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Missouri Compromise 1820-1821
Behind the leadership of Henry Clay, Congress passed a series of agreements. Under these agreements, Maine was admitted as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. The rest of the Louisiana territory was split into two parts. -
Santa Fe Trail
one of the busiest routes stretched 780 miles from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe in the Mexican Province of New Mexico. Each spring from 1821 through the 1860s American traders loaded their covered wagons with goods and set off toward Santa Fe -
San Felipe de Austin
Austin's father received a land grant from Spain to establish a colony between the Brazos and Colorado rivers but died before he could carry out his plan. Stephen obtained permission frist from Spain and then from Mexico. he established a colony. It became the main settlement of the colony, in Stephen's honor. By 1825, Austin had issues 297 land grants to the group that later became known as Texas's old three hundred. -
Mexico abolishes slavery
Mexico abolished slavery in 1829 insisted in vain that Texans free their slaves causing tension. -
Abolition
the movement to abolish slavery, became the most important of a series of reform movements in America. -
The Liberator
William Lloyd Garrison a radical white abolitionist was active in religious reform movements. He wrote "The Liberator" to deliver an uncompromising demand: immediate emancipation. -
Nat Turner's rebellion
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. -
Oregon Trail
This trail Stretched from 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 they proved that wagons could travel on the oregon trail. -
Texas revolution
Rebellion in which Texas gained its independence from Mexico. -
Manifest Destiny
expressed the belief that the United States was ordained to expand to the Pacific Ocean and into Mexican and Native American territory. -
Texas enters the United States
Southerners wanted Texas in order to expand slavery, which already had been established there, but northerners feared that the annexation of more slave territory would top the uneasy balance in the Senate in favor of slave states-and prompt war with Mexico -
Mexican-American war
The cause of this war was, Texas gained its independence from Mexico in 1836 and the US annexed Texas. this war depicted a politically divided and and unprepared military against a powerful US. -
The North Star
Frederick Douglas, who escaped from bondage to become an eloquent and outspoken critic of slavery began his own antislavery newspaper. -
treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Mexico agreed to the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico and ceded the New Mexico and California territories to the United States. The United States States agreed to pay $15 million for the Mexican cession, which included presentday
California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. -
compromise of 1850
Clay’s compromise contained provisions to appease Northerners as well as Southerners. To please the North, the compromise provided that California be admitted to the Union as a free state. To please the South, the compromise proposed a new and more effective fugitive slave law. To placate both sides, a provision allowed popular sovereignty, the right to vote for or against slavery, for residents of the New Mexico and Utah territories -
Fugitive slave act
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. -
Underground railroad
free African Americans and white abolitionists developed a
secret network of people who would, at great risk to themselves, hide fugitive slaves. one of the famous conductors was Harriet Tubman. -
Harriet Tubman
One of the most famous conductors. In all, she made 19 trips back to the South and is said to have helped 300 slaves—including her own parents—flee to freedom. -
Uncle tom's cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe published this book 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 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. -
Dred Scott v. Standford
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 Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott. According to the ruling, Scott lacked any legal standing to sue in federal court because he never could be, a citizen. -
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas Debates
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. Douglas won the Senate seat, but his response had widened the split in the Democratic Party -
John Brown's raid/Harpers ferry
Brown secretly obtained financial backing from several
prominent Northern abolitionists. He led a band of 21 men, black and white, into Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). His aim was to seize the federal arsenal there and start a general slave uprising. -
conscription
a draft that forced men to serve in the army -
Abraham 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". -
income tax
a tax that takes a specified percentage of an individual’s income. -
formation of the confederacy
South Carolina led the way, seceding from the Union. 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 the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis was elected president. -
Attack on fort sumter
as soon as the Confederacy was formed, Confederate soldiers
in each secessionist state began seizing federal installations—especially forts.Lincoln decided to neither abandon Fort Sumter nor reinforce it. He would merely send in “food for hungry men.” Confederate batteries began thundering away to the cheers of Charleston’s citizens. -
battle of Bull Run
The first bloodshed on the battlefield occurred about three months
after Fort Sumter fell. 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!” -
battle of antietam
The clash proved to be the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with casualties totaling more than 26,000. The next day, instead of pursuing the battered Confederate army into Virginia and possibly ending the war, McClellan did nothing -
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. -
Battle of Gettysburg
the most decisive battle of the war. the Confederates staggered back to their lines. After the battle, Lee gave up any hopes of invading the North and led his army back to Virginia. The three-day battle produced staggering losses: 23,000 Union men and 28,000 Confederates were killed or wounded. Total casualties were more than 30 percent. -
Gettysburg address
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.” -
battle of vicksburg
Vicksburg itself was particularly important because it rested
on bluffs above the river from which guns could control all water traffic. The Union had achieved another of its major military objectives, and the Confederacy was cut in two. -
sherman's march
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. -
thirteenth amendment
The U.S. Constitution now stated, “Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” -
surrender at Appomattox 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. Officers were permitted to keep their side arms. Within a month all remaining Confederate
resistance collapsed. After four long years, the Civil War was over. -
assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln and his wife went to go see a play. he got shot in the back of the head. . It was the first time a president of the United States had been assassinated. 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.
