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Missouri compromise
behind the leadership of henry clay congress passed a series of agreements in 1820-1821 knows as the missouri compromise. under these agreements Maine was admitted as a free state and missouri as a slave state. -
San Felipe de Austin
the main settlement of the colony was named San Felipe de Austin in stephens honor. by 1821 austin had issued 297 land grants to the group that later became known as Texas's Old Three Hundred. each family recieved either 177 very inexpensive acres of farmland or or 4,428 acres for stock grazing, as well as a 10 year exemption from paying taxes. -
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 demandL immediate emancipation. -
Mexico abolishes slavery
the Protestant Anglo settlers spoke English instead of spanish. furthermore many of the settlers were southners, who had bought 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 virgina slave Nat Turner. 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
For inciting revolution. 1833 -
Texas Revolution
after santa anna suspended local powers in texas and other mexican states, several rebellions broke out including one that would be knows as the Texas Revolution. -
Texas enters the United States
when austin returned to texas in 1835 he was convinced that war was its only recourse. determined to force texas to obey mexican law,santa anna marched into his army toward San Antonio. at the same time, austin and his followers issued a call for texans arm themselves. -
Oregan Trail
the Oregan Trail stretched from independence, Missouri,to Oregan City,Oregan. it was blazed in 1836 by two Methodist missionaries named Marcus and Narcissa Whittman. by driving their wagon as far as Fort Boise they proved that wagons could travel on the Oregan Trail. -
Manifest Destiny
the phrase ''manifest destiny'' expressed the belief that 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 Mexican province of New Mexico. -
Abolition
forten's unwavering belief that he was an american not only led him to oppose colonization 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. -
Mexican-American war
From 1846 to 1848, U.S. and Mexican troops fought against one another in the Mexican-American War. Ultimately, it was a battle for land where Mexico was fighting to keep what they thought was their property and the U.S. desired to retain the disputed land of Texas and obtain more of Mexico’s northern lands. Thus, the roots of this war long precede the fighting that began on April 25th, 1846. -
The north star
Fredrick Douglass. In 1847, Douglass began his own antislavery newspaper. he named it The North Star after the star that guided runaway slaves to freedome. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
meanwhile american troops in Mexico led bt US generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, scored one military victory after another. after about a year of fighting, mexico conceded defeat. on feb 2, 1848, the united states and mexico signed the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo. -
underground railroad
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 knows as the underground railroad. Harriet Tubman -
Harriet Tubman
one of the most famous conductors was Harriet Tubman, born a slave in Maryland in 1820 or 1821. in 1849, after tumbman;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 suceeded in reaching Philadelphia. shortly after passage of the furgitive 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 to freedom. -
compromise of 1850
as the 31st congress opened in december 1849,the question of statehood for california topped the agenda. of equal concern was the border dispute in which the slave state of Texas clamed the eastern half of the New mexico Territory where the issue of slavery had not yet been settled. as passions mounted, threats of southern secession, the formal withdrawal of a state from the union became more frequent. -
Fugitive Slave Act
under the law, alleged fugitive slaves were not entitled o a trail 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 n Canada. others resorted to violence to rescue fugitive slaves. still others worked to help slaves escape from slavery. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The compromise of 1850 had provided for popular soverignty in New Mexico and Utah. to Senator Stephan Douglas, popular sovereignty seemed like an excellent way to decide wether slavery would be allowed in the Nebraska Territory. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
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. Unle 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 critcized the book as an attack on the south. -
Dread Scott v. Stanford
A major supreme court decision was brought about by Dred Scott, 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's decision conceived and written by Chief Justice Roger Taney, made two key findings. first, it held that because Scott was a slave, he was not a citizen and had no right to sue in a United States court. -
Abraham Lincoln becomes and Stephen Douglas Debates
''little giant'' to a series of debates on the issue of slavery in the territories. neither wanted slavery. Douglas believed deeply in popular sovereginty. Lincoln,believed slavery was immoral. he did not expect individuals to give up slavery unless congress abolished slavery with an amendment. -
John Browns raid/Harpers Ferry
while politicians debate the slavery issue, the abolitionist John Brwn was studyng the slave uprisings that had occurred in ancient Rome and more recently on the french island of Hiati. He believed that the time was ripe for similar uprisings in the united states. Brown secretly obtained financial backing from several prominent Northern ablitionists. on the ninght of october 19,1859 he led a band of 21 men, black and white, into Harpers Ferry,Virginia. -
Abraham Lincoln Becomes President
He 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
South carolina led the way, December 20, 1860.Mississippi followed,so did Florida,Alabama,Georgia,Louisiana, and Texas.
Jefferson Davis was the president. -
attack on Fort Sumter
by the time of Licoln's inauguration on march 4,1861,only four southern forts remained in union hands. the most importnt was Fort Sumter, n an island in charleston harbor.
Lincoln decided to neither abondon Fort Sumter nor reinforce it. he would merely send in ''foor for hungry men''.on april 12, confederate bateries began thundering away to the cheers of charlestons citizens. the deadly struggle between north and south was under way. -
Battle of bull run
July 21, 1861
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 DC. the battle was a seesaw affair. the inion army gained the upper hand but the confederates held firm. confederate reinforcements helped win the first southern victory. -
Battle of Antietam
The Army of the Potomac, under the command of George McClellan, mounted a series of powerful assaults against Robert E. Lee's forces near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17, 1862. -
Income Tax
as the Northern economy grew, congress decided to help pay for the war by collecting the nations first incme tax,a tax that takes a specifed percentage of an individuals income. -
Empanicipation Proclamation
Jan 1,1863. it applied only to states designated as being in rebellion, not to the slave-holding border states of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri or to areas of the Confederacy that had already come under Union control. The careful planning of this document, with Lincoln releasing it at just the right moment in the war, ensured that it had a great positive impact on the Union efforts and redefined the purpose of the war. -
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. -
Gettysburg address
this speech of Lincoln helped the country to realize that it was not just a colection of individual states;it was one unified nation. -
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. -
Sherman's March
William Tecumesh Sherman. 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. by mid-november he had burned most of atlanta. Shermans forces (followed by 25,000 former slaves) turned north to help Grant "wipe out Lee." -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
John Wilkes Booth. leaped down from the presidential box to the stage and escaped. -
Surrender at appomattox court house
Virgina 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 heir possessions and three days worth of rations. officers were permitted to keep their side arms. after four long years, the civil war was over. -
Thirteenth Amendment
The Emancipation Proclamation freed only those slaves who lived in states that were behind confederate lines, and not yet under union control.the president blieved that the only solutuion was a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery.
