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25,000 BCE
Bering Land Bridge
The First Americans first passed from Asia to populate the Americans.Was a result of a continuous land bridge made up of three major waves, stretched out from between Siberia and Alaska. The first wave was 27,000 years ago, influenced Clovis points, culture and lots of glaciers. The second wave consists 8,000 years ago with the ancestors of modern SW natives. The third wave is the last major wave, 5,0000 years ago, with the ancestors of the artic natives. -
1200 BCE
Olmecs
They were the first advanced civilization in the Americas. Invented the long count calendar. They use bloodletting which was the withdrawal of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness or disease. Played the Mesoamerican ballgame, a sport with ritual associations, a stone court in a single city. This sport supplied candidates for human sacrifice, a game or life, and death. They also invented the image of zero, the pyramids, chocolate and will decline by 350 B.C. -
801 BCE
Rome
During the Classical Europe time, it united Europe for the first time. It also brought up the Roman Law, a legal system of ancient Rome, as revealed through ancient legal texts, covered such facets of everyday Roman life as crime and punishment, land and property ownership, commerce, the maritime, and agricultural industries, citizenship, sexuality, and prostitution and so much more. This will fall in 476. -
Period: 1 CE to
Beginnings - 1600 A.D.
Two Worlds Collide -
400
The Dark Ages
Referring to the Middle Ages, a really backward time for the European population. A period of time ushered in by the fall of the Western Roman Empire. A complete cultural and educational domination by the Catholic Church. Orthodox Christians and Catholics viewed the era from opposing perspectives. The Dark Ages were also a very loud time. Roving horse-bound invaders charged the country sides. -
1300
The Renaissance
Also known as "Rebirth." In European civilization immediately following the Middle Ages, conventionally held to have been characterized by a surging interest in classical learning and values. It was time to "come out of the dark." A big of the Renaissance was a cultural movement called humanism. Humanism was a philosophy that all people should strive to be educated and learned in the classical arts, literature, and science. It looked for realism and human emotion in art. -
1347
The Black Death
It transformed the society as a whole. Almost 40-50% of the European society died. With more deaths happening there were fewer workers. Because they didn't understand the biology of the situation, most believed it was a punishment from God himself. Against sins such as greed, blasphemy, fornication, and worldliness.Meanwhile, in a panic healthy people did all they could to avoid the sick. The Black Death had run its course by the early 1350's. -
Aug 3, 1492
Columbian Exchange
Exchange of goods from the Old World to the New. It was named after Christopher Columbus. Benefits mostly to the Old World. Traded things like fruits, veggies, coffee, spices, nuts, animals, and diseases. Diseases wiped out Indian population. -
The Atlantic Slave Trade
Also known as the Transatlantic Slave Trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly from Africa to the Americas, most likely to get sold to plantation owners. Estimated to have been as high as 12.5 million slaves transported. First Denmark in 1803, and Britain in 1807, and then other countries in Europe and the Americas abolished the slave trade for changes in their economic requirements. -
Chesapeake Colonies
Made up from Jamestown, Virginia, and Maryland. In Jamestown, it started as a private charter from the English Crown in 1606. Made up of 105 settlers, exaggerations about gold and wealth in Virginia, only 32 survive the first winter. Tobacco, the Headright System, slavery & the Royal Colony were also involved to influence. In Maryland, converted into Catholicism, religiously free colony, profitable by 1640, will eventually be taken over by Protestants-Catholicism banned. -
Period: to
English Colonial Societies
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Caribbean Colonies
Made up of the Barbados, Jamaica and other English held islands. Sugar was and is the lifeblood of the region. The Europeans loved sugar, they used it for everything. Spain, France, England, Holland all had stakes in the region, with island possession and the population of only 44,000. Barbados, English possession, was out of the way, population 26,000, island labor, slaves will eventually outnumber whites and no legal recourse for slaves. -
Navigation Acts
A series of acts passed by the English Parliament in 1651, 1660 and 1663. The colonies represented a profitable source of wealth and trade. Designed to regulate colonial trade and enabled England to collect taxes in the Colonies. Required limited Dutch trade with English colonies. Additional acts have been passed. Required all goods to be transported on English or Colonial American ships. The Navigation Acts were repealsed in 1849. -
Colonial Problems
Many problems happened at the end of the 17th century. Wars with Natives, rebellion in Virginia with Nathaniel Bacon about issues with the government of Virginia, class resentment but he then ended up dying from a fever. The results are less dependence on servants and more on imported slaves. -
The Enlightenment
In Georgia, it was originally a Penal Colony, translated prisoners and the poor, provided rehabilitation in "pure" environments, also debtors. Named for King Georgie II, buffer colony, based on enlightened ideals. Georgia starts to change with administrative problems, started importing slaves and envisioned as a staging point for the attack on Florida. The American Enlightenment for reason and science. Science not superstition became normal thinking. -
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution replaced the reigning king, James II, who wanted Spanish style colonial government. dominion of New England, new taxes, reapplication for land deals, and wanted to ally England with Catholic France. With the joint monarchy of his Protestant daughter Mary and her Dutch husband, William of Orange. It was the keystone of the Whig (those who opposed to a Catholic succession) history of Britain. Parliament asked Mary and William to invade England, invasion bloodless. -
Salem Witch Trials
It began after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. There were wars on the Northern Frontier. Including Naive raids, Glorious Revolution hasn't come yet, fear was rampant, trials started with minister's daughter who started acting strangely. Accused many in the town of witchcraft, dozens dead when it finally ended. -
New England Economy
By the end of the 17th century, New England colonists had tapped into a sprawling Atlantic Trade Network that connected them tot he English homeland as well as the West African slave coast. Colonists relied on British and European imports for glass, linens, hardware, machinery, navigational instruments, paint, and more. New Englanders' most important trade, by far, occurred in the West Indies, where Americans sold bread, corn, flour, fish, and more than the planters could feed their slaves. -
Act of Union
The Acts of Union, passed by the English and Scottish Parliaments in 1707, led to the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain on the first of May of that year. The New Britain is now an Empire. Parliament is the head of this Empire. Colonies still had local control. The federal system with the central authority and local governments paved way for modern U.S. system of government. Scotland drew from union material to contribute to politics of Great Britain/ Empire. -
Period: to
Colonial America
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Triangular Trade
Three-sided involving voyages from England to Africa, Africa to the Americas, and The Americas back to England. Trade fell into three categories: the raw materials and natural resources such as sugar, tobacco, rice and cotton that were found in the colonies. Manufactured products from England and Europe such as guns, cloth, and beads. Slaves from West Africa, many of whom toiled in the Slave Plantations. -
The Great Awakening
A reaction to the secularism of the Enlightenment. From 1730-1770, John Edwards was a consumer-oriented society, with a famous quote. "People are like spiders hanging over a pit of damnation." Maybe became scared into becoming religious. Elite American universities were founded like Princeton, Brown, Rutgers. Changed colonial American society and Native American Revivals, used Jesus as symbol with pre-contact ways of life. -
Seven Years War
England, France, and Spain fought each other for territory. Britain and the Colonies desired more land to the West. Britain sends in an army and militia to Control Ohio territory. British roll out a new policy to defeat French. 10,000 man army and a large navy. This turned into a worldwide conflict, technically the first real-world war. British and the colonists resolved to win. Quebec falls in 1760. Montreal captured in 1760. Treaty of Paris 1763 ended the war. Britain now control New France. -
Period: to
The Revolutionary War
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Treaty of Paris - 1763
Ended the French and Indian War between Great Britain and France as well as their allies. In the terms of treaty, France gave up all its territories in mainland North America, effectively ending any foreign military threat to the British colonies there. Signed by the Kingdoms of Great Britain, France, and Spain with Portugal in agreement, after Great Britain's victory over France and Spain during the Seven Years' War. -
Stamp Act
Passed by the British Parliament, the new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tac on every piece of printed paper they used. Examples include ship's papers, legal document, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. Lawyers and printers most affected. Made up of the Stamp Act Congress. 9 of 13 colonies send representatives, protests erupted, The Declaratory Act repealed the act. -
Boston Massacre
A crowd of Bostonians harrassed British soldiers by throwing snowballs at them. Soldiers fired into the crowd. Three people were killed immediately and two died later of their wounds. The Boston Massacre is remembered as a key even in helping to galvanize to the colonial public to the Patriot cause. Paul Revere creates a fictitious account. It is the first great example of American propaganda. Many in the colonies were outraged. Relations will remain strained. -
Boston Tea Party
Drunk Bostonians dressed up as Indians and threw 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbour. The famed act of American colonial defiance served as a protest against taxation. This resulted in the passage of the Coercive Acts in 1774 and pushed the two sides closer to war. Patriot leader Samuel Adams organized the "tea party" with about 60 members of the Sons of Liberty, his underground resistance group. The British tea dumped was valued at some $18,000. -
Battle of Lexington & Concord
It was the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. Tensions had been building up for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities. Hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. Redcoats meet militia in Lexington, "shot heard round the world", British march to Concord. They used guerrilla warfare, a significant victory for the colonists. Rebellion in full swing. -
Common Sense
A pamphlet was written by Thomas Paine, he argued for independence from Great Britain, democratic representative government, and attacked monarchy to the people in the Thirteen Colonies. It became widely popular and cheap. American colonial views of monarchy change. It is considered one of the most influential pamphlets in American history. It played a remarkable role in transforming a colonial disagreement into the American Revolution. -
The Declaration of Independence
It was an official action taken by all 13 American colonies in declaring independence from British rule. "Independence is not an option- only chance." Colonies declared united and independent states. Thomas Jefferson charged with writing the draft. Completed on July 2nd, and it was signed on the fourth. Most grievances against the British. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Jefferson then worked together to make changes to the document. Important step in the founding of our governement. -
Massachusetts Constitution
Contains three parts: a Preamble, a Declaration of Rights, and a Frame of Government. By placing the Declaration of Rights before the Frame of Government, Adams emphasized that the rights of individuals are paramount. The Preamble announces that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is "formed by the voluntary association of individuals". The Declaration protects many individual rights. The Frame sets forth the authority and obligations of the three branches of Massachusetts government. -
Articles of Confederation
The first written constitution of the United States. Stemming from wartime urgency, its progress was slowed by fears of central authority and extensive land claims by states before was it was ratified. There were weak, pensions and revolts started happening against the U.S. government. Congress couldn't get anything done, no central government authority. George Washington puts down the rebellion. Issues led to the Constitutional Convention for the creation of new federal laws. -
Treaty of Paris (1783)
Signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States. Will end the Revolutionary War. Recognizes the United States as an independent and sovereign nation. It granted fishing rights to the United States of new found land. Establishes the northern border with British, North America/Canada. Will restore loyalist properties. Both nations will have access to the Mississippi River and frontier land. -
Period: to
The Constitution
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Shay's Rebellion
A series of protests by American farmers against state and local enforcement of tax collections and judgments for debt. A post-war recession and it was bad for everyone, farms are getting seized. Danial Shay led Revolutionary War veterans. Rebellion will be put down. Rebellion will create a sense of urgency, leaders on board with the change. Shays' Rebellion greatly alarmed politicians throughout the nation. -
Steamboats
From 1787 to the 1830's, steamboats were improved. In 1787, James Rumsey created the world's first boat moved by jet propulsion. In 1804, John Stevens built a steamboat with a new high-pressure steam engine. Countless people attempted to improve steamboats so that they could carry passengers. Steamboats use a steam engine to actively propel the boat instead of passively relying on the wind or current to carry the boat. It gave merchants the ability to ships goods both up and down rivers. -
Virginia Plan
Written primarily by fellow Virginian James Madison, the plan traced the broad outlines of what would become the U.S.: a national government consisting of three branches with checks and balances to prevent the abuse of power. It describes two houses; the lower house and the upper house. The population-based representation. Use the population as a basis for dividing seats among the states. The plan went through several revisions before it was finalized. -
New Jersey Plan
After two weeks of debating the Virginia Plan, a counterproposal was put forth by William Patterson, which has become known as the New Jersey Plan or the Small State Plan or the Patterson Plan. Amounted to no more than a simple reshaping of the Articles of Confederation. It offers the idea of one house in which the states would have an equal number of votes. This was an expression of the supremacy of federal law. -
Northwest Ordinance
Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance, structuring settlement of the Northwest Territory and creating a policy for the addition of new states to the nation. The member of Congress knew that if their new confederation were to survive intact, it had to resolve the states' competing claims to western territory. The ordinance proposed that three to five new states be created from the Northwest Territory, and it also did not allow slavery. -
Connecticut Plan
Also known as the Great Compromise. A delegate from Connecticut, Roger Sherman, proposed a two-house legislature, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Senate would have an equal number of representatives from each state. This pleased states with a larger population. This two-house legislature plan worked for all states and became known as the Great Compromise. Modern-day Congress, bi-cameral legislature, it was a compromise. -
Election of 1788
The first presidential election in the United States. The election took place following the ratification of the United States Constitution. George Washington was elected for the first of his two terms as President of the United States, and John Adams became the first Vice President. Under the previous system, the AOC, the national government was headed by the Confederation Congress. In this election, the enourmously popular Washington essestially ran unoppsed. -
Period: to
New Republic
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Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. Written by James Madison in response to calls from several states for greater constitutional protection for individual liberties, the Bill of Rights lists specific prohibitions on governmental power. Between Federalists and Anti-Federalists was the would place specific limits on government power. It guarantee's individual rights and liberties. -
Cotton Gin
Inventor Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin, a machine that revolutionized the production of cotton by greatly speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber. By the mid-19th century, cotton had become America's leading export. Southern planters a justification to maintain and expand slavery even as a growing number of Americans supported its abolition. For Whitney's work he is credited as a pioneer of American manufacturing. -
Whiskey Rebellion
An uprising of Pennsylvania and Kentucky farmers and distillers in Western Pennsylvania in protest of a whiskey tax enacted by the federal government. Whiskey was economically important and earns a large profit. Farmers will revolt. The first test of the Constitution. 6,000 threaten to attack Pittsburgh. Washington leads the army to quell what some feared could become a full-blown revolution. Built support of Republicans, which overtook Washington's Federalists Party power in 1802. -
Jay's Treaty
Representatives of the United States and Great Britain signed Jay's Treaty, which sought to settle outstanding issues between the two countries that had been left unresolved since American independence. They treaty proved unpopular with the American public bud did accomplish the goal of maintaining peace between the two nations and preserving U.S. neutrality. British agreed to vacate forts. Republicans outraged, see Federalists as pro-British. -
Washington's Farewell Address
Washington departed the presidency and the nation's then capital city of Philadelphia. The address has long been recognized as a towering statement of American political purpose. Washington only did two terms, and that was it. Wanted U.S. avoid conflict, didn't want permanent alliances, temporary alliances were okay. It clearly expresses the experienced leader's sense that duty and interest must be combined in all human concerts. Instead of duty his interest was in the bet course for the public. -
XYZ Affair
A diplomatic incident between France and America in the late 18th century that led to an undeclared war at sea. When President Geoge Washington sent Charles Cotesworth Pinckney as the U.S. minister to France in1796, the government there refused to receive him. Led to an undeclared war called the Quasi-War. It authorized American ships to attack French vessels. The hostilities were settled with the convention of 1800, which was ratified in 1801. -
Period: to
The Age of Jefferson
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Election of 1800
John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson was an emotional and hard-fought campaign. Each side believed that victory by the other would ruin the nation. Divisions among federalists made Adams look weak. Jefferson wins this time... sort of. Jefferson will tie with Aaron Burr. Hamilton will persuade the House of Representatives to vote for Jefferson. Jefferson will not undo the Federalists polices. Hamilton & Burr hated each other. 12th Amendment will require separate ballots for VP & president. -
Louisiana Purchase
Jefferson wanted a nation of farmers. Spain will cede Louisiana back to France. Napolean threatens to close New Orleans. Diplomats sent to Paris. Jefferson believes in the limited power of government. Jefferson buys Louisiana, afraid Napolean would back out of the offer, no time to amend the Constitution. Approximately 828,000,000 square miles of territory for fifteen million dollars, three cents per acre. It was the greatest land bargain in U.S. history. -
Embargo Act of 1807
The United States was tested during the Napoleonic Wars on its neutrality. Both Britain and France imposed trade restrictions in order to weaken each other's economies. As time went on, harassment by the British of American ships. This included impressment and seizures of American men and goods. After the Chesapeake Affair, Thomas Jefferson was faced with a decision to make regarding the situation at hand. Very unpopular in seaports. The Non-Intercourse Act was signed to repeal the Embargo Act. -
War of 1812
Many wanted war with Britain. British navy still very powerful. In 1813, America will take a land base strategy. British beat back Americans from Canada and blockaded American ports. In 1814, British take Washington D.C. Burn down the White House, revenge for Montreal. In the battle of Fort McHenry, Francis Scot Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. In conclusion, the war was a draw. Didn't solve diplomatic issues, second war for independence from Britain. Natives will be the big losers again. -
Period: to
The American Industrial Revolution
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Battle of New Orleans
Two sides met in what is remembered as one of the conflict's biggest and most decisive engagements. In the bloody Battle of New Orleans, future President Andrew Jackson and a motley assortment of militia fighters, frontiersmen, slaves, Indians and even pirates weathered a frontal assault by a superior British force. The victory vaulted Jackson to national stardom and helped foil plans for the British invasion of the American Frontier. War was technically over when battle fought. -
Panic of 1819
Crisis in financial and economic conditions following the War of 1812, a period of national energy and the establishment of the Second Bank of America. Worst depression in the history of the United States. The Economic boom after the war. Agriculture prices collapsed in 1819, banks started to fail. The economy goes into a tailspin. It causes the U.S. panic by first extending far too much credit, then quickly restricting it. Resulted in public loss of confidence in the financial structure. -
McCulloch vs. Maryland
A landmark Supreme Court Case. Gave federal government implied powers. States can't take place in federal government. Led South to make more radical views of states rights. States vs. Federal, federal more powerful implied powers, not said but understood. Maryland had placed a prohibitive tax on the bank notes of the Second Bank of the United States, in the name of its Baltimore branch cashier James W. McCulloch, appealed to the Supreme Court. -
Temperance Movement
The temperance movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries was an organized effort to encourage moderation in the consumption of intoxicating liquors or press for complete abstinence. The movement's ranks were mostly filled by women who, with their children, had endured the effects of unbridled drinking by many of their menfolk. Some 6,000 local temperance groups in many states were up and running by the 1830's -
Second Great Awakening
By the beginning of the 19th century, traditional Christian beliefs were held in less favor by the numerous educated Americans. It coincided with the nation's population growth from five to thirty million and the boundary's westward movement. Marked by an emphasis on personal piety over schooling and theology. It exerted a lasting impact on American society, more than any other revival. It left a legacy on many established churches, democratization and social reform. -
Underground Railroad
A political topic in the 1830's. Abolitionists helped slaves escape the South. They used safe houses. Harriet Tubman helped free over 100,000 between 1830 and 1860. It was a network of people, many African American, offering shelter and aid to escaped slaves. The exact date is not known, but it operated anywhere from the late 18th century to the Civil War. The Underground Railroad was formed as a convergence of various clandestine efforts at the time. -
Period: to
Cultural Changes
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Monroe Doctrine
James Monroe used his annual message to Congress for a bold assertion. It became a cornerstone of Americans foreign policy. The Spanish Empire was crumbling. The U.S. wanted influence over these new areas. They declared to Europe no intervention in Latin America. A policy of opposing European colonialism in The Americas beginning in 1823. It inverted the original meaning with Theo Roosevelt's extension and came to justify unilateral U.S. intervention in Latin America. -
Period: to
Age of Jackson
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Election of 1824
This election is notable for being the only time since the passage of the Twelfth Amendment in which the presidential election was decided by the House of Representatives. No picked successor. 4 candidates: John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William Crawford, and Henry Clay. Jackson wins the popular vote, not the electoral college. Adams is then chosen, Jackson angry and bitter then begins the corrupt bargain. -
Death of Jackson's Wife
Rachel and Andrew had a deeply loving marriage despite the controversy it incited among Jackson's political rivals. After Jacksons returned from Washington, Rachel's health began to decline. It's difficult to translate Rachel's exact condition into modern medical terms, though her illness seemed centered around her heart and lungs. Just after Jackson won the presidential election, Rachel's final downturn since her illness began. Her death devastated Andrew. He always blamed political enemies. -
Anti-Slavery Movement
The immediate emancipation of all slaves and the end of racial discrimination and segregation. Advocating for immediate emancipation distinguished abolitionists from more moderate anti-slavery advocates who argued for gradual emancipation, and from free-soil activists who sought to restrict slavery to existing areas and prevent its spread further west. The society had received substantial moral and financial support from African-American communities in the North. -
Indian Removal Act of 1830
Signed into law by President Andrew Jackson, authorized the unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy. During the fall and winter, the Cherokees were forcibly moved west by the United States government. Approximately 4,000 Cherokees dies on this forced march, which became known as the "Trail of Tears". -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
One of largest slave rebellions ever to take place in the United States, and it played an important role in the development of antebellum slave society. Northerners viewed rebellion as heroic. Nat Turner was a preacher. 60 to 80 slaves he leads. Outlawing of slaves preaching. Limited freed slave access to firearms. Southern states strengthen militias. Assaults on whites now a capital offense. Turner sought freedom, and to dismatle the entire system of slavery. -
Slave Codes
Southern states passed new laws. Which included limited travel for slaves, defined property rights of masters, slaves could not read or write, also not be able to testify in court, and planters usually served as a judge or jury. Slaves did not accept their fate without protest. This really had a ruinous effect on the African American society. With each new rebellion, the slave codes became more strict, further shorten the already limited rights and privileges this oppressed people might hope. -
Worchester vs. Georgia
A very peculiar but interesting legal battle that occurred in the United States between February and March of 1832. The proceeding set the precedent for what came to be known as "tribal sovereignty" that various indigenous groups exercised throughout the country. The United States Supreme Court ruled that Native American tribes were considered 'nation', and could be subject to state law. It vacated the conviction of Samuel Worcester from the state was unconstitutional on Native lands. -
Bank Veto Speech
As his term continued, Jackson truly grew a desire to crush the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson explained why he vetoed. Laid out a vision for American democracy. Opposition supported him and democracy. Appreciated by the common man. Courts weren't an authority on the Constitution. Jackson destroys Clay in Election. Any principled concerns, however, the Bank became a political battle. The Bank issue had indeed cost Jackson dearly. -
American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS)
One of the most prominent abolitionist organizations in the United States of America during the early nineteenth century. These men provided local and state antislavery societies, with an organization that could take their cause to the national level. It contributed to the split within the AASS. Not all abolitionists agreed that women were the equals of men and refused to take direction from people that they believed to the inferior. United Sted ended slavery with the 13th ammendment. -
New York Female Reform Society
Showed the change in emphasis from only reclaiming fallen women to shaping public opinion. Much of what this moral reform society sought to do was based on the hugely successful model of the temperance movement. which convinced many people of the evils of liquor. McDowell hoped to influence public opinion enough to condemn and stigmatize the men who visited prostitutes. It detailed how and who would run the organization. Constitution-making was a firm tradition in the American Public. -
Come and Take It
The Battle of Gonzales centered on American colonists in that town who were refusing to give back a cannon (the one on the flag) back to Mexican soldiers that they had received in 1831 to fend off Natives in the area. They wanted it now to defend themselves from Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's increasingly aggressive actions against the colonists. The battle was actually more of skirmish, but it did mark a definitive break in relations between the Mexicans and the colonists. -
Iron Plow
The blacksmith John Deere invented the lightweight plow with a steel cutting edge, known as the Steel Plow. Older, cast-iron plows were meant for the light, sandy soil of the east coast. But rich, heavy Midwestern soil clung to the bottom of these plows and slowed farmers down. Deere's new plow made preparing ground much less work and was a more reliable tool. More farmers began to move to the Midwest because they had the proper tools to farm the land. -
Telegraph
Developed in the 1830's and 1840's by Samuel Morse and other inventors, the telegraph revolutionized long-distance communication. It worked by transmitting electrical signals over a wire laid between stations. In addition to helping invent the telegraph, Samuel Morse developed a code, bearing his name that assigned a set of dots and dashes to each letter of the English alphabet and allowed for the simple transmission of complex messages across telegraph lines. -
Trail of Tears
Nearly 125,000 Native American lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida- land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. Cherokee forced to leave. Thousands die relocating to Oklahoma. The federal government promised that their new land would remain unmolested forever, but as the line of white settlement pushed westward, "Indian country" shrank. In 1907, Oklahoma became a state and Indian territory was gone for good. -
Period: to
Westward Expansion
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Election of 1840
Presidential election of 1840 was the 14th quadrennial presidential election. President Martin Van Buren runs for re-election against an economic depression and a Whig Party unified for the first time behind the war hero William Henry Harrison. Whigs spreads rumors about Van Burren. Whigs will get women to influence the vote of husbands. Harrison wins by a landslide. Only makes it a month. John Tyler who was the Vice President is now the President. -
Election of 1844
Texas came back to debate. Democrat James K. Polk defeated Whig Henry Clay in a close contest that turned on foreign policy, with Polk favoring the annexation of Texas and Clay opposed. Democrats called for the annexation of Texas and asserted that the United States had a "clear and unquestionable" claim to "the whole" of Oregon. This was the last presidential election to be held on different days in different states, all states held the election on the same date in November. -
Fredrick Douglass
A prominent American abolitionist, author, orator, and statesman. Born a slave, Douglass escaped at age 20 and went on to become a world-renowned anti-slavery activist. His three autobiographies are considered important works of the slave narrative tradition as well as classics of American autobiography. Douglass worked as a reformer ranged from his abolitionist activities in the early 1840's to his attacks on Jim Crow and lynching in the 1890's -
Manifest Destiny
Fur Trade in the Western Frontier. American domination by 1820's. Huge profits. The decline of beavers, almost hunted to extinction, fashion changes, trappers disappeared by the 1840's. Trappers and military expeditions brought information about Western Lands. Manifest Destiny notion of U.S. being a continental nation. Jacksonian Democracy for white future in the West. Belief Native Americans should be set to extinction. American settlers fear native attacks. -
Textiles
American textiles companies offered rewards to English mill workers to bring knowledge of textile mills to America. The demand for cloth grew, so merchants had to compete with others for the supplies to make it. The solution was to use machinery, which was cheaper than products made by hand, which takes longer to make, therefore allowing the cloth to be cheaper to the consumer. It combined the tasks that were needed to transform raw cotton into finished cotton. -
Mexican - American War
Marked the U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil. It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the administration, who believed the United States had a "manifest destiny" to spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. A border skirmish along the Rio Grande started off the fighting and was followed by a series of U.S. victories. Mexico had lost about 1/3 of its territory, including California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. -
Wilmot Proviso
Was designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican War. Fearing the addition of a pro-slave territory, proposed his amendment to the bill. Although the measure was blocked in the Southern-dominated Senate, it enflamed the growing controversy over slavery, and its underlying principle helped bring about the formation of the Republican Party in 1854. The antislavery declaration reflected the national political situation. -
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Sectionalism
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California Gold Rush
The discovery of gold nuggets in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 sparked the Gold Rush, arguably one of the most significant events to shape American history during the first half of the 19th century. As news spread of the discovery, thousands of prospective gold miners traveled by sea or overland to San Francisco and the surrounding area. 14,000 thousand in 1849, 100,000 at the year's end. Hoping to make it rich. Gold easy to find, mining began in 1852. Supporting industries, faced racism. -
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hildago
Ended the Mexican-American War in favor of the United States. The war had begun almost two years earlier, over a territorial dispute involving Texas. The treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to United States territory. Mexico also gave up claims to Texas and recognized the Rio Grande as America's southern boundary. The U.S. paid Mexico $15 million and agreed to settle all claims of U.S. citizens against Mexico. -
Election of 1848
The United States presidential election of 1848 was an open race. President James Polk, having achieved all of his major objectives in one term and suffering from declining health that would take his life less than four months after leaving office, kept his promise not to seek re-election. They had to quickly reverse course. The Whigs in the Senate voted 2-1 to approve the treaty. Then in the Summer the Whigs nominated the hero of the war. -
Compromise of 1850
Divisions over slavery in territory gained in the Mexican-American War were resoldved in the Compromise of 1850. Made up of five separate bills: California will enter as a free state, New Mexico & Utah to decide on slavery, Texas relinquishes disputed Western lands. The federal government took over Texas debt. Slaves trade banned in Washington D.C. Fugitive Slave Act required the return of runaway slaves. -
John C. Calhoun
A prominent U.S. statesman and spokesman for the slave-plantation system of the antebellum South. As a young congressman from South Carolina, he helped steer the United States into war with Great Britain and established the Second Bank of the United States. As a longtime South Carolina senator, he opposed the Mexican-American War and the admission of California as a free state and was renowned as a leading voice for those seeking to secure the institution of slavery. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Created commissioners for returning slaves. Fugitives had no right to trial. Whites could be jailed and fired for refusing to help. Added further provisions regarding runaways and levied even harsher punishments for interfering in their capture. Among the most controversial laws of the early 19th century, and many Northern states passed special legislation in an attempt to circumvent them. Both laws were formally repealed by an act of Congress in 1864. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The editor of an anti-slavery periodical asked Harriet Beecher Stowe if she could supply him with a timely story or article. The story was immensely popular, and when it was published in book form in 1852, it immediately became a runaway bestseller in both the U.S. and Great Britain. The effect of this emotionally powerful book was to shock public opinion against slavery in a way that no strictly moral or intellectual argument had as yet been able to accomplish. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. Southerners afraid of two new free states. Southerners wanted to abolish the Missouri Compromise. Wanted transcontinental railroad to run through South, not North. Stephen Douglas introduced the bill. 36" 30" repealed. Kansas is now a slave state & Nebraska is a free state. The act will pass. -
Election of 1860
This election set the stage for the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout most of the 1850's on questions of states' rights and slavery in the territories. In 1860, this issue finally came to a head, fracturing the formerly dominant Democratic Party into Southern and Northern factions and bridging Abraham Lincoln and the Republic Party to power without the support of a single Southern State. More than a month following Lincoln's victory came declarations of succession. -
Period: to
The Civil War
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North
They will increase industrialization. Steam engines are a huge factor. Immigrants will provide cheaper labor. It grows at an exponential rate, especially with their agricultural sustenance. Railroads are a major factor in both the East and West and waterways. The war had affected the Northern economy both positively and negatively and changed the life course of many women. The war had less devastating effects on the North than the South. Most of combat during the Civil War. -
South
Small industrialized areas in its most northern areas. Only fraction of the economy. Cotton is a HUGE factor. Tobacco, sugar, rice is still there. Four million slaves are worked. Most of the cotton is going to the North. (Britain) They resented the Northern progression. Trying to industrialized but can't keep up with the North at all. They believed slavery was a just institution. Most of the fighting during the American Civil War took place on Southern soil. -
Women at Work
The war gave women new roles in traditional male-dominated positions. Women take over teaching, nursing, civil service jobs, managing stores, managing farms, and plantations. Clara Barton will start the American Red Cross to help wounded soldiers on both sides. The war forced women into public life in ways they could scarcely have imagined a generation before. These wartime contributions did help expand many women's ideas about what their "proper place" should be. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln carefully framed the conflict as concerning the preservation of the Union rather than the abolition of slavery. As thousands of slaves fled to join the invading Northern armies, Lincoln was convinced that abolition had become a sound military strategy, as well as the morally correct path. Declaring that all slaves in the rebellious states "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." However it did not free a single slave, it was still an important turining point. -
Gettysburg Address
President Abraham Lincoln was invited to deliver remarks, which later became known as the Gettysburg Address, at the official dedication ceremony for the National Cemetery of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, on the site of one of the bloodiest and most decisive battles of the Civil War. Lincoln's 273-word address would be remembered as one of the most important speeches in American history. This would endure as arguably the most-quoted, most-memorized piece of oratory in American history. -
Lincoln's 10% Plan
The Ten Percent by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War in order to reunify the North and South after the war’s end. On December 8, 1863, he issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction offering pardon to Confederates who would swear to support the Constitution and the Union. The lenient Ten percent Plan first required 10% of seceded state voters take an oath of loyalty to Union. Second to create a new state government and third to adopt a new constitution abolishing slavery. -
13th Amendment
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall not exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction" This is basically saying that slaves are free and that slavery is illegal anywhere in the United States. With the passage of the amendment the instituion that had indelibly shpaed American history was eradicated. -
Black Codes
Southern states limit Civil Rights & Economic. Opportunity for African Americans for exploitable workforce outlawed interracial marriage and outlawed serving on juries. During vagrancy, African Americans arrested for wandering and not having a home. They were forced to work on plantations to pay for chest. Children's of vagrants forced into apprenticeships until 21 years of age. Forced to sign long-term contracts, and unpaid if they left early. -
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Reconstruction
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Appomattox Courthouse
General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses. S Grant. This brought the four-year Civil War to an end. Siege at Petersburg/Richmond starved Lee's Army, forced him to retreat. All Confederate forces surrender by late June. Over 650,000 Americans died in this war. The two war-weary generals met in the front parlor of the Wilmer McLean home at one o'clock that afternoon. -
Assassination
President Abraham Lincoln attends a play at Fords Theater in Washington D.C. Five days after Appomattox Courthouse. John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor, and Confederate sympathizer assassinated Lincoln. Lincoln dies the next day at 7:22 am at the age of fifty six. The first lady lay on the bed in an adjoining room with her eldest son Robert at her side, overwhelmed with shock and grief. Funeral procession attracts millions on the railroad tracks en route to Illinois. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment addresses many aspects of citizenship and the rights of citizens. Defining the national citizenship and forbidding the states to restrict the basic rights of citizens or other persons. This guaranteed to African Americans citizenship and all its privileges are officially adopted into the U.S. Constitution. It grants all these citizens the "equal protection of the laws." Anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen. -
15th Amendment
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." This granted African-American men the right to vote. It was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution. Passed by Congress the year before. Various discriminatory practices were used to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote, especially in the South. -
Panic of 1873
Sets booming economy back until 1877. African Americans become less important because of panic. Reduces effort in policing in South. Democrats voted office in 1874. Stands as the first global depression brought about by industrial capitalism. It began a regular pattern of boom and bust cycles that distinguish our current economic system and which still continues to this day. Money, not labor or goods, remains the critical factor in economic growth. -
The New South
A new society built on oppression and segregation. African American representation in government and plummets. The Economic Boom brought the industrialization, urbanization and new railroads. It cut taxes as well, spend less on social programs and public education. The Lost Cause made southerners need a way to justify losing the war, like the Union having unfair advantages. Engaged in propaganda that lasts until today. Justified white rule over blacks to little more than slaves.
