-
Invention of the Cotton Gin
Cotton gin exploded slavery in the South;it is a machine that separates cotton from its seeds and could produce fifty more pounds of cotton than a slave could do by hand in one day. This is how cotton became the dominate crop and had farmers wanting to move more South bound with their slaves to produce more stalk. -
Period: to
Important Events of the Civil War
-
The Mexican-American War
This war was one of the first major conflicts due to the belief of “America had a God-given right or destiny to expand the country’s borders from ‘sea to shining sea’”;causing huge disputes and arguments.The two main reasons why this war took place were because the U.S wanted to expand their land across North America and Mexico didn’t want that followed by the Texas War of Independence that stated “not all American westward migration was uwelcome.”
This war was held April 25th,1846-Fedruary 1848 -
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican-American war which was signed on February 2nd 1848. The treaty was signed when the Mexican government surrendered to the United States with specific negotiations to end the war. Under terms of the treaty Mexico gave up Upper California and New Mexico to the United States. While the United States paid Mexico $15,000,000 to think about extending the boundaries of their land and agreed to pay American citizens debts to the Mexican govern. -
Lincoln Signs Fugitive Law
The fugitive Slave Acts were laws that allowed people to capture and return runaway slaves to the United States; which was placed by congress in 1793. The first Slave act that took place was said by the government that those who took a slave must give them back to their rightful owners and those who did not, where to proceed to a cruel punishment. Although in 1850 president Lincoln signed both of the fugitive acts and they were appealed by an act of congress. -
Abraham Lincoln becomes president
Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States becoming the first Republican to win presidency. Lincoln only established 40% popular vote. Lincoln first campaigned against Stephen Douglas of Illinois for a U.S senate seat in 1858 debating the issue of slavery; whereas Douglas believed it was the territories decision whether to become slave free or not. Lincoln lost the senate race but won the presidential nomination allowing him to become president of the United States. -
The battle of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumner was the battle of no deaths and was led by the North trying to defeat the South. As the battle progressed to a few days the North started to run out of ammunition and supplies so they tried to surrender to the South… but the South wouldn’t let them. The next day General Anderson had ammunition and supplies brought in to the fort; although the North still ran out and lost to the South by surrendering. -
The Civil War Begins!
The civil war was fought between the Confederate states(North)and the Union sates(South)in thousands of different places although majority of the fighting took place in the states of Virginia and Tennessee. Combining the Northern population and the Southern population over 31 million people fought this war. Still to this day people have many reasons on why this war was fought, but one main issue that arose repeatedly was uncompromising differences between freeing the slave states or not. -
The Fall of Richmond
On May 20th 1861 the confederate congress voted to move the government to Richmond, Virginia instead of keeping it in Montgomery, Alabama. Many people say that the state of Virginia was a quiet place that was transformed into a noisy, military, crowded headquarters for the army. It is said that both the North and South also fought for each other’s capital cities and because both capital cities were only 10 miles apart the fighting raged even more. -
The battle of Shiloh
This battle was under the command of Gen. Albert Johnston of the Confederates,who ordered his army to attack and burst out of the nearby woods to strike upon the Union soldiers who were near the Tennessee River.As the confederates powered over the Union they had destroyed a battle line at a sunken road known as the “Hornets’ Nest”.The confederate’s repeatedly attacked the nest but didn’t do damage.This two day battle was known as the bloodiest battle in American History and victory to the union. -
The battle of Fredericksburg
The battle of Fredericksburg took place Nov-Dec in 1862 when Gen. Burnside of the Union army sent out troops to go after Gen. Robert Lee’s confederate army in Falmouth, Fredericksburg. Gen. Lee reacted to the attack and sent his army to high points across a bridge and ordered them to fire. At this point the Union was having issues attacking up high and the confederate had an advantage that they took to win the victory of this war. -
Military Drafts
The congress states the first draft in American history that every man must serve in the army unless he can pay the government $300 or furnish a substitute. Although the act of escaping the army in any way was very unlikely due to the amount of workers and immigrants the United States had. This military draft started the New York Riots in July 1863. -
The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Confederate general Robert E. Lee focused his army amongst Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to draw near General George G. Meade’s army forces. On July 1st the confederates attacked the Union chasing them all the way to Cemetery Hill. The next day resulted in disagreements and fighting at several different locations. As the fighting progressed, to July 3rd the Union regained its lost ground at Culp’s Hill and after a continuous artillery fire Lee attacked the Union at Cemetery Ridge and took a bad loss. -
Civil War Riots
The civil war riot took place in New York City when immigrants and land owners started to protest the civil war draft. This riot is said to be the worst riot of American history yet. People destroyed homes of the wealthy, black-occupied buildings and forced African Americans to flee for their lives. -
The battle of Chickamuga
This battle was fought because the Union believed they needed a huge victory amongst the confederates in order to keep the war equal. As the battle began the Union pushed the confederate army out of Tennessee and later on into Georgia without any major fights. As the Union prepared a war and March around the confederates territory and force them to leave Chattanooga the confederates were just waiting for the correct time to attack which lead to the Chickamauga Creek where the confederates won. -
The Wilderness
The opening battle of the union and the confederate army of Northern Virginia known as the Overland Campaign was fought in the wilderness on May 7th. The Union attacked the North in Orange Turnpike during the afternoon. This battle was challenging, mentally and physically tough and tiring. Both sides had to be able to dodge the trees in the deep woods while making sure they don’t get killed. This battlelasted 3 days and was a draw between the two armies. -
The battle of Cold Harbor
This battle lasted from May 31st- June 12th. On June 1st the Union decided to attack the confederates but the confederates reinforcements arrived in Richmond later that day. On the next occurring day both armies were on the field battling from a 7 mile distance. June 12th 1864 Gen. Grant had announced that he wished he never ordered to attack because the confederates demolished the Union within 25 minutes of the battle. -
The battle of Petersburg
The Union army crossed the James River on a 2,200 foot long pontoon at Windmill point to attack the Petersburg confederate army. The Petersburg army was not under a command and drew back to Harrison Creek. A few days later Gen. Lee had back up come from Northern Virginia. By time the Union went to attack Petersburg they were heavily armed and had a great chance without a battle being lost. -
The battle of Nashville
On Nov 30th the North army headed toward Nashville and by Dec 2nd reached the outskirts of where they wanted to be. While on the outskirts the North stood in a parallel line from the South and started to fire. A couple days later during the afternoon the South had attacked the confederate army in hopes to destroy them leading into a day long battle. Although all throughout the night and into the early morning the South continued to fired and the North. The North had been beaten in several places -
The Thirteenth Amendment
The United States congress approved the thirteenth amendment of the constitution which ended slavery, except in Delaware and Kentucky. Followed by the fourteenth and fifteenth amendment stating slaves civil rights and racial restrictions amongst voting. -
The Civil War Ends!
The civil war was fought between the North and the South mainly because the North wanted to abolish slavery and the South wanted to continue. The war ended April 9th, 1865 with a victorious win for the North. Approximately 620,000 soldiers died fighting in the civil war and many believe this war had a huge impact on American history because it was the first time a country fought itself.
