Download File

KEY DATES
Unit 5: Civil War and Reconstruction
Cotton Gin
Slave trade ended
Missouri Compromise
The Founding Fathers did not abolish slavery, gave southern states representation for
3/5 of their slave population, and pledged not to end the slave trade for 20 years
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin which expanded the need for slavery
Congress outlawed the importation of new slaves
Congress prohibited slavery north of the 36*30’ line in the Louisiana Territory
1845-1849
James K. Polk
Polk elected president on a platform of Manifest Destiny (54*40’ or Fight!)
1846-1848
1848-1849
1850
1852
1854
1856-1860
1857
1858
1859
Nov. 1860
Dec. 1860
Apr. 1861
Apr. 1861
1862
Sep. 1862
Jan. 1863
Jul. 1863
Jul. 1863
Mexican War
Nov. 1863
Dec. 1863
1864
Nov. 1864
Apr. 9, 1865
Apr. 14, 1865
Dec. 1865
1867
1867
1868
Jul. 1868
Gettysburg Address
1869-1877
Ulysses S. Grant
Grant was the first president to serve two full terms since Andrew Jackson
Feb. 1870
1873
1875
1876-1877
Fifteenth Amendment
Panic of 1873
Civil Rights Act (1875)
Fifteenth Amendment granted suffrage to all men regardless of race, color, servitude
Overspeculation and rapid industrial development led to financial panic
Law promised to end discrimination, but was poorly enforced and struck down by Court
Disputed election of 1876 was resolved giving presidency to Hayes with promise to
remove remaining federal troops from the South, thus ending Reconstruction
1787
1793
1808
1820
Constitutional Convention
Gold Rush
Compromise of 1850
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Kansas-Nebraska Act
“Bleeding Kansas”
Dred Scott case
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
John Brown’s Raid
Election of 1860
South Carolina seceded
Fort Sumter
Confederate States
Homestead Act
Battle of Antietam
Emancipation Proclamation
Draft Riots
Vicksburg & Gettysburg
Lincoln’s 10% Plan
Sherman’s March
Election of 1864
Appomattox
Lincoln Assassination
Thirteenth Amendment
Military Reconstruction
Tenure of Office Act
Johnson Impeachment Trial
Fourteenth Amendment
“Compromise of 1877”
US and Mexico clashed over Texas boundary dispute; Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
granted to US most of modern-day SW
Gold was discovered and thousands of “Forty-Niners” moved to California
Compromise passed which added CA as free state and stricter fugitive-slave law
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book inspired sympathy for slaves
The KS-NE Act repealed the MO Compromise and reopened the slavery debate
Pro- and anti-slavery forces fought in a battle for slavery in Kansas
Court ruled that slaves were property and no restrictions could be placed on slavery
Lincoln emerged as a national political force in his debates with Senator Douglas
Brown’s radical abolitionist tactics and raid on a federal arsenal enraged the South
Lincoln elected president in this four-way race
Between Dec. 1860 and Feb. 1861 seven states seceded in response to Lincoln’s election
South Carolina bombarded Fort Sumter sparking the Civil War
Lincoln’s call for troops prompted four more states to secede between April and June
Republican Congress passed series of economic measures, including Homestead Act
Union forces held off the Confederates; as a result, Britain and France withheld
recognition of the CSA and Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln declared that all slaves in areas still in rebellion were now considered free
Congress passed a conscription law that led urban poor to violently protest in NYC
Union forces won big victories at Vicksburg (giving the Union control of the Mississippi
River) and Gettysburg (repulsing the Confederates’ last major offensive attack)
Lincoln delivered a cemetery dedication, redefining the war’s (and nation’s) purpose to
include achieving the principles of equality in the Declaration of Independence
Lincoln offered his lenient plan for Confederate amnesty and reconstruction
Sherman sacked Atlanta (Aug.) and cut a devastating path of destruction to the sea
Lincoln re-elected president, defeating former Union general George McClellan
Lee surrendered his army to Grant at Appomattox, VA, essentially ending the war
CSA sympathizer John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre
Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery
Acts placed the South under military control, despite Johnson’s veto of the measure
Radicals passed this law to protect Republicans officeholders from removal by Johnson
Johnson impeached for violating Tenure of Office Act; Senate acquitted him by 1 vote
Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to former slaves, guaranteed equal
protection of the laws, and imposed punishments on ex-Confederates