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Period: 900 BCE to
Beginning to Exploration
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1000
Cathloic Church of the Dark Ages
From 590 to 1517, the Roman Church controlled most of the western world. They controlled religion, philosophy, morals, politics, art, and education. The church became very corrupted and had departed from the teachings of the Bible and was engrossed in real heresy. The church practiced and preached sinless perfectionism. They taught in a way where justification became more subjective than objective. There was also Simony, which was the sinful practive of giving money to the church. -
1400
Aztec Caste System
The Aztecs followed a strict social hierarchy in which individuals were identified as nobles, commoners, serfs, or slaves. The nobles consistent of military leaders, high-level priests, and lords. The commoners were more so people that were farmers, artisans, merchants, and low-level priests. Slaves and serfs would be the people to work on the farmer's lands. Slaves would come to be in many different ways such as prisoners, debt payers, or as a form of punishment. -
1445
Printing Press
Johannes Gutenberg is usually known as the inventor of the printing press. However, nearly 600 years beforehand the Chinese were using a method call block-printing. Before the printing press, everything was re-written by hand which took a long time. Before the invention of the printing press — sometime between 1440 and 1450 — most European texts were printed using xylography, a form of woodblock printing similar to the Chinese method. -
1492
Diseases of the Colombian Exchange
Diseases such as smallpox, mumps, measles, polio, hepatitis, encephalitis, syphilis, and infliuenza were introduced to the new world through the Columbian Exchange. This was a major part of the Columbian exchange due to the fact that it killed many natives of the New World because they did not have immunity to these diseases. For example, Coretes purposefully gave the Aztecs blankets contaminated with small pox knowing that the disease would kill them. -
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English explorer, a soldier, and writer. He was a favorite Queen Elizabeth after serving in her army in Ireland. He was knighted in 1585 and became Captain of the Queen's Guard. Between 1584 and 1589, he helped establish a colony near Roanoke Island, which he named Virginia. He was accused of treason by King James I in 1603 but released in 1616 to look for gold in Spain. However, he failed and Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned and eventually put to death. -
First English Colonies
The first English colonies started off with Jamestown being the first permanent settlement in 1607. Jamestown soon became part of the Virgina colony as a royal colony.Next came Massachusetts Bay and after it New Netherlands, or now what is New York was established. Maryland, Connecticut, and Rhode Island were established from the great migration of people rushing towards the new land. There are eventually 13 colonies starting with Maine and ending with Georgia. -
Period: to
English Colonial Societies
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Samuel de Champlain
Born in Brouage, France around the year 1567, Champlain explored and discovered Nova Scotia, the Bay of Fundy, and the coast of some American lands. He started his first colony on Port Royal in 1605 but his first permanent settlement wouldn't but until 1608 (Quebec City) on the St. Lawrence River. In 1615 Chaplain explored most of New York, Ontario, and eastern Michigan. He spent the rest of his life living in and managaing Quebec City and dies in 1635. -
Headright System
The headright system was a land grant, usually about 50 acres, given to settlers. It was mainly used to attract settlers to Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland. It was originally created to bring settlers to Jamestown since they had large amounts of tobacco to harvest but no workers to gather it. However, most people that came over were indentured servants, these were people who pledged 5-7 years of their life to earn their "freedom" and land. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was signed in November of 1620. Its purpose was to be a temporary agreement between passengers, mostly Pilgrims, of the Mayflower and to establish some form of self-government until the Company would get formal permission from the Council of New England. However, the original Mayflower Compact was lost. We know that exists due to the fact that the text was first published in London in 1622. The document was signed by all of the men that were aboard the ship. -
Chesapeake Colonies
The colonies included in the Chesapeake colonies are Maryland and Virginia. These were the first colonies owned by an individual person instead of a joint stock company. The land was first given to Sir Geoge Calvert, the. When he died the land was passed over to his son Cecilius Calvert.These colonies were mostly tobacco-based and more so rural areas. Although Lord Baltimore preferred a Catholic colony, there was a mix of Catholic and Protestant settlers in Maryland. -
Anne Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson was born in England in 1591. She followed her husband, John Cotton a Puritan leader, to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634. She often brought up the spirit-centered theology of Puritanism. She shared her own interpretation of her husband's teaching. Anne spoke of a spirit-centered theology which held that God’s grace could be directly bestowed through faith and without a third party to worship too. She was exommunicated from the church and banished in 1638 -
Navigation Act (1651)
The English Parliment passed the Navigation Act od 1652 to tighten the government's control over the trade between England and its colonies to the rest of the world. It cut off the colonies from trading with any other country other than England. The reasoning for this act was because of the Dutch. England wanted to make sure that they were the only one trading with the colonies since the Dutch were the masters of the sea. -
William Penn
William Penn was born on October 24, 1644, in London, England. His father, Sir William Penn, was an admiral and landowner, which meant that he was educated person. When he was about 20, he converted to the Quaker religion and was jailed multiple times. in 1681 he received a royal charter to form Pennsylvania. He hoped that the colony would be a peaceful refugee for anyone that is shunned for their religious practices. -
Slave Codes
Slaves codes were state laws established to regulate the relationship between slave and owner as well as to legitimize the institution of slavery. They were used to determine the status of slaves and the rights of their owners. In practice, these codes placed harsh restrictions on slaves’ already limited freedoms and gave slave owners absolute power over their slaves. Most of these codes were put in place to control slave population and prevent rebellions. -
Causes of the Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of witchcraft trials that took place in 1692 in Massachusetts. Nearly 200 people were accused of witchcraft and by the end of the trials, 19 were sentenced to death. Some people think the trials were started out of boredom since the Puritans had forbidden forms of entertainment. Another reason may of have been the strong belief that the Puritans had in witchcraft. It all was started when a group of young girls accused Bridget Bishop of witchcraft. -
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Colonial America
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Slave Rebellions
Slav rebellions usually started out with small things such as sabotage, working poorly, faking being sick, or committing crimes like arson and poisoning to be able to run aw from the plantations. Two of the biggest slave rebellions were in 1712 when about 25 slaves used guns and clubs, killed the first 9 whites they saw and set houses on the edge of New York. The second biggest one was Cato's Conspiracy, which was about 80 slaves looking to escape to Flordia for a refugee in 1739. -
New England Colony Economy
The geography and climate impacted the trade and economic activities of New England Colonies. New England towns along the coast made their living fishing, whaling, and shipbuilding. Farming was difficult in New England for crops like wheat because of the poor soil but corn, rye, squash, and beans were planted. The Northern Colonies of New England concentrated in the manufacture and focussed on town life and industries such as shipbuilding and the manufacture and export of rum. -
George Whitfield
Born in 1714, George Whitefield was an Anglican priest and powerful orator with charismatic appeal. Whitefield was a staunch Calvinist that spent a whole entire year traveling 5,000 miles through America preaching on his views and values on "why must one be saved?" He ignited the Great Awakening, a religious revival. At first, established ministers had welcomed Whitefield and his fellow revivalists. At first, established ministers had welcomed Whitefield and his fellow revivalists. -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was an Enlightenment thinker whose political philosophies influenced both French and American Revolutionaries. He is perhaps best known for his “social contract” theory, which outlined the conditions for legitimate government. One of Rousseau's major arguments was that the power to shape a society’s laws belonged to the citizenry. Today, this is one of the central foundations of democratic government. -
Republican Party
The Republican Party stood for states’ rights and strict interpretation of the Constitution, limited central government, and a small national military. The policies represented the interests of common free men, particularly U.S. farmers, craftsmen, and laborers. Its economic policies reflected the needs of small businesses and individuals rather than of wealthy merchants and large commercial ventures. It also was the party of the plantation economy in the South. -
Whiskey Rebellion
In Western Pennsylvania, people really liked Wiskey.The federal government passed a tax on whiskey in 1791. Farmers in western Pennsylvania refused to pay the tax, comparing it to the Stamp Act. Trouble brewed for a couple years until 1794, when farmers assaulted federal tax collectors. President George Washington called out the national militia to put down what came to be called the Whiskey Rebellion. Many people were arrested, but all were later either pardoned or found not guilty. -
Salutary Neglect
Salutary neglect is the policy that the British government that limited and controlled the trade regulations for the colonies that were loosely enforced as long as the colonies remained loyal to the British government and contributed to the economic profitability of Britain. This “salutary neglect” contributed involuntarily to the increasing self-governing of colonial legal and legislative institutions, which ultimately led to American independence. -
Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne was the place of the "first battle" of the 7 years war. Fort Duquesne was built near the fork of the Ohio Valley. In 1754, George Washington was sent to Fort Duquesne to discuss boundaries and to persuade the French to leave the area peacefully. The French, however, refused to vacate the area. There were many attempts to claim the fort in the years 1754, 1755, and 1758. The french eventually burned the fort down but British rebuilt it and named it Fort Pitt. -
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The Revolutionary War
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Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax that required all American colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, etc. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains. This angered the colonist due to the fac that they werent being represented but were taxed anyway. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a fight that happened on the streets of Boston. It began when a riot of about 50 colonists attacked a group of British redcoats. The colonists were shouting profound things along with throwing snowballs with rocks inside of them at the troops. Soldiers "accidentally" fired their weapons and killing 3 people on sight, injuring 8 (2 of which that died later). Paul Revere drew a very dramatic picture of this and it was spread across the world pretty quickly. -
Paul Revere's Midnight Ride
Paul Revere was one of the tw0 main people that were out during the night of April 18, 1775, to look out for the British troops that would be arriving later that night. Paul Revere was on his way to warn Adams and Hancock in Lexington, taking the route across the Charles River and through Charlestown. After making it to Lexington, he decided to ride to Concord to warn the milita there but was captured by the Britsh almost as soon as he left Lexington. -
Olive Branch Petition
John Dickinson drafted the Olive Branch Petition, which was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5 and submitted to King George on July 8, 1775. It was an attempt to assert the rights of the colonists while maintaining their loyalty to the British crown. King George refused to read the petition and on August 23 proclaimed that the colonists had "proceeded to open and avowed rebellion." -
Common Sense
Common Sense was published anonymously on January 10th of 1776. He spoke out against the monarchy and British domination. While controversial at the time due to still being under British control, most colonists welcomed the pamphlet enthusiastically.He described the kings and monarchies of Britain as usurpers who, like criminals, had seized power by force. All the money that was made from the phamphlet was used to help the cause that he wrote about, American freedom. -
Election of 1778
This was the very first presidential election in the United States of America. Voters cast ballots to choose state electors; only white men who owned property were allowed to vote. As expected, George Washington won the election due to being an outstanding general during the war and was sworn into office on April 30, 1789. Even back then the electoral college system was used during the voting of a president -
Yeoman Farmers
Yeoman farmers were men who owned his own land and worked it primarily with family labor remains the embodiment of the ideal American: honest, virtuous, hardworking, and independence. These same values made yeomen farmers central to the Republican vision of the new nation. Because family farmers didn't exploit large numbers of other laborers and because they owned their own property, they were seen as the best kinds of citizens to have political influence in a republic. -
Massachusett Consitution
The constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States of America, adopted in 1780, is commonly refered to the oldest still-governing written constitution in the world. The Massachusetts Constitution was the model for the Constitution of the United States of America, drafted seven years later. The Massachusetts Constitution consists of four parts: a preamble; a declaration of rights; a description of the framework of government; and articles of amendment. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution of the United States. Due to the fact that the country was under wartime, it was a quickly thrown together document that worked during war times. Under these articles, the states remained independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on an appeal of disputes. However, the central government lacked the ability to levy taxes and regulate commerce which was a big problem in about 6 years. -
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The Constitution
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Treaty of Paris
Treaty that officially ended the Revolutionary War on September 3, 1783. It was signed in Paris by Franklin, Adams, and Jay. Under the terms of the treaty, Britain recognized the independent nation of the United States of America and agreed to remove all of its troops from the new nation. For the United States, the treaty set new borders for the United States and the United States agreed to let British troops leave, to pay all existing debts owed & to not to persecute loyalists still in America. -
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 to April 17, 1790) was a Founding Father and a polymath, inventor, scientist, printer, politician, freemason and diplomat. Franklin helped to draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, and he negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War. He was also known for being a very successful scientist tha created bifocal and his "key and kite experiement" for discovering how to conduct electricity. -
Founding Fathers
America's Founding Fathers including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe and Benjamin Franklin, together with several other key players of their time, structured the democratic government of the United States and left a legacy that has shaped the world. But beyond their legends, the Founding Fathers were human beings who led complex and fascinating lives. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shays’ Rebellion is the name given to a series of protests in 1786 and 1787 by American farmers against state and local enforcement of tax collections and judgments for debt. While the rebellions were in many areas, the worst was in Massachusetts. Although it never seriously threatened the stability of the United States, Shays’ Rebellion greatly alarmed politicians throughout the nation. His rebellions really put the AOC to the test and proved that the document was not strong enough. -
Virginia Plan
The Virginia Plan was presented in the form of multiple resolutions that detailed reasons why the AOC should be altered and plans for a strong National Government that could collect taxes and makes and enforce laws. The Virginia Plan was based on a national and state government system with a Separation of Powers consisting of the three branches, a bicameral legislature consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance was a land agreement of 1787 that created the Northwest Territory, enabling the United States to expand into the Great Lakes area. States created from the Northwest Territory included Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. It was an act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States that was passed on July 13, 1787. This important legislation provided for the rapid and orderly expansion of the new nation across the continent. -
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was born circa January 11, 1755, or 1757 (the exact date is unknown), on the island of Nevis, British West Indies. In 1777, Hamilton became General George Washington's assistant. In 1788, he convinced New Yorkers to agree to ratify the U.S Constitution. He then served as the nation's first secretary of the treasury, from 1789 to 1795. On July 12, 1804, in New York City, Hamilton died of a gunshot wound that he sustained during a duel with Aaron Burr. -
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The New Republic
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Judiciary Branch
The Judiciary Branch got its start at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, however, the role of the branch was no very defined due to the act that the founding fathers allowed the branch to be able to change with the times. The Federal Judiciary Act set the guidelines for the operation of the Supreme Court, which will consist of one chief justice and five associate justices and preside over regional circuit courts. The supreme court was put to the test about 5 months later. -
Federalist
The Federalist party was one of the first two political parties in the United States. Known for their support of a strong national government, the Federalists emphasized commercial and diplomatic harmony with Britain following the signing of the 1794 Jay Treaty. The party made a lasting impact by laying the foundations of a national economy, creating a national judicial system and formulating principles of foreign policy. -
Cotton Gin
The cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney, kind of revived slavery during the 1790's. The cotton gin revolutionized the production of cotton by speeding up the process that it took to remove the seeds from the actually useable fiber. Instead of one slave only being able to produce one pound a day, the cotton gin was able to produce about 50 pounds a day. While it was a popular machine Whitney got little money due to patent issues. In a way this was the start of inductrialization. -
Jay's Treaty
On November 19, 1794, 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. The treaty proved unpopular with the American public but did accomplish the goal of maintaining peace between the two nations and preserving U.S. neutrality. Jay’s Treaty was immensely unpopular with the American public. -
Washington's Farewell Address
Washington's Farewell Address embodies the core beliefs that Washington hoped would continue to guide the nation. Washington was tired of the demands of public life, which had become particularly severe in his second term, and looked forward to returning to Mt. Vernon. One of the more important messages during his address was to stray away from ploictial parties, which we see sooner in history that people did not listen. -
XYZ Affair
Diplomatic scandal that almost caused another war, this one between the United States and France. France was, at the time, at war with Great Britain. A treaty between Britain and the U.S. failed to guarantee France the right to ship with the U.S. France sent to the United States three diplomats, thereafter named X, Y, and Z, with outrageous demands. The result was undeclared war between the two countries. -
Free Black Communities
Many African-Americans were able to secure their freedom and live in a state of semi-freedom even before slavery was abolished by war. Free blacks lived in all parts of the United States, but the majority lived amid slavery in the American South. Free communities in the South tend to have more freedom due to the fact that the slave owners would be too busy with the slaves they actually have. While they were free, they still faced major discrimination. -
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The Age of Jefferson
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Western Frontier
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from the French government for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans, and it doubled the size of the United States. He believed that a republic depended on an independent, virtuous citizenry for its survival, and that independence and virtue went hand in hand with land ownership, especially the ownership of small farms. -
Marbury VS Madison
Marbury VS Madison is the seminal case in American law which established the power of the Supreme Court, on constitutional grounds, to invalidate laws enacted by Congress. Marbury is such an important case in American law precisely because it first truly revealed how the judiciary, and in particular, the Supreme Court, works as an equal partner among the three branches of American government. -
Lewis and Clark
The Lewis and Clark Expedition consisted of a group of military men, led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark to explore the US lands obtained in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and the Pacific Northwest. They were helped by a female Shoshone guide called Sacajawea. The Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled along the Missouri River from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition started on May 21, 1804 and ended on September 23, 1806. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was an armed conflict between the United States of America and Great Britain. It started in 1812 and ended in 1814 - it is also known as the 'Second War for Independence'. War was declared by President James Madison on June 18, 1812, and lasted for 2 years and 8 months and resulted in a Military stalemate. The Treaty of Ghent was signed on December 24, 1814.The reasoning for this war was due to the fact that British tired to restrict U.S. trade and captured some US seamen. -
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The American Industrial Revolution
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Panic of 1819
In 1819, the post-War of 1812 economic expansion ended. Banks throughout the country failed; mortgages were foreclosed, forcing people out of their homes and off their farms. Falling prices impaired agriculture and manufacturing, triggering widespread unemployment. All regions of the country were impacted and prosperity did not return until 1824. The primary cause of the misery seems to have been a change toward more conservative credit policies by the Second Bank of the United States -
McCulloch VS Maryland
In 1816, Congress chartered The Second Bank of the United States. In 1818, the state of Maryland passed legislation to impose taxes on the bank. James W. McCulloch, the cashier of the Baltimore branch of the bank, refused to pay the tax. The congress unlimated decided that Maryland had no right to tax insututions of national government -
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Cultural Changes
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Missouri Compromise
The Missouri COmpromise was an effort to preserve the balance of Congress between slave and free states. The document itself allowed for Maine to be admitted as a free slave and Missouri as a slave state. It also implemented the 36*30* law, stating that any state above this line in the Louisiana Territory to be a slave state. Howeer, this would ne repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act in three years due to the fact that the congress doesnt have the authority to prohibit slavery in those states -
Election of 1824
This election marked the end of the Federalist due to the fact that there were no candidates that ran as a Federalist. Andrew Jackson won the electoral college vote with John Quincy Adams coming in as a close second. Since there was not a majority vote the situation was passed to the House of Reps. Henry Clay is the speaker, had a decisive position. Since he hated Jackson, he forged an Ohio Valley-New England coalition to reserve the presidency for Adams and he soon became secretary of state. -
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Age of Jackson
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Sing Sing
In 1825, the State of New York appropriated $20,100 to purchase a 130-acre site on the Hudson River for what is now the Sing Sing Correctional Facility. A lot of the methods there were redundant such as solitary confinement. The prison became one of the most highly protected prisons. A mistake that was made was that they had put mentally ill people in there so when someone would break out into a episode they would punish them with solitary confindment, only making it worse. -
Lowell Mills
The Lowell System was a labor production model invented by Francis Cabot Lowell in Massachusetts in the 19th century. The system was designed so that every step of the manufacturing process was done under one roof and the work was performed by young adult women instead of children or young men. Lowell mills gave women a chance to contribute to the family economically. The start of major looms were in these mills and were opperated by girsl who would secretly trade books to read. -
Temperance Movement
The temperance movement of the was an organized effort to encourage moderation in the consumption of intoxicating liquors or press for complete abstinence. The movement was mostly supported by women who, with their children, had endured the effects of unbridled drinking by many of their menfolk. In fact, alcohol was blamed for many of society's demerits, among them severe health problems, destitution, and crime. At first, they used moral suasion to address the problem. -
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was born in 1767. A lawyer and a landowner, he became a national war hero after defeating the British in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. Jackson was elected the seventh president of the United States in 1828. Known as the "people's president," Jackson destroyed the Second Bank of the United States, founded the Democratic Party, supported individual liberty and instituted policies that resulted in the forced migration of Native Americans. He died on June 8, 1845. -
Election of 1828
The Election of 1828 was the first American election that contained personal attacks. This election was a rematch between Jackson and Adams. Adams was accused of misusing public funds to gamble when in reality he only bought a chess board and a pool table. Jackson was accused of adultery with his wife Rachel along with being accused of murder for executing militia deserters and dueling. Andrew Jackson won both the electoral and popular vote but could not celebrate with his wife due to her death. -
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. He claims to oh have found gold tablets with writing that only he can understand. When he was twenty-four, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death fourteen years later, he had attracted tens of thousands of followers and founded a religious culture that continues to the present. -
Election of 1832
The election of 1832 is nicknamed "the Bank War" due to the fact that the discussion of the Second Bank of the United States was popular. Henry Clay was the rep. for the National Republicans while Andrew Jackson took the Democratic-Republicans. While Clay was for the bank Jackson hated the idea of it. Although the votes for the president position were considered a tie no one was really worried since it would come down to the votes of the VP's, Martin Van Buren and John Calhoun. -
Charles Grandison Finney
Charles Grandison Finney, was an American lawyer, president of Oberlin College, and a central figure in the religious revival movement of the early 19th century; he is sometimes called the first of the professional evangelists. Finney dropped his law practice to become an evangelist and was licensed by the Presbyterians. His revivals achieved spectacular success in large cities, and in 1832 he began an almost continuous revival in New York City as minister of the Second Free Presbyterian Church. -
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston was born on March 2, 1793, near Lexington, Virginia. From 1813 to 1814, he fought in the Creek War and was wounded at Horseshoe Bend. He was elected to Congress in 1823 and 1825. In 1827, he became Tennessee governor. He was made the first president of the Republic of Texas in 1836 and was re-elected in 1841. From 1849 to 1859, he was a Texas state senator and briefly governor before he was ousted for not supporting the Confederacy. He died on July 26, 1863, in Huntsville, Texas. -
Election of 1836
This election would be one of the few elections where a Whigs would be one of the presidential candidates. After serving as a VP, Martin Van Buren was unanimously nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate. The other presidental canidates were William Henry Harrison, Hugh L. White, Daniel Webster, and Willie P. Mangum—each of whom served as the sole Whig presidential candidate on the ballot for a state or group of state. In the end Van Buren ended up winning. -
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1837 was a crisis in financial and economic conditions in the nation following changes in the banking system initiated by President Andrew Jackson. Other causes of the Panic of 1837 included the failure of the wheat crop, a financial crisis and depression in Great Britain that led to restrictive lending policies. President Martin Van Buren was blamed for the Panic of 1837 and proposed a solution that was shut down by Henry Clay -
Iron Plow
The iron plow was invented by John Deere in 1837. It was used in farming to break up tough soil without the hassle of soil getting stuck to it. This was the first step to making farming easier for the southerners. -
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was when the United States government forced Native Americans to move from their homelands in the Southern United States to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Peoples from the Cherokee, Muscogee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole tribes were marched at gunpoint across hundreds of miles to reservations. The Trail of Tears can also refer to the specific forced march and path of the Cherokee Nation from North Carolina to Oklahoma which occured in 1838. -
Election of 1840
This election was a rematch between Harrison and Van Buren. Democrats stressed their interest in a restricted role for the federal government, while Whigs called for a strong central government. Capitalizing on the country’s depressed economic state, the Whigs emphasized Harrison’s simple lifestyle over Van Buren’s relative decadence. And for the first time in history, America had a whig president. -
Edgar Allen Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, critic and editor best known for evocative short stories and poems that captured the imagination and interest of readers around the world. His imaginative storytelling and tales of mystery and horror gave birth to the modern detective story. Many of Poe’s works became literary classics. Some aspects of Poe’s life, like his literature, is shrouded in mystery, and the lines between fact and fiction have been blurred substantially since his death. -
Know Nothings
The Know-Nothing party was an outgrowth of the strong anti-immigrant and especially anti-Roman Catholic sentiment that started to manifest itself during the 1840s. A rising tide of immigrants, primarily Germans in the Midwest and Irish in the East, seemed to pose a threat to the economic and political security of native-born Protestant Americans. In 1849 the secret Order of the Star-Spangled Banner formed in New York City, and soon after lodges formed in nearly every other major American city. -
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Westward Expansion
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Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny is a term for the attitude prevalent during the 19th century period of American expansion that the United States not only could but was destined to, stretch from coast to coast. This attitude helped fuel western settlement, Native American removal, and war with Mexico. President James K. Polk promised that he would be able to accomplish this within one term. -
Telegraph
Developed in the 1830s and 1840s by Samuel Morse (1791-1872) 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. -
Election of 1844
The frontrunners for the presidential nominations in both parties, Henry Clay (Whig) and Martin Van Buren (Democrat), feared that the annexation of Texas would split their parties. The two political professionals agreed to cloud the issue in the hope of keeping it off center stage. They expressed a willingness to support annexation if Mexico would agree; there was absolutely no chance that would occur. -
Robert E Lee
Born in 1807 in Virginia, Robert E. Lee came to military prominence during the U.S. Civil War, commanding his home state's armed forces and becoming general-in-chief of the Confederate forces toward the end of the conflict. Though the Union won the war, Lee earned renown as a military tactician for scoring several major victories on the battlefield. He went on to become president of Washington College, which was renamed Washington and Lee University after his death in 1870. -
Election of 1848
Both of the major parties hoped to avoid the slavery issue's divisiveness in 1848. Since President Polk refused to consider a second term, the Democrats turned to Lewis Cass of Michigan. Cass advocated "popular sovereignty" on the slavery issue, meaning that each territory should decide the question for itself — a stance that pleased neither side. The Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor. Zachary Taylor was the new President. -
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Sectionalism
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Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The war officially ended on February 2, 1848, signing in Mexico of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to United States territory, including the land that makes up present-day Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Mexico also gave up all claims to Texas and recognized the Rio Grande as America’s southern boundary. In return, the United States paid Mexico $15 million and agreed to settle all claims against Mexico -
Seneca Falls Convention
At the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, N.Y, a woman’s rights convention–the first ever held in the United States–convenes with almost 200 women in attendance. The convention was organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, two abolitionists who met at the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. On the second day of the convention, men were invited to intend–and some 40 did, including the famous African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass. -
Compromise of 1850
Divisions over slavery in territory gained in the Mexican-American. War was resolved in the Compromise of 1850. It consisted of laws admitting California as a free state, creating Utah and New Mexico territories with the question of slavery in each to be determined by popular sovereignty, settling a Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute in the former’s favor, ending the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and making it easier for southerners to recover fugitive slaves. -
Election of 1852
The election of 1852 was contested in the aftermath of the Compromise of 1850. The campaign itself would be marked by divisions within the political parties over the issue of slavery and would be the last presidential election in which the Whigs participated. The candidates were Franklin Pierce and Winfield Scott. The election was marked by low voter turnout—the lowest of any between 1840 and 1860. Franklin Pierce won for the democratic party. -
Election of 1860
United States presidential election of 1860 in which Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, and the Constitutional Union candidate John Bell. The electoral split between Northern and Southern Democrats was emblematic of the severe sectional split, particularly over slavery, and in the months following Lincoln’s election, seven Southern states, led by South Carolina seceded, setting the stage for the American Civil War. -
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The Civil War
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Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter was abandoned by the US troops after the succession of 7 states. However, when Major General Richard Anderson moved his troops there for easier protection and was expecting reinforcements, the reinforcements never made it due to Confederate soldiers taking down the ship before it made it. Confederate surrounded the Fort and waited for the Union troops to surrender. In April the confederate started to bomb the fort and 34 hours later Major Anderson agreed to evacuate. -
Trent Affair
The crisis erupted after the captain of the USS San Jacinto ordered the arrest of two Confederate envoys sailing to Europe aboard a British mail ship, the Trent, in order to seek support for the South in the Civil War. The British, who had not taken sides in the war, were outraged and claimed the seizure of a neutral ship by the U.S. Navy was a violation of international law. In the end, President Abraham Lincoln’s administration released the envoys and averted an armed conflict with Britain. -
Battle of Shiloh
Battle of Shiloh took place from April 6 to April 7, 1862, and was one of the major early engagements of the American Civil. The battle started when the Confederates launched a surprise attack on Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant in southwestern Tennessee. After initial successes, the Confederates were unable to hold their positions and were forced back, resulting in a Union victory. there were more than 23,000 deaths, both the north and south lost a lot of people -
Missouri During the Civil War
Missouri was a border state and sent many men to the armies on both sides. Nearly 110,000 men fought for the Union, while about 40,000 served the Confederacy. They fought both in Missouri and in other states. Many battles and skirmishes were fought within Missouri itself. The state had a star on both flags, controlled two different governments, dealt with both a civil war and an intrastate war. The first major battle that took place in Misspuri was the Wilson's Creek Battle -
Carpetbaggers
During and immediately after the Civil War, many northerners headed to the southern states, driven by hopes of economic gain, a desire to work on behalf of the newly emancipated slaves or a combination of both. These “carpetbaggers” supported the Republican Party and would play a central role in shaping new southern governments during Reconstruction. The majority of Republican support in the South came from white southerners who were for reconstruction. -
Emancipation Proclamation
On September 22, soon after the Union victory at Antietam, Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that as of January 1, 1863, all slaves in the rebellious states “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” While the Emancipation Proclamation did not free a single slave, it was an important turning point in the war, transforming the fight to preserve the nation into a battle for human freedom. -
Election of 1864
The Civil war was happening during the time of the election, therefore only the states that were apart of the Union were allowed to vote. The two candidates were Abraham Lincoln as a Republican and George Pendleton as a Democratic. Lincoln was scared that he would not win the election and everyone else on his part also has their own doubts about him getting a second term. This election was really the last chance the Confederacy had at winning the war by hoping that Lincoln would lose. -
Andrew Johnson Administration
After Andrew Johnson became president, he created a new plan for reconstruction, almost totally opposite of Lincon's plan. Johnson opposed succession and was also racist towards black people. He promoted a lenient policy for readmission, an oath that all confederates had to take and to return all taken property during the war and to renounce the succession and to ratify the 13th amendment. All the high ranking Confederates were pardoned which is something Lincoln did not want. -
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Reconstruction
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Freedmen's Bureau
The Freedmen's Bureau was a federal agency established on March 3, 1865, just before the end of the Civil War, during the Reconstruction Era. The Freedmen's Bureau was established to help and protect emancipated slaves (freedmen) during their transition from a life of slavery to a life of freedom. While it was supposed to help the freedmen, the Union struggled to implement things in the South due to slave owners losing their way of life. -
Abraham Lincoln Assassination
On the evening of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor, and Confederate sympathizer assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. The attack came only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War. Booth was able to go up to Lincoln's seat during the show and shoot his right by his head. Lincoln died a day later. -
Election of 1866
Although not a presidential election, the off-year congressional election of 1866 was, actually, a referendum election for President Andrew Johnson. By the summer of 1866, Johnson had lost support within the Republican Party for his Reconstruction policies.Most of the congressmen from the former Confederate states were either prevented from leaving the state or were arrested on the way to the capital. -
14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment is probably the most important amendment added to the Constitution at any time since the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. A Congress dominated by Radical Republicans passed the amendment specifically to protect against the threat that white southerners, defeated in the Civil War, would figure out how to use the powers of their state governments to effectively re-enslave recently liberated blacks by passing racially discriminatory laws. -
Creation of Parks
By the Act of March 1, 1872, Congress established Yellowstone National Park in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming "as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" and placed it "under the exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior." The founding of Yellowstone National Park began a worldwide national park movement. Due to the industrialization, people didnt see grass that much any more so therefore they made pig parks for people to enjoy. -
Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877, also known as the "Corrupt Bargain" or the "Great Betrayal" marked the end of Reconstruction in the South and a return to "Home Rule". The Compromise of 1877 was reached to settle the disputed 1876 U.S. Presidential election. The secret deal ensured that the Republican Party candidate, Rutherford Hayes, would become the next president and that the Democrats would regain political power in the southern state governments. -
Clara Barton
Clara Barton was born on December 25, 1821, in Oxford, Massachusetts. She became a teacher, worked in the U.S. Patent Office and was an independent nurse during the Civil War for both the north and the south. After seeing the International Red Cross in Europe, she started her own organization in America when she returned. The American Red Cross was founded in 1881, and Barton served as its first president. -
Chinese Migration
From 1882 to 1943 the United States Government severely curtailed immigration from China to the United States. This Federal policy resulted from concern over the large numbers of Chinese who had come to the United States in response to the need for inexpensive labor, especially for construction of the transcontinental railroad. Most Americans were scared of being jobless due to the Chinese. Most Chinese migrated over for a better oppertunity and life. -
Hamilton VS Burr
Hamilton and Burr were total opposites. While Hamilton started from the bottom, Burr was born into a prestigious family and lavish life. Hamilton came to detest Burr, whom he regarded as a dangerous opportunist, and he often spoke ill of him. Due to Burr losing an election for governor, he blamed Hamilton and challenged him to a duel. While Hamilton fired into the air Burr killed Hamilton with a bullet next to his spine. -
Slums
Due to the great migration that many people made North due to the industrial revolution, the spaces of living got smaller and less lavish. This eventually started the slums of New York. Areas of living became really small and compact. Instead of building out people decided to start building up to be able to fit more people in these areas. Both immigrants and americans living in these slums has one mutual goal, to earn enought money to provide for their familes and get out of the slums.
