John Brown
Election of 1844
James k. Polk was a big believer in manifest destiny. He got the Oregon territory and started the Mexican-American River.
Johnson impeached
Pres. Johnson violated the tenure of office act, and impeachment failed by one vote
Kansas-Nebraska act
divided Nebraska territory into 2 sections, Kansas and Nebraska. Put slavery to a vote in each new state. Effectively overturned the Missouri compromise!
Tenure of Office Act
Stopped the president from removing a member of their cabinet without congressional approval (Johnson had tried to remove his secretary of war, who was a radical Republican)
Free Soil Party
Formed by abolitionists who wanted to ban slavery everywhere
A slave in Missouri was taken to live in free Wisconsin, for two years, and he sued for his freedom. The Supreme Court ruled that slaves aren't citizens, and they are property so nobody can be deprived of their property without due process.
White supremacy
White supremacy continued to dominate. Secret societies continued to terrorize African Americans (and Catholics, jews, and immigrants)
Black codes
Restricted the civil rights of african americans in the south. Made it harder to vote, own property, even banned them from testifying against white people
Battle of Vicksburg
Granted the Union control of the entire Mississippi River. Cut the confederacy in half
Reconstruction acts
Divided the south into 5 zones under military occupation. Increased requirements for rejoining (also ratify 14th amendment and have universal suffrage)
Lincoln campaigned on halting the expansion of slavery. He won without a single Southern electoral vote, prompting the south to realize they no longer any voice in the future of slavery in america
Mexican-American war
Disputes over the Texas border sparked the conflict. American troops made it all the way to Mexico city.
Positions on expansion of slavery
Argued that slavery was a constitutional right, wanted line established in the Missouri Compromise to extend all the way westward to the Pacific.
Republican party formed
Many northerners opposed the expansion of slavery, and abolitionists despised the law. There were often riots when Southerners would try to bring back a runaway slave.
Radical Republicans
Pushed hard for civil rights, wanted to punish the south. Shifted the process of reconstruction from president to congress
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
Established the southern border of the United States and granted a huge portion of land known as the Mexican cession which included California and new Mexico
Gold was discovered in California, population skyrocketed
Anaconda plan
Plan to completely cut off the south by blockading southern ports and eventually the Mississippi river
Compromise of 1877
The contested election was decided by a Republican-leaning committee the obv chose the Republican candidate. Democrats threatened to filibuster
Protected voting rights of former slaves (in theory)
Civil rights act of 1866
All African Americans were citizens of the United States
Compromise of 1850
California and New Mexico wanted to enter the union as free states.
Henry Clay created compromise: New Mexico and Utah would vote on slavery, California would be admitted as a free state, Slavery would be banned in Washington D.C., and there would be a new fugitive slave act
Wilmot Proviso
An amendment to a law in congress that stipulated that any land gained in the Mexican-American war wouldn't be ineligible for the spread of slavery. Symbolized the growing tension over westward expansion and slavery.
Americans believed they had a God-given right to have a nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
Bleeding Kansas
Fighting broke out between the pro and anti-slavery factions
Texan independence
Americans had been settling in Texas since the 1820s. The southerners outnumbered actual Mexicans and had brought their slaves. The Mexican government outlawed slavery and mandated catholicism.
