Unit 5 Timeline

Question 1

James K. Polk Elected

Answer 1

U.S. elects an expansionist president in 1844 who pushes Manifest Destiny and western growth.

Question 2

Texas Annexation

Answer 2

The United States annexes the Republic of Texas in 1845

Question 3

Mexican–American War

Answer 3

A war fought from 1846 to 1848 where the U.S. defeats Mexico and gains major western lands.

Question 4

Wilmot Proviso

Answer 4

A proposal in 1846 to ban slavery in the Mexican Cession; it fails but worsens sectional division.

Question 5

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Answer 5

The 1848 treaty ending the Mexican War and granting the U.S. the Mexican Cession.

Question 6

Free-Soil Party Forms

Answer 6

A new party created in 1848 opposing slavery’s expansion into the West.

Question 7

California Gold Rush

Answer 7

A massive migration to California in 1849 that accelerates the free-state debate.

Question 8

Compromise of 1850

Answer 8

A compromise passed in 1850 admitting California free and strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act.

Question 9

Fugitive Slave Act

Answer 9

A strict federal law passed in 1850 requiring the return of escaped slaves.

Question 10

Whig Party Collapse

Answer 10

The Whig Party falls apart in 1852 due to deep divisions over slavery.

Question 11

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Answer 11

A controversial 1854 law repealing the Missouri Compromise and allowing popular sovereignty.

Question 12

Bleeding Kansas

Answer 12

Violent clashes from 1854 to 1856 between pro- and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas.

Question 13

Republican Party Forms

Answer 13

A new political party formed in 1854 to oppose slavery expansion into the territories.

Question 14

Caning of Charles Sumner

Answer 14

A Southern congressman attacks Senator Sumner in 1856

Question 15

Election of 1856

Answer 15

A national election in 1856 where Republicans rise but Democrats retain power.

Question 16

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Answer 16

The 1857 Supreme Court decision ruling African Americans were not citizens and Congress could not ban slavery in the territories.

Question 17

Lincoln–Douglas Debates

Answer 17

A series of debates in 1858 over slavery expansion that boost Lincoln’s reputation.

Question 18

Freeport Doctrine

Answer 18

Douglas’s 1858 argument that territories could limit slavery by refusing to enforce slave laws.

Question 19

John Brown’s Raid

Answer 19

An attempted slave uprising in 1859 at Harpers Ferry that terrifies the South.

Question 20

Election of Lincoln

Answer 20

Lincoln wins the presidency in 1860 without Southern votes

Question 21

Southern Secession

Answer 21

Southern states begin leaving the Union in 1860–1861 to form the Confederacy.

Question 22

Fort Sumter

Answer 22

The first shots of the Civil War are fired in 1861 when Confederates attack a Union fort.

Question 23

First Battle of Bull Run

Answer 23

The first major Civil War battle in 1861 proving the war will be long and deadly.

Question 24

Anaconda Plan

Answer 24

The Union’s 1861 strategy to blockade the South and control the Mississippi River.

Question 25

Battle of Shiloh

Answer 25

A brutal 1862 battle giving Union forces key control in Tennessee.

Question 26

Monitor vs. Merrimack

Answer 26

A famous ironclad naval duel in 1862 that ends the age of wooden warships.

Question 27

Battle of Antietam

Answer 27

The bloodiest single day in U.S. history in 1862

Question 28

Emancipation Proclamation

Answer 28

Lincoln’s 1863 order freeing slaves in Confederate territory and redefining the war.

Question 29

Battle of Gettysburg

Answer 29

A massive 1863 Union victory that becomes the turning point of the Civil War.

Question 30

Gettysburg Address

Answer 30

Lincoln’s brief but powerful 1863 speech redefining the struggle as a fight for equality.

Question 31

Fall of Vicksburg

Answer 31

Grant captures Vicksburg in 1863

Question 32

Sherman’s March to the Sea

Answer 32

A destructive 1864 Union campaign breaking Southern morale by destroying infrastructure.

Question 33

Election of 1864

Answer 33

Lincoln wins reelection in 1864 thanks to major Union victories.

Question 34

Appomattox Court House

Answer 34

The 1865 surrender of Robert E. Lee to Ulysses S. Grant

Question 35

13th Amendment

Answer 35

The 1865 constitutional amendment abolishing slavery in the United States.

Question 36

Freedmen’s Bureau

Answer 36

A federal agency created in 1865 to support freed slaves with education and food.

Question 37

Black Codes

Answer 37

Restrictive Southern laws passed in 1865–1866 limiting the freedom of African Americans.

Question 38

14th Amendment

Answer 38

The 1868 amendment granting citizenship and equal protection under the law.

Question 39

15th Amendment

Answer 39

The 1870 amendment granting African American men the right to vote.

Question 40

Rise of Ku Klux Klan

Answer 40

A white supremacist group formed in the late 1860s using terror to stop Black progress.

Question 41

Compromise of 1877

Answer 41

The political deal ending Reconstruction in 1877 by removing federal troops from the South.