US 1 Final Review

📜 Foundations & Expansion (Early 1800s)

• Louisiana Purchase: 1803 land deal doubling U.S. territory; bought from France.

• Manifest Destiny: Belief that the U.S. was destined to expand westward.

• Mexican-American War (1846–1848): War between U.S. and Mexico; ended with Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

• James K. Polk: President who strongly supported Manifest Destiny; led U.S. in Mexican-American War.

• Steven Austin: Led American settlers into Texas under Mexican rule.

• Gold Rush (1849): Mass migration to California after discovery of gold.

⚖ Slavery, Sectionalism, and Abolition

• Dred Scott Case (1857): Supreme Court ruled enslaved people were property, not citizens.

• Popular Sovereignty: Idea that settlers in territories could vote on slavery.

• Compromise of 1850: Admitted California as free state; stricter Fugitive Slave Law.

• Wilmot Proviso: Proposed ban on slavery in new territories (failed).

• Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854): Allowed popular sovereignty in those territories → led to Bleeding Kansas.

• Bleeding Kansas: Violent conflict between pro- and anti-slavery settlers.

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852): Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, increased anti-slavery sentiment in North.

• Abolitionists Movement: Wanted to end slavery.

  • Frederick Douglass: Former slave, powerful speaker and writer.

  • William Lloyd Garrison: Published The Liberator; radical abolitionist.

  • Elijah P. Lovejoy: Murdered for anti-slavery views.

  • Wendell Phillips: Orator and Garrison ally.

  • John Brown: Radical abolitionist; led raid on Harper’s Ferry.

• Underground Railroad: Secret network to help enslaved people escape.

• King Cotton: Term showing South’s economic reliance on cotton and slavery.

💥 Civil War Era

• Secession: Southern states left the Union after Lincoln’s election (1860).

• Fort McHenry: War of 1812 battle that inspired the national anthem.

• Battle of New Orleans: Major victory led by Andrew Jackson in 1815.

• Bull Run: First major battle of Civil War; Confederate victory.

• Antietam: Bloodiest single-day battle; led to Emancipation Proclamation.

• Gettysburg: Turning point; Union victory in 1863.

• Battle of Vicksburg: Gave Union control of Mississippi River.

• Total War: Strategy used by General William Tecumseh Sherman to destroy South's will to fight.

• General Ulysses S. Grant: Top Union general.

• General Robert E. Lee: Led Confederate army.

• General George McClellan: Cautious Union general; ran against Lincoln in 1864.

• Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Freed enslaved people in rebelling states.

• Federal Conscription: First military draft; led to riots in the North.

🛠 Reconstruction (Post–Civil War)

• Andrew Johnson: Took over after Lincoln’s assassination; lenient on South.

• Black Codes: Laws to limit rights of freed Black Americans.

• 13th Amendment: Abolished slavery.

• 14th Amendment: Granted citizenship to all born in U.S.

• 15th Amendment: Voting rights can’t be denied based on race.

• Ku Klux Klan: White supremacist group opposing Reconstruction.

• Freedmen’s Bureau: Helped formerly enslaved people with education, food, jobs.

🧠 Religion, Education, and Reform

• Deism: Enlightenment belief in God as a distant creator.

• Second Great Awakening: Religious revival inspiring reform movements.

• Charles Finney: Evangelist and leader of revivalism.

• Mormonism: Religious movement founded by Joseph Smith; moved to Utah.

• Horace Mann: Education reformer; pushed for public schooling.

• Henry Clay: "Great Compromiser"; helped with Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850.

• Daniel Webster: Prominent politician; supported Union over state’s rights.

• State’s Rights: Belief that states had authority over federal laws.

🏛 Politics & Government

• Federalism: Balance of power between national and state governments.

• John Marshall: Supreme Court chief justice; strengthened federal power.

• Election of 1824: "Corrupt bargain" between Adams and Clay.

• Andrew Jackson:

  • Spoils system: Gave jobs to political supporters.

  • Bank Policies: Opposed the national bank; moved funds to state banks.

  • Indian Removal Policy: Led to forced relocation of Native tribes → Trail of Tears.

💡 Culture, Literature & Philosophy

• Hudson River School: Art movement focused on American landscapes.

• Transcendentalism: Belief in individualism, nature, and self-reliance.

  • "The American Scholar" – Emerson’s call for intellectual independence.

  • The Scarlet Letter – Hawthorne’s novel about sin and society.

  • "The Fall of the House of Usher" – Poe’s gothic tale.

  • Little Women – Alcott’s novel about domestic life and morality.

• Utopian Communities: Experimental societies aiming for perfection (e.g., Brook Farm).

• Cult of Domesticity: Belief that women’s role was in the home.

⚙ Technology & Industrial Growth

• Transcontinental Railroad: Linked East and West coasts; fueled expansion.

• Cyrus McCormick: Invented mechanical reaper (boosted farming).

• Elias Howe: Invented sewing machine.

• Robert Fulton: Invented steamboat.

• Samuel Morse: Invented telegraph and Morse code.

• Noah Webster: Created American dictionary; influenced language and education.

⚖ Legal Cases & Controversies

• Amistad Case: Enslaved Africans took over a ship; case reached Supreme Court; John Quincy Adams defended them.

• John Quincy Adams: 6th president; also helped in the Amistad Case.