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Period: 30,000 BCE to
Colonial america
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8000 BCE
Beginning of New World Agriculture
When agriculture started, civilization began to take off. Before agriculture, the Natives were hunters and gatherers. This would mean that the food shortages were a common problem. With agriculture taking this problem away, Natives would be able to have children more often. -
2000 BCE
Maya
The Mayans were a group of native Americans who were located in the Yucatan Peninsula. They created many things such as mathematics and the calendar. They had their own written language and were religious people. This civilization mysteriously disappeared sometime after 300 AD and before the Spanish conquistadors arrived. -
1000 BCE
Inuit
The Inuits, also known as the Eskimos, are a civilization that is located around the northern parts of Canada. Their primary source of food is the wildlife found within the artic areas such as seals, fish, and polar bear. These people are still around till this day. -
753 BCE
Rome
Rome was a highly civilized civilization that had a form of democracy. The Roman empire is located around the Mediterranean Sea. It is most famous for its art and architecture. The empire also set Christianity as it's main religion, causing it to be popular in the future. Starting as a republic at around 753 BC, it eventually became the Roman Empire. It eventually fell at around 470 AD due to barbarians and overexpansion. -
1000
Dark Ages
In this time of medieval Europe, the common folk had to work for people of higher ranking or status in order to receive their protection. During this time, the Roman Catholic Church had the most power, possibly surpassing the king. The church, however, was corrupt due to giving out indulgences for money. The armies at the time used things like battering rams, ballistas, and trebuchets. The ranking of status was peasant/serf, knight/vassal, noble/lord, and king/clergy. -
1300
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a time period where culture changed and where things were mostly about art and curiosity. It was a cultural "rebirth" as renaissance means rebirth. This time period lasted from the 1300s to the 1600s and helped shape the Age of Enlightenment. Many important inventions were created during the Renaissance such as the printing press, the compound microscope, and the mechanical clock. -
1346
Black Death
It is said that the black plague came to Europe because of merchant ships. With Europeans trading with Asians, rats carrying diseases ended up getting in the boats. During this time, people did not understand how diseases work, causing many people to succumb to the plague due to ignorance. The disease ended up killing a 30%- 60% of the population, therefore allowing the economy to grow. This would give the lower class a chance to make it to the middle class. -
1492
Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was a trade network between the old world and the new world. From this, new foods and technologies were adapted to the old world. However, they also gave each other diseases, causing most of the native American to die out. -
1492
Caribbean Colonies
The Caribbean Colonies were colonies that were meant to make money in selling crops. These islands were founded by Christopher Columbus when he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in order to find a way to India. The colonist grew crops by using the power of slaves to work on their farms. Slavery would be important in the future as the Haitian Revolution would take place in the area. -
Period: to
English Colonial Societies
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Chesapeake Colonies
The Chesapeake colonies were English colonies that produced tobacco. Starting in the 1607s, people arrived in North America, settling in colonies such as Maryland and Virginia. It is home to the Chesapeake Bay where and the main reason people came here was due to religious persecution. People paid for other people's ride to the new world and made them into indentured servants. Due to Bacon's rebellion, people stopped using indentured servants. -
Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts were meant to make Britain more self-sufficient by lowering dependence on goods from foreign countries. This act was primarily aimed at the Dutch, where all trade involving the colonies on North America were required to be on English ships. This would end up causing people such as merchants in the Americas to lose money, increasing tensions between the colonies and the English. This act was based on mercantilism. -
Charter Colonies
The Charter Colonies were colonies that had were self-governed by the people after receiving a charter from the king. This is different from the proprietary colonies and royal colonies as those were more governed by the British. However, a charter colony could be converted to a royal colony by the king. Examples of charter colonies are Connecticut and Rhode Island. -
Glorious Revolution
After King Charles the first was beheaded, his sons fled and eventually became King. During the time of King James II, he believed the king should have more power than parliament. Eventually, James' daughter, Mary, with the help of her husband, William, overthrew the throne without any bloodshed. After Mary became the queen, she wrote the original Bill of Rights. -
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of accusations, made towards someone of being a witch, which lead to the death of many. It started when Samuel Parris' daughters began showing symptoms of eating fungus ergot. The daughters blamed these symptoms on witchcraft and then proceeded to accuse someone named Tituba and a few others. Tituba then accused 7 other people of being witches, causing hysteria to flood the town. -
Triangular Trade
The Triangular Trade was a trading system where three different continents traded with each other. The Europeans exported cotton, rum, and manufactured goods to Africa. Africa then exports slave to the European colonies in North America and the colonies export their new world goods to Europe. This system allowed the European colonies to get slaves as the Africans do not want what the new world is selling. -
Slavery in the 1700s
With the Triangular Trade going on, slavery would have to reach the New World. In the New World, the use and treatment of slavery would depend on what area you live in. In the Upper Colonies, slaves didn't have much use, in the Southern Colonies, slaves were used for the economy. The slaves would have to work in the West Indies Company where they produced sugar, as sugar could not be grown in Europe. -
Act of Union
The Act of Union 1707 was the unification the Scottish and the English parliament. The result of this would cause England and Scottland to be separate states under one monarch. -
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was a new movement of where it was a philosophical and an intellectual movement. This was the successor of the scientific revolution. This era had Sir Issac Newton who discovered how gravity worked and made the three laws of motion, which became an important part of modern physics. The era also gave birth to John Locke who was an important figure and one of the founding fathers of liberalism. -
The Great Awakening
The Great Awakening was a mass religious revival of Christianity, which caused many more protestant faiths to rise. Before this time, many people were forgetting about their past faiths and were moving to scientific reasoning. This, in turn, saved religion in Europe, as it caused many different conflicts about religion. Within the Great Awakening, came many important people such as Johnathan Edwards, George Whitfield, and Samuel Davies. -
Colonial Economies
The Northern Colonies, also know as New England, during this time mostly worked on manufactured goods, such as ships. In contrast, the Lower South mostly grew cash crops such as tobacco, which they sold to the Europeans. The Upper South was mostly known as the breadbasket colonies, as they produced a lot of wheat there. The Triangular trade added to the economy as the colonies sent raw goods to Europe, which in turn, Africa sent slaves to the colonist. -
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was a war between the French with their native allies and the British. This war was caused by the not well-defined border that was supposed to keep the two major powers apart. The first skirmish that caused the war to break out was at Fort Necessity, where George Washington attacks the French and builds the fort. Later the French fought back and took over the fort. The British then decides to declare war on France. Treaty of Paris 1763 ends the war. -
Period: to
The Revolutionary War
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Acts of Parliament
There were many acts that outraged the Americans, a few examples are the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and the Coercive Acts. The Sugar Act made it so that people would have to pay more taxes for sugar and molasses from foreign countries. The Stamp Act caused all paper documents inside the 13 colonies to have taxes. The Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts, was the worst for the colonies as it shut down the Boston port and they were forced to house soldiers. -
Virtual Representation
In the idea of Virtual Representation, the British Parliament had the right to speak for all of the British subjects. This included the colonies in the new world. The problem with this is that before, the British Parliament would give salutary neglect to the colonies. Suddenly having the British Parliament say things for the colonist upset them, eventually causing many acts of protest. An important event that was caused by Virtual Representation was the Stamp Act. -
Boston Massacre
On March 5, 1770 King Street in Boston, a mob of patriots harrass a group of British Soldiers. Eventually the soldiers shot into the crowd, killing five and wounding 6 civilians. The colonist get outraged from this incident. Paul Revere draws propoganda of the boston massacre, where he dipicts the British soldiers as the bad guys. These soldiers get into a court case where John Adams defends them. He successfully managed to defend the soldiers from murder charges. -
Boston Tea Party
Due to the Townshend Act, things such as tea and glass were taxed. The problem with this act was that the colonist did not want to pay even heavier taxes for something that they use regularly. With tensions growing, the sons of liberty, led by Samuel Adams, decide to climb aboard three ships carrying tea and dump them in the water. They threw aboard around 340 chests of tea. This is what lead parliament to pass the Intolerable Acts. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
These two battles were the first two battles of the American Revolution. They are known as the "shot heard around the world" as they were just mere colonist standing up against one of the major European powers. Hearing about British forces that were headed to Concord, riders rang the alarm that allowed the militia to intercept the forces. After the British defeated the militia, they looked for arms in Concord. Afterward, they retreated to Lexington and ran way from there. -
Common Sense
Common Sense was a book published on January 10, 1776, by Thomas Paine. The contents of the book were about how the colonist should declare independence from Britain. It boosted the rates of patriotism, making it the most influential pamphlets in United States history. Thomas Paine continued to write pamphlets for other revolutions. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was the document that declared independence from Britain. The Declaration of Independence was actually written on July 2 but was not approved until July 4. Thomas Jefferson wrote most of the document, and it included why the colonist have decided to seek independence from Britain. It also lists the human rights that every person has. Mostly white men who have property though. -
Massachusetts Constitution
The Massachusetts Constitution was basically the predecessor of the federal constitution, as it laid out the framework for what the constitution should look like. -
Architecture
Now that the United States of America has been built, it needed it's own government buildings. As the United States intended to be Democratic, they built the government buildings after Greek Architecture, symbolizing Democracy. Prior to this Greek Revival, the buildings in America were simple as can be. They were just houses in a plain shape made out of whatever they decided to use, which were generally squares and triangles. -
Period: to
Cultural Changes
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Articles of Confederation
During the American Revolution and after the Declaration of Independence, the United States of America needed a constitution as quickly as possible. The Articles of Confederation basically unified the states into one country and gave it a weak central government. The problem with this is that rebellions do not get put down very easily, as a prime example would be Shays' Rebellion. The Articles of Confederation was eventually replaced by the current constitution. -
Period: to
New Republic
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Treaty of Paris 1783
The Treaty of Paris 1783 was the treaty that ended the American Revolution. The assigned diplomats that were to go to the negotiations were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry Laurens. It had terms that were more advantageous to the Americans, and the bad things mostly went to the British. This treaty forced the British to acknowledge the newly made American country. -
Shays' Rebellion
Due to farmers being angry about the high taxes, the farmers decided to go to court to lower these. One of the angry farmers was Daniel Shays, an ex-soldier during the American Revolution. He first led his group to shut down the local court. The rebels eventually attempted to raid Springfield Arsenal, but ultimately fail in doing so. Shays' Rebellion showed the weakness in the AoC, as the federal government was unable to put down the rebellion by themselves. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance was set up in 1787, it was set up at the western extension past the Appalachian Mountains. The Northwest law was produced as a fast strategy for separating the land in the new states. The Ordinance would remain as the reason for the division of the states about slavery, which will last until the Civil War. -
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention occurred from May 25th, 1787 to September 17th, 1787. The purpose was to replace the articles of confederation. A large portion of the representatives at the tradition inevitably concurred that they would need to draft/review another report. In this way, when the traditions would end on September seventeenth, 1787 the United States would have another type of government known as the Constitution which is still utilized by the United States till this day. -
Election of 1788
The first election that the newly formed United States of America had was the Election of 1788. In this election, George Washington is elected president due to him having the most electoral votes and John Adams becomes vice president being behind Washington in electoral votes. George Washington then proceeded to make a cabinet consisting of Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Henry Knox, and Edmund Randolph. -
The Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a religious transformation that reshaped America's religion, beginning in the 1790s. The main religion was Evangelical, a descendant of the Protestant faith. People began to switch over to this new faith, but as they were converting over, women would start thinking about their own independence. This also gave more influence to the abolitionist, as the church did not support slavery. -
Period: to
America's Industrial Revolution
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Whiskey Rebellion
After the American Revolution, the newly formed country had acquired a large debt. In order to pay it off, Alexander Hamilton proposed adding a tax on whiskey. It was eventually passed in 1791 where the rebellion started right after since no one wanted to pay the taxes. The rebellion later got more violent with the rebels burning peoples homes down. The rebellion ended when Washington went with a militia to put the rebels down, proving that the new constitution worked. -
Bank of the United States
The Bank of the United States was proposed by Alexander Hamilton. It was finally established in 1791 and caused a lot of controversies. The Jeffersonians thought that the bank was unconstitutional and was an abuse of federal power. Andrew Jackson who did not like the national bank decided to pull all federal funds from it on 1832. This successfuly led to the collapse of the bank in 1836. -
Bill of Rights
The United States Bill of Rights was a document that contained the first ten amendments that gave basic rights to every white man that owned property. It was heavily influenced by the Magna Carta, having around a third of the rights copied from the Magna Carta. It gave people freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, no quartering of soldiers, protection from search and seizure, no self-incrimination, speedy trial, trial by jury, no excessive bail, and power to the people and states. -
John Adams' Presidency
During John Adams' presidency, he had to deal with the French, where the XYZ affair happened. In the XYZ affair, the French were only willing to negotiate with the three diplomats if they paid a bribe. While many people want to start a war with the French, John Adams does not want another war. John Adams put out the Alien and Sedition Act, which allowed him to deport immigrants and made it so that people could not say anything bad about the president. -
Election of 1796
Due to Washington's farewell address, Washington decided to not run for a third term, making it a tradition that presidents only run for 2 terms. The election caused John Adams to become president and Thomas Jefferson to become vice president, despite being in opposing parties. This is the reason why there are running mates now. -
Election of 1800
In this election, the candidates had picked a running mate who will become vice president if they win. The candidates attacked each other politically, using their previous mistakes to bring the other down. It was the first modern election that had these kinds of tactics. Thomas Jefferson ends up winning the election, making Arron Bur become vice president. -
Changes in Transportation
Due to the industrial revolution, America had changed its ways of transportation for commerce and lifestyle. There were steamboats that carried things or people through water and the canals were built to assist boats transporting goods. The railroads were a major change and were an important part of the Civil War, possibly being the reason the North won. These new inventions saved people tons of time going from one place to another. -
Changes in Communication
With the invention of the Telegraph, messages were able to be sent quickly to people. To use the telegraph, people had to use Morse Code, which allowed people to talk in dots and dashes using an electric signal. The Telegraph was a major part of the Civil War as the North would be able to send messages to the higher-ups quickly if they were losing the battle. The Printing Press, while not new, still spread the news around and would be used for propaganda. -
Free Black Communities
Most freedmen lived in free black communities. Here they should be able to live freely without persecution, however, sometimes racist whites will come and terrorize the residents. This will continue for a very long time. -
Jefferson's Administration
During Jefferson's term as president, he purchased the Lousiana Territory from the French, in an event known as the Lousiana Purchase. It doubled the size of the United States at the time. He also sent out Lewis and Clark to explore the western frontier. Jefferson passed the Embargo Act of 1807, which closed the ports to foreign trade, hurting the United States economy. -
Southern Society
The southern society during this time was centralized on slavery, mostly producing cotton, due to the cotton gin. The highest class in the south were the planter. The planters owned an above average amount of slaves, allowing them to gain more money than the rest. The Yeomen were the middle class of the south, owning a couple of slaves, but not as much as the planters. The Tenant farmers were the lowest class in the south. -
Immigration
Americans were almost racist to everyone that was not European during this time. They did not like Irish and Chinese which was a large amount of the people who came over. They made Irish people work for low pay and made the Chinese work in the worst places while they get paid lower than the Irish. The Americans were okay with the Germans. -
Slavery
With the invention of the Cotton Gin, slavery which was on a decline spiked back up since the Cotton Gin made cotton fifty times more profitable. Due to this, slavery was revived and became a necessity in southern life. The south continued to keep its slavery legal until the civil war when Abraham Lincoln passed the 13th amendment. Unfortunately, the south passed the black codes which were basically reinstituting slavery. -
Changes in Agriculture
With new inventions coming into play, agriculture had started to change. The biggest change happened when the cotton gin was created. It caused a spark that reignited slavery in the South and made it burn brighter than it ever was before. The cotton gin made cotton around fifty times more profitable. The iron plow was also a thing that made tilling the soil easier, as long as you had an ox or mule pulling it. -
Period: to
Age of Jefferson
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Period: to
Sectionalism
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Western Frontier
After Lewis and Clark traveled to the Pacific Coast, people began to settle on the western frontier. Here the became fur traders and trappers, as many new animals were discovered. The main fur that was popular during this time was beaver fur. On the frontier, there were still Native American tribes living there. After the Indian Removal Act, these tribes will have to move further west. -
Period: to
Westward Expansion
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Hamilton vs Burr
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were bitter rivals and were in different political parties. Eventually, they turned to a duel, where Hamilton fires a shot above Burr's head and Burr fires a shot into Hamilton's abdomen. Having killed Hamilton during the duel, Burr was charged for murder. Since Hamilton was now dead, the Federalist party was weakened. -
Madison's Presidency
After beating Charles Pickney in the Election of 1808, James Madison became the fourth president. He had to deal with the problems that the British were causing such as impressment. He eventually started the War of 1812 with Britain and continued to run in the Election of 1812, where he beat federalist candidate DeWitt Clinton. Like most other presidents, he only ran for two terms. -
Manifest Destiny
Manifest destiny was a belief that the United States should reach from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. It started with the Louisiana Purchase which doubled the size of the nation. When Texas gained its independence, it attempted to join the United States but was denied since there would be too many slave states. Once James K Polk became president, he annexed Texas and gained some states on the Pacific coast after the Mexican-American war. -
War of 1812
During this time, the British kept impressing American sailors after the war. The Americans, who were tired of being disrespected by everyone, then declared war on Britain. James Madison, who was the president at the time, attempted to get the British to stop before a war started. The British burned the White House as the war continued, and Francis Scott Key wrote the "Star Spangled Banner" while watching the battle at Fort McHenry. War ended with the Treaty of Ghent. -
Panic of 1819
During this time period, many banks in the United States failed, causing an economic depression that spread throughout the nation. This was the first great financial crisis that the United States had. The reasons for this was due to poor bank loans and the War of 1812. Back then they gave loans to anybody and never really got the money back, causing lots of money to go missing. The War of 1812, while still not a very large war, was enough to put America in a financial bind. -
Florida
In order to obtain Florida from the Spanish, president James Monroe had to make a treaty with Spain. This treaty was known as the Adams-Onis Treaty, where Spain and the United States sorted out their border issues, and Spain gives up it's claims of the Pacific Northwest. -
Missouri Crisis
At the time of the crisis, there was exactly the same number of free and slave states, adding up to twenty-two. This led to the discussion of whether or not to let Missouri be a slave state. Eventually, there was a compromise that solved the issue called the Missouri Compromise. It drew an imaginary line 36 30 that kept the legality of slavery below the line. There would also have to be the same number of slave and free states. -
Millennialism
Millennialism was basically the past Catholics who believed that Jesus will come back and resurrect the dead. The Mormons were a restorative of Christianity and was part Millennialism. It was created by Joseph Smith in the 1820s. These Mormons were persecuted by most people. They still continue till this day -
Slavery
During the time before the Civil War, there was a huge divide because of slavery. There were Abolitionist who were against slavery and the people in the South who were for slavery. The South was more anti-abolitionist as they supported slavery. -
Election of 1824
In the election of 1824, there were four candidates, but only two were actually close to winning. The candidates were John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and William Crawford. Jackson would have won the election, but Adams would make a deal with Clay known as the Corrupt Bargain. Clay then swayed some of the votes towards Adams, making him the president. Adams makes Clay secretary of state. -
Presidency of John Quincy Adams'
John Quincy Adams would become the new president of the United States on March fourth of 1825. Adams, while still an important part of history because of Jackson, was a fairly boring president. His administration compared to the previous president were very subpar. He would change duty rules, build up a national bank, lastly talked against slavery. -
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Jacksonian America
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Election of 1828
This election was one of the first elections that included political campaigns. This was a faceoff between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Before this election started, Adams made the National Republicans and Jackson made the Democrats. Once Jackson lost the Election of 1824, he started to appeal to the masses, effectively gaining the common man's vote. After the presidents slander each other, Jackson wins the election. -
Jackson's Administration
Once Jackson got into office, he did the spoils system, where he replaced about ten percent of government officers with his own people. Jackson also wanted to get rid of the Native Americans that were to the west. As such he allowed the Indian Removal Act to pass in 1831. Being one with the common man, he did not like banks, as he thought they only benefited the wealthy. He pulled funding from the National Bank and it eventually closed down. -
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Age of Jackson
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Age of the Common Man
The Age of the Common Man started during Andrew Jackson's presidency. During this time the common man just the right to vote. Jackson showed that he was the representative of the common man, as he did many things that would benefit the people. The campaigns from now on out would have to bring in benefits for the common people, as the common man now made up most of the votes. This means that the more the candidates benefit the common man, the more votes he will get. -
Temperance
The Temperance Movement was about stopping people from drinking, as the 1800s was a time where men were constantly drinking. It was the prohibition of the 1800s. The Second Great Awakening supported the Temperance Movement and was led by women. Temperance was so influential that some states banned alcohol. The temperance would eventually turn into the prohibition which was basically the same thing but without religious reasons. -
Nativism
Nativism is the favoring of "native" inhabitants and the opposition of immigrants. The Americans did not want the Irish in their country, as they were stealing jobs from people that already live there. Nativism was very active during the California Gold Rush. Immigrants like the Chinese were often persecuted and were often getting the bad end of a deal. They worked in unfavorable conditions, were paid low, and were heavily taxed. -
Transcendentalism
Introspective philosophy was a development that occurred during the 1830s. The development was a Romantic custom that everybody can achieve spiritual intuition and instinct. The development proposes to rises above tactile experience. It was said that every individual could speak with nature and God. This would mean that they did not need churches or the like. Ralph Waldo was the person that established the development. -
Suffrage
After the United States allowed all white men to vote, the direction the nation would fall on would be the voters. While all the white men were voting, the women started to realize that they should be able to vote also. A group of women came to the Seneca Falls Convention. Some of the important figures in it were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. -
Texas
After Moses Austin gets permission from Mexico to let American settlers into Texas, Stephen F Austin brings people to Texas. These settlers disobey the Mexican laws and get into trouble. Mexican soldiers go to Texas to enforce the laws and the Texans eventually rebel. Texas gains new war heroes such as James Bowie, Davy Crocket, and Sam Houston. Sam Houston defeats the Mexican general Santa Anna and wins Texas its independence. -
Election of 1836
In the Election of 1836, Martin Van Buren is the new Democrat candidate picked by Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison is the new Whig candidate. Martin Van Buren's strategy was to poll in all sections of the country. This proved to be a good idea as Marten Van Buren won by a large number of electoral votes. The Whig party managed to get some influence into Congress. -
Mexican-American War
With the Election of 1844, James K Polk was elected as president and he was determined to get more territory. He first annexed Texas, which strained tensions with Mexico due to border disputes. He baits the Mexicans to attack his soldiers in order to start a war. After the war begins, he sends his soldiers right the capital of Mexico City. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the war and the United States buy California. The treaty also settled that the Texas border would be the Rio Grande. -
Slavery
After the Mexican Succession, the United States had the topic of slavery brought back up. They had to figure out if the new states will be allowed to have slavery. David Wilmot writes the Wilmot Proviso after the Mexican-American War ends. The proviso was about not letting slavery go west into the new states. While the proviso was rejected, it further split the North and the South on the debate of slavery. -
California Gold Rush
One day James Wilson Marshall found gold in California. This caused a huge uproar for gold and many people migrated to California to find some. These people came from Mexico, China, and the Americans from Oregon and the east. The people that traveled to California for the gold rush became known as the 49ers. The gold rush caused many economic opportunities for people who made establishments in California. -
Republic Party
The Republican party started when leaders from the Whigs, Free Soils, and anti-slavery Democrats joined forces against slavery. After it formed, the Republican party would stay in the North. This political party served as a rival for the Democrats, as only they could stop slavery. The Republican party will continue through the civil war and stay alive today. -
Election of 1852
In the Election of 1852, Franklin Pierce won against Winfield Scott. The Whig party collapsed after the election and the Free Soil party gained nothing from the election. The election was decided from the start. -
Election of 1860
Republican Abraham Lincoln win the presidential election of 1860. He beat Democrat John Breckenridge and Constitutional Union John Bell. Soon after Lincoln gets elected, South Carolina secedes from the union. The other slave states follow South Carolina and leave the union. Lincoln attempts to use the Crittenden Compromise to get the Southern States back into the union but fails. Once Fort Sumter gets attacked Lincoln declares war on the confederacy. -
Women at Work
While the men take part in the war as soldiers, the women left behind have to work their husband's job, like taking over the plantations. Others find jobs that are now needed, like nurses and teachers. Prior to this, women never really did much besides raise kids. Women who wanted to help the frontlines of the war created the United States Sanitary Commission. Later in the war, Clara Barton created the red cross, who's goal is to help the wounded soldiers in the battlefield. -
Industrialization vs. Agriculture
Up in the North was the land of industrialization. The North had all the factories, meaning that they produced all the finished goods. Almost all of the railroads and telegraphs were located in the North. The South had most of the agriculture things. Using slaves as tools, the Southerners make the slaves farm cotton for them. While the South did not have that much industry, the money made from cotton kept the Southern economy going. -
Confederate States of America
After United States president Abraham Lincoln gets elected South Carolina secedes from the union. On February 1861, the seven states that had seceded formed the Confederate States of America. The states were Florida, Lousiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississipi, Georgia, and South Carolina. Arkansas, North Carolina, and Virginia joined the Confederacy later. The Confederacy takes over all forts except Fort Sumter, but once they did the Union declared war on them. -
The North
The North was the industrial part of America, owning new technologies like the railroad and telegraph. The major advantage the North had over the South was numbers. They had a higher population than the Confederacy, more supplies, and the new technologies. This, however, gets held back by the poor military leadership of the North. The sheer numbers of the North were the thing that brought the Confederacy down. -
Neutral States
The neutral states were at the frontline of the revolution. Being the border to both the North and the South, they could not do much if they were to join either side, causing them to become neutral. The Neutral states consisted of Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland. These neutral states would be wild cards if they were to participate in the war. In order to keep these states neutral, the 13th amendment did not affect their slaves. -
The South
The South was mostly at a disadvantage compared to the North. While the North was the area of Industrialization, the South was an area of agriculture. This would mean that the South would always be low on supplies. The advantages that the South did have was the fact that they only needed to defend. They also had good leadership, such as General Robert E Lee. The South would eventually fall when Lee decided to go on the offensive. -
Leaders
There were two major generals in the Civil War. They are Robert E Lee of the Confederacy and Ulysses S Grant of the Union. Robert E Lee was the backbone of the Confederate army, getting them through many of the battles. Ulysses S Grant was the Lee of the Union, winning most of the battles he took part of and split the South in two. These two generals eventually cross paths and when they do, William Sherman makes his move. He marches from Atlanta to the Ocean and splits the South into thirds. -
The Civil War
The first battle after the war officially starts is bull run, where the Union loses. The North puts out a blockade in order to cause financial loss in the South. An important battle at Vicksburg happens where the Confederates lost, allowing the Union to take control of the Mississipi River, dividing the South into two. The Battle of Gettysburg becomes the major turning point in the war, where the Union wins from then on out. -
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The Civil War
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Reconstruction
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Former Slaves
During the Civil War, Congress passed the 13th amendment, which freed all slaves that were not the Neutral States. After the war, the freedmen would need a place to live and obtain an education. The Freedmen's Bureau would do this exact job. The freedmen would later be given the 14th and 15th amendment. They would also be promised 40 acres and a mule, but this never happens due to Andrew Johnson. The South also institutes Black Codes which forces Freedmen to work on white farms. -
Life for whites Reconstruction South
Life in South was now about not getting scammed. The Carpetbaggers were Northerners who moved to the south for economic opportunity. They would exploit the Southerners who loss everything in the war. The Southerners who decided to work with the North during reconstruction were called Scalawags. While most Southern whites were Democrats, the African Americans were eighty percent of the southern Republicans. -
Plans
After the Civil War was over, America needed a reconstruction plan to transition from the Civil War to one nation. President Lincoln's plan was the Ten Percent Plan, where all southerners would be pardoned except high military officers. The states would have to reapply for federal admission. The Wade-Davis Bill was a harsher version of Lincoln's plan. It punished all Southern leaders, destroyed slave society, and could rejoin the union after a long punishment. -
Andrew Johnson's Administration
Andrew Johnson was one of the most racist presidents that the United States ever had. Instead of using one of the plans like the Ten-Percent Plan or the Wade-Davis Bill, he decided to do his own thing, and just make the Southerners say an oath. This included the military officers of the Confederacy. Because of this, Congress started to veto his bill, eventually impeaching him with less than a year left in office. He was the first president to be impeached. -
Assassination
A few days after General Robert E Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House, Abraham Lincoln decided to go watch a play. Still being a public figure in the North, John Wilkes Booth takes matters into his own hands. He goes to the theatre with a pistol and knife to the booth Lincoln was in and shoots him in the head. Booth flees the scene by jumping on the stage and stumbles away. He eventually gets caught and gets killed. -
Grant's Administration
Winning the Election of 1868, General Ulysses S Grant becomes the eighteenth president of the United States. He ratified the fifteenth amendment in 1870, which gave black people the right to vote. However, things like the Ku Klux Klan started to appear and used violence to stop blacks from voting. Many Scandals happened during Grant's terms, but he himself did not take part in any of them. He was also president during the Panic of 1873. -
Election of 1876
The Election of 1876 was a very close and disputed election. It was set up so that the Democrat Samuel J Tilden would win, having more electoral and popular votes than Republican Rutherford B Hayes. However, some reason twenty electoral votes were still in doubt, and they all went in favor for Hayes. This caused Hayes to beat Tilden by one electoral vote. The Compromise of 1877 had these votes favored towards Hayes, and Hayes would remove troops from the South. -
The New South
After the Compromise of 1877, the South started to believe that they won the war. This was known as the Lost Cause. They made things like propaganda saying that they were the true winners of the war. The South also realized that industrialization would be important for its own development, so they started to industrialize. The New South was still racist, even to the point where they made a character that represented black people named Jim Crow. There was also a lot of sharecropping.
