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Abolitionism
The purpose of this movement was to end slavery. The views on slavery were different in the North and South. Slavery also contradicted the Constitution. This eventually led to the civil war. Many people fought to end slavery, black and white. However many people fought to keep slavery which mad life for African Americans rough. Many revolt occured to abolish slavery. Finally slavery was abolished. -
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin and helped with the mass production of cotton. He did not make a profit from his invention because imitations were created. Him and his business partner were successful in selling the new invention. -
Louisiana Purchase
The united States bought the land from the France which doubled the size of the US and expanded it to the West. Thomas Jefferson was credited with the Louisiana Purchase as one of his greatest achievments. -
Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark explored the lands in the Louisiana purchase to map and survey the land. They kept records of the animals, plants, and Indians they encoutered. Their success was due to the help of Sacagewea. This expedition was very successful for the United States of America. -
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Robert E. Lee
Robert Lee was an American military officer who later became a very successful Confederate general. He distinguished himself through the American-Mexican War, and led many successful battles during the Civil War. On September 28, 1870, Lee suffered a stroke and died two weeks later. -
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President Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, and served as the 16th president of the United states from 1861 till 1865, the year of his assassination by John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln served as an important person during the slavery period, as he signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. -
The Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise started in December 1819 when Missouri asked to be admitted as a slave state. This upset many people, as it threatened to disturb the balance between slave and free states. In 1820, Congress made a compromise regarding Missouri's inquiry; they allowed the state to own slaves; however, the made Maine free, and prohibited any additional states that were part of tthe Louisiana Purchase lands from becoming slaves states. -
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William T. Sherman
Sherman was an American business man, soldier, author, and later, a general in the Union Army. He is often praised for his uncanny military skill, yet criticized for his tactics such as the Scorched Earth". -
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Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th president of the U.S. after having been a very successful military general during the second half of the Civil War in which he lead and won numerous battles. He effectively eliminated the Ku Klux Klan in 1871 and was the first president to establish Civil Service reform. Grant died of throat cancer at the age of 63. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was stated in President Monroe's seventh annual message to Congress. He warned all European Countries to leave the Western Hemisphere alone. -
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Stonewall Jackson
Stonewall Jackson is one of the best known Confederate generals during the American Civil War after the death of Robert E. Lee. On May 2, 1863, Confederate pickets accidentally shot him. He survived after the amputation of his arm; however, he died 8 days later due to complications derived from pneumonia. -
Erie Canal
The canal was created to connect Lake Erie and the Great Lakes to the Atlantic coast. It costed $7 million to build the canal, but the canal made shipping easier and cheaper. -
The Nullification Crisis
The Nullification Crisis arose when South Carolina leaders proposed the idea that they did not have to follow federal laws since states laws trumped federal ruling. This sparked controversy, and John C. Calhoun soon came forth and publicly proclaimed his opinion on the matter. He believed states did have the right to "nullify" the law. The conflict was eventually solved in the late 1830's by a new law. tariff. -
Nate Turner
He was born a slave in Virginia. He led one of the bloodiest revolts against slavery in America. He and his followers killed many white slave owners. After the revolt, many African Americans were killed as punishment. He was executed as punishment for the revolt. This ended the emancipation movement in the south due to fear. -
William Lloyd Garrison
He fought for the abolishment of slavery. He founded the anti-slavery newspaper and formed the anti-slavery society. After slavery was abolished, he fought for woman's suffrage. -
Grimke Sisters
The Grimke sisters greatly despised slavery. They are said to have credited their father for most of their hatred due to the fact that he owned many slaves. In 1836, Angelina Grimke wrote her "Appeal to the Christan Women of the South", encouraging white Southern women to oppose slavery. By the late 1830's, the sisters were not only largely known as abolitionists, but as woman's rights advocates as well. -
Manifest Destiny
This phrase appeared in the issue of United States Magzine and Democratic Review. In his statement he said how all men are created equal. He also talked about how Americans should move West. -
Wilmot Proviso
Congressman David Wilmont first introduced this idea in 1846; it would have banned all slavery in any territory acquired in Mexico through the Mexican War. It would have also taken effect in South Texas and New Mexico. Wilmot introduced the proposed bill to the House of Representatives and passed, but failed the Senate. It was reintroduced in February 1847, but again passed the House and failed the Senate. In 1848, it was attempted to be added to the Treaty of Guadalupe, yet failed again. -
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
She held the Seneca Falls Convention where she created the Declaration of Sentiments which proposed that women have the right to vote. She established the National Women Suffrage Association and served as the president of the organization for two years. -
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Seneca Falls Covention
This was the first woman's rights convention created by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. She created the Declaration of Sentiments to explain the purpose of the convention. About 300 people came, and about 100 signed the Seneca Falls declaration. -
Frederick Douglass
He escaped slavery when he was 20. He was an abolitionist and writer. He supported the Civil war and helped by recruiting black men. He became president of Freedman's Bank in Washington, D.C. He was a very inteligent man. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska; it also withdrew the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing these territories to determine whether they would allow slavery through Popular Sovereignty. -
Dred Scott case
This was a famous Supreme Court case concerning a slave; he demanded the court grant his freedom since he and his master were residing in a state (Illinois) that had banned slavery. The court's first ruling was as follows: African Americans were not citizens; therefore, the did not have the right to sue the Federal Government. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown, a white man, attempted to start a slave revolt by seizing a U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He failed due to Robert Lee's intervention. Brown had also asked Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass to help; both declined. -
Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the attack and surrender of Fort Sumter, located near Charleston, South Carolina. This battle started the American Civil War. It sparked widespread support from the North and South for more military actions to take place. -
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War. He served as President of the Confederate States of America for ots entire history (1861-1865). During the duration of his presidency, he took control of the Confederate war plans but was not able to find a sucessful strategy to stop the more powerful and organized Union. -
Antietam
The Battle of Antietam, also called the Battle of Sharpsburg, was fought on Wednesday, September 17, 1862. It was located near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek. This was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. Antietam was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. -
Emancipation Proclomation
Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary proclomation that he would order the emancipation of all slaves in any state of the Conferderate States of America that did not come back to Union control by January 1, 1863. None returned, and the order was signed and took effect. It outraged white southerners, but lifted the spirits of African Americans. -
Vicksburg
The Siege of Vicksburg took place from May 18-July 4, 1863. It was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Ulysses S. Grant and his army crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate army into the defensive lines that surrounded the outside of the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Confederate surrender following the siege is sometimes considered the turning point of the war. -
Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1-3, 1863. It took place around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This battle had the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War. George Gordan Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Robert E. Lee's Army of the Northern Virginia, ending Lee's invasion of the North. -
Battle for Atlanta
The Battle of Atlanta was a battle of the Atlanta Campaign fought during the American Civil War on July 22, 1864. It was located just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Union forces commanded by William T. Sherman defeated Confederate forces defending the city under John B. Hood. -
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States. He served from 1865 to 1865. As Lincoln's vice president, Johnson became president when Lincoln was assassinated. He was a Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket. He came to office as the Civil War ended. -
13th Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution outlaws slavery and involuntary solitude. This is only excluded as a punishment for a crime committed. It was adopted on December 6, 1865. It was the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments adopted after the American Civil War. -
The 14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868. It is one of the Reconstruction Amendments. It includes a broad description of citizenship. It also prohibits local and state governments from depriving people of life, property, or liberty without certain steps taken to gurantee fairness. -
John Davison Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He founded the Standard Oil Company. It dominated the Oil industry and was the first great US business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy. -
The 15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment to the Constitution allowed African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the US to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Eventhough ratified on February 3, 1870, the gurantee of this amendment would not be fully realized for nearly 100 years. -
Jim Crow
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They started the "separate but equal" status for African Americans. The status tended to be untrue with the black conditions being much less suitable than the white ones. African Americans still had many disadvantages. Some examples of Jim Crow laws are the segregation of public schools, public places, and public transportation, and the segregation of restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains. -
The Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877 was also known as "The Great Betrayal." It settled the greatly disputed 1876 US presidential election, and concluded Reconstruction in the South. Through the compromise, Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the WHite House over Samuel J. Tilden. -
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as chief during resistance to the United States government. Sitting Bull had a vision of defeating Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer on June 25, 1876. His motivation led his people to victory. -
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison was born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio. He had very little schooling. In 1877, he invented the phonograph and recorded words on it. He also worked to imporve X-Rays, storage batteries, and talking toys. Edison did not actually invent the lightbulb, but instead invented the first practical incandescent light. He died on October 18th, 1931. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion act was a law enacted in 1882 that banned Chinese immigration to the United States in 1882. The ban was intended to last for 10 years. It was repealed by the Magnuson Act in 1943. -
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor was on the first labor unions in the United States. It was founded in Colombus, Ohio, by an alliance if craft unions. Samuel Gompers was president of the Federation. The Federation focused on securing higher wages, better working conditions, and shorter working hours for its members. -
Samuel Gompers
Samuel Gompers was born on January 27, 1850 in London, England. Hiis family immigrated to AMerica where he bacame a cigar maker. He founded the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in 1881, which later became the American Federation of Labor in 1886. He served as president of the Federation until his death in 1924. -
Wounded Knee
The Wiunded Knee Massacre was the last battle to take place in the American Indian Wars. It took place near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Troops went into the camp to disarm the Lakota. A scuffle with a native that resulted in a shot being fired forced the calvary to open fire, killing 150 men, women, and children. -
Ellis Island
Ellis Island was an immigration station that operated in Upper New York Bay from 1892 to 1924. Millions of immigrants passed through this station. During the years of its opertaion, it was the busiest immigration station in the nation. Aftter 1924, Ellis Island became primarily a detention and deportaion processing station. During WWII, the island was used to intern German merchant mariners and enemy aliens. It is now a historical site for the public. -
1984 Pullman Strike
The Pullman Strike was a nationwide conflict in the summer of 1894 between the new American Railway Union and railroads that occurred in the United States. The conflict started in Illinois when 4,000 workers of the Pullman Palace Car Company due to a reduction in wages. Riots and sabotage caused $80 million in damages and 30 people were killed. Violence broke out in many cities, and the strike collapsed. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of requiring state laws to uphold racial segregation. It remained the constant doctrine until 1954 when it was overruled by Brown v. Board of Education. -
Ida Tarbell
Ida Tarbell was an American teacher, author, and journalist. She is famous for her 1904 book The History of the Standard Oil Company. She depicted John D. Rockefeller as crabbed, miserly, money-grabbing, and viciously effective at monopolizing the oil trade.Her book eventually led to the downfall of the Standard Oil Company. -
The Jungle
The Jungle was a novel written by Upton SInclair in 1906. The novel told of the horrors of the meat packing industry, and described how some factories had unsafe conditions, such as rats, insects, unsanitary cleaning methods, and poor workforce choices. The release of his book sparked outrage and the need for health regulations.
