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Period: 30,000 BCE to
Beginnings To Exploration
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27,000 BCE
Bering Land Bridge
The Bering land bridge, otherwise known as the Bering Strait was a 1000 mile piece of land that connected Asia and North America (today's Russia and Alaska) during the Ice Age. The Bering Land Bridge allowed for humans to migrate to North America (in three waves), and these people were the Native Americans of today. This event is important because it would play an important role in the exploration and colonization of the America's by Europe. -
10,000 BCE
Mesoamerica
The development of Mesoamerica resulted in many developments like agricultural crops, along with new societies known as the Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs. Some of the new crops developed included corn, beans, tomatoes, and squashes all of which were able to exist because of crossbreeding with plant species which was an early form of genetic modification. The societies that formed created useful tools like written languages, irrigation, and calendars. Which made them somewhat more advanced. -
753 BCE
Rome
The Roman Empire once ruled a large portion of the world, making it one of the largest empires to exist in history. Rome was able to claim many different civilizations in the Eastern hemisphere through conquest. One benefit of this conquest was the cultural mixing which lead to many benefits in terms of the exchange of ideas, and cultural innovations. Rome also was able to unify all of what is the current day Europe under one empire but with the fall of Rome (133BC) the Dark Ages came to Europe. -
500
Dark Ages
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the knowledge and innovations fell with it. Europe entered a dark period which was a lack of knowledge or technology, and this allowed the Catholic Church to take control of many aspects of people's lives because Europeans had no form of higher education for the common person, only royalty had some form of education. The Dark Ages also had a weak economy because people had little to no money, making the trade and barter system integral to life there. -
1095
The Crusades
A series of holy wars between the Muslims from the Islamic Empire and Christians in Europe that lasted over 100 years, these wars centered around holy sites for both religions. There were eight major Crusades, these ended up being mostly unsuccessful for the Europeans. Also the formation of the Templar's happened, which were a group of Knights dedicated to protecting Jerusalem from Muslim invaders. -
1347
The Black Death
When trading internationally started to become a major industry, with the Silk Road and Maritime trade becoming more prevalent, there were drawbacks with this. Disease was able to spread much more rapidly. A disease known as the Bubonic plague began to spread due to animals such as fleas and rats hitchhiking to destinations around the world. This disease began in China and spread all the way to Europe wiping out a quarter of the population of at the time. -
1400
The Renaissance
A period of rebirth in European civilization, this era encouraged thinking for oneself and it created multiple pieces of art, technological and science innovations as well as humanistic values. Overall the era was a time of enlightenment for Europe after multiple centuries of setbacks.One important invention was the printing press, this allowed for literary works to be spread, changing the world. -
Chesapeake Colonies
The Chesapeake colonies consisted of Virginia and Maryland. The first English colony of Jamestown, Virginia was funded by a private charter the Virginia Company with John Smith as the leader. The colony wasn't very profitable at first but with the rise of tobacco it grew to become a very important cash crop that would soon cause the need for slave labor in southern colonies. Then the colony of Maryland was last owned by Cecil Calvert, made the colony profitable, and also banned Catholics. -
Caribbean Colonies
The southernmost colonies of England, they were profitable due to their location and warm climate. Sugar cane exploded as a cash crop making the demand for it skyrocket in England, causing an increased need for slave labor. Islands like Barbados and Jamaica belonged to England and allowed for increased sugar cane productivity, the amount of slaves in Barbados ended up outnumbering the amount of white people living there at the time. -
Period: to
English Colonial Societies
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New England Colonies
Besides economic reasons for colonies, there was religious freedom. With the Church of England being seen as corrupt, some people sought to "purify" the church and became known as Puritans, forming the Massachusetts Bay Colony led by John Winthrop. There was also another prominent colony known as Plymouth, wanted to separate completely from the Church of England, making them known as Separatists. When the Separatists arrived they made the Mayflower Compact which would help form the Constitution. -
Proprietary Colonies
The proprietary colonies were under ownership of a specific leader. These colonies were New York and New Jersey, under Charles II the colonies were the last charter colonies. The New Netherlands were setup by Holland and the colonies focused on trade, making them a threat to the English. There was also the founding of Pennsylvania by William Penn for the Quakers. Lastly the proprietors founded Carolina, making it a storage colony. -
Issues
The colonies faced many issues, constant clashes with the Native Americans was becoming a problem, along with rebellions occurring in Virginia due to Nathaniel Bacon who revolted due to his treatment as an indentured servant causing more people to rely on slave labor instead. Another problem that affected the colonists was the distance from England, many colonies began to make their own government decisions without their input. -
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution was England being converted into a catholic style government after James II became a monarch. James was the 1st Catholic monarch in over 100 years making him a different leader. Under James, England became known as the Dominion of New England, ally with France, and new taxes were made, and the the dissolution of Parliament. Soon, Parliament asked Charles' daughter to invade England, this was relatively bloodless and caused James to get ousted as the monarch. -
Act of Union (1707)
The Act of Union was an attempt to merge the different colonies of England under one central government, parliament and this was important because it allowed for better control. One of the major unification's was England uniting with Scotland, this union led to economic benefits such as trade and it also ended a longstanding tension between the two kingdoms. This would set a precedent for the American government. -
Period: to
Colonial America (To 1763)
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Triangular Trade
Due to an expansion of goods being traded across the Atlantic Ocean, a complex network of trade developed that could almost be formed in the shape of a triangle. With North America sending raw goods to Europe and rum to Africa. Europe sent manufactured goods to North America and Africa. Lastly Africa would "send" other Africans across to North America to work on plantations to produce raw goods for North America, making the cycle of the triangular trade continue. -
Virtual Representation
With the distance from England and the colonies being so large, they were forced to create their own forms of government and legislature to get issues resolved that needed immediate action, they voted on who would represent them in these new governments.Another reason for this was, the colonists were not properly represented in England's parliament even though Parliament members were supposed to represent all areas of England. This was unfair to the colonists and caused autonomous an government. -
The Enlightment
The Enlightenment period was an era of reason and science, people looked for answers to things instead of relying on religion to solve their questions. The Bible was even brought into question by some people. One main figure of the Enlightenment was Benjamin Franklin who would soon become an important figure in America's independence. The enlightenment even changed the purpose of Georgia, which was originally a penal colony for prisoners and the poor became a rehabilitation environment. -
Slavery in The Colonies
Africans became one of the main sources of labor in the colonies after the demand began to increase because of cash crops. Most slaves came to North America from the Caribbean because they had to get "conditioned" by picking sugar cane. In the Americas' slaves in the South had to face adversities like the separation of families, and loss of culture. In the North, slaves were often freed because slave work was less vital and the concept of slavery was frowned upon. -
The Great Awakening
As secularism began to grow, there was a reaction that caused many people to become religious. People like John Edwards tried to convince people that society was becoming more consumer oriented/materialistic and that they could receive eternal damnation. During this time there was also a religious revival with the Native Americans who began converting back to their customs before European contact like not consuming alcohol, but they still believed in Jesus and used him as a symbol. -
Colonial Growth/Economies
The markets in the colonies all differed based off what region they were in, the New England colonies focused on activities like shipbuilding, and fishing in the Atlantic. The Mid-Atlantic focused on small industries and agriculture. Lastly the Chesapeake colonies focused on the longtime cash crop tobacco. -
French and Indian War
The three main powers in North America: England, France, and Spain had disputes over territory. England wanted more land in the West. Fort William Henry was fought for against the French, and the English take Quebec and Montreal, leading to the Treaty of Paris in 1763, this war ends the French's rule in North America. England gains the territory to the west and begins to settle in it, leading to greater territory for the colonists. -
Period: to
The Revolutionary War
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Acts of Parliament
After the war, England faced the issue of bankruptcy and the country needed new revenue, Parliament made the decision to start enacting taxes on the colonies, with the first being the Sugar Act that allowed unwarranted searches, then the Stamp Act that taxed all paper which ends up getting repealed due to the colonies protesting,and it gets repealed in the Declaratory Act. Parliament then creates the Townshend Acts in 1767 with a tax on paper, glass, paint, and tea, -
Boston Massacre
After tensions with the colonists and the English began to increase, many people began taking their protests out on the British soldiers, by harassing them. Making the soldiers fire their weapons into the crowd of protesters as recounted by John Adams. The massacre was also inflated by Paul Revere's fictional account of what happened, ultimately the Boston Massacre would inflate the issues between the British and the colonists -
Boston Tea Party
With the rescinding of the Townshend Acts in 1770, the colonists still have strained relations with the English, with more discontent colonists, a slogan begins going around "no taxation without representation". England begins to give a special price on tea bought from the East India Company making the market a monopoly, then later that year in 1773 a group of drunk Bostonians dressed up as Native Americans and board a ship with tea only to throw it off as an act of rebellion. -
Continental Congress (1774)
After the punishment of the Coercive Acts, a meeting with all the colonial leaders was held, this was known as the first Continental Congress all the colonies sent representatives besides Georgia. This meeting denounced the Intolerable Acts, boycotting British goods. Patrick Henry warned of the potential conflict with England, and he voiced his support with this new famous slogan "give me liberty or give me death". -
Common Sense- Thomas Paine
With many colonists feeling emboldened by the potential revolution, Thomas Paine decided to write Common Sense in an effort to encourage the idea of independence as well as the demolition of the monarchy in return for a democratic-representative government, the book was easily accessible and made the idea of independence reach farther than it ever could have. -
The Declaration of Independence
After a long fought war with England the colonies make a move and decide to declare themselves united, and independent states from England. The person in charge of writing the Declaration of Independence was Thomas Jefferson, he was tasked with listing all of the colonists grievances with the British, and this was not crucial towards the monarchy in order to potentially get help from outside nations. He completed the draft on July 2nd but it was never finalized and approved till July 4th -
Articles of Confederation
The first form of a Constitution of the United States, this came shortly after the United States had the Revolutionary war with England, the country was in great debt and needed to pay them off but it needed a formal convention of tax collection, the country also needed a stronger union. The new form of government had its weaknesses as well, with most actions from the government needing nine out of 13 states to approve it which would become a problem later. -
Period: to
The Constitution
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Treaty of Paris
This treaty officially ends the Revolutionary War, and with the United States as the victors of the war England recognizes the former colony as an independent and sovereign nation, a new border is established between the United States and Canada, mutual access to the Mississippi River. Lastly, but most importantly the United States gains access to the land past Mississippi -
Massachusetts Constitution
The 1780 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, drafted by John Adams, is the world's oldest functioning written constitution. It served as a model for the United States Constitution, which was written in 1787 and became effective in 1789. The Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution were approved in 1789 and became effective in 1791. -
Problems with the British
After the war the presence of England was not entirely gone, they still had control of the western territories like Ohio Valley, and this was one of the many violations within the Treaty of Paris in 1783 like paying off their debt and still keeping forts in the West. Even after the Treaty of Paris, Native Americans still fought white people away from their territory. -
Shay's Rebellion
After the Revolutionary War ended there was a recession for many Americans, especially farmers who no longer could pay for their farms that they were loaned to and ended up getting seized. But one farmer named Daniel Shay wanted to fight this, he and a group of Revolutionary War veterans begin rebelling against the United States. Even though this rebellion is eventually put down, it creates a state of worry for the founding fathers. -
Constitutional Convention
Shay's Rebellion showed how ineffective the Articles Of Confederation were, so in 1787 the Founding Fathers held a meeting in Philadelphia and here they came up with two plans, one was the Virginia Plan composed of a two house legislature that was based off population, and the New Jersey Plan that had one house, and the there were three branches of government. Ultimately the Connecticut Plan was made and was a Bicameral form of both, with one house and one senate. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance was a period in United States history where the territory, west of the United States was officially accepted by the United States, this allowed for greater expansion of the country much faster than previous methods. Each territory also received a Bill of Rights, an appointed governor, and the right to vote for representatives. -
Election of 1788
Under the new constitution, an executive leader was needed so the election of 1788 was held. This was less of an election and more of an appointment, George Washington became the first president of the United States and for many people this election was supported because he was already viewed as a godlike figure among the people for his actions during the Revolutionary War. -
Period: to
New Republic
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Bill of Rights
The first 10 amendments of the Constitution written by James Madison, an anti-federalist. These amendments guaranteed the protection of certain rights for citizens that could not be infringed upon by the government. This was contested by the federalists who believed that these rights would never be infringed upon -
The First Bank of the United States
Alexander Hamilton founded the National Bank of the United States, this bank lasted for over 20 years. The bank was created to help stabilize the economy because the nation was still in debt after the war, the bank allowed citizens to make loans and deposit money. Also, the bank attempted to make a national currency because at the time all the colonies had different forms of currency, which wasn't very valuable for travelling across state lines and a national currency would relieve this. -
Whiskey Rebellion
When a tax was imposed on homemade whiskey, many farmers saw this as an issue because their incomes came from brewing this beverage. When their incomes were put on the line, thousands of farmers began a revolt known as Whiskey Rebellion. This insurrection was quickly quelled, and it was the first major test of the Constitution. -
Two Competing Forms of Government
The arguments about how the Constitution should be interpreted, and how the government should be ran became more intense. There was a split in the government causing two parties to emerge: The Federalist party was led by Alexander Hamilton, and the Democrat-Republicans who were run by Thomas Jefferson. -
Washington's Farewell Address
At the end of his presidency, George Washington offered advice to the nation on the future they should take, one thing he said that the United States should avoid conflict and political alliances. This presidency also set an unspoken rule that president's shouldn't serve more than two terms. -
The Kentucky Resolutions
Under this law, the idea of what rights states had began to come into question, whether or not states could go against the federal government in rulings or laws they would be able to deem unconstitutional. This issue would continue to build as the American Civil War would happen almost 100 years later. -
Alien & Sedition Acts
The Alien law made immigration and naturalization much harder, because deporting citizens was now in the power of the government. The Sedition law limited free speech because now, criticizing the president a crime, and this law was also a political move to prevent Democrat-Republicans from speaking out. -
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The Age Of Jefferson
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Louisiana Purchase
When Thomas Jefferson was offered to buy the territory west of the United States from Napoleon, for less than three cents per acre, this was a deal Jefferson couldn't afford to miss so he made the purchase. This purchase expanded the United States past the Mississippi and this new territory needed to be explored so Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to survey the entire territory. -
Alexander Hamilton vs Aaron Burr
In order to settle their differences, Burr and Hamilton decided to participate in a duel. The duel was a mutual agreement because the two actually had longstanding years of issues. During the duel, Alexander Hamilton was fatally wounded with him dying a day later; this made Burr the survivor, eventually having him arrested for his crime. -
12th Amendment
This amendment made it a requirement that there be two separate ballots for the President and Vice President of the United States. This would take affect in the election of 1800 when Thomas Jefferson would run against Aaron Burr, this ultimately would cause a lot of issues between the two because of political differences. -
Cotton Gin
This invention severely increased cotton production, and it also caused slavery to return from its quickly dying state because now, the creation of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney led to a revolution in the south causing cotton to become one of its main sources of income from then on. -
White House & Washington D.C.
When the War of 1812 was occurring, both the Canadians and Americans attacked each other's capitals. Except when the Canadians burned the White House, burn marks and scars were left on the building; eventually, the building was painted over in James Monroe's presidency and became known as the white house. -
Changes in Transportation
During the Industrial Revolution many inventions were made that made life much different for the people back then, there were also changes in how people traveled across the country, one different way was the steamboat. The steamboat was able to travel much faster because it never relied on the current of the water, instead it made its own current. -
Waltham System
This system was a form of concentrated working mills that appeared during Industrialization, and the mills were made to suit women because at the time, women couldn't do many jobs due to their gender and the scarcity of availability for jobs made women accept less pay compared to their male counterparts. They also had to deal with less than ideal conditions by working for very long hours per day. -
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The American Industrial Revolution
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McCulloch v. Maryland
This was case in the Supreme Court is arguably one of the most important cases, this case led to the establishment that the federal government had powers that were implied and this would change the way states could play a role in the government and what states rights meant. -
Free Black Communities
Over 90% of African Americans were living under slavery at the time but those who weren't under slavery were free blacks, they had the opportunity to find better work and this was almost unheard of, they did still face racism but they were able to live in communities that weren't extremely prejudiced. -
Missouri crisis
When Missouri was admitted as a slave state, this was a problem for states in the north, because they would begin to lose representatives in the House. This issue caused new debate on how many slave states and free states should be determined in the United States. This was a temporary solution that would later get contested in the Civil War. -
Second Great Awakening
This was America's second religious revival, this caused many improvements in the educational system such as a grading system, structured curriculum, compulsory attendance became a normal thing for children in school now. There was also a new form of punishment for prisoners, solitary confinement; this placed prisoners away from outside contact with others. -
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Cultural Changes
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The Monroe Doctrine
Made during James Monroe's presidency, this document called for Europe to leave Latin America alone. At the time the United States, wanted influence over these areas. In order to do this, they had to declare to Europe that they could no longer intervene with Latin America, giving the Americans the edge they needed to control it. -
Corrupt bargain
This is actually the name of a situation that Andrew Jackson was placed in during the election of 1824, he won the popular vote of the citizens in the United States. This meant that Jackson should have been president but Jackson blames Henry Clay because he thought that Clay convinced congress to elect Adams and he would become Secretary of State. -
Election of 1824
This presidential race had four runners, John Quincy Adams, William Crawford, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson. Jackson ended up winning the popular vote by a landslide but not the electoral college votes, and this was going to set Andrew Jackson's dislke for Henry Clay and Adams into motion. -
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Age Of Jackson
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Yeoman Farmers
These farmers were lower class farmers in the south, even though they were still a higher status than that of a tenant farmer. Yeoman farmers did participate in capturing runaway slaves and guard slave owners from slave rebellions like the one Nat Turner caused. These farmers had a higher status but they still were too poor to own slaves. -
Temperance Movement
Many people began to change their minds about consuming alcohol, this was a time when many people would often get drunk daily or multiple times a day. This movement encouraged men to stay away from alcoholic beverages, this movement was supported by women because they were often the victims of abuse from drunk husbands. -
Election of 1828
This election used the idea of personal politics that is often used today, both candidates would not only attack each other's political views but their personal lives as well. Andrew Jackson called John Quincy Adams a womanizer and Adams called out Jackson's marital life. This was the beginning of personal politics that would follow the course for the rest of history. -
Revivalism
Religion in America began to rise again, and this was caused by the Second great Awakening. People came back to religion based off their own free wills, they chose a religion that suited them best instead of being indoctrinated into a specific religion. But people began preaching in public more often and others listened to their sermons. -
Native Americans
Due to Andrew Jackson, native Americans were affected drastically. The natives were forced out of their homelands and territories because gold was found in Cherokee territory, and this lead to their removal in 1830 with the Indian Removal Act of 1830, this was approved and millions of natives lost their homes. -
Mormon faith
The Mormons were founded by a man named John Smith, they are apart of the Latter Day Saints. Their founder believed that he found a golden tablet that contained things only he could read, he thought that the natives were apart of the tribes of Israel. -
The National Bank gets Defunded
Andrew Jackson disliked the idea of a national bank, he thought his political opponents would use the bank against him and start funding the bank. Jackson made the move to defund the bank, after this defunding happened. Jackson believed that the state bank is where all the bank money should go. -
Nullification Crisis
This issue was raised when Congress increased taxes on textiles. to help its economy called the Tariff tax of 1832. The taxes on textiles, hurt South Carolina, hitting its main source of commerce, plantation owners and farmers. The tax alone made South Carolina consider secession from the United States. -
Millennialism
This was a religious belief that Judgement Day was coming, and Jesus would return to Earth to take certain people who believe in him to heaven. It was believed that to get to heaven you need to keep a good relationship with God, and not keeping one with him would eventually lead to your damnation. One person who perpetrated this belief was William Miller because he made an exact date for Judgement Day. -
Whig Party
With the loss of one of the previous major political parties in the United States, the Federalists; a new party formed called the Whig Party. The party believed in a stronger central government, they opposed the idea of slavery and this caused the party to be strongly supported by citizens who lived in the Northern states because they aligned with these values. -
Abolitionists
The issue of slavery was becoming a majorly contested issue. Northerners grew very disdained with the slavery in the South, people wanted to get rid of slavery and they became known as the abolitionists. Abolitionists believed in two things: gradually freeing slaves while sending them back to Africa, and immediately abolishing slavery allowing slaves to go free -
Foreign Immigration
People from outside of the United States began to move out of their home countries to the states for multiple reasons, in order to benefit themselves. One main group of people was the Irish, at the time there was a potato famine that lead to many starving in the country and they needed to leave. Many other European groups came for political or economic gains. -
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Westward Expansion
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Women's Suffrage
Women began to enjoy more freedoms like working outside of the house, and this led to many women wanting more freedoms so they began a movement to reform society. This movement wanted women to lead more modest lives, and there were many groups formed, and the New York Female Reform Society came into existence. Then there was a convention centered around suffrage called the Seneca Falls Convention. -
1844 Election
James Polk and John Tyler went against each other for the position for the president of the United States. Polk was a Democrat while Tyler was a Whig. Polk ended up becoming the president but during this, Texas became annexed into the United States. Polk had one goal in mind, increasing the territory of the United States within his one term, this became known as Manifest Destiny. -
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the belief that America should expand and become a country that spans from east coast to west coast, this was also known as Westward Expansion. This was possible under President Polk because he was determined to expand the country under his single term, Polk believed that white people belonged in the west and wanted to push Native Americans out of that territory. -
Brigham Young
When the leader of the Mormon church, Joseph Smith was killed in jail by a mob, there was one Mormon who took the lead and that was Brigham Young, he wanted to move the Mormons away from the reach of the federal government and avoid anymore persecution so the Mormons relocated to what is today Salt Lake City. Here the Mormons began practicing polygamy. -
Wilmot Proviso
This was a proposal in the House that was an attempt to not allow slavery in the new territories acquired from the Republic of Mexico, this would split both the Democratic and Whig party causing pro-slavery and anti-slavery to become a very common debate. The groups who were pro slavery would detest the Wilmot Proviso. -
Mexican American War
The Mexican American War had four major battles, these battles took place in Palo-Alto (American victory), San Pasqual (Americans lose), Vera Cruz ( American victory), and the Battle of Mexico City (American victory, leads to war being won). After these battles were fought there was a Treaty made known as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. -
Election of 1848
This election was between Zachary Taylor (Whig party), and Martin Van Buren, (Free-Soil Party). Taylor presented himself as a Mexican-American war general and was a slave owner as well. Van Buren wasn't a supporter of slavery, he supported Wilmot Proviso but wanted slavery to continue where it already was. He also had a strong dislike for the South and Democrats as well. In the end Taylor won. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
A peace treaty after the war, formed between the United States and Mexico. The issued between the two ended previous issues during the Mexican American War, which was caused by the annexation over Texas and problems over slave territories. Mexico lost over half its territory, making the United States the owner of it now. -
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Sectionalism
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The Slave Codes
The Slave Codes were a series of laws that worked against slaves living in the south and this limited slaves in many ways by preventing them from reading, limiting the places they could travel as well as not being able to testify in court. This prevented slaves from gaining any sort of power again and these laws were introduced due to slave rebellions like that of Nat Turner. -
Underground Railroad
This was a secret route that was taken by slaves to escape slavery, this wasn't an underground passage way but instead it was an unofficial route that was aided by freed slaves like Harriet Tubman and abolitionist whites who setup secrete stations for runaway slaves to rest at on their way to the north, the Underground Railroad was very successful in freeing thousands of slaves from their slave masters. -
Fugitive Slave Act
This act was a way for the South to get back runaway slaves and even slaves who weren't born into slavery. This opened up a new industry for white people, there would often be bounty hunts for slaves to get captured and returned to the south. There were also repercussions for white people, any white person who refused to aid in the capturing of a slave could receive jail time, and this was almost like a tactic to scare abolitionists. -
The California Gold Rush
The discovery of gold in the state of California led to one of the biggest events in the history of the United States so far. Over 200,000 people moved there with the hopes of mining for gold and getting rich off it. People also followed the miners in order to build industries not based off the gold but the miners instead. Chinese migrants had it hard because they had to work in subhuman conditions and they also faced discrimination. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This was an issue pertaining to if Kansas and Nebraska becoming a slave state, it was a debated issue among southerners because the Missouri Compromise was still in affect. There was also another issue, the railroad being in the north or the south. In the end the Missouri Compromise became repealed and the states of Nebraska and Kansas became free or slaveholding. Nebraska was free while Kansas held slaves. -
Industrialization vs. Agriculture
These two topics related to the industries of both the north and south, the north was much more focused on industrialization because they had factories, and railroads, this would be a huge benefit to them in the civil war. The south focused more on agriculture with slave labor, and more local economic activities, the lack of diversity in the economy would be the downfall of them during the war. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford Case
This Supreme Court case would be brought up by a former slave known as Dred Scott, he believed that since his master passed away, he shouldn't have been sold to a new one. Scott believed he should be free, but the Supreme Court made a ruling that that slaves didn't have the legal standing to sue in court. The courts also determined that Congress can't regulate slavery. -
Confederate States
The United States grew more divided on the issue of slavery and states rights, soon southern slave owning states began to secede and ended up making the Confederate States of America. It was a new nation that declared its independence from the US. This was important because this new nation would be at the center of a new civil war. -
Bull Run Battle
This was the beginning of the Civil War and it was begun by the Union, the Union had an army of about 30,000 people travel to the Confederacy. The Union would end up losing this first battle and that was due to the Union having a bad general, while the south actually had great generals to command their armies. -
The Union
This was the part of the United States that never seceded, this consisted of free states. The Union had many benefits over the Confederacy with things such as a much larger population that was close to 25 million people, factories that were able to ramp up production during the war, and a railroad track to carry more supplies to troops. This was all going to help the Union win the Civil War. -
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The Civil War
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The Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation to the Confederate States that slaves living in the south would be freed if the nation doesn't return to the Union by January 1st of the next year. The proclamation would give England a reason not to participate in the war because the country would have abolished slavery years before the states did. -
Peninsular Campaign
Abraham Lincoln decided to capture the Confederacy's capital in Richmond, Virginia because it wasn't far away from the union capital in D.C. General McClellan, the general of the north, took 3 weeks to take his army on the peninsula. He would eventually meet Robert E. Lee's troops who would beat McClellan and this was another loss for the Union. -
Women At Work
Due to most of the male population fighting in the Civil War, many women became tasked with taking up those positions of the men. This was groudbreaking because it allowed women to work in positions they usually never were allowed in. Women also helped out at the Civil War, figures like Clara Barton helped treat wounded soldiers, she also made the American Red Cross an organization during this time. -
The Neutral States
These states bordered both the Union and Confederacy, they were Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware. Each territory tried to persuade them to join one side of the war but they remained neutral, and they were able to enjoy benefits from both sides such as weapons and access to rivers. -
Lincoln's Assassination
Right before the Civil War was about to end, Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head and killed by an assassin from the confederate, while he was watching the play known as our American Cousin. His assassin was known as John Wilkes Booth who was an actor as well as a Confederate supporter. Lincoln didn't die immediately but he did die the next day. Booth was found after running away and he along with other conspirators were hanged. -
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Reconstruction
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Lincoln's 10% Plan
Abraham Lincoln issued the ten percent plan, or the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction. The 10% plan made it so southern states could rejoin the Union, as long as 10% of the voters swore an approved of the annexation. Soon the Wade-Davis Bill was made to counter the ten percent plan. It required fifty percent to approve of annexation. -
Sharecropping
When slavery ended there was a need for labor still from white farmers. Former slave owners would often invite back their old slaves to work for them on the fields but it would instead be slaves owning a portion of the field and they work to earn their pay. This wasn't a good source of income for slaves as the system often worked against them and it was almost like legal slavery. -
The Freedom Amendments
This was a set of three Constitutional Amendments that was set up to give rights to the newly freed slaves and this gave them three rights: The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery completely, The Fourteenth Amendment made sure that slaves could no longer be discriminated against based off race, and the Fifteenth Amendment gave all men in the United States the right to vote, no matter their skin color. -
Election of 1868
This election was between Ulysses S. Grant a Republican, former Union general and Horatio Seymour and he was a Democrat. Both had very different images to the public, for one Grant was viewed as an American hero for his efforts during the Civil War, and Seymour had no form of battle experience that made him known. In the end Grant won due to his extreme popularity. -
White Resistance
The freed blacks were met with many resistances, especially from white southerners who began to form groups in order to intimidate them, One is known as the Ku Klux Klan, and this group was formed due to their hate for other races, especially blacks. This group committed violent acts towards black people like lynchings. This soon would affect blacks in all areas of the nation, but most specifically south. -
Scandals
In the Grant administration, there were many scandals that happened and one was the Black Friday scandal, it involved two cabinet members that tried to influence the New York gold exchange. The next was the Whiskey Ring Scandal and this involved administration members funneling tax revenues to themselves. Lastly, the Credit Mobilier Scandal was when the Pacific Railroad sold shares of the company to Congressmen. -
Jim Crow Laws
While the name Jim Crow wasn't the name of an actual person, it was a fictional one. He was a black man being portrayed in a very negative way, and this soon became a term white people would use to describe African Americans. There were soon laws that white people would use to restrict and oppress black people, these laws were used as loopholes in the Freedom Amendments.
