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Battle at Vicksburg
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—until the spring of 1863. -
Missouri Compromise 1820-1821
In spite of these efforts to unify the national
economy, sectional conflicts remained part of American politics. In 1818 settlers in
Missouri requested admission to the Union. Northerners and Southerners disagreed,
however, on whether Missouri should be admitted as a free state or a slave state. -
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. -
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. (See map
on page 132.) Each spring from 1821 through the 1860s,
American traders loaded their covered wagons with goods
and set off toward Santa Fe. -
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. By driving their wagon as far as Fort Boise (near
present-day Boise, Idaho), they proved that wagons could
travel on the Oregon Trail. -
San Felipe de Austin
Many Americans rushed at the chance to buy inexpensive land in Texas.The population of Anglo, or English-speaking, settlers from the United States soon surpassed the population of Tejanos, or Mexican settlers, who lived in Texas. Among the more prominent leaders of these American settlers was Stephen F. Austin -
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. -
Texas enters the United State
Most Texans hoped that the United States
would annex their republic, but U.S. opinion divided along sectional lines.
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. -
Mexican-American War
The 1844 U.S. presidential campaign focused on westward expansion. The
winner, James K. Polk, a slaveholder, firmly favored the annexation of TexasIn March 1845, angered by U.S.-Texas negotiation on annexation, the Mexican
government recalled its ambassador from Washington. On December 29, 1845,
Texas entered the Union. Events moved quickly toward war. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Meanwhile, American troops in Mexico, led by U.S.
generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, scored one military victory after
another. After about a year of fighting, Mexico conceded defeat. 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. -
The liberator
Slaves in the rural South heard the same sermons and sang
the same hymns as did their owners, but they often interpreted the stories they
heard, especially those describing the exodus from Egypt, as a promise of freedom.
In the North, however, free African Americans were able to form their own
churches. These churches often became political, cultural, and social centers for
African Americans by providing schools and other services that whites denied
free blacks. -
The North Star
One of those eager readers was Frederick Douglass, who escaped from bondage to become an eloquent and outspoken critic of slavery. Garrison heard him speak and was so impressed that he sponsored Douglass to speak for various anti-slavery organizations.Hoping that abolition could be achieved without violence, Douglass broke with Garrison, who believed that abolition justified whatever means were necessary to achieve it. -
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. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The harsh terms of the Fugitive Slave Act surprised many people. 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. -
Underground Railroad
Attempting to escape from slavery was a dangerous
process. It meant traveling on foot at night without any sense of distance
or direction, except for the North Star and other natural signs. It meant avoiding
patrols of armed men on horseback and struggling through forests and across
rivers. Often it meant going without food for days at a time. -
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. Fearing
this possibility, Tubman decided to make a break for freedom and succeeded
in reaching Philadelphia. Shortly after passage of the Fugitive Slave
Act, Tubman resolved to become a conductor on the Underground
Railroad. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Meanwhile, another woman brought the horrors
of slavery into the homes of a great many Americans. 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.
As a young girl, Stowe had watched boats filled with people on
their way to be sold at slave markets. Uncle Tom’s Cabin expressed her
lifetime hatred of slavery -
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. If passed, the bill would repeal the Missouri Compromise and establish popular sovereignty for both territories. Congressional debate was bitter. -
Dread Scott v. Sandford
Two antislavery parties had also emerged during the 1840s. The
Liberty Party was formed for the purpose of pursuing the cause of abolition by passing new laws, but received only a small percentage of votes in the 1848 presidential election. In that same election, the Free-Soil Party, which opposed the extension of slavery into the territories, received ten percent of the popular vote in the presidential election. From this strong showing, -
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas Debates
Several months after the Dread 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. To many outsiders it must have seemed like an uneven match. Douglas was a well-known two-term senator with an outstanding record and a large campaign chest, while Lincoln was a self-educated man who had been elected to one term in Congress
in 1846. -
John Brown's raid/Harpers Ferry
Lincoln’s victory convinced Southerners—who viewed the struggle over slavery partly as a conflict between the states’ right of self-determination and federal government control—that they had lost their political voice in the national government. Some Southern states decided to act. South Carolina led the way, seceding from the Union on December 20, 1860. When the news reached Northern-born William Tecumseh Sherman, superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy -
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.” Nonetheless, many
Southerners viewed him as an enemy. -
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. They also drew up a
constitution that closely resembled that of the United
States, but with a few notable differences. The most important
difference was that it “protected and recognized” slavery
in new territories. -
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 he 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. Lincoln decided to neither abandon Fort Sumter nor reinforce it. He would merely send in “food for hungry men.” At 4:30 A.M. on April 12 -
Battle of Bull Run
N 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
As the war progressed, however, Lincoln did find a way to use his constitutional war powers to end slavery. The Confederacy used the labor of slaves to build fortifications and grow food. 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 -
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
When white male workers went out on strike, employees hired free blacks, immigrants, and women to replace them for lower wages. 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 Gettysburg
Buford ordered his men to take defensive positions on the hills and ridges surrounding the town. When Hill’s troops marched toward the town from the west, Buford’s men were waiting. The shooting attracted more troops and both sides called for reinforcements. By the end of the first day of fighting, 90,000 Union troops under the command of General George Meade had taken the field against 75,000 Confederates, led by General Lee. -
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
Lee and Grant met at a private home to arrange a Confederate surrender. At Lincoln’s request, the terms were generous. Grant paroled Lee’s soldiers and sent them home with their possessions and three days’ worth of rations. 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. -
Mexico abolishes slavery
Austin’s father, Moses Austin, had received a land grant from Spain to establish
a colony between the Brazos and Colorado rivers but died before he was able
to carry out his plans. Stephen obtained permission, first from Spain and then
from Mexico after it had won its independence, to carry out his father’s project.
In 1821 he established a colony where “no drunkard, no gambler, no profane
swearer, and no idler” would be allowed. -
Abolition
Forten’s unwavering belief that he was an American not only led him to oppose
colonization—the effort to resettle free blacks in Africa—but also pushed him fervently
to oppose slavery. 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. -
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 regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican–American War (1846–48). The compromise, drafted by Whig Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky and brokered by Clay and Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois, reduced sectional conflict. Controversy arose over the Fugitive Slave provision. -
Gettysburg address
S In November 1863, a ceremony was held to dedicate a cemetery in Gettysburg. There, President Lincoln spoke for a little more than two minutes. According to some contemporary historians, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address “remade America.” Before Lincoln’s speech, people said, “The United States are . . .” Afterward, they said, “The United States is . . .” 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 -
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.” -
Assassination of Abraham
Whatever further plans Lincoln had to reunify the nation after the war, he never got to implement them. 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.During its third act, a man crept up behind Lincoln and shot the president in the back of his head.