Unit 5 - Figures (Military, Political, Artists)

Elias Howe

Invented the first practical sewing machine (1846), revolutionizing clothing production.

Samuel F. B. Morse

Created the single-wire telegraph and Morse code, transforming communication.

John Tyler

First vice president to become president after Harrison's death; 10th U.S. president (1841-1845).

James K. Polk

11th president; expanded U.S. territory through Manifest Destiny and the Mexican-American War.

Wilmot Proviso

1846 proposal to ban slavery in new territories; failed but deepened sectional conflict.

Franklin Pierce

14th president; supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act, worsening North-South tensions.

Stephen F. Austin

Led American settlement in Mexican Texas, setting stage for the Texas Revolution.

Antonio López de Santa Anna

Mexican general and president; fought against Texas and the U.S.

Sam Houston

Commander of Texas forces; first president of the Republic of Texas.

Zachary Taylor

Mexican War hero and 12th president; sought sectional balance on slavery.

Stephen Kearny

U.S. general who captured New Mexico and California during the Mexican War.

Winfield Scott

"Old Fuss and Feathers"; led successful invasion of Mexico City (1847).

John C. Frémont

Explorer; key leader in California's Bear Flag Revolt; first Republican presidential candidate.

Matthew C. Perry

Opened Japan to trade (1853-54), ending its isolation.

Lewis Cass

Promoted "popular sovereignty" for deciding slavery in new territories.

Henry Clay

"Great Compromiser"; crafted Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1850.

Stephen A. Douglas

Illinois senator; authored Kansas-Nebraska Act and debated Lincoln.

Millard Fillmore

13th president; signed the Compromise of 1850 after Taylor's death.

James Buchanan

15th president; failed to prevent Southern secession.

Harriet Tubman

Escaped slave and Underground Railroad "conductor" who led many to freedom.

Roger Taney

Chief Justice; ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford that Blacks weren't citizens.

Abraham Lincoln

16th president; preserved the Union and issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, fueling Northern anti-slavery sentiment.

Hinton R. Helper

Wrote The Impending Crisis of the South, arguing slavery hurt poor whites.

George Fitzhugh

Pro-slavery theorist who called slavery a "positive good."

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America.

Alexander H. Stephens

Confederate vice president; defended slavery in his "Cornerstone Speech."

George McClellan

Union general known for organization but criticized for caution; fought at Antietam.

Robert E. Lee

Confederate general; military tactician who surrendered at Appomattox (1865).

David Farragut

Union admiral; captured New Orleans, securing naval dominance.

John Wilkes Booth

Confederate sympathizer who assassinated Lincoln at Ford's Theatre.

Jay Gould

Corrupt railroad and finance tycoon; symbol of Gilded Age greed.

Credit Mobilier

Fake construction company used to steal Union Pacific funds.

Thomas Nast

Political cartoonist who exposed government corruption and Boss Tweed.

Horace Greeley

Influential journalist, abolitionist, and 1872 presidential candidate.

Rutherford B. Hayes

19th president; Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction.

Samuel J. Tilden

Won popular vote in 1876 but lost due to the Compromise of 1877.

Andrew Johnson

Lincoln's successor; lenient toward the South; impeached for defying Congress.

Charles Sumner

Radical Republican senator who pushed for full civil rights for freedmen.

Thaddeus Stevens

Radical leader advocating harsh Reconstruction and racial equality.

Benjamin Wade

Co-author of the Wade-Davis Bill; supported strict Reconstruction.

Edwin Stanton

Secretary of War under Lincoln and Johnson; enforced Reconstruction laws.

Blanche K. Bruce

Formerly enslaved man; U.S. Senator from Mississippi (1875-1881).

Hiram Revels

First African American U.S. senator (Mississippi, 1870).

John Brown

Radical abolitionist; led violent actions in "Bleeding Kansas" and Harper's Ferry.

Frederick Douglass

Leading Black abolitionist and editor of The North Star.