H105, American History I (Prof. Konstantin Dierks)
Week 14 timelines

vision of continent:

1803             Louisiana Purchase
1804-1806   Lewis and Clark expedition

vision of hemisphere (North and South America):

1823            Monroe Doctrine

images of technological progress:

George Inness, The Lackawanna Valley [PA] (c.1856)
Alexander Gardner, View Near Fort Harker, Kansas (c.1867)
A.J. Russell, The Driving of the Golden Spike, Promontory, Utah (May 10, 1869)
Alfred Hart, One Era Gives Way to Another (1869)
Currier and Ives, Westward the Course of Empire  (1868)
Asher Durand, Progress (1853)

from pastoral to sublime:

Frederic Church, Niagara Falls (1857)
Frederic Church, Heart of the Andes (1859)
Albert Bierstadt, Rocky Mountains (1863)
Albert Bierstadt, Emigrants Crossing the Plains (1867)

early visions of American imperialism:

1850-1852    William Herndon to South America
1853-1855    Thomas Page to South America
1852-1854    Matthew Perry to Japan

western explorers:

Jedidiah Smith (1799-1831; 1822-1831 fur trade to Utah, Nevada, and California)
John Wesley Powell, The Canyons of the Colorado (1869)
John Wesley Powell (1870 photograph)

contrasting styles of male leadership:

George Catlin, Chief White Cloud (Iowa) (1844)
Chief John Ross
President Andrew Jackson
Joseph Vann mansion, Springplace GA (1833)

history of Cherokees and "Indian Removal":

1790         Indian Trade and Intercourse Act – treaties by federal government only

1808        Cherokees develop written law

1820        Cherokees create legislature

1827        Cherokees ratify constitution based on U.S. Constitution

1829        gold rush in Georgia

1830        Georgia legislature abolished Cherokee constitution and legislature

1830        Indian Removal Act passed by Congress

1832        U.S. Supreme Court upheld law and favored Cherokee rather than Georgia sovereignty; but not enforced by executive branch

1835        minority Cherokee party made treaty with U.S. government

1838-9    Trail of Tears from Georgia to Oklahoma (approx. 50% died)

imperialism of southern slavery:

“filibusters” – private citizens who sought to take over foreign territory

1817                Andrew Jackson conquered Florida; 1819 treaty with Spain

1819-1821      Mexican War of Independence against Spain; American "filibusters" began to invade "Texas"

1845               American settlers in "Texas" rebelled against Mexican rule

1845               United States government annexed "Texas"

1846-1848     war between United States and Mexico

1847              American government tried to buy Cuba from Spain

1848-1851    American "filibusters" tried to invade Cuba

1849             American "filibusters" tried to invade Yucatan

1854-1855   William Walker tried to invade "Lower California"

1856-1857   William Walker tried to invade Nicaragua

Gold Rush in California, 1849

slavery and abolitionism -- from background to foreground:

1846    Wilmot Proviso would banish slavery from new territories, but defeated in Senate (dominated by South)

1848    first convention of "Free-Soil" party (14% of vote in North)

1850    compromise over California (free) and New Mexico (slave)

1850    Fugitive Slave Act; Underground Railroad

1852    Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin

1854    Kansas (slave) - Nebraska (free) Act

1856    “free soil, free speech, free men, Fremont”

1856    South Carolina Senator Preston Brooks beats Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner

symbols of sectionalism:

1857    Dred Scott decision -- perceived southern conspiracy against North, since southern justices dominated Supreme Court

1859    Harpers Ferry -- perceived northern conspiracy against South, since extremist northern abolitionists stirred armed slave rebellion

voting in the 1860 election:

                            All States (33)                Free States (18)                Slave States (15)   
                            popular        electoral      popular         electoral       popular        electoral
for Lincoln           1,864,735    180             1,838,347    180                   26,388    0
against Lincoln     2,821,157    123             1,572,637    3                  1,248,520    120

Southern secession, 1860-1861:

South Carolina                           December 20, 1860
Mississippi                                 January 9, 1861
Florida                                       January 10
Alabama                                    January 11
Georgia                                     January 19
Louisiana                                   January 26
Texas                                        February 1
Confederate convention             February 4
Jefferson Davis inaugurated        February 18

Fort Sumter (outbreak of war)    April 12, 1861

secession before Fort Sumter:

South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas

47% of population was slaves; 38% of whites owned slaves

secession after Fort Sumter:

Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina

32% of population was slaves; 24% of whites owned slaves

border states who remained in "Union":

Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri

14% of population was slaves; 15% of whites owned slaves

(West Virginia was created in 1863, as free state)

Constitutional amendments:

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

13th abolished slavery (passed 1865; ratified 1865)

14th granted citizenship to blacks (passed 1866; ratified 1868)

15th granted suffrage to black men (passed 1869; ratified 1870)

final demise of unfree labor:

Feb. 1861    Russia emancipated serfs

Jan. 1863    United States emancipated slaves

1880           Cuba emancipated slaves

1888           Brazil emancipated slaves