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Period: to
Pre Civil War Era
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Missouri Compromise
This compromise helped maintain the balance between slave and free states. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Furthermore, it also banned slavery in the Louisiana territory north of the 36-30 line of latitude. -
Compromise of 1850
This compromise was a series of laws passed by congress that attempted to settle disputes between free and slave states. To satisfy the uneasy south, congress passed laws to capture runaway slaves and promised not to pass any more laws regarding slavery in territory acquired from Mexico. On the other hand, to please the north, Congress admitted California as a free state and banned the slave trade in Washington DC. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
This act was the first time that popular sovereignty was used to determine states' allowance of slavery. Kansas became a slave state and Nebraska a free state. Anti slavery groups floding in from Missouri caused a lot of problems in Kansas which eventually led to "Bleeding Kansas." -
Dred Scott Court Case
Dred Scott, formely enslaved, sued for his freedom after his master died. He believed that he ought to be free because he had moved to the north adn had been working alongside his owner for years. The Supreme Court did not grant Dred Scott his freedom and shoved him back into slavery. -
Election of 1856
The democrats, republicans, and the constitutional union party all run candidates in this election. The democrats supported the extension of slavery into the west, and then everything that the republican party was against. The democrat candidate, James Buchanan won the election. This result satisfied the south and likely prolonged the start of the civil war. -
Election of 1860
Four distinct political parties run in this election. There is a candidate from the republicans, the know northing party, the northern democrats, and the southern democrats. Before the election the democratic party split because their opinions differed so much. Abraham Lincoln won the election merely because the democratic party split thus dividing their numbers in two. -
South Carolina Secedes
The election of Jefferson was the final push to make South Carolina secede from the Union. It was no surprise that South Carolina seceded first: the nullification crisis and John C. Calhoun are prime examples of South Carloina's short temper. This set the example for more and more southern states to secede and eventually form the Confederate States of America -
Confederate States of America are Formed
Seven states that had seceded from the Union joined together to form the Confederacy. None of the border states were in the Confederacy: they remained neutral and leaning towards the Union. The leaders selected Jefferson Davis as their president and Alexander Stephens as their vice president. If the Confederacy wasn't formed, the Union would easily have been able to reconquer each state, but Confederacy's experienced generals put up a good fight. -
Battle of Bull Run
Aided by reinforcements, the Confederate army managed to protect Henry's Hill and send the disorganized Union army into retreat. The Confederate forces may have been too disorganized and exhausted to follow the Union army, but this battle, one of the first battles of the war, was a Confederate victory. The Union is surprised by this defeat, and the battle made the war look like a much more serious effort for the north. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln uses the victory and Antietam to declare his Emancipation Proclamation. This was really just a political move to maintain popularity. The document declared that all slaves in states that seceded are free, which didn't change anything because the seceded states didn't have any reason to listen to Lincoln at the time. -
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Post Civil War Era
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Wade-Davis Bill
The Bill declared that reconstruction was a legislative issue and not an exectuvie one. It was an attempt to weaken the power of the president, and it was vetoed by president Lincoln. The Wade-Davis Manifesto declared that Lincoln was acting like a dictator by vetoing this bill. The manifesto and some, but not large, political effects for Lincoln. -
Lincoln is Reelected
Lincoln wins the presidential election for a second time. This is much due to the fact that most of Lincoln's policies and decisions didn't reveal strong opinions so he maintained the support of many. Furthermore, General Sherman won at Vicksburg right before the election thus remarkably increasing Lincoln's popularity. -
Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse
General Lee tried to retreat from the Confederate capital, but is captured by Union forces. General Lee formally surrendered in the parlor of a home in Virginia. The two Union armies had sandwiched the Confederacy and forced surrender. This essentially ended the Civil War and opened the doors to reconstruction. -
President Lincoln is Assassinated
The South disliked President Lincoln because they believed that he would do away with slavery forcefully and try to change their lifestyle. Once the Civil War ended and it was clear that the South was on a path to be apart of the Union again, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln at Ford's Theater with hopes of helping the south. Ironically, President Johnson's plans didn't favor the south much more than Lincoln, but Lincoln's success against the south in war was enough to kill him. -
Andrew Johnson Becomes President
This is significant becamse President Johnson is responsible for carrying out the early years of reconstruction. President Johnson's plan for reconstruction is extremely similar to Lincoln's plan. There is one big difference, however, Johnson pardoned many more people for crimes during the war than would have Lincoln. It could very well be these pardons which foster healthy reconstrictuion and reunification of this country. -
Second Reconstruction Act
After the Civil War was over, acts and amendments passed by the union forced the south to give certain rights, such as suffrage, to blacks. The Southerners found many ways to skirt around this so blacks don't enjoy the freedoms they should have had. They scarred the African Americans away from the ballot box and they required passage of a literacy test to vote. This bill required all males of age to vote. -
Andrew Johnson's Impeachment
Congress compiled a list of Johnson's crimes against the government, most of which were against the Tenure of Office Act passed just one year before. Johnson conducted reconstruction with little consideration of the public's wants and needs. The main source of impeachment was the conflict between his efforts and those of the Radical Republicans. This was one of the most significant events during reconstruction. -
Fourteenth Amendment Ratified
This amenement defines US citizenship and what rights are guaranteed to citizens. The amendment stated that no group of people will be excluded from the laws regarding citizenship. Therefore, African Americans have equal rights regarding citizenship. -
Fifteenth Amendment Ratified
This amendment grant universal male suffrage. Black men and white men were given equal voting rights. Women of any nationality and race still lacked basic rights such as suffrage. -
Compromise of 1877
Because multiple states were accused of fraud in the ballot box, the election of 1876 went to the House of Representatives for multiple states. Rutherford B. Hayes emerged the president by winning over southern opposition. Hayes removed the last Union troops from the south thus reunifying the country at last as a modern nation. His election also marked the government's abandoning its commitment to African American equality.