Key Figures and Events in Pre-Civil War America

John L. O'Sullivan

Coined Manifest Destiny in Democratic Review

Levi Strauss and Sam Brannan

Merchants in California who would benefit as much as the miners.

President James Polk

President during the Mexican-American War who provoked the conflict.

Anthony Burns

Captured slave in north, bought back showing northern backlash.

William Walker

Invaded Latin American nations.

Senator Stephen Douglas

Pushed for Transcontinental railroad and proposed Kansas-Nebraska Act.

John Brown

Killed 5 pro-slavery individuals at Lawrence leading to Pottawatomie Creek Massacre.

John C. Fremont

War hero of Mexican American War, first Republican party member winning 11 free states and 1.3 million votes.

Charles Sumner and Preston Brooks

Sumner, an anti-slavery speaker, was brutally beaten by Brooks on the Senate Floor.

Dred Scott

Slave who sued for freedom after living in free territory.

Chief Justice Roger Taney

Said in Dred Scott case that slaves are property.

President Jefferson Davis

Leader of the Confederate States.

General Butler

Created the idea of Contraband Camps.

Colonel Robert Gould Shaw

Led the first major black regiment.

General Winfield Scott

Proposed the Anaconda Plan.

Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee

Earned reputations for bold military strategies, securing victories despite limited resources.

Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman

Union army generals who implemented aggressive strategies to defeat the Confederacy.

John Wilkes Booth

Assassinated Lincoln at Ford's theatre.

Andrew Johnson

VP of Lincoln, President after Lincoln, vetoed extension of Freedman's Bureau and civil rights bills.

Edwin Stanton

Secretary of War that Johnson tried to fire but was protected by Tenure of Office Act.

Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

Founded the National Woman's Suffrage Association.

Ulysses S. Grant Presidency

Replaced Andrew Johnson, ran on reconstruction and civil rights.

Young America Movement

Promoted westward movement of Manifest Destiny.

California Gold Rush

Started in 1848 due to gold discovered at Sutter's Mill, causing great migration and economic growth.

Mexican-American War

Conflict provoked by President Polk to expand slavery and fulfill Manifest Destiny.

Pottawatomie Creek Massacre

John Brown led an attack killing over 200 people and 5 pro-slavery in Lawrence.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Lincoln ran for Senate against Douglas, holding 7 debates, gaining national attention.

John Brown's Raid

Failed raid on a federal arsenal to spark a rebellion, viewed as martyrdom in the North and terrorism in the South.

Election of 1860

Between Lincoln (Republican) no slavery expansion, Douglas (North Democrat) popular sovereignty, Breckinridge (South Democrat) protected slavery everywhere, Bell (Constitutional Union) preserved union at all cost: Lincoln wins with 39.6% popular vote with no Southern states.

Bleeding Kansas

In which pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers clashed violently, resulting in deaths and heightening sectional tensions across the country.

South Carolina Secession Convention

In December 1860, where the state became the first to vote to leave the Union, citing the threat posed by Lincoln's presidency and the Republican Party's anti-slavery stance as the primary reasons for secession.

Attack on Fort Sumter

In April 1861, which marked the first military engagement of the Civil War and solidified the division between the Union and the Confederacy, as both sides prepared for a prolonged and bloody conflict.

Richmond Bread Riots

Women looted stores demanding food from officials as northern opposition.

NYC Draft Riots

Working-class citizens, angry over conscription laws and economic inequality, protested violently against the Union war effort, illustrating the tensions within Northern society during the war.

Battle of Antietam

Bloodiest Day in American History, turning point, and gave Lincoln an opportunity to issue a proclamation from position of strength.

Battle of Gettysburg

Lee's Second invasion of PA, Union army repelled attacks pushing Lee back to Virginia, never invaded north again, bloodiest battle, psychological defeat for South.

Siege of Vicksburg

Last confederate Stronghold splitting south in half between Mississippi, isolating Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas.

First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)

Boosted Southern confidence and gave the confederacy hope that it could secure foreign recognition and sustain the war effort against the Union.

Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863

Where Robert E. Lee's daring tactics led to a significant Confederate victory, even though the South's resources and manpower were already being stretched thin.

March to the Sea

Union forces march from Atlanta to Savannah, destroying railroads, factories, farms, and other infrastructure vital to the Confederate war effort.

Battle of Fort Wagner

54th Massachusetts Infantry bravely led an assault on the Confederate fort, earning respect for their courage and contributing to the Union's war effort.

Atlanta Campaign

Sherman captures Atlanta which was a major railroad and supply center for confederates, a major blow to the South and boost north morale.

Appomattox Court House

Offered good terms, CSA can go home, keep sidearms, and no public humiliation; end of major fighting in Civil War.

Assassination of Lincoln

Lincoln shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's theatre.

Gould-Fisk Gold Scandal aka Black Friday

Grant was clueless about gold so he was manipulated to inflate the prices of gold so Fisk and Gould would make a lot of money collapse of market.

Dominican Republic Annexation Scheme

To add the Dominican Republic to America and send freed slaves to that place.

Credit Mobilier

Railroad scandal.

Whiskey Ring

A group of officials were importing whiskey and using their offices to avoid paying the taxes on it, cheating the treasury out of millions of dollars.

Panic of 1873

Caused by railroad over-speculation and bank failures; caused by Jay Cooke & Co., major investment bank involved in financing railroad expansion, overinvestment in railroad led to too much debt and speculation, when funding dried up, banks collapse.

Election of 1876

Republicans had Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrats had Samuel J. Tilden, one has house and other Senate, they both got a win win and were both tied.

Reconstruction

With moderate and radical united against the president, Congress intended to force the former confederate states to protect the basic civil rights of African American and let them vote.

Great Railway Strike

More than half a million workers walked off the job, employers asked the US govt. to remove troops from South and dispatch them against strikers.

Democratic Review

John Sullivan wrote about Manifest Destiny in this writing in 1845.

Spot Resolution

Lincoln questioned Polk's motives and U.S. provoking war asking Polk to prove where blood was shed.

Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin

Sold over 300,000 copies in first year, portrayed the cruelties of slavery, greatly influencing public opinion and fueling the anti-slavery movement.

12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Provided a true first hand account of being kidnapped and a slave depicting the cruelty.

Freeport Doctrine

Douglas promotes this and Territories can limit slavery by refusing to pass slave codes.

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln delivered this speech at Gettysburg, PA.

Emancipation Proclamation

Declared that all slaves in Confederate states were free, weakening South and transforming war into a fight against slavery.

Lincoln's First Inaugural Address

Emphasised his commitment to preserve the Union and stated he didn't want to change slavery in the states where it already existed.

Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

Accepted abolition of slavery and required 10% of the South to swear allegiance to the Union.

Wade Davis Bill

Proposed more strict barriers to accept the South, requiring 50% of sworn allegiance to the Union.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Ended the Mexican-American War, with the US gaining a lot of Southwest Land, paying Mexico 15 million dollars, taking 3 million dollars of debt, and promising to protect Mexican citizens.

Fugitive Slave Act

Required citizens to help capture escaped enslaved people, with slaves denied jury trials.

Compromise of 1850

California enters as a free state, slave trade banned in DC, and Utah and New Mexico used popular sovereignty to decide on slavery.

Kansas Nebraska Act

Repealed Missouri Compromise, allowing popular sovereignty to decide slavery in Kansas and Nebraska.

Crittenden Compromise

Proposed restoring 36 30 lines across all current and future territories and constitutionally protecting slavery south of it; Lincoln refused.

Homestead Act of 1862

Offered 160 acres of public land to settlers for a small fee, provided they improved the land by building a dwelling and cultivating crops.

Pacific Railway Act

Facilitated the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad.

Treaty of Kanagawa

Compelled the opening of Japanese ports to American trade, marking the beginning of Japan's integration into the global economy.

Conscription Act (1863)

First national military draft in US History.

Militia Act

Allowed black men to serve in the military, leading to increased enlistment.

13th Amendment

Banned slavery.

Legal Tender Act

Created a national currency and introduced the first income tax to fund the war efforts.

Slave Codes

Prohibited blacks from firearms, outlawed intermarriage, excluded from juries, and required proof of self-support.

14th Amendment

Included citizenship for African Americans, nullified the Dred Scott Case, and extended equal protection and due process to all people.

Military Reconstruction Act

Divided the South into five military districts.

Tenure of Office Act

Prevented Johnson from firing Cabinet officers sympathetic to congressional reconstruction.

15th Amendment

Prohibited voting based on race, filled with loopholes like literacy tests and payment of taxes; excluded women and natives.

Force Acts

Protected black votes from intimidation and violence; strengthened enforcement and allowed federal oversight of local elections.

Compromise of 1877

In the election of 1876, Hayes would be president in exchange for Southerners in his Cabinet.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Sought to protect the rights of African Americans and other minorities by guaranteeing them equal protection under the law.

Civil Rights Act of 1875

Extended 'full and equal treatment' in public accommodations for persons of all races.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that the US was divinely destined to expand across North America, coined by John L. O'Sullivan, justifying expansion, conquest, and displacement.

Wilmot Proviso

David Wilmot proposed banning slavery in land gained from Mexico.

Ostend Manifesto

Proposed seizing Cuba by force to expand slavery; the north saw it as a southern plan and it collapsed after public outrage.

Popular Sovereignty

The idea that people living in a territory decide what can happen in that land.

Slave Power

Southern slaveholders held undue political power in the federal government and were actively working to expand and protect slavery.

Habeas Corpus

Restrict civil liberties.

Contraband Camp

Made the idea to classify escaped slaves as 'contraband', which wouldn't violate the Fugitive Slave Act.

Anaconda Plan

Block Southern Ports and control the Mississippi River to 'squeeze' the South; success at Vicksburg and naval blockade makes the plan succeed.

Total War

Destroy the enemy's economy and supply lines, a strategy made famous by Ulysses S. Grant.

Vagrancy

States criminalized men who were out of work, or who were not working at a job whites recognized.

Sharecropping

Received tools and supplies from landowners in exchange for share of harvest put Africans back on fields.

Lost Cause

The North was an unjust aggressor as the South fought a heroic battle for states' rights and independence and they would romanticize slavery making it seem like a good thing.

Field Order Number 15

Sherman would set aside 400,000 acres of captured confederate land to be divided into small plots for former enslaved people.

Mormons

Led by Brigham Young, they migrate west to escape persecution.

Californios and Comanche and Apache

These groups were native to the west lands leading to displacement of these groups.

Chinese, Mexican, Irish, German, and more

These groups migrated to California for the gold rush and would face exclusion and violence.

Filibusters

Who illegally invaded foreign territories, particularly in the Caribbean, to expand the reach of slavery.