APUSH Unit 4

Kentucky

necessary the Union keep it, if it were to join the Confederacy the Union couldn't MO or MD and MD is very close to DC, fragile neutrality lasted until Sept 3 when Confederate and Union armies moved into the divided state, voters elected a secessionist governor and a Union majority in the state legislature, stayed in Union

Black Politicians

new African American voters and many ex-Confederates denied voting rights, like 600 blacks elected, most of them former slaves, as state legislators under Congressional Reconstruction, former Union soldier Pinckney Pinchback elected lieutenant governor, several others elected to high state offices, 2 black senators in Congress, Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce, both MS natives educated in the North, 14 black Congressmen served in House of Representatives, elections appalled southern whites, Democrats claimed Radicals trying to organize a hell in the south by putting the Caucasian race under rule of their own negroes, southern whites complained freed slaves were illiterate and had no civic experience or appreciation of political issues and processes, only SC's Republican state convention had a black majority, LA's was evenly divided racially, and in FL and VA had 20%+ members black, TX was only 10% black, NC's 11% black

Statehood

new President Zachary Taylor decided to use CA's request to end the stalemate in Congress over slavery, wanted to make CA and NM free states, CA was in desperate need of an organized government so by Dec 1849 without consulting Congress, they had put a free state government into operation, NM responded more slowly but by 1850 they had also adopted a free state constitution

Horace Greeley

nominated by Liberal Republicans in 1872 election, longtime champion of causes like abolitionism, socialism, vegetarianism, and spiritualism (communicating with the dead), image as an eccentric who repeatedly reversed his political positions matched by his record of hostility to Democrats, whose support was needed to win, Southern Democrats liked his criticism of Reconstruction, but most Northerners appalled, only carried 6 Southern states and none in North, only got 2,834,761, wife died 6 days before election, died 3 weeks later

Rutherford B. Hayes

nominated by Republican convention for election of 1876, had served 3 terms as governor of OH, civil service reformer eager to reduce the number of federal jobs subject to political enforcement, offended neither Radicals nor reformers, called reforming the civil service to eliminate cronyism and corruption within his administration and promised to reject a second term for himself

Apostles of Forgiveness

northern religionists became this for their southern white brethren because white southern ministers kept assuring their congregations that God endorsed white supremacy

Thaddeus Stevens

one of the leaders of the Radical Republicans, urged "reconstruction" of the South by having Union armies seize southern plantations

Cabarello/rancheros

"gentlemen" who owned the largest ranches in the province much like the planters who lorded over the Lower South, ruled over the small, scattered population of 6,000 Mexicans when the first Americans began to trickle into CA

Stalwarts

1/2 of the Republican party, AKA Grant Republicans

Liberal Republicans

1/2 of the Republican party, formed in 1872, AKA Conscience Republicans, led by Carl Schurz, embraced free trade and opposed nay government regulation of business and industry while championing gold coins as the only reliable currency, tried to get rid of "tyrannical" Grant and end Reconstruction, wanted to lower tariffs lining pockets of big corporations and promote "civil service reforms" to end the partisan tyranny of the patronage system whereby new presidents rewarded the selfish greed of political supporters with federal government jobs, charged Grant and his cronies were pursuing policies and making decisions solely to benefit themselves, also opposed Grant's efforts to suppress racism and KKK terrorism, believed no more need for federal intervention in the South, many were elitist newspaper editors suspicious of the working classes, held a national convention in Cincinnati for election of 1872, during which they accused the Grant administration of corruption, incompetence, and despotism, committed political suicide by nominating Horace Greeley

War's Legacy

13,000+ Americans died, 11,550 from disease, especially measles and dysentery, 110/1000 Mexican soldiers died, reinvigorated debate over the future of slavery, many saw the conflict as a shameful war of conquest directed by a president bent on territorial expansion for the sake of slavery, acquisition of the northern Mexican provinces made the US a transcontinental nation and led to a dramatic expansion of the federal government, led to secession and civil war

The Forlorn Hope Group

17 of the strongest members of the Donner party, decided to cross the pass on their own, got trapped by more snow, 2 turned back, 8 more died of exposure and starvation, killed 2 Indian guides Luis and Salvador and ate them, Billy Graves told his daughters to eat him after his death, appalled at first but left with no choice, 2 others died and were eaten as well, only 7 reached the Sacramento Valley

California

1769 - Spain sent a naval expedition to settle the region because they were concerned about Russian seal traders moving south along the Pacific coast from Alaska, San Francisco Bay discovered and presidios constructed in San Diego and Monterey, Franciscan friars and Junipero Serra, mission-centered culture, missions much larger, more influential, and longer lasting, controlled most of the Native Americans living along the Coast by 19th century, start of 1846 there were like 800 Americans living there, 10,000 Californios, and 150,000 Native Americans, American migrants learned to speak Spanish, often embraced Catholicism, won Mexican citizenship, found Spanish or Native American spouses and participated in local politics

Spanish West

1790 - Hispanic population in TX 2,510, NM greater than 20,000 because the Yuma and Apaches in TX thwarted Spanish attempt to establish Catholic missions, 1807 French led by Napoleon had occupied Spain and imprisoned the king, creating confusion among Spain's colonial possessions in the Western Hemisphere, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, poorly organized uprising, 1820 liberation attempt 2 and Mexico independent republic in 1821, struggled to develop a stable government and an effective economy, Americans took advantage of the instability especially in its northern provinces, areas that include present day TX, NM, AZ, NV, CA, and parts of CO, OK, KS, WY, fur traders streamed into NM and AZ, developing profitable commerce along the Santa Fe Trail to St. Louis

The Lone Star Republic

1836, what Texians called their new nation, legalized slavery, banned free blacks, elected Sam Houston as the first president, voted overwhelmingly for annexation to the US but statehood was involved in a sectional dispute over slavery again, JCC said yes because southern states with slave populations wanted to prevent overpowering anti-slavery, anti slavery north like VT in 1837 said no new slave states, President Andrew Jackson wanted TX but knew it would fracture the Democratic Party and endanger MVB getting elected and would probably mean more war with Mexico who refused to recognize Santa Anna's treaty, so AJ and MVB ignored the issue entirely, President John Tyler wanted it, Sam Houston threatened to expand to the Pacific coast but TX had little money, rising debt, high tensions with Mexico, had no infrastructure (banks, schools or industry), 2 choices annex or closer economic ties to GB which extended formal diplomatic recognition and was already buying cotton, thousands of Americans migrated because offer of 1280 acres to each white family, 1836 40,000 population and 1845 150,000 population, enslaved black population grew faster than the white population

Plains Indians

1840 - more than 325,000 inhabited the vast area west of the Mississippi River, more than 200 nations each with its own language, religion, cultural practices, and system of governance, some were primarily farmers, others were nomadic hunters, following buffalo herds, life depended on abundance of buffalo and the influx of white settlers and hunters posed a direct threat to their survival, fighting ensued when federal officials couldn't force Indian leaders to sell their tribal lands

Economics after the War

1866 MS spent 20% of the state's budget on artificial limbs for Confederate veterans, property values had collapsed, in the year after the war ended, 81 plantations in MS sold for less than 1/10 of their worth in 1860, Confederate money was worthless, personal savings vanished, tens of thousands of houses and mules were killed in the fighting countless farm building and agricultural equipment had been destroyed, many of the largest southern cities (Richmond, Atlanta, etc.) were devastated, most railroads and many bridges were damaged or destroyed, Southerners regardless of color were homeless and hungry, Charleston, the birth place of secession, had become a place of vacant houses, of widowed women, of rotting wharves, deserted warehouses, weed-wild gardens, miles of grass-grown streets, acres of pitiful and voiceless barrenness, 1860-1870, northern wealth grew by 50% while southern wealth dropped by 60%, emancipation wiped out $4 billion invested in slavery, cotton crop didn't equal the record harvest of 1860 until 1873, tobacco didn't regain until 1880, sugar crop of LA didn't recover until 1893, and rice economy along coast of SC and GA never regained prewar levels, 1860 South generated 30% of nation's wealth, 1870 only 12%

Lyons Wakeman

19 year old eldest of 9 children in an upstate NY farm family, enlisted in Union army in 1862, signed up for 3 years in exchange for a $152 cash bonus, paid $13 a month, some went home to help family, not afraid of death, died of dysentery (the most common wartime disease) after drinking from a stream contaminated with the carcasses of dead horses, buried in a New Orleans cemetery under simple headstone, was actually a woman — Sarah Rosetta Wakeman

Pottawatomie Massacre

2 days after the Sack of Lawrence, a passionate white abolitionist named John Brown, the son of fervent OH Calvinists who taught their children that life was a crusade against sin, he believed Christians must break the jaws of the wicked and that the wickedest Americans were those who owned and traded slaves, he led 4 of his sons and a son-in-law to ___, KS, a pro-slavery settlement near the MS border, on night of May 24, Brown and his group dragged 5 men from their houses and hacked them to death with swords, it launched a brutal guerilla war in the KS Territory

Battle of Coleto Creek

2 weeks after the Battle of the Alamo, Mexican force defeated smaller Texian army then marched 465 captives to a fort in nearby town Goliad, Santa Anna ordered captives killed as pirates and outlaws, Palm Sunday March 27 1836, 300+ Texians marched out and murdered

Thirteenth Amendment

3 major steps occurred in Jan 1865: MO and TN abolished slavery, and at Lincoln's insistence the U.S. House of Representatives passed amendment to Constitution that banned slavery everywhere, became law upon ratification by 3/4 of reunited states 8 months after the war ended on Dec 18 1865, removed any lingering doubts about the legality of emancipation, by then slavery only remained in border states KY and TN

Battle of New Orleans

3 weeks after Shiloh, Union won great naval victory, David G. Farragut's warships blasted through Confederate forts to take control of the largest city in the Confederacy, Union general Benjamin F. Butler served as military governor of NO after, he had a Confederate sympathizer who ripped down a Union flag hung, declared any women who was disrespectful of Union soldiers would be treated as a prostitute after one emptied the chamber pot on Farragut's head, loss was a devastating blow to the Confederate economy, Union army gained control of 1500 cotton plantations and liberated 50,000 slaves in the MS Valley

Battle of Chattanooga

3rd Union triumph of 1863, river port that served as a gateway to northern GA, Union army led by General William Rosencrans took it on Sept 9 and then chased General Braxton Bragg's Rebel forces into GA where they clashed at Chickamauga (river of death), Confederates had numerical advantage and battered Union fell back while Rebels surrounded the city, Lincoln urged Rosencrans to persevere, Union command rushed in reinforcements and Nov 24 and 25 dislodged Confederates from Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, gaining effective control of TN, South lost war in the west

Polk's Purpose

4 major objectives, all accomplished; 1) reduce tariffs on imports, 2) reestablish the Independent Treasury, 3) settle Oregon boundary dispute with Britain, 4) acquire CA from Mexico, wanted lower tariffs to allow more foreign goods to complete in American marketplace and help drive consumer prices down, Congress approved Walker Tariff of 1846 named after the Secretary of the Treasury, same year persuaded Congress to store the Act MVB signed into law and was repealed by Whig Congress the next year, established Independent Treasury deposit offices to receive all federal government funds, intended to replace the 2nd BUS to offset the chaotic growth of unregulated state banks with reckless lending practices, helped late 1830s depression, entrusted federal government with exclusive management of government funds and required all disbursement be in gold or silver or paper currency backed in gold or silver, he also twice vetoed Whig-passed bills for federally funded infrastructure projects which satisfied South but angered Northerners who wanted federally financed roads and harbors

Lincoln-Douglas Debates 1858

7 debates across IL, took place between August 21 and October 15 1858, they attracted tens of thousands of spectators and transformed the IL Senate race into a battle for the very future of the republic, Lincoln: unassuming in manner and attire, lightened speeches with refreshing sense of folksy humor and was a celebrated storyteller, conveyed air of simplicity, sincerity, and common sense, Douglas: quite dandy and only wore the finest custom tailored suits, traveled to debate sites in a luxurious private railroad car, man of considerable abilities and even greater ambition, strutted with pugnacious air of a predestined champion while Lincoln often rode alone on his horse, basic dispute according to Lincoln was Douglas' indifference to the immorality of slave, he was only concerned with the process (popular sovereignty), Lincoln focused on principle, wanted all free now, Douglas asked why they couldn't tolerate slavery for blacks and freedom for whites, Lincoln didn't want political or social equality, blacks shouldn't vote, run for office, or serve on juries, or marry whites, white supremacy, Douglas called Lincoln 2 faced so he asked the audience why he would wear this one, Lincoln won popular vote but Douglas won the Senate seat because he won the support of the Democratic state legislature, but Lincoln became a national figure now

Battle of Antietam

AKA Sharpsburg, Lee decided to invade MD and force Army of the Potomac and its timid commander McClellan to leave northern VA, relieving the pressure on Richmond, also hoped a successful northern invasion would influence upcoming elections in the North, and he wanted to gain official British and French recognition of Confederacy which would bring his troops desperately needed suppplies, also planned with Davus to capture MD with its many Confederate supporters, separate it from the Union, and gain control of its farms, crops, and livestock, Sept 1862 Lee and 40,000 ragged, barefoot, and underfed troops pushed across the Potomac River into western MD, and clashed on Sept 17th, luck played a hand because Union troops discovered Lee's detailed battle plans wrapped around 3 cigars a Rebel soldier carelessly dropped on the ground, also because if McClellan's 100,000 men been moved more quickly he could have destroyed Lee's Army of Northern VA while it was scattered and on the march, but he mobilized slowly, afraid to risk losing,, enabling Lee's troops to regroup at Sharpsburg MD, poorly coordinated Union army launched repeated attacks over 14 hours, next day Lee braced for attack that never came, slipped back across Potomac to safety of VA< battle technically a draw but Lee's northern invasion failed, roughly 6400 soldiers on both sides killed, twice as many as Shiloh, another 17,000 wounded or listed as missing, Lincoln pleased Lee forced to retreat but disgusted by general's failure to pursue him and win the war, revived sagging northern morale and crushed Confederate hopes of forging alliances with Great Britain and France, convinced Lincoln to transform war from effort to restore the Union to a crusade to end slavery

Texan Independence

Alamo turned into fight for this, March 2 1836 delegates from all 59 Texian towns met in tiny village of Washington-on-the-Brazos, like 150 miles north of San Antonio, signed declaration and drafted constitution for new Republic of Texas, named Sam Houston commander in chief of disorganized but growing "army"

Battle of Fredericksburg

Ambrose E. Burnside, full of self-doubts, eager fighter but poor strategist, decided to try and reach Richmond, mid-Nov 1862, most of 122,000 Army of Potomac positioned here, tactically chosen as halfway between Richmond and DC, lost the element of surprise because rain, Lee rushed Army of Northern VA to defend, Lee established heavily fortified positions along line of ridges and stone walls, mid-Dec Union attacked, Dec 13 Union formed ranks south of town and assaulted the entrenched position, Confederate cannons and muskets destroyed them as they crossed 1/2 a mile of open land, 12,600 Feds killed or wounded, less than 5300 Confederates hurt, Burnside retreated, immigrants making up Irish Brigade central to Union assault, 545/1200 men killed or wounded

Women Pioneers

Amelia Knight - diary, set out for Oregon in 1855 with her husband and seven children, revealed mortal threats: Chatfield sick with scarlet fever, calf got sick and died before breakfast, one oxen dropped dead in yoke, yesterday eighth child born // initially same labor division as east - cooking, washing, sewing, caring for children, and men drove the wagons, tended horses and cattle, and did heavy labor but then life was hard so women gathered buffalo dung for fuel, drove wagons, worked to help dislodge wagons mired in mud, helped construct makeshift bridges, pitch tents, and other "unladylike tasks" // Lavinia Porter: so difficult a wonder how women endure it, became convinced American women were endowed with courage of brave pioneer ancestors and can adapt to all situations // hard labor of trail strained relationships and provoked social tensions, divorces soared in West, regret // Malick family: left IL in 1848 to start farm in OR Territory, George (father) soon died and 3 of the older children, Abigail (widow) said all were well that were left of them

Fort Pillow Massacre

April 12 1864, perched on high bluff overlooking MS River 40 miles north of Memphis TN, Confederate troops under command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest (former slaveholder who would help found KKK), murdered ~300 Union soldiers who had surrendered, mostly African Americans, set up for more because of revenge

David Farragut

Commanded the Union blockade of Southern ports, helped capture the the Confederate city of New Orleans and provided support for General Ulysses S. Grant's siege of Vicksburg, best known for his victory at the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864, famously proclaimed "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead"

General Pierre T. Beauregard

Confederate general at the First Battle of Bull Run, took over Battle of Shiloh for Confederacy after Johnston's death

Civil Rights Acts of 1875

Congress' response to Grant's plea to pass new legislation that would leave his duties perfectly clear because he desperately wanted to use more federal force to preserve peace, said that people of all races must be granted equal access to hotels and restaurants, railroads, stagecoaches, theaters, and other "places of public amusement", but it provided little enforcement authority

Enforcement Acts 1870-1871

Congress' response to white supremacists in the South, first of these measures imposed penalties on anyone who interfered with any citizen's right to vote, second dispatched federal supervisors to monitor elections in southern districts where political terrorism flourished, third the Ku Klux Klan Act (1871) outlawed various activities of the KKK; forming conspiracies, wearing disguises, resisting officers, and intimidating officials, also allowed the president to send federal troops to any community where voting rights were being violated, Attorney General Amos Akerman sent to recruit to prosecutors and marshals to enforce it, in SC alone he and federal troops and prosecutors convinced local troops to convict 1,143 Klansmen, Klan effectively killed by 1872, but not consistently enforced

Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854

Controversial legislation that created two new territories taken from Native Americans, Kansas and Nebraska, where residents would vote to decide whether slavery would be allowed (popular sovereignty), created because the trade with China and Japan grew and merchants and manufacturers wanted a transcontinental railroad connecting the Eastern seaboard with the Pacific coast for the flow of commerce with Asia and the settlement of western territories, reignited debate over slavery, 1852 and 1853 Congress considered several proposals for the rail line, Secretary of State Jefferson Davis of MS wanted a southern route across territories acquired from Mexico, Senator Stephen A. Douglas of IL insisted Chicago be the Midwest hub for the new rail line and urged Congress to pass this so the vast territory west of MO and IA could be settled, he owned property needed by a transcontinental railroad so he would make a fortune if it passed so he supported the South in recommending the formal repeal of the MO Compromise and the creation of 2 new territories governments instead of one, meaning millions of fertile acres would be open to slaveholders, he convinced the Democrats and Whigs to pass it by vote of 57-14 in the Senate 113-100 in the House

Crittenden Compromise

Dec 18 1860, John J. ____ of KY offered a series of resolution that would allow the extension of slavery into the new western territories south of the MO Compromise line and guaranteed the preservation of slavery where it already existed, but Lincoln opposed it because of slavery expansion westward and the Senate defeated it 25-23

Franklin Pierce

Democratic presidential candidate, of NH, he had few presidential qualities, a mediocre congressman and senator who had served as a general in the Mexican War, eagerly promoted western expansion and the conversion of more territories to states even if it meant adding more slave states, burdened by the recent death of his 11 year old son Benjamin, him and his wife witnessed it in a train accident just days before his inauguration ceremony, he was the 3rd son they lost, Jane refused to attend her husbands swearing in and she lived in seclusion after, writing letters to her dead children, cursing politics, and blaming Franklin for her troubles, he was an intelligent man capable of eloquent speech making, but had tragic flaws and private demons: blinded by a desire to be liked and cursed with raging ambition, he was a timid, indecisive leader who was often drunk (died in 1869 of alcoholism), he sought and failed as President to acquire Cuba as a new slave state and also proved unable to unite the warring factions of his own party, by the end of his first year in office Democrat leaders decided he was a failure, he tried to be all things to all people, labeled a "dough face" (meaning a Northern man with Southern principles who hated abolitionists for causing tensions over slavery)

Copperhead Democrats

Democrats in northern states who opposed the Civil War and argued for an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates, named for the copper coins they wore as lapel pins, strongest in states such as OH, IN, and IL, where substantial numbers of former Southerners resided

Election of 1868

Democrats said America was a white man's country so they should lead it, charged Radicals were subjecting the South to military despotism and Negro supremacy, nominated Horace Seymour, the wartime governor of NY and a passionate critic of Congressional Reconstruction, dismissed Emancipation Proclamation, running mate Francis P. Blair Jr, former Union general from MO, had served in Congress, attacked Grant for exercising military tyranny, he was an unapologetic racist, denounced Republicans for promoting equality, believed black men were sexual predators lying in wait for white women, a false stereotype throughout South often used as justification for lynchings, later lamed Blair's remarks for Seymour's close loss, Grant won all but 8 states and swept the electoral college 214-80, but his popular majority was only 307,000 out of almost 6 million votes, more than 500,000 African American votes mostly in South accounted for the victory margin (he only won a minority of white votes nationwide), many risked lives supporting him, Klan violence soared, hundreds of freed people paid with their lives, Republican party endorsed Congressional Reconstruction, Grant "let us have peace", promised he would enforce the laws and promote prosperity for all

Colfax Massacre

Easter Sunday 1873 in black Republican C in LA, mob of 140 white vigilantes, mostly ex-Confederate soldiers led by Klansmen, used a cannon, rifles, and pistols to attack a group of black Republicans holed up in a courthouse, slaughtering 81 and burning the building, when federal troops arrived to find heaps of black bodies, very violent, in response Grant declared LA in a state of insurrection and imposed military rule, federal prosecutors used Enforcement Acts to indict 70 whites but only 9 were put on trial and just 3 convicted but of conspiracy, not murder

South Carolina

Feb 1 1865 Sherman's army headed into SC, paid a high price for having led the southern states out of the Union, Sherman's men burned more than a dozen towns including Barnwell, "Burnwell", Feb 17 1865 captured state capital Columbia, soon after Charleston surrendered after Confederate soldiers torched buildings containing material that would be valuable to Yankees, no accident Sherman ordered 2 all black regiments to lead Union advance into city, April 14 Union general Major Robert Anderson gave honor of raising US flag once again over Fort Sumter

Battle of Buena Vista

Feb 22-23 1847 in northern Mexico, both sides claimed victory but Mexicans suffered 5 times as many casualties than Americans, after Mexicans continued to lose battles but refused to surrender

Sonoma

Fremont surprised his superior officers when he launched a military expedition on his own in August 1845, he was now a captain, headed west from St. Louis on another expedition, this time leading 62 heavily armed soldiers, sailors, scientists, hunters, frontiersman, in Dec they swept down the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada and headed southward through the Central Valley of the Mexican controlled CA, Fremont told Mexican authorities his men were civilians and the mission was strictly scientific, in Monterey in Jan 1846 he received special instruction from Polk indicating the US intended to take control of CA from Mexico and ordered him to encourage a "spontaneous" uprising among the Americans living there, Mexican officials were suspicious and ordered him to leave, he did but then officially resigned from the army so he would be acting as a private citizen, then him and his soldiers began stirring up a revolution, June 14 1846 American settlers captured this in northern CA and proclaimed the Republic of CA, hoisted a flag ft. a grizzly bear and a star (a version of the CA state flag), June 25 Fremont and his soldiers marched in, all of CA was in American control when news of the outbreak of the Mexican-American War along the TX border

The South Pass

Fremont's second expedition, a 20 mile gap in the Rocky Mountains in present day Wyoming, would then go down the Snake River to the Columbia River and into OR, eventually making its way south through the Sierra Nevada to Sutter's Fort near what would become Sacramento CA, Fremont's group was the first to cross the snow and ice covered Sierra Nevada in the winter, a spectacular feat, his report and the maps it generated spurred massive migration to UT, OR, and CA throughout the 1840s including the Mormons from IL to Salt Lake City, UT

Battle of Vicksburg

General Ulysses S. Grant had been inching down the MS River while Lee was in East, toward Confederate stronghold of ___ MS, a busy commercial town on high bluffs overlooking the river, capturing it was of utmost importance because it was the only rail and river junction between Memphis TN and New Orleans, Davis stressed it was vital the Confederacy keep it because if Union forces gained control of it they could split the Confederacy in 2 and prevent western food and livestock from reaching Confederate armies to the East, Grant moved his army eastward across MS while Union warships snuck past Confederate cannons overlooking the river, his forces captured Jackson, MS's state capital and won half a dozen battles before pinning 31,000 Confederates here, late May and early June 1863, Union forces dug 12 miles of interconnected trenches around the city, Grant decided to use constant bombardment from gunboats and cannons to starve and gradually wear down the trapped Confederates, many citizens forced to live in cellars or caves as protection from the unending shelling, no one could escape nor be reinforced nor resupplied with food and ammunition, General John C. Pemberton (Confederate commander) told Davis the situation was hopeless but Pemberton was determined to outlast Grant's troops

Battle of Atlanta

Grant ordered William Tecumseh Sherman to go to the crucial railroad hub here and inflict all the damage he could, mid-July reached outskirts of heavily fortified place, trapping 40,000 Confederate soldiers there, Jefferson Davis concerned so he made controversial decision to replace Confederate commander General Joseph Johnston with General John Bell Hood, good soldier but impulsive and passionate, his arm was shattered at Gettysburg and lost a leg at Chickamauga, refused to just defend and attacked instead, 3 times in 8 days the Confederates attacked the Union lines encircling the city and were repulsed, and suffering 7 times the casualties as the Feds, left Hood's army wounded, surrounded, and outnumbered, Sept 1 Confederates evacuated the city, Sherman moved in and stayed until Nov, resting and resupplying themselves, 20,000 residents were told to leave before he destroyed much of the city, Sherman's men set fire to the city's railroad station, iron foundries, ships, mills, hotels, and businesses

Californios

Hispanic Californians, took comfort Mexico City, the capital, was too far away to exercise effective control over them, between 1821 and 1841 there were 10 revolts against Mexican governors

Stephen A. Douglas

IL Senator, a rising star in the Democratic party, youngest man in the Senate, a friend of the South, resolved Clay's floundering plan, suggested breaking the plan into separate proposals and vote on them one at a time, it worked, authorized the Kansas-Nebraska Act, famous debates with Lincoln, he was one of the few remaining Democrats with support in both the North and South, and struggled to keep the party from fragmenting, the most prominent mid-western Democrat, sided with anti-slavery Republicans about the Lecompton Constitution because Buchanan's action would deny the majority of KS voters the right to decide the issue in a general election, the forerunner for the Democrat nomination after Buchanan, would defend slavery in the Southern states but no expansion

Life on the Trail

Indians rarely attacked the wagon trains and many served as guides, advisers, or traders, but as the number of pioneers increased so did disputes over land and water, but never to Hollywood levels, journey usually 5-6 months with broiling summers, fierce thunderstorms, and snowy bitterly cold winters, wagons broke down, oxen died and diseases like cholera and dysentery took their toll, women more important role, cholera claimed many lives because of tainted water and contaminated food, on average, 1 grave every 80 yards along the trail

California Gold Rush 1849

Jan 24 1848, a group of sawmill builders discovered gold nuggets on John A. Sutter's property along the south fork of the American River, 9 days later location identified as the great price transferred to the US through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, news spread very fast, President Polk told Congress there was an extraordinary abundance of gold, almost 100,000 Americans (mostly young men) set off to go within a year to find riches, freedom, and a new beginning, 1854 300,000 people, greatest mass migration in US history to that point, more came from Central and South America, Canada, Australia, Asia, and Europe, people fed by hope and fueled by greed, they quit jobs, left farms, wives, and kids, sold their businesses and belongings and borrowed money, years before gender ratio evened out, 49ers (also called argonauts), 1851-1855 produced almost 1/2 worlds output of gold, infusion of gold into US economy led to prolonged national prosperity, shifted nations focus westward, spurred construction of transcontinental railroads and telegraph lines and excited dreams of an American commercial empire on the Pacific coast linked to Asia

Confederate Finances

Jefferson Davis had to create a Treasury and revenue collecting system from a nation, South was land rich but cash poor, in first year created a property tax which should have gotten a lot but collecting was left to states and chaos ensued, 1863 began taxing nearly everything but enforcement was poor and evasion easy, taxes covered only 5% of Confederate war costs and bonds were less than 33%, Treasury notes (paper money) provided 60+%, issued $1 billion+ in paper money which when combined with a shortage of consumer goods made prices soar which caused great distress and frustrations over the burdens of war erupted into rioting, looting, and mass protests, lots of army deserters

1866 Congressional Election

Johnson went on a speaking tour of the Midwest to win votes for Democratic candidates in it, he denounced Radical Republicans s traitors who should be hanged, described them in Cleveland OH as factious, domineering, tyrannical men and exchanged hot-tempered insults with a heckler, he was talking off the back of a railroad car at another stop and the engineer mistakenly pulled out of the station, making the president look dumb, devastating defeat for Johnson and the Democrats, in each house Radical Republicans candidates won more than a 2/3 majority, the margin required to override presidential vetoes, Congressional Republicans would now take over from the president the process of reconstructing the former Confederacy

Battle of Chancellorsville

Joseph Hooker, the new leader of the Army of the Potomac after Burnside got fired, led the force of 130,000 men, the largest Union army yet gathered to attack the Confederates here, during the first week of May 1863, overconfident, Lee with maybe 1/2 as many troops, split his army in thirds and used elusive mobility and Stonewall Jackson's 28,000 Confederates surprised the Union army by smashing their exposed right flank, the surprise attack ultimately forced Hooker to retreat and devastating Union defeat, Stonewall Jackson killed, next day Lee forced retreat, peak of Lee's career but last significant victory

NYC Draft Riots

July 1863 a group of 500 whites, led by volunteer firemen, assaulted the army draft office, shattered its windows, then burned it down, fueled by anxiety and anger among northern laborers who feared freed slaves would take their jobs, the rioters then ruthlessly began taking out their frustration on blacks, having been swollen by thousands of mostly Irish working-class whites, for four days and nights mobs rampaged Manhattan, tearing up rail lines, cutting telegraph wires, toppling streetcars, and randomly attacking African Americans, also burned down 50+ buildings (including mayor's home, police stations, 2 Protestant churches, and the Colored Orphan Asylum, displacing 233 children), violence killed 120 people and injured thousands, ended because of arrival of Federal soldiers

Cemetery Ridge

July 3, Lee risked all against objections of his Senior General James Longstreet against the well-defended Union lines here, 2 sides bombarded each other for 2 hours, then cannons stopped, 2 pm 3 Confederate infantry divisions (~12,500 men), emerged from woods and prepared to attack, Rebels began a mile-long dash uphill, behind low stone wall at top were 120 Union cannons and thousands of riflemen, hopeless, only a few Rebels made it to the top, hand to hand combat, survivors fled to woods

Robert E. Lee

June 1862 assumed command of the main Confederate army, the Army of Northern VA, changed the course of war, a daring strategist, very aggressive, Second Bull Run, Gettysburg and Cemetery Ridge, Antietam, Appomattox Court House, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Battle of the Wilderness, Siege of Petersburg/Richmond

Siege of Petersburg/Richmond

June 1864 Grant outmaneuvered Lee and headed here, a major supply center and railroad hub 25 miles south of R, opposing armies dug in above and below it, Grant began the long wait of the trapped Confederate army, tightened the noose like Vicksburg, to cut off supplies to the Rebels, he sent army commanded by General Philip Sheridan to destroy the farms in fertile Shenandoah Valley that kept Lee's army and horses alive, Union troops burned stored grain and rounded up sheep, cattle, and horses to be sent to Grant, 2 sides lasted 9 months, Grant's troops were generously supplied by Union vessels moving up the James River while the Confederates wasted away, the number of deserters grew so large Lee asked permission to shoot them when caught, became Lee's prison until he would have to give up

Battle of Gettysburg

Lee decided to make another daring attempt to invade the North in hopes of forcing the Union army surrounding Vicksburg to rush home to defend, he also wagered a bold northern offensive would persuade Copperhead Democrats to try for peace again, June 1863 Army of Northern VA moved northward, taking thousands of animals, wagons, and slaves for support, moved quickly, also moved to find food for men and horses but Union army sent so much time in northern VA not enough rations, so they confiscated thousands of horses, cattle, hogs, an tons of wheat and corn, and captured free blacks in MD and PA and returned them to slavery in VA, Union commander George Meade gave chase, Lee in PA lost track of Feds following because General J.E.B. Stuart's 5,000 horse soldiers who were Lee's eyes and ears disappeared strangely, unsuspecting Confederate troops entered town at dawn June 30 and collided with Union cavalry units that had been tracking them, 65,000 Confederates vs 85,000 Feds July 1, initially Confederates forced Feds to retreats, but Union troops regrouped to stronger positions n high ridges overlooking town, General Meade rushed in reinforcements, July 2 waves of Confederates assaulted Meade's army, pushed back Feds but never broke through, July 3 Lee went against his senior general James Longstreet and Cemetery Ridge happened, roughly 42,000 dead, wounded, or missing after 3 day battle, scale of casualties never surpassed, thousands of horses also killed and left to rot

General J.E.B. Stuart

Lee lost track of the Federals following him during Gettysburg because he took his 5,000 horse soldiers who were Lee's eyes and ears to create a panic in the Union by threatening DC, but didn't tell Lee

Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)

Lincoln and Halleck ordered McClellan to move Army of Potomac back to DC and join General John Pope, commander of the Union Army of VA in new assault on Richmond, Lee knew his only chance was to deal with the 2 larger Union armies one at a time, so he moved forward to strike Pope's army before McClellan arrived, strategically divided his forces and sent Stonewall Jackson's "foot cavalry" around Pope to attack rear supply lines, confused Pope, thought only fighting Jackson but then joined by the main army, August 30 1862 sensational Confederate victory, Pope relieved of command Sept 12

General George B. McClellan

Lincoln appointed him as head of the Army of the Potomac after Bull Run, had boundless self-confidence and organizational ability, but was afraid to attack, spent months training his massive army to face what he thought was an overwhelming amount of Confederates, Lincoln lost his patience and ordered him to attack, mid-March 1862, moved his army of 122,000 men on 400 ships and barges down the Potomac River to within 60 miles of the Confederate capital of Richmond VA, thousands of residents fled but he waited too long to attack and Lincoln told him the war could only be won by engaging the Rebel army, Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks), Lincoln visited his headquarters on July 9 and he complained the administration didn't support him and lectured Lincoln on military strategy so Lincoln relieved him of his overall command, Henry Halleck replaced him, Second Bull Run, Battle of Antietam - could've ended the war but didn't pursue and got fired, nominated in 1864 by the War Democrats, pledged to stop the war, and if the Rebels refused to return to the Union he would allow the Confederacy to go in peace, lost, carries only NJ, DE, and KY, 21 electoral votes to Lincoln's 212 and only 45% popular vote

Lincoln's Assassination

Lincoln rejected calls for a vengeful peace on April 11 1865, no persecution, no bloody work, no hangings of Confederate leaders, no extreme efforts to restructure southern social and economic life, April 14 attended play with wife Mary Todd at Ford's Theatre in DC, his trusted bodyguard was called away to Richmond, shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth, at the same time, other Confederate assassins were hunting Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward, Johnson's would-be assassin got drunk in the bar of the vp's hotel, Seward and 4 others including his son suffered seveer knife wounds when attacked at home, created chaos, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton summoned Grant to defend the government in DC, unsure if the killing was a prelude to a Confederate invasion, Booth caught 11 days later, 3 of his collaborators were convicted by a military court and hanged, as was Mary Surratt, who owned the boardinghouse where it was planned, Lincoln buried in Springfield IL, laid to rest May 4

Spot Resolutions

Lincoln repeatedly asked the president to locate the precise "spot" where American troops were fired upon, implying they may have illegally crossed into Mexican territory

John Wilkes Booth

Lincoln's assassin, 26 year old actor and rabid Confederate, slipped into the unguarded presidential box and shot the president in the head, stabbed his military aide as his body slumped forward, then he jumped from the box to the stage, breaking his left, mounted a waiting horse and fled the city, found by Union Troops 11 days later hiding in a northern VA tobacco barn where he was shot and killed, "Tell my mother I died for my country"

John Brown's Raid/Harper's Ferry

Oct 1859, John Brown resurfaces in the East, since the Massacre in 1856 he kept a low profile and acquired money and weapons from New England sympathizers, his commitment to abolishing slavery and promoting racial equality intensified because he saw it becoming more deeply entrenched, cemented by law, economics, and religious sanction, he was convinced he was carrying out a divine mission on behalf of a vengeful God, he struck fear in supporters and opponents, a moral absolutists with disdain for compromise, willing to live among blacks and die for them, he hatched a plan to steal federal weapons and give them to rebellious slaves in western VA and MD, hoping to spark a mass rebellion across the South, asked Frederick Douglass to join but he declined because it was literal and political suicide, Oct 16 1859 he left MD farm and crossed the Potomac River with like 20 men including 3 sons and 5 African Americans, walked 5 miles under the cover of darkness to the federal rifle arsenal in HF, VA, they took the sleeping town by surprise, cut the telegraph lines and occupied the arsenal with its 100,000 rifles, then dispatched several men o kidnap prominent slave owners and sound the alarm for local slaves to rise up and help with the rebellion, only a few slaves did, by dawn armed townsmen surrounded Brown, a dozen of his men, and eleven white hostages and 2 slaves, holed up for 32 hours in a firehouse, hundreds of armed whites poured into the town and Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee with force of US Marines, Oct 18 marines ordered surrender, Brown prefer to die fighting, 12 marines broke in, Lt Israel Green beat Brown until he passed out, they had killed 4 townspeople, 1 marine, wounded a dozen, 10 of their force dead, 5 captured, 5 escaped, trial for treason, murder, and conspiring with blacks for insurrection, found guilty, Brown proud of himself, waited for 4 weeks to be hanged, met with reporters and wrote a lot of letters, Dec 2 1859 like 1500 people assembled for his execution, became martyr for abolitionist cause

Slave Recruitment Bill

March 13 1865 Davis signed it, called for the immediate recruitment of slaves into the army with the permission of their owners, war would end before any could be enlisted and trained for soldiering

Public Credit Act

March 18 1869 signed by Grant, said investors who purchased government bonds to help finance the war effort must be paid back in gold, led to a decline in consumer prices that hurt debtors and helped creditors, ignited a ferocious political debate over the merits of hard and soft money that would last throughout the 19th century and beyond

Attack on Fort Sumter

March 5 1861, Lincoln's first day in office he found a letter on his desk from Major Anderson, army commander at FS, time was running out for the Union soldiers, the men only had enough food for a few weeks, it would take thousands of federal soldiers to rescue them, April 4 1861 Lincoln ordered unarmed ships to take food and supplies to the 69 soldiers there, most were immigrants, Jefferson Davis was equally determined to stop any effort to supply the fort, even if it required military force, secretary of state for the Confederacy Richard Lathers warned if the South fired first it would unify northern opinion against the secessionists, April 11 Confederate general Pierre G.T. Beauregard, who studied under Robert Anderson at West Point, urged him to surrender and sent him cases of whiskey and boxes of cigars to help convince him, Anderson refused the gifts and request, at 4:30 AM April 12, Confederate cannons began firing on them, Major Anderson, his ammunition and food gone, was forced to surrender and united Northerners against the Confederates

Battle of the Alamo

March 6 1836, defenders woke at 4 am to Deguello on Mexican bugles (Slashing of the Throat, symbolizing no mercy), Colonel Travis said no mercy, fought in predawn dark, wave after wave of Santa Anna's men attacked from every direction, forced back twice, third try broke through the battered north wall, Travis killed by bullet between the eyes, some Texans went outside with tomahawks, knives, rifle butts, and fists, but virtually all were killed or wounded, 7 defenders maybe including Crockett survived and were captured, Santa Anna ordered them hacked to death with swords, died without complaint or humiliation before torturers, battle over by dawn, only survivors a handful of women and children and Joe (Travis' slave), Mexicans won but with 600+ casualties, provided rallying cry for vengeful Texans

Dred Scott v Sandford 1857

March 6 1857 decision delivered after having taken 11 years to work its way through the judicial process, Scott was born a slave in VA, had been taken to St. Louis in 1830 and sold to an army surgeon who took him to IL, then to the WI Territory (later MN) and back to St. Louis in 1842, while in WI Territory he married Harriet Robinson and eventually had 2 daughters, 1846 with the aid of abolitionist attorneys filed suit in MO, claiming his resident in IL and the WI Territory made him free because slavery was outlawed in those areas, MO jury was in his favor but the state Supreme Court ruled against him, case appealed to US Supreme Court, 7/9 justices were Democrats and 5 were Southerners, vote 7-2 against Scott, 5/7 were slaveholders, Chief Justice Robert B. Taney of MD, a supporter of the South and slavery, ruled Scott lacked legal standing because he was not a US citizen and could never become one, he also argued the now-defunct MO Compromise of 1850 deprived citizens of property by prohibiting slavery in certain states, an act not warranted by the Constitution, declared an act of Congress unconstitutional for the first time since Marbury v Madison, decision challenged concept of popular sovereignty, Taney argued if Congress couldn't exclude slavery from a territory than neither could a territorial government created by an act of Congress, opening all of the West and North to slavery, pro-slavery advocates loved it, Republicans and abolitionists, protested it because it nullified their anti-slavery program

Bloodied Sumner

May 22 1856, Republican Senator Charles of MA, a passionate abolitionist, had delivered a scalding speech (The Crime Against Kansas) in which he showered slave owners with insults and charged them with unleashing assassins in KS, his most savage attack was against Andrew Pickens Butler, an elderly senator from SC, a state he said displayed shameful stupidity resulting from its passion for slavery, said Butler was a fumbling old man whose mistress was slavery, it enraged Butler's cousin Preston S. Brooks, he confronted him at his Senate desk, shouted he had slandered Butler and SC then began beating him in the head with a gold-knobbed cane until it splintered, he nearly, would not return to the Senate for almost 4 years, Southerners celebrated Brooks as a hero, but he created a martyr for the anti-slavery cause

Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks)

May 31 1862 Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston struck McClellan's army along the Chickahominy River, 6 miles east of Richmond, only the arrival of Federal reinforcements prevented a disastrous Union defeat, both sides took heavy casualties and Johnston severely wounded

Battle of the Wilderness

May 5-6 1864, General Grant's Army of the Potomac (115,000) clashed with Lee's Army of Northern VA (1/2 the size of the Potomac Army) in impenetrable tangle of dense forest and thickets, cannons set off brush fires that burned many wounded soldiers to death, at one point Union forces threatened to overrun Lee's headquarters, he helped organize counterattack, Confederates swept the Federals from the field and broke the Union advance, Grant suffered more casualties but Rebels struggled to find replacements, instead of stopping to rest and nursing wounds Grant pushed southward, forcing Rebels to keep fighting, Lee predicted Grant would head for Spotsylvania and they engaged near the Court House, part of the Overland Campaign

Sherman's March to the Sea

Nov 1864 General Sherman led 60,000 soldiers out of Atlanta, he was determined to break the will of Georgians, Confederate Army of TN led by John Bell Hood tried a desperate gamble by going opposite of Union forces northward into AL then TN, he hoped to trick Sherman in chasing him, Sherman refused to take the bait, determined to keep main army moving south to GA coast then into SC, he did send General Thomas and 30,000 soldiers to shadow Hood, Battle of Franklin, two weeks later the Feds scattered the rest of Hood's army, Union army raced southward across GA living off land, destroying plantations, barns, crops, warehouses, bridges, and rail lines, became infamous among Southerners as a supposed example of Union tyranny, Dec 24 1864 Sherman whimsical telegram to Lincoln offering him coastal city Savannah as a Christmas gift, by the time the Union troops arrived in Savannah they had freed 40,000 slaves, burned scores of plantations, and destroyed the railroads

Gettysburg Address

Nov 19 1863 President Lincoln spoke to 15,000 people to dedicate the new national cemetery funded by a group of northern states in commemoration of the thousands killed in the battle, only 9 sentences, expressed pain and sorrow of uncivil war, predicted new birth of freedom and undying democracy

Ulysses S. Grant

OH born West Point graduate, distinguished himself in Mexican War, rejoined US army in 1861, had been ushered out of peace time military 7 years before because of boredom binge drinking, as a civilian pursued several business adventures in MO and IL, all dismal failures, outbreak of war gave him renewed hope and purpose, joined Union despite being married to a slave owning wife from St. Louis whose father eagerly embraced the Confederacy, made first Union thrust early 1862 at Forts Henry and Donelson, looked to chief of staff John A. Rawlins to keep him sober, when he was sober only equal military commander was Robert E. Lee, made costly mistake when planning his attack on Corinth, exposed his 42,000 troops on a rolling plateau between Lick and Snake Creeks and failed to have his men dig defensive trenches, Shiloh, Union general Henry Halleck spread false rumor hr was drinking during Shiloh because he was jealous and took his place as a field commander, War Democrats indiscreetly asked him to be their candidate for election of 1864, firmly declines, promoted to General in Chief in March 1864 to save Union, given overall command of war effort, promised all the troops and supplies he needed, a hard-nosed warrior with unfailing energy and persistence, brilliant military strategist driven by simple concept of never stopping the pressure regardless of number of dead or wounded, purpose to defeat Confederate armies not capture Richmond, unrelenting pressure, ordered 3 largest Union armies, VA, TN, and LA to launch offensives in spring 1864, assigned trusted friend Sherman to lead TN southward, wage total war, confiscating or destroying any civilian property that might be of use to the military, ruthless and costly, but effective, Battle of the Wilderness, not a retreating man, Cold Harbor nearly unhinged him, greatest mistake as commander, the Overland Campaign, Siege of Vicksburg, Siege of Petersburg, Appomattox Court House

The Mexican-American War

Polk wanted it to acquire CA and NM but didn't want Americans to fire the first shot, he didn't want a war that might produce a military hero who would become a Whig candidate for the presidency, he ordered several thousand US Troops under General Zachary Taylor to take up position around Corpus Christi TX near the Nueces River, Mexico claimed the Nueces River as the border, Polk ordered the force to move 130 miles farther south to the north bank of the Rio Grande, Mexican government considered it an invasion, attacked and killed 11 Americans, wounded 5 and took the rest prisoner, May 13 Congress declared war and authorized recruitment of 30,000 soldiers, Polk denied the war had anything to do with slavery, argued it was to replace sectional tensions with national unity because cotton couldn't be grown in NM and CA, so many people rushed to volunteer hundreds had to be turned away, 112,000 whites served, blacks were banned from serving, mostly South support, in North more opposition, some saw Polk's War as a southern scheme to extend slavery into new territories, some opposed because Polk maneuvered Mexico into attacking, US ill-prepared for major war, regular army barely 7,000, Mexican force 32,000, after war military almost 79,000, war would last March 1846-April 1848, fought on 4 fronts; southern TX/northern Mexico, central Mexico, New Mexico, and CA, May 18 1846 General Zachary Taylor's army cross the Rio Grande and occupies Matamoros, Taylor made overall commander because of his quick victories, he had spent 38 years in the army and earned the respect and affection of his men, but was privately critical of the war because annexing TX wicked

Eliza Allen

Sam Houston's much younger wife who left him soon after their wedding and returned to her fathers plantation near Nashville, her family accused him of dishonoring her, Houston kept silent to retain his honor, rumors about what happened on wedding night, he sustained dreadful injury (true, Indian arrowhead to his penis) in Creek War that left him scarred and impotent (not true), others said she loved someone else and only married him to please her family, ruined Houston's political career and exiled him from Nashville society, left him suicidal

Jefferson Davis

Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce, favored a southern route for a transcontinental railroad across the territories acquired from Mexico, the Confederacy's first president, a West Point graduate who had served as a Democrat in the House and the Senate, mid-Feb 1861 traveled from MS to Montgomery AL, the Confederate Capital, for his installation, claimed the time for compromise is now passed

James Henry Hammond

Senator of SC, gave a speech and told northern businessmen their white peers are their slaves but they are equals because they are white, so they will fight against the degradation, and southern slaves couldn't vote so the political power was balanced, he suggested the North adopt race-based slavery to prevent working-class whites from taking control of the social and political order, he added Southern slaves were happier, healthier, and better cared for than their "free" working class counterparts in the North, insisted people were not equal and should not be treated as such, and the northern states needed to "enslave" their white workers so as to enjoy the social stability that slavery brought to the southern states

Battle of Franklin

Sherman sent General George Thomas and 30,000 soldiers to shadow Hood's Confederates during this March to the Sea, forces clashed Nov 30 1864 near Nashville, Hood's 18,000 soldiers launched hopeless frontal assault against well-fortified Union troops, in a few hours Hood lost 6 generals and had 6,252 men killed or wounded, casualty figure higher than Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, 2 weeks later Battle of Nashville Feds scattered what was left of Hood's bloodied army

Election of 1864

Sherman's conquest of Atlanta turned the tide of it, the capture of Mobile AL by Union naval forces in August and Confederate defeats in VA's Shenandoah Valley in Oct spurred dramatic revival of Lincoln's political support in the North, War Democrats had indiscreetly asked Grant to be their candidate but he firmly declines, so they called for an end to the fighting and nominated Democratic candidate George McClellan who carried only NJ, DE, and KY, winning 21 electoral votes to Lincoln's 212 and 1.8 million popular (45%) to Lincoln's 2.2 million (55%), Union soldiers and sailors voted in large numbers, and almost 80% voted for Lincoln

David Crockett

TN frontiersman, sharpshooter, bear hunter, storyteller, founder under Andrew Jackson and served in Congress as anti-Jackson Whig, went to TX and learned he would receive 4,000 acres for service as fighter, rifle "Old Betsy", assigned to the garrison at the Alamo, expert at killing

Scalawags

Southern white Republicans, southern Democrats especially hated them and called them traitors to the region, most had been Unionists opposed to succession, prominent in the mountain counties of GA, TN, and AL, several distinguished figures among them including former Confederates general James Longstreet, he decided the Old South must change its ways, also Joseph E. Brown, the Confederate governor of GA, urged Southerners to support Republicans because they were the only source of economic investment in the devastated region, all of these had a willingness to work with Republican to rebuild the Southern economy

South Carolina Declaration on the Immediate Causes of Secession

Southerners claimed their right to secede from the Union but protecting slavery was the reason Confederate leaders repeatedly used to justify secession and war

Presidios

Spanish military bases built to protect the missions

1860 Democratic Convention

Stephen A. Douglas nominee, northern supporters promised to support slavery in the South but not spread it, Southern extremists demanded federal protection of slavery in territories and states, when they lost, delegates from 8 Southern states walked out, then it disintegrated into warring factions that vowed to go their own way, Douglas' supporters reassembled and nominated him for President, South met in Richmond and Baltimore where they adopted the pro-slavery platform and named John C. Breckenridge, vice president under Buchanan, as their candidate because he promised to ensure Congress would protect slavery in the West, the last remaining national party split into Northern and Southern factions, making Republican victory in 1860 almost certain

United States v Cruikshank 1876

Supreme Court further eroded protections of individuals embedded in the 14th Amendment, overturning the convictions of William C and 2 other white men who led the Colfax Massacre, the Court argued the equal protection and due process clauses in the 14th Amendment governed only state actions, not the behavior of individuals, the prosecution's failure to rove racial intent placed conviction outside the reach of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, Chief Justice Morrison Waite saw it as the duty to protect the equality of the rights of citizens had been originally assumed by the states and it should stay that way, they ruled the states, not the federal government, were responsible for protecting citizens from attack by other private citizens, left freed people even more vulnerable to violence and discrimination, federal government effectively abandoning its role in enforcing Reconstruction

Civil Rights Cases

US Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act on the grounds that the 14th Amendment focused only on the actions of state governments; it did not have the authority over the policies of private businesses or individuals, opened the door for a wave of racial segregation that washed over the South during the late 19th century

Mary Edwards Walker

a Union battlefield surgeon, was captured and imprisoned by Confederates for spying but later released in a prisoner exchange, she was the only woman in the war and since to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award

Fort Henry and Fort Donelson

Union army captured the 2 hastily but Confederate strongholds, H on east bank of TN River on Feb 6 1862 and D on hill overlooking Cumberland River where on Feb 16, some 12,000 Confederate surrendered, 8 days later Union forces took TN's capital, Nashville, the first major Union victories, helped ensure KY stay in the Union and gave the North access to 2 key rivers

Major Martin Delaney

VA-born freemen, the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. Colored Troops, addressed hundreds of freed slaves in July 1865 on St. Helena Island off SC coast, he was a prominent abolitionist in the North before the Civil War, assured the gathering slavery was absolutely abolished, stressed it was less the result of Abraham Lincoln's leadership than it was the outcome of former slaves and free blacks like him undermining the Confederacy, noted many of the white planters in the area claimed the former slaves were lazy and didn't have the intelligence to function without being driven by white planters, dismissed the assumptions as lies intended to restore a system of forced labor for blacks, told freed slaves their best hope was to become self-sustaining farmers, if they could not become economically self-reliant they would become slaves again

1841 Presidential Election

William Henry Harrison succeeded MVB, Whig candidate, Whigs now controlled both houses of Congress, continued to promote federal government support for industrial development and economic growth: high tariffs to deter foreign imports and federal funding for roads, bridges, and canals, won primarily because of his prominence as a military hero, he had avoided taking prominent stances on controversial issues, died exactly one month after his inauguration, John Tyler (the vp) became president

Millard Fillmore

Zachary Taylor's vice president and he supported Clay's proposals, southerners thought he opposed slavery but he was ready to make peace, asked the entire Taylor-appointed cabinet to resign, and named Webster secretary of state, signaling his support of the compromise, benefited from the support of Stephen A. Douglas, endorsed split of proposals

Robert Smalls

a 23 year old enslaved black harbor pilot aboard the C.S.S. Planter, in Charleston Harbor, headed out to sea in a desperate quest for freedom, snuck past Confederate forts and cannons, guided Planter up the Cooper River and docked at a wharf where his wife, child, and the families of his crew were waiting, once they boarded they snuck out of the harbor, 17 passengers (9 men, 5 women, 3 children), as sun rose hoisted a white bed sheet to signal their intention to surrender as he steered the ship towards the Union ships blockading the Harbor, hailed a hero in the North, met with Lincoln at the White House, toured northern cities urging blacks be allowed to serve in the Union army and navy, became a ship pilot for Union navy, after war would become SC legislator and US Congressman

General Ely Parker

a Seneca chief trained as an attorney and engineer, appointed by President Grant as the new Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1869, the first Native American to hold the position, he had served as Grant's military secretary during the war, he faced formidable challenges as commissioner in creating policies for the 300,000 Indians across the nation, many who were still being pressured by white settlers, minders, railroads, and telegraph companies to give up their ancestral lands, helped Grant create a new Peace Policy towards Native Americans

John A. Sutter

a Swiss settler who had founded a colony of European emigrants, left behind his debt and family in Europe to make his fortune in America, hired local Indians and whites from Europe at the junction of the Sacramento and American Rivers (later Sacramento) to build a fort with walls 18 feet tall to protect the settlers and their workshops, completed in 1843 the Fort stood at the end of the CA Trails (which forked southward of the OK Trail and led through the Sierra Nevada), created a wilderness empire, traded furs, put Indians to work making wool blankets and hats, cultivated vast acres of wheat and corn and raising huge herds of cattle, sheep, hogs, and horses, paid his Indian workers but also whipped, jailed, and even executed those who disobeyed his orders

US Sanitary Commission

a civilian agency that provided medical relief and other services for soldiers, but antibiotics weren't developed and painkillers always in short supply, amputation common for gunshot to arm or leg, stomach wounds usually fatal because infection was unpreventable, of those killed 60% died in battle and 40% to wounds, Dorothea Lynde Dix appointed superintendent of Union nurses in 1861

Morill Tariff

a comprehensive tariff bill to raise government revenue and "protect" Americans manufacturing, agricultural, mining, and fishing industries from foreign competition, helped a lot to fund the war

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla

a creole priest born in Mexico of European ancestry, took advantage of the fluid situation during Napoleon's takeover of Spain to convince Indians and Hispanics to revolt against Spanish rule in Mexico, but the poorly organized uprising failed

Lewis Cass

a former Democratic senator serving as the territorial governor of Michigan, popular sovereignty, nominated for presidency but Democrats wouldn't endorse popular sovereignty, Buchanan's secretary of state, former army general who had served as Jackson's secretary of war during the nullification crisis, urged the president to mimic Jackson and send federal troops and warships to the seceded states to show them the Union would be preserved at all costs, Buchanan rejected the advice, prompting his resignation

James Walker Hood

a free black from CT elected by the NC freedmen's convention as its president, emphasized goals: the best way to live together is to harmonize their feelings as much as possible and to treat all men respectfully, he demanded 3 constitutional rights for African Americans: the rights to testify in courts, serve on juries, ad the right to carry a ballot to the ballot box

Conscription Laws

a mandatory military draft, Jefferson Davis forced to enact this because the Confederacy had a smaller male population, on April 16 1862, all white males 18-35 required to serve in army for 3 years, included controversial loopholes, a draftee might avoid service by paying a "substitute" who was not of draft age or by paying $500 to the government, elected official, key civilian workers, and planters with 20+ slaves were all exempted, Union waited nearly a year before draft, 1863 started, ways to avoid: pay $300, exemptions granted to selected federal and state office holders and to others on medical or compassionate grounds

James Buchanan

a mild mannered former senator and secretary of state who had long sought the presidential nomination he received in 1850, won the election by adding 5 free states (PA, NJ, IN, and CA) to his southern majority for a total of 174-114 electoral votes, meaning the Democrats controlled the White House, Congress, and Supreme Court, liked to drink, America's first unmarried president, fine physique, handsome and elegant manners, built an impressive political career over many years on his commitment to states' rights and his aggressive promotion of territorial expansion, believed saving the Union depended on the nation ignoring abolitionists and making concessions to the South, one of the most experienced presidents of the 19th century but had limited ability as a leader and lots of bad luck, during his first 6 months in office 3 major events caused his undoing: 1) economic distress, 2) Dred Scott case decision, 3) Kansas troubles, he was a timid and hesitant decision maker, blamed the slavery crisis on the agitation of fanatical abolitionists, then he declared secession illegal, only to claim he lacked the constitutional authority to force a state to rejoin the Union, rejected secretary of state Lewis Cass' advice to send federal troops and warships to the seceded states to show them the Union would be preserved at all costs

General Henry Halleck

a military bureaucrat jealous of Grant's success, spread a false rumor Grant had been drinking during the Battle of Shiloh, he took his place as field commander even though Grant was completely sober and some wanted Abraham Lincoln to fire him, Lincoln quickly realized he was a paper pushed who avoided responsibility and was a moral coward

Compromise of 1850

a nearly year-long debate over a series of resolutions intended to end the crisis between the North and South that had "unhinged" both political parties, a package of 5 bills presented to Congress by Henry Clay intended to avoid secession or civil war by reducing tensions between North and South over the status of slavery, fight started because President Taylor endorsed immediate statehood for CA and urged Congress to avoid injecting slavery into the issue, Southerners threatened to leave the Union if he brought CA and NM in as free states, Henry Clay, JCC, and Daniel Webster led the drama with William H. Seward, Stephen A. Douglas, and Jefferson Davis in supporting roles, Taylor died, his successor Millard Fillmore supported Clay's proposals, a striking reversal because Taylor the LA slaveholder was ready to make war on his native South to save the Union and Fillmore, who Southerners thought was anti-slavery, was ready to make peace, he asked the entire cabinet to resign and named Webster Secretary of State, Douglas saved plan by breaking it into separate proposals and voting on them one at a time, it worked partly because JCC died, all parts passed in Senate and House, several by the narrowest of margins, only 5 senators voted for all of them, 5 parts, 1) CA enters Union as a free state, ending the balance, 2) the TX-NM Act made NM a separate territory and set TX boundary at its present location (TX received $10 million in return for giving up its claims to NM which paid most of its pre-annexation debt), 3) UT Act set up UT Territory and gave the territorial legislature authority over all rightful subjects of legislature including slavery, 4) Fugitive Slave Act required the federal government and northern states to help capture and return runaway slaves to the South, 5) public sale of slaves abolished in DC, extremists on both sides vowed to defy it, only postponed secession and civil war for 10 years

Free-Soil Party

a new political organization focused solely on stopping the spread of slavery, attracted northern Democrats and Whigs opposed to slavery and members of the abolitionist Liberty Party, nominated MVB as candidate in 1848, platform stressed no slavery in western territories, 1848 election they split the Democratic vote enough to throw NY to Zachary Taylor and split the Whig vote enough to give OH to Democrat Lewis Cass, but nationwide MVB only had 291,000 votes to Taylor's 1,361,000 and Cass' 1,222,000, Taylor won 1630127 electoral votes

U.S.S Princeton

a new warship, Feb 28 2844 President Tyler and 300 dignitaries boarded for an excursion on the on the Potomac River, sailors fired the ships 15 ft long cannons, one of them "The Peacemaker" exploded, killing 8 people including the Secretaries of State and the Navy, more than a dozen others seriously wounded, Tyler seized the opportunity after the funerals to appoint southern Democrats to key positions when reorganizing his cabinet, appointed JCC Secretary of State

John Tyler

a political maverick and youngest president to date (51), has lots of political experience, served as state legislator, governor, congressman, and senator, fathered 15 children, man of stubborn independence and considerable charm, originally a Democrat, endorsed Jeffersonian commitment to states' rights, strict construction of the Constitution, and opposition to national banks, joined Whigs after President Jackson's condemnation of SC's attempt to nullify federal laws, he believed SC has a constitutional right to secede from the nation, never truly embraced the Whigs, opposed everything associated with the American System (high tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements), agreed to the repeal of the Independent Treasury Act and signed a higher tariff bill but vetoed the new national bank, Clay convinced his entire cabinet to resign except for Sec of State Daniel Webster, 3 year long war between Clay and him started, replaced the defectors in his cabinet with anti-Jackson Democrats who had become Whigs, expelled from the Whig party, 1842 shunned by both Whigs and Democrats, refused to let the sputtering economy or international crisis deter him from annexing more territory into the US

Phoebe Pember

a prominent Jewish widow from Charleston, helped manage Richmond's high Chimborazo Hospital, observed white women inspired men to fight for their liberties and shared an intense hatred of Yankees, first to rebel, last to succumb

Wilmot Proviso 1846

a proposal by Congressman David ___, a PA Democrat, to annex TX as a slave state but if any new territory should be acquired as a result of the Mexican War, it would be free, opposition to slavery in Mexican territories reflected desire to keep southern political power in Congress from expanding, dismissed by President Polk as foolish and unrelated to the Mexican conflict, approved by House but not by Senate, when Congress reconvened in Dec 1846 Polk convinced him to withhold his amendment

First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas

a railroad crossing in northern VA, about 25 miles west of DC, Lincoln hoped Union would overrun the outnumbered Confederates and quickly push on to Richmond, 107 miles south, hundreds of civilians packed picnics and went to watch, assuming it would be quick and bloodless, hot, dry, day July 21 1861, 37,000 untested Union recruits, Confederates dug in behind a branch of Potomac River, for most soldiers it was their first taste of the chaos and confusion of combat, many disoriented by smoke from the gunpowder and saltpeter, roar of cannon fire, screaming of fallen comrades, sound of bullets, no standard uniforms yet so trouble figuring out who's who, Union almost won in early afternoon but Confederate reinforcement came in, Union army panicked and fleeing soldiers and terrified civilians closed the streets of DC, victorious Confederates were disorganized and exhausted and failed to give chase

James "Jim" Bowie

a ruthless slave trader and deceitful land speculator, used namesake knife to would and kill, most famous fight he was shot twice, stabbed and impaled with a sword before killing his opponent with his knife, settled near San Antonio and owned ~1 million acres of and, married a prominent Mexican woman, became a Mexican citizen and learned Spanish but cholera epidemic killed his wife and 2 kids and his in laws, commanded TX volunteers in Alamo

Bleeding Kansas 1856

a series of violent conflicts in the Kansas territory between anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions over the status of slavery, groups for and against slavery recruited armed emigrants to move to KS, KS's first federal governor arrived in 1854 and told President Pierce Southerners were arriving in advance of an election of a territorial legislature with a dogged determination to force slavery in March 1855, on Election Day, hundreds of heavily armed border ruffians from MO traveled to KS, illegally election pro-slavery legislatures and vowed to kill every abolitionist, as soon as it convened the territorial legislature expelled its few anti-slavery members and declared the territory open to slavery, governor rushed to DC to ask Pierce for help with federal troops, he acknowledged concern about the situation but just replaced the governor with a man who would support the pro-slavery faction, outraged free-state advocates, now a majority, hated the bogus government and elected their own delegates to a constitutional convention that met in Topeka in 1859, they drafted a state constitution excluding slavery and applied for statehood, 1856 a free state governor and legislature operating in Topeka, 2 competing governments claiming to rule the territory which led to territorial civil war, Sack of Lawrence, Pottawatomie Massacre, which launched a brutal guerilla war in the Territory, August 30 pro-slavery MOs raided a free-state settlement at Osawatomie, they looted and burned houses and shot Frederick Brown, John Brown's son, through the heart, by end of 1856 ~200 settlers were killed

Abraham Lincoln

a young IL Congressman who made the transition from being a Whig to a Republican, the passage of Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska Act angered him as he had never been before and transformed his views on slavery, believed unless the North mobilized to stop the efforts of pro-slavery Southerners, the future of the Union was endangered, from then on he focused his career on revising the act and preventing the expansion of slavery, a respected lawyer from Springfield IL, born in KY in 1809, son of a frontier farmer/carpenter so poor he rented out his hardworking son to his neighbors, at 7 moved across the OH River to IN, 2 years later his "angel mother" Nancy died and his father remarried, March 1830 moved to IL, in Springfield he worked as a farmer, rail-splitter, and surveyor, later became an attorney and married Mary Todd, from a wealthy slave-owning family in Lexington KY, 1834 elected to IL legislature and served 4 successive terms as a Whig, true believer in Henry Clay's leadership and promotion of the American System, opposed to expansion of slavery into western territories, 1846 got a seat in Congress, pledged to only serve 1 term, unremarkable, returned to lawyering, Kansas-Nebraska Act brought him back into politics, hated slavery but not abolitionist, debates with Douglas

Appomattox Court House

after the Burning of Richmond, April 7 1865 Grant sent note urging a trapped Lee to surrender, Lee's army remnants virtually surrounded and without food, Lee recognized defeat, April 9 (Palm Sunday), 4 years to day Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, Lee dressed in his dress uniform, Grant covered in dirt, met, apologized for appearances, awkward exchange about service in Mexican War, Lee asked Grant terms of surrender, Grant let Confederates keep their pistols, horses, and mules, and ensured they wouldn't be tried for treason, Lee accepted, it was more than he expected, confessed men starving, Grant ordered them be supplied with food, after drafting and signing surrender documents, no celebration for good sportsmanship, remaining Confederate forces in TX and NC surrendered in May, Davis captured in GA on May 10 having fled ahead of Fed troops, eventually imprisoned in VA for 2 years

John Charles Fremont

aka The Pathfinder, the most enthusiastic champion of American settlement in Mexican CA and the Far West, a careless junior army officer who became America's most famous explorer during the 1840s, 1838 commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the *U.S. Topographical Corps*, an organization whose mission was to explore and map new western territories, he excelled at surveying, mapmaking, and woodcraft and was versed in geology, botany, ornithology, and zoology, 1841 he courted and married 17 year old Jessie Benton (Thomas Hart Benton's daughter, once his anger at his daughter subsided, he became his foremost booster and helped arrange the explorations that would bring him fame), believed he was a man of God-determined destiny, 1842 set out from present day Kansas City with 2 dozen soldiers to map the eastern half of the OR Trail, spent 5 months collecting plant and animal specimens and drawing maps, published A Report on an Exploration of the Country Lying between the Missouri River and then Rocky Mountains on the Line of the Kansas and Great Platte Rivers, a rip roaring account of his explorations, said Indians and buffalo were the poetry and life of the Great Plains, made him an instant celebrity and earned his nickname, South Pass exploration, arrived to CA from Sonoma with 400 newly recruited troops and claimed Stockton was in charge, not Kearney, and so Stockton named him governor of CA and he immediately set about giving orders, making proclamations, and appointing officials, Kearney had him arrested in 1847 and transported across the country for a court martial, most celebrated trial since Aaron Burr in 1807, found guilty of mutiny and insubordination and dismissed from the army, Polk quickly reversed the sentence because of his services and urged him to stay in the army but he was angry and resigned his commission and settle in CA where he would become the states first US Senator

Immigrants

almost 1/5 of Union soldiers - French, Germans, Pole, Italian, etc. - many couldn't speak English, also 50,000 Canadians and 50,000 Englishmen, 210,000 Irish, fought for many reasons; strong belief in Union cause, cash bonuses, extra food, regular pay, need for steady job, etc, not much diversity in Confederate ranks

Jedidiah Smith

among the most rugged and adventurous of the fur trappers/mountain men, left the Great Salt Lake in UT in 1826, crossed the Mojave Desert, and entered southern CA, becoming the first American to enter CA from the east

The Alamo

an abandoned Catholic mission in San Antonio (the provincial capital in southern TX), General Santa Anna's 3000 man army assaulted a group of less than 200 rebels, James Bowie, William Barret Travis, David Crockett, defenders shared commitment to liberty in face of Santa Anna's growing despotism, late Feb 1836 Santa Anna demanded surrender, Bowie seriously ill and turned command to Travis, answered with cannon fire, sent appeals to Texians for more supplies and men, no help came and Mexicans launched a series of assaults against outnumbered defenders, for 12 days Mexicans suffered heavy losses

Texas

an area of rich soil, lush prairie grass, plentiful timber, and abundant wildlife, 1820s US offered twice to buy it but Mexico refused, Mexicans were frightened and infuriated by idea of Yankees on their sacred soil but by 1823 roughly 3000 Anglo-Americans were living there illegally, Stephen Fuller Austin, most Anglos (white Americans) were ranchers or farmers drawn to the fertile, inexpensive lands in the river valleys, a few were wealthy planters that brought slaves despite the law, by 1830 the coastal area had far more Americans than Hispanics (Tejanos) or Indians, there were roughly 20,000 white Americans and 1000 enslaved blacks brought to grow and harvest cotton, by 1835 like 35,000 Texians, 3,000 African American slaves, and a booming cotton economy, flood of people led to clashes with Indians and Mexican officials who were regretting their tolerated guests because of their weakness, so in April 1830 they outlawed further emigration from the US but Americans kept coming, 1835 their enslaved blacks outnumbered the Tejanos 10-1, Santa Anna

The League of Gileadites

an armed band of African Americans formed by John Brown to attack slave catchers

General Winfield Scott

another hero of the Mexican War chosen as a presidential nominee, physically imposing leader and accomplished general, inept campaigner, so conceited, short-tempered, and arrogant he earned the nickname "Old Fuss and Feathers", only carried TN, KY, MA, and VT, lost electoral college 254-42, popular vote too, 1.6 mil-1.4 mil

Convict Leasing

any blacks not apprenticed or employed by January 1866 would be jailed as vagrants, if they couldn't pay the vagrancy fine (most of them could not) they were jailed and forced to work for whites as convict laborers in "chain gangs", states used this system as a means of increasing government revenue and cutting the expenses of housing prisoners, one of the most exploitative labor systems in history of people, mostly African Americans who were often falsely accused, were hired out by state and county governments to work for individuals and businesses - coal mines, lumber camps, brickyards, railroads, quarries, mills, and plantations, was basically a thinly disguised form of neo-slavery

Calhoun's Mistake

appointed Secretary of State in 1844 after the Princeton Incident, appointed because Tyler wanted him to complete the annexation of TX as a slave state, April 12 1844 signed a treaty of annexation and Tyler submitted it to the Senate for approval, TX would become territory, US assume its debts, he unwittingly undermined the treaty by writing the British ambassador or what he thought was a confidential letter in which he declared blacks as inferior to whites and better off enslaved than free, wrote slavery was essential to the peace, safety, and prosperity of the South and TX was necessary to keep the South in the Union, June 8 1844, outraged Northern Senators voted down the annexation treaty 35-16

General Oliver O. Howard

appointed to lead the Freedmen's Bureau, declared in May 1865 that freed slaves must be free to choose their own employers and be paid for their labor, he sent agents to the South to negotiate labor contracts between freed people and white landowners, many of whom resisted

Radical Republicans

argued that Congress, not the president, should supervise Reconstruction, favored a drastic transformation of southern society that would grant ex-slaves full citizenship, believed all people regardless of race were equal in God's eyes, wanted no compromise with sin of racism, also hoped to replace white, Democratic planter elite with a new generation of small farmers

Burning of Richmond

as Rebel troops left the doomed city, were ordered to burn anything of value, the arsenal, tobacco, warehouses, the railroad bridges, Confederate government offices, but untimely winds from the south spread the flames out of control, burning the courthouse, post office, newspapers, banks, hotels, shops, homes, churches, schools, and saloons, more than 800 downtown cities went up in smoke, prisoners escaped from the unguarded city jail and Union soldiers held in Libby Prison did too, looters rampant, Feds entered the next morning, still in flames, first arrivals 5th Regiment MA Colored Volunteer Cavalry, African Americans cheered and whites were crushed

Soldier Life

average Civil War soldier: 5'8, 143 lbs, 1/3 southern soldiers couldn't read or write, 1/2 Union and 2/3 Confederate were farmers, army camps had libraries, theatrical stages, churches, many "mascot" pets and monotonous routine, most of fighting occurred in spring and summer so soldiers spent far more time preparing than fighting, when not training they spent time outdoors, in makeshift shelters or small tents, talking, reading, playing cards or checkers, singing songs, smoking pipes, washing and mending clothes, and fighting swarms of lice, ticks, chiggers, and mosquitoes, diet of baked bread crackers (hard tack), salted meat (pork of beef), and coffee, desertions soared with each passing year even though they risked execution if caught, incidents of drunkenness, thievery, and insubordination, some deserters were shot or hanged, others tied to ball and chain, forced to bury dead horses or tend to animals or drummed out of service, most soldiers on both sides came to view their military experience as beneficial

1876 Campaign

avoided controversial issues, Democrats highlighted Republican scandals in the absence of strong ideological differences, Republicans linked Democrats to secession, civil war, and violence committed against them in the South, early election results pointed to Tilden (Democrat), Election Day he had 184 electoral votes, 1 short of victory, Republican activists realized overnight they needed all 19 disputed electoral votes from FL, LA, and SC, Republicans had engaged in election fraud and Democrats used violence to keep black voters at home, all 3 states governed by Republicans who appointed election boards, each reported narrow victories for Hayes, immediately challenged, rival election boards kept submitting different vote counts, Jan 29 1877 Congress appointed electoral commission, March 1 1877 voted 8-7 to Hayes, next day House of Reps declared Hayes by electoral 185-184, Tilden didn't protest, prefer 4 years of Hayes to 4 years of civil war

Election of 1844

both parties hoped to keep the TX issue out of the campaign, Whig Henry Clay and Democrat Martin Van Buren, leading candidates for their party's nomination, agreed adding TX would be a mistake and aggravate tensions, Tyler was going to run as an independent but had little support and dropped out, Van Buren's southern supporters abandoned him because he opposed TX, they nominated James K. Polk instead, Democrat platform called for TX and US claim to all of Oregon Country, promoted southern and western expansionism, forced Clay, the Whig candidate, to alter his TX view at the last minute, neutral if fairly achieved, shifted more anti-slavery votes to the Liberty party (formed 1840), which increased its count from 7,000 in 1840 to 62,000 in 1844, it drew enough votes from Clay and Whigs that it gave crucial NY to Polk, if Clay had NY he would've won by 7 electoral votes but Polk won electoral 170 to 105 and popular by only 38,000

Lower South Secession

by Feb 1 1861, SC, MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, and TX, were gone, primary reason for all being slavery, TX said blacks were inferior and dependent and slavery was beneficial for the,, MS said North was demanding racial equality in all aspects of life which couldn't be tolerated, Feb 4 1861, 50 representatives of the seceding states, all but 1 slave owners, 21 of them wealthy planters, met in Montgomery, AL, where they adopted a constitution for the Confederate States of American which protected slavery, elected Jefferson Davis as the first President and Alexander H. Stephens of GA as the vice president

Uncle Tom's Cabin; or Life among the Lowly 1852

by Harriet Beecher Stowe, intended to energize the abolitionist movement, a smashing success, 2 days first printing sold out, end of first year 300,000 copies sold in US and 1 mil+ in Great Britain, soon children's version and traveling theater production, depicted a combination of improbable saints and sinners, crude stereotypes, impossibly virtuous black victims, and melodramatic escapes including fugitive slaves, the persecuted Uncle Tom whose gentleness and generosity grew even as he is sold a slave and taken South, villainous white planter Simon Legree torments and tortures Tom before ordering his death, Little Eva an angelic little girl who dies after befriending Tom, Eliza beautiful but desperate, escapes slave catchers by carrying her baby to freedom across the icy OH River, revealed how the brutal realities of slavery harmed everyone associated with it, ended with prediction Almighty God's wrath would destroy America if slavery not abolished

Economic Results

by end of war Union spending $2.5 million per day on military effort and whole new industries had been established to meet its needs for weapons, uniforms, food, equipment, and supplies, massive amounts of preserved good was needed and helped create the canning industry, federal contracts provided money needed to accelerate the growth of new industries like the production of iron, steel, and petroleum, laying the groundwork for a postwar economic boom, 1860 South sent away almost 4 million bales of cotton to Europe, barely any 1862, fueled global colonialism as European nations looked for other sources of cotton

The Panic of 1857

by summer, the economy was growing too fast, too many railroads and factories were being built and European demand for American wheat and corn was declining, triggered by the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company on August 24, people worried if such a prestigious institution could close its doors, the entire economy might collapse, so worried customers began withdrawing their money which forced the banks to call in loans, causing many businesses to go bankrupt, tens of thousands lost their jobs and banks started foreclosing on homes, farms, and businesses, virtually every bank in NYC closed its doors, jobless men roamed city streets demanding work, food, or money, federal troops had to be sent to disperse angry mobs in NYC, Buchanan and his administration refused to intervene, in Dec he pledged the government would do nothing to relieve the suffering caused by the financial chaos, he maintained most of those complaining the loudest were speculators who deserved a gamblers fate

Republican Party

came out of Whig party ruins, attracted northern Whigs, formed in Feb 1854 in Ripon WI, when the "conscience Whigs" (those opposed to slavery) split from the southern pro-slavery "cotton Whigs", the conscience Whigs joined with anti-slavery Democrats and Free-Soilers to form this party dedicated to the exclusion of the western territories, Bloodied Sumner drove more Northerners into the new party, chose John C. Fremont for 1856 election, platform borrowed heavily from the former Whigs, it endorsed federal funding for a transcontinental railroad and other transportation improvements, denounced the repeal of the MO Compromise, the Democratic party's policy of territorial expansion, and "barbarism" of slavery, the first time a major party platform took a stand against slavery

General Zachary Taylor

chosen by Whigs as presidential nominee, fame had grown during Mexican War, conflict he opposed as an unnecessary and senseless effort to gain territory, owned a LA plantation with 145 slaves but opposed expansion of slavery into the western territories, reluctant candidate, no political experience, claimed no party affiliation, had never even voted in a presidential election, campaigned from sense of duty than from inclination, only focused on admitting CA as a new state, suffered a mild sunstroke while listening to 3 hours of patriotic speeches at the 1850 July 4th celebration, tried to recover at the White House by gorging himself on iced milk, cherries, and raw vegetables, that night he suddenly developed a violent stomach disorder, 5 days later he prayed and asked for water then he died

Commodore John D. Sloat

commander of the Pacific naval squadron, secretly instructed by Polk to use his warships to gain control of the port of San Francisco and blockade or occupy as many other ports as possible if war erupted with Mexico, May 1846 he set sail for CA, early July U.S. sailors and troops went ashore at San Francisco and took down the flag of the Republic of CA and claimed US, soon turned over his command to Commodore Robert F. Stockton, who had sailed south to capture San Diego and Los Angeles, by mid-August Mexican resistance evaporated

Texas Revolution 1835-1836

conflict between Texas colonists and the Mexican government that resulted in the creation of the separate Republic of Texas in 1836, the Alamo, Santa Anna, Bowie, Travis, Crockett, Goliad, Sam Houston, Battle of San Jacinto, Lone Star Republic

The Department of the Interior

created by Congress in 1849 to supervise the distribution of land, the creation of new territories and states, and the "protection" of the Indians and their reservations

Internal Revenue Service

created by Congress in 1862 to collect the first income tax on citizens and corporations, tax rate was 3% on annual incomes of $800+ and went up to 5% on incomes of $10,000+ but only 250,000 people out of a population of 39 million had an income high enough to pay taxes

Freedmen's Bureau

created by Congress on March 3, 1865 to address the complex issues raised by emancipation, also to assist the suffering ex-slaves and their families, it was the first federal effort to provide help to the people directly rather than to states, General Oliver O. Howard appointed to lead it, freed slaves should be able to choose their own employers and be paid for their labor, agents sent South to negotiate labor contracts between freed people and white landowners, many resisted, also provided former slaves with medical care and food and clothing, and helped set up schools, by 1870 supervising almost 4,000 new school serving almost 250,000 students, also helped former slaves reestablished connection with family members and to legalize marriages that had been banned prior to the war

Anaconda Plan

devised by General Winfield Scott, a 3 pronged stategy devised that called first for the main Union Army, the Army of the Potomac, to defend Washington D.C. and exert constant pressure on the Confederate capital, Richmond, at the same time the Federal navy's blockade of southern ports would cut off the Confederacy's access to foreign goods and weapons, the final part called for other Union armies to divide the Confederacy by pushing south along crucial inland water routes (the MS, TN, and Cumberland Rivers), intended to slowly trap and crush the southern resistance like a snake strangling its prey

Peace Policy towards Native Americans

created by President Grant and Ely Parker, he observed the Indians needed as much protection from whites as the whites needed from the Indians, he didn't want the army shooting them, he wanted to placate them and make them peaceful citizens, his experiences had shown him the Indian problem was a result of bad whites, he believed lasting peace could only come from Indians abandoning their nomadic tradition and relocating to government reservations where federal troops would provide them "absolute protection", Grant also promised to end the chronic corruption whereby Congressmen appointed cronies as licensed government traders with access to the Indian reservations, many used their positions to swindle Native Americans out of the federally supplied food, clothing, and other provisions intended for only the reservations, Grant also moved the Bureau of Indians Affairs out of control of Congress and into the War Department and created the Board of Indian Commissioners, Grant also appointed Quakers as reservation traders assuming their honesty, humility, and pacifism would improve the distribution of the government resources, they were no better at managing the policy than government officials, hap in the policies created and their implementation, many officers and soldiers sent West displayed very racist attitude towards Natives, wanted to kill them all

Board of Indian Commissioners

created by President Grant, a new ten man civilian agency whose mission was to oversee the operation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to ensure corruption was rooted out

Joint Committee on Reconstruction

created by outraged Republicans after 4 Confederate generals, 8 colonels, 6 Confederate cabinet members, and several Confederate legislators were elected as U.S. Senators and Congressmen, appointed to develop a new plan to bring the former Confederate states back into the Union, discovered that white violence against blacks was widespread, a former slave testified whites still bullwhipped blacks as if they were slaves, he estimated 2,000 freedpeople had been killed in Shreveport LA in 1866, May and July 1866 white mobs murdered African Americans in Memphis and New Orleans, General Grant reported Memphis was a scene of murder, arson, rape, and robbery in which the victims were all helpless and unresisting negroes, stamping lasting disgrace upon the white civil authorities that permitted them, Memphis authorities didn't arrest anyone responsible

Bureau of Colored Troops

created by the U.S. War Department on May 22 1863, to recruit free blacks and freed slaves, ~80% from southern states, 38,000 gave lives, in navy 1/4 of all enlistments, 2800 died, served in all black units led by white officers, paid less than whites, $7/month vs $16/month, and ineligible for enlistment bonus, service provided unique opportunity to grow in confidence, awareness, and maturity

National Banking Act 1863

created national banks that could issue paper money that would be accepted across the country, had long-term significance for the growth of the national economy and the expansion of federal government

The Great Debate

debate over the Compromise of 1850, JCC sick so he had to have a colleague read his rejection of Clay's compromise, he said the South needed Congress to protect the rights of slave owners to take their "property" into the new territory, asserted South no compromise or make concessions, only solution to growing sectional divide was North to allow slavery in CA and other western territories, otherwise Union severed and South couldn't honorably and safely stay in the Union, Webster blamed both North and South for the crisis but acknowledged both regions had legitimate grievances: South objected to the excesses of infernal fanatics and abolitionists in the North; North resented the aggressive Southern efforts to expand slavery west, he reminded everyone the Constitution of 1787 already required every state to cooperate in the recapture of runaways, fugitive slaves must be returned, believed the South was right and the North was in the wrong, he had no patience for secession and said the men who lack the ability to compromise, for whom everything is absolute should be ignored, Southern threats to leave would lead to civil war, March 11 William Seward gave an intentionally provocative 3 hour speech in which he opposed Clay's compromise and there was a higher law than the Constitution that required the abolition of slavery through acts of civil disobedience, encouraged assisting fugitive slaves instead of returning them

The Gold Rush

discovered in CA in 1848, people rushed there, some people traveled 13,000 miles by sea from Boston or NYC to reach CA, most went overland though, 1841-1867, Overland Trails, lure brought some 30,000 pioneers along the Oregon Trail in 1849

Santa Fe Trails

during the 1830s and 1840s, thousands of Americans made the journey in wagons from MO to NM, trek not for the fainthearted, 1847 alone marauding Indians determined to stem the flow of westward movement killed 47 Americans, destroyed 330 wagons, and stole 6500 horses, cattle, and oxen along the way

Far Northwest

during the early 19th century, consisted of the NE, WA and OR Territories, Oregon Country included present day OR, ID, and WA, parts of MT and WY, and the Canadian province of British Columbia, region claimed by both Great Britain and the US but settled by neither by Convention of 1818, people drawn by profitable trade in fur pelts

Food Riots

erupted in Richmond on April 2 1863, an angry mob, mostly women armed with pistols or knives, marched to the governor's mansion to demand bread in Confederate warehouses be shared with civilians, governor announced nothing could be done, so the protesters broke into stores, stealing shoes and clothing as well as food, riot only ended when Davis arrived and threatened to shoot them, police arrested 44 women and 29 men over the next several days

Congressional Reconstruction Legacy

even as the Republican state governments were overturned the new constitutions they created remained in effect for years, and later constitutions incorporated many of their most progressive features, like black voting rights and restructured legislatures to reflect shifting populations, more state offices changed from appointed to elective positions to weaken the tradition of rewarding political supporters with state government jobs, former Confederate leaders in SC opposed the Republican state legislature because of its black members and because poor whites were also enjoying political clout for the first time, threatening the dominance of wealthy white planters and merchants, they accomplished rebuilding an extensive railroad network and established public school systems funded by state governments and open to all children, although segregated by race, roughly 600,000 black pupils enrolled by 1877 in southern schools, the Radicals also gave more attention to the poor and to orphanages, asylums, and institutions for the deaf and blind of both races, vital infrastructure like roads, bridges, and buildings were repaired or rebuilt, African Americans achieved rights and opportunities that would be repeatedly violated but never be completely taken away at least in principle, like equality before the law and the rights to own property, attend schools, learn to read and write, enter professions, and carry on business, but government officials were often engaged in corrupt practices like bribes and kickbacks (when companies received government contracts in return for giving government officials cash or stock), in LA Henry Clay Warmoth turned an $8,000 annual salary into a million dollar fortune in his 4 years as governor, state governments awarded money, notably railroads, under conditions that invited shady dealings and outright corruption, some railroads received state funds and never built railroads, bribery was rampant

Congressional Reconstruction Legacy

even as the Republican state governments were overturned, the new constitutions they created remained in effect for years, and later constitutions incorporated many of their most progressive features, like black voting rights and restructured legislatures to reflect shifting populations, more state offices changed from appointed to elective positions to weaken the tradition of rewarding political supporters with state government jobs, former Confederate leaders in SC opposed the Republican state legislature because of its black members an because poor whites were also enjoying political clout for the first time, threatening the dominance of wealthy white planters and merchants, they accomplished rebuilding an extensive railroad network and established public schools systems funded by state governments and open to all children although segregated by race, ~600,000 black pupils enrolled by 1877 in southern schools, the Radicals also gave more attention to the poor and to orphanages, asylums, and institutions for the deaf and blind of both races, vital infrastructure like roads, bridges, and buildings were repaired or rebuilt, African Americans achieved rights and opportunities that would be repeatedly violated but never be completely taken away at least in principal like equality before the law and the rights to own property, attend schools, learn to read and write, enter professions, and carry on business, but government officials were often engaged in corrupt practices like bribes and kickbacks (when companies received government contracts in return for giving government officers cash or stock), in LA Henry Clay Warmoth turned an $88,000 annual salary into a million dollar fortune in his 4 years as governor, state governments awarded money, notably railroads, under conditions that invited shady dealings and outright corruption, some railroads received state funds and never built railroads, bribery was rampant

Lost Cause Narrative

fashioned by former Confederate leaders, a sanitized version of history in which a romanticized Confederacy could do no wrong during the "War of Northern Aggression", nostalgic apologists for secession glamorized the old plantation culture and insisted the Civil War has little to do with slavery and everything to do with a noble defense of states' rights and the southern homeland against the aggressions of a tyrannical Republican party, Jefferson Davis claimed loyal and faithful slaves were content and that Lincoln tricked them into believed they'd be better off free, it also demonized abolitionists and idealized the leadership of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee (the soldier who walked with God) and Stonewall Jackson, deifying them as chivalrous pillars of southern virtue who fought bravely and ethically against far larger Union armies led by ruthless outlaws such as Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman, communities erected scores of monuments and memorials glorifying Confederate leaders despite Lee urging southerners *not* to create such memorials to a cause that was "lost" on the battlefields before his death in 1871

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

formed in 1866 in Pulaski TN, began initially as a social club with spooky costumes and secret rituals, but its members (mostly former Confederate soldiers) began harassing blacks and white Republicans, terrorists intent on suppressing black political participation, marauded at night on horseback spreading rumors, issuing threats, and burning schools and churches, focused their program of murder, violence, and intimidation on prominent Republicans, black and white elected officials, teachers in black schools, state militia, in MS they killed a black Republican leader in front of his family, 3 scalawag Republicans were murdered in GA in 1870, especially violent in SC, March 1871 they killed 30 African Americans in MS, Ku Klux Klan Act, Colfax Massacre, played modest role in Upper South, helping Democrats win local elections, in Lower South it had more serious effects, in overwhelming black Yazoo Country MS, vengeful whites used terrorism to reverse the political balance of power

James Gillespie Blaine

former Speaker of the House, initially seemed the likeliest Republican to succeed Grant in the election of 1876 but his candidacy crumbled when newspapers revealed he had secretly promised political favors to railroad executives in exchange for shares of stock in the company

Union League/Loyal League

founded in 1862 by Republicans to rally voters behind Lincoln, the war, and the party, by late 1863 more than 700,000 members in 4,554 councils across the nation, in South they operated like fraternities, with formal initiations and rituals and secret meetings to protect freed people from being persecuted by angry white Democrats, they met in churches, schools, homes, and fields, often heard from northern speakers who traveled the south extolling the Republican party and encouraging blacks to register and vote, by early 1870s in the South it had become one of the largest black social movements in history, ~90% of freedmen registered to vote, almost all Republicans, and voted in record numbers (80-90%), black voters outnumbered persecuted, evicted, or fired African American workers who exercised their political rights, Black Republicans also shunned, expelled, and even killed any "of their own" who turned Democrats, net result was the mobilization of African American voters whose numbers enabled black men to win in electoral offices for the first time in the states of the former Confederacy

Clara Barton

founded the American Red Cross, went on killing fields on her own, delivered medical supplies and food to sick and wounded, at Fredericksburg she nursed 1200 wounded in a single building, oversaw the distributions of medicines to Union troops

Senator Lewis Cass

from Michigan, would be the democratic candidate for president in 1848, expressed the common bias among white expansionists: they didn't want the people of Mexico as people of subjects, they just wanted their territory

Homestead Act 1862

granted 160 acres of public land to each settler who agreed to work that land for 5 year, had long-term significance for the growth of the national economy and the expansion of the federal government

Sacramento

grew even faster than San Francisco, it was closer to the diggings and served as the staging area for the northern mines, new business enterprises like saloons, taverns, restaurants, laundries, and general stores emerged to serve the flourishing population of miners, German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss supplied gold prospectors with sturdy trousers made of denim sailcloth, rugged blue jeans sewn to stand up to the physical labor of mining included copper rivet reinforced pockets

The Confederacy

had 11 states, 9 million population (3.5 million of which were enslaved), mobilized 80% of its military-age white men to help balance the odds, 1/3 would die, produced only 7% of nation's manufactured goods on eve of war, no warships at start of war, had major geographic and emotional advantages, they could fight a war on their own territory in defense of their homeland

The Union

had 23 states including 4 border states (MO, KY, MD, and DE), population 22 million (with roughly 400,000 of them being enslaved African Americans), had superior industrial development, produced 97% of firearms and 96% of the railroad equipment, had huge advantage in transport, especially ships, 90 warships at start of war, federal gunboats and transports played direct role in securing control of MS River and its larger tributaries which provided easy invasion routes into the center of the Confederacy, navy blockade early on of the major southern ports sharply reduced the amount of cotton that could be exported to Britain and France as well as flow of goods (including military weapons) imported from Europe, had more wagons and horses and an impressive edge in railroad locomotives, armies included 100,000 warriors younger than 15, almost 1/5 soldiers and sailors immigrants, many couldn't speak English, 50,000 Canadians, 50,000 Englishmen, 170,000 Irish

Henry Clay

had been Senator, Congressman, Speaker of the House, Secretary of State, Dec 3 1849, 31st Congress assembled for what would be the longest session in the nation's history, asked to be relieved of all committee responsibilities so he could focus on the national crisis and prevent a furious civil war from fracturing the Union, the Omnibus Bill

Santa Anna Betrayal

he sent word to Polk from his exile in Cuba that he would end the war if he could return to Mexico, Polk assured him the US government would pay well for any territory taken from Mexico, August 1846 he was permitted to return to Mexico on Polk's orders, he was soon President of Mexico again and in charge of the Mexican army, but he was much better at raising armies than leading them in battle, Oct 1846 he invited the outnumbered Americans to surrender, launched Battle of Buena Vista

Lincoln's Election

he won nomination over William H. Seward, opposed to extension of slavery and endorsed a series of traditional Whig policies promoting national economic expansion: a higher protective tariff, free farms (homesteads) on federal lands out west and federally financed internal improvements, including a transcontinental railroad, the bitterly contested campaign became a choice between Lincoln and Douglas in the North and Breckenridge and Bell in the South (Lincoln wasn't even on the ballot in the south), Douglas was the only candidate to mount a nationwide campaign, victory announced midnight Nov 6, won 39% of the popular vote, the smallest plurality ever, but clear majority in electoral votes (180), carried all 18 free states and won every country in New England, won no slave states, Douglas got 29% popular vote, Lincoln a man of remarkable humility and empathy, agreed with many who said his election was a fluke, his political experience was meager and his learning limited, and his popular support shallow

William Barret Travis

hot tempered 20 year old lawyer and teacher, led the "regular army" soldiers at the Alamo, left a failed marriage, pregnant wife, 2 year old son, considerable debts, and rumors of a man he killed in AL, determination to do something good with himself led him to refuse orders to retreat from the Alamo

Confederate Strategy

if Union forces could be stalemated and the war prolonged, then British or French, desperate for southern cotton, might be persuaded to join their cause, or a long war would change public sentiment in North and force Lincoln to seek a negotiated settlement, diplomats sought financial and military assistance in London and Paris, in Paris won promise from France to recognize as a new nation if Britain would do the same, it didn't partly because pressure from Lincoln and partly because desire to maintain trade with US

First Thirteenth Amendment

in Feb 1861, 21 states sent delegates to a peace conference in DC, the proposal was essentially the same thing as the Crittenden Compromise, it won little support in Congress, the only proposal that generated much interest was a constitutional amendment guaranteeing slavery where it existed after passing the House, it passed the Senate 24-12 on Lincoln's inauguration day, would have become this and would have been the first time the word 'slavery' appeared in the Constitution, but the states never ratified it - the actual amendment now doesn't protect slavery - it ended it

Sack of Lawrence

in May 1856, a pro-slavery force of 500+ MOs, ALs, and SCs invaded the free-state town of Lawrence, KS, just 25 miles from the MO border, David Atchinson, a former US Senator from MO, urged them not to stop until no more abolitionists, the mob rampaged through the town, destroying the newspaper printing presses, burning homes, and ransacking shops, it ignited the vengeance of a passionate white abolitionist named John Brown, led to the Pottawatomie Massacre, Bleeding Kansas

Saint Patrick's Battalion

in the Mexican Army, American soldiers, mostly poor Irish and German Catholic immigrants who deserted, called San Patricios in Spanish, many Catholics resented the abuse they received from Protestant officers and the atrocities they saw committed against Catholic Mexicans, others attracted by higher wages, land grants, and promises of citizenship, during one of the battles for Mexico City, Americans captured 77 defectors, they were quickly tried and most sentenced to death, General Scott ordered about 50 hanged instead of shot, the others were whipped and branded with a "D" on each cheek, at dawn on Sept 13 1847, 29 of the captureds were made to stand with hand and feet bound and watch the last fortress protecting Mexico City get attacked under the hot sun for four hours, when the US was raised they were all hanged simultaneously, Colonel William Harney, officer infamous for his brutality, ordered the final of the 30 men (Francis O'Connor), who had lost both legs in the fighting also be hanged because his orders were to hang 30 men

Minorities during the Gold Rush

influx of Americans into CA proved deadly for Native Americans and their ancestral lands, 1850 new CA state legislature allowed whites to force "unemployed" Indians to work for them in exchange for food and clothing, 14,000 Mexicans in CA became this, conflicts with Indians of the Sierra Nevada foothills decimated the population, miners pushed Native Americans out of the gold diggings and those who resisted were killed, early 1850s Indian population dropped by over 80%, killed by infectious disease and white man

Henry Clay

introduced a series of controversial resolutions at a special session of Congress in 1841, called for the repeal of the Independent Treasury Act and the creation of another Bank of the US, he proposed to revive the distribution program whereby the money generated by federal land sales was given to the states, and urged tariffs be raised on imported goods to hamper foreign competitors, driven by his compulsive quest to be president, he didn't compromise and didn't avoid a nasty dispute with Tyler over financial issues, called Tyler a traitor who disgraced his party, convinced Tyler's entire cabinet except Sec of State Webster to resign

New Proclamation of Amnesty

issued by Andrew Johnson in May 1865, excluded not only those ex-Confederates whom Lincoln had barred from voting or holding office but also anyone with property worth more than $20,000 because he was determined to keep the wealthiest Southerners from regaining political power, but by 1866 he had pardoned some 7000 former Confederates and eventually most of the white aristocrats he claimed to despise because he decided he could buy the political support of prominent Southerners by pardoning them, improving his chances of reelection

Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

issued by President Lincoln in late 1863, under this, former Confederate states could recreate a Union government once a number equal to 10% of those who had voted in 1860 swore allegiance to the Constitution, they also received a presidential pardon acquitting them of treason, but certain groups were denied pardons: Confederate government officials, senior officers of the Confederate army and navy, judges, congressmen, and military officers of the United States who had left their posts to join the rebellion, and those who had abused captured African American soldiers

The Oregon Trail

lure of gold in CA brought 30,000 pioneers along it in 1849, 1850 peak year for it, annual count 55,000, started in Independence MO, along the winding North Plate River into what is now WY, through South Pass to Fort Bridger, then down the Snake River through what is now ID to the salmon-filled Columbia River, then through the Cascade Mountains OR's fertile Willamette Valley, 1845 roughly 5,000 settled there, as the number of migrants grew, they tore through Native American lands and culture, buffalo disappeared and nations like the Cheyenne and the Arapaho were forced to split into northern and southern branches when the federal government they be relocated far away from here in negotiating treaties with them, eventually served as the route for the Union Pacific Railroad

Greenbacks

issued by the federal Treasury during the Civil War to help pay for the war, paper money that could be exchanged for an equal value of gold coins, when they were issued the prices for goods and services increased because the supply of money grew faster than the economy itself (inflation), the U.S. Treasury assumed they would be recalled from circulation after the war so consumer prices would decline and the nation could return to a "hard-money" currency (gold, silver, and copper coins) which was always viewed as more reliable in value than paper currency, eastern creditors (mostly bankers and merchants) did not want their debtors to pay them in this, supporters tended to be farmers and debtors, they opposed taking them out of circulation because the shrinking supply of money would bring lower prices (deflation) for their crops and livestock, reducing their income and making it harder for them to pay back their long-term debts, 1868 congressional supporters of such a soft-money policy — mostly Democrats — forced the Treasury to stop withdrawing them

State of Texas

joined Union before Polk sworn in as President, in final months Tyler asked Congress to annex by joint resolution, which required only a simple majority in each house rather than the 2/3 Senate vote needed to ratify a treaty of annexation, narrowly passed with most Whigs opposed, Tyler's last act, 28th state, 15th slave state, Dec 29 1845, Feb 16 1846 the Lone Star Flag replaced, at time population of 100,000 whites and 38,000 enslaved blacks, by 1850 population soared by almost 50%, by 1860 600,000+ people, most migrants from southern states focused on growing cotton

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

late 1841 slaves being transported from VA to LA on the Creole revolted and took control, sailed into Nassau in the Bahamas where British authorities set 128 of them free (GB abolished slavery in 1834), the most successful slave revolt in American history, Secretary of State Daniel Webster demanded they be returned as American property, British refused, Tyler and Webster didn't want a war so they let it go, enraged southern slaveholders, British government decided to send Lord Ashburton to meet with Webster, who viewed good relations with Britain as essential for the American economy, produced this, which provided for joint naval patrols off Africa to police the outlawed slave trade, also resolved a long-standing dispute over north-eastern US boundary with British Canada, did nothing about returning the free slaves, dispute not settled until 1853, when England paid $110,000 to the slaves former owners, May 1843 Webster resigned

South outnumbered

late 1850s, national politics undergoing profound changes, May 1858 free state MN, Feb 1859 free Oregon gained statehood, slave states of South becoming a minority so insecurity and paranoia deepened, more and more Americans began to feel compromise was impossible

The Crafts

late Oct 1850, 2 slaves catchers from GA arrived in Boston, determined to use the new federal Fugitive Slave Act to recapture William and Ellen, husband and wife cabinet makers, abolitionists mobilized to prevent them from being seized by the "man stealers", after 5 days they gave up, went back to GA, after learning of this, President Fillmore assured the South he would use federal troops if necessary to return them but too later, abolitionists had gotten them to safety in Great Britain, Theodore Parker (a prominent white Unitarian minister in Boston who was a leading abolitionist) wrote to President Fillmore and explained the willingness of his congregation to engage in civil disobedience to protect them

Battle of Perryville

late summer 1862 General Braxton Braggs Army of MS, 30,000 strong, used railroads to link up with General Edmund Kirby Smith's Army of East TN, goal to invade North by taking control of the border state of KY, Confederates met the Union Army of OH, led by General Don Carlos Buell, at this village in central KY in Oct 1862, outnumbered Confederates attacked Union lines, pushing them back more than a mile, when Bragg learned Union reinforcements were approaching, he ordered his army to withdraw south towards TN and the Union kept KY under control for the rest of the war

Winfield Scott

led a large American force on March 9 1847 because Taylor couldn't win a decisive victory, he was the general-in-chief of the U.S. Army, landed on beaches south of Veracruz, the site of what was considered the strongest fortress in North America, the largest amphibious operation ever attempted by U.S. military, carried out without loss, Veracruz surrender on March 29, made him a national hero, America troops rested, accumulated supplies and awaited reinforcements to replace volunteers whose enlistment had ended, August the force marches towards heavily defended Mexico City, 200 miles away, 4 epic battles, Americans overwhelmed the Mexican defenders, U.S. forces arrived at the gates of Mexico City in early Sept 1847

General Stephen Kearny

led an American military expedition at the same time as Sloat, August 18 captured Santa Fe, the capital of NM, then joined Stockton's forces in CA, took control of Los Angeles on Jan 10 1847, remaining Mexican forces surrendered 3 days later, then quarreled over who was in command, since each carried orders to conquer and govern CA, meantime John C. Fremont arrived from Sonoma with 400 new troops and claimed Stocktn in charge, Stockton named him governor of CA and started giving orders, making proclamations, and appointing officials, but K saw it as Polk ordered him governor, June 1847 he had Fremont arrested and transported across the country for a court-marital, found guilty of mutiny and insubordination and dismissed from the army, but Polk reversed the sentence, Fremont quit and moved to CA, eventually became the state's first US Senator

Franciscan friars

led by Junipero Serra, established a Catholic mission in San Diego, over the next 50 years they built 20 more missions, spaced a day's journey apart along the coast from San Diego north to San Francisco, culture different from TX and NM where original missions were converted into secular communities and property divided among Indians, they (aided by Spanish missionaries) controlled most of the Native Americans, they enticed Indians into coastal missions by offering gifts or impressing them with "magical" religious rituals, once inside the missions, they were baptized as Catholics taught Spanish, and stripped of their cultural heritage

Battle of San Jacinto

led by Sam Houston after learning of defeat at the Alamo, first a long strategic retreat to buy time while hoping Santa Anna messes up, April 21 1836 Santa Anna let his guard down, 900 Houston vs 1600 Santa Anna napping near ___ Rive about 25 miles southeast of now city Houston, "Remember the Alamo, Remember Goliad", overwhelmed surprised Mexicans, leaderless because Santa Anna was in his tent maybe with his mistress, battle 18 minutes but next 2 hours slaughtering the fleeing Mexican soldiers, 650 Mexican killed and 300 captured, Texians only lost 11 men, Santa Anna escaped but was captured the next day, bought freedom by signing a treaty recognizing the independence of TX with the Rio Grande as the southern border

Radical Republicans

led by Thaddeus Stevens in House and Charles Sumner in Senate, wanted Confederacy's defeat and to reconstruct it by having Union armies seize southern plantations and give the land to the former slaves, in 1864 frustrated the war wasn't won, tried to prevent Lincoln's nomination for a second term but he consistently outmaneuvered them

Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner

led the most extreme radicals, wanted Reconstruction to provide social and political equality for black people, they resented Johnson's efforts to bring the South back into the Union as quickly as possible, S argued the Civil War had been fought to produce a radical revolution in Southern life, the whole of southern society should be changed to revolutionize southern institutions, habits, and manners, viewed the Confederate states as conquered provinces to be readmitted to the Union by the U.S. Congress not the president, South and Johnson disagreed

Slaughterhouse Cases 1873

limited the "privileges or immunities" of US citizenship as outlined in the recently ratified 14th Amendment, 1869 LA legislature granted a single company a monopoly of the livestock slaughtering business in New Orleans as a means of protecting public health, competing butchers sued the state, arguing the monopoly violated their privileges as US citizens under the 14th Amendment deprived them of property without due process of law, 5-4 decision, monopoly didn't violate it because the clause applied only to US citizenship not state citizenship, states retained legal jurisdiction over their citizens and federal protection of civil rights did not extend to the property rights of businesses, dissenting Justice Stephen J. Field argued the mistaken ruling rendered the 14th Amendment a vain and idle enactment with little scope or authority, unwittingly opened the door for states to discriminate against African Americans by designating the rights of state citizens beyond the jurisdiction of federal law

Sam Houston

lived among Cherokees as teen and earned nickname "The Raven", served under Andrew Jackson, became federal Indian agents, attorney, US Congressman, commanding general of TN militia, 1827 governor, adored Jackson, devoted disciple and surrogate son, Eliza Allen, was going to kill himself but saw eagle fly toward shim then into the sunset, thought a sign of great destiny out west, 1829 headed west, eventually joined Cherokee, adopted clothing, customs, and language, changed his name, married a Cherokee woman and was formally adopted by the Cherokee Nation, very good at negotiations with Indian tribes and the federal government, addicted to alcohol, "Big Drunk", Dec 1832 moved from AR Territory to TX at Jackson's request, 2 months later sent secret report saying TX ripe for revolt, joined the rebellion, commander in chief of forces fighting for TX independence

Whigs

lost their greatest leaders (HC and DW) and with them went virtually all support in the Lower South, chose General Winfield Scott for election of 1852, the anti-slavery faction in Congress was mostly them, so when they were crushed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the national party essentially died with them, Republicans came of its ruins

Johnson's Restoration Plan

mandated the appointment of a Unionist as a provisional governor in each state, each governor was to call a convention of men elected by a "loyal" (not Confederate) voters, required each state convention ratify the 13th Amendment, also encouraged giving a few blacks voting rights, especially those with some education or military service to please the Radicals who wanted *all* African Americans to have voting rights, suggestion ignored

Native Americans

many caught up in the war, roughly 20,000 allied with one or the other side, those among the "5 Civilized Tribes" owned African American slaves and felt a bond with southern whites, Stand Watie, an OK Cherokee leader, chose Confederacy in 1864 raised volunteer regiment the Cherokee Mounted Rifles, by end of war he was the brigadier general and principal chief of the Confederate Cherokees, OK's closeness to TX influenced the Choctaws and Chickasaws to support the Confederacy, but the Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles were more divided, Cherokees split in 2, by end of war 1/3 Cherokee women were widows

Consequences of Emancipation Proclamation

many slaves in border states claimed freedom too, word spread rapidly in slave communities, creating general confusion in cities, encouraging hundreds of thousands to escape, 4Ls created (Lincoln's Legal Loyal League), a secret group created to spread the news to slaves in MS, incensed Confederate leaders who predicted race war, boosted the Union war effort, enabled African Americans to enlist in the Union army and navy, undermined Confederate support in Europe, converted Civil War from conflict to restore Union into crusade to end slavery, gave federal war effort moral legitimacy in eyes of Europeans

The Donner Party

mid April 1846, George (a prosperous 62 year old farmer) led his family in a train of 74 other settlers and 23 wagons from Springfield IL to the OR Trail, his wife was optimistic in the beginning, but they made several fatal mistakes - they started too late in the year, overloaded their wagons, and took a foolish shortcut to CA southward across the Wasatch Mountains towards the Great Salt Lake in UT Territory, they had inadequate food, water, clothing, and experience, discipline broke as challenges increased - one settler murdered for gold, one banished after killing a man in self defense, and one left behind to die because inability to walk, in Wasatch Range they got lost and had to backtrack, losing 3 weeks in the process, early Sept snow slowed them more but eventually they made it to the desert, where they lost 100+ oxen and had to abandon several wagons with precious supplies, reached the Truckee Pass in eastern CA (the last barrier before reaching the Sacramento Valley), 2 week long blizzard trapped them in 2 separate camps, by Dec they (1/2 children) were marooned by 20 ft of snow with only enough food to last through the end of the month, the Forlorn Hope group, when rescue party finally reached the main party, the survivors had slaughtered and eaten all livestock and boiled hides and bones, 13 people died and cannibalism was commonplace, 47 survivors, George was too weak and distressed to walk so he stayed behind to die and his wife chose to remain with him

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

more sermon than speech, said slavery had somehow caused the war and everyone bore some guilt for the national shame of racial injustice and the awful war to end it, longed for peace, noted paradoxical irony of God, looked ahead to just and lasting peace and no vengeance, goal redemption and reunion, not reprisals

Mining Life

mostly unmarried young men of varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds including ~20,000 Chinese, few wanted to stay in CA, they wanted to strike it rich and leave, camps sprung up and disappeared rapidly, the camps and shantytowns had fun names but were dirty, lawless, and dangerous places, vigilante justice, in 24 days: murders, fearful accidents, bloody deaths, a mob, whippings, a hanging, an attempt at suicide, and a fatal duel, if murderers were caught, many of them were lynched on the spot, within 6 months after arrival, 1/5 gold seekers were dead, insurance companies refused to provide coverage, suicides were common and disease was rampant

Freedmen's Conventions/Equal Rights Associations

organized by liberated slaves and Northern African Americans (missionaries), they met and marched, demanding freedom, citizenship, and full civil rights, land of their own, and voting rights, especially in and around large cities like New Orleans, Mobile, Norfolk, Wilmington, Nashville, Memphis, and Charleston, regular meetings, chose leaders, protested mistreatment, learned the workings of the federal bureaucracy and sought economic opportunities, they were often led by ministers and met in state capitals to impress upon the white men, they were eager to counter the whites-only state conventions being organized under Johnson's Reconstruction Plan, virtually all of them forged resolutions that stressed their desire for free public education, their need for paying jobs and their own land and their insistence on full civil rights - especially voting rights, basically they demanded their voices be heard in Washington and southern state capitals

Military Reconstruction Act

part of Congressional Reconstruction and the First Reconstruction Act which was passed on March 2 1867 over President Johnson vetoes, the capstone of the plan, abolished the new governments in the Rebel states established under Johnson's lenient Reconstruction policies, established military control over 10/11 former Confederate states (TN was exempted because it already the 14th Amendment), 10 states divided into 5 military districts, each commanded by an army general who acted as governor, but only 10,000 federal troops, mostly African Americans, were expected to police them, never enough soldiers to enforce it, entire MS had less than 400 soldiers, required each former Confederate state to create a new constitution that guaranteed all adult males the right to vote - regardless of wealth or color, also stipulated new constitutions were to be drafted by conventions elected by male citizens of any status, once a majority of voter ratified the new constitutions, the state legislatures had to ratify the 14th Amendment, once it became part of the Constitution the former Confederate states could rejoin Congress, several hundred African American delegates participated in the constitutional conventions

Command of the Army Act

part of Congressional Reconstruction, required the president issue all army orders through General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant because the Radicals feared President Johnson would appoint anti-black generals to head the military districts who would be too lenient towards whites who defied efforts to "reconstruct" the South

Tenure of Office Act

part of Congressional Reconstruction, stipulated the Senate must approve any presidential effort to remove federal officials whose appointments the Senate has confirmed, Radicals used this act to prevent Johnson from firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, the presidents most outspoken critic in the Cabinet

Naturalization Act of 1870

passed by Congress 4 months after the 15th Amendment, it extended the process whereby immigrants had gained citizenship to include "aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent", but efforts to include Asians and Native Americans were defeated

Fourteenth Amendment

passed by Congress in June 1866 to remove all doubt about the legality of the new Civil Rights Act, it guaranteed citizenship not just to freedmen but to immigrant children born in the U.S. as well, it also targeted black codes, prohibiting any efforts to violate the civil rights of citizens (black or white), to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, gave the federal government responsibility for protecting and enforcing civil rights, ratified by 3/4 states in 1868, all states in former Confederacy required to ratify the amendment before they could be readmitted to the Union and to Congress, President Johnson urged southern states to refuse to ratify the amendment because he predicted Democrats would win the congressional elections in Nov and nix it but he was steadily losing support in the North, the Slaughterhouse Cases and United States v. Cruikshank made it so that freed people were left even more vulnerable to violence and discrimination

Habeus Corpus Act of 1863

passed by Congress, allow the president to have people arrested on the "suspicion" of treason, after, Union soldiers and local sheriffs arrested thousands of Confederate sympathizers in the northern states without using a writ of habeus corpus

Morrill Land Grant College Act 1862

provided states with 30,000 acres of federal land to fund the creation of public universities that would teach agriculture and mechanic arts, had long-term significance on the growth of the national economy and the expansion of the federal economy

Civil Rights Act

passed by Radical-led Congress in mid-March 1866, Republican majority created because moderates joined Radicals after Johnson vetoed a bill renewing funding for the Freedmen's Bureau and criticized the Radicals for promoting black civil rights, declared all persons born in the United States, including children of immigrants, but excluding Native Americans, were citizens entitled to full and equal benefits of all laws, infuriated Johnson who said Congress couldn't grant citizenship to blacks because they didn't deserve it, he vetoed it claiming it discriminated against the "white race", Republicans overrode it April 6 1866, it was the first time in history Congress overturned a presidential veto of a bill

Militia Act 1862

passed by US Congress in July 1862 in an effort to strengthen the Union war effort, authorized the army to use freed slaves as laborers or soldiers (freedmen were already eligible to serve in the navy), Lincoln didn't encourage their use as soldiers because he feared the reaction in border states where slavery remained in place, the Union army didn't recruit blacks in large numbers until after the formal signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863

Second Confiscation Act

passed in April 1862 by Republican-controlled Congress, declared contrabands who had made it to Union army camps were forever free, part of Lincoln's shift to believing emancipation of slaves in the Confederate states was necessary to win the war

Emancipation Proclamation

preliminary issued by President Lincoln 5 days after Antietam, Sept 22 1862, warned the Confederacy if it didn't stop fighting all slaves still under its control would be forever freed in exactly 100 days, on Jan 1 1863, not based on ideas of racial equality or abstract ideals of human dignity, it was (according to Lincoln) a military necessity and therefore an act of war, would only free slaves in Confederacy owned areas, 4 border states still Union so no effect on them as Lincoln had no constitutional authority to free them, Lincoln believed Constitution allowed popular sovereignty, so legally he acted as commander in chief of the armed forces, not as the president, declared as a fit and necessary war measure to save the Union, when actual one signed in Jan, he changed it to add it was an act of justice as well as a military necessity, shifted goal of war to end slavery not just to restore the Union

Jefferson Davis

president of Confederacy, threatened to shoot protesters at food riots, his greatest challenge came from southern politicians who criticized the tyrannical powers of the Confederate government, could never admit mistakes, all decisions final, personality ill-suited to the chief executive of an infant and fractious nation, stubbornly rejected any talk of surrender, if his armies should be defeated, he wanted the soldiers to scatter and fight an unending guerilla war, received word to flee Richmond while in church, fled with the dying nation's last remaining gold and silver, captured in GA on May 10, eventually imprisoned in VA for 2 years

Constitutional Union Party

presidential nominating conventions revealed opinions tended to be more radical in the Northeast and Lower South, in border states of MD, DE, KY, and MO, a sense of moderation aroused former Whigs to make one more try of reconciliation, they organized themselves as this at a meeting in Baltimore and nominated John Bell of TN for president, platform centered on a vague statement promoting the Constitution, the Union, and Enforcement of the Laws

Oppression of Equality

pretty much every white was still racist, most southern blacks realized their best chance to make a living was by working for pay for their former owners, the Freedmen's Bureau urged and even ordered them to sign labor contracts with local whites, many planters conspired to control the amount of wages paid to freedmen, white southerners also used terror, intimidation, and violence to prevent black efforts to gain social and economic equality, armed men organized to thwart federal efforts to reconstruct South, no protection for blacks from exploitation and abuse, black codes, southern whites disrupted black Republican meetings, targeted black and white Republican leaders for beatings or killings, and in general prevented blacks from exercising their political rights, hundreds killed across South in systematic efforts to "keep blacks in their place"

Andrew Johnson

pro-Union Democrat from TN, president after Lincoln's assassination, had been added to Lincoln's National Union ticket in 1864 only for reelection purposes, humorless, insecure, combative, and self-righteous, hated white southern elite and racial equality, had a weakness for liquor, delivered his vice-presidential address in 1865 in a state of slurring drunkenness, self made man, both in 1808 in log cabin near Raleigh NC, lost his father at 3, never attended school, illiterate mother apprenticed him to a tailor to learn a trade, ran away from home at 13 and eventually landed in Greenville in Eat TN, became a tailor, taught himself to read, 16 year old wife showed him how to write and do basic arithmetic, prospered over time and acquired 5 slaves which he sold in 1863, natural leader, eventually served as mayor, state legislator, governor, congressional representative, and U.S. Senator, identified with poor farmers and came to hate the corrupt aristocracy of wealthy planters, called himself a Jacksonian Democrat in the strictest meaning of the term, *for* putting down the Confederate rebellion because it was a war of wealthy plantation owners against democracy, also shared racist attitudes of most southern whites, maintained impoverished whites were most hurt by the slave system, unapologetic white supremacist, a states' right Democrat, insisted federal government be as small and inactive a possible, strongly opposed Republican economic policies designed to spur industrial development, new Proclamation of Amnesty, his Restoration plan

SC Secession

pro-slavery fire eaters viewed Lincoln's election as the final signal to abandon the Union, after it, the state's entire congressional delegation resigned and left DC, then it appointed a convention to decide whether to stay in the Union, it had the highest percentage of slaves in its population (60%) of any state, and its political leadership was dominated by slave owning hot heads, it had been a Democratic state for decades and was the only state that didn't allow its citizens to vote in presidential elections, the legislature, controlled by white planters, did the balloting, met in Charleston Dec 20 1860, the special convention, most of the delegates owned slaves, focused on how they would keep slavery, answered by unanimously voting to secede from the Union, David Jamison Rutledge, who presided over the convention, announced the Ordinance of Secession was signed and ratified

Fire-eaters

pro-slavery militants, aka Ultras, dismissed Clay's compromise as a surrender to the fanatical abolitionists

Compromise of 1877

prominent Ohio Republicans and powerful southern Democrats, struck a private bargain at Wormley's Hotel in Washington DC, Republicans promised if Hayes was named president, he would remove the last federal troops from the South, Hayes' victory hinged on the key southern Democrats, Feb 26 1877

The Omnibus Bill

proposed by Henry Clay with support of Daniel Webster on Jan 29 1850, an amicable plan for compromise and harmony, 8 resolutions, 6 paired as compromises between North and South, all designed to settle the controversy between the free and slave states growing out of the subject of slavery, 1) admit CA as a free state, 2) let the residents of NM and UT decide whether to allow slavery, 3) deny TX its extreme claim to much of NM, 4) compensate TX by having the federal government pay the pre-annexation TX debt, 5) retain slavery in DC but abolish the sale of slaves there, 6) adopt a more effective federal law designed to recapture fugitive slaves, and 7) deny congressional authority to interfere with the interstate slave trade, it became in substance the Compromise of 1850 but only after 7 more months of negotiations, won over the moderates but not the extremists

Pacific Railway Act 1862

provided federal funding and grants of land for construction of a 1900 mile-long transcontinental railroad line from Omaha NE to Sacramento CA

Robert J. Walker

replaced the KS governor, with Buchanan's approval he pledged to free-state KSs (who made up an overwhelming majority of the voters) that the new constitution would be submitted to a fair vote

Black Codes

restrictive laws passed by the new all-white southern state legislatures in 1865 and 1866, would ensure the ex-slave wasn't a free man — he was a free black, varied from state to state, SC: African Americans were required to remain on their former plantations, forced to labor from dawn to dusk, MS: declared black people couldn't hunt or fish, making them even more dependent on their white employers, every black male over 18 had to be apprenticed to a white, preferably a former slave owner, any not by Jan 1866 would be jailed as vagrants, convict lease system, infuriated Republicans, some recognized black marriages, but prohibited interracial marriages, also prohibited African Americans from voting, serving on juries, or testifying against whites, could own property, but in MS no farmland and SC no city property,

Panic of 1873

resulted from President Grant's effort to withdraw greenbacks because during 1873, 2 dozen overextended railroads stopped paying their bills, forcing Jay Cooke and Company, the nation's leading business lender, to go bankrupt and close its doors Sept 18 1873, shocking news created snowball effect as other banks began shutting down, it triggered a deep depression, tens of thousands of business closed, 3 million workers lost jobs, those with jobs saw wages slashed, in major cities unemployed and homeless roamed the streets and formed long lines at soup kitchens, led the U.S. Treasury to reverse course and begin printing more greenbacks, 1874 Grant vetoed a bill to print more which ignited a barrage of criticism, it also prolonged what was then the worst depression in the nation's history, Democrats blamed Republicans for the depression, in the House of Representatives Republicans went from a 70% majority to 37% majority, Republicans maintained control of the Senate but were placed on the defensive

Mary McLeod Bethune

she walked 5 miles to school as a child, earned a scholarship to college, and went on to become the first black woman to found a school that became a four-year college: Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, FL

Buchanan-Pakenham Treaty

signed by Polk's Secretary of State James B. on June 15 1846, extended the border between the US and British Canada westward to the Pacific coast along the 49th parallel

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848

signed on Feb 2 1848, Mexico forced to transfer territories that would eventually become the states of TX, CA, AZ, NM, and significant parts of what would become CO, UT, WY, and NV, more than half the entire nation of Mexico

Contrabands

slaves who sought protection and freedom, put to work digging trenches, building fortifications, tending livestock, burying the dead, or were simply set free

Churches

starting these was the first proof of freedom, before Civil War most plantation owners denied slaves educations to keep them from reading abolitionist literature and organizing uprisings, after the war the white elite worried that education would distract poor whites and blacks from their work in the fields or encourage them to leave the South in search of better social and economic opportunities, the white opposition made them all the more important to African Americans

Women

suddenly found themselves full-time farmers or plantation managers, clerks, and schoolteachers, others traveled with the armies as camp followers, cooking meals, writing letters, and assisting amputations

Gould-Fish Scheme

summer 1869 Jay G and James F Jr, two unprincipled financial schemers infamous for bribing politicians and judges, plotted with Abel Corbin, the president's brother in law, to manipulate the nation's gold market, they intended to create a public craze for gold by purchasing massive quantities of it to drive up its values, only danger of failure if the federal Treasury burst the bubble by selling large amounts of its gold, deflating its market value, when Grant was seen in public with them, it was assumed he supported the scheme, word spread in NYC's financial district Grant endorsed it and the value of gold soared, Set 24 1869 (Black Friday), it worked for a while, prices started at $150 per ounce, rose to $160, then $165, leading more investors to join the stampede, around noon Grant and his Treasury secretary realized what was happening and began selling Treasury gold, 15 mins price dropped to $138, schemers lost fortunes, turmoil spread to whole stock market, financial markets paralyzed for weeks after the gold bubble collapsed and business confidence shattered

Redeemers

supposedly "saved" the south from Republican control and "black rule" — they used the race issue to excite the white electorate and threaten black voters, Democrats in the south who called themselves Conservatives, mobilized the anti-Reconstruction vote

Germans

surprised and disarmed a pro-Confederacy militia gathered in St. Louis hoping to take control of the federal arsenal, they chased the pro-Confederates across border to AK, 4100/4200 volunteers to join Union army from MO, overwhelmingly supported Union, viewed Confederates as similarly undemocratic to the states where aristocratic elites and military officers suppressed democracy back home

Oregon fever

swept the nation in 1840s, especially after the federal government promised 160 acres of free land to any settler who worked the property for 4 years, some people went to escape debts, or dull lives, or bad marriages, they had nothing to lose and a fortune to gain, 1841 and 1842 first sizable wagon trains, made the long trip across half the continent, 1843 movement became a mass migration, most pioneers walked 2000 miles, Conestogas, wagon trains like mobile communities, found OR in primitive state requiring backbreaking work to create self-sustaining homesteads

Ulysses S. Grant

the "Lion of Vicksburg" credited by most with the Union victory in the Civil War, his falling out with President Johnson pushed him towards the Republicans who unanimously nominated him as their presidential candidate, the youngest president up to that time (46 years old at inauguration), a courageous defender of Congressional Reconstruction, not a great president, had no experience in civil or political life, thought he could run the government the same as he ran the army, passively followed the lead of Congress, often blind to political forces and self-serving peddlers around him, poor judgement in selecting cabinet members, often favored friendship, family, loyalty, and military service over integrity and ability, 2 terms in office, 7 cabinet positions changed 24 times, some of the men betrayed hid trust and engaged in criminal behavior, he was used a lot, but he excelled at bringing diversity to the federal government, he appointed more African Americans, Native Americans, Jews, and women than any of his predecessors, and he fulfilled his campaign pledge to bring the nation peace and prosperity, viewed Reconstruction of the South as the nation's top priority, doggedly insisted freedpeople be allowed to exercise their civil rights without fear of violence, celebrated ratification of 15th Amendment

Carpetbaggers

the 30,000 scheming Northerners, mostly young men, who rushed South with their belongings in cheap suitcases made of carpeting to grab political power or buy plantations, some of the Northerners who migrated South were corrupt opportunists but most were Union military veterans drawn to the South by the desire to rebuild the region's devastated economy, many others were teachers, social workers, attorneys, physicians, editors, and ministers motivated by a genuine desire to help free blacks and poor whites improve their lives, Union general Adelbert Ames won the Medal of Honor and stayed in the south after the war because he felt a "sense of Mission with a large M" to help former slaves develop healthy communities, he served as military governor of MS before being elected a Republican US Senator in 1870

The Overland Campaign

the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse lasted 12 days, after, Grant foolishly ordered poor frontal assault at *Cold Harbor*, in 20 minutes almost 4,000 Feds were caught in a blistering crossfire and were killed or wounded, other battles involved too, a series of battles orchestrated to keep Lee occupied, lasted 2 months, Gran'ts massive offensive across VA, ~65,000 killed, wounded, or missing Union soldiers and 33,000 Rebel casualties, but he knew Union could replace the dead and wounded and the Rebels could not and he was slowly pushing Lee's army towards Richmond, backing the Confederates into a corner

Catholic Missions

the CA ones served as churches, villages, fortresses, homes, schools, shops, farms, and outposts of Spanish rule, they quickly became agricultural enterprises, producing crops, livestock, clothing, and household goods for profit and for supplying neighboring presidios, Indians provided most of the labor, daily routine began at dawn with ringing of a bell summoning community to prayer, work began one hour later and din't stop until one hour before sunset, Indian men worked in the fields, women did domestic chores except for during harvest season, received clothing, food, housing, and religious instruction instead of wages, rebellious Native Americans were whipped or imprisoned and they died at an alarming rate, of every 4 born 3 died in the first or second year and survivors didn't reach 25 due to infectious disease and grueling labor regimen, population went from 72,000 i 1769 to 18,000 by 1821, slowly fell into disuse with Mexican independence in 1821

Samuel J. Tilden

the Democratic candidate for election of 1876, a wealthy corporate lawyer and reform governor of NY

Jay Cooke

the Financier of the Civil War, a Philadelphia banker who mobilized a nationwide campaign to sell $2 billion in government bonds to private investors

General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

the Mexican president who in 1834 suspended the national congress and became dictator, calling himself the Napoleon of the West, Texans feared he was going to free their slaves and enslave them, imprisoned Austin in 1834 for inciting rebelliousness and American settlers decided he had to go, fall 1835 Texans rebelled against him because of his "despotism", so he ordered all Americans expelled, all Texans disarmed, and all rebels arrested and executed as pirates, hundreds of armed volunteers from southern states rushed to assist 30,000 Texians and Tejanos fighting for independence against a nation of 7 million, the Alamo, Battle of San Jacinto

Congressional Reconstruction

the Military Reconstruction Act, the Command of the Army Act, the Tenure of Office Act, never enough soldiers to reinforce it, effort to remove Johnson weakened public support for it, but Radical cause gained Johnson's private agreement to stop obstructing it, embodied the most sweeping peace time legislation in American history to that point, sought to ensure freed slaves could participate in the formation of new state governments in the former Confederacy, ~600 blacks mostly former slaves elected under this

Wade-Davis Bill/Manifesto

the Radicals tried to take charge of Reconstruction in 1864 with the war still raging, by passing this, named for two leading Republicans, in contrast to Lincoln's 10% plan, it required a *majority* of white male citizens declare their allegiance to the Union before a Confederate state could be readmitted, the bill never became law because Lincoln vetoed it, Radicals issued the Manifesto in retaliation which accused him of exceeding his constitutional authority

Legal Tender Act of 1862

the Treasury issued $450 million in paper currency, called greenbacks, because of the color of the ink used to print the bills

Edmund Ruffin

the arch secessionist who had been given the honor of firing the first shots at Fort Sumter, was so devastated by Confederate surrender he put his musket barrel in his mouth and killed himself

Presidential Reconstruction

the first phase of reconstruction of former Confederate states, 1862 President Lincoln had named army generals to serve as temporary military governors for conquered Confederate areas

Impeachment

the formal process by which Congress charges the president with "high crimes and misdemeanors", Johnson opened the door to this when he fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who had refused to resign from the Cabinet despite his harsh criticism of Johnson's Reconstruction policy, in violation of the Tenure of Office Act, but Johnson considered the Act an illegal restriction of presidential power and replaced him with Ulysses S. Grant, Feb 24 1868 the Republican-dominated House passed 9 articles of it (specific charges against the president), most of which dealt with Stanton's firing and all were flimsy, 2 more added later, essential grievance that he opposed the policies of the Radicals, first Senate trial March 5 1868, 5 week trial stunning end, Senate voted 35-19 for conviction, only 1 vote short of 2/3 needed for removal, Edmund G. Ross cast deciding vote, he decided the evidence was insufficient for conviction and overly partisan, destroyed his political career, effort was a grave political mistake, it weakened public support for Congressional Reconstruction, but Radical cause gained Johnson's private agreement to stop obstructing Congressional Reconstruction

Stephen Fuller Austin

the leading promoter of American settlement in Mexican TX, a visionary land developed (empresario) who convinced the Mexican government in 1824-1825 he could recruit 200 American families to settle between the Colorado and Brazos Rivers along the Gulf coast of TX and create a buffer on the northern frontier between the feared Comanche Indians and the Mexican settlements to the south, the Mexican government agreed to legalize American immigration as long as he settlers converted to Catholicism and no slaves, created an Anglo "colony" in east TX in which Americans who rushed to settle it got 177 free acres and thousands of acres of common pasture for ranching because he received 65000 acres from Mexican government, goal to furn TX into American slave country

General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

the most celebrated and feared field commander, was at the First Battle of Bull Run, Second Battle of Bull Run, Battle of Chancellorsville; as night fell day 2 he and several aides rode out beyond the skirmish line to locate Union forces, shooting erupted and nervous Confederates mistakenly opened fire on his group (friendly fire), 3 bullets struck him, shattering his left arm and right hand, next day surgeon amputated his arm, he seemed to be recovering but then he got pneumonia and died

Fugitive Slave Act 1850

the most controversial element of the Compromise of 1850, it sought to recover slaves who had escaped months or years earlier and considered themselves safe, law enabled slave traders to kidnap free blacks in northern free states, claiming they were runaway slaves, law denied fugitives a jury trial, law forced citizens to help locate and capture runaways, the Crafts, Oct 1850 only military force stopped the rescue of a fugitive slave by an angry mob, lasted 11 years, barely more than 300 escaped slaves were returned to bondage

William Quantrill

the most prominent pro-Confederate leader in the KS-MO area, him and his followers, mostly teenagers, fought under a black flag, meaning they would kill anyone who surrendered, in destroying Lawrence KS in 1863 he ordered his men to kill every male and burn every house, by end of day they massacred 182 men and boys, opponents Jay hawkers (originally slang for thieves) responded by torturing and hanging pro-Confederate prisoners, burning houses, and destroying livestock

Jay Cooke and Company

the nation's leading business lender, forced to go bankrupt and close its doors on Sept 18 1873 because 2 dozen overextended railroads stopped paying their bills, triggered the Panic of 1873

Popular sovereignty

the people in each territory should have the right to regulate their own internal concerns in their own way, proposed by Lewis Cass, appealed to many eager to protect states' right because it seemed the most democratic solution to slave debate, African Americans couldn't vote on their fate and it allowed a majority of whites to strip black people of the most basic human right - freedom, championed by Stephen A. Douglas to get around the 1820 MO Compromise

The Lecompton Constitution

the pro-slavery constitutional convention met at ____ and drafted a constitution under which KS would become a slave state and exclude free blacks, opponents of slavery boycotted the referendum on the constitution, enabling the pro-slavery one to be approved, it was then sent to Congress for approval, Buchanan took a critical step and, influenced by southern advisers, he urged Congress to approve it, triggering a new wave of outrage across the northern states, the action would deny the majority of Kansas voters the right to decide the issue in a general election, meanwhile in KS, a new acting governor scheduled another referendum on the proposed pro-slavery one, Jan 4 1858 voters overwhelmingly rejected it, 10,226-138, April 1858 Congress ordered another vote, August 2 1858 they rejected it again, 11,300-1,788, with that vote KS cleared the way for its eventual admission as a free state

Daniel Webster

the senior senator from MA, "golden-throated", blamed North and South, fugitive slaved need to be returned to their owners, no patience for secession, named Secretary of State by Millard Fillmore to signal he joined him in supporting the Compromise of 1850

Manifest Destiny

the widespread belief that America was "destined" by God to expand westward across the continent into lands claimed by Native Americans as well as European nations, it took for granted the superiority of American ideals and institutions, including the opportunity to bring liberty and prosperity to the Native people, "self-evident" destiny, offered moral justification for territorial growth and the expansion of slavery, was in essence a cluster of flimsy rationalizations and racist attitudes justifying the conquest of weaker peoples

Lincoln's Inauguration

there was a plot to assassinate him when he changed trains in Baltimore so he wore a disguise and changed trains in Harrisburg PA, promised to protect slavery where it existed but to not expand it and that secession was illegal

Overland Trails

trail routes followed by wagon trains bearing settles and trade goods from Missouri to the Oregon Country, California, and New Mexico, between 1841 and 1867, some 350,000 men and women and children made the difficult trek to CA or OR, while many others settled in areas like CO, TX, and AR, most traveled in family groups, by 1845 thousands were making the 6 month journey each year but many died along the trails, brought down by hunger, disease, or violence, Oregon Trail

San Francisco

transformed by gold rush from a sleepy coastal village into the nation's largest city west of Chicago, in 2 years it grew from 800 residents to over 20,000, its spacious harbor clogged by a forest of ship masts, 1/2 the ships that arrived never left because the crews deserted and rushed to the mining towns in search of gold, everyday there were 30 new wooden houses, 2 murders, and at least 1 fire reported, there were 500 saloons, quickly became a masculine society, male to female ratio at one point 50-1 while across the state it was 8-1, the few women who dared to work could demand a premium for their work as cooks, laundresses, entertainers, and prostitutes, ads for marriage in newspaper - $20,000

Prairie schooners/Conestogas

wagons in which the Oregon fever pioneers packed all their food, named after the valley in PA where they were first built, teams of 4 mules or oxen pulled the sturdy, canvas covered wagons, whose ends were higher than the sides to keep cargo from falling out when traveling up mountain ridges, the wheels were made especially wide to enable wagons to traverse mud or sand, and they could be removed to float the wagons across streams or rivers

James K. Polk

was a successful lawyer and planter, served 14 years in Congress (4 as Speaker of the House) and 2 years a governor, 49 years old (youngest president up to that point), admired Andrew Jackson, believed any efforts by the federal government to promote economic growth necessarily helped some people and regions and hurt others, opposed tariffs, a national bank, and federally funded roads, very good work ethic wore him out, died 1859 at 53, just 3 months after leaving office

Battle of Shiloh

while planning his attack on Corinth, General Grant exposed 42,000 troops on a rolling plateau and failed to have his men dig defensive trenches, General Albert Sydney Johnston, whose goal war to protect the Memphis and Charleston Railroad linking the lower MS Valley and the Atlantic coast, launched a surprise attack on April 16, many of Grant's troops, 1/2 yet to see combat, still sleeping and eating, Johnston shot 1st day, severed artery and died in the shade of a large oak tree, confused fighting and terrible losses, Union soldiers pinned against river, new Confederate commander Pierre T. Beauregard thought he had a complete victory, Union general William T. Sherman told by Grant they'd get them tomorrow, Union took offensive next day, reinforced by 25,000 troops, Confederates retreated 20 miles to Corinth, Union troops too battered to pursue but theoretically should have retreated and didn't, the costliest battle Americans had ever engaged in to that point, a quarter of the 100,000 men who participated were killed or wounded, 7 times the casualties as Bull Run, afterwards, Halleck spread rumors about Grant drinking

Sharecropping

white landowners would provide land, seed, and tools to poor laborers in exchange for a share of the crop, essentially re-slaved workers because no matter how much they are abused, they cannot leave without permission of the owner, if they left they would forfeit their portion of the crop, workers who violated the terms of the contract could be evicted from the plantation, leaving them jobless, homeless, and subject to arrest, its growth revealed most white plantation owners and small farmers were determined to control African Americans as if they were still enslaved, if bad weather or insects or disease stunted the harvest it pushed them deeper in debt, many freed black preferred it over working for wages because it freed them from day-to-day supervision by white landowners, most (black and white) found themselves trapped, deep in debt to the landowner, with little choice but to be tied to the same discouraging system of dependence that felt much like slavery

Fifteenth Amendment

would give voting rights to African American men, prohibited states from denying a citizens right to vote on grounds of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, leaders of the movement to secure voting rights for women, insisted the amendment should have included them, Radials tried to deflect the issue by declaring it was the "Negro's hour", ignited a violent backlash in the South, the idea of the federal government guaranteeing the right of freedom to vote deepened resentment of Reconstruction, white officials devised new ways to restrict black voting like poll taxes and onerous registration procedures, President Grant supported and celebrated

Harriet Beecher Stowe

wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, pious, powerful, less than 5 ft tall, epitomized the deep religious underpinning of the abolitionist movement, helped runaway slaves who had crossed the OH River from KY while raising 6 children in Cincinnati during the 1830s and 1840s