisiana Purchase from St. Louis westward to present-day Astoria, Oregon. The expedition was the first overland expedition conducted by the United States government and was a major achievement that helped open the American West for the fulfillment of Manifest Destiny.

Stephen Harriman Long (1784–1864) was a soldier, explorer, and surveyor who is most well known for leading five expeditions into the Louisiana Purchase Territory and for referring to the Great Plains as the “Great American Desert.”

In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million and doubled the size of the nation.

James Madison was the fourth President of the United States and a principal author of The Federalist Papers. Madison is considered by some to be the "Father of the Constitution."

“Manifest Destiny” is the idea that Americans had a “God-given right” — a divine right — to expand across the continent, from the east coast to the west coast, from “sea to shining sea,” planting democracy, capitalism, and Christianity along the way.

Marbury v. Madison (1803) was a landmark Supreme Court case in which Chief Justice John Marshall established the principle of judicial review, granting the Supreme Court the power to declare laws unconstitutional.

John Marshall (1755–1845) was a Founding Father, an officer in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, a congressional representative from Virginia, Secretary of State, and 4th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Middle Passage was a route in the Triangular Trade System that started in Northwest Africa, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and ended in the Americas. The Middle Passage is most well-known for its use in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the terrible suffering it imposed on imprisoned Africans who were sold into slavery.

The Judiciary Act of 1801 was signed into law by President John Adams on February 13, 1801. It expanded the Federal Court system, allowing him to appoint political allies to new positions. The appointments are known as the “Midnight Judges” and were quickly repealed by Thomas Jefferson.

General Thomas Mifflin was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He fought in several key battles during the war, and also served as a member of the Continental Congress as a delegate from Pennsylvania. Although he was involved in a plot to remove George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, he participated in the Constitutional Convention and signed the document, and is a Founding Father.

James Monroe served as the fifth President of the United States from March 4, 1817, to March 4, 1825, during the Era of Good Feelings.

Lucretia Mott was an early advocate for abolition, women’s rights and Woman Suffrage. She was a member of the American Anti-Slavery Society in the 1830s and helped found the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. After she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton in London, England in 1840, she became involved in the women’s rights movement and helped organize the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848.

The Northwest Territory was an important region of North America that played a key role in many of the events that led to the American Revolutionary War, the Westward Expansion of the United States, and the removal of Indian tribes from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River.

The Oregon Trail was a westward route that thousands of American pioneers traveled as they emigrated western part of the United States. It was most popular from 1841 to 1869. The trail was initially blazed by frontiersman Robert Stuart in 1812–1813.

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney a Founding Father who served as an envoy to France during the XYZ Affair.

The Quasi War was an undeclared naval war between the United States and France during the Presidency of John Adams. It grew out of the XYZ Affair and ended when French politics changed direction after Napoleon came into power and the two nations signed the Treaty of Mortefontaine.

Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Member of the Continental Army, and advocate for the ratification of the United States Constitution. Rush was also a prominent physician, educator, and proponent of women's rights and the abolition of slavery.

Philip Schuyler was a wealthy New York patroon and one of the four original major generals of the Continental Army. He played a key role in the American victory in the Battle of Saratoga and in maintaining the neutrality of the tribes of the Six Nations.