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Declaration of Independence
The formal statement/document, written by Thomas Jefferson, and put into place on July 4, 1776 by the Second Continental Congress. This document declared the thirteen American colonies free and independent from Great Britain. The document had 56 signers. -
States Rights versus Federal Rights
This was greatly discussed at the Constitutional Convention in September of 1786. There were debates on where the federal government’s power ended and the states’ began. This would prove to be an issue later during Cases like McCulloch v. Maryland and during the nullification crisis. -
Constitution
Is the supreme law of the U.S. and was ratified on June 21, 1788. It entitled the separation of powers and was supported by the Federalists, Alexander Hamilton. This was designed to to replace the Articles of Confederation because it did not give the federal government enough power. -
Bill of Rights
The US Bill of Rights was created on December 15, 1791 at the request of the anti-federalists in order for the approval of the US Constitution. The US Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the US Constitution, which guarantees certain inalienable rights to the people (freedom of speech, assembly, worship,etc.). Anti-federalists wanted this document because they believed that without it that the government would take their rights. -
10th Amendment
Was added to the Bill of Rights in 1791, but was first proposed in Congress in 1789 after the Constitutional Convention. This amendment states that the power not delegated to the U.S. by the Constitution nor prohibited by the states were reserved to the states or the people. This limited the powers of the federal government and gave the states more rights. -
Fugitive Slave Laws
The first one stated that a master had the right to capture a runaway slave. There was a stronger one put in place along with the Compromise of 1850; it allowed southerners to hunt down slaves from long ago and punished people who helped slaves escape. These were met with resistance through organizations such as the underground railroad. -
Nullification
This was the theory that the states have the power to nullify/invalidate any law that they see as unconstitutional and has been legally upheld by the Supreme Court. Between 1832 and 1833, South Carolina declared both the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 unconstitutional and were not enforced in its boundaries. President Jackson responded with the Forced Act, but the tariffs were eventually repealed with the Compromise Tariff of 1833 (nullification). -
Sedition Acts
The sedition act was passed on July 14, 1798 by the Federalist controlled Congress. The Sedition Act made it illegal to write, print, speak, or publish any false, scandalous and malicious writing against the federal government including the Congress and President. -
Virginia and Kentucky resolutions
Kentucky-November 16,1798 Virginia-December 24,1798
Jefferson and James Madison wrote the resolutions as a response to the Alien Sedition acts
The resolutions emphasized a state's right to nullify a federal law they think is unconstitutional
The federal government had no authority to exercise power not specifically delegated to it in the constitution -
Missouri Compromise
This was an agreement between the north and the south to make Missouri a slave state and Maine a free state. It stated that future states above the 36'30' latitude would be free while the ones below would be slave states. This was later replaced by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. -
Agrarian versus industrial
America was established as an agrarian nation but industry began in the late 18th century. The south stayed agrarian because their economy depended on it while the north industrialized. The south relied on cheap foreign goods and opposed a national tariff while the north supported it. The north formed larger cities and intricate transportation systems while the south remained fairly consistent with spread out plots of land. -
Tariff of Abominations
Protective tariff designed to protect northern industry of the U.S.
Raised the cost of living in the South and cut into profit of New England's industrialist
The south were angered by the tariff and Calhoun wrote the nullification doctrine which emphasized a state's right to reject federal laws within its borders -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
This was a slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. 50-65 white people died; this was the largest amount of fatalities of any slave revolt in America at that time. It led to a wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting education, movement, and assembly. -
Annexation of Texas
For a while, Texas was its own country known as the Lone Star Republic. The Annexation process was difficult for Texas because it would upset the balance of slave/free states in congress.Texas began as a large area of land owned by Mexico which was rented out by American families. -
Mexican American War
Mexico was antagonized into war by Polk after it refused to sell California. The war was long and bloody, eventually ending in the capture of Mexico City and the defeat of Santa Anna. The Treaty of Guadalupe ended the war, gave the states the California Territory, and ended Mexican claims on Texas. -
Compromise of 1850
California would be a free state and Utah's and New Mexico's possition on slavery would be determined by popular sovereignty. It set a Texas-New Mexico boundary in Mexico's favor. It ended slave the trade in Washington D.C. and established a stronger Fugitive slave act; tensions between the north and south increased. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Allowed for capture and return of runaway slaves in the U.S.
Harsher punishments for escaped slaves and those who helped them
Later repealed by an act of Congress in 1864 -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin influenced the North’s and Europe’s views of the American South and slavery. It promoted abolition and intensified sectional differences. Abraham Lincoln greeted Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1862 by saying "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war." -
Bleeding Kansas
"Bleeding Kansas" was the name given to the series of violent political confrontations in Kansas. Anti-slavery and pro-slavery activist flooded into Kansas to vote over slavery. Two different governments were set-up in Kansas and violent outbreaks followed. The Emigrant Aid Company of Massachusetts helped to establish antislavery settlements in Topeka and Lawrence. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas Nebraska Act allowed people in Kansas and Nebraska to vote if they wanted to be a slave or free state. Stephen A. Douglas proposed the compromise and it repealed the Missouri Compromise.
It also helped pave the way to the Civil War; it increased tensions between the north and south. -
Brooks attacks Sumner
Sumner gave a speech in the senate house, speaking bitterly against the south and personally attacking Senator Butler. Brooks, cousin of Butler, wanted to defend his family and decided to beat Sumner with a cane. This was evidence of Bleeding Kansas flooding into the government; Brooks and Sumner were both re-elected -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
These were debates between Lincoln and Douglas during the Illinois state election. They discussed ideals of critical importance to the sectional conflict over slavery and states’ rights but also touched deeper questions that would continue to influence political discourse.
In them Lincoln gained national fame that would later benefit him in the presidential election. -
Dred Scott Case
Fred Scott, a slave, argued that because he had lived in a free state for a while that he was free. The Supreme Court decided that no black, free or slave, could be a U.S. citizen. No citizenship means you cannot petition for your freedom; he was still considered property. -
Raid on Harpers ferry
A band of abolitionist led by John Brown attacked the Harpers Ferry U.S. military arsenal. Brown’s plan was to arm slaves to start a revolt.
Brown was captured and hung; many southerners fears of slave revolt were inflamed and the tensions between the South and North increased. -
Election of 1860
Northern Democrats chose Douglas and Southern Democrats choose John C. Breckinridge. Republicans chose Lincoln, the Victor, for his fame in the debates and he had become the symbol for the frontier, hard work, the self-made man and the American dream. The constitutional union party chose John Bell. Democrats supported slavery, Republicans were Anti-slavery, and the Union party did not take a side. -
Wage Slaves versus Slaves
Slavery began on a large scale after Bacon's Rebellion and gives no pay to the slave as well as takes the slave’s rights away as if they were property. Wage slaves earned money but worked under very harsh and unsafe conditions like in Lowell Mills. Wage slaves were more common in the north and slaves were more common in the south. -
Industrial Revolution
Samuel Slater brought plans for a factory over to America from Europe and created the first factory. The industrial revolution brought inventions such as interchangeable parts, the cotton gin, and the telegraph. The industrial revolution only hit the north; the south didn't need it.
