Period 5 Overview: Key Points and Events

Preparation Steps

• Print out the free speed review sheet linked in the description.
• Review Period 5, circle any people, events, or terms that are unclear.
• Check off topics once you are confident you have mastered them.

Manifest Destiny

• Coined by John O'Sullivan.
• Promoted by James K. Polk in his 1844 election campaign.
• Slogan: '54°40' or fight' aimed to acquire Oregon Territory from Britain.
• Discovery of gold in California in 1848 fueled westward expansion.
• Trails: Oregon, Santa Fe, Mormon.

Texas Annexation and the Mexican-American War

• Texas gained independence and wanted to join the Union.
• Concerns over upsetting the balance between slave and free states.
• Annexed in 1845 by President Polk.
• Border dispute led to Mexican-American War.
• David Wilmot proposed banning slavery in new territories (Wilmot Proviso).
• War ended with Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, extending U.S. borders.
• Gadsden Purchase finalized southern U.S. border.

Debate Over New Territories and Compromise of 1850

• Debate on whether new territories would permit slavery.
• Free Soil Party opposed expansion of slavery.
• Henry Clay's Compromise of 1850:
  • California admitted as free state.
  • Popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico.
  • Banned slave trade in Washington D.C.
  • Strengthened Fugitive Slave Law, angering Northerners.

Kansas-Nebraska Act and Rising Tensions

• Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) allowed for popular sovereignty.
• Nullified Missouri Compromise line (36°30').
• Led to violent clashes known as Bleeding Kansas.
• Formation of the Republican Party, opposed to expansion of slavery.

Abolitionist Actions and Southern Defense of Slavery

• Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.
• Harriet Beecher Stowe's 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'.
• Southern defense: George Fitzhugh argued Northern labor conditions worse than slavery.
• Dred Scott Case (1857): African-Americans not citizens, Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.
• John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry increased Southern fears.

Economic and Political Differences Leading to Civil War

• North: diversified economy, manufacturing, trade.
• South: plantation agriculture, reliance on slavery.
• Tariff debates: benefited North, hurt Southern cotton sales.
• 1860 election: Lincoln won without Southern votes.
• Southern secession, formation of the Confederate States of America.

Key Civil War Events

• Fort Sumter: war's official start.
• Antietam: discouraged foreign aid to Confederacy.
• Gettysburg: turning point, ended Southern invasions.
• Atlanta Campaign: Sherman's total war strategy.
• Appomattox: Confederate surrender.

Lincoln's Leadership and Actions During War

• Mobilized troops after Fort Sumter.
• Conscription Act (1863) for additional troops.
• Suspended habeas corpus to quell rebellion.
• Emancipation Proclamation: freed slaves in rebelling states, shifted war's purpose.
• Gettysburg Address: promoted principles of equality and freedom.

Reconstruction Era: Plans and Policies

• Lincoln's plan: rapid restoration, 10% loyalty oath.
• Johnson's plan: revoke secession, abolish slavery, pardon Confederate leaders.
• Radical Republicans: full citizenship and voting rights for Freedmen, punitive measures for Confederate leaders.
• Successes:
  • Freedmen's Bureau: provided necessities, built schools.
  • Reconstruction Amendments:
    • 13th Amendment: abolished slavery.
    • 14th Amendment: defined citizenship.
    • 15th Amendment: male suffrage regardless of race.
  • Election of African-Americans to public office.
• Failures:
  • Jim Crow laws: legalized segregation.
  • Poll taxes, literacy tests: suppressed Freedmen's voting rights.
  • Rise of white supremacy groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
• Compromise of 1877: ended Reconstruction, removed federal troops from the South.

Potential Exam Topics

• Causation: Effects of Manifest Destiny, rise in anti-slavery sentiments, causes of Civil War.
• Comparison: Union vs. Confederacy, regional differences, war strengths and strategies.
• Change and Continuity: How Reconstruction changed or failed to change American society.

Additional Resources

• Check out the APUSH Ultimate Review Packet for timeline study guides and essay practice.
• Follow the link in the description for a free preview.