1815 in the United States
Encyclopedia
Events from the year 1815 in the United States
. As news slowly spread of the Treaty of Ghent
(1814) ending the War of 1812
, battles between American and British forces continued in the early months of the year.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As news slowly spread of the Treaty of Ghent
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent , signed on 24 December 1814, in Ghent , was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
(1814) ending the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, battles between American and British forces continued in the early months of the year.
Incumbents
- PresidentPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
: James MadisonJames MadisonJames Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
(Democratic-Republican) - Vice PresidentVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
: vacant - Chief JusticeChief Justice of the United StatesThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
: John MarshallJohn MarshallJohn Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches... - Speaker of the House of RepresentativesSpeaker of the United States House of RepresentativesThe Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
: Langdon ChevesLangdon ChevesLangdon Cheves was an American politician and a president of the Second Bank of the United States.Cheves was born at Rocky River, South Carolina and died in Columbia, South Carolina. His father, Alexander, was a native of Scotland; his mother, Mary Langdon, was from Virginia...
(Dem.-Rep.-South Carolina) (until March 4), Henry ClayHenry ClayHenry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
(Dem.-Rep.-Kentucky) (starting December 4) - CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
: 13th13th United States Congress- Senate :* President: Elbridge Gerry , until November 23, 1814, thereafter vacant.* President pro tempore: Joseph B. Varnum , December 6, 1813 – February 3, 1814** John Gaillard , elected November 25, 1814- House of Representatives :...
(until March 4), 14th14th United States Congress- Senate :* President: Vacant* President pro tempore: John Gaillard of South Carolina, first elected December 4, 1815- House of Representatives :* Speaker: Henry Clay of Kentucky-Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...
(starting March 4)
Events
- January 8 – War of 1812War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
– Battle of New OrleansBattle of New OrleansThe Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815 and was the final major battle of the War of 1812. American forces, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory the United States had acquired with the...
: American forces under General Andrew JacksonAndrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
defeat an invading BritishUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
force. - February – The Hartford ConventionHartford ConventionThe Hartford Convention was an event spanning from December 15, 1814–January 4, 1815 in the United States during the War of 1812 in which New England's opposition to the war reached the point where secession from the United States was discussed...
arrives in Washington, DC. - February 6 – New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
grants the first American railroad charter to a John StevensJohn Stevens (inventor)Col. John Stevens, III was an American lawyer, engineer and an inventor.-Life and career:Born the son of John Stevens , a prominent New Jersey politician who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, and Elizabeth Alexander, daughter of New York lawyer and statesman James Alexander. His...
. - February 7–12 – War of 1812War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
– Second Battle of Fort Bowyer: British forces capture Fort BowyerFort BowyerFort Bowyer was a short-lived earthen and stockade fortification erected by the United States Army on Mobile Point, near the mouth of Mobile Bay in Baldwin County, Alabama. Built during the War of 1812, the fort was the site of two attacks by the British. The first, unsuccessful, attack led to the...
near Mobile, AlabamaMobile, AlabamaMobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
in what would be the last land battle between the Americans and British in the War of 1812. The British halt their advance two days later when informed of the Treaty of GhentTreaty of GhentThe Treaty of Ghent , signed on 24 December 1814, in Ghent , was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. - February 15 – War of 1812War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
– The United States Senate ratifies the Treaty of GhentTreaty of GhentThe Treaty of Ghent , signed on 24 December 1814, in Ghent , was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. - September 23 – The Great September Gale of 1815Great September Gale of 1815The Great September Gale of 1815 is one of five "major hurricanes" to strike New England since 1635...
is the first hurricane to strike New England in 180 years.
Further reading
- Estimates of the Value of Slaves, 1815. The American Historical Review, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Jul., 1914), pp. 813–838
- The Embassy to Washington, 1815. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Series, Vol. 48, (Oct., 1914 - Jun., 1915),
- Charles W. Elliott. Some Unpublished Letters of a Roving Soldier-Diplomat: General Winfield Scott's Reports to Secretary of State James Monroe, on conditions in France and England in 1815-1816. The Journal of the American Military History Foundation, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Winter, 1937–1938), pp. 165–173
- William Bell Wait. Richardson's 'O. K.' of 1815. American Speech, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Apr., 1941), pp. 85–86+136
- Harold W. Ryan, George Izard. Diary of a Journey by George Izard, 1815-1816. The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Apr., 1952), pp. 67–76
- Orville W. Carroll. Mr. Smart's Circular Saw Mill c. 1815. Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology, Vol. 5, No. 1 (1973), pp. 58–64
- John Swauger. Pittsburgh's Residential Pattern in 1815. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Jun., 1978), pp. 265–277
- Lilian Handlin. Harvard and Göttingen, 1815. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Series, Vol. 95, (1983), pp. 67–87
- Charles E. Kinzer. The Band of Music of the First Battalion of Free Men of Color and the Siege of New Orleans, 1814-1815. American Music, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Autumn, 1992), pp. 348–369