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Missouri Compromise 1820-1821
Behind the leadership of Henry Clay, Congress passed a series of agreements in 1820-1821 known as the Missouri Compromise. Under these agreements, 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 dividing line was set at 36°30´
north latitude. South of the line, slavery was legal. North of the line—except in Missouri—slavery was banned. The President was James Monroe. -
Underground Railroad
Free African Americans and white abolitionists would hide fugitive slaves. The system of escape routes they used became known as the Underground Railroad. “Conductors” on the routes hid fugitives in secret tunnels and false cupboards, provided them with food and clothing, and escorted or directed them to the next “station.” Once fugitives reached the North, many chose to remain there. Others journeyed to Canada to be completely out of reach of their “owners.” Harriet Tubman was a conductor. -
Harriet Tubman
She was one of the most famous conductors of the railroad. She was born a slave in Maryland and escaped shortly after her owners died. She made 19 trips to the South and helped around 300 slaves reach freedom. -
Abolition
Forten was joined in his opposition to slavery by a growing
number of Americans in the 19th century. Abolition, the movement to abolish slavery, became the most important of a series of reform movements in America.By the 1820s, abolition—the movement to free African Americans from slavery—had taken hold. More than 100 antislavery societies were advocating that African Americans be resettled in Africa. -
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. Each spring from 1821 through the 1860s, American traders loaded their wagons with goods and set off toward Santa Fe. -
San Felipe de Austin
San Felipe de Austin was the main settlement of Stephen F. Austin's colony. Austin's father, Moses received a land grant from Spain to establish a colony between the Brazos and Colorado river but died before he could carry out his plans, so Stephen got the permission to finish his father's plans. In 1821, he established a colony where "no drunkard, no gambler, no profane swearer, and no idler" would be allowed. -
The Liberator
Active in religious reform movements in Massachusetts, William Lloyd 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. -
Mexico Abolishes Slavery
Many of the settlers in Texas were southerners, who all brought slaves with them. Mexico abolished slavery in 1829, so the insisted that the Texans free their slaves. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
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
Austin traveled to Mexico City to present petitions to Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna fro greater self-government for Texas. While Austin was on his way home, Santa Anna had him imprisoned for inciting revolution. -
Oregon Trail
The Oregon trail stretched from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon and was blazed in 1836 by Methodist missionaries, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. By driving their wagon as far as Fort Boise, they proved that wagons could travel on the Oregon Trail. -
Texas Revolution
The 1836 rebellion in which Texas gained its
independence from Mexico -
Texas enters the United States
Southerners wanted Texas in order to extend slavery, which already had been established there. Northerners feared that the annexation of more slave territory would tip the uneasy balance in the Senate in favor of slave states—and prompt war with Mexico. The 1844 U.S. presidential campaign focused on westward expansion. The winner, James K. Polk, a slaveholder, firmly favored the annexation of Texas. -
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 believed that this destiny was manifest, or obvious and inevitable. Reasons for moving west were the abundance of land in the west, new markets for merchants, and personal economic problems in the east. -
Mexican-American War
Apr 25, 1846 – Feb 2, 1848
The Mexican government was encouraging border raids and warning that any attempt to annex Texas would lead to war. Polk also had his eyes on California, New Mexico and the rest of what is today the U.S. Southwest. When his offer to purchase those lands was rejected, he instigated a fight by moving troops into a disputed zone between the Rio Grande and Nueces River that both countries had previously recognized as part of the Mexican state of Coahuila. -
The North Star
Hoping that abolition could be achieved without violence, Douglass broke with Garrison, who believed that abolition justified whatever means were necessary to achieve it. In 1847, Douglass began his own antislavery newspaper. He named it The North Star, after the star that guided runaway slaves to freedom. -
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. The United States agreed to pay $15 million for the Mexican cession, which included present day California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. -
Compromise of 1850
Clay’s compromise contained provisions to appease Northerners as well as Southerners. To please the North, the compromise provided that California be admitted to the Union as a free state. To please the South, the compromise proposed a new and more effective fugitive slave law. To placate both sides, a provision allowed popular sovereignty, the right to vote for or against slavery, for residents of the New Mexico and Utah territories. It became law in September by Millard Fillmore. -
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. Infuriated by the Fugitive Slave Act, some Northerners resisted it by organizing “vigilance committees” to send endangered African Americans to safety in Canada. Others resorted to violence to rescue fugitive slaves. -
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.Uncle Tom’s Cabin expressed her
lifetime hatred of slavery. The book stirred Northern abolitionists to
increase their protests against the Fugitive Slave Act, while Southerners criticized the book as an attack on the South. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
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. If passed, the bill would repeal the Missouri Compromise and establish popular sovereignty for both territories. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Slave Dred Scott was taken from the slave state of Missouri to free territory in Illinois and Wisconsin and back to Missouri. Scott appealed to the Supreme Court for his freedom on the grounds that living in a free state—Illinois—and a free territory—Wisconsin—had made him a free man. According to the ruling, Scott lacked any legal standing to sue in federal court because he was not, and never could be, a citizen. The Court ruled that being in free territory did not make a slave free -
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas Debates
Democratic incumbent Stephen Douglas and Republican Abraham Lincoln debate for 1858 race for the U.S. Senate.Douglas believed deeply in popular sovereignty. Lincoln, on the other hand, believed that slavery was immoral. However, he did not expect individuals to give up slavery unless Congress abolished slavery with an amendment. Douglas won the Senate seat, but his response had
widened the split in the Democratic Party. -
John Brown's raid/Harpers Ferry
On the night of October 16, 1859, he led a band of 21 men, black and white, into Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His aim was to seize the federal arsenal there and start a general slave uprising. However, no slaves joined him and troops put the rebellion down and sentence Brown to death. -
Abraham Lincoln becomes president
Lincoln emerged as the winner with less than half the popular
vote and with no electoral votes from the South. As the 1860 presidential election approached, the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln appeared to be moderate in his views. He wanted to stop the spread of slavery but promised he wouldn't interfere with the existing slaves. -
Formation of the Confederacy
Delegates from South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas met in Montgomery, Alabama in February 1861 to form the Confederacy. The Confederates then unanimously elected former senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as president. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
Confederate soldiers in each secessionist state began seizing federal installations—especially forts.The most important was Fort Sumter, on an island in Charleston harbor. Lincoln decided to neither abandon Fort Sumter nor reinforce it. On April 12, Confederate batteries began thundering away, starting the deadly struggle between the North and South -
Battle of Bull Run
The first bloodshed on the battlefield occurred 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.In the afternoon Confederate reinforcements helped win the first Southern victory. Fortunately for the Union,
the Confederates were too exhausted to follow up their victory with an attack on Washington. -
Income Tax
The army’s need for supplies supported woolen mills, steel foundries, and many other industries in the north. 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 of Antietam
General George McClellan (Union Army) ordered his men to pursue Robert E. Lee, and the two sides fought on September 17 near a creek called the Antietam. 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 decided that he could order the army to free slaves because he could order the Union army to take Confederate supplies Emancipation was not just a moral issue; it became a weapon of war.On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation.The proclamation did not free any slaves immediately because it applied only to areas behind Confederate lines, outside Union control.The proclamation gave the war a moral purpose by turning the struggle into a fight to free the slaves. -
Battle at Gettysburg
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.By the second day of battle, the Confederates had driven the Union troops from Gettysburg and had taken control of the town. On July 3, the Confederates charged the Union lines when suddenly the North renewed their barrage and infantry, devastating the South and forcing Lee to lead his army to Virginia. -
Conscription
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. -
Gettysburg address
In November 1863, a ceremony was held to dedicate a cemetery in Gettysburg. There, President Lincoln spoke for a little more than two minutes. In other words, the speech helped the country to realize that it was not just a collection of individual states; it was one unified nation. -
Battle at Vicksburg
General Ulysses S. Grant fought to take Vicksburg, one Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. Grant began by weakening the Confederate defenses by sending Benjamin Grierson to lead his cavalry brigade through the heart of Mississippi, destroying rail lines and distracting Confederate forces from Union infantry working its way toward hem.Grant issued a siege and Confederates surrendered because of food shortage. It caused both Confederate strongholds to fall and cut the south in half -
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. He was determined to make the south sick of war and went to help Grant wipe out Lee. -
Thirteenth Amendment
The president believed that the only solution was a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. 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.” -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln was shot in the back of the head in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth—a 26-year-old actor and Southern sympathizer—
then 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. Now the country
faced two new problems: how to restore the Southern states to the Union and how to integrate approximately 4 million newly freed African Americans into national life. -
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.Grant paroled Lee’s soldiers and sent them home with their possessions and three days’ worth of rations. Within a month all remaining Confederate resistance collapsed.
