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Missouri Compromise
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Missouri wanted to enter the union as a slave state. Free states felt adding a new state would upset the balance in Congrss.
3 Parts of the Compromise:
1. Missouri would be added as a slave state.
2. Maine becomes a free state.
3. New line drawn at 36/30 parallel: south of that line slavery could exist, north of that line no more slavery was allowed. -
54'40 Fight
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It was a slogan used for the conflict between Canada and the U.S. "54 40" meaning the latitude lines that the countries were arguig over to set the boundaries at. The countries eventually came to the agreement to set the boundary at 49. -
Texas Annexation
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This texas territory wanted to be added to the United States. Due to the issue of slavery, the annexation took longer. Mexico threatened the US and said: "if the US does not annex Texas then there will be war" -
Wilmot Proviso
Wanted to outlaw slavery from the new territories that were part of the Mexican Cession. It was unsuccessful, it was defeated in the senate. *Used notes for information -
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidago
InformationThe Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the U.S.-Mexican War. Signed on 2 February 1848, it is the oldest treaty still in force between the United States and Mexico. As a result of the treaty, the United States acquired more than 500,000 square miles of valuable territory and emerged as a world power in the late nineteenth century. -
Compromise of 1850
InformationThe Compromise of 1850 accomplished what it set out to do -- it kept the nation united -- but the solution was only temporary. Over the following decade the country's citizens became further divided over the issue of slavery. The rift would continue to grow until the nation itself divided. -
Uncle Toms Cabin
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Uncle Tom's cabin was published in 1852 and written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The book inspired many northerns to oppose to the horros of slavery. -
Gadsen Purchase
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This was land purchased from mexico. They purchased this land because they wanted to build a railroad. This purchase completed the lower 48 states. -
The Kansas-Nebrask Act
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This law gave popular sovereignty to the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. These territories would decide by voting if they wanted to be a free state or slave state. This led to violence between anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions, known as "Bleeding Kansas". -
Republican Party founded
InformationWith the successful introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854, an act that dissolved the terms of the Missouri Compromise and allowed slave or free status to be decided in the territories by popular sovereignty, the Whigs disintegrated. By February 1854, anti-slavery Whigs had begun meeting in the upper midwestern states to discuss the formation of a new party. One such meeting, in Wisconsin on March 20, 1854, is generally remembered as the founding meeting of the Republican Party. -
Brooks-Sumner Incident
InformationMassachusetts Senator Charles Sumner sat as his desk in the nearly empty Chamber of the United States Senate on May 22, 1856. He had recently given a speech called “The Crime Against Kansas” on abolishing slavery in the United States. The speech described atrocities occurring in Kansas at the time. There pro-slavery border ruffians from Missouri crossed into Kansas and attacked anti-slavery settlers. Senator Sumner specifically mentioned Senator Andrew Butler, of South Carolina in the speech bec -
Harper's Ferry Raid
John Brown led the attack on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry. He failed and he was taken to prison and he was executed. *Infromation came from notes -
Election Of 1860
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The 1860 election made Abraham Lincoln President. He was the first Republican elected to that office and only the second to run for it. The states of the Deep South seceded from the Union before he was inaugurated. -
Firing on Fort Sumter
InformationOn April 12, 1861, General P.G.T. Beauregard, in command of the Confederate forces around Charleston Harbor, opened fire on the Union garrison holding Fort Sumter. At 2:30pm on April 13 Major Robert Anderson, garrison commander, surrendered the fort and was evacuated the next day. -
First Battle Of Bull Run
InformationThis was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. On July 16, 1861, the untried Union army under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville. On the 21st, McDowell crossed at Sudley Ford and attacked the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. Fighting raged throughout the day as Confederate forces were driven back to Henry Hill. -
Monitor Vs. Merrimac
InformationThe showdown between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (more commonly called the Merrimac) took place on the James River at the Battle of Hampton Roads. It was arguably a turning point for naval warfare, ending the era of wooden military vessels. -
Battle of Gettysburg
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It was the turning point in the war. It was the furthest north the Confederate Army got. It stopped the Confederacy from moving onto Philadelphia or NY or going back South to Washington DC. It cost the South dearly in soldiers they could not adequately replace, and they were pretty much on defense for the rest of the war. It also came at the same time as Grant took Vicksburg, a second huge blow for the South. It ended any last hopes of the Confederacy getting help from France or England. Read -
Sherman's March
InformationFrom November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. The purpose of this “March to the Sea” was to frighten Georgia’s civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause. Sherman’s soldiers did not destroy any of the towns in their path, but they stole food and livestock and burned the houses and barns of people who tried to fight back. The Yankees were “not only fighting hostile armies, b -
Appomattox Court House
InformationEarly on April 9, the remnants of John Broun Gordon’s corps and Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry formed line of battle at Appomattox Court House. Gen. Robert E. Lee determined to make one last attempt to escape the closing Union pincers and reach his supplies at Lynchburg. At dawn the Confederates advanced, initially gaining ground against Sheridan’s cavalry. The arrival of Union infantry, however, stopped the advance in its tracks. Lee’s army was now surrounded on three sides. Lee surrendered to Grant on -
Battle of Antietam
InformationThe 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. For the men of both armies, the Ame
