-
Jan 1, 1300
Tribal Societies
Chapter 1
These tribal societies (Incans, Mayans, etc.) existed before Christopher Columbus and were greatly affected by the European’s arrival, including the drastic decline in the tribes’ populations. -
Period: Jan 1, 1300 to
Span of History
-
Jan 1, 1400
Mercantilism
Chapter 1 (14th Century)
Mercantilism is the economic theory based on trade generating wealth and stimulating the accumulation of profitable balances, which a government encourages by means of protectionism. With this as the driving force, the British sought the New World. -
Dec 12, 1480
Conquistadors
Spanish soldiers that saught to colonize the "new world" -
Jan 1, 1492
Spanish Empire, Ch 1
Consisted of the territories and colonies administered dircetlly by Spain, originating during the Age of Exploration it was on of the first global empire -
Jan 1, 1492
Sovereignty (Ch. 5)
(1492 is the officially start of European settlement/colonial time)
The colonists were striving to achieve the goal of becming a self-governing state and it was the underlying reason why the colonists took many measures to separate itself from Great Britain. -
Jan 1, 1500
Missionaries
-
Jan 1, 1500
Missionaries
During the discoveries of the colonies, both the Spanish and the British sent “missionaries,” religious men whose job was to educate the natives of the colony about their religion. Spanish=Catholicism. British=Christianity (Chapter 1, pgs. 19, 28, and 29, 1500’s) -
Jan 1, 1500
Enclosure Movement
Process which ends traditional rights for common land (e.g. mowing land, grazing livestock) --> land is privatized Chapter 1 -
Jan 1, 1500
Small Pox
This disease destroyed Indian populations, who had no immune defense against it. Smallpox epidemic raveged Indian Societies of central and south America. -
Jan 1, 1500
Tobacco
Tobacco was the number one commercial crop within Jamestown and then throughout the colonies. It fostered the American economy until cotton came into place. -
Dec 12, 1500
Indenture System (Colonial America)
In colonial north america, man had a difficult time hiring workers one solution would be a deal that was struck, between ship captain and merchant; the common solution was for immigrants to work for the merchant for several year until their travel debt was paid and during this time they would only recive food, room, clothing and training as compensation. -
Dec 12, 1550
Loyalists/ Tories, Ch 3
The Loyalists and Tories were American colonists who remained loyal to the british monarchy throughout the American Revolutionary War; they were opposed by the Patriots and later defeated after the war. -
Jan 1, 1570
Nationalism (Ch. 1)
Patriotic feeling, principles, or efforts → encouraged dreams of expansion. -
Fur Trade (Ch 1)
The fur trade was the Indians and French enterprise. -
African Slave Trade: Chp 1
Western Nations begin importing Africans to work for them. -
Indentured Servants (Ch. 2)
Historical practice of contracting to work for a fixed period of time in exchange for transportation, food, clothing, lodging, and other necessities during the term of indenture for both men and women. -
Virginia Company
Chapter 2 (Early 1600s)
The Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I in 1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements and trade in tobacco on the coast of North America. -
Powhatan Indians
Chapter 2
The Powhatan tribe was a major and powerful tribe of native Americans in the Virginia, Maryland, and Carolina area. They were strong militarily, but the British with their diseases and advanced weaponry soon were able to fight back and suppress the Powhatans. It wasn’t until the kidnapping of the chief’s daughter, Pocahontas, during which they ceased their attacks. Regardless of this, conflicts with the Powhatans and the settlers continued into the late years of the settlement. -
Jamestown
Chapter 2
Jamestown was the first colony founded, which had early problems with malaria and the Indians who already lived there. -
colony
Colonies like Jamestown were being set up in America. -
Headright System (Ch 2)
The headright system, establish by the Virginia Company, recuited workers by granting 50 acres to every person who agreed to settle in the New Worl and granted 100 acres of land for people already settled in the New World. -
Mayflower Compact
First political document of Plymouth colony; would later influenced Declaration of Independence -
Navigation Acts, Ch 4
Passed by English Parliament in the 17th century, the acs were a series of laws that restricted teh use of foreign shipping for trade between Britian and it's American colonies, wiht the objective of foce colonial development into a favorable procession fro England's use. -
Triangular Trade: Chp 3
Britain sent goods to Africa. Africa sent slaves to the colonies. Colonies sent raw goods to Britain. -
Bacon's Rebellion: Chp 2
Chapter 2
Bacon and the backland farmers rose up against the elite. -
Slave Codes (Ch 3)
The slaves codes ultimately limited the rights of blacks (and people who were half black half white) -
Plantation Economy
Economy based on agricultural mass production --> ex. Southern colonies based on cash crops such as cotton -
George Washington
First president of the US; commander in chief during the American Revolution -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress made decisions that rejected a colonial union, prepared military defenses, and formed a “Continental Association” to deal with the Great Britain concerning trade agreements and future meetings to keep violence and tension down to a minimum. -
Lexington and Concord
Chapter 4 (17th Century)
The Battles of Lexington and Concord was the starting point of the American Revolution, it was where the first shot—the so-called “shot heard round the world” was fired that was the start of an independent America. -
Iroquois Confederacy
Chapter 5 (Late 1700s)
The Iroquois Confederacy was a group of six Native American tribes that declared themselves as neutral during the war in 1776. Although they claimed to be passive, there were some tribes that actually participated in the war with the British. -
Alexander Hamilton
Chapter 6 (17th century)
Alexander Hamilton was the most resourceful reformers. He was responsible for creating many new ideas about taxation and the American banking system. Hamilton wanted a centralized economy by creating a National Bank. -
Slave Codes
Slave codes were details of law used to regulate slavery; slaves were restricted from any rights, were not allowed to be taught to read/write, carry firearms, leave premises without their master's permission,hold property, etc., but it these codes gave white slave owners total power over other human beings. -
Benjamin Franklin
Chapter 3 (16th and 17th Century)
Benjamin Franklin is very important and did a great many things including his Almanac. The best-know almanac in the colonies in the years before the American Revolution was published by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia from 1732 to 1758 he published Poor Richard’s Almanack under the pseudonym Richard Saunders. -
Great Awakening (Ch. 3)
A rise in religious revival from ministers from various evangelical Protestant denominatioins that yielded workings and evidence of saving grace that caused a rise in the number of memberships in churches. -
French and Indian War
This was the war between Great Britain and France which took place on the American continent, in India, and in Europe. Britain won, but this led to the Colonists need for independence from their controlling mother country. 1754-1763. -
Townshend Revenue Acts (Ch 4)
A system that enforced laws and raised revenues in the colonies, ultimately leading the American colonist to come together and fight against the British government . -
Proclamation of 1763, Ch 5
In an attempt to prevent the colonists form going westward into Native American territory Parliament issued the Proclamation of 1763 to restrict further colonization, by doing so upsetting the colonists. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act, also known as the Mutiny Act, was instated by Charles Townshend, a chancellor who assumed the role of William Pitt, who had fallen ill. The requirement was for Americans to provide the British soldiers with rooms and supplies, even though the colonists had been willingly providing these before the Act. To the British, this was payment for the protection they provided the Americans. However, the colonists viewed this as an unnecessary requirement of something they'd already do -
Boston Massacre: Chp 4
English Soldiers killed Boston residents. Symbolic of English brutality. Used to rally colonists. -
Committee of Correspondence
Opposition governments of the Patriots in the 13 colonies -
Tea Act
Chapter 4
This act made colonists purchase tea from the British East India Company, which had the Townshend duties (taxes) on the tea. -
Common Sense
Common Sense was a document written by Thomas Paine that was targeted at the King, changing the American outlook on the war. He argued that the Constitution of England was corrupt and that the Americans needed to break away from the British government. In changing the outlook on the war, he took away the middle-men who wanted to just reform Britain, rather than break from it. This created a much stronger urge for independence. John Locke was an Enlightenment philosopher who argued for the natura -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration declared America's independce from Britain and was written by Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. -
Articles of Confederation: Chp 5
First Governing Document of the new nation. -
Battle of Saratoga (Ch 5)
The American victory in the Battle of Saratoga was the turning point in the American Revolution, proving that the American colonist could defeat the Biritsh and win independence. -
Shakers
Shakers are a religious sect that believed in equality of the sexes, did not practice procreation, and practiced celibacy; it was a form of a utopian society that rose to stabilize society and it was known for its dancing, singing, shaking, shouting, prophesying, and speaking in new tongues through the various gifts of the Holy Ghost. -
Shay's Rebellion
Chapter 5
This rebellion, named after Daniel Shay, was a response to the taxes placed on the farmers to pay off the American Revolutionary War’s debt. -
Nicholas Biddle
Nicholas Biddle was the owner of the Second National Bank, which Andrew Jackson was against. He ganged up with Henry Clay in trying to push for the bank's continuation until Andrew Jackson took him and the bank down. Ultimately, without the national bank, the economy failed due to the unreliableness of each pet bank that held individual sums of money for the nation. -
Great Compromise
Chapter 6
This was an agreement stating that the large and small states were to define the representation in the legislation. There was to still be a bicameral legislature (two branches). -
Constitution: Chp 6
Second governing document of the states. -
Federalist Papers (Ch 6)
The Federalist Papers, written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, encouraged the ratification of the constitution. -
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights was created in an extension of the Constitutional Convention, which was established to fill in the gaps that were left by the Constitution. The Bill of Rights consists of the first ten amendments of the Constitution, which establish freedoms of speech, religion, petition, assembly, and many other important things that were not addressed in the original Constitution. This caused much controversy, but in the end it was ratified by Congress and added to the Constitution. -
Urbanization (Ch. 7)
While industrialization expanded, societies moved from agrarian-like to urban cities - homes, clothing, and lifestyle in general became more elegant while leisure time became a bigger aspect of any lifestyle ranging from seeing plays/movies to dancing to horse racing. -
Cotton Gin
The cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney, had introduced the idea of mass production of identical part, essentially giving the South the ability to keep up with England's cotton demand. -
Jay's Treaty (Ch. 6)
Jay's Treaty was originally meant to receive reparations from the British, kick the British out of American ports, and negotiate a new commercial treaty, but despite it's failure to achieve such goals, it resulted in settling a conflict between American and Britain that ultimately stopped a war in its tracks. (1794) -
Pickney's Treaty (Ch. 6)
Under Pickney's Treaty, Spain allowed the Americans to sail in their territory to deposit goods for reloading and oceangoing ships, agreed to change the northern boundary of Florida in America's favor, and made Spain promise to prevent Indian raids in Florida on America's side of the border. -
John Adams
President
In office from March 4,1797--March 4, 1801
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States (1797–1801). During his one term, he encountered ferocious attacks by the Jeffersonian Republicans. Adams signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and built up the army and navy especially in the face of an undeclared naval war (called the "Quasi War") with France. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
Four bills that attempted to silence Republican opposition by making it harder for foreigners to become citiznes + making it a crime for speaking out against the government -
Nativism
Chapter 10
Nativism was the idea that opposed immigration because of how they stole the "natives'" jobs. -
Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was a movement era in which the patterns of thinking changed in Europe, and also in the Americas. This movement emphasized the scientific process--experimenting and discovering things rather than just taking philosophers at their word. They also began a religious movement that emphasized a personal belief in God, rather than the need of religion to rule a government. These were the first steps towards the democracy that both America and France would fight for, and in America’s -
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Jefferson helped plan an expedition that would possibly open doors to trade with Indians and give a more detailed description on what the land was like on the other side of the continent. With the help of Sacajawea, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark went from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast, writing down elaborate descriptions and records of the geography and the Indian civilizations they had encountered. -
Patriarchal Society
Protestant colonies that held men as leaders of the community, household, and basically everything. -
Penny press
Cheap newspapers which contained stories ranging from tabloids + actual articles/also informed the COMMON people ; the penny press would later become a political tool especially in the election of 1840 (frontiersman portrayal in the news allowed Will Henry Harrison to become elected by the common people despite his aristocratic bakground) -
Know-Nothings
Members of the 19th century American Party whose ideology focused on natvisim and republicanism due to racisct feelings towards incoming immigrants + fear that these immigrants would destroy prosperity; were later able to destroy the Second Party System + create new political divisions -
The Middle Class
As a result of the industrialized growth and economy, the fast growing middle class emerged. -
Temperance Crusade
Part of the 19th century reform movements, temperance encouraged the legal prohibition of alcohol. -
Immigration
The act of foreigners entering the United States of America. In this case there were many Irish and Germans emigrating to the empire due to the potato famine and failure of economies. -
Urban Slavery
Slavery in the city was distinctly different from slavery in the South because slaves in the city had numerous opportunities to mingle and the line between slavery and freedom became indistinct. Many urban slaves did the ordinary labors white men didn’t prefer to do so many salves worked on docks, construction sites, drove wagons, and worked in mining and lumbering outside of the city. -
Utopian Societies
These communities sought to cure all social ills. -
Worldwide Antislavery Movement
Chapter 12
As slavery increased mainly in the South, abolitionist groups grew (the majority being in the North) gathering whites, blacks, men, and women together for the first time for one cause. -
Anti-Abolitionist Violence
Chapter 12
As the abolitionist groups grew, so did the anti-abolitionists who wanted to keep slavery legal. The anti-abolitionists, most in hight positions, attacked houses and businesses that the abolitionists owned. -
Peculiar Institution
Chapter 11 (19th Century)
Peculiar Institution was a euphemism (a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant) for slavery and the economic ramifications of it in the American South. It was also the system of black slavery in the southern states of the US. -
Federalists
A federalist was the name given to those in favor of the Constitution and a strong central government. These people were usually northern merchants.The federalists were a better or group and had two strong supporters: Franklin and Washington. The federalists were afraid of disorderly anarchy and chaos and supported the Constitution because it placed an obstacle between the people and the exercise of power. -
Feminism
Chapter 12
(1800s-Present Day)
The issue of rights for women (particularly suffurage) first became prominent during the French and American revolutions in the late 18th century. A ‘second wave’ of feminism arose in the 1960s, with an emphasis on unity and sisterhood. *Important people to keep in mind when thinking of this word are Susan B. Anthoney, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott -
Second Great Awakening
The second Great Awakening was made as an effort to fight the conservatives of religion. Various sects of the Christian faith worked to rebuild and maintain their foundations, and this led to great widespread efforts to revitalize religion. The idea of the awakening was to encourage all people to readmit God into their daily lives. This helped many sects and denominations to grow and establish themselves as legitimate. Another aspect of this awakening was the role of women and the way that some -
The Napoleonic Wars
Chapter 7 (19th Century)
The Napoleonic Wars happened when Thomas Jefferson was still president. The Napoleonic Wars was one conflict that eventually led the United States into a difficult and frustrating war. -
Southern Women (Ch 11)
Some women in the South had life styles very much like the white women in the middle class in the North. However had less freedom than thoes in the North and had to fully submit themselves to their husbands. -
Railroad Consolidation
Chapter 11 (18th Century-19th Century)
Railroad consolidation was a business principle during the industrial revolution in the United States. This allowed the American people to speed up transportation, with both goods and human transportation. This allowed the economy to continue to flourish. -
Habeas Corpus
Chapter 14
(Habeas Corpus itself has been there for a while before 1800 and after)
Is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention, that is, detention lacking sufficient cause or evidence. It's important to remember that Lincoln and Grant both suspended Habeas Corpus. -
Marshall Court
The Marshall Court, headed by Chief Justice John Marshall, increased the power of the national government and perpetuated the Federalist idea of centralization. -
Thomas Jefferson (3rd President)
Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President, was an influential Founding Father who was a colossal part of the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. -
Marbury vs. Madison : Chp 7
Established the power of the Supreme Court. John Marshall. -
Louisiana Purchase
Chapter 7
This purchase from the French was colossal in Thomas Jefferson’s presidency as it increased America’s land, but also was controversial in his Republican beliefs. -
Edgar Allen Poe
One of the authors of the Romantic period whose literary works contributed to the burgeoning American identity; regarded as the inventor of the "detective" genre -
James Madison
4th president of the United States whose personal accomplishments include being the primary author of the Constitution + key author of the Bill of Rights; important events during his term include - Macon's Bill No.2, Tariff of 1816, War of 1812, Treaty of Ghent, Fletcher vs. Peck -
War of 1812
Fought between American and British forces, the war was declared on the basis of trade restrictions, impressment of American merchant sailors, and westward expansion; although the War of 1812 did not solve all issues between Britian and America it did stimuate an economic growth bringing the country closer together known as " the Era of Good Feeling'. -
Treaty of Ghent
Peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 --> returned relations to the status quo prior to the war Chapter 7 -
Second Bank of the United States
The Second Bank of the United States was established in response to control the currency issue caused by small local banks. -
Seminole War (Ch 8)
The First Seminole War was a conflict between teh US and Native American's of Florida, who were at disagreement with the Indian Removal Act, put into place by Andrew Jackson. -
Panic of 1819
Chapter 8 (1819)
The Panic of 1819 was the first major financial ciris in the US. It occured during the Era of Good Feelings, and was largely originatied within the U.S. economy. The panic marked the end of the economic expansion that followed the War of 1812 and brough new finacial polices. -
Protestant Revivalism
Protestant revivalism, a movement that had begun with the Second Great Awakening and had evolved into a powerful force for social reform by the 1820s. The same optimistic belief was held that every individual was capable of salvation. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was an agreement between pro and anti-slavery factions in the US Congress that prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30’ north that then excluded the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri. -
Lowell Mills and Workers
The Lowell System was a system that provided workers (mostly female) with housing (boarding houses & dorms) and wages that were sufficient enough for a women to support herself --> basically had her own freedom in a sense compared to before. -
Denmark Vesey
Denmark Vesey was a free African American revolt leader who lead a revolt against slavery in South Carolina, however the revolt failed when authority was informed and revolters were executed. -
General Ulysses S. Grant
Chapter 14
Grant was looked upon as a respected war hero, but his presidency was "cursed" with scandals (Grant Scandals). -
Charles Gradison Finney
Charles Grandison Finney was an evangelistic Presbyterian minister who became the most influential revival leader of the 1820s and 1830s. He proclaimed that traditional Calvinist doctinres of predestination and individual human helplessness were obsolete and no longer believable. -
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams served only one term as president; in 1828, the so-called "tariff of abominations" was passed. Its goal was to protect domestic manufacturing. It was strongly opposed in the South and led Vice President John C. Calhoun to argue again for the right of nullification - to have South Carolina nullify it by ruling it unconstitutional. -
Erie Canal (Ch 10)
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs from the Alantic Ocean to the Great Lackes and provided the first transportation system between the eastern seaboard and the western interior of the US. -
Election of 1828
Election characterized by fierce rivalry and accusations between Jackson (Democratic-Republican became known as Democrats) and John Quincy Adams (National Republican)
--> Jackon's victory signified the split between the Democratic Republicans + started the two-party system -
Tariff of Abominations
The Tariff of 1828 was a protective tariff passed by the COngress of the US designed to protect the industry in the northern United States, but it also had its effects on the antebellum Southern economy. -
Removal Act of 1830
Chapter 9 (1830)
An Act to provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi. It was very controversal and resulted in the not only the deaths of Indians, but also hard feelings. -
Whig Party
Chapter 9
The Whig Party supported the supremacy of the Congress and opposed tyranny. The Whig Party went against the Jacksonians. -
Mormons
Mormons, otherwise known as the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, are a group of Christian believers who reflected a belief in human perfectibility and societies with security and order; the Mormons created an ordered society during a time that needed new and ordered societies for the betterment of the people/nation - it created a "utopian" type of society. -
Webster–Hayne debate
debate over western land cost and rate of expansion, argued that it was meant to privilege eastern elites -
Emerson and Thoreau
Emerson and Thoreau were both writers who played the card of Transcendentaism. -
Nat Turner
Slave preacher/revolt leader who instigated one of the most violent resistance movements in the South; the violence of his resistance heightened growing concers over slavery + further fueled tensions between masters and servants in the South -
Trail of Tears (Ch 9)
The Trail of Tears was the relocation and movement of Native Americans, "Five Civilized Tribes" form their homelands to Indian Territory in the Western US due to the value of the land that they lived on. -
John C. Calhoun
Calhoun proposed nullification, which would allow the Southern states to nullify taxes passed in the north, but he was rejected by Andrew Jackson, who feared the government would lose power this way. -
Worcester v Georgia
Held in 1832 that the Cherokee Indians constituted a nation holding distinct sovereign powers. -
Nullification Crisis
The Nullification Crisis was a sectional crisis focused on the nullifications of the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 due to the fact that they were unconstitutional; after the Force Bill was passed and the Nullification Ordinance was repealed, tariff rates were reduced and the states' rights doctrine of nullification had been rejected by the nation. -
Frederick Douglass
He was an escaped slave who worked heavily as a leader in the antislavery movement. -
Dorr Rebellion
The Dorr Rebellion was an uprising led by Thomas Dorr and his supporters “People’s party” in an attempt to democratize Rhode Island’s conservative electoral system. (1841-1842) -
John Tyler (10th President)
John Tyler, a whig only because he disapproved of Andrew Jackson democratic leadership, came into office after the death of William Henry Harrison. Despite being a Whig he still had democratic ideals and often shot down all Whig legislation during his presidency. During his presidency he passed the Tariff of 1842 and successfully annexed Texas. (April 4, 1841- March 4, 1845) -
The Mexican War
Chapter 13
(1846-1848)
It was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory despite the 1836 Texas Revolution. -
California Gold Rush
Chapter 13
After one carpenter found traces of gold in California, many flocked to find gold, leaving jobs and families behind. Many were unsuccessful. -
Seneca Falls Convention
Chapter 12
(July 19-20, 1848)
The Seneca Falls Convention was an early and influential women's rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York. It was organized by local New York women. Men and women (colored as well) attended the meeting inculduing Fredrick Douglas. Stanton and the Quaker women presented two prepared documents, the Declaration of Sentiments and an accompanying list of resolutions, to be debated and modified before being put forward for signatures. -
Romanticism
Late 18th century artistic, intellectual, and literary movement that stressed emotion and individualism over reason and universalism; American culture was able to flourish with the rise of exemplary authors (e.g. Cooper, Poe) and the development of a true American art style (e.g. Hudson River painters) -
Manifest Destiny
19th century ideology that provided justification of American expansion throughout the continen/reflected both American nationalism + desire to achieve social perfection; contributed to growing sectionalism between N and S -
Cult of Domesticity
Belief based on the fact that in many American homes, it was no longer necessary for the woman to work both the fields and the home. In this belief, women’s roles were clearly defined as homemakers and mothers. -
Planter Aristocracy
Chapter 11
The planter/owners of the plantations had a lot of power even though their numbers were fewer than that of the slaves. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was passed by Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850 and it required all runaway slaves to be brought back to their masters --> this brought tension between the Northerners who were harboring slaves and the Southerners who demanded to have their slaves back, and in the end, Southerners took up matters into their own hands and tensions only worsened. -
Stephen Douglas
He was a Northern Democrat who was defeated by Abraham Lincoln. He was the one who reopened the controversial Kansa Nebraska Act, which soon led to the establishment of the Republican party. -
Franklin Pierce (14th President)
Franklin Pierce, the 14th president, wanted to spread American commerce in the Pacific, by annexing Cuba. Hoever, this riled up the anger of people who thought that he was trying to get more support for slavery by annexing other pro-slavery territories. -
Kansas- Nebraska Act
This law came into existence by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, who proposed to divide the Nebraska Territory into two regions because both regions lay above the 36°30’ line. The Kansas Nebraska Act has caused much conflict wheather the terriotry should be a free or slave state. -
Republicans Ch 5
Anti-slavery activists founded the party in 1854 and were principal opposers to the dominant Democrats, they saw the expansion of slavery as a great evil and belived in modernizing the US emphasizing "free soil". -
James Buchanan
15th president of the United States who is regarded as one of the worst presidents in American history due to his failure to properly deal with the impending crisis aka the Civil War; important events during his term include - panic of 1857, Dred Scott decision, etc. -
Dred Scott Decision
A slave's owner died, and though he was techniclly free and his case moved to the Supreme Court, the Court ruled that he was considered property and could not be taken away from his owner. -
John Brown (Ch 13)
John Brown was a man of action -- a man who would not be deterred from his mission of abolishing slavery. -
General Robert E. Lee
Commander of the Confederate army; skilled tactician/strategist whose skill would eventually fail him at Gettysburg and lead to the surrender of the South in 1865 -
Radical Republicans
Representative Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania and Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts were the leaders of the Radical Republicans. They believed the civil and military leaders of the Confederacy during the Civil War should be punished. -
'King Cotton'
'King Cotton' was a term used later to describe the Southern cotton-based economy that made up two-thirds of the country's exports. -
Scalawags
White southerners who seeked to gain leadership and control over the southern economy and government using freedmen and white northerners who also hoped to do the same. -
Antietam
Antietam was a north western area where the bloodiest single-day engagement of the Civil War took place between McClellan and Lee's men - it ended by being a technical Union victory but it known as a victory for the Union at the cost of thousands of men and a tactless commander. -
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln is considered by many scholars to have been the best President. He is credited with holding the Union together and leading the North to victory in the Civil War. Further, his actions and beliefs led to the emancipation of African-Americans from the bonds of slavery. -
Homestead Act
This is one of the three US federal laws that gave ab applicant frehold title to an area called a homestead, usually 65 hectares of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi River. In order to receive this, the occupant must be 21 years or older, had to live on the land for five years, and show evidence of having made improvements. -
Morill Land Grant Acts
These were acts that the US used to allow for the creation of land grant colleges. These acts include the Morill Act of 1862, 1890, and the Agricultural College Act of 1890. These acts were responsible to teach scientific and classical studies, military tactic, agriculture, the mechanics in arts, liberal, and practical education of the industrial classes in pursuit of a professional life. Basically it gave federal land to people to make schools. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The official order given by President Lincoln to free all slaves in Confederate states not controlled by the Union. (This actually did happen January 1) -
Gettysburg (Ch1 4)
Gen. Robert E. Lee concentrated his full strength against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade’s Army of the Potomac at the crossroads county seat of Gettysburg. -
Ku Klux Klan
Extremist underground society that advocated white supremacy -
Appomattox Courthouse
The Appomattox Courthouse was where General Lee met with Grant and surrendered the remnant of his army with Johnston later surrendering to Sherman near Durham, North Carolina. -
Freedmen's Bureau
This was the US federal government agency that aided distressed slaves (freedmen) during the reconstruction era of the United States. It was initaited by Abraham Lincoln and was intented to last a year after the civil war. While it was headed under the US Department of War, it was disbanded under President Grant. -
Carpetbaggers
Chapter 15
Carpetbaggers were Northerners who sought to profit from reconstruction in the South. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Chapter 15
(enacted on April 9, 1866)
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 is a federal law in the United States that was mainly intended to protect the civil rights of African-Americans, in the wake of the American Civil War. The Act was enacted by Congress over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. -
Tenant Farming and sharecroppers
In the South, it remained primarily agrarian and so tenantry arose - many farmers had no land or equipment so a system arose where landlords would supply land, housing, a few tools, seeds, and sometimes a mule to farmers who would give a large share of the annual crop in return, thus the term "sharecropping." -
Jim Crow (Ch15)
Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-Black laws. It was a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status ofof second class citizens. Jim Crow represented the legitimization of anti-Black racism of second class citizens. Jim Crow represented the legitimization of anti-Black racism -
Plessy v. Ferguson (Ch15)
The Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896 is significant in the course of American history, as it's outcome upheld the notion that racial segregation was constitutionally legal under the "separate but equal" doctrine. -
Consumerism
Chapter 3
It is a social and economic order that increases the purchasing of goods.
