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Missouri Compromise
1820-1821
James Monroe was president
Maine was admitted as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. The rest of the Louisiana Territory was split into two parts. The dividing line was set at 36°30´north latitude. South of the line, slavery was legal. North of the line—except in Missouri—slavery was banned. -
San Felipe de Austin
it was a colony
established in 1821 by Stephen F Austin
Austin’s father, Moses Austin, had received a land grant from Spain to establish a colony between the Brazos and Colorado rivers but died before he was able to carry out his plans. Stephen obtained permission, first from Spain and then from Mexico after it had won its independence, to carry out his father’s project -
The Liberator
used to deliver an uncompromising demand: immediate emancipation
was an anti-slavery news paper -
Mexico abolishes slavery
many of the settlers of Texas were Southerners, who had brought slaves with them
Mexico, which had abolished slavery in 1829, insisted in vain that the Texans free their slaves -
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 -
Stephen F Austin goes to jail
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 -
Abolition
the movement to abolish slavery -
Texas Revolution
(October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) began when colonists (primarily from the United States) in the Mexican province of Texas rebelled against the increasingly centralist Mexican government -
Oregon Trail
stretched from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon
proved wagons could travel on this route
first travelers were two Methodist missionaries named Marcus and Narcissa Whitman -
Manifest Destiny
expressed the belief that the United States was ordained to expand to the Pacific Ocean and into Mexican and Native American territory -
Santa Fe Trail
stretched 780 miles from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe in the Mexican province of New Mexico
The settlers and traders who made the trek west used a series of old Native American trails as well as new routes -
Texas enters the United States
six months after the Congress of the Republic of Texas voted for annexation by the United States, Texas was admitted into the Union as the 28th state -
Mexican-American War
1846-1848
caused by manifest destiny, westward expansion, economics, and slavery -
The North Star
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 United States agreed to pay $15 million for the Mexican cession, which included present day California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming -
Compromise of 1850
the compromise provided that California be admitted to the Union as a free state
the compromise proposed a new and more effective fugitive slave law
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
anyone convicted of helping a fugitive was liable for a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for up to six months -
Underground Railroad
most famous conductor was Harriet Tubman
purpose was to help slaves escape to freedom -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
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. As a young girl, Stowe had watched boats filled with people on their way to be sold at slave markets. Uncle Tom’s Cabin expressed her lifetime hatred of slavery. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
proposed by Stephen Douglas
it 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 -
Dread Scott v Sandford
Dred Scott 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—Illinois—and
a free territory—Wisconsin—had made him a free man
the Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott -
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas Debates
debated for a spot in the senate
Neither wanted slavery in the territories, but they disagreed on how to keep it out. Douglas believed deeply in
popular sovereignty
Douglas won the Senate seat -
John Brown's raid/Harpers Ferry
John Brown was studying the slave uprisings that had occurred in ancient Rome and, more recently, on the French island of Haiti. He believed that the time was ripe for similar uprisings in the United States. Brown secretly obtained financial backing from several prominent Northern abolitionists. 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 -
Lincoln becomes President
1860
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 “inter- fere with their slaves, or with them, about their slaves.” Nonetheless, many Southerners viewed him as an enemy -
Formation of the Confederacy
established in 1861
member states: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas
Abraham Lincoln was president -
Attack on Fort Sumter
1861
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.” At 4:30 A.M. on April 12, Confederate bat- teries began thundering away to the cheers of Charleston’s citizens -
Battle of Bull Run
1861
In the morning the Union army gained the upper hand, but the Confederates held firm
In the afternoon Confederate reinforcements helped win the first Southern victory
Confederate morale soared. Many Confederate soldiers, confi- dent that the war was over, left the army and went home -
Conscription
As the fighting intensified, heavy casualties and widespread desertions led each side to impose a draft that forced men to serve in the army -
Battle of Antietam
1862
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. As a result, Lincoln removed him from command -
Battle of Vicksburg
one of the two remaining Confederate strongholds on
the Mississippi River
The Union had achieved another of its major military objectives, and the Confederacy was cut in two -
Emancipation Proclamation
1863
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 tax that takes a specified percentage of an individual’s income -
Battle at Gettysburg
1863
Confederate soldiers led by A. P. Hill
Union cavalry under the command of John Buford
first day of fighting, 90,000 Union troops took the field against 75,000 Confederates
Confederates had driven the Union troops from Gettysburg and had taken control of the town
Northern artillery renewed its barrage, infantry fired on the rebels. 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. -
Gettysburg Address
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
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. After reaching the ocean, Sherman’s forces—followed by 25,000 former slaves—turned north to help Grant “wipe out Lee.” -
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
Richmond, the Confederate capital
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 -
Thirteenth Amendment
“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 Abraham Lincoln
John Wilkes Booth—a 26-year-old actor and Southern sympathizer Ford’s Theatre in Washington
assassinated to revive the confederacy -
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—including her own parents—flee to freedom.
