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Period: 1492 to
US History: VHS Summer: Yaoxuan Fan
A brief time span of American history sorted out by Yaoxuan Fan -
New France
French explorer Champlain had visited and mapped the New England coast a number of times before the Pilgrims arrived in 1620 -
The Crowning of King Cotton
Throughout the 1700s, cotton production was expensive because of the huge amount of labor necessary to remove the seeds.http://www.ushistory.org/us/27a.asp -
The Great Awakening
In the 1730s, a religious revival swept through the British American colonies. JONATHAN EDWARDS, the Yale minister who refused to convert to the Church of England, became concerned that New Englanders were becoming far too concerned with worldly matters.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/7b.asp -
The French and Indian War
General Johnson Saving a Wounded French Officer from the Tomahawk of a North American Indian
Benjamin West, ca 1766 -
The Events Leading to Independence
Although King George III was later burned in effigy in the streets of the colonies, his relaxed ruling style inspired little ire among the colonists in the 1760 s. -
When Does the Revolution End?
The Declaration of Independence, authored by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, begins with arguably one of the most important statements in U.S. history.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/13.asp -
E Pluribus Unum
Artist John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence memorializes individuals who were engaged in the process of declaring independence rather than an actual event. Not all of those pictured were present at the reporting of the Declaration on June 28, nor were they all at its adoption on July 4, 1776. -
Popular Sovereignty
It had done so in the Old Northwest with the passing of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787. The Missouri Compromise also had banned slavery above the 36º30' LATITUDE lines. But times were different.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/30b.asp -
George Washington's Background and Experience
Miniature portrait of George Washington painted by Archibald Robertson in Philadelphia, 1791-1792 -
The Crowning of King Cotton
While staying at the Savannah plantation of MRS. NATHANAEL GREEN in 1792, the widow of the Revolutionary War general, Whitney created the device that changed the world.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/27a.asp -
A New National Capital: Washington, D.C.
Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in the new and lasting capital of Washington, D.C. in March 1801. -
Manifest Destiny
Independence had been won in the Revolution and reaffirmed in the War of 1812. The spirit of nationalism that swept the nation in the next two decades demanded more territory.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/29.asp -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska act made it possible for the Kansas and Nebraska territories (shown in orange) to open to slavery. The Missouri Compromise had prevented this from happening since 1820.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/31a.asp -
Rebellions on and off the Plantation
The date was set for Sunday, July 24, 1822. Before the uprising began, his plan was revealed and he was captured, tried, and hanged. Forty-seven African-Americans were condemned to death for alleged involvement in the plot. An estimated 9,000 individuals were involved.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/27e.asp -
The Lone Star Republic
In 1823, STEPHEN AUSTIN led 300 American families onto land granted to his father by the Mexican government.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/29a.asp -
The Plantation & Chivalry
By around 1825, the dominance of Virginia was fading and the emergence of King Cotton shifted the center of Southern influence to South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/27c.asp -
African-American Abolitionists
In 1829, Walker declared slavery a malignancy, calling for its immediate termination. He cited the four evils causing the greatest harm to African Americans as slavery, ignorance, Christianity, and colonization.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/28b.asp -
The Lone Star Republic
When the Mexican government outlawed slavery in 1829, it expected the Texans to follow suit. None of the conditions were met, and a great cultural war was underway.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/29a.asp -
Free(?) African-Americans
For example, a Virginia law, passed in the early 1830s, prohibited the teaching of all blacks to read or write.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/27d.asp -
The Southern Argument for Slavery
The violence of Nat Turner's 1831 slave revolt frightened many southern slaveholders. Such unrest was used by many as a reason to continue slavery.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/27f.asp -
William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator
In 1831, Garrison published the first edition of The Liberator. His words, "I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD," clarified the position of the NEW ABOLITIONISTS.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/28a.asp -
The Lone Star Republic
On May 14, 1836, Santa Anna grudgingly recognized Texan independence.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/29a.asp -
John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller was the first American billionaire. He was born in 1839 in Moravia, New York. He started a business in produce sales. He then shifted to the oil industry after the discovery of oil in Titusville, Penssylvania in 1859. John Rockefeller was one of the pioneer players in the oil industry. Rockefeller gave away almost half of his wealth to churches, medical foundations, universities, and centers for the arts before his death in 1937. -
Manifest Destiny
In 1840, the entire southwestern corner of the United States was controlled by foreign powers (shown in orange), and the territorial dispute over the Oregon Territory (light green) had not been settled.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/29.asp -
"American Blood on American Soil"
In July of 1845, Polk ordered GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR to cross the Nueces River with his command of 4,000 troops. Upon learning of Slidell's rejection, Polk sent word that Taylor should advance his troops to the Rio Grande River.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/29c.asp -
The Dred Scott Decision
In 1846, Scott sued for his freedom on the grounds that he had lived in a free state and a free territory for a prolonged period of time.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/32a.asp -
The Mexican-American War
General Winfield Scott's entrance into Mexico City, September 14, 1847, is depicted in this print by Carl Nebel
http://www.ushistory.org/us/29d.asp -
54° 40' or Fight
Oregon City, along the banks of the Willamette River, the final stop along the Oregon Trail as it appeared in 1848.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/29b.asp -
Wilmot's Proviso
Salmon P. Chase, commemorated on the $10,000 bill, founded the Free Soil Party in 1848. This party advocated an end to the spread of American slavery and elected 14 representatives and two senators to the federal government.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/30a.asp -
Harriet Beecher Stowe — Uncle Tom's Cabin
The FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW, passed in 1850, could hardly be enforced by any of Stowe's readers. Although banned in most of the south, it served as another log on the growing fire.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/28d.asp -
An Uneasy Peace
John C. Calhoun, long a champion of southern rights, devoted his final days to opposing the Senate's Compromise of 1850.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/30.asp -
Abolitionist Sentiment Grows
Abolitionist Wendell Phillips spoke on behalf of fugitive slave Thomas Sims, and against the Fugitive Slave Law in 1851. Sims was later returned to Savannah where he was publicly whipped.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/28.asp -
Gold in California
This photograph of Sutter's Mill was taken in 1852, four years after the discovery that began the gold rush.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/29e.asp -
Border Ruffians
In the fall of 1854, SENATOR DAVID ATCHISON of Missouri led over 1,700 men from Missouri into Kansas to vote for their pro-slavery representative.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/31b.asp -
The Sack of Lawrence
On May 21, 1856, the pro-slavery forces sprung into action. A posse of over 800 men from Kansas and Missouri rode to Lawrence to arrest members of the free state government.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/31c.asp -
The Dred Scott Decision
But what did the Constitution say on this subject? This question was raised in 1857 before the Supreme Court in case of DRED SCOTT VS. SANDFORD. DRED SCOTT was a slave of an army surgeon, John Emerson.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/32a.asp -
Border Ruffians
The violence at Fort Scott, Kansas, led the governor to call for a peace convention on June 15, 1858. The meeting broke out into a riot.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/31b.asp -
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The 7th and final debate between Senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas was held on October 15, 1858, in Alton, Illinois. Today bronze statues of Douglas and Lincoln stand to commemorate the event at Lincoln Douglas Square in Alton.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/32b.asp -
The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre
This would not be the last America would hear of John Brown. He would again make national headlines at Harper's Ferry in 1859.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/31d.asp -
From Uneasy Peace to Bitter Conflict
he was Abraham Lincoln. A series of debates between the two foreshadowed the issues of the ELECTION 1860.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/32.asp -
Fort Sumter
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union. Five days later, 68 federal troops stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, withdrew to FORT SUMTER, an island in CHARLESTON HARBOR.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/33a.asp -
The Southern Homefront
By the end of 1861, the overall rate of inflation was running 12% per month. For example, salt was the only means to preserve meat at this time. Its price increased from 65¢ for a 200 pound bag in May 1861 to $60 per sack only 18 months later.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34d.asp -
The Southern Homefront
In the Hospital, 1861, is a tribute to Southern nurses. Civil War nurses were sometimes called "angels of the battlefield," working long hours to heal and comfort wounded and dying soldiers.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34d.asp -
"Bloody Kansas"
A border ruffian dropped this flag in Olathe, Kansas in 1862 after a raid on the town.、
http://www.ushistory.org/us/31.asp -
The Emancipation Proclamation
When Lincoln indicated he wanted to issue a proclamation of freedom to his cabinet in mid-1862, they convinced him he had to wait until the Union achieved a significant military success.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34a.asp -
Slave Life and Slave Codes
This Slave Code booklet for Washington D.C., was published in 1862, only one month before Lincoln abolished slavery in the nation's capitol. More lenient than most states' slave codes, the District's code allowed slaves to hire themselves out and live apart from their masters.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/27b.asp -
First Blood and Its Aftermath
Unlike modern-day photojournalists who often find themselves in the thick of battle, photographers hoping to get a shot of the battlefield at Bull Run waited until Southern forces left Manassas in March 1862.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/33c.asp -
The Northern Homefront
In the middle of 1862, Lincoln called for 300,000 volunteer soldiers. Each state was given a quota, and if it could not meet the quota, it had no recourse but to DRAFT men into the state militia.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34c.asp -
Bloody Antietam
On November 7, 1862, Lincoln sacked General McClellan and replaced him with General Burnside.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/33e.asp -
Wartime Diplomacy
By 1863, the Union blockade reduced British cotton imports to 3% of their pre-war levels. Throughout Europe there was a "COTTON FAMINE."
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34b.asp -
The Northern Homefront
In July 1863, when draft offices were established in New York to bring new Irish workers into the military, mobs formed to resist. At least 74 people were killed over three days. The same troops that had just triumphantly defeated Lee at Gettysburg were deployed to maintain order in New York City.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34c.asp -
Strengths and Weaknesses: North vs. South
Slavery did not become a moral cause of the Union effort until Lincoln announced the EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION in 1863.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/33b.asp -
Sacred Beliefs
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It freed slaves in the states that had seceded and were not yet under Northern control.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/33d.asp -
The Emancipation Proclamation
David Blythe imagined a scene like this when he painted President Lincoln Writing the Proclamation of Freedom, January 1, 1863. Note the symbolism in this print, including the flag, the Bible under Lincoln's hand, the Constitution in his lap, the railsplitter at his feet, and the scales of justice in the corner.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34a.asp -
The Southern Homefront
By November 1863, JAMES SEDDON, the Confederate Secretary of War said he could not account for 1/3 of the army.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34d.asp -
The Southern Homefront
The women of Richmond rioted on April 2, 1863, until Jefferson Davis threw them all of his pocket change and threatened to order the militia to fire upon the crowd.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34d.asp -
The Election of 1864
It is hard for modern Americans to believe that Abraham Lincoln, one of history's most beloved Presidents, was nearly defeated in his reelection attempt in 1864.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34e.asp -
The Election of 1864
The states which Lincoln won in the election of 1864 are shown in red. McClellan won Kentucky, New Jersey, and Delaware. Notice that citizens of the Confederacy did not vote in the election.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34e.asp -
The Election of 1864
Everything changed on September 6, 1864, when General Sherman seized Atlanta. The war effort had turned decidedly in the North's favor and even McClellan now sought military victory.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34e.asp -
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
On April 11, 1865, two days after LEE'S SURRENDER at Appomattox, Lincoln delivered a speech outlining his plans for peace and reconstruction. In the audience was JOHN WILKES BOOTH, a successful actor, born and raised in Maryland.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34f.asp -
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Two weeks later, on April 26, Union cavalry trapped Booth in a Virginia tobacco barn. The soldiers had orders not to shoot and decided to burn him out of the barn. A fire was started. Before Booth could even react, SERGEANT BOSTON CORBETT took aim and fatally shot Booth.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34f.asp -
The War Behind the Lines
The conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln were hanged on July 7, 1865. Mary Surratt, far left, was the first woman to be hanged by the United States government.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/34.asp -
Reconstruction
The CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS OF 1866 brought RADICAL REPUBLICANS to power. They wanted to punish the South, and to prevent the ruling class from continuing in power.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/35.asp -
Presidential Reconstruction
Riots rocked New Orleans on July 30, 1866, when a convention met to stop Louisiana's Black Codes from taking effect. Official reports listed 37 dead and 146 wounded, but witnesses claimed that the tolls were much higher.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/35a.asp -
Reconstruction
They passed the MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION ACTS OF 1867, which divided the South into five military districts and outlined how the new governments would be designed.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/35.asp -
Radical Reconstruction
Congress then turned its attention to amending the Constitution. In 1867 they approved the far-reaching Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibited "states from abridging equality before the law."
http://www.ushistory.org/us/35b.asp -
A President Impeached
In May of 1868, 35 Senators voted to convict, one vote short of the required 2/3 majority. Seven Republican Senators had jumped party lines and found Johnson not guilty. Johnson dodged a bullet and was able to serve out his term. It would be 130 years before another President — BILL CLINTON — would be impeached.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/35c.asp -
Radical Reconstruction
In Baltimore on May 19, 1870, 20,000 participants celebrate the ratification of the 15th Amendment.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/35b.asp -
Rebuilding the Old Order
HIRAM REVELS of Mississippi became the first African-American Senator in 1870. In December 1872 P.B.S. PINCHBACK of Louisiana became the first African-American Governor. All in all, about 600 blacks served as legislators on the local level. But as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/35d.asp -
Reconstruction
The WITHDRAWAL OF UNION TROOPS IN 1877 brought renewed attempts to strip African-Americans of their newly acquired rights.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/35.asp
