Key Events and Figures in Abolitionism and Expansionism

General Winfield Scott

Led the U.S. forces' march on Mexico City during the Mexican War. He took the city and ended the war.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provisions

This treaty required Mexico to cede the American Southwest, including New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California, to the U.S. U.S. gave Mexico $15 million in exchange, so that it would not look like conquest.

All Mexico Movement

Benito Juarez overthrew Mexican dictator Santa Ana. Mexico began blocking American immigration (Mexico for Mexicans only).

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

1842 - Established Maine's northern border and the boundaries of the Great Lake states.

Aroostook War

Maine lumberjacks camped along the Aroostook River in Maine in 1839 tried to oust Canadian rivals. Militia were called in from both sides until the Webster Ashburn - Treaty was signed. Took place in disputed territory.

John Jacob Astor (1763-1848)

His American fur company (est. 1808) rapidly became the dominant fur trading company in America. Helped finance the War of 1812. First millionaire in America (in cash, not land).

Oregon Fever

1842 - Many Eastern and Midwestern farmers and city dwellers were dissatisfied with their lives and began moving up the Oregon trail to the Willamette Valley. This free land was widely publicized.

Willamette Valley

The spot where many settlers traveling along the Oregon trailed stopped.

Oregon Territory

The territory comprised what are now the states of Oregon and Washington, and portions of what became British Columbia, Canada. This land was claimed by both the U.S. and Britain and was held jointly under the Convention of 1818.

49th Parallel

The Oregon Treaty of 1846 established an U.S./Canadian (British) border along this parallel. The boundary along the 49th parallel extended from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.

Wilmot Proviso

When President Polk submitted his Appropriations Bill of 1846 requesting Congress' approval of the $2 million indemnity to be paid to Mexico under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Pennsylvania Representative David Wilmot attached a rider which would have barred slavery from the territory acquired.

Gadsden Purchase

1853 - After the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, the U.S. realized that it had accidentally left portions of the southwestern stagecoach routes to California as part of Mexico. James Gadsden, the U.S. Minister to Mexico, was instructed by President Pierce to draw up a treaty that would provide for the purchase of the territory through which the stage lines ran.

"Transportation Revolution"

By the 1850s railroad transportation was fairly cheap and widespread. It allowed goods to be moved in large quantities over long distances, and it reduced travel time.

Commonwealth v. Hunt

1842 - Case heard by the Massachusetts Supreme Court. The case was the first judgment in the U.S. that recognized that the conspiracy law is inapplicable to unions and that strikes for a closed shop are legal.

Lowell Factory

Francis Cabot Lowell established a factory in 1814 at Waltham, Massachusetts. It was the first factory in the world to manufacture cotton cloth by power machinery in a building.

Factory girls

Lowell opened a chaperoned boarding house for the girls who worked in his factory. He hired girls because they could do the job as well as men (in textiles, sometimes better), and he didn't have to pay them as much.

Cyrus McCormic, mechanical reaper

McCormic built the reaping machine in 1831, and it made farming more efficient. Part of the industrial revolution, it allowed farmers to substantially increase the acreage that could be worked by a single family.

Clipper ships

Long, narrow, wooden ships with tall masts and enormous sails. They were developed in the second quarter of the 1800s. These ships were unequalled in speed and were used for trade.

Cyrus Field (1819-1892)

An American financier who backed the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic. After four failed attempts in 1857, 1858 and 1865, a submarine cable was successfully laid between Newfoundland and Ireland in July, 1866.

Robert Fulton, steamships

A famous inventor, Robert Fulton designed and built America's first steamboat, the Clermont in 1807.

Samuel F.B. Morse, telegraph

Morse developed a working telegraph which improved communications.

Independent Treasury System, Van Buren and Polk

Meant to keep government out of banking. Vaults were to be constructed in various cities to collect and expand government funds in gold and silver.

American Colonization Society

Formed in 1817, it purchased a tract of land in Liberia and returned free Blacks to Africa.

Abolitionism

The militant effort to do away with slavery. It had its roots in the North in the 1700s.

Sectionalism

Different parts of the country developing unique and separate cultures (as the North, South and West). This can lead to conflict.

William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879)

A militant abolitionist, he came editor of the Boston publication, The Liberator, in 1831.

The Liberator

A militantly abolitionist weekly, edited by William Garrison from 1831 to 1865.

American Anti-slavery Society

Formed in 1833, a major abolitionist movement in the North.

Theodore Weld (1802-1895)

Weld was devoted to the abolitionism movement. He advised the breakaway anti-slavery Whigs in Congress.

Theodore Parker (1810-1860)

A leading transcendentalist radical, he became known as 'the keeper of the public's conscience'.

The Grimke sisters

Angelina and Sarah Grimke wrote and lectured vigorously on reform causes such as prison reform, the temperance movement, and the abolitionist movement.

Elijah Lovejoy (1802-1837)

An abolitionist and editor. The press he used was attacked four times and Lovejoy was killed defending it.

Wendell Phillips

An orator and associate of Garrison, Phillips was an influential abolitionist lecturer.

Nat Turner's Insurrection

1831 - Slave uprising. A group of 60 slaves led by Nat Turner killed almost 60 Whites in South Hampton, Virginia.

Sojourner Truth

Name used by Isabelle Baumfree, one of the best-known abolitionists of her day.