Settlement in West; pioneers rushing across Great Plains in search of a better life.
Missouri Compromise
Slavery permitted in part of Louisiana Territory south of 36°30' line. Banned south of this line.
Compromise of 1850
1. California entered the Union as a free state.
2. Rest of Mexican Cession divided into territories of New Mexico & Utah. Voters would decide slavery question each territory.
3. Slave trade ended in Washington D.C.
4. Strict new fugitve slave law passed.
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
Demanded all citizens to help catch runaway slaves.
Gadsden Purchase
Mexico sold to U.S. a strip of land in present-day Arizona and New Mexico.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Divided Nebraska Territroy in two: Kansas & Nebraska. Slavery decided by voting.
Dred Scott Decision
Slavery made legal in all territories.
Election of Lincoln (Republican Party)
led to southern secession in 1861.
Civil War
Union (North) vs. COnfederacy (South)aka War of Northern Aggression; War of Secession; War to Preserve the Union; War of Recent Unpleasantness; Jefferson Davis (Pres. of Confed.); Grant (Norhtern) & Lee (Southern)
Emancipation Proclamation
Freed slaves in the seceded states of rebellion; changed the character of the war to include ending slavery as well as preserving the Union.
Lincoln's death
Assassinated by John W. Booth at Ford Theater; Radical Republicans gained power; military reconstruction followed.
13th Amendment
Banned slavery throughout the nation
14th Amendment
Gave citizenship to all people born in the U.S.
Reconstruction Act
Divided South into 5 military districts
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
First impeachment of a president; Johnson had challenged Congressional law.
15th Amendment
Forbade any state from denying African-American males the right to vote.