Period 5

  • Centralization Under Santa Anna

    -General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna abolished Mexico's federalist constitution and established more centralized, authoritarian government
    -actions alienated Texans, who believed their local rights were under threat
  • Texan Revolt and Independence

    -Sam Houston led revolt, claimed territory north of Rio Grande
    -key battles became rallying cries
    -Houston requested U.S. annexation after independence
  • Webster-Ashburton Treaty

    -Resolved Maine Canada boundary dispute
    -improved U.S. British relations by ending years of tension over region
    -established clearer cooperation on issues (extradition, anti slave trade patrols)
  • Election of 1844

    -expansion into Oregon=major political issue
    -James K. Polk campaigned on asserting U.S. claims up to 54th parallel
    -slogan, 54 40 or Flight, appealed to expansionists
  • Manifest Destiny

    -popularized by John L. O'Sullivan
    -argued that U.S. had a God given mission to expand its territory across North American continent
    -"divine right" and a natural, inevitable process
    -extension of America's republican institutions, Protestant values, belief in national progress
    -central ideology of 1840s
    -shaped debates over territorial growth and American identity
  • Period: to

    James K. Polk

    -11th president of U.S.
    -aggressive expansionist polices
    -President during Mexican American war
  • Wilmot Provision

    -right at start of American-Mexican war
    -Wilmot proposed banning slavery in all new territory acquired by Mexico
    -passed house twice, failed senate
  • Mexican American War

    -Tensions over Texas border had been growing since U.S. annexed Texas
    -Mexican cavalry unit crossed Rio Grande into disputed territory
    -attacked a U.S. patrol, killed 11 American soldiers
    -Polk declared war
    -Whigs questioned whether clash truly occurred on U.S. soil
    -Congress authorized the war
    -Mexico suffered severe military defeats
    -war increased U.S. territorial size and intensified national debates over expansion of slavery
    -helped develop generation of military leaders
  • Treaty of Guadalupe Didalgo

    -agreement between US and Mexico
    -officially ended Mexican American war
    -Allowed US troops to buy parts of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas
  • Election of 1848

    -free soil party nominated Martin Van Buren
    -Taylor won election
    -free soil party showed growing Northern resistance to spread of slavery
  • Period: to

    Free Soil Party

    -Antislavery political party
    -opposing the expansion of slavery into western territories
    -Free soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, Free Men
  • Period: to

    California Gold Rush

    -Gold discovered in 1848 at Sutter's Mill sparked mass migration to California
    -population expanded from around 14,000 before the discovery to over 380,000 by 1860
  • Fugitive Slave Act

    -required citizens to assist in the capture of runaway enslaved people
    -Omtestified Northern resistance towards slavery
  • Compromise of 1850

    -laws admitted California as a free state
    -strengthened Fugitive Slave Acts
    -allowed for popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico
    -banned slave trade in D.C.
    -settled Texas/New Mexico Border
  • Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

    -U.S. and Britain agreed nation would dominate/control any future canal route in central america
    -aimed to prevent conflict and keep region open for shared influence
  • Railroads

    -U.S. government granted 2.6 million acres of federal land to support construction of Illinois Central Railroad
    -set precedent or future federal land grants that accelerated western settlement and economic growth
  • Gadsden Purchase

    -Territory purchase made by U.S.
    -for parts of modern Arizona and New Mexico
    -US gave Mexico $10 million
  • Kansas Nebraska Act

    -created Kansas and Nebraska territories with popular sovereignty on slavery
    -effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise
    -triggered "Bleeding Kansas"
  • Republican Party

    -formed in response to outrage over Kansas Nebraska Act
    -coalition of free soilers, antislavery whigs, and antislavery democrats
    -stopping expansion of slavery into the territories
    -repealing both fugitive slave act, and Kansas Nebraska Act
    -promoting free labor and western settlement
  • Election of 1856

    -republicans nominated John C. Fremont
    -calling for no expansion of slavery
    -democrats nominated James Buchanan
    -know nothings ran Millard Fillmore, splitting anti democratic vote
  • Period: to

    Mexican War

    -war between US and Mexico
    -resulted in US acquiring land
  • Panic of 1857

    -Northern industries experienced sharp unemployment, bank failures, and falling wages
    -cotton prices remained high
    -led many Southerners to believe their economy was stronger and more self sufficient
  • Dred Scott v. Sanford

    -Scott sued for his freedom
    -claimed that four year stay in northern portion of Louisiana Territory, made free land by Missouri Compromise, made him a free man
    -U.S. Supreme Court decided he couldn't sue in federal court because he was property, not citizen
  • Harpers Ferry

    -site where John Brown executed his raid
    -Brown attacked federal armory with goal of starting slave rebellion (unsuccessful)
  • Southern Secession Begins

    -South Carolina unanimously votes to secede from Union
    -Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas follow
    -seceding states justified their actions by claiming Lincoln's election threatened slavery and states' rights
  • Bull Run

    -first major battle of Civil War
    -Confederacy shattered Northern's hope for a quick war
  • Fort Sumter

    -marked start of Civil War
    -Confederates attacked a federal fort
  • Morrill Tariff

    -increased tariffs to raise revenue and protect northern industry
  • Period: to

    Jefferson Davis

    -president of the Confederate States of America
  • Period: to

    Abraham Lincoln

    -16th president of U.S.
    -assassinated
    -leader during Civil War
    -abolished slavery with Emancipation Proclamation
    -passed 13th Amendment
  • Antietam

    -Bloodiest single day of the Civil War
    -Union strategic victory
    -allowed Lincoln to issue Emancipation Proclamation
  • Morrill Land Grant Act

    -federal government provided grants for acres of land to universities that would focus on agriculture and mechanical colleges
  • Homestead Act

    -federal program
    -offered 160 acres of free public land to settlers who lived on and improved it for 5 years
    -encouraged westward expansion
  • Battle of Fredericksburg

    -major confederate victory
    -demonstrated poor union leadership and planning at this stage
  • Pacific Railway Act

    -provided federal support for construction of transcontinental railroad
    -connected California to eastern states
  • Battle of Chancellorsville

    -considered one of Robert E. Lee's greatest victories despite being outnumbered
    -confederates used bold flanking maneuvers to defeat Union forces
    -stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded by friendly fire
    -highlighted the confederacy's strong military leadership
  • Battle of Chattanooga

    -Union victory that crushed Southerners morale
    -opened up Deep South
  • Gettysburg

    -major turning point in civil war
    -occurred in Pennsylvania
    -union victory
    -stopped Lee's invasion North
  • Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

    -required southerners to take an oath of loyalty to the union and constitution
    -required acceptance of emancipation of enslaved people
    -10% plan
  • Period: to

    Siege of Vicksburg

    -gave union control of Mississippi River
    -cut confederate forces' supplies off
  • March of the Sea

    -General Sherman's destructive campaign
    -occurred across Georgia
    -aimed at breaking confederates morale and resources
  • Battle of Mobile Bay

    -secured Gulf of Mexico
    -completely cut off confederate ports
  • Wade Davis Bill

    -required 50% of voters to take loyalty oath before readmission
    -Lincoln refused to sign it
  • Period: to

    Siege of Petersburg

    -union cut off supplies to Richmond with trench warfare
  • Battle of Atlanta

    -secured vital transportation city
    -helped Lincoln gain reelection
  • Appomattox Court House

    -Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant
    -ended Civil War
  • 13th Amendment

    -abolished slavery nationwide
    -guaranteed freedom applied to all enslaved people
    -over 4 million people were freed
  • Ku Klux Klan

    -white southerners formed secret terrorist organizations
    -intimidate African Americans and white republicans
    -founded by Nathan Bedford Forrest
    -used violence, burned black owned buildings, murdered freedmen and reformers to undermine reconstruction governments
    -congress passed force acts
  • Period: to

    Congressional Reconstruction

    -members of congress became angry with Johnson's lenient approach to reconstruction
    -new phase of reconstruction
    -controlled by congress
    -featuring harsher policies toward Southern states and greater
    -greater protections for African Americans
  • Lincolns Assassination

    -delivered final speech, encouraging congress to readmit Louisiana on April 11, 1865
    -Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth
    -shifted reconstruction to vice president Andrew Johnson and congress
  • Civil Rights Act of 1866

    -declared all African Americans to be U.S. citizens
    -overturning Dred Scott decision
    -providing legal protection against discriminatory state laws
  • Election of 1866

    -Johnson campaigned against radical republicans
    -huge republican victory
  • Election of 1868

    -Ulysses S. Grant won presidency
    -congress passed 15th Amendment
    -protecting voting rights
  • 14th Amendment

    -passed by congress in June 1866, ratified in 1868
    -declared all persons born/naturalized in U.S. are citizens
    -required states to respect rights of U.S. citizens, provide equal protection of the laws
    -first time the U.S. constitution required states to uphold citizenship rights
    -disqualified former confederate political leaders from holding federal or state office
    -repudiated confederate debts
    -penalized states that denied voting rights to any eligible male citizen
  • Period: to

    Ulysses S. Grant

    -18th president of the U.S.
    -general for Union during Civil War
    -known for being an aggressive and determined strategist
  • Credit Mobilier Scandal

    -executives of Union Pacific Railroad created fake construction company
    -overcharged government for building transcontinental railroad
    -bribed members of congress with discounted/free stock
  • Liberal Republican Revolt of 1872

    -reform minded republicans split from main Republican Party
    -nominated Horace Greeley for president
    -civil service reform
    -ended government subsidies to railroads
    -withdrawing federal troops from the South
    -lowering tariffs, free trade
  • Amnesty Act of 1872

    -goal to remove most remaining restrictions on former confederates
    -allowed ex confederates to vote, hold public office
    -strengthening redeemer political power in the South
  • Panic of 1873

    -severe economic depression, lasted several years
    -caused by overspeculation, risky investments, overbuilding
    -led to failure of major banks and businesses
    -left thousands of northern laborers unemployed/homeless
    -debtors wanted government to issue greenbacks to increase money supply
    -Grant refused, choosing instead to maintain gold standard, limited inflation
    -worsened depression for many workers, farmers
  • Civil Rights Act of 1875

    -guaranteed African Americans equal access to public accomodations
    -prohibited racial discrimination in jury selection
    -enforcement weakened over time
  • Whiskey Ring

    -group of federal revenue agents conspired with distillers to cheat government out of millions in whiskey taxes
    -Grant damaged his reputation
  • Election of 1876

    -federal troops had been withdrawn from every Southern state except South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana
    -republicans nominated Rutherford B. Hayes
    -democrats nominated Samuel J. Tilden
    -Tilden won popular vote and had 184 electoral votes
    -congress created special electoral commission to determine who would receive the disputed votes
    -commission voted 8-7 along party lines to give all disputed electoral votes to Hayes, making him the winner
  • Compromise of 1877

    -democrats agreed to accept Hayes as president only if republicans agreed to: immediately end federal military support for republican governments in the remaining southern states, support construction of a southern transcontinental railroad
    -remaining federal troops were withdrawn from the south
    -reconstruction effectively ended
    -southern democrats regained full control
    -led to rise of segregation, black codes, later Jim Crow laws