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1) Missouri Compromise 1820-1821
Maine was admitted as a free state, and Missouri as a slave state. Louisiana Territory was split into two parts, at 36*30' north latitude. In the north, slavery was illegal, while the south had slavery legalized. James Monroe was president. -
3) Santa Fe Trail
Busiest route stretching 780 miles from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe in New Mexico from 1821 to 1860's. -
5) San Felipe de Austin
A colony made by Stephen F. Austin, made possible by a land grant by Spain and Mexico. -
6) Mexico Abolishes Slavery
Problem in Texas because many of the settlers there spoke English, and were southerners who brought slaves with them. -
13) The Liberator
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
demand: immediate emancipation. -
15) Nat Turner's Rebellion
Some slaves rebelled against their condition of
bondage. One of the most prominent rebellions was led by Virginia slave
Nat Turner. In August 1831, 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. -
7) Stephen F. Austin goes to jail
He was imprisoned for inciting revolution. -
4) Oregon Trail
Stretched from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon. Created in 1836 by two Methodists missionaries named Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. It proved that wagons could travel on Oregon Trail. -
8) Texas Revolution
rebellion in which Texas gained independence from Mexico -
2) Manifest Destiny
Americans desired to expand as though it was predestined by god. Term was used to express the belief that the US was ordained to expand to the Pacific Ocean. -
9) Texas enters the US
James K Polk won the Presidential Campaign of the time, and firmly favored the annexation of Texas. -
10) Mexican American War
Annexation procedures were quickly initiated after the 1844 election of Polk, who campaigned that Texas should be “re-annexed” and that the Oregon Territory should be “re-occupied.” When his offer to purchase those lands was rejected, he instigated a fight by moving troops into a disputed zone between the Rio Grande and Nueces River that both countries had previously recognized as part of the Mexican state of Coahuila. -
14) The North Star
In 1847, Frederick Douglass began his own
antislavery newspaper. He named it
The North Star, after the star that
guided runaway slaves to freedom. -
11) Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
After about a year of fighting, Mexico conceded defeat. On February 2,
1848, the United States and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Mexico agreed to the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico and
ceded the New Mexico and California territories to the United States. The United States agreed to pay $15 million for the Mexican cession, which included present day
California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of
Colorado and Wyoming. -
12) Abolition
Abolition, the movement to abolish
slavery, became the most important of a series of reform movements in America. -
17) Fugitive Slave Act
Under the law,
alleged fugitive slaves were not entitled to a trial 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 in Canada. Others resorted to violence to rescue fugitive slaves. Still others
worked to help slaves escape from slavery. -
16) Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay’s compromise contained provisions to appease Northerners as well as Southerners. To please the North, the compromise provided that California be admitted to the Union as a free state. To please the South, the compromise proposed a new and more effective fugitive slave law. To placate both sides, a provision allowed popular sovereignty, the right to vote for or against slavery, for residents of the New Mexico and Utah territories. -
18) Underground Railroad
Free African Americans and white abolitionists developed a
secret network of people who would hide fugitive
slaves. The system of escape routes they used became known as the Underground Railroad. “Conductors” on the routes hid fugitives in secret tunnels and false cupboards, provided them with food and clothing, and escorted or directed them to the next “station.” Once fugitives
reached the North, many chose to remain there. Others went to
Canada to be completely out of reach of their “owners.” -
19) Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman,
born a slave in Maryland in 1820 or 1821. In 1849, after Tubman’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 succeeded
in reaching Philadelphia. Shortly after passage of the Fugitive 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—including her own parents—flee to freedom -
20) Uncle Tom's Cabin
In 1852, 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. Uncle Tom’s Cabin expressed her
lifetime hatred of slavery -
21) Kansas-Nebraska Act
Senator Stephen Douglas introduced a
bill in Congress on January 23, 1854,
that would divide the area into two
territories: Nebraska in the north and
Kansas in the south. If passed, the bill
would repeal the Missouri Compromise
and establish popular sovereignty for
both territories -
22) Dred Scott V Stanford
A major Supreme Court decision was
brought about by Dred Scott, a slave whose owner took him from
the slave state of Missouri to free territory in Illinois and Wisconsin
and back to Missouri. Scott appealed to the Supreme Court for his
freedom on the grounds that living in a free state—Illinois—and
a free territory—Wisconsin—had made him a free man.
The case was in court for years. Finally, on March 6, 1857,
the Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott. -
24) John Brown's Raid/Harper's Ferry
Brown secretly obtained financial backing from several
prominent Northern abolitionists. On the night of October 16, 1859,
he led a band of 21 men, black and white, into Harpers Ferry, Virginia
(now West Virginia). His aim was to seize the federal arsenal there
and start a general slave uprising. No such uprising occurred, however. Instead, troops put down the rebellion.
Later, authorities tried Brown and put him to death. -
23) Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas Debates
Neither wanted slavery in the territories,
but they disagreed on how to keep it out. Douglas believed deeply in
popular sovereignty. Lincoln, on the other hand, believed that slavery
was immoral. However, he did not expect individuals to give up
slavery.
Douglas won the Senate seat,
widened split in the Democratic Party. As for Lincoln, his
attacks on the “vast moral evil” of slavery drew national
attention, and some Republicans began thinking of him as an
excellent candidate for the presidency -
25) Abraham Lincoln becomes President
Was successful because the democratic party split into three parts. -
26) Formation of the Confederacy
Mississippi soon followed South Carolina, as did
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. In
February 1861, delegates from the secessionist states met in
Montgomery, Alabama, where they formed the Confederate
States of America, or Confederacy. They also drew up a
constitution that closely resembled that of the United
States, but with a few notable differences. The most important
difference was that it “protected and recognized” slavery
in new territories. Jefferson Davis president. -
27) Attack on Fort Sumter
Confederate soldiers
in each secessionist state began seizing federal installations—especially forts. The most important was Fort Sumter, on an island
in Charleston harbor.
Lincoln decided to neither abandon Fort Sumter nor reinforce it. He would
merely send in “food for hungry men.” At 4:30 A.M. on April 12, Confederate batteries
began thundering away to the cheers of Charleston’s citizens. The deadly
struggle between North and South was under way. -
28) Battle of Bull Run
three months
after Fort Sumter fell, just 25 miles from
Washington, D.C. In the morning the Union army
gained the upper hand, but the Confederates held firm, inspired by Stonewall Jackson. In the afternoon Confederate
reinforcements helped win the first Southern victory.
the Confederates were too exhausted to follow up their victory with an attack on
Washington. Still, Confederate morale soared. Many Confederate soldiers, confi-
dent that the war was over, left the army and went home. -
29) Battle at Antiedam
McClellan ordered his men to pursue Lee, and the two
sides fought on September 17 near a creek called the
Antietam (Bn-tCPtEm). The clash proved to be the bloodiest
single-day battle in American history, with casualties
totaling more than 26,000. The next day, instead of pursuing
the battered Confederate army into Virginia and possibly
ending the war, McClellan did nothing. As a result,
Lincoln removed him from command. -
30) Emancipation Proclamation
On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation. The
following portion captured national attention.
The proclamation did not free any slaves immediately because it applied only
to areas behind Confederate lines, outside Union control. Nevertheless, for many,
the proclamation gave the war a moral purpose by turning the struggle into a fight
to free the slaves. It also ensured that compromise was no longer possible. -
31) 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.
In the North, conscription led to draft riots, the most violent of which took place
in New York City. Sweeping changes occurred in the wartime economies of both
sides as well as in the roles played by African Americans and women. -
32) Income Tax
As the Northern economy grew,
Congress decided to help pay for the war by collecting the nation’s first income
tax, a tax that takes a specified percentage of an individual’s income. -
33) Battle at Gettysburg
Near Gettysburg, in
southern Pennsylvania, the most decisive battle was fought. The Battle
of Gettysburg began on July 1 when Confederate soldiers led by A. P. Hill encountered
John Buford, an
experienced officer from Illinois. After the
battle, Lee gave up invading the North and led his army back to
Virginia.
The three-day battle losses: 23,000 Union men and 28,000
Confederates were killed or wounded. Northerners were enthusiastic about breaking “the
charm of Robert Lee’s invincibility.” -
34) Gettysburg address
In November 1863, a ceremony was held to dedicate
a cemetery in Gettysburg. There, President Lincoln spoke for a little more
than two minutes. According to some contemporary historians, Lincoln’s
Gettysburg Address “remade America.” Before Lincoln’s speech, people said,
“The United States are . . .” Afterward, they said, “The United States is . . .” In
other words, the speech helped the country to realize that it was not just a collection
of individual states; it was one unified nation. -
35) Battle at Vicksburg
Union general Ulysses S. Grant
fought to take Vicksburg
Grant and his troops rushed to
Vicksburg, hoping to take the city while the rebels were reeling from their losses.
in the last week of May 1863, Grant settled in for a siege. shelling the city from both the river and the land for several
hours a day,
asked Grant for terms of surrender
The city fell on July 4. Five days later Port Hudson, Louisiana, the last
Confederate holdout on the Mississippi, also fell. the Confederacy was cut in two. -
36) Sherman's March
In the
spring of 1864, 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. -
37) Surrender at Appomattox Court House
On April 3, 1865, Union troops conquered
Richmond, the Confederate capital. On April 9, 1865,
in a Virginia town called Appomattox Court House, Lee and
Grant met at a private home to arrange a Confederate surrender. At Lincoln’s
request, the terms were generous. Grant paroled Lee’s soldiers and sent them
home with their possessions and three days’ worth of rations. After four long years, the Civil War was over -
38) 13th Amendment
After some political maneuvering, the
Thirteenth Amendment was ratified at
the end of 1865. The U.S. Constitution now
stated, “Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States.” -
39) assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln, who never regained consciousness,
died on April 15. It was the first time a
president of the United States had been assassinated. After the shooting, the
assassin, John Wilkes Booth—a 26-year-old actor and Southern sympathizer—
then leaped down from the presidential box to the stage and escaped. Twelve days
later, Union cavalry trapped him in a Virginia tobacco shed and shot him dead.
