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Missouri Compromise
In 1818 settlers in Missouri requested admission to the Union. Northerners and Southerners disagreed, however, on whether Missouri should be admitted as a free state or a slave state. Behind the leadership of Henry Clay, congress passed a series of agreements in 1820-1821 known as the Missouri Compromise. 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
The settelers and traders who made the trek west used a series of old Native American trails as well as new routes. One of the busiest routes was the santa fe trail, which 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
was named in Stephens honor. Stephen obtained permission from spain and then from mexico after it had won its independence to carry out his fathers project. He established a colony where "no drunkered, no gambler, no profane swearer, and no idler" would be allowed. -
Mexico abolishes slavery
Differences over cultural issues intensified between Anglos and the Mexican government. The overwhelmingly Protestant Anglos spoke english instead of soanish . Many of the settlers were southerners who had brought slaves with them to Texas. Mexico insisted in vain that the Texans free their slaves. -
Abolition
the movement to abolish slavery became the most important of a series of eform movements in America. -
The Liberator
Writen and created by William Lloyd Garrison, to deliver an uncompromising demand: immediate emancipation. -
Nat Turner's Rebelliion
Some slaves rebelled against their condition of bondage and one of the most prominent rebellions was led by virginia slave, nat turner. He and more than 50 followers attacked four platations and killed about 60 whites. Whites eventually captured and executed many members of the group including turner. -
Stephen F. Austin goes to jail
Austin had traveled to Mexico City to present petitions to Mexican president Antonio Lopez 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
in the 1836 rebellion in which Texas gained its independence from Mexico. -
Oregon 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(near present day Boise Idaho). Many pioneers migrated west on the trail. Some bought"prairie schooners" wooden wheeled wagons pulled by oxen. Most walked, pushing handcarts and loaded with a few precious possessions, food, and other supplies. The trip took months regardless. -
Manifest Destiny
Many Americans began to believe that their movement westward was predestined by God. The phrase "Manifest destiny" expressed the belief that the United states was ordained to expand to the Pacific Ocean and into Mexican and Native American Territory. Many americans also believed that this detiny was manifest, or obvious and inevitable. -
Texas enters the United States
In march 1845, angered by U.S.-Texas negotiation on annexation, the Mexican government recalled its ambassador from Washington. ON december 29, 1845, Texas entered the Union. Events moved quickly toward war. -
Mexican-American War
marked the first american conflict markend on foriegn soil. A boarder skirmish along the Rio Grande started the fighting and was followed by a series or U.S. victories. Mexico had lost about a third of its territory. -
The North Star
created by Frederick Douglass, who escaped from bondage to become an eloquent and outspoken critic of slavery. He broke with Garrison and began his own antisavery newspaper. It was named after the star that guided runaway slaves to freedom. -
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 U.S. agreed to pay 15 million for the Mexican cession, which included present day california, nevada, new mexico, most of arizona, and parts of colorado and wyoming. -
Harriet Tubman
After her owner died she heard rumors that she was about to be sold. So she decided to make a break for freedom and succeeded in reaching Philadelphia. Shortly after the fugitive slave act, she resloved to become a conductor on the railroad. She made 19 trips back to the south and is said to have helped 300 slaves including her own parents flee to freedom. -
Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay worked to shape a compromise that both the North and the South could accept. Clays compromise contained provisions to appease Northerners as well as Southerners. To please the North, it provided that california be admitted to the union as a free state. to please the south it proposed a new and more effective fugitive law. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
published by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which stressed that slavery was not just a political contest, nut also a great moral struggle. This expressed her lifetime hatred of slavery. This stirred northern abolitionists to increase their protests against the fugitive act. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Douglass intruduced this to congress, that would didved the two. Nebraska north and Kansas south. The bill would repeal the missouri compromise and establish a popular sovereignty for both territories. Southerners strongly defended the proposed legislation. -
Dread Scott v. Sandford
Dread scogg was 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. the case was in court for years. finally on march 6, the court rules against scott, lacking in kegal standing to sue in federal court because he wasnt a citizen. -
John Browns raid/Harpers Ferry
Brown believed that the time was ripe for similar uprisings in the U.S. He secretly obtained financial backing from several prominent Northern abolitionists. On oct. 16 he led a band of 21 men black and white, into Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His aim was to seize the federal arsenal there and start a general slave uprising. -
Abraham Lincoln becomes president
he pledged to halt the further spread of slavery and tried to reassure southerners that a republican administration would not interfere with their slaves or with them. -
Formation of the Condeferacy
mississippi soon followed south carolinas lead, as did florida, alabama, georgia, louisiana, and texas. delegates from the secessionist states met in montgomery alabama where they formed the confederate states of america. they also drew up a consitution that closely resemblemed that of the U.S. -
Attack of Fort Sumter
LIncoln decided that he would meerly send in "food for hungry men'. Confederate soldiers began seizing federal istallations. -
Battle of Bull Run
the first bloodshed on the battlefield occurred abiuth three months after for simter feel near Bull run. the battle was a seesaw affair. in the morning the union army gained the upper hand but the confederates held firm. -
Battle of Vicksburg
it rested on bluffs above the river from which guns could control all water traffic. grant tried several schemes to reach it and take it but nothing worked. after there was no more food left whatsoever the confederate command asked grant for terms of surrender. the city fell on july 4. -
Battle of Antietam
the clash proved to be the bloodiest single day battle in american hisotry, with casualties totaling more than 26000. the next day instead of pursuing the battered confederate army into virginia and possibly ending the war, McClellan did nothing. -
Emancipation Proclamation
was issued by lincoln. it didnt free slaves immediately because it apllied only to areas behind confederate lines, outside Union control. For many it gave the war a moral purpose by turning thr struggle into a fight to free the slaves, it also ensured the compromise was no longer possible. -
Gettysburg address
it "remade america" the speech helped the country to realize that it was not just a colection of individual states, it was a unified one. -
Shermans March
sherman began his march southeast through georgia to the sea creating a wide path of destruction. his army burned all most every house in its path and destroyed livestock and railroads. he was determined to make southerners so sick of war . -
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
lee and grant met at a private home to arrange a confederate surrender. at licolns reaquest the terms were generous. After four long yeara the civil war was over. -
Thirteenth Amendment
the constitution now stated that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted shall exsist within the united states. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
LIncoln and his wife went to fords theater to see a british comedy. During its third act a man crept up behind lincoln and shot him in the back of his head. the assassin was john wilkes booth, -
Conscription
a draft that forced men to serve in the army. in the north it led to riots, the most violent in new york city. -
Income Tax
as the northern economy grew congress decided to help pay for the war by collecting income tax, a tax that takes a specified percentage of an individuals income. -
Fugitive Slave Act
under the law, alleged fugitive slaves were not entitled to a trial by jury. Anyone convicted of helping a fugitive was liable for a fine of $1000 and imprisonment for up to six months. Some resorted to violence to rescuee fugitive slaves, still others worked to help slaves escape from slavery. -
Underground Railroad
a system of escape routes. Free african americanss and white abolitionists developed a secret network of people who would hide fugitive slaves. "conductors" on the routes hid fugitives in secret tunnels and false cupboards, provided them with food and clothing, and escorted or directed them to the next "station". -
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglass Debates
Lincoln challenged douglass on the issue of slavery in the territories. neither wanted slavery in the territories , but they disagreed on how to keep it out. Douglass believed deeply in popular sovereignty and lincoln believed that slavery was immoral. -
Battle of Gettysberg
the most decisive battle. Bega on july 1 when confederate soldiers encountered several brigades of union cavalry under the command of John Buford, an officer from illinois. by the end the total casualties were more then 30 percent. Northerners were enthusiastic.
