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In 1793, in the south, the invention of the cotton gin made cotton a major industry and increased the need for slaves. During this time, tensions increased between the north and south as slave or free status of new states was debated

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In 1801, The United States was the original thirteen colonies (thirteen states along the Atlantic Ocean). At the time, Thomas Jefferson was president. The west was never explored and what was said about the west came from French traders who spread rumors about wooly mammoths and 7 feet tall beavers. Jefferson heard about the rumors and needed to see if the rumors were true. This lead to the Louisiana Purchase expedition.

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In 1803, then - president Thomas Jefferson completed the Louisiana Purchase from the French for $15 million (4 cents per acre). The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States, adding around 827,000 acres. This piece of land included the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, along with the majority of the land in Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, and Wyoming.

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The Lewis and Clark Expedition began in 1804, when then - President Thomas Jefferson tasked Meriwether Lewis with exploring lands west of the Mississippi River that were in the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis chose William Clark as his co-leader for the mission. Jefferson sent Lewis to Philadelphia to study map making, botany, and medicine.

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in 1805, The Corps of Discovery, Lewis & Clark including an enslaved African American (York) and a female Native American guide named Sacagawea left on their adventure to explore west of the Appalachian mountains. Jefferson tasked them with surveying the territory that comprised the Louisiana Purchase, finding animals, and finding a river that goes to the pacific ocean. Jefferson also wanted to befriend Native American tribes for trading. He unfortunately didn't find a wooly mammoth or 7 foot tall beaver.

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In 1806, the expedition ended in St. Louis. Almost 2 years and a half years after The Corps of Discovery left. After a while, Lewis became governor of the Louisiana purchase and was going to publish journals but sadly died. Meanwhile, Clark was appointed agent for Indian affairs in the west and raised Sacagawea's son. He died in 1838 in St. Louis

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Due to the Slave Trade Clause in the Constitution, Congress could not ban the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade until 1807.  In January 1807, with a  population of over four million enslaved people in the South, some Southern congressmen joined with the North in voting to abolish the African slave trade, an act that became effective January 1, 1808. The trade of enslaved people within the South was still allowed, however, and children of enslaved people automatically

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Originally, Spain, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States claimed the Oregon Territory. In 1819, under terms of the Transcontinental Treaty, Spain ceded its claims to the territory to the United States.

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Spanish minister Do Luis de Onis and U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams sign the Florida Purchase Treaty, in which Spain agrees to cede the remainder of its old province of Florida to the United States. Spain’s hold on Florida was tenuous in the years after American independence, and numerous boundary disputes developed with the United States. In 1819, after years of negotiations, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams achieved a diplomatic coup with the signing of the Florida Purchase Treaty, which officially put Florida into U.S. hands at no cost beyond the U.S. assumption of some $5 million of claims by U.S. citizens against Spain. Formal U.S. occupation began in 1821, and General Andrew Jackson, the hero of the War of 1812, was appointed military governor. Florida was organized as a U.S. territory in 1822 and was admitted into the Union as a slave state in 1845. The Mexican Cession of 1819 lead to the civil war because of its problems with Spain and how it turned into a slave state in 1845.

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In 1820, amid growing sectional tensions over the issue of slavery, the U.S. Congress passed a law that admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Since Missouri was was admitted as a slave state, the government had to keep equal representation, this added Maine as a free state. Also, in the compromise it drew a line on the map dividing the north (Free states) and the south (Slave states). This line was at 36º 30’ parallel. This lead to the civil war by increasing tensions over slavery.

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The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Native American tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for white settlement of their ancestral lands.
This event leads to the civil war because it changed how the government dealt with Native Americans inside state boundaries and reversed the policy of respecting their rights

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Mexican troops attack the Alamo Mission killing all but two Texans. This spurs the Texans on in the Texas Revolution.
This event leads up to the civil war because there were a variety of opinions on if Texas should be it's own state or apart of Mexico

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The Cherokee Nation is forced to march from the east coast to Oklahoma. Thousands died along the way. This event leads to the civil war because many tribes were relocated and split up

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The Oregon trail was a wagon trail stretching from Missouri to Oregon. The trail is around 2170 miles long. It wasn't a modern road, it was a dirt trail of endless parries and desert. The trail was important to the U.S.A because it pointed people to move west. This lead to the Civil War because it was apart of Manifest Destiny.

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Manifest Destiny was the idea that the United states was meant to move westward by God. Americans were not able to go west because of the British after they won the war. The war caused Britain to have some land west of the 13 colonies. Many Americans didn't like the idea of manifest destiny because they thought it would be too large to govern or that the new territory would expand slavery. This lead to the Civil War because of slavery expanding and new states being added to the union

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Texas officially became a state in 1845. In 1844, the Republic of Texas entered into a Treaty of Annexation with the United States, laying the groundwork for statehood. In 1845, Congress passed a joint resolution in favor of annexing Texas, which was approved by voters in the then-republic, now state. This leads to the civil war because mexicans were very violent when Texas became apart of the United states

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The Kansas - Nebraska act repealed the Missouri Compromise and created two new territories that allowed popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty is a controversial political doctrine according to which the people of federal territories should decide for themselves whether their territories would enter the Union as free or slave states. During the act, many people were killed or hurt and it was nicknamed "Bleeding Kansas". This lead to the Civil War by it intensifying the debate over slavery.

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The Mexican - American war was caused by Mexican unwillingness to recognize Texas independence, the desire of Texans for statehood, and American desire for westward expansion. Texas was admitted as a state in 1845 and was apart of Mexico originally. The war helped to fulfill America's "manifest destiny" to expand its territory across the entire North American continent. This lead to the civil war by the tension between the pro-slavery states of the southern U.S. and the anti-slavery states of the north was made worse by the addition of so much new territory.

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The United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Oregon on June 15, 1846, ending 28 years of joint occupancy of the Pacific Northwest. The treaty established the 49th parallel as the border between the two countries. Canada was under controlled by Britain and it caused tensions between the U.S.A and Britain in the pacific northwest. This lead to the civil war by it creating a border with another country.

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Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United states. Elected in 1860, Lincoln did many things for the United states. He built the Republican Party into a strong national organization, issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy, and preserved the Union. Lincoln's presidency immediately sparked the Civil war. Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865.

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The Cherokee Nation is forced to march from the east coast to Oklahoma. Thousands died along the way. This event leads to the civil war because many tribes were relocated and split up