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1820 Missouri Compromise
The compromise of 1820 was ordered to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states. The compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state -
Manifest Destiny
John O’Sullivan initiated the phrase 'Manifest Destiny' encompassing the idea that Westward Expansion as a divine right of the American people highlighting the extension of slavery issue. -
The Annexation of Texas
Texas voluntarily asked to become part of the US, both parties were initially opposed to this due to slavery. President Tyler encouraged the annexation, but Polk put it in effect. Texas' incorporation into the United States of America, as the 28th state on December 29th. -
Mexican-American War
The Mexican army opened fire on the United States at the Rio Grande River in 1846 due to the annexation of Texas and the US desire for California and other territories of Mexico. -
US-Mexican War
This was an armed conflict between the United States of America and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It was mostly caused by the U.S. annexation of Texas. -
US settles dispute with Britain over Oregon
A major issue in the 1844 presidential election, the Oregon border was proposed by the democrats. President Polk, under pressure from the Mexican-American War, agreed to the 49th parallel and the Oregon Treaty was created. -
Wilmot Proviso of 1846
Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman David Wilmot, was an amendment to Democratic President James K. Polk's appropriation bill for the funding of newly acquired territories. -
Popular Sovereignty
The term Popular Sovereignty was first used by Illinois U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas in association with slavery. It proposes that all citizens should together have the greatest influence on their government. -
Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo ends US-Mexican War
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,ordered by president Polk, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the Mexican-American War in favor of the United States. -
Compromise of 1850
Senator Henry Clay introduced multiple resolutions on January 29, 1850, in an attempt to seek a compromise and avert a crisis between North and South. -
The Gadsden Purchase
This purchase is a 29,670-square-mile region of present-day Arizona and New Mexico that the United States purchased by treaty signed by James Gadsden, U.S. ambassador to Mexico. The U.S. Senate voted in favor of ratifying it with amendments on April 25, because the U.S. sought a better route for the construction of the southern transcontinental railway line. -
Formation of the Republican party
Republican party began as a coalition of anti-slavery Conscience Whigs and the Free Soil Democrats opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska Acts. The party was submitted to Congress by Stephen Douglas in January 1854. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves if they wanted to allow slavery within their borders which repealed the 1820 compromise that didn't allow slavery passed the 36 30 latitude. -
Treaty of Tianjin with China
The Treaty of Tien-Tsin, is a collective name for several documents signed at Tianjin in June 1858 which ended the first phase of the Second Opium War. The Ta-tsing Empire, Russian, and Second French Empires, the United Kingdom, and the United States were the parties involved. -
Raid on Harpers Ferry
Abolitionist John Brown lead in a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The raid in an attempt to start an armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected
After Lincoln was elected white men in the south wanted to govern themselves because they didn't believe in what Lincoln felt was right for the country. -
Confederate states of America
They formed the Confederate States of America after Lincoln was elected, but before he took office. -
South Carolina secedes from the USA
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union in December 1860. Since Abraham Lincoln was becoming president and believed in keeping slavery contained South Carolina decided to secede from the union and this was -
Six other States Secede from the USA
Six other slave states, Mississippi, (January 9) 1861, Florida (January 10), Alabama (January 11), Georgia (January 19), Louisiana (January 26), and Texas (February 1) followed South Carolina in secession from the Union, before the attack on Ft. Sumter and Lincoln's call up. -
The War began with the Attack on Fort Sumter
On 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. On April 13th, Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort and was evacuated the next day. This marked the beginning of the Civil War. -
Four more states join the confederacy
Four additional slave-holding states Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina declared their secession and joined the Confederacy due to a call by Abraham Lincoln for troops from each state to recapture Sumter and other seized federal properties in the South. -
Four Slave States Decide to Stay in the USA
Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri are four slave states that never declared a secession from the Union in June 1861 -
Jefferson Davis Elected President of CSA, Trent Affair, Danger of British Intervention
The Trent Affair was an incident in 1861 during the American Civil War that threatened a war between the United States and the United Kingdom. The U.S. Navy illegally captured two Confederate diplomats from a British ship in which the British protested and the United States closed the incident by releasing the diplomats. -
USA Abolishes Slavery in Washington, DC
On this date in 1862, President Lincoln signed an act abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, an important step in the long road toward full emancipation and enfranchisement for African Americans. -
The Homestead Act
Signed by President Lincoln, the Homestead Act encouraged Western migration by offering settlers 160 acres of public land. In exchange, homesteaders paid a small filing fee and were required to complete five years residence before receiving ownership. -
Emancipation Proclamation
This was an executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln to change the legal status of more than 3 million people in the South from the status slave to free. -
Battle of Gettysburg, USA Defeats CSA Army
Gettysburg (July 1-3rd) was the largest and the turning point some would say of the Civil War. The Confederate army attempts to continue its invasion of the North into Gettysburg, PA, although the Union held its ground and forced them to retreat. -
US Congress Passes Wade-Davis Bill, Vetoed by Lincoln
The Wade Davis Bill was proposed by two Radical Republicans, Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio and Representative Henry Winter Davis of Maryland. The bill made re-unionizing for former Confederate states dependent on an Ironclad oath that they had never in the past supported the Confederacy. The was pocket vetoed by Lincoln and the Radical Republicans were outraged that Lincoln did not sign the bill. Lincoln said that it would kill the country. -
The Great Sioux War
The US wanted ownership of Black Hills, settlers moved onto Native American lands which caused a series of battles which raged on until 1877. -
The Dawes Act
Act adopted by Congress in 1887 which authorized the President to divide American Indian tribal land into allotments for individual Indians and those who accepted are granted United States citizenship. -
Spanish-American War (Cuba, Hawaii, Philippines)
A conflict between Spain and the United States started by an explosion of the USS Maine in Havana harbor in Cuba leading to United States intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. American acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions led to its involvement in the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War. Hawaii was annexed during this conflict. -
The Philippine Organic Act
This was a basic law for the government passed by the US Congress on July 1. It is also known as the Philippine Bill of 1902 and the Cooper Act, after its author Henry A. Cooper. The approval of the act coincided with the official end of the Philippine–American War. -
President Monroe issues the Monroe Corollary
In order to keep other powers out and ensure financial solvency, President Roosevelt issues his corollary. "Chronic wrongdoing . . . may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation," -
First World War breaks out in Europe
WWI was a global war starting in Europe that lasted until 11 November 1918 with more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans. The cause for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. -
USA enters WWI
The US entered WWI despite desperately trying to stay neutral, ties to Britain, propaganda, the sinking of ships by German U-boats, and a German attempt in the Zimmermann Note to get Mexico to declare war on the U.S. pushed the U.S. to getting involved. -
President Wilson issues the Fourteen Points
This was a statement of peace principles to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a speech to the United States Congress by President Wilson. Wilson wanted to avoid United States involvement in long-standing European tensions. -
Treaty of Versailles
This treaty was the most important peace treaty that brought WWI to an end, because it ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
