US History: Louisiana Purchase & Manifest Destiny

The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all people born in the United States, regardless of race. It was a crucial step toward equality during Reconstruction.

The Reconstruction Act of 1867 placed the Southern states under U.S. military rule, outlining how they could rejoin the Union. It also provided for voting rights for Black Americans.

The 15th Amendment prohibited discrimination based on race or color in voting rights.

The Panic of 1873 was a major economic downturn that contributed to the decline of support for the Republican party, which had been pushing for Reconstruction.

The removal of the last U.S. troops from the South in 1877 marked the end of the Reconstruction era. This event resulted from a political deal that resulted in a return of white supremacy.

The United States, under President James K. Polk, expanded its territory by acquiring Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. This was achieved through war with Mexico, which began with a dispute over the boundary of Texas and the annexation of Texas by the United States.

It was an armed rebellion initiated by American settlers in California against Mexican rule. The Bear Flag Republic was declared in 1846, and it lasted only a short period, roughly a month. This quickly led to the annexation of California by the United States.

The Mexican government, facing financial difficulties, encouraged American settlers to migrate to Texas. These settlers, however, clashed with the Mexican government over issues such as slavery and autonomy.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848, officially ended the Mexican-American War. Mexico ceded vast territory to the United States, including California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.

John C. Frémont, a U.S. explorer and military officer, was pivotal in the Bear Flag Revolt. He rallied American settlers in California against Mexican rule.

The Compromise of 1850 was a series of measures aimed at easing tensions between the North and the South over the issue of slavery. Key provisions included the admission of California as a free state, the Fugitive Slave Act, and the abolition of the slave trade in Washington, D.C.

General Zachary Taylor, later the 12th U.S. president, was dispatched by President Polk to the disputed border region in Texas, near the Rio Grande. This act was a significant trigger of the Mexican-American War.

The attack on Fort Sumter, a U.S. military installation in South Carolina, marked the beginning of the American Civil War. Confederate forces, under the command of General P.G.T. Beauregard, bombarded the fort, forcing its surrender.

A series of events led by Radical Republicans in Congress after the Civil War to assimilate freedmen back into society and to rebuild the South.

The 14th Amendment was a crucial part of Reconstruction. Its central piece aimed to ensure equal protection and rights for all citizens, regardless of race, thus bringing the promise of citizenship to freedmen.

The Radical Republicans in Congress sought to ensure the rights of freedmen and to establish republican governments in the South. This was often met with resistance from white Southerners, leading to conflicts.

President Lincoln's proposed plan for Reconstruction focused on reintegrating the former Confederate states into the Union, with a 10% requirement for white Southerners to pledge loyalty and a path to suffrage based on individual behavior.

The Wade-Davis Bill, proposed by Congress, aimed to ensure a more robust reconstruction with stricter terms for the South. It required a majority of white Southerners to take an oath of loyalty to the U.S. and granted voting rights to Black men. It was vetoed by Lincoln.

The Slaughterhouse Cases in 1873 marked a significant setback for African American rights, as the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment did not guarantee states' privileges to individuals, limiting its impact on protection against state-level discrimination.

The Panic of 1873, triggered by a collapse in the US railroad industry, had a significant impact on Reconstruction. It led to widespread financial panic and contributed to the decline of Reconstruction by fueling public disillusionment with Republican economic policies.

The Congressional Election of 1874 marked a turning point in the decline of Reconstruction. The economic hardship caused by the Panic of 1873 led to widespread support for Democrats, who promised economic relief, resulting in a Republican loss of power in Congress.

The 'White League' in Louisiana, a white supremacist organization, sought to undermine Reconstruction and regain control of the state government by inciting violence and intimidation.

After the events in Louisiana, similar tactics were employed by white supremacist groups in Mississippi to overthrow the Republican state government, using intimidation and violence to suppress African Americans.

The Manifest Destiny, a belief that the United States had a divine right to expand westward, played a key role in the acquisition of new territories in the West and fueled tensions over slavery, ultimately contributing to the Civil War.

The Compromise of 1850 was an attempt to resolve the growing sectional conflict over slavery by admitting California as a free state but allowing popular sovereignty in territories acquired from Mexico, but it failed to fully address the issue and only exacerbated tensions.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 reignited the debate over slavery and led to violence and conflict in Kansas. It allowed the territories to determine their own status as either free or slave states, prompting anti-slavery activists to oppose Kansas's potential as a slave state.

The Dred Scott Supreme Court Case of 1857 had a profound impact on the sectional debate over slavery. It ruled that African Americans could not be considered citizens and therefore had no right to sue in federal court, further exacerbating tensions and strengthening the Southern's arguments for slavery expansion.