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This was the first battle of the American Revolution. The Britsh Army was going to take the weapons away from colonists, and the fight began at Lexington. The Minutemen lost as Lexington but then defeated the British at Concord. This revolution will be won by the Colonists and the United States is created.
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This battle is a turning point in the war. This battle showed the French that the colonists had a chance of winning the war. The French were an enemy of the British. France declared war against England in 1778. The French gave military and financial aid to the colonists. This is important because after the colonists win the war, and the French begin their own revolution, there is debate over whether the United States should help them.
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This battle ended the war and led to the surrender of the British. After England surrenders, the Treaty of Paris is signed and ends the war completely. This leads to the creation of the United States.
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The United States started to expand and add more territories to the nation. The Northwest Ordinance was one of the successes of the Articles of Confederation, the first government in the US. The Northwest Ordinance set the precedent for the creation of all new states and having them become American territories. This becomes very important after the completion of Manifest Destiny when a bunch of states began to enter the Union. However, a lot of issues arose over the states being a slave or free.
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The Louisiana Purchase was the start of Manifest Destiny. This land was purchased from France by President Jefferson. Jefferson signed a treaty with Napoleon. The territory was purchased for 15 million dollars. Lewis and Clark explored this territory. Jefferson supported a strict interpretation of the Constitution, so using the elastic clause to buy land set a precedent for future purchases or control of the land. Purchasing this territory also gave the US control of the Mississippi River.
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This compromise allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a free state and Maine as a slave state. It allowed the amount of free and slave states to remain equal. This also drew the line for the expansion of slavery at the 36'30" line. This compromise is later overturned and deemed unconstitutional and replaced with the Compromise of 1850. The main purpose was just to keep balance in the United States between the slave and free states.
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Great Britain wanted to restore some of its power in Latin America. The Monroe Doctrine was passed to prohibit any other countries from any colonization or trade with Latin America. It wasn't used during this time period but was enforced later on by different presidents. The Americans felt they had the right to involve themselves in issues in the Western Hemisphere, and they felt the Monroe Doctrine gave them the right to do so.
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President Andrew Jackson passed a high tariff and South Carolina refused to pay the tariffs and said that a state could nullify a law if it hurt the state's economy. Vice President John Calhoun, who was from South Carolina, supported this. Calhoun tried to get the tariff nullified. Jackson wanted to keep showing that the federal government is stronger than the states but he was worried about losing support from the south. A compromise lowered the tariff and forced South Carolina to pay.
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After multiple attempts at capturing Vicksburg, the Union finally defeats the Confederates. The Confederate surrender cuts their army in half at the Mississippi river. The Union gains control over the Mississippi river. This is a big advantage for the North since the confederate army is split up and now they have the control over the river giving them better at transporting resources and other things.
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White farmers were invited into texas by Mexico so they could have room for farms. They agreed to live under Mexico's laws. However, Texans revolted after Mexico outlawed slavery, but Mexico still saw it as their territory. Texas wanted to join the US but border disputes caused issues. Texas had issues entering the Union because of disputes over whether it would be a free or a slave state. Texas was annexed after Polk was elected president. Texas finally entered the Union as a slave state.
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Oregon territory was occupied by the Spanish, British, and Americans. After the Spanish claim on the territory ended, conflict between America and Britain began to rise. War tensions began to rise quickly. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 gave the United Staes control of territory underneath the 49th parallel.
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President Polk wanted to purchase more territory from Mexico. Mexico refused, so Polk sent troops into territory that was being disputed. Mexico saw this as a threat, so Mexican troops fired on American troops, starting the Mexican-American War. The war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which gave America control over the rest of the area on the coast. This completed Manifest Destiny.
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This compromise introduced the principle of popular sovereignty which allowed the states to vote and decide for themselves whether they wanted to be a slave or free state. California is admitted as a free state. The decision of slavery in territory gained through the Mexican Cession would be decided through popular sovereignty. Also, a New Fugitive Slave law was enacted that stated that all runaway slaves in the North are required to be returned to the South.
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Stephen Douglas used the principle of popular sovereignty to let Kansas and Nebraska decide whether they wanted to be free or slave states. Both pro-slave and anti-slave people sent representatives to sway votes in their favor. This leads to conflict later on.
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When Douglas allowed states to choose whether they wanted to be slave or free, people sent representatives to sway states into their direction. Competition over voting led to aggression and violent fights known as Bleeding Kansas. These issues created a new political party, the Republicans. Republican influence leads to many changes in the country later on. This also shows the flaw in popular sovereignty if it is used in circumstances where is it not a good option.
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John Brown was an abolitionist who was very strongly against slavery. Brown led a raid at Harper's Ferry to hopefully arm slaves and start a rebellion. This made slave owners very scared, and they believed that all Northerners shared the feelings Brown did. This made sectionalism grow even more. Brown was hung for treason and murder.
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This was the first major Confederate win of the war. The Union started off strong but lose to the confederates. This came as a shock to everyone because most people figured the war would be over fairly quickly. It made people nervous about how the war would end and how it would impact the United States. Lincoln replaced the Union general with George McClellan in hopes that he would do better and lead the Union to success.
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The Battle of Fort Sumter was the first battle of the Civil War. Confederate soldiers fired on the Fort. This began the war. They surrendered a day later. This is the start of a war that will reshape the United States and solve problems, but also make a lot more along with it.
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This battle ended in a draw and was the bloodiest war. 23,000 people were dead or wounded. The Union suffered more than the Confederacy, which leads to Lincoln having the opportunity to move forward with the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation allowed African Americans to join the Union army. Also, the British stopped supporting the South because they are against slavery.
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Abraham Lincoln feared that the border states would succeed from the Union. Freeing all slaves in the Union was a military measure that allowed freed slaves to now join the Union army. This also stopped Britain from supporting the South because they are very against slavery. Later, when the Union won the war and states reentered the Union, the proclamation stayed strong and forced all southern states to also free their slaves in order to rejoin the United States.
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Lincoln's plan, otherwise known as the 10% plan, tried to let states back into the Union as easy as possible. Only 10% of voters in Southern states had to swear an oath to the union and accept all terms of emancipation for the state to enter back into the union. They wanted to make it easy for states to come back into the Union. The goal was to reunite the United States and keep the nation together.
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In Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, President Lincoln visits the war site from the Battle of Gettysburg to claim it as a cemetery for the fallen soldiers. He said the war was a struggle, but it fulfilled the Declaration of Independence and preserved the nation. Now the declaration's claim that "all men are created equal" can be truly upheld. At least that was the plan. Segregation becomes a big problem after African Americans gain citizenship.
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The South attempts to invade the North for the second time. The confederates were presumed to win the war by the first night, but on the second day, Union tactics and thinking, the Union pulled through and defeat the Confederacy at Gettysburg. This was the last time the South attempted to invade the North.
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William Sherman led a march to the sea from the Tennesee-Georgia border. The goal was to capture the port at Savannah, Georgia. Sherman used the total war strategy, a war on military and civilians. He burned down cities and towns and wrecked everything in his path.
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The 13th Amendment freed all slaves. This also allowed African Americans to serve in the Union army, which helped the North win the Civil War. When the Southern states began to rejoin the Union, they had to free all their slaves too.
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The 14th Amendment grants birthright citizenship to all American citizens, including African Americans. This gives them the basic rights like owning property and being paid for labor.
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Republicans in government wanted to punish the South for everything they did during the war. They passed the Military Reconstruction Act of 1867, which broke the Confederate military forces into 5 districts controlled by the United States army. The 13th Amendment ended slavery. They passed the 14th Amendment which states all African American citizens are citizens. The 15th amendment granted African Americans the right to vote.
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This amendment gave all men the right to vote. Even though African Americans were given the right to vote, people in the south passed requirements for voting like literacy tests or poll taxes that African Americans couldn't meet. And for other white Americans that couldn't meet those standards, they passed the Grandfather clause, which stated if your grandfather could vote then you could too. This allowed all white Americans to vote but excluded all African Americans.
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Supreme court legalized segregation, even in Northern states. The principle of "separate but equal" was introduced and used as a reason for segregation and racism. Black codes and Jim Crow Laws made African Americans still seem lesser than that of white Americans. Most advances made during reconstruction were ruined because of segregation and the issues it causes between races.
