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Missouri Compromise
Missouri Compromise
An agreement in 1820 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States concerning the extension of slavery into new territories. The compromise was specifically repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854. -
"54-40 or Fight"
54-40 or FightIn 1818, the United States and the United Kingdom established a joint claim over the Oregon Territory - the region west of the Rocky Mountains and between 42° North and 54°40' North. Ultimately, the parties decided that joint occupancy wasn't working well so they set about to divide Oregon.The 1844 Democratic presidential candidate James K. Polk ran on a platform of taking control over the entire Oregon Territory and used the famous campaign slogan, "Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" He won. -
Texas Annexation
Texas Annexation
In 1845, the United States of America annexed the Republic of Texas and admitted it to the Union as the 28th state. The U.S.inherited Texas's border dispute with Mexico; this quickly led to the Mexican-American War, during which the U.S. captured additional territory extending the nation's borders all the way to the Pacific. Texas claimed the eastern part of this new territory, CO, UT, TX, etc. -
Wilmot Proviso
This prevented slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War or in the future, including the area later known as the Mexican Cession, but which some proponents construed to also include the disputed lands in south Texas and New Mexico east of the Rio Grande. It was defeated in 1846 -
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidago
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidago
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was a peace treaty that ended the Mexican-American War (1846 to 1848.) The treaty got its name from the location of the signing in Mexico. Mexico gave up California and New Mexico to the United States for 15 million. -
Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a series of five bills that were intended to stave off sectional strife. Its goal was to deal with the spread of slavery to territories in order to keep northern and southern interests in balance. California was entered as a free state.New Mexico and Utah were each allowed to use popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery. Texas border was settle and debt paid. Outlawed slave trade in D.C. Stricter Fugitive Slave Law. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin
An anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe helped to lay the groundwork for the Civil War. Also helped popularize stereotypes against African Americans/ It demanded that the United States deliver on the promise of freedom and equality. This book changed forever the way Americans viewed slavery. -
Gadsden Purchase
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase is also called the Treaty of La Mesilla. La Mesilla was the Mexican name of the land that changed hands, namely today's southern New Mexico and Arizona. US minister to Mexico, James Gadsden, sealed the deal with Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna on December 30, 1853, but the final treaty had to undergo some amendments and was not ready until April 25, 1854. -
Republican Party founded
Republican Party
Todays Republican Party was founded in 1854 by a group of MidWestern abolitionists opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Anti-Nebraska protest meetings spread through the country. Two meetings were held in Wis., on Feb. 28 and Mar. 20, 1854, and were attended by a group of abolitionist Free Soilers, Democrats, and Whigs. They decided to call themselves Republicans-because they professed to be political descendants of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican party. The name was adopted 7/6/1854 -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas/Nebraska ActThis act made it possible for voters in Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether or not slavery would exsist in their respective territories, using a concept called popular sovereignty. This act repealed the Missouri Compromise. -
Brooks-Sumner incident
Brooks-Sumner Incident
Preston Brooks and Charles Sumner fought publicly in Senate over slavery, after Sumner gave a bitter speech. Brooks of South Carolina thought Sumner went too far. Southerners in the nineteenth century were raised to live by an unwritten code of honor. Only after being physically restrained by others did Brooks end the pummeling. -
Harper's Ferry Raid
John Brown
A futile effort by the white abolitionist John Brown to end the evils of slavery in the United States. Brown Successfully captured arsenal, but there was no slave rebellion. Brown fought against the U.S. government and was captured and put on trial. In December of 1859, John Brown was executed. -
Election of 1860
Election of 1860
Stephen Douglas, a Northern Democrat, supports popular soverignty. John Breckinridge, a Southern Democrat, supports expansion of slavery. Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, says slavery should remain, but there should be no expansion of it. and John Bell, part of the Union, stood for constitution, union, and enforcement of laws. -
Election of 1860
Election of 1860
Stephen Douglas, a Northern Democrat, supports popular soverignty. John Breckinridge, a Southern Democrat, supports expansion of slavery. Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, says slavery should remain, but there should be no expansion of it. and John Bell, part of the Union, stood for constitution, union, and enforcement of laws. -
Firing on Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter
On April 12, 1861, General P.G.T. Beauregard, in command of the Confederate forces around Charleston Harbor, opened fire on the Union garrison holding Fort Sumter. At 2:30pm on April 13 Major Robert Anderson, garrison commander, surrendered the fort and was evacuated the next day. -
First Battle of Bull Run
Manassas
Union and Confederate armies clashed Manassas Junction, Virginia, in the first major battle of the First Battle of Bull Run, began when 35,000 Union troops marched from the federal capital in D.C. to strike a Confederate force of 20,000 along a small river known as Bull Run. The rebels rallied and were able to break the Union right flank. Confederate victory gave South a surge of confidence and shocked Northerners. -
Monitor v. Merrimac
Monitor v. Merrimac
On March 8, 1862, from her berth at Norfolk, the Confederate ironclad Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads where she sank Cumberland and ran Congress aground. On March 9, the Union ironclad Monitor having fortuitously arrived to do battle, initiated the first engagement of ironclads in history. The two ships fought each other to a standstill, but Virginia retired. -
Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
Hooker's corps assaulted Lee's left flank that began the bloodiest day in American history. Late in the day, Burnside’s corps finally got into action, crossing the stone bridge over Antietam Creek and rolling up the Confederate right. After dark, Lee ordered the battered Army of Northern Virginia to withdraw across the Potomac into the Shenandoah Valley. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 1–July 3, 1863), was the largest battle of the American Civil War as well as the largest battle ever fought in North America, involving around 85,000 men in the Union’s Army of the Potomac. Approximately 75,000 in the Confederacy’s Army of Northern Virginia. Casualties at Gettysburg totaled 23,049 for the Union. Confederate casualties were 28,063. -
Shermans March
Shermans March
It was a 6-week march from Atlanta, southeast to Savannah, cutting a wide swathe through the state. The emphasis was on the burning of farms, the slaughtering of livestock and the ruining of crops. Violence against civilians was strictly forbidden, and when this did occur, it was mostly not by Sherman's troops, but by the unruly mounted drifters who rode alongside the army, just for the fun -
Appomattox Court House
Appomattox Court House
Early on April 9, the remnants of John Gordon’s corps and Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry formed line of battle at Appomattox Court House. Robert E. Lee determined to make one last attempt to escape. The Confederates advanced and Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9
