-
Abolition
The movement to abolish
slavery. -
MIssouri Compromise
James Monroe was the president at this time, and Missouri applied for statehood but wanted to enter as a slave state, causing the amount of slave states and free states to be uneven, But than Maine wanted to join the US as a free statee, so therefore the Missouri Compromise resulted in Missouri joining as a slave state and Maine joining as a free state. -
Santa Fe Trail
A 780 mile trail from Independence, Missouri, to
Santa Fe in the Mexican province of New Mexico. -
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail stretched from Independence,
Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon. It was blazed in 1836 by
two Methodist missionaries named Marcus and Narcissa
Whitman. By driving their wagon as far as Fort Boise (near
present-day Boise, Idaho), they proved that wagons could
travel on the Oregon Trail. -
San Felipe de Austin
The main settlement of the colony was named San Felipe de Austin, in
Stephen’s honor. By 1825, Austin had issued 297 land grants to the group that later
became known as Texas’s Old Three Hundred. Each family received either 177 very
inexpensive acres of farmland, or 4,428 acres for stock grazing, as well as a 10-year
exemption from paying taxes. “I am convinced,” Austin said, “that I could take on
fifteen hundred families as easily as three hundred if permitted to do so." -
Mexico abolishes slavery
N Despite peaceful cooperation between Anglos and
Tejanos, differences over cultural issues intensified between Anglos and the
Mexican government. The overwhelmingly Protestant Anglo settlers spoke
English instead of Spanish. Furthermore, many of the settlers were Southerners,
who had brought slaves with them to Texas. Mexico, which had abolished slavery
in 1829, insisted in vain that the Texans free their slaves. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Some slaves rebelled against their condition of
bondage. One of the most prominent rebellions was led by Virginia slave
Nat Turner. In August 1831, Turner and more than 50 followers attacked four
plantations and killed about 60 whites. Whites eventually captured and executed
many members of the group, including Turner. -
Stephen F Austin goes to jail
Mexican politics had become increasingly unstable. Austin had
traveled to Mexico City late in 1833 to present petitions to Mexican president
Antonio López de Santa Anna for greater self-government for Texas. While
Austin was on his way home, Santa Anna had Austin imprisoned for inciting
revolution. -
Texas Revolution
After Santa Anna suspended local powers in Texas and other
Mexican States, rebellion broke out, including one called the Texas Rebellion. -
The liberator
A paper weekly written by Garrison. Boston mob paraded
him through town at the end of a rope. Nevertheless, Garrison enjoyed widespread
black support; three out of four early subscribers to The Liberator were
African Americans. -
Manifest Destiny
Man's belief that God had ordained the idea of expanding west of the United States to the Pacific coast. -
Texas enters the US
Most Texans hoped that the United States
would annex their republic, but U.S. opinion divided along sectional lines.
Southerners wanted Texas in order to extend slavery, which already had been
established there. -
Mexican American War
It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. President James K. Polk, who believed the United States had a “manifest destiny” to spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. A border skirmish along the Rio Grande started off the fighting and was followed by a series of U.S. victories. When the dust cleared, Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory. -
The North Star
An Anti-slavery paper written by Fredrerick Douglass. named it
The North Star, after the star that
guided runaway slaves to freedom. -
Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo
This treaty, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the war between the United States and Mexico. By its terms, Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory, including parts of present-day Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah, to the United States. -
Harriet Tubman
One of the most famous conductors was Harriet Tubman,
born a slave in Maryland in 1820 or 1821. In 1849, after Tubman’s
owner died, she heard rumors that she was about to be sold. Fearing
this possibility, Tubman decided to make a break for freedom and succeeded
in reaching Philadelphia. Shortly after passage of the Fugitive Slave
Act, Tubman resolved to become a conductor on the Underground
Railroad. In all, she made 19 trips back to the South and is said to have
helped 300 slaves. -
underground railroad
As time went on, free African Americans and white abolitionists developed a
secret network of people who would, at great risk to themselves, hide fugitive
slaves. The system of escape routes they used became known as the
Underground Railroad. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Any alleged fugitive slaves were not entitled to a trial by jury. In addition, anyone convicted
of helping a fugitive was liable for a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for
up to six months. -
Compromise of 1850
As the 31st Congress opened in December 1849,
the question of statehood for California topped the agenda. Of equal concern was
the border dispute in which the slave state of Texas claimed the eastern half of the
New Mexico Territory, where the issue of slavery had not yet been settled. As passions
mounted, threats of Southern secession, the formal withdrawal of a state
from the Union, became more frequent.
Henry Clay drew of resolutions know as this. -
Uncle Tom'Cabin
In 1852, Harriet
Beecher Stowe published her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which stressed
that slavery was not just a political contest, but also a great moral struggle. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
Douglas introduced a
bill in Congress on January 23, 1854,
that would divide the area into two
territories: Nebraska in the north and
Kansas in the south. If passed, the bill
would repeal the Missouri Compromise
and establish popular sovereignty for
both territories. Congressional debate
was bitter. Some Northern congressmen
saw the bill as part of a plot to turn the territories into slave states.
Southerners strongly defended the proposed legislation. -
Dread Scott vs. Sandford
Dred Scott, a slave whose owner took him from
the slave state of Missouri to free territory in Illinois and Wisconsin
and back to Missouri. Scott appealed to the Supreme Court for his
freedom on the grounds that living in a free state—Illinois—and
a free territory—Wisconsin—had made him a free man.
The case was in court for years. Finally, on March 6, 1857,
the Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott. -
Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglas
The two men’s positions were simple and consistent.
Neither wanted slavery in the territories,
but they disagreed on how to keep it out. Douglas believed deeply in
popular sovereignty. Lincoln, on the other hand, believed that slavery
was immoral. However, he did not expect individuals to give up
slavery unless Congress abolished slavery with an amendment. -
Abe Lincoln becomes president
The Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln appeared to be moderate
in his views. Although he pledged to halt the further spread of slavery, he also
tried to reassure Southerners that a Republican administration would not “interfere
with their slaves, or with them, about their slaves.” Nonetheless, many
Southerners viewed him as an enemy. Lincoln emerged as the winner with less than half the popular
vote and with no electoral votes from the South. -
John Brown's raid/Harper's Ferry
While politicians debated the slavery issue, the
abolitionist John Brown was studying the slave uprisings that had
occurred in ancient Rome and, more recently, on the French island of
Haiti. Brown secretly obtained financial backing from several
prominent Northern abolitionists. On the night of October 16, 1859,
he led a band of 21 men, black and white, into Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His aim was to steal the federal arsenol for an uprising. -
Formation of the Confederacy
South Caralina seceeded in 1860. Mississippi soon followed South Carolina’s lead, as did
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. In
February 1861, delegates from the secessionist states met in
Montgomery, Alabama, where they formed the Confederate
States of America, or Confederacy. They also drew up a
constitution that closely resembled that of the United
States, but with a few notable differences. The most important
difference was that it protected slave owners. -
Attack on fort sumter
d, Confederate soldiers
in each secessionist state began seizing federal installations—especially forts. By
the time of Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, 1861, only four Southern forts
remained in Union hands. The most important was Fort Sumter, on an island
in Charleston harbor.
Lincoln decided to neither abandon Fort Sumter nor reinforce it. He would
merely send in “food for hungry men.” At 4:30 A.M. on April 12, Confederate batteries
began thundering away to the cheers of Charleston’s people -
Battle of Bull Run
The first bloodshed on the battlefield occurred about three months
after Fort Sumter fell, near the little creek of Bull Run, just 25 miles from
Washington, D.C. The battle was a seesaw affair. In the morning the Union army
gained the upper hand, but the Confederates held firm, inspired by General
Thomas J. Jackson. “There stands Jackson like a stone wall!” another general shouted,
coining the nickname Stonewall Jackson. In the afternoon Confederate
reinforcements helped win the first south win. -
Battle at Antietem
A Union corporal found a copy of Lee’s orders
wrapped around some cigars! The plan revealed that Lee’s and
Stonewall Jackson’s armies were separated for the moment.
McClellan ordered his men to pursue Lee, and the two
sides fought on September 17 near a creek called the
Antietam (Bn-tCPtEm). The clash proved to be the bloodiest
single-day battle in American history, with casualties
totaling more than 26,000. -
Conscription
The war led to social upheaval and political unrest in both the North and the
South. As the fighting intensified, heavy casualties and widespread desertions led
each side to impose conscription, a draft that forced men to serve in the army.
In the North, conscription led to draft riots, the most violent of which took place
in New York City. Sweeping changes occurred in the wartime economies of both
sides as well as in the roles played by African Americans and women. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The proclamation did not free any slaves immediately because it applied only
to areas behind Confederate lines, outside Union control. Nevertheless, for many,
the proclamation gave the war a moral purpose by turning the struggle into a fight
to free the slaves. It also ensured that compromise was no longer possible. -
Income Tax
As the Northern economy grew,
Congress decided to help pay for the war by collecting the nation’s first income
tax, a tax that takes a specified percentage of an individual’s income. -
Battle at Vicksburg
Union general Ulysses S. Grant
fought to take Vicksburg, one of the two remaining Confederate strongholds on
the Mississippi River. Vicksburg itself was particularly important because it rested
on bluffs above the river from which guns could control all water traffic. In the
winter of 1862–1863, Grant tried several schemes to reach Vicksburg and take it
from the Confederates. Nothing seemed to work—until the spring of 1863. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The most decisive battle of the whole war, in Southern Pennsylvania, When Hill’s troops marched toward the town from the
west, Buford’s men were waiting. The shooting attracted more troops and both
sides called for reinforcements. By the end of the first day of fighting, 90,000
Union troops under the command of General George Meade had taken the field
against 75,000 Confederates, led by General Lee. -
Gettysburg address
In November 1863, a ceremony was held to dedicate
a cemetery in Gettysburg. There, President Lincoln spoke for a little more
than two minutes. According to some contemporary historians, Lincoln’s
Gettysburg Address “remade America.” Before Lincoln’s speech, people said,
“The United States are . . .” Afterward, they said, “The United States is . . .” In
other words, the speech helped the country to realize that it was not just a collection
of individual states; it was one unified nation. -
Sherman's March
In the
spring of 1864, Sherman began
his march southeast through
Georgia to the sea, creating a
wide path of destruction. His
army burned almost every house
in its path and destroyed livestock
and railroads. Sherman was
determined to make Southerners “so sick of war that generations would pass away before they would again appeal to
it.” By mid-November he had burned most of Atlanta. After reaching the ocean,
Sherman’s forces—followed by 25,000 former slaves—turned north to help Grant beat Lee. -
thirteenth amendment
After some political maneuvering, the
Thirteenth Amendment was ratified at
the end of 1865. The U.S. Constitution now
stated, “Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States.” -
Assassination of Abe Lincoln
Lincoln, who never regained consciousness,
died on April 15. It was the first time a
president of the United States had been assassinated. After the shooting, the
assassin, John Wilkes Booth—a 26-year-old actor and Southern sympathizer—
then leaped down from the presidential box to the stage and escaped. Twelve days
later, Union cavalry trapped him in a Virginia tobacco shed and shot him dead. -
Surrender at appotomattox Courthouse
On April 3, 1865, Union troops conquered
Richmond, the Confederate capital. Southerners had abandoned the city the
day before, setting it afire to keep the Northerners from taking it. On April 9, 1865,
in a Virginia town called Appomattox (BpQE-mBtPEks) Court House, Lee and
Grant met at a private home to arrange a Confederate surrender. At Lincoln’s
request, the terms were generous. Grant paroled Lee’s soldiers and sent them
home with their possessions and three days’ worth of rations.
