-
Missouri Compromise
Maine was admitted as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. The rest of the Louisiana Territory was split into two parts. -
The liberator
The most radical white abolitionist was a young
editor named William Lloyd Garrison. Active in religious reform movements
in Massachusetts, Garrison became the editor of an antislavery paper in 1828.
Three years later he established his own paper, The Liberator, to deliver an uncompromising demand: immediate emancipation. -
Santa Fe Trail
The settlers and traders who made the trek
west used a series of old Native American trails as well as new
routes. One of the busiest routes was the Santa Fe Trail,
which stretched 780 miles from Independence, Missouri, to
Santa Fe in the Mexican province of New Mexico. -
San Felipe de Austin
The main settlement of the colony was named San Felipe de Austin, in
Stephen’s honor. By 1825, Austin had issued 297 land grants to the group that later
became known as Texas’s Old Three Hundred. Each family received either 177 very
inexpensive acres of farmland, or 4,428 acres for stock grazing, as well as a 10-year
exemption from paying taxes. -
Mexico abolishes slavery
The overwhelmingly Protestant Anglo settlers spoke
English instead of Spanish. Furthermore, many of the settlers were Southerners,
who had brought slaves with them to Texas. Mexico, which had abolished slavery in 1829, insisted in vain that the Texans free their slaves. -
Texas Revolution
Despite peaceful cooperation between Anglos and
Tejanos, differences over cultural issues intensified between Anglos and the
Mexican government. The overwhelmingly Protestant Anglo settlers spoke
English instead of Spanish. Furthermore, many of the settlers were Southerners,
who had brought slaves with them to Texas. Mexico, which had abolished slavery in 1829, insisted in vain that the Texans free their slaves -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Some slaves rebelled against their condition of
bondage. One of the most prominent rebellions 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 and executed
many members of the group, including Turner. -
Stephen F. Austin goes to jail
Meanwhile, Mexican politics had become increasingly unstable. Austin had
traveled to Mexico City late in 1833 to present petitions to Mexican president
Antonio López de Santa Anna for greater self-government for Texas. While
Austin was on his way home, Santa Anna had Austin imprisoned for inciting
revolution. -
Abolition
Abolition, the movement to abolish slavery, became the most important of a series of reform movements in America. -
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail stretched from Independence,
Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon. It was blazed in 1836 by
two Methodist missionaries named Marcus and Narcissa
Whitman. -
Manifest Destiny
The phrase “manifest destiny”
expressed the belief that the United States was ordained to expand to the Pacific
Ocean and into Mexican and Native American territory. Many Americans also
believed that this destiny was manifest, or obvious and inevitable -
Texas enters the United States
The 1844 U.S. presidential campaign focused on westward expansion. The
winner, James K. Polk, a slaveholder, firmly favored the annexation of Texas. -
The North Star
In 1847, Douglass began his own
antislavery newspaper. He named it
The North Star, after the star that
guided runaway slaves to freedom. -
Mexican-American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the American intervention in Mexico, was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the United Mexican States from 1846 to 1848. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
On February 2,
1848, the United States and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Mexico agreed to the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico and
ceded the New Mexico and California territories to the United States. -
Harriet Tubman
One of the most famous conductors was Harriet Tubman,
born a slave in Maryland in 1820 or 1821. In 1849, after Tubman’s
owner died, she heard rumors that she was about to be sold. Shortly after passage of the Fugitive Slave
Act, Tubman resolved to become a conductor on the Underground
Railroad. In all, she made 19 trips back to the South and is said to have
helped 300 slaves flee to freedom. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired during the Mexican–American War. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Under the law,
alleged fugitive slaves were not entitled to a trial by jury. In addition, anyone convicted of helping a fugitive was liable for a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for
up to six months. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
In 1852, Harriet
Beecher Stowe published her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which stressed
that slavery was not just a political contest, but also a great moral struggle. -
Underground Railroad
As time went on, free African Americans and white abolitionists developed a
secret network of people who would, at great risk to themselves, hide fugitive
slaves. The system of escape routes they used became known as the
Underground Railroad -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The only difficulty was that,
unlike New Mexico and Utah, the
Kansas and Nebraska territory lay
north of the Missouri Compromise
line of 36°30’ and therefore was legally
closed to slavery. Douglas introduced a
bill in Congress on January 23, 1854,
that would divide the area into two
territories: Nebraska in the north and
Kansas in the south. -
Dread Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott’s slave master had brought him from the slave state
of Missouri to live for a time in free territory and in the free state of Illinois. Eventually
they returned to Missouri. Scott believed that because he had lived in free territory, he
should be free. In 1854 he sued in federal court for his freedom. The court ruled against
him, and he appealed to the Supreme Court. -
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas Debates
Several months after the
Dred Scott decision, one of Illinois’s greatest political contests
got underway: the 1858 race for the U.S. Senate between
Democratic incumbent Stephen Douglas and Republican
challenger Congressman Abraham Lincoln.Douglas won the Senate seat, but his response had
widened the split in the Democratic Party. -
John Brown's raid/Harpers Ferry
While politicians debated the slavery issue, the
abolitionist John Brown was studying the slave uprisings that had
occurred in ancient Rome and, more recently, on the French island of
Haiti. On the night of October 16, 1859,
he led a band of 21 men, black and white, into Harpers Ferry, Virginia
(now West Virginia). His aim was to seize the federal arsenal there
and start a general slave uprising -
Abraham Lincoln becomes President
As the 1860 presidential election approached,
the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln appeared to be moderate
in his views. Although he pledged to halt the further spread of slavery, he also
tried to reassure Southerners that a Republican administration would not “interfere with their slaves, or with them, about their slaves.” .Lincoln emerged as the winner with less than half the popular
vote and with no electoral votes from the South. -
Formation of the Confederacy
Mississippi soon followed South Carolina’s lead, as did
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. In
February 1861, delegates from the secessionist states met in
Montgomery, Alabama, where they formed the Confederate
States of America, or Confederacy.The most important difference was that it “protected and recognized” slavery in new territories.
The Confederates then unanimously elected former
senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as president. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
Months earlier, as soon as the Confederacy was formed, Confederate soldiers
in each secessionist state began seizing federal installations—especially forts. By
the time of Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, 1861, only four Southern forts
remained in Union hands. The most important was Fort Sumter, on an island
in Charleston harbor. -
Battle of Bull Run
The first bloodshed on the battlefield occurred about three months
after Fort Sumter fell, near the little creek of Bull Run, just 25 miles from
Washington, D.C. The battle was a seesaw affair. In the morning the Union army
gained the upper hand, but the Confederates held firm, inspired by General
Thomas J. Jackson. “There stands Jackson like a stone wall!” another general shouted, coining the nickname Stonewall Jackson. -
Battle at Antietam
McClellan ordered his men to pursue Lee, and the two
sides fought on September 17 near a creek called the
Antietam (Bn-tCPtEm). The clash proved to be the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with casualties
totaling more than 26,000. The next day, instead of pursuing the battered Confederate army into Virginia and possibly ending the war, McClellan did nothing. As a result,
Lincoln removed him from command. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln’s powers as commander in chief
allowed him to order his troops to seize enemy resources. Therefore, he decided
that, just as he could order the Union army to take Confederate supplies, he could
also authorize the army to emancipate slaves. Emancipation was not just a moral
issue; it became a weapon of war.
On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation. The
following portion captured national attention. -
Conscription
The war led to social upheaval and political unrest in both the North and the
South. As the fighting intensified, heavy casualties and widespread desertions led
each side to impose conscription, a draft that forced men to serve in the army.
In the North, conscription led to draft riots, the most violent of which took place
in New York City. Sweeping changes occurred in the wartime economies of both
sides as well as in the roles played by African Americans and women. -
Income Tax
As the Northern economy grew,
Congress decided to help pay for the war by collecting the nation’s first income
tax, a tax that takes a specified percentage of an individual’s income. -
Battle at Gerrysburg
Near the sleepy town of Gettysburg, in
southern Pennsylvania, the most decisive battle of the war was fought. The Battle
of Gettysburg began on July 1 when Confederate soldiers led by A. P. Hill encountered several brigades of Union cavalry under the command of John Buford, an
experienced officer from Illinois -
Battle at Vicksburg
While Meade’s Army of the Potomac was
destroying Confederate hopes in Gettysburg, Union general Ulysses S. Grant
fought to take Vicksburg, one of the two remaining Confederate strongholds on
the Mississippi River. Vicksburg itself was particularly important because it rested
on bluffs above the river from which guns could control all water traffic. In the
winter of 1862–1863, Grant tried several schemes to reach Vicksburg and take it
from the Confederates. Nothing seemed to work -
Sherman's March
In the
spring of 1864, Sherman began
his march southeast through
Georgia to the sea, creating a
wide path of destruction. His
army burned almost every house
in its path and destroyed livestock and railroads. -
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
On April 3, 1865, Union troops conquered Richmond, the Confederate capital. Southerners had abandoned the city the
day before, setting it afire to keep the Northerners from taking it. On April 9, 1865,
in a Virginia town called Appomattox court House, Lee and
Grant met at a private home to arrange a Confederate surrender.Officers were
permitted to keep their side arms. Within a month all remaining Confederate
resistance collapsed. After four long years, the Civil War was over. -
Thirteenth Amendment
After some political maneuvering, the
Thirteenth Amendment was ratified at
the end of 1865. The U.S. Constitution now
stated, “Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.”1865 -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
, John Wilkes Booth—a 26-year-old actor and Southern sympathizer—
then leaped down from the presidential box to the stage and escaped. During its third act, a man
crept up behind Lincoln and shot the president in the back of his head.
On April 14, 1865, five days after
Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox,
Lincoln and his wife went to Ford’s Theatre
in Washington to see a British comedy, Our
American Cousin.
