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Missouri Comprimise of 1820
Missouri would be a slave state and all territory above 36 degress 30 north would be free. -
Compromise of 1850
California was admitted as a free state, -
Fugitive Slave Act
Runaways were to be arrested, given no trial, and citizens must help capture runaways. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act divided the Nebraska Territory into Kansas and Nebraska. Voters in each territory would decide the issue of slavery by popular soverignty. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott was a slave. His owner took him outside the south and through states that did not allow slavery. These states had rules that any enslaved person brought into the state became free. Dred Scott sued to try to win his freedom. The Dred Scott case had a very broad and damaging outcome. The Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott, a negro, had no rights whatsoever. He was property, not a person or a citizen. He had no right to sue in federal court. Further, the court ruled that the federal go -
Macy's
Rowland H. Macy opened what he called a department store in New York. It became the largest single store in America. From then on, his company has increased. -
On the Origin of Species
Biologist Charles Darwin published this book arguing that animals evolvd by a process of "natural selection" and that only the fittest survivied to reproduce. -
Election of 1860
4- way U.S. Presidential election between Douglas, Breckenridge, Bell, and Lincoln resulting in Lincoln winning the election. -
South Carolina summons State Convention
Meeting in Charleston and without a dissenting vote, the convention declared that 'the union now subsisting between South Carolina and the other states, under the name of the 'United States of America,' is hereby dissolved." -
Confederacy is Formed
7 seceeding states established the Confederate States of America. TN, LA, MS, AL, GA, SC, and FL -
Civil War begins
Lincoln declares war after the fall of Fort Sumter when the confederates fired the fort forcing the commander of the fort to surrender. -
Suspension of Habeas Corpus
Lincoln suspended the Constitutional right of Habeas Corpus, which guarantees that no one can be held in prison without specific charges being filled. -
Crittenden Compromise
Proposed constitutional amendment that attempted to prevent succession of the Southern states by allowing slavery south of the Missouri Compromise. -
Anacondo Plan
The plan involved seizing the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico so that the South could not send or receive shipments. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Presidential decree that declared that "all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." -
Period: to
Reconstruction Era
The reconstruction of the South after the climax of the Civil War. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Union troops defeated Lee at the town of Gettysburg, the battle destroyed 1/3 of Lee's forces and marked the last major Confederate attempt to invade the North. -
Gettysburg Address
A speech, Lincoln used the occasion to reaffirm the ideas for which the Union was fighting for. It was one of the greatest speeches in history. -
Freedmen's Bureau
A federal agency designed to aid freed slaves and relieve the South's immediate needs. -
Civil War ends
Lee surrenders to Grant in the small Virginia town of Appomattox Court House. -
Assasination of Lincoln
Before Lincoln could gain support for his moderate plan for Reconstruction, he was assisinated. VP Andrew Johnson became President. -
13th Amendment Accepted
This amendment end slavery. -
Impeachment of Johnson
Congress voted to impeach Johnson. Impeachment is the act of bringing charges against an official in order to determine whether he or she should be removed from office. -
Ragged Dick or Street Life in New York
Horatio Alger's first published novel. It was a wildly successful novel that told the story of a poor boy who rose tow ealth and fame by working hard. His novels stressed the possibility that anyone could vault from poverty and obscurity to wealth and fame. -
Great Chicago Fire
A conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about 3.3 square miles in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S. disasters of the 19th century, the rebuilding that began helped develop Chicago as one of the most populous and economically important American cities. -
Creation of Yellowstone National Park
One of the first federal responses to concerns about the enviroment. -
The Gilded Age
A novel written by Mark Twain who satirized American life in his novel. He depicted American society as gilded, or having a rotten core covered with gold paint. The new lightstyle that middle-class Americans adopted during this period-shopping, sports, and reading popular magazines and newspapers-contributed to the development of a more commonly shared American culture that would persist for the next century. -
Tenements
Low-cost multifamily housing designed to squeeze in as many families as possible. Poor sanitation. -
Invention of the Light Bulb
Thomas edison patents the electric light bulb. Within 2 years, he installs a street-lighting system in New York City. -
Standard Oil Trust
This trust would place control of all of the Standard Oil Companies’ stock in the hands of the trustees, who in return would deliver trust certificates equal to the par value of the stock and provide receipts on all outstanding certificates as dividends. This trust would also establish a three-tier structure for receiving benefits from the trust. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The act prohibited immigration by Chinese laborers, limited the civil rights of Chinese immigrants already in the U.S., and forbade the naturalization of Chinese residents. -
Roller Coaster
Lamarcus Thompson opened the world's first roller coaster. At 10cents a ride, Thompson averaged more than $600 per day in income. The roller coaster was the first ride to open at Coney Island at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean in NYC. -
Creation of Time Zones
Delegates from 27 countries divided the globe into 24 time zones, one for each hour of the day. -
Haymarket Riot
Thousands of workers mounted a national demonstration for an 8-hour workday. Violence erupted from the strikers. -
American Federation of Labor(AFL)
It was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. -
Interstate Commerce Commission(ICC)
monitors U.S. businesses operations -
Streetcars
Richmond, Virginia introduced a revolutionary invention: streetcars powered by overhead electric cables. -
Jacob Riis
A journalist who brought the horror of the tenements to the public eye. "How the Other Half Lives" -
Sherman Anti-trust Act
An act that monitors trust, and puts a stop to monopoly and makes them illegal. -
Ellis Island
Most European immigrants arrived in New York Harbor. They were processed here. All third-class, or steerage, passengers were sent here. Immigration officers conducted legal and medical inspections, etc. -
Homestead Riot
There were cut wages which led up to more violence and the public opinion of unions was turning. -
Pullman Strike
There were lowered wages but did not lower cost of living. Eugene v. Dobs-arrested for refusing to end strike. Unions lose power in the U.S. -
Wanamaker
Offered money back guarantee and offered free delivery to rural areas which resulted in a boom in mail order catalogs. -
Immigration
Immigration to the United States reaches an all-time high. -
Angel Island
Chinese and other Asian immigrants were processed here. Angel Island was always formidable and seemingly designed to filter out Chinese immigrants and most of them stayed here when the Chinese-Exclusion Act came into play.