History 110

• during the last Ice Age huge glaciers locked up massive volumes of water
• Asia and North America were joined by a huge subcontinent of ice-free, treeless grasslands, 750 miles wide from norht to south
• Area called Beringia
• Perfect environment for huge animals and this attracted small bands of hunters and gatherers

• Battle for who was going to control the 13 colonies and Canada
• Conflict began over the Northern borders
• Was fought in three principal areas: Nova Scotia and what was then Acadia, the frontier between New France and New York, and the upper Ohio River.
• Decided the future of the vast region between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River and lay the ground for the conflict between the British and the colonists that led to the American Revolution.
• Ended the imperial rivalry in Eastern North America that had begun in the 16th century with a complete victory for the British Empire.

Adams wanted to resolve the crisis among the U.S. and France. Sent an American delelgation to France but American envoys reported that agents of the French foreign ministries wanted bribes before any negotiations could be made. Adams was pressed for copies of the dispatches by suspicious Jeffersonian Republicans in Congress and in 1798, he released them after substituting the letters X, Y, and Z, for the names of the French agents. Sparked powerful anti-French sentiment throughout the country. Sent Adam's popularity soaring,

Four acts that severely limited both freedom of speech and the freedom of the press and threatened the liberty of foreigners in the U.S.

Naturalization Act- extended the period of residence required for citizenship from 5 years to 14 yrs.

The Alien Act and the Alien Enemies Act- authorized the president to order the imprisonment or deportation of suspected aliens during wartime.

The Sedition Act- provided heavy fines and imprisonment for anyone convicted of writing, printing, or speaking anything of "a false, scandalous and malicious" nature against the government or any of its officers.

• Jefferson vs. Adams
• Jefferson captured the South and the West
• Jefferson was elected President
• Was the first campaign in which Jeffersonian Republicans and Federalist operated as two national political parties
• Peaceful transition of power.

William Maibury, whom President Adams had appointed Justice of the Peace for Washington D.C., and three other appointees sued James Madison to receive their commissions for their offices. Provoked a landmark decision from the Supreme Court.

Economic Policies- wanted to ensure an agrarian "republic of virtue." Cut all internal taxes, reduced the size of the army, navy, and government staff, and eliminated the entire national debt. Proposed program of "simplicity and frugality."

Napolean offered the entire Louisiana Territory including the crucial part of New Orleans to the Americans for 15 mil. James Monroe seized the opportunity and bought the territory in 1803. Was the largest peaceful acquisition of territory in U.S. history. Jefferson believed that expansion was essential to liberty. More than doubled the size of the nation.

Economic issues/taxes- Stamp Act, 1765, taxed goods that were used by the colonies. The Declatory Act, 1766, allowed the British to make laws for the colonies and they then passed more taxing laws. Passed the Intolerable Acts in 1774 that were made to punish Massachusetts and strenghten the British hand.

Political Issues- the colonies wanted to govern themselves. Were tired of British rule. Practiced nonimportation as a way to boycott British Politics.

New England

• First English colony in New England
• Was founded by a group of religious dissenters (Piligrims)
• 102 people came from London through the Mayflower in 1602
• Created the Mayflower Compact which was the first document of self government in North America
• Pilgrims established the self-sufficient community they desired for the 1st two or three centuries
• By midcentury, Plymouth population had dispersed into eleven seperate communities
• Puritant faith
• Population was well educated
• Emigrated in order to practice their variety of Christianity
• Had little tolearance for other religious points of view

New York

• Charles II granted the newly acquired Dutch colony and named it New York
• English government did little to disturb the existing order in that colony
• Ethnically and linguistically diversified
• Accomodated a wide range of religious sects
• Boasted the most heterogeneous society in North America

Pennsylvania

• In 1676, proprietary rights to the western portion of New Jersey were sold to a group of English Quakers
• Area was intended to become a religious haven for Quakers
• Quakers were commited to religious toleration and pacifism
• William Penn supervised the laying out of his capital of Philadelphia on the Delaware
• Penn wanted his colony to be a "holy experiment"
• His frame of governement included religious freedom, civil liberties, and elected representation
• A number of Indian groups resettled in the Quaker colony
• During the 1st decade of Pennsylvania's settlement, over 10,000 colonists arrived from England

Selected by the Whigs as the presidential candidate in the election of 1844. Favored annexstion but only with the approval of Mexico. Lost ot Polk/ Was part of an election that was widely interpreted as a mandate for expansion. Contributed to the compromise of 1850's, which was the last act of his career.

Was viewed by Jackson as a representative of the priviliged elite. Was a sectional representative for Jackson. Contributed to the compromise of 1850.

Member of the Republican party who ran for president in the election of 1824 but who withdrew before the election to run for vice president. Became the vice president for Jackson. Was an important supporter of nullification. Wrote a widely circulated defense of the doctrine. Was in disagreement with the president on nullification. Resigned as vice president because of his loss of influence with Jackson.

Republican who won the election of 1860. In 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves. Supported the recruitment of black soldiers in the Civil War. Was assassinated in 1865.

Democrat who drove the Compromise of 1850 through congress. Ran for presidency in the election of 1852, 1856 and 1860 but lost all three times. Proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Opposed the Lecompton Constitution in 1857. Believed it violated the principle of popular sovereignty. Defied his own president and voted to refuse admission to Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution. Strongly believed in popular sovereignty and intended to preserve the Democrats as a national party.

Showed the split of the Democratic Party into northern and southern wings. Presented voters with one of the clearest choices in American history. John Breckinridge supported the extension of slavery while Abraham Lincoln stood firmly for its exclusion. Created mass hysteria in the South because of fear of slave revolts. This election produced the 2nd highest voter turnout in U.S. history. Was a sectional election and was won by Lincoln.

Decided whether slavery should be extended to the new territories. Was the final act in the political careers of Henry Clay, Joh C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster. Was driven through Congress by Stephen Douglas. Compromise consisted of 5 seperate bills that embodies 3 seperate compromises. California was admitted as a free state, Texas was required to cede land to New Mexico Territory and was undecided on being a free or slave state and the slave trade was ended in the District of Columbia, but stronger slave laws were enacted.

Abolitionist. Was a self-appointed avenger who had slaughtered unarmed proslavery men in Jansas in 1856. In 1859, he led a group of 22 white and African American men against the arsenal. His plan to create a slave uprising failed and ended up with his capture. He was hanged in 1859. Was supported by many because of the antislavery cause he represented.

The nickname that was earned by Kansas because of the widespread practice of illegal voting and of open violence. Was a bloody battleground between antislavery and proslavery forces.

Started a rebellion in 1831 in which a nember of white people were killed. Was a preacher who was a slave. Was a leader in the slave community because of his intelligence and strong religious commitment. Turner and 5 other slaves moved from plantation to plantation killing a total of 55 white people. The number slaves that ended up joining the revolt rose to 60 by the next morning.

• 1846-1848
• Helped lead the U.S. to the Civil War. In 1846, tensions with Mexico grew more serious. The turmoil over Texas created a fear of a Mexican invasion. War began in 1846 with an advance by U.S. forces into the disputed area between the Nieces River and the Rio Grande in Texas. Was fueled by Polk's hunger for expansion. Ended in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mexico ceded its northern provinces of California and New Mexico and accepted the Rio Grande as the boundary of Texas.

Made up of supporters of the People's Party

in 1846, David Wilmot proposed that slavery be banned in all the territories acquired from Mexico. Was opposed by Whigs and southern Democrats but supported by northerners of both parties. The Proviso triggered the first breakdown of the national party system and reopened the debate about the place of slavery in the future of the nation.

Dred Scott was a slave who was taken into free states by his master. In those states he got married and had a daughter who was born in a free state. He sued for his freedom in 1846 on the grounds that residence in free lands had made him and his family free. In his decision, Chief Justice Taney declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. Asserted that the government had no right to interfere with the free movement of property throughout the territories. He dismissed the case on the grounds that only citizens could bring suits before federal courts and that black people were not citizens. Enflamed the conflict over the expansion of slavery.

Idea created by John O Sullivan. Belief that Americans had the God-given right to bring the benefits of American democracy to other, more backward peoples by force, if necessary. Summed up the powerful combination of pride in what America had achieved and missionary zeal and racist attitudes toward other peoples that lay behind the thinking of many expansionists.

A movement created around several key issues: ending political corruption, bringing more businesslike methods to government and offereing a more compassionate legislative response to the excesses of industrialism. Reached its peak in 1912 a a national movement.

• What were the events that led up to the Civil War?
• The Constitution- slaves counted as 3/5 of a person
• The Compromise of 1820
• The Mexican-American War
• Issue of the expansion of slavery was a huge factor that led up to the Civil War
• Another issue was the attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston

• Confederates vs. Union (North vs. South)
• Battle of Bull Run- first battle of the War. Union retreated because they were unprepared
• Was the most lethal military conflict in American history
• Union had strenghts when it came to population and productive capacity
• Confederacy had a united community, had an advantage in military leaders, the use of slaves allowed them to continue to produce cotton.

5 Key issues of the Gilded Age

• 1. Low-quality political leadership at the state and national levels
• Talented men went into private enterprise: Rockefeller, Morgan, Carnegie
• Leaders used their positions to gain profit at the publics expense

• 2. Close relationship between politicians and business
• The great economic powers of the day looked upon politicians as their paid representatives

• 3. Political gridlock
• Elections were often very close
• Not a single President was able to work with a Congress that was dominated by his party throughout his term of office.

• 4. Few significant political differences between parties
• There were no true deep ideological differences
• It was the nature and interests of the politicians constituencies and their geographical location that was more predictive of their voting behavior

• 5. Reflected weak presidential and strong congressional leadership
• Congressmen and Senators often had more power than any of the Gilded Age Presidents (Grant, Garfield, Hayes, McKinley, etc.)
• Real power was in the congressional leadership and committee chairmen
• Congress dominated national politics