AP US History Period 5 (1844-1877)

Expansion and Slavery

Westward expansion (Manifest Destiny) reignited debates over the extension of slavery into new territories.

Economic Differences

The continued divergence of the industrializing North and the agrarian, slave based South

Cultural and Ideological Differences

Growing distinctiveness in social structure, values, and interpretations of liberty and equality

Failed Compromises

The inability to compromise (Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act) to resolve the slavery issue.

Political Polarization

collapse of the Second Party System (Whigs and Democrats) + rise of the Republican Party, exclusively Northern and anti-slavery expansion

Moral Arguments

increasing moral condemnation of slavery (abolitionism) vs the defense of slavery as a “positive good” (states’ rights, economic necessity)

Judicial Decisions

Supreme court rulings like Dred Scott that increased tensions

union vs confederacy

the conflict over states’ rights, the preservation of the Union, and the abolition of slavery were causes

Total War

The nature of warfare, including economic and social mobilization, and its impact on civilians

Turning Points

Major battles and political decisions that shifted the course of the war

Reunification and readjustmnent

attempts to reunite the nation and address the status of the formerly enslaved people and defeated Southern States

presidential vs congressional reconstruction

conflicting visions for how Reconstruction should proceed

African American Agency

The efforts of formerly enslaved people to define their freedom and assert their rights

Resistance to Reconstruction

Southern white resistance (KKK, Black Codes) and the eventual decline of federal intervention

Manifest Destiny

The belief in America’s divine right to expand westward, leading to territorial acquisitions

Texas annexation (1845)

led to increased tensions with mexico

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

U.S. gained vast new territories (Mexican Cession), intensifying the slavery debate

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

Ended the war, ceded Mexican Cession to U.S.

Wilmot Proviso (1846)

Proposed banning slavery in all territories acquired from mexico; failed but fueled sectionalism

Compromise of 1850

Attempt to resolve slavery in new territories: california admitted as a free state, popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico, Fugitive Slave Act strengthened, slave trade banned in D.C.

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Mandated federal enforcement for the return of escaped slaves, highly unpopular in the North; denied them the right to trial

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel, immensely influential in swaying Northern Public opinion. Shows the cruelty of slavery.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Stephen Douglas’s proposal for popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska; effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise, leading to “Bleeding Kansas”

“Bleeding Kansas” (1854-1859)

Violent clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas.

Formation of the Republican Party (1854)

Formed in opposition to the expansion of slavery

Dred Scott v Sandford (1857)

Supreme court ruled that African Americans were not citizens, slaves were property, and Congress could not prohibit slavery in territories; intensified sectionalism

Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)

Series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, highlighting their different views on slavery and popular sovereignty

John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry (1859)

Abolitionist John Brown’s attempt to start a slave rebellion; seen as a martyr in the North, a terrorist in the South

Election of 1860

Abraham Lincoln (Republican) wins without any Southern electoral votes, leading to the secession of the Southern States

Secession

southern states secede and from the Confederate States of America (CSA)

Fort Sumter (April 1861)

First shots of the war. Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter, a Union-held fort

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Lincoln declared slaves in Confederate states free; changed the nature of the war to include abolition as a goal. (The Battle of Antietam gave Lincoln the upper hand to implement the proclamation.)

Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863)

Major Union victory, turning point in the East

Siege of Vicksburg (July 1863)

Union victory, gained control of the Mississippi River, turning point in the West

Gettysburg Address (1863)

Lincoln’s Speech redefining the purpose of the war. struggle for the survival of democracy and a "new birth of freedom"

Sherman’s March to the Sea (1864)

Union general William Tecumseh Sherman’s “total war” campaign through Georgia

Appomattox Court House (April 1865)

Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant, ending the Civil War

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (April 1865)

Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Leaving Andrew Johnson as President.

Presidential Reconstruction (1865-1867)

Andrew Johnson’s lenient policies towards the South

Black Codes (1865-1866)

Laws passed in Southern states to restrict the freedom of African Americans.

Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction (1867-1877)

Congress takes control, more punitive towards the South and protective of African American rights.

Military Reconstruction Act of 1867

Divided the South into five districts

Impeachment of Andrew Jackson (1868)

influenced by his opposite views on reconstruction compared to the Senate.

Compromise of 1877

Unofficial agreement that ended Reconstruction: Rutherford B. Hayes became president in exchange for federal troop withdrawal from the South.

James K. Polk

President during Mexican-American War, committed to Manifest Destiny

Stephen Douglas

Proponent of popular sovereignty, author of Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Harriet Tubman

Conductor on Underground Railroad

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Dred Scott

Enslaved man whose Supreme Court case exacerbated sectional tensions

John Brown

Radical abolitionist, led Pottawatomie Massacre and Harpers Ferry raid

Abraham Lincoln

16th President, led the Union during the Civil War, issued Emancipation Proclamation

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America

Ulysses S. Grant

Leading Confederate general, later U.S. president

Robert E. Lee

Leading Confederate general

William Tecumseh Sherman

Union general, known for “March to the Sea”

Andrew Johnson

17th U.S. President, led the Union during the Civil War, issued Emancipation Proclamation.

Thaddeus Stevens

Leading Radical Republican in Congress during Reconstruction

Frederick Douglass

Prominent abolitionist and advocate for African American rights during Reconstruction

Booker T. Washington

(Emerging at the end of the period) African American educator and advocate

Tennant Farming

Hiring Black people to work on plantations but with contracts (Freedmen’s Bureau did not oversee if it was fair)

Sharecropping

landowners providing land, housing, and supplies to tenants who worked the land in exchange for a share of the crops

13th amendment

officially abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime

14th amendment

expanded citizenship rights and the protections afforded to all citizens; granted citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized in the United States," including formerly enslaved people, and provided all citizens with “equal protection under the laws,”

15th amendment

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude (can’t be denied if never given)

Conscription

a system where a government requires citizens, typically young men, to serve in the military

Anaconda Plan

defeat the Confederacy by blockading their ports, controlling the Mississippi River, and effectively surrounding them to prevent trade and supplies from reaching them