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California Gold Rush
. California filling up - statehood was destined to upset the balance in Congress
. Slave holding states would become the minority
. Feared the North would move to abolish slavery -
compromise of 1850
California admitted to Union as free state, Land won from Mexico would be open to slavery until they become states, and they’d vote on it, Slave auctions were banned in Washington DC, Texas receives $10 million (but not be allowed to advocate for slavery) Tougher punishments on northerners who helped slaves escape the south. -
South Carolina votes to withdraw/secede from the Union
Over the next 6 weeks: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas all secede
The Confederate States of America -
Battle of Bull Run
. Brutal, bloody battle
. Northern casualties: 2,896 killed
. Southern casualties: 1, 982 killed
. Fearing the South would march straight to DC, Congress enlisted 500,000 men -
Confederate States founded as an independent republic
In the now independent republic there is guaranteed slavery in every state, banned tariffs, limited Presidency to one, six-year term -
Battle of Shiloh
Confederates launch surprise attack on Grant, more soldiers died in one day than the entire American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican-American wars combined. Only the 9th bloodiest battle of the entire war -
Battle of Antietam
Lee pushes into Northern territory, fights Union General George McClellan, Lee kills/wounds 22,000 men in one day then
Lee retreats -
Emancipation Proclamation
A decree freeing all enslaved persons in states still in rebellion after January 1st, 1863 -
Vicksburg
. The union is fighting to control the Mississippi River
. Vicksburg was the last major confederate base on the river
. Grant assaults, but is repelled (puts it under siege)
. Grant plans to cut off food/supplies
. Siege for 3 months, Confederates are starving -
Sherman march
William Tecumseh Sherman scorches his way to Atlanta, burning everything: railroads, warehouses, mills, factories, farms, etc -
Thirteenth Amendment
Bans slavery forever in the United States -
Appomattox Courthouse
. Lee surrenders to Grant, ending the war
. Generous terms: No treason, take food and horses with you -
Military Reconstruction Act
. Divided former Confederacy into 5 military districts
. Strict requirements to be readmitted to the Union
. Ratify 14th Amendment
. Allow African-Americans the vote -
Fifteenth Amendment
. The right to vote, “shall not be denied on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude”
. Hundreds of thousands of African Americans can now vote