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Missouri Compromise
Missouri requests to be a state 1818 --> slave or free?
Maine --> free
Missouri --> slave
rest of Louisianna Territory split at 36' 30'
President: Madison -
Santa Fe Trail
780 mile trade route from Independence, Missouri, to
Santa Fe in the Mexican province of New Mexico
Traders traveled in groups to avoid Native American attacks, then raced to sell the fastest and returned to Missouri
used 1821-1860 -
San Felipe de Austin
Stephen F. Austin was a prominent leader in the American Texas settlers
1821 he established a colony (San Felipe de Austin) where “no drunkard, no gambler, ..."would be allowed
By 1825, Austin issued 297 land grants to Texas’s Old Three Hundred. Each family received either 177 acres of farmland, or 4,428 acres for stock grazing, and 10-year exemption from paying taxes -
Mexico abolishes slavery
many of the settlers were Southerners, who brought slaves with them to Texas. Mexico, which had abolished slavery
in 1829, insisted in vain that the Texans free their slaves. -
The Liberator
written by William Lloyd Garrison ( editor of an antislavery paper in 1828) an uncompromising demand for immediate emancipation -
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Some slaves rebelled in bondage. One was led by Virginia slave Nat Turner. In August 1831, Turner and more than 50 followers attacked four plantations and killed about 60 whites. Whites eventually captured/executed many members of the group, including Turner -
Stephen F. Austin goes to jail
Austin went to Mexico City to petition to Mexican president
Antonio López de Santa Anna for more self-govt in Texas. While Austin was on his way home, Santa Anna had Austin imprisoned for inciting revolution. -
Texas Revolution
several rebellions broke out, including the Texas Revolution. When Austin returned to Texas in 1835, he thought war was its “only resource.” Santa Anna marched his army toward San Antonio. At the same time, Austin + followers called Texans to arm themselves -
Oregon Trail
Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon
blazed in 1836 by two Methodist missionaries named Marcus and Narcissa Whitman who proved wagons could be used on the trail -
Manifest Destiny
belief that US was destined to expand to the Pacific -
Abolition
Abolition, the movement to abolish slavery, became the most important of a series of reform movements in America during 1800s -
Texas enters the United States
South wanted Texas to extend slavery, North feared uneasy balance of slave states and war with Mexico
The 1844 presidential campaign focused on westward expansion. The winner, James K. Polk, favored annexation of Texas -
Mexican-American War
1846 to 1848: Mexico did not want annexation of Texas, but Polk annexed anyway. Also, Polk wanted to purchase lands west (CA, New Mexico, southwest of today's US) but Mexico declined, so Polk sent militia to disputed land to fight -
The North Star
Written by an eager reader of Liberator, Frederick Douglass, who escaped from bondage to become an outspoken critic of slavery. He broke from Garrison bc he wanted abolition to be done withut violence, rather than by all means necessary. In 1847, he made his own antislavery newspaper (The North Star), after the star that guided runaway slaves to freedom -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
1848, US and Mexico signed Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Mexico agreed to the Rio Grande as border between Texas and Mexico and ceded New Mexico and California territories to the US. -
Compromise of 1850
Clay's attempt to appease N. and S. : CA would be admitted as a free state, and a new and more effective fugitive slave law proposed
popular sovereignty, voting for/against slavery, would decide New Mexico and Utah territories -
Fugitive Slave Act
-fugitive slaves were not entitled to a trial by jury.
-anyone convicted of helping a fugitive was liable for a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for up to six months
Infuriated by the Fugitive Slave Act, some Northerners resisted through “vigilance committees” -
Underground Railroad
organized by free Af. Amer.s and white abolitionists, all risking greatly to free slaves -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe published novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which stressed that slavery was not just a political contest, but also a great moral struggle, expressed her
lifetime hatred of slavery -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Originally the area was N. of the line, so free states, but Douglas liked pop. sov. and introduced bill January 23, 1854 to divide area into two territories: Nebraska in the north and Kansas in the south. If passed, the bill would repeal the Missouri Compromise
and establish popular sovereignty for both territories. -
Dread Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott, a slave whose owner took him from slave state to free territory and then back to slave state. Scott appealed to the Supreme Court for freedom bc living in a free state—Illinois—and
a free territory—Wisconsin—had made him a free man.
March 6, 1857: Supreme Court ruled against Scott. He lacked any legal standing bc he was not a citizen. And the 5th ammend. protects property (slaves). -
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas Debates
1858 race for U.S. Senate: Democratic Stephen Douglas vs. Republican Congressman Abraham Lincoln
Neither wanted slavery in the territories, but disagreed on how to keep it out. Douglas believed in popular sovereignty. Lincoln believed slavery was immoral, but knew no one would give up slavery unless Congress abolished with an amendment
Douglas won but Lincoln gained support. -
John Brown’s raid/Harpers Ferry
On the night of October 16, 1859, Brown led 21 men, black and white, into Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). His aim was to seize the federal arsenal there and start a slave uprising. Plan failed, troops put down the rebellion. Brown was sentenced to death, and responses were extreme in N and S -
Abraham Lincoln becomes president
Lincoln was moderate, he would not expand slavery but wouldnt interfere with existing slaves. Lincoln won with less than half the popular vote and with no electoral votes from the South. -
Formation of the Confederacy
Formation of Southern states withdrawing from Union: S Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas
Confederates then unanimously elected former senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as president -
Attack on Fort Sumter
Conferderates were seizing Union forts, Fort Sumter was one of 4 left in the Union. Lincoln let the fort be, and Conferderates thundered down on it. -
Battle of Bull Run
first bloodshed, the Union had upper hand, but Confederates held firm, inspired by General Thomas J. Jackson. “There stands Jackson like a stone wall!” a general shouted, --> nickname Stonewall Jackson.
first Southern victory, Confederates too exhausted to follow up attack on Washington. Still, Confederate morale soared. -
Battle at Antietam
bloodiest single-day battle in US history, casualties over 26,000
McClellan won against Lee with luck, but didnt follow through by pushing the Confederate army further and potentially ending the war, so he was removed from command. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Confederacy used slaves to build fortifications and grow food, Lincoln’s had power to order his troops to seize enemy resources. He could order Union army to take Confederate supplies, so he could also order to emancipate slaves. Emancipation becomes weapon of war. Proclamation: gave the war a moral purpose by turning the struggle into a fight
to free the slaves, no more compromise -
Battle at Vicksburg
Grant (Union) victory, Vicksburg falls and Confederacy is split in two areas. -
Battle at Gettysburg
3-day battle: 23,000 Union men and 28,000 Confederates were killed/wounded. Despite the devastation, North was enthusiastic about beating Robert Lee
turning point battle -
Conscription
both sides are suffering from war, conscription took place (draft that forced men to serve in the army). led to draft riots in North -
Gettysburg address
President Lincoln spoke for a little more than two minutes, but made huge unifying impact on America. -
Sherman’s March
Sherman would march S.E. through Georgia, burning their path. They burned most of Atlanta, then turned North to help Grant take out Lee. -
Income Tax
South economy worsened with war, North's economy got better but with the cost of qorking conditions/wages. Congress decided to help pay for the war by collecting the nation’s first income
tax, taking a specified % of an individual’s income -
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
Lee and Grant met at a private home to arrange Confederate surrender. At Lincoln’s request, terms were generous. Grant paroled Lee’s soldiers and sent them home with their possessions and three days’ rations. Officers were permitted to keep arms. Within a month all Confederate resistance collapsed. 4 year Civil War ends. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
n April 14, 1865, five days after Lee surrendered Lincoln and his wife went to Ford’s Theatre in Washington. After shooting, John Wilkes Booth—26-year-old actor— leaped down from the presidential box to the stage and escaped. Twelve days
later, Union cavalry trapped him in a Virginia tobacco shed and shot him dead. -
Thirteenth Amendment
13th Amendment ratified at end of 1865. The U.S. Constitution now abolished slavery in all states.
