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Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was a term coined to justify the expansion of American control and the spread of democracy and capitalism across the United States. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican American war and established the boundary between Mexico and America. It increased the size of the country considerably. -
Gold Rush
The discovery of gold in Northern California led to a mass migration of miners, called “forty niners”, to move to California and led to the development of the west. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state, gave New Mexico and Utah the agency to decide if they were a free state or a slave state, and initiated the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act required states to cooperate in the capture of escaped slaves, regardless of the laws regarding slaves in that state. -
Uncle Toms Cabin
Uncle Toms Cabin was a book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe that had anti-slavery themes. It had an effect on the attitudes towards the institution of slavery in the US and helped shape sentiments that started the Civil War. -
The Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase was a treaty between the United States and Mexico where the US agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for the land that part of Arizona and New Mexico. It added to the land available for the southern Trans-continental Railroad. -
Free Soil Movement
The Free Soil Movement was an anti slavery movement that worked against the institution of slavery in new territories or states. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas Nebraska Act gave each territory the ability to decide the issue of slavery based on the “popular sovereignty” of the residents. -
SC Secession
South Carolina was the first southern slave state to secede from the union after the election of Abraham Lincoln. Their secession prompted other southern slave states to secede and form the Confederacy. -
Anaconda Plan
The anaconda plan was the unions plan to cut off the confederacy by circling around, cutting off the Mississippi and all coastal regions, surrounding it like a snake. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act entitled eligible American citizens to 160 acres of land in the west in order to develop the area. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was a speech given by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War that proclaimed that all slaves in the north and south were free. -
Antietam
Antietam was one of the most deadly battles of the Civil War and it led to Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation and it further led to the divide between the North and the South. -
Gettysburg
The battle of Gettysburg was a three day battle that is considered the “turning point” of the Civil War and halted the Confederates advance into the north. -
Sherman’s March to the Sea
Sherman’s March was a use of total warfare that destroyed the armies path from Atlanta to Savannah. It was used to frighten those who would want to fight back from the union. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime. -
14th Amendment
All people born or naturalized in the United States are legal citizens with all the rights allotted to them. -
Sharecropping
Sharecropping is when a landowner allows a tenant to use their lands to grow crops and create a livelihood while giving a percent of the crops to the landowner. It was system that was usually used to subjugate free black families in a similar way as slavery did. -
Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877 was an unofficial deal that ended the 1876 presidential election and ended the reconstruction era by pulling troops out of the south.
