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missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a attempt to prevent the expansion of slavery into the new territory of the Louisiana Purchase. As a result, slavery was restricted above the 36/30 line, while everything south consisted of slave states. This compromis only served as temporary solution to the disagreements about slavery. -
Battle of Antietam
The Army of the Potomac, under the command of George McClellan, mounted a series of powerful assaults against Robert E. Lee’s forces near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17, 1862. The morning assault and vicious Confederate counterattacks swept back and forth through Miller’s Cornfield and the West Woods. Later, towards the center of the battlefield, Union assaults against the Sunken Road pierced the Confederate center after a terrible struggle. Late in the day, the third and final major assa -
54-40 or fight
The southern boundary of the United States with Mexico was not the only western territory under dispute. The Oregon Territory spanned the modern states of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, as well as the western coast of Canada up to the border of Russian Alaska. Both Great Britain and America claimed the territory. The Treaty of 1818 called for joint occupation of Oregon — a solution that was only temporary. Led by missionaries, American settlers began to outnumber British settlers by the late 183 -
Texas Annexation
At the time of the Texas Revolution, most Texans and Americans assumed that the Republic of Texas would swiftly be annexed to the United States. Tied together by blood and business, closer to busy New Orleans than weak and disorganized Mexico, it seemed only natural that Texas would become the latest territorial expansion to a United States that had already bounded from the East Coast to the Rocky Mountains in less than the span of one human lifetime. -
Treaty of guadalupe-hidago
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (gwah-dah-loop-ay ee-dahl-go), which brought an official end to the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) was signed on February 2, 1848, at Guadalupe Hidalgo, a city north of the capital where the Mexican government had fled with the advance of U.S. forces. To explore the circumstances that led to this war with Mexico, visit the Teaching with Documents -
War with Mexico
Congressman David Wilmot proposed a law to ban slavery in all of the territory aquired from Mexico. Wilmot's Proviso, however, was blocked by southern senators who feared that as soon as Northeners gained control of the Senate slavery would be abolished, and with it their way of life. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 consists of five laws passed in September of 1850 that dealt with the issue of slavery. -
uncle toms cabin
"Uncle Tom's Cabin", written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was an anti-slavery novel which revealed the true horrors and evils of slavery to the North. The South claimed it was an unfair depiction of slavery; however, that did not stop the growing number of abolitionists in the North. -
Gadsden purchase
The Gadsden Purchase, or Treaty, was an agreement between the United States and Mexico, finalized in 1854, in which the United States agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for a 29,670 square mile portion of Mexico that later became part of Arizona and New Mexico. Gadsden’s Purchase provided the land necessary for a southern transcontinental railroad and attempted to resolve conflicts that lingered after the Mexican-American War. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. -
Republician Party founded
Party Furry over "Bleeding Kansas" led to the birth of the Republican party in 1855 in Ripon Wisconsin. The Republican party mainly consisted of notherners, whos main concern was the limit the spread of slavery in all territories. This estranged the north and south even more -
Brooks Sumner incident
Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beat Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with his cane after Sumner gave a speach against slavery. Rather than showing remorse for the actions of their congressman, the South glorified Brooks' actions. Northerners were both disgusted and outraged. These were their most civilized leaders and this even spread uncertainty through out the U.S. -
Harper's Ferry Raid
John Brown (a white Northener) attempted a slave revolt at Harpers Ferry but failed. This confirmed the South's beliefs that the Northeners would gladly help Southern slaves revolt against their masters. This led the South to believe they could no longer live safely in the Union. -
Election of 1860
In the 1860 presidential election Abraham Lincoln was running for the Republican party while Breckinridge was running as a Democrat. The northern population led to the domination of the Republican party, leavin Lincoln as president. This struck fear in the South because the country was now being run by men against slavery. The South felt they had 2 choices; either leave the Union or be striped of their institution. -
Fort sumter
On April 13, 1861, Fort Sumter fell to the Confederate bombardment, and The Charleston Mercury declared it to be "the opening ball of the Revolution." On Saturday, April 28, 2012, at 5 P.M., we will recreate the patriotic fervor and war fever which swept South Carolina, as we enjoy the grace and beauty of a Victorian Ball and dinner. Join the Gen. States Rights Gist Camp 1451, S.C.V., at Spartanburg's historic American Legion Hall i -
First battle of bull run
On July 21, 1861, Union and Confederate armies clashed near Manassas Junction, Virginia, in the first major land battle of the American Civil War. Known as the First Battle of Bull Run (or Manassas), the engagement began when about 35,000 Union troops marched from the federal capital in Washington, D.C. to strike a Confederate force of 20,000 along a small river known as Bull Run. After fighting on the defensive for most of the day, the rebels rallied and were able to break the Union right flank -
Monitor v. Merrimac
On August 3, 1861 the United States Navy’s Ironclad Board placed ads in Northern Newspapers inviting designers to submit their plans for the construction of ironclad warships. In a letter to Abraham Lincoln dated August 29, 1861 John Ericsson offered to build a vessel, “…that within ten weeks after commencing the structure I would engage to be ready to take up position under the Rebel guns at Norfolk…” Ericsson was a Swedish-American inventor that designed the Union Monitor nicknamed “cheese b -
battle of gettysburg
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee concentrated his army around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, upon the approach of Union Gen. George G. Meade’s forces. On July 1, Confederates drove Union defenders through Gettysburg to Cemetery Hill. The next day Lee struck the flanks of the Union line resulting in severe fighting at Devil's Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Peach Orchard, Culp’s Hill and East Cemetery Hill. Southerners gained ground but failed to dislodge the Union host. On the morning of July 3r -
Shermans March
William T. Sherman left Tennessee with 100,000 troops. He marched to Atlanta, Georgia. He ten marched from Atlanta to the Atlantic Ocean. During this 300 mile march Sherman's soldiers burned and destroyed everything in a width of 60 miles -
Appomaxttox court house
Early on April 9, the remnants of John Brown 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