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Britain Abolishes Slavery
Britain officially abolished slavery in 1833 in most parts of the British empire. They had previously abolished the slave trade in 1807 -
Manifest Destiny is Coined
The concept that the United States is destined to expand its ideals and territory throughout the Americas. -
Annexation of Texas
Polk had promised to gain Texas during his campaign in 1844. After he won, lame-duck John Tyler took that as an order to do it himself. He did it in early 1845, before Polk became president. -
Oregon Compromise
During Polk's campaign for president in 1844, he had advocated for the 54' 40' or fight, promising to obtain the Oregon territory up to that line from the British. However, Congress only wanted him to fight with either Mexico or Britain, so he chose to compromise with Britain for the 49' line/ -
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Mexican-American War
The war started in an attempt to gain territory in the West, including Texas and California. After the US won, they had to pay $18 million to get that territory from Mexico -
Free-Soil Party formed
An abolitionist party that ran in the 1848 and 1852 elections. They opposed extending slavery into the territories and claimed that slavery reduced opportunities for white people to work. -
California Gold Rush
Gold was discovered in Sutter's Mill, CA in early 1848, leading hundreds of thousands to rush to California looking for gold. This allowed California to form a government and apply for statehood. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
After the Mexican-American War concluded, the US arranged to negotiate a treaty with Mexico for the land. They agreed for the US to pay $18 million in total to gain the land in the West. -
Peak of the Underground Railroad
Runaway slaves were assisted to get to Canada by volunteers, about 1,000 a year. Many in the South were pissed and wanted a fugitive slave law -
Compromise of 1850
This admitted California to the Union as a free state and opened popular sovereignty to New Mexico and Utah. It also introduced a fugitive-slave law that southerners proposed due to the Underground railroad. HOwever, this didn't do much to settle debate over slavery. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
A novel published by 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was used as a material to show the North the horrors of slavery. -
Gadsden Purchase
A treaty negotiated in 1853 by James Gadsden that paid $10 million for part of Mexico to build a Transcontinental railroad. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act replaced the Missouri Compromise. It said that in the Kansas and Nebraska territories, slavery would be decided by popular sovereignty. -
Caning of Sumner
Sen. Charles Sumner was an abolitionist who was very disliked in the Senate. Preston Brooks was unhappy with him and hit him repeatedly with a cane. Sumner was unconscious and had to go to Europe for treatment. -
Lecompton Constitution
Kansas' proposed Constitution. It only allowed a vote for or against slavery, but the anti-slavery vote protected those that already were owning slaves in the colonies. It was sent to Congress, but they wanted a vote on the whole Constitutions, not just slavery. -
Dred Scott v. Stanford
Dred Scott sued for freedom from slavery. The Supreme Court ruled that since he was a slave and not a citizen, he couldn't sue. They also said that a slave was private property and could be taken into any territory and held there. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Abraham Lincoln (Republican) and Stephen A. Douglas (Democrat) were running for the Illinois Senate seat in 1858. Lincoln challenged Douglas to joint debates from August to October of that year. The most famous of these debates was in Freeport, where Lincoln asked the Freeport question and Douglas responded with the Freeport Doctrine. Douglas won the Senate seat, but they would rematch for the presidency in 1860. -
Harpers Ferry
John Brown gathered followers and got them to rise to establish a free black state. He seized the federal arsenal in Virginia. He was later executed. -
Election of 1860
There were four main candidates in the election. The Democrats struggled to choose a candidate. Stephen A. Douglas was the main candidate, but the -
Secession
After Lincoln won the 1860 election, southern states starting seceding from the Union due to his sectionalist ties in the North. South Carolina became the first to secede, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas in the winter. Later in the spring, after the Confederacy was formed, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee joined them. -
Crittenden Compromise
This was an amendment proposed by Sen. John Jordan Crittenden to appease the South after South Carolina voted for secession. It proposed that while slavery in territories would be prohibited north of the 36 30 line, it would be federally protected south of the line. Future states could come into the union as slave or free states, depending on what they chose. This amendment could have kept the Union intact, but president-elect Lincoln voted it down. -
Confederate States of America formed
The first states to secede created their own government in 1861. They chose Jefferson Davis as their first (and last) president. Lincoln was not the president yet, and lame-duck Buchanan was not doing much to stop the secession.