American History: Key Events and Compromises

Missouri Compromise

• Compromise of 1820 admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.
• Maintained the balance of power between slave and free states.
• Drew a line at 36 degrees 30 minutes latitude, prohibiting slavery north of the line within the Louisiana Purchase territory.

Causes of the Texas Revolution

• Texans' resentment over Mexican government policies (taxes, restrictions on self-governance).
• Desire for greater autonomy and self-rule.
• Cultural tensions and differences between Anglo settlers and the Mexican government.

Battle of Fort Sumter

• First major battle of the American Civil War.
• Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter in South Carolina, initiating the war.
• Marked the start of armed conflict between the Union and the Confederacy.

Oregon Territory

• Disputed territory claimed by both the U.S. and Great Britain.
• Claimed due to the Lewis and Clark explorations.
• Eventually settled by the Oregon Treaty of 1846.

Manifest Destiny - Definition; Causes

• The belief that the United States was destined to expand across the North American continent.
• Driven by population growth, economic opportunities, and nationalistic fervor.
• Religious motivations played a part, as some viewed westward expansion as divinely ordained.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

• Ended the Mexican-American War in 1848.
• Resulted in the U.S. gaining vast territories in the Southwest, including present-day California, Nevada, Utah, parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.
• Mexico ceded territory to the U.S. in exchange for monetary compensation.

Gadsden Purchase

• 1853 purchase by the U.S. of land from Mexico.
• Purpose was to acquire land suitable for a transcontinental railroad route.

Compromise of 1850

• Series of laws aimed at settling disputes over slavery in newly acquired territories.
• Admitted California as a free state, but allowed other territories to vote on the issue of slavery.
• Established a stricter Fugitive Slave Law.

Brooks-Sumner Affair

• Violent confrontation in the U.S. Senate between Charles Sumner and Preston Brooks.
• Illustrates the escalating tensions over slavery and highlighted the increasing polarization of the nation.

Wilmot Proviso

• Proposed amendment to restrict slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico during the Mexican-American War.
• Failed to pass Congress, but further fueled the debate about slavery's expansion.

Popular Sovereignty

• Policy that permitted residents of a territory to decide whether to allow slavery.
• Intended to resolve the issue of slavery through self-determination.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• 1854 law that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
• Allowed residents to decide the issue of slavery via popular sovereignty.
• Resulted in violence and conflict between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers.

Bleeding Kansas

• Period of violence in Kansas Territory in the mid-1850s.
• Pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers clashed over the issue of popular sovereignty.

Republican Party

• Emerged as a political force opposed to the expansion of slavery.

Lincoln/Douglas Debates

• Series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas during the 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign.
• Focused on the issue of slavery.

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Anti-slavery novel that helped to raise awareness of the cruelties of slavery.

Dred Scott Decision

• 1857 Supreme Court decision that denied citizenship to enslaved African Americans.
• Declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.
• Increased tensions over slavery and the future of the institution.

John Brown

• Radical abolitionist who advocated for the use of violence to end slavery.
• Led actions like the raid on Harpers Ferry.
• His actions increased sectionalism and further polarized the nation.

Election of 1860

• Abraham Lincoln's victory as president.
• Southern states seceded from the Union following the outcome.

Confederate Economy

• Relied heavily on agriculture, primarily cotton production.
• Challenges in industrial development and diversifying the economy.

Battle of Antietam

• Crucial Union victory during the Civil War.
• Significant loss of life during the battle.

Emancipation Proclamation

• Presidential order issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863.
• Declared enslaved people in Confederate territories to be free.
• Military strategy, impacting the South.

Battle of Gettysburg

• Turning point of the Civil War.
• Union victory which drastically weakened the Confederacy.
• Massive losses on both sides.

Gettysburg Address

• Short speech by Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of a national cemetery.
• Reaffirmed the ideals of liberty and equality expressed in the Declaration of Independence.

Ulysses S Grant

• Union general who led the Union Army to victory in the Civil War.
• Later became 18th President of the United States.

George McClellan

• Union general during the Civil War, notable for his cautious strategies.

Reconstruction

• Period after the Civil War.
• Effort to rebuild the South, address the effects of secession, and establish civil rights for formerly enslaved Black people.

Lincoln's 10% Plan

• Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction.
• Required 10% of a Confederate state's voters to pledge allegiance to the Union.

Andrew Johnson

• 17th President of the United States.
• Johnson's Reconstruction plan was lenient towards the South.
• Led to conflict with Radical Republicans in Congress.

Wade-Davis Bill

• Radical Republicans' plan for Reconstruction.
• Required a majority of a Confederate state's voters to pledge allegiance to the Union and to abolish slavery before readmission.
• Vetoed by President Johnson.

Military Reconstruction

• Period of military control over Southern states during Reconstruction.
• Aimed at enforcing federal laws and rights.

13th Amendment

• Abolished slavery.

14th Amendment Citizenship

• Defined citizenship and granted equal protection under the law.

15th Amendment

• Granted African American men the right to vote.

Black Codes

• Laws enacted by Southern states to restrict the rights and freedoms of newly freed African Americans.

This quiz covers significant events and political agreements in American history, including the Missouri Compromise, the causes of the Texas Revolution, the Battle of Fort Sumter, and the Oregon Territory. Test your knowledge on how these events shaped the nation and its policies regarding slavery and territorial disputes.