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Timeline Page Part II
Timeline Part II Module 4
Amanda Farias
Grand Canyon University: HIS-221- (O101)
June 15, 2011
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Abstract
This timeline will be tracking the major themes/paradigm shifts in American history from the
development of Sectionalism in the early 1800s through the end of the Progressive Era in the
early 1900s.
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Timeline Part II
This timeline will cover many topics ranging from the evolution of slavery, the KansasNebraska Act, and the Underground Railroad. Also, mentioned will be the conquest of the
West, including displacement of the Native American tribes, and ending with the presidency
of Theodore Roosevelt.
The evolution of the institution of slavery from the Colonial Period to the 1860s:
At the beginning of the 18th century, most slaves were born in Africa, and few were
Christians. Slavery changed dramatically at the start of the American Revolution. During this
time a Plantation Revolution took place, and more people increased their plantations. With
the plantation increase, more slaves were needed to help work the fields, and had more
supervision on their slaves. During the colonial period, many planters resisted the idea of
converting slaves to Christianity out of fear that baptism would change a slaves legal status.
By the end of the century, slaveholders increasingly adopted the view that Christianity would
make slaves more submissive, orderly, and conscientious. ( www.digitalhistory.uh.edu). The
slaves felt that with Christianity in their lives, there was hope that one day they would be free.
Between 1790 and 1860, 835,000 slaves were moved from Maryland, Virginia and Carolinas
to Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. ( www.digitalhistory.uh.edu) Many, slaves
were sold apart from their birth families, but most considered the others around them as family.
They all called each other brother and sister if they were around the same age or aunt and uncle
if they were referring to someone older than them. They saw this as a way to feel as if they
always had family with them. The females would take care of the children that parents may
have had to leave behind. In the beginning of slavery, slaves were used as servants, but later
were used to work fields and property. Slaves were sold or traded in the streets so families got
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separated often. If planters had a run-a-way slave, they would usually start looking for the
slave where his/her family was.
The socio-cultural impact of the Abolitionist Movement:
The effects of Uncle Toms Cabin:
The book Uncle Toms Cabin raised awareness for about the brutality of slavery and
sold over 300,000 copies the first year it was written. Uncle Toms Cabin contributed to the
outbreak of war because it personalized the political and economical arguments about slavery.
The writer, Harriet Beecher Stowe, had a writing style that inspired people. Newspapers and
political speeches were not even able to inspire people the way the writer had for this book. The
liberal abolitionists didnt thing Uncle Toms Cabin was strong enough to end slavery
immediately, and others thought the book was written and exaggerated upon. Antislavery
writings were common at this time, but none, really got the attention of the world like Uncle
Toms Cabin. Uncle Toms Cabin brought awareness to the country about slavery that many
may have been unaware of. This book talked about the harsh treatment slaves received and how
cruel slavery was. People used this books view of slavery to make their judgment about slavery.
Many people feel that this book was a reason for the start of the civil war. It is even rumored
that President Lincoln met the writer and said So youre the little woman who wrote the book
that made this great war! (The Cambridge Companion to Harriet Beecher Stowe, ed. Cindy
Weinstein (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004)
The Kansas-Nebraska Act:
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was made in 1854 when the United States established these
properties. The Kansas-Nebraska Act applied the principle of popular sovereignty to voters in
the Kansas and Nebraska territories, allowing them to decide for themselves whether to permit
slavery in their territories. The act repudiated the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had
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prohibited slavery in the territory of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36degree 30 latitude.
(Brands, Breen, Williams & Gross, 2009) The initial purpose of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was
to create opportunities for a Midwestern Transcontinental Railroad. The act was designed by
Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. The Kansas-Nebraska act was thought by the people in
Missouri for being one state a slave state and the other a free state because these two states
were made separate instead of keeping them as one state. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was a
contradiction of the Missouri Compromise. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was thought to be an
abomination because it allowed slaves where slavery was previously prohibited. With the
Kansas-Nebraska Act, it made future compromises less likely to happen. The wig-party was
disintegrated when its congressional representation split along the sectional lines about the
Kansas-Nebraska issue.
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850, this series of five congressional statutes temporarily calmed
the sectional crisis. Among other things, the compromise made California a free state, ended the
slave trade in the District of Columbia, and strengthened the Fugitive Slave Law (Brands,
Breen, Williams & Gross, 2009). Henry Clay helped negotiate the Compromise of 1850 to settle
the dispute over the extension of slavery in territories acquired as a result of the MexicanAmerican War. Daniel Clay was supported by Daniel Webster. John C. Calhoun led the
opposition. California was entered as a free state. New Mexico and Utah were each allowed to
choose themselves if they were to be a slave state or free state. The Republic of Texas gave up
lands that it claimed in present day New Mexico and received $10 million to repay its debt to
Mexico. The slave trade was abolished in the District of Columbia. The Fugitive Slave Act
made any federal official who did not arrest a runaway slave liable to pay abolitionists to
increase their efforts against slavery. The Compromise of 1850 was passed in September of
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1850 and defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free
states of the North. The Compromise was greeted with relief, even though each side disliked
specific provisions.
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of safe houses organized by abolitionists
(usually free blacks) to aid slaves in their attempts to escape slavery by traveling North or to
Canada (Brands, Breen, Williams & Gross, 2009). Some light skinned slaves were able to pass
for white and no problems going North, one slave even mailed himself North. It was hard for
other slaves to leave. Some slaves were either too deep in the South or didnt want to leave
family behind. Some slaves out of protest would work slow that no progress would be done, or
would pretend to be sick or injured. Some slaves would even steal from the planters. They
didnt think it was a sin, they saw it as getting a part of what they worked to make. Another
way slaves would show protest was they would break tools needed to work or neglect the
animals, mistreat them or even set barns on fire. Some slaves would even poison their masters
food, killing sometimes the entire family with folk medicine that could not be traced. Harriet
Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 and came back to help around 300 other slaves escape. She
was guided by her visions and never lost a passenger. Many of the safe houses had a lantern
on their hitching post, letting slaves know that they had reached a safe house. They typical
fugitive was a young, unmarried male from the upper South.
The evolution of Sectionalism and Southern Succession and their connection to the theme of
individualism
The Methodist and Baptist churches split into northern and southern
denominations because of differing attitudes about slavery. Northern preachers denounced
slaveholding as a sin, while most southern church leasers rallied to a biblical defense of the
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institution and became apologetic for the southern way of life. Southern defensiveness was
gradually hardening into cultural and economic nationalism. The South were not allowed to use
Northern textbooks, they were banned from Southern schools. The Southern states wanted to
have their own way of life and wanted to succeed from the United States.
The causes and consequences of the Civil War
There were many causes for the civil war. The economical and social differences
between the North and the South. The North didnt want slavery and didnt think the South
should have slaves. They thought the South to be barbarians. Also, the invention of the cotton
gin made the South a one crop industry because it made cotton very profitable, thus requiring
more slaves and more plantations. The North was more industrial and was purchasing raw
cotton and turning it into finished goods. Growth of the abolition movement was another cause
to the civil war. The North became more polarized against slavery, and the fugitive slave act
went into place. This meant that any fugitive slave in a non slave state would have to be
returned to their master. The election of Abraham Lincoln was also a cause for the civil war.
The South believed that Lincoln was anti-slavery and in favor of Northern interest, thus South
Carolina issued its Declaration of the Causes of Secession which then lead to them along
with Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas succeeding from the Union.
The Consequences of the Civil War was that the North had won, and Slavery was abolished.
This gave also rise to Jim Crow Law during the reconstruction era and the Southerners
regained control of their state governments.
The phases of the Reconstruction Era and its Legacy to U.S history:
During the Reconstruction Era which followed the Civil War, African Americans
struggled to become equal citizens. During this time, attempts were made to solve the political,
social, and economic problems arising from the readmission to the states that had seceded at or
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before the outbreak of war. Union officers would confiscate the lands of confederates and
distribute them to former slaves. The Reconstruction Era was a time for rebuilding. It was
necessary to heal the divisions based on sectionalism and race. The means to achieve this were
often in contention. The federal government had to deal with three main issues: how to deal
with the states as they rejoined the Union, how Southern whites should be treated, and also
how to deal with the freed slaves. Abraham Lincoln had created a plan. There would be
Pardons of Southerners who participated in the war if they took an oath of allegiance to the
United States and readmission to a state if 10% of white voters in that state took an oath of
allegiance to the United States. Andrew Johnson decided to adopt Lincolns plan when Lincoln
was asasinated.
The conquest of the West, including the displacement of the Native American tribes:
Some people felt that displacing the Native American tribes was the best thing for the
Native Americans. They felt that they would not be able to fit in and thought that if they
moved them West and South, they could continue living their lives without being bothered too
much. They believed they had to do this in order to fulfill the United States destiny in bringing
civilization and technology to an uncivilized and barbaric region. Close to the Civil War, nearly
half of the United States was inhabited by Native Americans. The Native Americans were
being driven onto smaller and smaller reservations and were no longer an independent people.
By 1865 nearly a quarter million Native Americans lived in the western half of the country.
(Brands, Breen, Williams & Gross, 2009). Few of the Native Americans settled peacefully into
life on their new reservations. Their customs had been changed and it put them in a situation of
poverty and isolation. Warfare broke out when young warriors and minor chiefs broke their
treaties and went back to the open plains.
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The socio-economic impact of the rise of industry in the U.S during the post-Civil War years,
including the rise of labor unions:
Americas growth had several considerations. America had abundance of natural
resources such as coal, iron, timber, petroleum and waterpower. Labor was becoming abundant
as well. Industrial growth brought large social benefits and costs. Industrial growth was
concentrated in the Northeast, where more than 85% of Americas manufactured goods
originated in 1890. Prices were stable and grew at a 4% rate a year. Railroads affected
economic and social life as well. Americas interior waterways already provided outlines for an
effective transportation network. Railroads were advancing and there were more direct routes,
greater safety and comfort and greater speed than other modes of land travel. They had more
dependable schedules as well. Labor Unions were weak throughout the 19 th century. As the
economy grew, national labor unions slowly took shape. The American Federation of Labor
(AFL) was founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886. Employees often dictated the pace and quality
of their work. The employees also set the tone of the workplace. Many banded together to help
get work complete despite differences of race or ethnic backgrounds. People wanted more pay
and less danger for some of the conditions they worked in were unsanitary and dangerous and
lead to many accidents or even death.
The socio-cultural and economic impact of the mass immigration to the U.S. in the late 1800s
and early 1900s
Innovations of travel made it easier for people to immigrate to the United States. Many
that migrated in the late 1800s and early 1900s were coming from southern and eastern Europe.
They were fleeing economic instability. Others came from Greece, Italy, Poland, Hungary, and
other Slavic-speaking nations. Many of these immigrants became the bulk of the American
industrial labor pool. The immigrants were checked out once they arrived to America to make
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sure they were disease free. If they had any diseases, they were sent back to their homeland.
Once the immigrants made it, they were faced with discrimination from the previous
immigrants who viewed themselves as natives. So many immigrants were coming over, that
they soon found it hard to find work, and found that the working conditions were not good.
Soon discrimination laws were made. The National Origins Act of 1912 was the first to restrict
the number of immigrants who were allowed to enter the United States.
The socio-cultural impact of the Progressive Movement and its legacy to American History:
The Progressive Movement was roughly the first two decades of the twentieth century.
Americans found it hard to cope with a wide range of social, economic and cultural changes
that were happening. The police power was given authority by the state. Progressive reform
was also on the state level. Progressives believed that government should positively shape the
economy and society and reform politics they also thought that hard work and thrift were
obviously not enough to escape poverty. Many Progressives differed in their assessment of the
problems and how to fix them. They usually had in common their view that government at
every level must actively involve, in reforms.
Imperialism and Americas rise to power:
Shortly after the end of the Civil War, the U.S. purchased Alaska and began to develop
commercial interests in the Caribbean and the Pacific in places like Cuba, Hawaii, and Virgin
Islands and Dominican Republic. Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was an unlikely source where a
great part of the impetus for expansion came from. Captain Mahan wrote widely read books
and articles that called for America to develop its strength on the basis of sea power, which he
found to make a decisive force throughout history for in making nations and empires long
lasting and great. Americans felt free to get more actively involved in world affairs. Cities in
America were now becoming crowded with millions of immigrants, working conditions were
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appalling and corruption darkened politics from local level to the highest institutions in the
land. The nation soon began to clean up their act. Around 1916 national, state, and local laws
were made to get the cities cleaner and healthier, and safer work environments.
The causes and consequences of the Spanish-American War of 1898
America had enthusiastic spirit but they lacked military strength. The United States
Army was understaffed, underequipped, and undertrained. McKinley called for 125,000
volunteers and as many as one million Americans responded. The United States troops arrived
in Cuba in wool coats and pants yet needed summer uniforms. Spain was even less ready for
war than the United States. Assistant Secretary of the Navy during this time was Theodore
Roosevelt. Admiral George Dewey was in the perfect spot as he was descending into the
Philippines. The Philippines remained in Spanish control until the army had been recruited,
trained and transported to the Pacific. The United States was outnumbered 7 to 1 in army
personnel for Cuba. The Rough Riders were a volunteer regiment lead by Leonard Wood and
organized by Theodore Roosevelt, who took the glory for the Cuban campaign. The Rough
Riders were made up from adventurous college students and ex-convicts. The United States
received the Philippians, the islands of Guam, and Puerto Rico, Cuba became independent, and
Spain was awarded $20 for their losses. The war was over ten weeks after the declaration of
war and few Americans died.
The presidency of Theodore Roosevelt:
Theodore Roosevelt was president of the United States from 1901-1909. He is widely
known for his energetic personality, range of interests, and achievements, leadership of the
Progressive Movement. He was also founder of the Rough Riders. Roosevelt was the youngest
person to take presidential office in history at the time. Roosevelt was the force behind the
completion of the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also negotiated an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
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He was the first American to win the Nobel Prize in any field. Many Americans felt they knew
Roosevelt personally. Roosevelt worked out an understanding with legislators which gave him
a free hand in foreign affairs in return for holding back the more progressive items of his
domestic agenda. Roosevelt did not refrain from using executive office to break up monopolies
such as the Northern Securities Company, to mediate in labor disputes between unions and
management. Upton Sinclair wrote a book about the disgusting and unsanitary process of meat
packing which resulted in the Meat Inspection and the Pure Food Drug Acts in 1906. Roosevelt
was well known for conservation efforts. During Roosevelts time in office, over 125 million
acres in national forests were set aside under public protection as well as establishing the first
national wildlife refuge.
References
www.dgitalhistory.uh.edu
The Cambridge Companion to Harriet Beecher Stowe, ed. Cindy Weinstein (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2004
Brands, H.W., Breen, T.H., Williams, R. Hal, & Gross, Ariela J. (2009) American stories
a history of the United States. New York, San Francisco, Boston, London, Toronto, Sydney,
Tokyo, Singapore, Madrid, Mexico City, Munich, Paris, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Montreal:
Pearson Longman