APUSH Unit 5

What was the Mexican-American War?

causes: US settles Texas, then annexed it

effects: US gets Texas, California, and more western land

time period

1848 (Mexican-American War) - 1877 (Reconstruction)

technological innovation

Transcontinental Railroad

What were the rising sectional tensions?

arguments over slavery and what that means for federal power

causes: Compromise of 1850 (Cal→free; popular sovereignty to decide new western territories; enhanced fugitive slave laws)

effects: underground railroad, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Free-Soil Party (advocated for ban on extending slavery not abolishing it), John Brown’s Raid (attack by a white abolitionist on a federal arsenal in virginia → southern belief that North intended to use slavery as an excuse to destroy the South)

What was John Brown’s Raid?

attack by a white abolitionist on a federal arsenal in virginia → southern belief that North intended to use slavery as an excuse to destroy the South

What was Lincoln’s idea for Reconstruction?

10% plan- only that many voters pledge to union & acknowledgement of emancipation of enslaved people

*Lincolns main goal was to preserve the union, so it appears like he let the south off easy

Events in Reconstruction

good: Freedmen’s Bureau (government agency that supported newly freed African Americas), Civil Rights Act (enhanced Freedmen’s Bureau, counteracted Black codes), Amendments (13,14,15)

bad: Military Reconstruction Act (military occupation of South leads to resentment), rise of KKK, share cropping, Jim Crow laws

ends: Compromise of 1877- tie in presidential election, North got president, South ended reconstruction