Midterm ACP USH

Who/What/Where: Fought in Sharpsburg, Maryland; a bloody Union victory leading Lincoln to issue the EP. The battle itself was tactically inconclusive but a strategic victory for the North.
Significance: It stopped Confederate momentum and allowed Lincoln to change the war's goal from just preserving the Union to ending slavery. It prevented British and French recognition of the Confederacy.
Extra detail: Antietam remains the single deadliest day in American military history. Over 22,000 men were killed, wounded, or missing in just twelve hours of fighting.
Relation to time period/event: Led directly to the EP, a crucial step in the Union war effort and the end of slavery. The Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863.

Battle of Antietam & Emancipation Proclamation
1862-1863

Who/What/Where: Fought in Pennsylvania; the Union Army under General Meade decisively defeated General Lee's Confederate forces. It was the largest battle of the entire war.
Significance: This battle marked a major turning point in the war, halting the Confederacy's final major invasion of the North. Lee’s army never fully recovered its offensive strength.
Extra detail: Lincoln later delivered the famous Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery there. His address reframed the war as a fight for "a new birth of freedom."
Relation to time period/event: A critical Union victory that crushed Southern morale and its hope of European recognition. It occurred July 1–3, 1863.

Battle of Gettysburg
1863

Who/What/Where: A long Union siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, led by General Ulysses S. Grant. The city finally surrendered after 47 days.
Significance: The victory gave the Union full control of the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy in two. It choked off vital Southern supply lines.
Extra detail: Vicksburg finally surrendered on July 4, 1863, the day after the Battle of Gettysburg ended. The city did not celebrate Independence Day for decades afterward.
Relation to time period/event: Along with Gettysburg, it cemented 1863 as the "turning point" of the Civil War. It perfectly executed the "Anaconda Plan" strategy to strangle the South economically.

Battle of Vicksburg
1863

Who/What/Where: Refers collectively to the Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. These battles occurred within one day of each other in early July.
Significance: These wins drastically shifted the war in favor of the Union, making Southern defeat inevitable. The North began to believe victory was possible.
Extra detail: Vicksburg gave control of the Mississippi; Gettysburg secured the East. This effectively marked the moment the Union began winning the war of attrition.
Relation to time period/event: This year marked the point of no return for the Confederacy. Morale dropped significantly in the South while Northern resolve hardened.

1863, The Turning Point
1863

Who/What/Where: Union campaigns (Sherman's March to the Sea, Grant's Overland Campaign) that broke the Confederacy's ability and will to fight. Grant was promoted to General-in-Chief.
Significance: These sustained assaults led to the surrender at Appomattox Court House in April 1865. The strategy of total war made continued Confederate resistance impossible.
Extra detail: Total war tactics targeted civilian infrastructure to cripple the Southern economy. Sherman famously captured Atlanta and marched to Savannah, devastating Georgia.
Relation to time period/event: The final push that successfully concluded the war and preserved the Union. The war officially ended on April 9, 1865.

1864-1865, Ending the War
1864-1865

Who/What/Where: The terms of surrender negotiated between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. They were written down in a few paragraphs.
Significance: Officially ended the Confederate Army's main resistance and effectively the Civil War. It began the process of reintegrating soldiers back into society peacefully.
Extra detail: Terms were generous: Confederate soldiers could keep horses and were paroled home, not imprisoned. Grant also provided food rations to Lee's starving army.
Relation to time period/event: The official document that began the transition from war to the Reconstruction era. Grant’s generosity set a tone of reconciliation.

The Articles of Agreement
1865

Who/What/Where: Key Union generals (Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman) who coordinated strategy to defeat the South using total war. They were close friends and agreed on the necessity of aggressive tactics.
Significance: Their relentless, coordinated attacks dismantled the Confederacy's military and economic ability to continue fighting. They understood that the South’s economy needed to be destroyed to end the war.
Extra detail: Grant became the Union general-in-chief; Sherman marched through Georgia. Sherman’s march inflicted psychological warfare on the South.
Relation to time period/event: The primary military leaders responsible for ending the war in the Union's favor. Grant accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

Grant and Sherman
1864-1865

Who/What/Where: Abraham Lincoln (Republican) defeated George McClellan (Democrat) during the war. McClellan was his former top general whom he had fired.
Significance: Ensured the war would continue until the South's total surrender and that the Emancipation Proclamation would be upheld. A Democratic win might have meant a negotiated peace that left slavery intact.
Extra detail: Crucial Union military victories (like Atlanta) helped secure Lincoln's re-election. Many thought Lincoln would lose until Sherman captured Atlanta just before the election.
Relation to time period/event: Maintained stable political leadership necessary to finish the war effort. Lincoln saw his re-election as a mandate to end slavery and win the war unconditionally.

The Election of 1864
1864

Who/What/Where: The post-Civil War process of readmitting Southern states into the Union and defining rights for newly freed African Americans. It took place mostly in the former Confederacy.
Significance: A tumultuous period defining the legal and social aftermath of slavery and the war. It saw the passage of landmark Civil Rights amendments.
Extra detail: Divided into Presidential Reconstruction (lenient) and Radical Reconstruction (punitive). The latter used military occupation of the South.
Relation to time period/event: The immediate aftermath of the war, focused on rebuilding the nation. It ultimately failed to secure lasting racial equality due to white resistance and lack of Northern resolve.

Reconstruction (1865-1877)
1865-1877

Who/What/Where: President Lincoln was murdered by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C., days after the war ended. It was the first assassination of a U.S. President.
Significance: Lincoln's death altered the course of Reconstruction, leading to a much harsher approach under his successor. Lincoln likely would have pursued a more lenient, rapid reunification.
Extra detail: Booth was a Confederate sympathizer and actor. He shouted "Sic semper tyrannis!" (Thus always to tyrants) after shooting Lincoln.
Relation to time period/event: A tragic event that immediately shifted Reconstruction policy away from Lincoln's plan of leniency. It elevated Andrew Johnson, a less capable leader, to the presidency.

Lincoln’s Assassination
1865

Who/What/Where: Lincoln's Vice President who became President; a Southern Democrat who clashed intensely with Radical Republicans in Congress over Reconstruction. He was from Tennessee.
Significance: His lenient policies allowed Southern states to restrict Black rights, leading to his impeachment (though not removal) by Congress. He actively obstructed the goals of civil rights reformers.
Extra detail: The first U.S. President to be impeached. He was acquitted by just one vote in the Senate.
Relation to time period/event: His presidency represented the failure of moderate, executive-led Reconstruction and the rise of Congressional (Radical) power. He was an obstacle to meaningful change.

President Andrew Johnson
1865-1869

Who/What/Where: A constitutional amendment that formally abolished and prohibited slavery throughout the United States. It passed Congress in January and was ratified in December.
Significance: Legally ended the institution that caused the Civil War. It made slavery unconstitutional everywhere in the country.
Extra detail: One of the three "Reconstruction Amendments." The full text ensures that neither "slavery nor involuntary servitude… shall exist within the United States."
Relation to time period/event: The foundational legal change immediately following the war, fulfilling the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was the first major step toward civil rights.

The 13th Amendment
1865

Who/What/Where: The Bureau was a federal agency established to aid newly freed slaves (freedmen) in the South. It was headed by General Oliver O. Howard.
Significance: Provided essential services like food, housing, medical aid, education, and legal assistance during the transition from slavery to freedom. It established the first widespread public education system for Black Southerners.
Extra detail: Established thousands of schools for African Americans across the South. It operated for several years before Congress eventually shut it down due to political opposition.
Relation to time period/event: A key federal effort during early Reconstruction to help former slaves integrate into society. It was intensely opposed by President Johnson and many white Southerners.

Freedmen & The Freedmen’s Bureau
1865

Who/What/Where: The former Civil War hero who became a two-term Republican President during most of Reconstruction. He won the election of 1868 based on his war hero status.
Significance: Supported African American rights and enforced Reconstruction laws, but his administration was plagued by corruption scandals. He used federal power to protect Black voters.
Extra detail: Worked to dismantle the KKK using the military and the Justice Department. He signed the Enforcement Acts into law to suppress white terrorist groups.
Relation to time period/event: His presidency oversaw the passage and enforcement of the 15th Amendment and the decline of Reconstruction enforcement as national interest waned.

President Ulysses S. Grant
1869-1877

Who/What/Where: The phase of Reconstruction led by the Republican-controlled Congress, using the military to enforce federal laws and African American voting rights in the South. It began when Congress overrode President Johnson’s vetoes.
Significance: Temporarily established functional state governments in the South with Black participation and passed the 14th and 15th Amendments. This period represented the high point of Black political power in the 19th century.
Extra detail: Divided the South into five military districts to ensure compliance. Federal troops supervised elections and protected Black citizens.
Relation to time period/event: The peak of federal intervention aimed at racial equality during the Reconstruction era. It was a direct response to the failure of President Johnson's lenient approach.

Radical Reconstruction
1867-1877

Who/What/Where: A white supremacist terrorist organization founded in the South by former Confederate soldiers. They used costumes and anonymity to terrify their victims.
Significance: Used violence, intimidation, and murder to prevent Black Americans from voting, holding office, or exercising basic rights, effectively undermining Reconstruction goals. Their terrorism succeeded in driving Black people from politics.
Extra detail: Federal Enforcement Acts were passed to break their power during Grant's presidency. These efforts temporarily weakened the Klan but did not destroy the ideology behind it.
Relation to time period/event: The primary violent resistance movement to racial equality and the federal government during Reconstruction. They sought to restore white supremacy.

The KKK
Founded 1866

Who/What/Where: A constitutional amendment defining national citizenship and guaranteeing equal protection under the law and due process to all citizens. It reversed the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision.
Significance: Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. (including former slaves). It is the basis for most civil rights litigation today.
Extra detail: One of the most litigated and important amendments in U.S. history. Its Equal Protection Clause became central to the 20th-century Civil Rights Movement.
Relation to time period/event: A cornerstone of Radical Reconstruction designed to permanently protect the civil rights of African Americans against state infringement.

The 14th Amendment
Ratified 1868

Who/What/Where: A constitutional amendment prohibiting the denial of the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." It was the last of the Reconstruction Amendments.
Significance: Legally guaranteed suffrage for African American men nationwide. It represented a major, though short-lived, expansion of democracy.
Extra detail: Southern states later used poll taxes and literacy tests to circumvent this amendment for decades. This systematic disenfranchisement lasted until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Relation to time period/event: The final major legal reform of Reconstruction, though its enforcement quickly faded. It granted political power that was soon stripped away by white Southern governments.

The 15th Amendment
Ratified 1870

Who/What/Where: A severe nationwide economic depression that began in the U.S. It started with the failure of a major banking firm, Jay Cooke & Company.
Significance: The economic crisis shifted public attention away from Southern Reconstruction and towards national financial concerns. Northerners became less willing to spend money and effort on Southern reform.
Extra detail: Caused partly by railroad speculation and bank failures. The depression lasted several years and created high unemployment rates.
Relation to time period/event: The beginning of the end for Northern interest in continuing costly military occupation and social reform in the South. Economic issues took priority over civil rights.

The Panic of 1873
1873

Who/What/Where: A political deal to resolve the disputed 1876 presidential election between Rutherford B. Hayes (R) and Samuel Tilden (D). It was an informal, unwritten agreement.
Significance: Democrats accepted Hayes as President in exchange for the federal government removing all remaining U.S. troops from the South. This act effectively ended federal protection for Black Southerners.
Extra detail: The informal end of the Reconstruction era. Once troops left, white Democrats (Redeemers) regained full political control of all Southern states.
Relation to time period/event: The final event that allowed white Southern Democrats to regain total control of Southern state governments and implement

Compromise of 1877
1877

Who/What/Where: Southern state laws passed to severely restrict the freedom and rights of African Americans. Black Codes were passed immediately after the war; Jim Crow laws followed later and lasted much longer.
Significance: Black Codes attempted to restore near-slavery conditions immediately after the war; Jim Crow laws later enforced systemic racial segregation for a century. Both systems were designed to maintain white supremacy.
Extra detail: Jim Crow was the system that legally mandated "separate but equal" public facilities. The Supreme Court upheld this segregation in the Plessy v. Ferguson decision (1896).
Relation to time period/event: The legal mechanisms used by white Southerners to reverse the gains of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments after federal troops left.

Jim Crow laws.
Black Codes & Jim Crow Laws
1865-1960s

Who/What/Where: An agricultural system where landowners leased land to tenant farmers (often former slaves) in return for a large share of the crops. It was widespread across the rural South.
Significance: Kept most African Americans in a cycle of poverty and debt, providing an alternative form of economic exploitation after slavery ended. Farmers constantly owed money to the landowner for supplies.
Extra detail: Functionally a form of economic servitude very similar to slavery. Few Black families were able to save enough money to buy their own land.
Relation to time period/event: The dominant labor system that emerged in the post-Reconstruction South, locking Black families into a new kind of servitude and limiting economic freedom.
Industry & Immigration (1870s-1910s)

The Sharecropping System
1860s-1950s

Who/What/Where: A period of massive technological innovation, factory production, and economic growth primarily in the North and Midwest U.S. Cities like Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York grew rapidly.
Significance: Transformed the U.S. from an agrarian nation into the world's leading industrial power. This economic shift defined the modern American economy.
Extra detail: Driven by steel production, railroads, oil refinement, and electricity. Inventions like the light bulb and telephone became widespread.
Relation to time period/event: The dominant economic theme of the Gilded Age, leading to massive wealth inequality and social change. It created both immense opportunity and significant hardship.

An era of rapid industrialization & Industrialization
1870s-1910s

Who/What/Where: An economic system characterized by private ownership of the means of production and the pursuit of profit in a competitive market (often laissez-faire in this era). The government generally adopted a hands-off approach.
Significance: Fueled the immense growth of American industry but led to massive wealth concentration and poor working conditions for many. It created powerful monopolies and trusts.
Extra detail: Figures like Rockefeller and Carnegie profited immensely from this system. They became the world's first billionaires.
Relation to time period/event: The foundational economic philosophy of the Industrial Era, shaping policy and social structure. The abuses of unregulated capitalism led to calls for reform in the Progressive Era.

Capitalism
Ongoing, prominent in 1870s-1910s

Who/What/Where: Factory work characterized by long hours, low pay, dangerous machinery, child labor, and unsanitary environments in industrial cities. Many workers were recent immigrants.
Significance: The harsh conditions sparked the formation of labor unions and calls for reform during the Progressive Era. Workers had little power as individuals against giant corporations.
Extra detail: No workplace safety laws or minimum wages existed for most of this period. Major industrial accidents, like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, highlighted these dangers.
Relation to time period/event: The grim reality for most immigrants and poor laborers during the Gilded Age industrial boom. These conditions led directly to the labor movement.

Working Conditions
1870s-1910s

Who/What/Where: A term coined by Mark Twain to describe a period of immense wealth and industrial growth that masked significant social problems, poverty, and political corruption. It mostly covered the Northern states.
Significance: Defined by extreme inequality between rich industrialists ("robber barons") and poor urban workers/farmers. This era laid the groundwork for modern America but with significant costs.
Extra detail: Looks shiny and golden on the outside, but is corrupt and poor underneath. Political machines, like Tammany Hall in New York, dominated city politics.
Relation to time period/event: The historical period immediately following Reconstruction, driven by industrialization and setting the stage for Populist and Progressive reforms.

The Gilded Age
1870s-1900

Who/What/Where: A controversial social theory that applied Darwin's "survival of the fittest" to human society and business, arguing that wealth was a sign of superiority. It was popular among the wealthy elite.
Significance: Used by wealthy industrialists to justify vast inequality, poverty, harsh working conditions, and laissez-faire capitalism, arguing that government help for the poor was unnatural. It discouraged charity and government regulation.
Extra detail: Popularized by Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner. The rich saw themselves as biologically or naturally superior to the poor.
Relation to time period/event: The dominant ideology used by the elite to rationalize the economic consequences of industrialization during the Gilded Age. It was eventually challenged by the ideals of the Progressive Era.

Social Darwinism
1870s-1910s

Who/What/Where: The collective effort by industrial workers to organize into unions (e.g., Knights of Labor, AFL) to demand better pay, shorter hours ("the 8-hour day"), and safer conditions. Strikes often turned violent.
Significance: Led to major strikes, sometimes violent confrontations with management and government, and eventually some federal labor laws. Unions fought for basic worker dignity and rights.
Extra detail: Key events include the Haymarket affair and the Pullman Strike. Strikers often clashed with private security forces like the Pinkertons.
Relation to time period/event: The workers' response to the harsh realities and excesses of the Gilded Age industrial capitalism. It was the counterbalance to the power of big business.

The labor movement
1870s-1910s

Who/What/Where: A political movement driven primarily by farmers in the South and Midwest who felt ignored and exploited by Eastern banks and railroads. They mobilized politically to advocate for their interests.
Significance: Demanded government intervention in the economy, currency reform (silver standard), and regulation of railroads, eventually influencing the Progressive movement. They were early critics of corporate power.
Extra detail: Formed the People’s Party, which had some electoral success in the 1890s. Their political platform called for a federal income tax and direct election of senators.
Relation to time period/event: A response to economic hardship faced by farmers during the industrial era's focus on industry over agriculture.

Populism (1880-1920)
1880-1920s

Who/What/Where: A period of widespread social activism and political reform across the U.S. aimed at fixing problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, and corruption. Progressives were generally middle-class, educated reformers.
Significance: Led to significant government regulation, social welfare programs, women's suffrage (19th Amendment), and improved working conditions. They believed government could be used to improve society.
Extra detail: Muckraker journalists exposed corruption to fuel public demand for change. Key achievements included the 16th (income tax), 17th (direct election of senators), 18th (prohibition), and 19th (women's suffrage) Amendments.
Relation to time period/event: The social and political reform response to the problems highlighted during the Gilded Age.

The Progressive Era (1880-1920)
1880-1920s

e: Issues such as low crop prices, high railroad shipping costs, and deflation caused by the gold standard severely hurt farmers. Farmers were trapped in debt due to falling prices for their goods.
Significance: These problems unified farmers into the Populist movement to advocate for government intervention in the free market. They demanded systemic changes to the nation's financial system.
Extra detail: The Populists wanted currency backed by both gold and silver to inflate prices and help debt-ridden farmers. This "free silver" debate became a major political issue in the 1896 election.
Relation to time period/event: The specific financial struggles faced by a key demographic during the industrial transition.

Economic issues fueling Populism
1880s-1890s
Who/What/Wher

Who/What/Where: A Progressive Republican President who championed reform as part of his "Square Deal" domestic policy. He used the "bully pulpit" of the presidency to advocate for change.
Significance: Known for "trust-busting," environmental conservation (national parks), and food safety legislation (Pure Food and Drug Act). He expanded the power and scope of the federal government.
Extra detail: Youngest person to become President (at age 42). He was also a war hero from the Spanish-American War.
Relation to time period/event: The first major U.S. President to use federal power extensively to regulate the economy and industry, epitomizing the Progressive Era.

Theodore Roosevelt (the progressive minded president)
President 1901-1909

Who/What/Where: Upton Sinclair was a "muckraker" journalist; his novel The Jungle exposed the horrific and unsanitary conditions of the Chicago meatpacking industry. He went undercover to research the book.
Significance: The public outcry led directly to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. It forced government regulation of private industry.
Extra detail: Sinclair intended the book to promote socialism by highlighting worker exploitation, but the public focused on food safety instead. He famously said, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."
Relation to time period/event: A perfect example of Progressive Era muckraking leading to concrete federal regulation of industry. It showed how investigative journalism could lead to real political change.

Upton Sinclair and “The Jungle”
Published 1906