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Period: Jan 1, 1000 to
Beginning to Exploration
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Jan 1, 1096
The Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites considered cherished by both groups. All together, eight major Crusades expeditions occurred between 1096 and 1291. The bloody, violent and often cruel conflicts moved the status of European Christians, making them major players in the fight for land in the Middle East. -
Jan 1, 1210
The Aztecs
The Aztecs arrived in Mesoamerica around the beginning of the 13th century. From their capital city, Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs developed as the main force in central Mexico, developing an complex social, political, religious and commercial organization that brought many of the region's city-states under their control by the 15th century. Invaders led by the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes captured Tenochtitlan in 1521, bringing an end to Mesoamerica's last great native civilization. -
Jan 1, 1300
The Renaissance
The development of new technologies-including the printing press, a new system of astronomy and the discovery of new technologies-including the printing press and the discovery and exploration of new continents-was following by the flourishing of philosophy, literature and especially art. The style of painting, sculpture and decorative arts, in work of Italian masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. -
Oct 1, 1327
The Black Death
The Black Death arrived in Europe by sea in October 1347. Most of the sailors on the ships were dead, and those still alive had high fevers, unable to keep food down and incoherent from pain. What was most strangest, they were covered in unknown black boils that leaked blood and pus which gave the illness the name the "Black Death." Over the next five years, the mysterious black death killed more than 20 million people in Europe,around one-thing of the continent's population. -
Jan 1, 1492
Exploration (Christopher Columbus)
The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Sprain: in 1492, 1493, and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but never did. Instead, by mistake fell upon the Americas, big for the native populations living there. He was a bold and path-breaking explorer who transformed the New World, yet the actions also unleashed changes that would eventually ruin the native populations he and his fellow explorers met -
Jan 1, 1492
The Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange refers to a period of cultural and biological exchanges between the New and Old Wolds. Exchanges of plants, animals, diseases and technology transformed European and Native American ways of life. The Columbian Exchange impacted both sides of the Atlantic. Advancements in agricultural production, evolution of warfare, increased mortality rates and education are a few examples of the effect of the Columbian Exchange on both Europeans and Native Americans. -
Jan 1, 1519
Conquest of the Aztecs
As he approached Tenochtitlan, Cortes made alliances with other native tribes that had problems with the Aztecs. Cortes entered Tenochtitlan and was greeted by the Aztec ruler Montezuma, believing he was an Aztec god; this allowed Cortes to take Montezuma captive. After a two and a half month siege, the city was starved out and Cortes entered it victorious. The city was largely destroyed, the Aztec Empire ended and Cortes became the first governor of Mexico. -
Southern Colonies
The geography of the Southern Colonies featured fertile soil, hilly coastal plains, forests, long rivers and swamp areas. It was the warmest of the three regions, winters were not difficult to survive.The warm climate made it possible to grow crops throughout the year and was ideally suited for plantations. The following are trade/exports they did, tobacco, cotton, rice, indigo (dye), lumber, furs, farm products. It also didn't have a dominate religion which gave religious freedom. -
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English Colonial Societies
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Virginia Colony
On May 14, 1607, a group of about 100 members of a joint enterprise founded the first permanent English settlement in North America. Tobacco became Virginia's first profitable export, and a period of peace followed the marriage of colonist John Rolfe to Pocahontas, the daughter of an Algonquian chief. During the 1620s, Jamestown expanded from the area around the original James Fort into a New Town built to the east; it remained the capital of the Virginia colony until 1699. -
The Middle Passage
The Middle Passage refers to the part of the trade where Africans, packed onto ships, were transported across the Atlantic to the West Indies. The voyage took three to four months and during this time, the enslaved people mostly lay chained in rows on the floor of the hold or on shelves that ran around the inside of the ship's hulls, usually under a meter high. There could be up to more than six hundred enslaved people on each ship. -
Plymouth Colony
In September 1620, around 100 English men and women set sail for the New World on the Mayflower. The ship landed on the shores of Cape Cod, two months later, and in late December stayed at Plymouth Rock, where they would form the first permanent settlement of Europeans in New England. Due to the harsh winter, many died and the survivors were able to secure peace treaties with neighboring Native American tribes and build a largely self-sufficient economy within five years. -
Oliver Cromwell
English solider and statesman Oliver Cromwell was elected to Parliament in 1628 and 1640. The candid Puritan helped organize armed forces after the outburst of civil war in 1642, serving as second commander of the "New Model Army" that wiped out the main Royalist force at the 1645 Battle of Naseby. After the death of Charles I, Cromwell served in the Rump Parliament and set to improve the legal system in part through the establishment of the Blue Laws. -
Navigation Acts
The purpose of the Navigation Acts was to motivate British shipping and allow Great Britain to have the holding of British colonial trade for the benefit of British merchants. The 1660 Navigation Acts secured that the highly profitable profits to be made from the natural resources and industries in the Colonies securing advantages for the products in Great Britain. -
The Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution of England was a blood-less triumph which led to the end of King James ll in 1688 and the installation of William and Mary as monarchs. The Glorious Revolution of England, also called the English Revolution, the Revolution of 1688, or the Bloodless Revolution. The Glorious Revolution was so-called because it achieved its objective without any bloodshed. -
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Villages, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. Though the Massachusetts General Court later nullified guilty conclusions against accused witches and granted protection to their families, bitterness sticked around in the community, and the painful birthright of the Salem witch trials would last for centuries. -
The Enlightenment
European politics, philosophy, science and communications were radically modernized during the course of the "long 18th century". Enlightenment thinkers in Britain, France and throughout Europe questioned traditional authority and embraced the notion that society could be bettered through reasonable change. The Enlightenment produced diverse books, essays, inventions, scientific discoveries, laws, wars and revolutions. The American and French Revolutions were inspired by the Enlightenment. -
Triangular Trade
The Triangular Trade is a term used to describe the trade occurring between England, Africa, and the Americas. The trade fell into the three categories:
The raw materials and natural resources such as sugar, tobacco, rice and cotton that were found in the 13 colonies.
Manufactured products from England and Europe such as guns, cloth and beads.
Slaves from West Africa, many of whom sweat in the Slave Plantations. -
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Colonial America to 1763
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The Great Awakening
The Great Awakening was spiritual renewal that cleared the American Colonies, particularly New England, during the first half of the 18th Century. Certain Christians began to disassociate themselves with the established approach to worship at the time which had led to a general sense of satisfaction among believers, and instead they adopted an approach which was characterized by great passion and emotion in prayer. -
New England Economy
Economic activities and trade were dependent of the environment in which the Colonists lived. The geography and climate impacted the trade and economic activities of New England Colonies. In the New England town along the coast, the colonists made their living fishing, whaling, and shipbuilding. The Northern Colonies of New England concentrated in manufacture and focused on town life and industries such as ship building and the manufacture and export of rum. -
Seven Years' War / French and Indian War
When France's expansion into the Ohio River valley brought repeated conflict with the claims of the British colonies, a series of battles led to the official British declaration of war in 1756. At the 1763 peace conference, the British received the territories of Canada from France and Florida from Spain, opening the Mississippi Valley to westward expansion. -
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The Revolutionary War
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Treaty of Paris, 1763
The Treaty of Paris of 1763 ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France, as well as their respective allies. In the terms of the treaty, France gave up all its territories in mainland North America, effectively ending any foreign military threat to the British colonies there -
Townshend Act
The Townshend Acts charge duties on glass, lead, paints, paper and tea imported into the colonies. Townshend hoped the acts would cover imperial expenses in the colonies, but many Americans viewed the taxation as an abuse of power, resulting in the passage of agreements to limit imports from Britain. In 1770, parliament repealed all the Townshend duties except the tax on tea, leading to a temporary truce between the two sides in the years before the American Revolution. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers.Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to awake the annoyance of the society. -
Boston Tea Party
This famed act of confrontation served as a protest against taxation. Seeking to boost the troubled East India Company, British Parliament adjusted import duties with the passage of the Tea Act in 1773. While collectors in Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia rejected tea shipments, merchants in Boston refused to accept to Patriot Pressure. On the night of December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships in the Boston harbor and threw 342 chests of tea overboard. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 colonies and the British authorities. On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoat column. A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and soon the British were hastily retreating under intense fire. -
Declaration of Independence
Armed conflict between American colonists and British soldiers began in April 1775. With the Revolutionary War going on, the movement for independence from Britain had grown, and delegates of the Continental Congress were faced with a vote on the issue. In mid-June 1776, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin were tasked with drafting a formal statement of the colonies' intentions. The Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4. -
Massachusetts Constitution
The Massachusetts Constitutional Convention took place between September 1 and October 30, 1779 and appointed John Hancock as its president.As soon as John Adams returned, in France the Massachusetts Provincial Congress appointed him to the Constitutional Convention to draft the Massachusetts Constitution. The Massachusetts Constitution ended the command of the Provincial Congress and the legislative centered government and has been functioning continuously since its ratification in 1780. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution of the United States. Under these articles, the states remained sovereign and independent. Congress was also given the authority to make treaties and alliances, maintain armed forces and coin money. However, the central government lacked the ability to charge taxes and regulate commerce, issues that led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 for the creation of new federal laws. -
Battle of Yorktown
In the fall of 1781, a mixed American force of Colonial and French troops laid blockade to the British Army at Yorktown, Virginia. Led by George Washington and French General Comte de Rochambeau, they began their final attack on October 14th, capturing two British defenses and leading to the surrender. Yorktown proved to be the final battle of the American Revolution, and the British began peace negotiations shortly after the American victory. -
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The Constitution
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Treaty of Paris 1783
The Treaty of Paris of 1783, negotiated between the United States and Great Britain, ended the revolutionary war and recognized American independence. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry Laurens. Laurens, however, was captured by a British warship and held until the end of the war, and Jefferson didn't leave the United States in time to be part of the negotiations. Therefore, they were conducted by Adams, Franklin, and Jay. -
Shays' 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. Although farmers took up arms in states from New Hampshire to South Carolina, the rebellion was most serious in Massachusetts, where bad harvests, economic depression, and high taxes threatened farmers with the loss of their farms. The rebellion took its name from its symbolic leader, Daniel Shays of Massachusetts. -
The Great Debate
The Federalists wanted to ratify the Constitution, the Anti-Federalists didn't. One of the major issues these two parties debated concerned the inclusion of the Bill of Rights. The Federalists felt that this addition wasn't necessary, because they believed that the Constitution as it stood, only limited the government not the people. The Anti-Federalists claimed the Constitution, gave the central government to much power, and without a Bill of Rights the people would be at risk of oppression. -
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia met between May and September of 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Article of Confederation. Under the reformed federal system, many of the responsibilities for foreign affairs fell under the authority of an executive branch, although important powers, remained the responsibility of the legislative branch. The Constitution came into effect in 1789. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance, adopted July 13, 1787, by the Second Continental Congress, chartered a government for the Northwest Territory, provided a method for admitting new states to the Union from the territory, and listed a bill of rights guaranteed in the territory. Following the principles outlined by Thomas Jefferson in the Ordinance of 1784, the authors of the Northwest Ordinance spelled out a plan that was later used as the country expanded to the pacific. -
Three Branches
According to the doctrine of separation of powers, the U.S. Constitution distributed the power of the federal government among three branches (legislative, executive and judicial) and built a system of checks and balances to ensure that no branch could become too powerful. -
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New Republic
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Bank of the United States
Proposed by Alexander Hamilton, the Bank of the United States was established in 1791 to serve as storehouse for federal funds and as the government's financial agent The Second Bank was formed 5 years later, bringing renewed controversy despite the U.S. Supreme Court's support of its power. President Andrew Jackson removed all federal funds from the bank after his reelection in 1832, and it ceased operations as a national institution after its charter expired in 1836. -
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion was a 1794 uprising of farmers and alcohol in Western Pennsylvania in protest of a whiskey tax passed by the federal government. Opposition to the whiskey tax and the rebellion itself built support for the Republicans, which overtook Washington's Federalist Party for power in 1802. -
Bill of Rights
After the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, The Founding Fathers turned to the composition of the states' and then the federal Constitution. Although a Bill of Rights to protect the citizens was not initially deemed important, the Constitutions's supporters realized it was crucial to achieving ratification. Thanks largely to the efforts of James Madison, the Bill of Rights officially became part of the Constitution in December 1791. -
Cotton Gin
In 1794, Eli Whitney created the cotton gin, a machine that revolutionized the making of cotton by extremely boosting up the action of removing seeds from cotton fiber. By the mid-19th century, cotton had become America's leading export. Despite its success, the gin made little money for Whitney. Also, his invention allowed Southern planters a justification issues to preserve and enlarge slavery even as a growing number of American supported its abolition. -
Jay's Treaty
One November 19 1794 representatives of the United States and Great Britain signed Jay's Treaty, which tried to settle excellent issues between the two countries that had been left pending 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. -
Pinckney's Treaty
Spanish and U.S. negotiators completed the Treaty of San Lorenzo, also known as Pinckney's Treaty, on October 27, 1795. The Treaty was an important diplomatic success for the United States. It resolved territorial conflicts between the two countries and acknowledged American ships the right to free navigation of the Mississippi River as well as duty-free transport through the post of New Orleans, then under Spanish control. -
Alien and Sedition Act
The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by Congress in 1798 in formation for an anticipated war with France. The Naturalization Act increased the residency requirement for American citizenship from five to fourteen years. The following Sedition Act banned the publishing of scandalous or malicious writings against the government. The acts were designed by Federalist to limit the power of the opposition Republican Party, but enforcement ended after Thomas Jefferson was elected president in 1800. -
Kentucky Resolutions
The following resolutions were proposed to the Kentucky Legislature, and this version was adopted on November 10, 1798, as a protest against the Alien and Sedition Acts passed by Congress. They were authored by Thomas Jefferson, but he did not make public the fact until years later. This represents one of the clearest expressions of his views on how the Constitution was supposed to be interpreted. -
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The Age of Jefferson
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Railroads
The evolution of railroads was one of the most important occurrence of the Industrial Revolution. With their formation, construction, and operation, they brought intense social, economic and political change to a country only 50 years old. Over the next 50 years, America would come to see impressive bridges and other structures on which trains would run, wonderful depots, ruthless rail magnates and the majesty of rail locomotives crossing the country. -
Louisiana Purchase
With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States purchased territory from France, doubling the size of the young republic. What was known as Louisiana Territory stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. Part or all of 15 states were eventually created from the land deal, which is considered one of the most important achievements of Thomas Jefferson's presidency. -
Lewis and Clark
Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, who with William Clark led the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the undiscovered American interior to the Pacific Northwest in 1804-06. The Lewis and Clark Expedition spanned 8,000 mi and three years, down the Ohio River, up the Missouri River, across the Continental Divide, and to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis served as the field scientist, chronicling botanical, zoological, meteorological, geographic and ethnographic information. -
Embargo Act of 1807
The Embargo Act of 1807 was a law passed by Congress and signed by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807. This law stopped all trade between America and any other country. The goal was to get Britain and France, who were fighting each other at the time, to stop restricting American trade. The Act failed, and the American people suffered. The act was ended in 1809. -
War of 1812
In the War of 1812, the United States took on the biggest naval power, Great Britain, in a conflict that would have an huge impact on the young country's future. The United States underwent many pricey defeats at the hands of British, Canadian and Native American troops over the course of the War of 1812. American troops were able to repel British invasions in New York, Baltimore and New Orleans. The approval of the Treaty of Ghent on February 17, 1815, ended the war. -
Star Spangled Banner
"The Star-spangled banner" is the national anthem of the United States. Before the song officially became the country's anthem in 1931, it has been one of America's most popular patriotic tunes for more than a century. It all started the morning of September 14, 1814, when an attorney and laymen poet named Francis Scott Key watched U.S. soldiers, who were under bombardment from British naval forces during the War of 1812, raise a large American Flag over Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. -
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The American Industrial Revolution
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Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an important American abolitionist, author and speaker. For 16 years he edited an influential black newspaper and achieved international fame as an inspiring and persuasive speaker and writer. In thousands of speeches and racism, provided an invinci voice of hope for his people, embraced antislavery politics and preached his own brand of American ideals. -
Panic of 1819
In 1819, the notable post-War of 1812 economic enlargement ended. Banks throughout the country broke down; mortgages were foreclosed, demanding people out of their homes and off their farms. Collapsing prices harmed agriculture and manufacturing, bringing out unemployment all around. All regions of the country were impacted and well-being did not return until 1824. -
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Cultural Changes
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Missouri Compromise
Trying to conserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 accepting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Moreover, with the omission of Missouri, this law banned slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36 20 latitude line. In 1854, the Missouri Compromise was withdrawn by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Three years later the Missouri Compromise was stated wrongful by the Supreme Court. -
Temperance Movement
The Temperance Movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries was an organized effort to encourage moderation in the ingestion of intoxicating liquors or press for complete abstinence. The movement's ranks were mostly filled by women who, with their children, had encountered the effects of uncontrolled 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. -
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Age of Jackson
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John C. Calhoun
John C. Calhoun, was a U.S. statesman and spokesman for the slave-plantation system of the South. As a young congressman from South Carolina, he helped guide the United States into war with Great Britain and established the Second Bank of the United States. Calhoun went on to serve as U.S. secretary of war, vice president and momentarily as secretary of state. He was renowned as a leading voice for those seeking to secure the institution of slavery. -
Second Great Awakening
By the beginning of the 19th century, traditional Christians beliefs were held in less favor by numerless educated Americans. A countervailing tendency was underway, however, in the form of a immense religious restoration that spread westward during the century's first half. It correspond with the nation's population growth from five to 30 million and the boundary's westward movement. -
Election of 1824
In the United States presidential election of 1824, John Quincy Adams was elected President on February 9, 1825. In this election, the Democratic-Republican Party split into four separate candidates. The split had not yet led to formal party organization, but later the faction led by Andrew Jackson would evolve into the Democratic Party, while the Factions led by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay would become the National Republican Party and later the Whig Party. -
Free-Black Communities
The interruptions of wartime, the leaderships of enslaved people, gradual emancipation in the northern states, and voluntary manumissions in the South all added to the growth of free black communities. Freed people moved to urban centers for economic opportunity and build their own supportive communities. By 1800 they had created African churches and mutual aid societies in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and Boston. -
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was the founder and first president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and five associates formally organized the Church at Fayette, New York, on April 6, 1830. He led over the Church until June 27, 1844, when he was martyred. Under his leadership, Church membership grew from six to over 26,000. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nathanial Turner, black American slave, led the only effective, sustained slave rebellion in August 1831, in U.S. history. Spreading terror throughout the white South, his action set off a new wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting the education, movement, and assembly of slaves and stiffened pro-slavery, anti-abolitionist convictions that persisted in that region until American Civil War. -
Anti-Slavery Movement
The goal of the abolitionist movement was the instant emancipation of all slaves and the end of racial discrimination and segregation. Advising for immediate emancipation distinguished abolitionists from more average anti-slavery supporters who argued for gradual emancipation, and from free-soil activists who requested to limit slavery to existing areas and prevent its spread further west. Abolitionist ideas became increasingly important in Northern churches and politics beginning in the 1830s. -
Nullification Crisis
Nullification is the formal suspension by a state of federal law within its borders. The concept was first given voice by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, in disapproval to the Alien and Sedition Acts. The principle was accepted by the Hartford Convention of New Englanders in 1814 as well as many in the South, who was it as protection against federal encroachment on their rights. It remained a point of concentration and reached a crisis in 1832. -
Whig Party
In 1834 political rivals of President Andrew Jackson arranged a new party to compete Jacksonian democrats nationally and in the states.Guided by their most important leader, Henry Clay, they called themselves Whigs. They were immediately derided by the Jacksonian Democrats as a party ridiculed to the interests of wealth and upper class. Yet during the party's short life, it managed to win support from diverse economic groups in all sections and to hold its own in presidential elections. -
Telegraph
Developed in the 1830s and 1840s by Samuel Morse and other inventors, the telegraph transformed long-distance communication. It worked by transmitting electrical signals over a wire laid between stations. In 1844, Morse sent his first telegraph message, from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Maryland; by 1866, a telegraph line had been laid across the Atlantic ocean from the U.S. to Europe. It laid the groundwork for the communications revolution that led to later innovations. -
Battle of San Jacinto
On April 21, 1836, during Texas' war for independence from Mexico, the Texas militia under Sam Houston launched a surprise attack against the forces of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, near present-day Houston, Texas. The Mexicans were thoroughly routed, and hundreds were taken prisoner, including Santa Anna. In exchange for his freedom, Santa Anna signed a treaty recognized Texas' independence. -
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a crisis in financial and economic conditions in the nation following changes in the banking system started by President Andrew Jackson that effectively dried up credit. Other causes of the Panic of 1837 included the failure of the wheat crop, a financial crisis and depression in Great Britain. President Martin Van Buren was blamed for the Panic of 1837 and proposed the system but met with strong opposition by the Whigs, led by Henry Clay. -
Trail of Tears
At the beginning of the 1830's, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida-land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generation. Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on the Indians' land, the federal government forced them to leave their homelands and walk thousand of miles to specially designated "Indian territory" across the Mississippi River. -
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Westward Expansion
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Election of 1840
The United States presidential election of 1840 saw President Martin Van Buren fight for re-election against an economic depression and Whig Party united for the first time behind war hero William Henry Harrison. This election was distinctive in that electors cast votes for four men who had been or would become President of the United States: current President Martin Van Buren; President-elect William Henry Harrison; Vice-President-elect John Tyler; and James K. Polk. -
Sam Houston
After moving to Texas in 1832, he joined the conflict between U.S. settlers and the Mexican government and became commander of the local army. On April 21, 1836, Houston and his men defeated Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at San Jacinto to secure Texan independence. He was voted president in 1836 and again in 1841, then served as a senator after Texas became a state in 1845. He became governor in 1859, but was removed from office after the secession of Texas in 1861. -
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny is a term for the attitude widespread 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 power western settlement, Native American removal and war with Mexico. The phrase was first employed by John L. O'Sullivan in an article on the invasion of Texas published in the July-August 1845 edition of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review, which he edited. -
Mexican American War
The Mexican-American War marked the first U.S. armed conflict mainly fought on foreign soil. It marked a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. President James K. Polk. A border encounter along the Rio Grande started off the fighting and was followed by a series of U.S. victories. Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory, including nearly all of present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. -
Battle of Palo Alto
On May 8, 1846, soon before the United States formally declared war on Mexico, General Zachary Taylor defeated a superior Mexican force in the Battle of Palo Alto. The battle took place north of the Rio Grande River near present-day Brownsville, Texas. Taylor's victory, along with a series of consecutive victories against the Mexicans, made him a war hero. In 1848, he was elected America's 12th president. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican War. Soon after the war began, President James K. Polk sought the appropriation of $2 million as part of a bill to negotiate the terms of a treaty. Although the measure was blocked in the southern-dominated Senate, it en-flamed the growing controversy over slavery, and its underlying principle helped bring about the formation of the Republic Party in 1854. -
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Prominent 19th century suffragist and civil rights activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton became involved in the abolitionist movement after a progressive upbringing. She helped organize the world's first women's rights convention in 1848, and formed the National Women's Loyal League with Susan B. Anthony in 1863. With her advocacy of liberal divorce laws and reproductive self-determination, Cady Stanton became an increasingly marginalized voice among women reformers late in life. -
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Sectionalism
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California Gold Rush
The discovery of gold in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 caused the Gold Rush, which was important to the first half of the 19th century. As news spread of the discovery, thousands of future gold miners traveled by sea or over land to San Francisco and the surrounding area; by the end of 1849, the non-native population of the California territory was around 100,000. A total of $2 billion worth of valuable metal was removed from the area during the Gold Rush. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the Mexican-American War in favor of the United States. The war had begun almost two years earlier, in May 1846. The treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to United States territory, including the land that makes up all or parts of 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. -
Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Falls Convention fought for the social, civil and religious rights of women. The meeting was held from July 19 to 20, 1848 at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, N.Y. Notwithstanding lacking propaganda, 300 people showed up. On the first day, only women were allowed to attend, the send day was open to men. The convention proceeded to discuss the 11 resolutions on women's rights. All passed unanimously except for the ninth resolution, which demanded the right to vote for women. -
Yeoman Farmers
The Yeomen Farmer owned their own modest farm and worked it mainly with family labor remains the personification of the ideal American. These same values made yeomen farmers central to the republican vision of the new nation. Because family farmers didn't utilize 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. -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of meeting places, secret routes, passageways and safe houses used by slaves in the U.S. to escape states with slaves to northern states and Canada. Around 100,000 slaves fled from bondage in the South between 1810 and 1850. Helping them in their getaway was a system of safe houses and abolitionists determined to free as many slaves as possible, even though such movements broke states laws and the United States Constitution. -
Compromise of 1850
Separations over slavery in territory obtained in the Mexican-American War were resolved in the Compromise of 1850. It consisted of laws acknowledging 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 debate in the former's favor, ending the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and making it easier for southerners to recover fugitive slaves. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Extensive opposition to the 1793 law later led to the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which added further provisions regarding runaways and imposed even harsher punishments for interfering in their capture. The Fugitive Slave Acts were 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 -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act ordered popular sovereignty, allowing settlers of a territory to decide whether slavery would be permitted within a new state's borders. Suggested by Stephen A. Douglas, the bill overturned the Missouri Compromise's use of latitude as the boundary between slave and free territory. The conflicts that appeared between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in the aftermath of the acts's passage led to the Bleeding Kansas, and helped American Civil War. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas refers to the period of violence during the settling of the Kansas territory. In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act invalidated the Missouri Compromise's use of latitude as the border between slave and free territory and instead, using the principle of popular sovereignty. Pro slavery and free-state settlers filled Kansas; violence soon erupted as both groups fought for control. Abolitionist John Brown led anti-slavery fighters in Kansas before his famed raid on Harper's Ferry. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Historians have traditionally considered the series of seven debates between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln during the 1858 Illinois state election campaign as among the most important statements in American political history. The problems they talked about were not only of critical importance to the sectional conflict over slavery and states' rights but also touched deeper questions that would continue to influence political discussion. -
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States over a greatly divided Democratic Party, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. Lincoln received only 40 percent of the popular vote but easily defeated the three other candidates: Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Constitutional Union candidate John Bell, and Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas, a U.S. senator for Illinois -
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The Civil War
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First Battle of Bull Run
Know as the First Battle of Bull Run, the battle began when about 35,000 Union troops marched from the federal capital in Washington, D.C. to hit a Confederate force of 20,000 along small river known as Bull Run. After fighting on the protective for most of the day, the rebels regrouped and were able to break the Union's right side, sending the Federals into a disorderly withdraw towards Washington. The Confederate victory gave the South confidence and shocked many in the North. -
Trent Affair
The Trent Affair was between the United States and Great Britain from November to December 1861. It began after the captain of the USS San Jacinto directed the arrest of two Confederate diplomats sailing to Europe on a British ship, the Trent. The British, not taking sides in the war, were infuriated and asserted the capture of a neutral ship by the U.S. Navy. In the end, President Abraham Lincoln's administration released the diplomats and prevented an armed conflict with Britain. -
Battle of Shiloh
Also known as the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing, the Battle of Shiloh took place April 6 to 7, 1862, and was one of the important early engagements of the American Civil War. It began when the Confederates surprise attacked the Union forces. After initial successes, the Confederates were unable to hold their positions and were forced to go back, resulting in a Union victory. Both sides suffered heavy losses, with more than 23,000 total casualties, and the level of violence shocked both. -
Second Bull Run
Deciding battle in the Civil War,the Union force lead by John Pope waited for George McClellan's Army expecting a combined offensive, Confederate General Robert E. Lee decided to strike first. Led by Stonewall Jackson, rebels take supplies and burned the depot, then established hidden positions in the woods. After the rest of Lee's army arrived, 28,000 rebels led by James Longstreet launched a counterattack, forcing Pope to withdraw his battered army toward Washington that night. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam, also called the Battle of Sharpsburg, happened September 22, 1862, at Antietam Creek by Sharpsburg, Maryland. It marked Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union General George McClellan's Army of the Potomac and was the climax of Lee's attempt to invade the north. The battle's outcome would be vital to shaping America's future, and it remains the deadliest one-day battle in all American military history. -
Battle of Chattanooga
From November 23 to November 25, 1863, during the American Civil War, Union forces scattered Confederate troops in Tennessee at the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, known generally as the Battles for Chattanooga. The victories obligated the Confederates back into Georgia, ending the siege of the vital railroad crossroads of Chattanooga, and marking the way for Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's Atlanta campaign and march to Savannah, Georgia, in 1864. -
Lincoln's 10% Plan
The 10% Plan was designed by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War in order to unite the North and South after the war. 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 word of loyalty to Union. Second to create a new state government and third to adopt a new constitution abolishing slavery. -
Freedom Amendments
The 13th Amendment officially abolished slavery in America, and was approved on December 6, 1865, after the conclusion of the American Civil War. Following its ratification by the necessary three-quarters of U.S. states, the 14th Amendment, promising to African Americans citizenship and all its privileges, is officially adopted into the U.S. Constitution. The 15th Amendment, aloowing African-American men the right to vote, was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution on March 30, 1870. -
Freedmen's Bureau
The Freedmen's Bureau, was set in 1865 by Congress to help former black slaves and poor whites in the South in the results of the Civil War. The Freedmen's Bureau provided food, housing and medical aid, established schools and offered legal assistance. However, the bureau was stopped from fully carrying out its programs due to a shortage of funds and personnel, along with the politics of race and Reconstruction. In 1872, Congress, in part under pressure from white Southerners, shut the bureau. -
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Reconstruction
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Appomattox Courthouse
On April 9, 1865, by the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Leaving the Confederate capital of Richmond and the city of Petersburg; his goal was to regroup the remains of his bebeset troops, meet Confederate reinforcements in North Carolina and resume fighting. But the resulting Battle of Appomattox Court House, 4 hours long, effectively brought the four-year Civil War to an end. -
Black Codes
The Union victory in the Civil War gave around 4 million slaves their freedom, but faced obstacles and justices. Reconstruction policies of President Andrew Johnson passed a series of freed blacks' activity and ensure their availability as a labor force now that slavery had been abolished. Northern outrage over the black codes helped undermine support for Johnson's policies, and by the late 1866 control over Reconstruction had shifted to the more radical wing of the Republican Party in Congress -
KKK
Founded in 1866, the Ku Klux Klan expanded into almost every southern state by 1870. Its members conducted an underground campaign of intimidation and violence towards white and black Republican leaders. Though Congress passed legislation designed to restrain Klan terrorism, the organization saw its primary goal, the reestablishment of white supremacy, pleased through Democratic victories in state legislatures across the South in the 1870s. -
Sharecroppers
Conflict arose between many white landowners attempting to reestablish a labor force and freed blacks seeking economic independence and self-rule. Many former slaves expected the federal government to give them a certain amount of land as compensation for all the work they had done. However, the problem over labor resulted in the sharecropping system, where black families would rent small parts of land in return for a portion of their crop, to be given to the landowner at the end of each year. -
Enforcement Acts
The 1871 Enforcement Acts consisted of many important Civil Right Acts passed by Congress during the Reconstruction Era. The reason for the Enforcement Acts was to apply and expand the fundamental guarantees of the Constitution to all citizens and protect African Americans from violence performed by the KKK. The Enforcement Acts are therefore also referred to as the 1871 Civil Rights Act or the KKK Act.
