Unit 1 Timeline Assignment

End of American Rebolution

Sep 3, 1783

The Market Revolution (Timeline)

Period: 1819 to 1850

The Missouri Compromise

Mar 2, 1820

1. Explanation:
   1) Addressed Growing Sectionalism about the issue of slavery.
   2) Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time. It also outlawed slavery above the 36* 30' latitude line in the remainder of the Louisiana Territory to split slavery into "North and South".
2. "So What Who Cares?:
   1) Settles the issue of slavery between the North and the Democrats for 30 years.

Texas Becomes Independent from Mexico

Mar 2, 1836

1. Explanation:
   1) Colonizing Americans moved into Texas, they where restricted to start slavery since Mexico had it banned and the Americans where under Mexican territory, after some time the Americans revolted and left Mexico, becoming their own independent nation.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Texas becoming Independent led to the U.S being able to attain it later on, which would then become a state.

Prigg V. Pennsylvania

Mar 1, 1842

1. Explanation:
   1) U.S Supreme Court case in which the court held that the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 precluded a Pennsylvania state law that prohibited blacks from being taken out of the free state of Pennsylvania into slavery
   2) Court overturned the conviction of slavecatcher Edward Prigg as a result.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Declared that federal law is superior to state law, but states are not required to enforce federal law, this in turn got slaveowners angry, and thus tensions grew.

Texas joins the USA

Dec 27, 1845

1. Explanation:
   1) Citizens of Texas at the time declare its annexation
   2) Texas became the twenty-eighth state, although formal transfer of government did not take place until February 19, 1846
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Prompted the U.S to join in the war effort against Mexico to secure Texas.

Start of War with Mexico

Apr 25, 1846

1. Explanation:
   1) Started due to a disputed boundary between the United States and Texas on the Nueces Strip.
   2) Mexico did not recognize Texas as legitimate as legitimate American Territory.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Many military officers and Generals were of Southern decent, which many would then leave in the future to join the Confederacy once it is established.

Mexican American War (Timeline)

Period: Apr 25, 1846 to Feb 2, 1848

Wilmot Proviso

Aug 8, 1846

1. Explanation:
   1) Unsuccessful proposal in the United States Congress to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican-American War.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) The conflict over the Wilmot Proviso was one of the major events leading to the American Civil War.

California Gold Rush

Jan 24, 1848

1. Explanation:
   1) Began when James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California.
   2) Moves California towards statehood more quickly than expected.
   3) 750,000 pounds of Gold were found.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Led to a debate on as to if Slaves should be used to go into the mines to get Gold, but that would mean California would need to be made a Slave state, raising up the debate on slavery in the U.S

California Gold Rush (Timeline)

Period: Jan 24, 1848 to 1855

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Feb 2, 1848

1. Explanation:
   1) Ended the war between the United States and Mexico
2. SWWC / Importance:
   1) Began the whole debate on as to how the newly captured land would - if it was to begin with - be divided between pro/anti slave states.

End of Mexican-American War / Mexican Cession

Feb 2, 1848

1. Explanation:
   1) Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory, (present-day states California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming.
   2) The US gained 525,000 square miles (14.9% of total area in the current U.S.)
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Brought up the problem of how slavery would be handled in newly captured territories, since the Missouri Compromise of 1820n only addressed territories ALREADY in the U.S at the time of its making.

Compromise of 1850

Jan 29, 1850

1. Explanation:
   1) Package of five separate bills
   2) Ensures slave states and free states will remain in balance.
   3) Called for the admission of California as "free state", provided government of Utah and New Mexico, called for Abolition of slave trade in Washington, DC, amended the Fugitive Slave Act.
   4) Designed by Senator Henry Clay and Democratic Senator Stephen A
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Temporarily defused tensions between slave/free states in years leading up to American Civil War.

Fugitive Slave Act

Sep 18, 1850

1. Explanation:
   1) Law passed by Congress, as part of Compromise of 1850 between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-soilers.
   2) Required that all escaped slaves, upon capture, be returned to the enslaver and that officials and citizens of free states had to cooperate.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) In basic terms, slavery, no matter if it was in the North, was not punishable.

Christiana Riots

Sep 11, 1851

1. Explanation:
   1) Was a successful armed resistance by free Blacks and escaped slaves to a raid led by a federal marshal to recover four escaped slaves owned by Edward Gorsuch of Maryland.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Showed the resentment and anger that freed slaves and Northerners had against the Fugitive Slave Act, and increased tensions between both Democrats and Republicans.

The Jerry Rescue

Oct 1, 1851

1. Explanation:
   1) Involved rescue of the fugitive slave who had been arrested the same day in Syracuse, New York, during the anti-slavery Liberty Party's state convention. the escaped slave was William Henry, a 40 year-old cooper from Missouri whose slave name was "Jerry".
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Became one of the great triumphs of the antislavery movement and became an integral part of the lore and the strategizing of abolitionists in the region.

Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin

Mar 20, 1852

1. Explanation:
   1) Released by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
   2) Shared ideas about the injustices of slavery, pushing back against dominant cultural beliefs about the physical and emotional capacities of black people.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Increased abolitionism/abolitionist movements in North, and increased sectionalism between North and South.

Boston Slavery Riot

1854

1. Explanation:
   1) Unsuccessful attempt by African American abolitionists led by Lewis Hayden, to rescue captured fugitive slave Anthony Burns from the courthouse, leading to the death of a deputy marshal (James Batchelder)
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Showed the sectionalism between supporters and non-supporters on the issue of slavery.

Rapid Decline of the Whig Party (Timeline)

Period: 1854 to 1856

Bleeding Kansas (Timeline)

Period: 1854 to Jan 29, 1861

Formation of the Republican Party

Mar 20, 1854

1. Explanation:
   1) Was founded in the Northern U.S. by forces opposed to the expansion of Slavery, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers.
   2) The Republican Party quickly became the principal opposition to the dominant Democratic Party, and briefly popular Know Nothing Party.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Would lead to a stronger opposition of slavery, as Republicans unlike Whigs demanded it's removal.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

May 30, 1854

1. Explanation:
   1) Repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories (Kansas and Nebraska), and allowed for popular sovereignty.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) The allowance of popular sovereignty led to conflicts such as Bleeding Kansas, John Browns Raid on Harper's Ferry, and increasing tensions between North and South.

End of California Gold Rush

1855

1. Explanation:
   1) The discovery of silver on the other side of the Sierras in Nevada brought an end to the California gold rush.
   2) At its height, about $80 million (some $1.9 Billion in 2005 dollars) had been pulled annually from gold fields.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Heavily improved Californian industry and agriculture.

Start of Bleeding Kansas

May 21, 1856

1. Explanation:
   1) Popular sovereignty (allowed people to vote for slavery in states) was placed in Kansas
   2) Violence broke out immediately between these opposing factions and continued until 1861 when Kansas entered the Union as a free state on January 29.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Lead to an increase in Sectionalism between pro/anti slave peoples, and strengthened both side's drive for power, based on the dedicated issue of slavery.

Sacking of Lawrence

May 21, 1856

1. Explanation:
   (1) Pro-slavery settlers, led by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, attacked and ransacked Lawrence, Kansas, a town that had been founded by anti-slavery settlers from Massachusetts who were hoping to make Kansas a free state.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   (1) Incident fueled the irregular conflict in Kansas Territory, that later became known as Bleeding Kansas.

Caning of Charles Sumner

May 22, 1856

1. Explanation
   1) Representative Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery Democrat from South Carolina, used a walking cane to attack Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist Republican from Massachusetts
   2) The attack was a retaliation by Brooks because 2 days earlier Sumner fiercely criticized slaveholders, including pro-slavery South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, relative to Brooks.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Shocked Northern Republicans, and increased political tensions between Dems. and Reps.

Pottawatomie Massacre (Reaction to Lawrence)

May 24, 1856

1. Explanation:
   (1) In reaction to the Sacking of Lawrence, by pro-slave forces on May 21, and the telegraphed news of the severe attack on Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, John Brown and a band of abolitionist settlers responded violently, and just North of Pottawatomie Creek, they abducted and killed five pro-slavery settlers in front of their families, which included several children.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   (1) Was a big blow to southern opinion of the North/abolitionists.

Battle of Osawatomie (Kansas)

Jul 30, 1856

1. Explanation:
   (1) Armed engagement, when 250-400 pro-slavery border ruffians (pro-slaves who crossed into Kansas to sway the votes) led by John W. Reid, attacked town of Osawatomie, Kansas, which had been settled by anti-slavery Free-Staters.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   (1) Increased Sectional tensions between North and South, and severely deteriorated and horrified Northerners of the South.

Dred Scott v. Sanford / Decision

1857

1. Explanation:
   1) Held that the U.S constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent and therefore they could not enjoy the rights and privileges the constitution conferred upon American citizens.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) In basic terms, allowed for slavery to be unpunishable throughout the entirety of the U.S.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Aug 19, 1858

1. Explanation:
   1) Series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Rep. Party candidate for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Dem. candidate.
   2) Douglas held his decision that the issue of slavery should be decided on by the state, not the federal government. Lincoln argued against the expansion of slavery, yet stressed he was NOT advocating its abolition where it already existed.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Was the final step up to the Civil War.

John Brown's Raid at Harper's Ferry

Oct 18, 1859

1. Explanation:
   1) Was an effort by abolitionists John Brown, from October 16-18, to initiate a slave revolt in Southern States by taking over the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia).
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Known as the prelude of the American Civil War, helped catapult the nation into it.

Election of Abraham Lincoln

1860

1. Explanation:
   1) Won because Democratic party was split over slavery
   2) Abraham Lincoln (Republican) won the presidential election of 1860 in a four-way contest. Although Lincoln received less than 40% of the popular vote, he easily won the Electoral college vote over Stephen Douglas (Democrat), John Breckenridge (Southern Democrat), and John Bell (Constitutional Union).
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Led to Southerners being outraged, assuming the worst, and acting based on their assumptions.

Crittenden Compromise (Timeline)

Period: 1860 to 1861

Abraham Lincoln Elected President

Nov 6, 1860

1.Explanation:
(1) Lincoln took office following the 1860 presidential election, in which he won a plurality of the popular vote in a four-candidate field.
(2) Almost all of Lincoln's votes came from the Northern United States

1. SWWC? / Importance: (1) Lincoln winning the presidential election/Democrats loosing the 1860 election was the final straw for many Southerners, which led to the first country (North Carolina) to secede from the Union.

Crittenden Compromise

Dec 18, 1860

1. Explanation:
   (1) Unsuccessful proposal to permanently enshrine slavery in the United States Constitution, and thereby make it unconstitutional for future congresses to end slavery. Introduced by U.S Senator John J. Crittenden on December 18, 1860.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   (1) Showed Norths desperate want to restore the Union, and its rejection reflected that the sectional tensions between the North and South were too far gone, the only outcome then was the South becoming independent or war.

First Wave of Secession

Dec 20, 1860

1. Explanation:
   1) South Carolina declares their secession form the United States of America. Within the next six months, ten other southern states would secede from the Union: Mississippi - Jan. 9, 1861. Florida - Jan. 10, 1861. Alabama - January 11, 1861. Georgia - January 19, 1861. Louisiana - January 26,, 1861. Texas - February 1, 1861.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   1) Marked the beginning of the end for the Union, and the beginning for the Civil war.

Virginia Peace Conference

1861

1. Explanation:
   (1) Conference's support was to avoid, if possible, the secession of the eight slave states from the upper and border South that had not done so as of that date. None of the seceding states attended.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   (1) Showed that there really was no going back, and that the Confederacy was serious about their secession.

End of Bleeding Kansas

Jan 29, 1861

1. Explanation:
   1) Kansas joins Union as a free state, with slavery prohibited within its border, effectively ending Bleeding Kansas.
2. SWWC / Importance:
   1) Led to Kansas completely abolishing slavery.

Formation of the Confederate states of America

Feb 4, 1861

1. Explanation:
   (1) The Confederacy was once complete, every slave states (excluding the Border states) that wanted to secede did so.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   (1) There was no going back, war was imminent.

Second Wave of Secession

Apr 12, 1861

1. Explanation:
   (1) After Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the "Southern Rebellion," the Upper South states reconsidered their decision to remain in the Union.
   (2) Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee - saw themselves being forced to choose sides, with neutrality no longer an option, they chose the Confederacy.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   (1) These extra states seceding meant that the war effort would last longer, since these states, (especially Virginia) had weaponry)

Battle at Fort Sumter

Apr 12, 1861

1. Explanation:
   (1) Forces from the Confederate States of America attacked the United States military garrison at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Less than two days later, the fort surrendered. No one was killed.
2. SWWC? / Importance:
   (1) The battle started the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in American History.

American Civil War

Period: Apr 12, 1861 to Apr 9, 1865