Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.

Why this is the answer

Four wars fill this answer, and USCIS accepts any one of them: the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. Each was fought against a different opponent, which is the easiest way to keep them apart. The War of 1812 lasted from 1812 to 1815. President James Madison asked Congress to declare war on Great Britain, which was stopping and seizing American ships and arming American Indians to fight against the United States. Trade suffered and the U.S. Capitol was burned, but the Americans won, and it was the first time since the Revolution that the young country had to fight a foreign power to protect its independence. Madison also has his own question, and "President during the War of 1812" is one of its answers. The Mexican-American War began in 1846, over Texas and other land Mexico controlled in the Southwest. The United States won in 1848, and in the peace treaty Mexico accepted that Texas was American and sold the land it claimed in the Southwest. That land later became California, Nevada and Utah, and parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. The Civil War was fought at home: the southern states tried to break away and form a new nation, the Confederate States of America. Then in 1898 came the Spanish-American War. It started after a U.S. battleship was sunk near Cuba, and by the end of that year Spain had lost. Cuba gained its independence, and Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines became U.S. territories. At the interview, the trap is the century. The Revolutionary War is too early, and World War I and the Korean War answer a separate question about the 1900s. When nothing else comes to mind, "the Civil War" is the one to say. The very next question on the list asks about it too, so you will have studied it anyway.