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HARPER'S FERRY
*Harper established a ferry across the Potomac, making the town a starting point for settlers moving into the Shenandoah Valley and further west. A few years later, the Virginia General Assembly established the town of "Shenandoah Falls at Mr. Harper's Ferry."
*Harpers Ferry is best known for John Brown's raid on the Armory and its important role in the American Civil War.
*This towns establishment is important because it was a home for settlers that were traveling across the Shenandoah Valley. -
MISSOURI COMPROMISE
- It temporarily resolved the first serious political clash between slavery and antislavery interests in U.S. history. *It was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which meant that slave or free status was to be decided by popular vote in Nebraska and Kansas. Even though both were north of the 36th parallel. *The Compromise was criticized by many on both sides of the debate on slavery, it played an important part in history because it succeeded in keeping the Union together for 30 years+.
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MONROE DOCTRINE
*It was a U.S. foreign policy that regarded domination of the American continent.
*It stated that all efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with both Americas would be looked as acts of aggression, requiring U.S. intervention.
*It was important because, Its was meant to free the newly independent colonies of Latin America from European power, and avoid situations which could make the New World a battleground. -
GETTYSBURG
*Its a very well-known city in Pennsylvania.
*The Battle of Gettysburg took place in the center of town, and is named after James Gettys, who was one of the first settlers.
*Lincolns famous speech, The Gettysburg Address also took place in Gettysburg.
*Which makes this city famous for several events that are very influential in American history. -
TRAIL OF TEARS
*Was a series of forced relocations of the Native American nations in the United States, following the Indian Removal Act in 1830.
*The relocated people suffered from starvation, exposure, and disease while on foot, and more than half died before reaching their destinations.
*The Trail of Tears holds importance because it was one of the most barbaric attempts made by the whites to force Native Americans out of their homelands. -
BATTLE OF THE ALAMO
*It played a pivotal role in the Texas Revolution.
*It followed a 13-day siege, in which Mexican troops under President General Antonio López of Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar, Texas, killing all of the Texian defenders.
*It is an important part of history because of its symbolic importance. Soldiers who fought in The Alamo, volunteered themselves and fought for noble reasons. -
PANIC OF 1837
*It was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major recession that lasted until the mid-1840s.
*Profits, prices, and wages went down while unemployment went up. Pessimism abounded during the time. The panic had both domestic and foreign origins.
*Its important because there was a sharp decline in a collapsing land bubble, cotton prices, international specie flows, and restrictive lending policies in Great Britain were all to blame. -
SUTTER'S FORT
*The fort was a 19th-century agricultural and trade center in the Mexican Alta California Province. The fort was also the very first non-Indigenous community in the California Central Valley. *The fort is famous for its association alongside the Donner Party, the California Gold Rush, and the formation of Sacramento. It is notable for its proximity to the end of the California Trail and Siskiyou Trails for which it served as a popular waystation. -
PRE-EMPTION ACT
*It was a federal law that was approved during the early presidency of John Tyler.
*It was designed to "appropriate the proceeds of the sales of public lands... and to grant 'pre-emption rights' to individuals" who were living on federal lands already.
*The Pre-emption Act was important because it was widely used by settlers in Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory. When the Homestead Act was approved in 1862, the claims under the Preemption Act decreased majorly. -
US-MEXICAN WAR
*Also known as the Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the United Mexican States from 1846 to 1848. It followed the wake of the 1845 US annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory.
*It is an important part in history because, in the immediate aftermath of the war, the war resulted in "the state of degradation and ruin" in Mexico. -
BEAR FLAG REVOLT
*A small group of American settlers in California rebelled against the Mexican government and ordered California to be an independent republic.
*The republic didn't last long, because soon after the Bear Flag was raised, the U.S. military began occupying California.
*The Bear Flag became the official state flag in 1911.
*This event is important in American history because, it declared independence from Mexico and made California an official U.S. State. -
FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS
*They were laws passed by the U.S. Congress in order to provide for the return of slaves who escaped from one state and into another state
*The Fugitive Slave Clause states that escaped slaves "shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due".
*Its important because, after the compromise, the Supreme Court made a series of laws that allowed slavery in the new territories, and forced officials in Free States to give a hearing to slaveholders without a jury. -
COMPROMISE OF 1850
*It was a package of five bills that were passed by the U.S. Congress, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican–American War.
*Henry Clay created a compromise, which failed to pass in early 1850, it was led by John C. Calhoun, and anti-slavery northern Whigs.
*This compromise is important because it shaped the territories of the U.S., and which countries owned them. -
BLEEDING KANSAS
*It was a series of violent political confrontations in the United States involving anti-slavery "Free-Staters" and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian", or "southern yankees" elements in Kansas.
*Bleeding Kansas was a conflict between anti-slavery forces in the North and pro-slavery forces from the South.
*"Bleeding Kansas" was created by Republican Horace Greeley, once editor of the New York Tribune. It is an important part of history because it presaged the Civil War. -
GADSDEN PURCHASE
*Southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico was purchased by the U.S in a treaty signed on Dec. 30, 1853 by James Gadsden who was the American ambassador of Mexico at that time.
*It was ratified, by the U.S. Senate, and signed by President Pierce, with final approval action taken by Mexico's government and their General Congress.
*This event in history is important because, the debate over the treaty became involved in the sectional dispute over slavery. -
DRED SCOTT DECISION
*Scott believed he and his family should be granted their freedom because he had lived in Illinois for 4 years, and it had been a state in which slavery was illegal.
*The U.S Supreme Court decided 7–2 against Scott, proving that neither he or any person of African origin could claim citizenship in the U.S.
*This was an important case because, it challenged the government with rights involving people of different races, and deepened sectional tensions between the northern & southern states. -
CIVIL WAR 1861-1865
*War broke out when they attacked Fort Sumter. The Confederacy, colloquially known as the South, grew into eleven states; it claimed two more states and several western territories.
*The war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the collapse of Confederate government in spring 1865.
*This war is important because it led to the Reconstruction era, which strengthening the national government, and guaranteeing civil rights to the freed slaves. -
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
*It was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln.
*In a single stroke, it changed the federal legal status of more than 3 million slaves in the designated areas of the South from "slave" to "free".
*Eventually reached and liberated all of the designated slaves, and was issued as a war measure during the American Civil War.
*It proclaimed the freedom of slaves in ten states. -
GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
*Is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. He delivered the speech during the American Civil War, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, 4 1/2 months after the Union armies had defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg.
*It is such a great speech because, Lincoln reiterated the principles of human equality, espoused by the Declaration of Independence and proclaimed the Civil War as a struggle for the keeping of the Union sundered by the secession crisis. -
13TH AMENDMENT
*This amendment is important because, it abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.
*In Congress, it was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and by the House on January 31, 1865.
*The amendment was ratified by the required number of states on December 6, 1865, and on December 18, 1865, Secretary of State William H. Seward proclaimed its adoption. It was the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments adopted following the American Civil War. -
14TH AMENDMENT
*It was adopted in 1868, after the civil war, and addresses the equal protection and rights of former slaves.
*This amendment is important because, it limits the action of state and local officials. In addition to equal protection under the law to all citizens, the amendment addresses what is called "due process", which prevents the citizens from being illegally deprived of life, liberty, or property. -
15TH AMENDMENT
*This amendment is important because, the United States Constitution prohibited the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." The amendment was ratified, as the third and last of the Reconstruction Amendments.
*Congress proposed a compromise amendment banning franchise restrictions on the basis of race, color, or previous servitude on February 26, 1869.
