Modern Era
Year Without a Summer (1816): Famine, Frost and Frankenstein
Failed harvests caused the last great subsistence crisis in the Western world, with food riots, disease, mass emigration and lasting cultural echoes.
Region
Americas
Modern Era
San Martin's Crossing of the Andes (1817) and Chacabuco
The Army of the Andes crossed the cordillera, defeated the royalists at Chacabuco on 12 February 1817 and took Santiago, restoring Chilean self-rule.
Modern Era
Battle of Maipú (1818): San Martín Secures Chile's Independence
Decisive patriot victory; the royalist army was destroyed and Chilean independence was secured.
Modern Era
Battle of Boyacá (1819): Bolívar's Victory for New Granada
Decisive patriot victory; the royalist army was captured, the viceroy fled Bogotá and New Granada was effectively freed from Spanish rule.
Modern Era
Missouri Compromise (1820): Slavery and the Balance of States
Maine entered as a free state, Missouri as a slave state, and slavery was banned in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36°30'.
Modern Era
Battle of Carabobo (1821): Simón Bolívar Frees Venezuela
Decisive patriot victory; the royalist army in Venezuela was broken and Caracas was liberated days later.
Modern Era
Battle of Pichincha (1822): Antonio José de Sucre Liberates Quito
Patriot victory; the royalist garrison of Quito capitulated and the region joined Gran Colombia.
Modern Era
Independence of Brazil (1822): Pedro I and the Cry of Ipiranga
Brazil broke away from Portugal as the Empire of Brazil, a constitutional monarchy under Pedro I, recognised by Portugal in 1825.
Modern Era
Monroe Doctrine (1823): America Warns Europe Off the Hemisphere
The United States declared the Americas closed to new European colonisation and intervention, a principle that became a cornerstone of US foreign policy.
Modern Era
Battle of Ayacucho (1824): End of Spanish Rule in South America
Decisive patriot victory; the viceroy of Peru was captured and the royalist army capitulated, ending Spanish power in mainland South America.
Modern Era
Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831): The Southampton Slave Revolt
The revolt was crushed within two days; around 55-60 white people and many more Black people were killed, and Southern states passed harsher slave codes.
Modern Era
Trail of Tears: Forced Removal of Native Nations, 1830s
Around 60,000 people of the Five Tribes were forced west of the Mississippi; thousands died on the journeys and in the camps.