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Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1794. This was used to speed up cotton picking. He thought that this would help end slavery but it really didn’t. It ended up increasing slavery because the workers needed slaves to spin the cotton so they wouldn’t have to do it their selves. The cotton gin made southern planters rich. It helped the southerners more than the northerners. -
Louisina Purchase
The Lousiana Purchase was signed by Napoleon and President Thomas Jefferson. This was signed to that America would gain control of the Port of New Orleans. The Louisina Purchase doubled the size of the United States in an instant. The Louisina Purchase cost the US $15 million The purchase included all last west of the Mississippi River up till the Rocky Mountians. To explore this new vast land and have a final map, President Jefferson appointed Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark. -
Missouri Comprompise
In 1819, Missouri wanted to enter the union as a free state. If they did, the south would gain majority in the senate. An option was brought up; Maine would also apply to enter the union. Then, the majority in the senate would be euqal again. Another option was brought up by Senator Jesse B. Thomas. He proposed that new slave states, outside of the United Stated territory ( except for Missouri ) would not be slave states North of the imaginary line of latitude 36* 30'. -
War of 1812
During this war, France and Britain were fighting over who controls the port to trade with America. This port was necessary because America had some resources that France and Britain did not have. The United States didn’t want to get caught up in the war since they were a new growing country.in the end; the Treaty of Ghent ended the war. With the war going on, “The Star-Spangled Banner” (the United Sates national anthem) was created by, Francis Scott Key. -
Adams-Onis Treaty
In 1818, Jackson went to Florida with the mind of conquering it. Spain protested. This led to waer which Spain could not afford. In the end Spain agreed to Peace. Spain agreed to give up Florida in exchange for $5 million. The US agreed and the treaty took affect in 1821. -
Interchangable Parts
In 1778 a French engineer named Horne Blanc began experimenting with making muskets with identical parts. His plan was to convince the government to buy his guns. He would take apart 10 muskets and dump the parts into the box. Then he will pick a part at random and build the musket that way. He was hoping to make a gun with interchangeable parts. Eli Whitney found about the interchangeable parts and made his cotton gins that way. This increased the rate of making cottton faster then before. -
Texas Annexation
In 1845 the United States annexed the republic of Texas and admitted the union as the 28th state. So we inherited the Texas border with Mexico. This quickly led to the Mexican American war in which we captured additional territory extending the nations border. This also led to some anericans thinking that their long desired idea of Manifest Destiny had been fulfilled. -
Mexican Cession
By the end of the Mexican War, the United States had alreasdy taken 525,000 square miles of land from Mexico, the US had also taken Mexico City. To make peace with the United States the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. In this treaty, Mexico had to give up California and Mexico to the US. However, the US paid $15 million to respect the rights of the spanish people living in the Mexican Cession. -
Oregon Treaty
On June 15, 1846 the US and Great Britain signed a treaty. This treaty established the 49th parallel as the border between the US and Great Britain. Though Britain preferred the Columbia River as the boundary, but they were willing to consider further north- but not 54 degrees north. At this time President James K. Polk was in war with Mexico and was willing to compromise. As a result the negotiations were at 49 degrees north. On August 14m 1848 congress formally established the Oregon Territory -
Gadsen Purchase
President Franklin Pierce appointed James Gadsen to negotiate and question about the land that the US wanted to buy from Mexico. This was a thin strip of knad that included present dayt Southern Arizona and New Mexico. For this strip of land, the United States paid Mexico $10 million. With this purchase, many Americans thought that their dream of Manifest Destiny had been fulfilled. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
On January 1854, Senator Stephen Dougless proposed a bill. This bill would set up a government in the Nebraska Territory. The Nebraska Territory stretched from texas north to Canada and Missouri west to the Rocky Mountains. He suggested that we split the Nebraska Territory into two; Nebraska and Kansas. The people living in each territory would be able to decide over the issue of popular soverginty and slavery. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott was a enslaved in Missouri later moved with his owner to Illinois and then Wisconsin (a free territory). Once Scott and his owner returned to Missouri, his owner dies. His lawyers thought that Scott should be a free man since he has lived in free territory. This case went to the Supreme Court. First the court ruled that Scott can’t file a lawsuit since he is enslaved and not a citizen. Second, the court’s decision stated that slaves were considered as property. -
Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln won the Election of 1860 as the first republican to be president. He was also the first president who didn’t serve without a popular sovereignty. Lincoln was running against Stephan Douglas a Northern Democratic, John Breckinridge a Southern Democratic, and John Bell a Constitutional Union. Douglas was positive that Lincoln would win the election but he was thinking that all he Democrats must try to save the union.
