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Cultivation of corn (maize) The formation of large, sophisticated civilizations in Mexico and Aztec legends of a returning god, Quetzalcoatl Cortés relatively easy conquest of Tenochtitlán The English victory over the Spanish Armada Enabled England to gain control of the North Atlantic sea-lanes The English government's persecution of Roman Catholics Led Lord Baltimore to establish the Maryland colony Puritan persecution of religious dissenters like Roger Williams Led to the founding of Rhode Island as a haven for unorthodox faiths The Glorious Revolution Led to overthrow of Andros's Dominion of New England King Philip's War Ended New England Indians' attempts to halt white expansion Poor white males' anger at their inability to acquire land or start families Sparked Bacon's rebellion The dramatic increase in colonial slave population after 1680s Inspired passage of strict "slave codes" American merchants' search for non-British markets Was met by British attempts to restrict colonial trade, e.g., the Molasses Act The Great Awakening Stimulated a fervent, emotional style of religion, denominational divisions, and a greater sense of inter-colonial American identity The summoning of the Albany Congress by the British Represented the first major attempt at intercolonial unity British issuance of the Proclamation of 1763 Heightened colonial anger and encouraged illegal America's distance from Britain and the growth of colonial self-government Led to gradual development of a colonial sense of independence years before the Revolution The Boston Tea Party Prompted passage of the Intolerable Acts, including the Boston Port Act The Intolerable Acts Prompted the summoning of the First Continental Congress The Battle of Bunker Hill Caused King George to proclaim the colonies in revolt and import Hessian troops to crush them Jefferson's Declaration of Independence Inspired universal awareness of the American Revolution as a fight for the belief that "all men are created equal" The collapse of the North ministry and the Whig takeover of the British government Caused the British to begin peace negotiations in Paris The weakness of the Articles of Confederation Nearly bankrupted the national government and invited assaults on American interest by foreign powers Shays's Rebellion Scared conservatives and made them determined to strengthen the central government against debtors Antifederalist fears that the Constitution would destroy liberties Made the federalist promise to add a bill of rights to the Constitution Jay's Treaty Aroused Jeffersonian Republican outrage at the Washington administration's pro-British policies The XYZ Affair Caused an undeclared war with France Jefferson's moderation and continuation of many Federalist policies Created stability and continuity in the transition of power form one party to another Adams's appointment of "midnight judges" Aroused Jeffersonian hostility of the Federalist judiciary and led to repeal the Judiciary Act of 1801 Marshall's ruling in Marbury v. Madison Established the principle of "judicial review of laws by the Supreme Court The Barbary pirates' attacks on American shipping Forced a reluctant Jefferson to send the U.S. Navy into military action France's acquisition of Louisiana from Spain Made Americans eager to purchased New Orleans in order to protect their Mississippi River shipping Napoleon's foreign troubles with Britain and Santo Domingo Led to a surprise offer to sell Louisiana to the United States for $15 million The Louisiana Purchase Provoked Federalists to charge Jefferson with unconstitutional expansionism British impressment of American sailors and anger at American harboring of British deserters Led to an aggressive and deadly assault on the American ship Chesapeake French compliance with Macon's Bill No. 2 Forced Madison to declare a policy of nonimportation that accelerated the drift toward war Western war hawks' fervor for acquiring Canada and removing resisting Indians Caused Harrison's and Jackson's military ventures and contributed to the declaration of war in 1821 American lack of military preparation and poor strategy Produced a series of badly failed attempts to conquer Canada Oliver H. Perry's and Thomas Macdonough's naval successes Reversed a string of American defeats and prevented a British-Canadian invasion from the north Tsar Alexander I's mediation proposal Eventually led to the beginnings of peace negotiations at Ghent The Hartford Convention Contributed to the death of the Federalist Party and the impression that New Englanders were disloyal Canadians' successful defense of their homeland in the War of 1812 Inspired a new sense of Canadian nationalism The Rush-Bagot agreement Reduced armaments along the border between the United States and Canada and laid the groundwork for "the longest unfortified boundary in the world" The rising nationalistic economic spirit after the War of 1812 Inspired a new Band of the United Sates and the protectionist Tariff of 1816 The disappearance of the Federalists and President Monroe's appeals to New England Created a temporary one-party system and an "Era of Good Feelings" Overspeculation in western lands Caused the economy to collapse in the panic of 1819 Cheap land and increasing westward migration Fueled demands in Congress for transportation improvements and the removal of the Native Americans The deadlock between North and South over the future of slavery in Missouri Produced the Missouri Compromise, which admitted two sates and drew a line between slave and free territories The Missouri Compromise Aroused southern fears for the long-term future of slavery John Marshall's Supreme Court rulings Upheld the power of the federal government against the states The rise of European reactionary powers and the loss of Spain's colonial empire Aroused American and British fears of European intervention in Lain America The Monroe Doctrine Angered Britain and other European nations but had little effect in Latin America The growth of American migration into northern Mexico Laid the basis for a political conflict that resulted in Texas independence The demand of many whites to acquire Indian land in Georgia and other states Fueled the political pressures tat led Andrew Jackson to forcibly remove the Cherokees and others The Anti-Masonic Party Brought many evangelical Christians into politics and showed that others besides Jackson could stir up some popular feelings The failure of any candidate to win and electoral majority in the four-way election of 1824 Threw the bitterly contested election into the U.S. House of Representatives The alleged "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Clay for the presidency in 1824 Aroused popular anger and made Jackson's supporters determined to elect him in 1828 President Adam's strong nationalistic polices Aroused the bitter opposition of westerners and southerners, who were increasingly sectionalist The high New England-back Tariff of 1828 Provoked protests and threats of nullifation from Sotuh Carolina Andrew Jackson's "war" against Nicholas Biddle and his policies Got the government out of the Aemrican financial system Jackson's belief that any ordinary American could hold government office Laid the foundations for the spoils system that fuel ruled the new mass political parties The Panic of 1837 Caused widespread human suffering and virtually guaranteed Martin Van Buren's defeat in 1840 The open, rough-and-tumble society of the American West Made the Americans strongly individualistic and self-reliant Natural population growth and increasing immigration from Ireland and Germany Made the fast-growing United States the fourth most populous nation in the Western world The poverty and Roman Catholic faith of most Irish immigrants Aroused nativist hostility and occasional riots Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin Transformed southern agriculture and gave new life to slavery The passage of general incorporation and limited-liability laws Enable businesspeople to create more powerful and effective joint-stock capital ventures The early efforts of labor unions to organize and strike Aroused fierce opposition from businesspeople and guardians of the law Improved western transportation and the new McCormick reaper Encourage western farmers to specialize in cash-crop agricultural production for eastern and European markets The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 Opened the Great Lakes states to rapid economic growth and spurred the development of major cities The development of a strong east-west rail network Bound the two northern sections together across the mountains and tended to isolate in the South The Second Great Awakening Inspired a widespread spirit of evangelical reform in many areas of American life The Mormon practice of polygamy Aroused persecution from morally traditionalist Americans and delayed statehood for Utah Women abolitionists' anger at being ignored by male reformers Led to expanding the crusade for equals rights to include women The women's rights movement Aroused hostility and scorn in most of the male press and pulpit Unrealistic expectations and conflict within perfectionist communes Caused most utopian experiments to decline or collapse in a few years The Knickerbocker and transcendentalist use of new American themes in their writing Created the first literature genuinely native to America Henry David Thoreau's theory of "civil disobedience" Inspired later practitioners of nonviolence like Gandhi and King Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass Captured in one long poem the exuberant and optimistic spirit of popular American democracy Herman Melville's and Edgar Allan Poe's concern with evil and suffering Made their works little understood in their lifetimes by generally optimistic Americans The Transcendentalist movement Inspire writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller Whitney's cotton gin and southern frontier expansion Turned the South into a booming one-crop economy where "cotton was king" Excessive soil cultivation and financial speculation Created dangerous weaknesses beneath the surface prosperity of the southern cotton economy Belief in white superiority and the hope of owning slaves Kept poor, nonslaveholding whites committed to a system that actually harmed them The selling of slaves at auctions Often resulted in the cruel separation of black families The slaves' love of freedom and hatred of their condition Caused slaves to work slowly, steal from their masters, and frequently run away The religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening Stirred a fervent abolitionist commitment to fight the "sine" of slavery Politically minded abolitionists like Frederick Douglass Opposed Garrison and organized the Liberty party and the Free Soil party Garrison's Liberator and Nat Turner's bloody slave rebellion Aroused deep fears of rebellion and ended rational discussion of slavery in the South White southern defenses of slavery as a "positive good" Widened the moral and political gap between the white South and the rest of the Western world The constant abolitionist agitation in the North Made abolitionists personally unpopular but convinced many Northerners that slavery was a threat to American freedom Tyler's refusal to carry out his own Whig party's policies Split the Whigs and caused the entire cabinet except Webster to resign Strong American hostility to Britain Spared bitter feuds over Canadian rebels, the boundaries of Maine and Oregon, and other issues British support for the Texas Republic Increased American determination to annex Texas Rapidly growing American settlement in Oregon Strengthened American claims to the Columbia River country and made Britain more wiling to compromise The upsurge of Manifest Destiny in the 1840s Created widespread popular support for Polk's expansionist policies on Texas, Oregon, and California Clay's unsuccessful attempts to straddle the Texas issue Turned antislavery voters to the Liberty party and helped elect the expansionist Polk Polk's frustration at Mexico's refusal to sell California Helped lead to a controversial confrontation with Mexico along the Texas border The overwhelming American military victory over Mexico Enabled the United States to take vast territories in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The rapid Senate ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Thwarted a growing movement calling for the United States to annex all of Mexico The Wilmot Proviso Heated up the slavery controversy between the North and South The evasion of the slavery issue by Whigs and Democrats in 1848 Led to the formation of the new Free-Soil antislavery party The California gold rush Made the issue of slavery in the Mexican Cession areas more urgent The Underground Railroad Aroused southern demands for an effective fugitive-slave law The Free Soil Party Was the predecessor of the antislavery Republicans Party The Compromise of 1850 Created a short-lived national mood of optimism and reconciliation The Fugitive Slave Law Aroused active northern resistance to legal enforcement and prompted attempts at nullification in Massachusetts The Pierce administration's schemes to acquire Cuba Fell apart after the leaking of the Ostend Manifesto The Gadsden Purchase Heightened competition between southern and northern railroad promoters over the choice of a transcontinental route Stephen Douglas's indifference to slavery and desire for a northern railroad route Led to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, without regard for the consequences The Kansas-Nebraska Act Caused a tremendous northern protest and the birth of the Republican party H. B. Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin Persuaded millions of northerners and Europeans that slavery was evil and should be eliminated The exercised of "popular sovereignty" in Kansas Led to a "mini" prairie civil war between proslavery and antislavery factions Buchanan's support for the proslavery Lecompton Constitution Offended Senator Douglas and divided the Democratic party The 1858 Illinois senate race Made Lincoln a leading nation Republican figure and hurt Douglas's presidential chances John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry Convinced southerners that the North generally supported murder and slave rebellion The splitting of the Democratic party in 1860 Shattered one of the last links between the sections and almost guaranteed Lincoln's victory in 1860 The election of Lincoln as president moved South Carolina to declare immediate secession from the Union The "lame-duck" period and Buchanan's indecisiveness Paralyzed the North while the southern secessionist movement gained momentum Lincoln's rejection of the Crittenden Compromise Ended the last hopes of a peaceable sectional settlement and an end to secession South Carolina's assault on Fort Sumter Unified the North and made it determined to preserve the Union by military force Lincoln's first call for troops to suppress the "rebellion" Caused four more Upper South states to secede and join the Confederacy Lincoln's careful use of moral suasion, politics, and military force Kept the Border States in the Union The large Northern human-resources advantage Enabled Northern generals to wear down Southern armies, even at the cost of many lives The North's naval blockade and industrial superiority Eventually gave the Union a crucial economic advantage over the most agricultural South The British aristocracy's sympathy with the South Led the British government toward actions that aided the Confederacy and angered the Union Americans minister C. F. Adams's diplomacy Deterred the British and French from recognizing and aiding the Confederacy Grant's victory at Vicksburg Split the South in two and opened the way for Sherman's invasion of Georgia (v) The class-biased unfairness of the Civil War draft Led to riots by underprivileged Northern whites, especially Irish-Americans Lincoln's belief that the Civil War emergency required drastic action Led to temporary infringements on civil liberties and Congress's constitutional powers Political dissent by Copperheads and jealous Republicans Made it difficult for Lincoln to prosecute the war effectively A series of Union military victories in late 1864 Ensured Lincoln's reelection and ended the South's last hope of achieving independence by political means The assassination of Lincoln Deprived the nation of experienced leadership during Reconstruction Grant's Tennessee and Mississippi Rive Campaigns Split the South in two and opened the way for Sherman's invasion of Georgia (tm) The Battle of Bull Run Led some Southerners to believe they would win an easy victory The Battle of Antietam Enabled Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and blockaded British and French intervention The Battle of Gettysburg Ended the South's effort to win the war by aggressive invasion Grant's final brutal campaign in Virginia Forced Lee to surrender a Appomattox The Emancipation Proclamation Guaranteed that the South would fight to the end to try to save slavery The growing Union manpower shortage in 1863 Helped lead to the enlistment of black fighting men in the Union Army The South's military defeat in the Civil War Destroyed the southern economy but strengthened Southern hatred of "Yankees" The Freedmen's Bureau Successfully educated former slaves but failed to provide much other assistance to them The Black Codes of 1865 Imposed slavery like restrictions on blacks and angered the North The election of ex-Confederates to Congress in 1865 Prompted Republicans to refuse to seat Southern delegations in Congress Johnson's "swing around the circle" in the election of 1866 Weakened support for mild Reconstruction policies and helped elect overwhelming Republican majorities to Congress Military Reconstruction and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments Forced all the Southern states to establish governments that upheld black voting and other civil rights The "radical" Southern state Reconstruction governments Engaged in some corruption but also enacted many valuable social reforms The Ku Klux Klan Intimidated black voters and tried to keep blacks "in their place" The radical Republicans' hatred of Johnson Provoked a politically motivated trail to remove the president from office The whole Reconstruction era Embittered white Southerners while doing little to really help blacks