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Alamo
A complete victory for the Mexicans leading up t the Mexican American War. The Mexicans pretty much decimated the revolting Texans. However, it also became a heroic legend and provided a rallying for Texans -
Manifest Destiny
the belief that it was Americans' God-given right and destiny to expand to the other side of the nation. It was pretty much a moral justification for territorial expansion and offered flimsy rationalizations for naked greed and imperial ambition. -
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Context
Western expansion was widely supported by Americans to find more economic opportunities. Manifest destiny was a way to support and motivate this expansion. Along with the expansion of territory, there were social developments. There were many issues surrounding slavery. There were economic, political, and cultural issues which led to the arguments between the North and South, causing the Civil War. After the Civil War, amendments 13-15 ended slavery and expanded the rights of African Americans. -
Mexican American War
Waged between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848, helped to fulfill America's "manifest destiny" to expand its territory across the entire North American continent. It ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This determined American territory, especially in Texas. Because of this war, the Mexican treasury was depleted, making the $10 million for this land impossible to decline. -
Gold Rush
Gold was found at Sutter's mill, which is what kicked off this gold rush. It was the greatest mass migration in American history, it triggered a surge of prosperity that eventually helped the union military effort in the Civil War. Cities like San Francisco sprang up and new business enterprises emerged like Levis. This describes the influx of tens of thousands of people to California after the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848. -
Free-Soil Movement
The movement was dedicated to opposing slavery in newly acquired territories such as Oregon and Mexican territory. As the issue of slavery was largely ignored by both the Whigs and the Democrats in the 1848 presidential race, this party emerged with "free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men," especially championing antislavery. -
Fugitive Slave Law
Fugitive Slave Law was a part of the Compromise of 1850; this set up commissions in the North to investigate people accused of being runaway slaves. Commissioners were given money if the accused was determined to be a runaway. Some Northern legislatures passed laws to circumvent the law. It aroused a lot of anti-slavery impulse in the North. -
Republican Party
The republican party formed in 1854 and attracted former Whigs, Free-Soilers, and some from the Democratic Party who were uncomfortable with the Democratic position on slavery. Lincoln was the first Republican president. An early slogan was "Free soil, Free labor, Free Speech, and Free Men." -
Pottawatomie Creek
This uprising set off Guerilla warfare (small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility) in the Kansas territory. Five men were dragged from their cabins and massacred by John Brown and his sons. Border ruffians entered the free state settlement in Kansas and looted houses and shot John Brown's son. Federal troops had to be dispatched. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
The Court ruled that, as property, slaves could not sue in the courts. The Court also ruled that the MO Comp was unconstitutional Named for the slave who sued, this Supreme Court case ruled that all slaves are property and can therefore be taken into any state or territory - slave or free - based on the 5th amendment. The Missouri Compromise in 1820 was also ruled unconstitutional by Roger B. Taney (Chief Justice) and the court. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Debates between contestants for Illinois senate that transformed the future of the Republican party. They ended Douglas' chance for president and shot Lincoln to the centre stage Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas debated 7 times publicly during the 1858 senatorial race in Illinois. Although Lincoln lost to popular sovereignty Douglas, these debates placed Lincoln in the national limelight. -
Compromise of 1850
A complex agreement that temporarily lessened tensions between Northern and Southern political leaders. To appease the South, the Fugitive Slave Act was strengthened. To appease the North, CA was entered as a free state. President Taylor opposed which threatened to split the Whig Party wide open -
Fort Sumter
Federal fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina; the confederate attack on the fort marked the start of the Civil War. Following Beauregard's bombardment in 1861, Confederate forces occupied Fort Sumter and used it to marshal a defense of Charleston Harbor. Once it was completed and better armed, Fort Sumter allowed the Confederates to create a valuable hole in the Union blockade of the Atlantic seaboard. -
Antietam
A battle near a sluggish little creek, it proved to be the bloodiest single day battle in American History with over 26,000 lives lost in that single day. The battle ended the Confederate invasion of Maryland in 1862 and resulted in a Union victory. It also led to President Abraham Lincoln issuing the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862 -
Habeas Corpus
Habeas Corpus gave constitutional protection against unlawful imprisonment. Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia to give military authorities the necessary power to silence dissenters and rebels. Under this order, commanders could arrest and detain individuals who were deemed threatening to military operations -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, it declared that all slaves in the rebellious Confederate states would be free. It made the southerners mad because Lincoln had gone against all their morals. It led the way to total abolition of slavery in the United States. With the Emancipation Proclamation, the aim of the war changed to include the freeing of slaves in addition to preserving the Union -
10% Plan
Lincoln's blueprint for Reconstruction included the 10% Plan, which specified that a southern state could be readmitted into the Union once 10 percent of its voters (from the voter rolls for the election of 1860) swore an oath of allegiance to the Union. It was Lincoln's way of trying to end the war quickly. -
Black Codes
Laws denying most legal rights to newly freed slaves; passed by southern states following the Civil War. In order to restrict African Americans' freedom, and to compel them to work for low wages, many states required blacks to sign yearly labor contracts; if they refused, they risked being arrested, fined and forced into unpaid labor. Outrage over black codes helped undermine support for President Andrew Johnson and the Republican Party. -
13th Amendment
Declared that all people born/naturalized in the US were citizens and that states had to respect the rights of US citizens and prove them with "equal protection of laws" and "due process of law". abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. -
14th Amendment
This amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including former slaves—and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.” It was to protect the civil rights of freed slaves after the Civil War. It has proven to be an important and controversial amendment addressing such issues as the rights of citizens, equal protection under the law, due process, and the requirements of the states -
15th Amendment
Forbade either the federal government or the states from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of race, color, or "previous conditions of servitude". Set up the foundation for future equal opportunity laws. protects the rights of the American to vote in elections to elect their leaders.
