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Missouri Compromise
This compromise said that Missouri would be a slave state and all land 36/30 degrees North would be free. -
Telegraph
Samuel Morse's telegraph sends the first message from Washington DC to Baltimore. Before the telegraph, messages were sent by horse and rider. -
Sewing Machine
Elias Howe's sewing machine revolutionizes the way clothes are made in homes and factories. In his original design, a hand turned wheel moved the needle up and down -
Wilmot Proviso
This said that all land gained from Mexican-American War should be free. It was deated by the Senate and it increased tensions between North and South. -
Free Soil Party
This was a party against slavery. In the election of 1848, Martin Van Buren loses. -
Fugitive Slave Act
This said that runaways are to be arrested, given no trial, and all citizens must help capture them. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in response to this act. -
Compromise of 1850
This says that California is free and the remaining territory will be decided by popular vote within the territory. It undid the Missouri Compromise. -
Safety Elevator
Elisha Otis develops a safety mechanism to prevent elevator cars from suddenly falling. He demonstrates his invention at an exposition in New York. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This said that the territory is divided into two states. People floced to Kansas to sway popular vote and they end up having two governments in the same state. -
1856 Election
Republicans lose the election. Freemont was their representative. -
Election of 1858
Lincoln and Douglas run for representative for the North. There was a debate and they discussed slavery and its role in the United States. There was a huge attendance and media coverage and Douglas wins the election. -
One the Origins of Species
Biologist Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, aruging that animals evolved by a process of "natural selection" and that only the fittest survived to reproduce. -
John Brown in Harper's Ferry
This was a 36 hour raid or "slave revolt" where they cut telephone lines, seized bridges and the rifle factory. They needed militia to stop it and John Brown was hanged. -
Election of 1860
The Democrats were Douglas from the North, Breckenridge from the South, and John Bell from the Whigs. The Republican was Lincoln. Lincoln wion 60% of the electoral votes and it was the end of nation political parties. South Carolina seceded from the Union. -
Fort Sumter Battle
Lincoln tries to send supplies to South Carolina, but they got suspicious and called for the Union to surrender Fort Sumter. Union refuses and the South attacks. Union runs out of ammo and loses the battle. The Civil War has officially begun. -
Kansas enters as a free state
Kansas enters as a free state and the Republican Party forms. Their concern is slavery and they quickly gain power in politics. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln frees the slaves in the rebelling states. This was an "official war measure". It did not outlaw slavery, did not give free slaves citizenship, or reimburse oweners. The freed slaves were asked to join the Union army. -
Battle of Getysburg
The battle of Getysburg was a Union victory that turned the war around. Before this victory for the Union, the Confederates were winning all of the battles. Ulysses S. Grant was the general in this battle. -
Getysburg Address
Lincoln went to Getysburg to help dedicate a battle cemetery. This was the speech Lincoln gave about the war and why the Union was fighting. -
Total War
William T. Sherman led troops on a 400-mile march of destruction through Georgia and South Carolina. This march was part of a strategy of total war, which targeted not only troops but all of the resouces needed to feed, clothe, and support an army. -
Freedmen's Bureau
The Freedmen's Bureau was a federal agency designed to aid freed slaves and relieve the South's immediate needs. -
Lincoln's Assassination
Lincoln was assassinated and Andrew Johnson, the vice president, became President. -
13th Amendment
Johnson passes the 13th Amendment ending slavery. In return, the president promised to uphold states' rights, with the laws of individual states taking precednece over federal regulations. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment guaranteed full citizenship status and rights to every person born in the United States. -
Corporations
After 1870, the number of corporations in America increased dramatically. They were an important part of industrial capitalism, or the economic free-market system contered around industries. -
"New" immigrants
Irish and Germans were joined by "new" immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. They arrived in increasing numbers until the outbreak of World War I. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment guaranteed that no male citizen could be denied the right to vote on the basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. -
Railroads
The reason they went on strike was because of the wages cut. The first strike that led to violence and destruction and prompted other violent strikes. -
Farmers
Farmers had a difficult time. Land reform and low prices forced many farmers off their land. Some chose to come to Americato get a new start. -
Light Bulb
Thomas Edison patents the electric light bulb. Within two years, he installs a street-lighting system in New York City. -
Steam Boiler Furnace
African American inventor Granville Woods invents an improved steam-powered furnace for running trains. -
Haymarket Riot
Thousands of workers mounted a national demostrations for an eight-hour work day. Strikes erupted in several cities, and fights broke out between strikers and strikebreakers. -
Interstate Commerce Commission
The United States Senate created the Interstate Commerce Commission to oversee railroad operations. This was the first federal body ever set up to monitor American business operations. -
Sherman Antiturst Act
The Senate passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, which outlawed any trust that operated "in restraint of trade or commerce among several states." -
Rural-to-Urban Migrants
Many rural-to-urban immigrants moved to the cities. The move from farm to factory was wrenching. -
Ellis Island
To enter the United States, you had to be healthy and show that they had money, a skill, or a sponsor to provide for them. Most European immigrants arrived in New York Harbor. They were processed at Ellis Island. -
Homestead Riot
The reason the strike started was because of the wages cut. The public opinion of the Unions began to shift. -
Pullman
The reason the strike started was because of wages cut, but the cost of living was not cut. It involved the American Railway Union and Eugene V. Debs. He was arrested for refusal to end strke and the Unions lost power. -
Tenements
Many families lived in tenemnts, or low cost multifamily housing designed to squeeze in as many families as possible. They had v very bad living conditions. -
Subway System
Boston ran cars underground in the nation's first subway system. This led to other places doing the same thing. -
Immigrants
Immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe made up more than 70 percent of all immigrants, up from about 1 percent at midcentury.