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Cotton Gin
The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney in 1794. The purpose of this tool was to seperate the cottonseed from short-staple cotton fiber. This meant that the slaves did not have to work as hard and less slaves were forced to work due to the cotton gin, so in conclusion slaves were sold or forced to do other work. This revolutionized the cloth induustry in the United States. The cotton gin was invented in North Carolina. Another name for the cotton gin is the saw gin. -
Missouri Compromise
This Compromise was passed in 1820. Henry Clay was the constructor of this compromise. The Compromise also drew an imaginary line at 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, which divided the new Louisiana Territory into two areas, one north and one south. -
Missouri Compromise
All of the Louisiana Territory north of this line was free territory. This Compromise also encouraged people in the north to return runaway slaves to their homes and did not prohibit slavery, even in the free territories. -
Underground Railroad
The underground railroad was an escape route for enslaved slaves who wanted to be free. Harriett Tubman was a woman who led hundreds of slaves to a runaway mission. The runaway slaves were known as freedom seekers according to the law. This event has been said to be the most dramatic protest in slavery history. -
Wilmot Proviso
This event was an amendment to a bill put before the U.S. House of Representatives during the Mexican War. This event provided and approximate 2 million dollars to president Polk to talk with Mexico about territorial settlement. It was passed in the House, but the senate drew up its own bill to the Wilmot Proviso. -
Compromise of 1850
This compromise was passed in 1850. This event also created great bitterness between North and South and helped crystallize the conflict over the extension of slavery. This comp was ignored by the democrats and the whig party in the election of 1848 but was eventually adopted by the fress-soil party. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's cabin was unpublished until April of 1852 and was based on accounts of runaway slaves which Harriett Beacher gathered evidence of their conditions of slaves which she gathered, while visiting Kentucky, a Slave State. It was a powerful indictment of slavery, it did not attract much interest until it was published as a novel in 1852. This novel is still read today and still influential to people. -
Caning of Charles Sumner
This event was described as a deliberated fight that almost killed Charles Sumner. Charles Sumner sufford serious conditions to the head and it took him 2 years to fully recover. The inspiration for this clash came three days earlier when Senator Charles Sumner, a Massachusetts antislavery Republican, addressed the Senate on the explosive issue of whether Kansas should be admitted to the Union as a slave state or a free state. -
Dred Scott decision
This event was brought about in March of 1857. The United States Supreme Court declared that all blacks were not and could never become citizens of the United States. The court also declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, thus permiting slavery in all of the country's territories. -
Lincoln-Douglas debate
The debates between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln were held during the 1858 campaign for a US Senate seat from Illinois. The debates were held at 7 sites throughout Illinois, one in each of the 7 Congressional Districts Map of Congresstional Districts.Douglas, a Democrat, was the incumbent Senator, having been elected in 1847. He had chaired the Senate Committee on Territories. He helped enact the Compromise of 1850. -
Raid on Harper's Ferry
John Brown's plan seemed fairly straightforward: he and his men would establish a base in the Blue Ridge Mountains from which they would assist runaway slaves and launch attacks on slaveholders. At least that was the plan that the militant abolitionist had described to potential funders in 1857. But his plans would change. He had been ready in 1858 to launch his war he had both the men and the money to proceed. Brown was asked to postpone the launch, but he refused. -
Election of 1860
By the election of 1860 profound divisions existed among Americans over the future course of their country, and especially over the South's "peculiar institution," slavery. During the presidency of James K. Polk (1841-1849), the United States had confirmed the annexation of Texas to the Union, negotiated a treaty with Great Britain for the Oregon territory up to the 49th parallel, and, as a result of the Mexican War, added California and New Mexico as well. -
Fort Sumter
This event was a battle on April 12 1861. The significance of this battle is it marked the begining of the American Civil war. This war also taken place in Charlestown, South Carolina. The crisis began with Lincoln's in 1860. -
First Battle of Bull Run
This event took place on July 1861. The significance is, the northern press and public were eager for the Union Army to make an advance on Richmond ahead of the planned meeting of the Confederate Congress there on July 20. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh was the first major battle in the Western Campaign during the American Civil War. It was fought in the area surrounding Tennessee's Shiloh United Methodist Church, a small log church that managed to survive the battle only to be destroyed in the weeks to come. ---On the Union side, about 13,000 soldiers were reported killed, wounded or missing. The number for the Confederates was over 10,500. Corinth was ultimately evacuated before the Union army could advance. -
Battle of Antitam
The most obvious result of the battle was the incredible loss of life. No other single day of American history before or since has been so deadly. Nearly one of every four soldiers engaged was a casualty: killed, wounded, or captured. The savage fighting would be remembered by many who were there as the most intense of the war. If there were any among the troops who still thought of war as a glorious, noble undertaking, this battle would shatter that illusion. -
Siege of Richmond
There were no Union attacks directly against Richmond in 1863. The second great movement upon the Confederate Capital began in June, 1864, when Grant came down through the Wilderness, as already described, and attacked the Confederates at Cold Harbor. Lee was entrenched there in almost the same defensive position occupied by McClellan's rear when protecting his retreat across the Chickahominy two years before. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The proclamation was issued by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, and January 1, 1863. The significance of this eventis, this Document focused on freedom of all slaves within any state that did not submit to Union control and specified the states where the proclamation was to be unconditionally applied. -
Siege at Vicksburg
In May and June of 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s armies converged on Vicksburg, investing the city and entrapping a Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John Pemberton. On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered after prolonged siege operations. This was the culmination of one of the most brilliant military campaigns of the war. With the loss of Pemberton’s army and this vital stronghold on the Mississippi, the Confederacy was effectively split in half. -
Battle of Gettysburg
This most famous and most important Civil War Battle occurred over three hot summer days, July 1 to July 3, 1863, around the small market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This battle began as a skirmish but by its end involved 160,000 Americans. The Gettysburg adress was followed after this battle. -
Gettysburg Address
On June 1, 1865, Senator Charles Sumner commented on what is now considered the most famous speech by President Abraham Lincoln. In his eulogy on the slain president, he called it a "monumental act." He said Lincoln was mistaken that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here." Rather, the Bostonian remarked, "The world noted at once what he said, and will never cease to remember it. The battle itself was less important than the speech." -
Sherman's March of the sea
Sherman’s March to the Sea would set the south ablaze. This event was the goal for the Union leader. General Sherman was a rogue if only for a few months, the general of the Union army stationed in the heart of the Confederacy was on a rampage. -
Election of 1864
Lincoln's chances for reelection appeared dim for much of 1864. No president had won a second term since Andrew Jackson more than 30 years ago. More importantly, Lincoln was weakened by widespread criticism of his handling of the war. The Union had suffered a long string of disappointments and many faulted the president's strategy. Further, conservative forces in the North were outraged by the Emancipation Proclamation and feared its impact on the future of society. -
Freedmon's Bureau
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was created by Congress in March 1865 to assist for one year in the transition from slavery to freedom in the South. The Bureau was given "the supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen, under such rules and regulations as may be presented by the head of the Bureau and approved by the President." -
Appomattax Court house
This event happened on April 9 1865, the remnants of John Broun Gordon’s corps and Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry formed line of battle at Appomattox Court House. Also this event was the final engagement of the war in Virginia. -
Assasination of Abraham Lincoln
The killer of Lincoln was, John Wilkes Booth, born May 10, 1838, was an actor who performed throughout the country in many plays. He was the lead in some of William Shakespeare's most famous works. Additionally, he was a racist and Southern sympathizer during the Civil War. He hated Abraham Lincoln who represented everything Booth was against. Booth blamed Lincoln for all the South's ills. He wanted revenge. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution declared that "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, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Formally abolishing slavery in the United States, the 13th Amendment was passed by the Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865. -
14th Amendment
This amendment states All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Although ratified on February 3, 1870, the promise of the 15th Amendment would not be fully realized for almost a century.Through the use of poll taxes southern states we able to let blacks vote. -
Election of 1876
This election was won by Lincoln. Following Lincoln’s murder a month into his second term, vice president Andrew Johnson took office. Johnson's rocky relations with Congress resulted in an impeachment trial. Johnson survived in office, and was followed by Civil War hero Ulysses S. Grant, who was elected in 1868, and reelected in 1872.
