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Time pd 5 Contextualization
During this period in America, western expansion was supported in order to find new economic opportunities. "Manifest Destiny" emerged which further motivated this westward migration. Slavery was constant debate among states especially the South. Compromises were made as new ways of agriculture and granting land came about. All the events of this time period led to the eventual Civil War. 1844- the annexation of texas - 1877- formally ending the reconstruction era. -
Manifest Destiny (economic + social + political)
A doctrine that believed the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was justifiable and inevitable. As America continued to bring in people from the outside, the economy was revolutionized. The Manifest Destiny brought about money, land, resources, and a strengthened economy to the Americas. This caused a social and political change as Native American and Mexican people merged and tensions increased between Northern and Southern political interests. -
Wilmont Proviso (political)
Provided insight into anti-slavery positions among northerners and debates about slavery in the territories occurred. Shift on the American political landscape. This was originally designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican war. If this plan had been passed it would have outlawed slavery in territory acquired by the United States- most of the Southwest and all the way to California. This plan was fought for two years. -
Mexican War 1846-47 (social)
Trough this war, America gained land. Mexico received 15 million dollars and gave up its claims to Texas. This almost doubled the size of the United States and began a debate between Northerners and Southerners over what to do with the newly acquired land. This was both a social and environmental shift in American lives as the war treaty extended the US to the Pacific Ocean providing a bounty of ports, minerals, and natural resources fro a growing country. -
Gold Rush (economic)
This caused significant agricultural and industrial development. It caused California's development as it spurred economic growth and facilitated its transition to statehood. This also had negative effects as Native Americans were attacked and pushed off traditional lands and gold mining caused harm to the environment. This aided America's expansion through the removal of Native Americans, stimulation of the economy, and population explosion (social shift). -
Free Soil Movement (social + political + economic)
An American political party that only survived through two presidential elections. This party was dedicated to stopping the spread of slavery to new states and territories in the West. It merged into the Republican party. They argued that "free men on free soil comprised a moral and economically superior system to slavery." This party ceased to exist by 1854, therefore this was one movement that sort of maintained America's identity as a slavery nation. -
Compromise of 1850 (political + economic)
This was a political shift as it defused political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican-American war. The United States was able to expand its territory by accepting California as a state. This created an economic change due to California being rich in gold and agricultural products/ natural resources that created wealth and enriched America as a whole. -
Sumner-Brooks incident (political + social)
Sumner beat Brooks with a cane on the floor of the US Senate in retaliation for an anti-slavery speech in which Sumner verbally attached Brooks's second cousin. Sumner was an antislavery republican who addressed the senate on the explosive issue of whether Kansas should be admitted to the Union as a slave state or free state. Brooks was a pro-slavery Democrat. Sumner became an antislavery leader in the late 1840s. -
Dred Scott V Sanford (social + political)
Brought tension to the issue of slavery in the United States. In this supreme court case, they ruled that Scott was still a slave and had no right to file suit in a United States court as he was not a citizen and was a black male. The 13 and 14th amendments ended up overturning this case by abolishing slavery and granting former slaves American citizenship while also ensuring them equal protection of the laws that all citizens were granted (political shift in American identity) -
SC Secession (economic)
South Carolina became the first slave state in the south to declare that it had seceded from the United States. This led to an economic downfall as the lucrative rice plantation culture that had fueled S.C's economy for generations ended with the war's emancipation of slaves as they no longer had slaves to work in the plantations. Post-war sharecropping and shares system kept black and poor white people in poverty. -
Republican Party & Election of 1860 (political)
Nominated Lincoln as its standard-bearer. Promised not to interfere with slavery in the states but opposed the further extension of slavery into territories. dealt with the free-soil principles, slavery, the fugitive slave act, and the preservation of the union. This allowed Lincoln to get more electoral votes. Lincoln had won a majority of the electoral votes and received more popular votes in the United States than any of the other candidates. -
Suspension of Habeas Corpus (political/military)
The only common-law tradition enshrined in the constitution that also explicitly defines when it can be overridden. Lincoln claimed this suspension was a restraint on his power and he vetoed the act. The suspension gave military authorities the power to silence dissenters and rebels. Commanders could arrest and detail individuals who were deemed threatening to their military operations. -
Homestead Act 1862 (social + economic)
Encouraged Western migration by providing settlers 16 acres of public land. Homesteaderspaid a small filing fee and were required to complete five years of continuous residence before receiving ownership of the land. This accelerated the settlement of the western territory by granting adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed public land for a minimal filing fee. This led to more Westward expansion and gave nearly any man or woman a "fair chance." -
Sherman's march (political + social)
This was to frighten Georgia's civilian population to get them to abandon the confederate cause. They stole food and livestock and burned down the houses and barns of anyone who tried to fight back. They concluded that the civil war would only come to an end if the confederacy's strategic capacity for warfare was decisively broken. This affected the people as they destroyed and stole all sources of food and left people hungry and demoralized. -
13th amendment (social + political)
Shift in America as it abolished slavery and involuntary servitude as well as empowering Congress to enforce the prohibition against their existence. They claimed that slavery corrupted the masters and the society that tolerated and approved of it. This abolished slavery and servitude except for if it were being used as a punishment for committing a crime. The United States found a final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery. -
Freedmen's Bureau (social)
Helped to feed millions of people, built hospitals and provided things like medical aid, negotiated labor contracts for former slaves. It helped them to legalize marriages and locate relatives and assisted black veterans. This led to a major change from a discriminatory society of racial inequality to providing education and safety for freed blacks. More than 90,000 freed slaved were enrolled in schools imparting education in many positive ways as well. -
Reconstruction Acts (political + social)
Laid out the process for readmitting southern states into the union. Virginia, Mississippi, Texas, and Georgia were readmitted after ratifying the 14th amendment as well as the 15th amendment which guaranteed the black man's right to vote. Point was to create military districts in the seceded states. Each district was headed by a military official empowered to appoint and remove state officials. Many whites had a hard time accepting that former slaves could vote and hold office. -
14th amendment (political + social)
"reconstruction amendment." passed after the civil war to fully and permanently abolish slavery and protect the rights of the freed slaves. This granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" which included former slaves who had just been freed after the Civil War. Important and controversial amendments addressing the rights of citizens and equal protection under the law, due process, and the requirements of the states. -
15th Amendment (social + political)
This granted African American men the right to vote and was adopted into the U.S constitution in 1870. Discriminatory practices were still used to prevent blacks from exercising their right to vote, especially in the South despite the amendment which kept American identity constant as far as inequality for voting rights. Prohibited the federal government from denying a person the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." -
Sharecropping (agricultural + economic + social)
Form of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use his land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. This freed African Americans from the gang-labor system and gave them autonomy in their daily work and social lives. Sharecroppers often owed more to the landowner for their use of tools and supplies. This created a new way of work and trade. -
Compromise of 1877 (social + political)
Ended the reconstruction era. Southern democrats promised civil rights and political rights to blacks that were not kept. This caused a political shift in the south as federal interference in southern affairs led to widespread disenfranchisement of black voters. Through this compromise, republicans basically gave up the fight for the racial equality of rights for blacks in the South maintaining the status quo.
