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A developed society that has a stable, strong government.

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Maximizing exports and minimizing imports for a country.

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The transfer of diseases, animals, plants, and people from the "old world" to the "new world" after it was discovered.

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A form of labor where someone signs a contract and works for little or no pay for many years.

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Chattel slavery considered slaves as personal property, meaning they could be bought and sold whenever and were owned by their enslaver.

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English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries that believed that the Reformation of the Church of England was incomplete.

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Trade routes connected Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Included trading goods, materials, and enslaved people.

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The Spanish labor system granted Spanish conquerors the ability to use Indigenous people for labor.

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Colonies within British control. Included the Province of Maryland, the Province of Carolina, the Province of Georgia, and the Colony of Virginia.

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Part of British control. Included New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

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The northern part of British America. Included Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

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British-made boundary marking the Appalachian Mountains that blocked the colonists from exploring western.

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A colonist who opposed British rule and supported independence for America.

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Colonists who remained loyal to British rule and opposed independence.

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The first United States Constitution eventually replaced with the one we know today.

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A group that was disappointed with the Articles of Confederation. They fought for a stronger central government.

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A group that opposed a stronger central government.

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Provided the colonists with the ideas and values that led to the American Revolution.

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A rejected attempt to unify the colonies under a centralized government.

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Created a government for the Northwestern territory and also made a method to admit states from the territory into the Union.

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A failed attempt by Continental Army officers to challenge the Confederation Congress.

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An agreement that determined state representation in the federal government.

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An agreement that determined that only three-fifths of the enslaved population would be counted for in legislation and taxation.

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Unofficial British policy that relaxed strict regulations on the American colonies.

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An organization that has candidates who compete in elections to participate in the government. Members of a party share beliefs on different topics.

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Madison denied Marbury's commission, leading to Marbury suing and the case moving up to the Supreme Court. This case established the principle of judicial review.

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A social movement that promoted alcoholic temperance or total alcohol abstinence. The Temperance Movement pressed for alcohol education and the passage of laws against the sale of alcohol or total prohibition of alcohol all together.

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A movement that fought to end the slave trade and abolish slavery across the whole world. Gained momentum throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

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A movement across the world to achieve gender equality. It fought for women to have the same rights as men, especially in the workforce.

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A machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, making it much fast than manually separating.

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A heat engine that uses steam as its working fluid for mechanical work. This was typically done by pushing a piston in a cylinder to create rotational motion.

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A method of manufacturing that centralizes production using machinery and labors forces to mass produce goods.

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A waterway or engineered channel built for drainage management or for water transport vehicles. The water is calm and slow.

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A US foreign policy that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. Argued that any intervention in political affairs form foreign powers in America was considered hostile.

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A party formed in response to the Federalist Party's push for a strong central government. The democratic party was dominant after the 1800 elections after the Federalist Party collapsed.

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A political party from the mid-19th century that advocated against executive tyranny and presidential power.

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The first electrical telecommunications system designed to send text messages more quickly than physically carrying them.

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Components that are identical, leading to them freely replacing another. This allowes for easy assembly of new devices, and easier repair of existing devices.

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A way of forcing people into a military force, especially a naval force, via intimidation and physical coercion. This is normally done by a group of people, commonly in European countries.

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The belief that America is justified to expand westward and go from coast to coast.

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5 policies that eased tensions between the Slave and Free States. Figured out how to handle slavery in territories from the Mexican-American War.

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The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican-American War. It also set Texas's western and northern borders and included provisions addressing fugitive slaves and the slave trade. The compromise was brokered by Whig senator Henry Clay and Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas, with the support of President Millard Fillmore.

A debate over slavery in the territories had erupted during the Mexican-American War, as many Southerners sought to expand slavery to the newly-acquired lands and many Northerners opposed any such expansion. The debate was further complicated by Texas's claim to all former Mexican territory north and east of the Rio Grande, including areas it had never effectively controlled. These issues prevented the passage of organic acts to create organized territorial governments for the land acquired in the Mexican-American War. In early 1850, Clay proposed a package of eight bills that would settle most of the pressing issues before Congress. Clay's proposal was opposed by President Zachary Taylor, anti-slavery Whigs like William Seward, and pro-slavery Democrats like John C. Calhoun, and congressional debate over the territories continued. The debates over the bill were the most famous in Congressional history, and the divisions devolved into fistfights and drawn guns on the floor of Congress.

After Taylor died and was succeeded by Fillmore, Douglas took the lead in passing Clay's compromise through Congress as five separate bills. Under the compromise, Texas surrendered its claims to present-day New Mexico and other states in return for federal assumption of Texas's public debt. California was admitted as a free state, while the remaining portions of the Mexican Cession were organized into New Mexico Territory and Utah Territory. Under the concept of popular sovereignty, the people of each territory would decide whether or not slavery would be permitted. The compromise also included a more stringent Fugitive Slave Law and banned the slave trade in Washington, D.C. The issue of slavery in the territories would be re-opened by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, but the Compromise of 1850 played a major role in postponing the American Civil War.

The Republic of Texas declared its independence from Mexico following the Texas Revolution of 1836, and, partly because Texas had been settled by a large number of Americans, there was a strong sentiment in both Texas and the United States for the annexation of Texas by the United States. In December 1845, President James K. Polk signed a resolution annexing Texas, and Texas became the 28th state in the union. Polk sought further expansion through the acquisition of the Mexican province of Alta California, which represented new lands to settle as well as a potential gateway to trade in Asia. His administration attempted to purchase California from Mexico, but the annexation of Texas stoked tensions between Mexico and the United States. Relations between the two countries were further complicated by Texas's claim to all land north of the Rio Grande; Mexico argued that the more northern Nueces River was the proper Texan border.

In March 1846, a skirmish broke out on the northern side of the Rio Grande, ending in the death or capture of dozens of American soldiers. Shortly thereafter, the United States declared war on Mexico, beginning the Mexican-American War. In August 1846, Polk asked Congress for an appropriation that he hoped to use as a down payment for the purchase of California in a treaty with Mexico, igniting a debate over the status of future territories. A freshman Democratic Congressman, David Wilmot of Pennsylvania, offered an amendment known as the Wilmot Proviso that would ban slavery in any newly acquired lands. The Wilmot Proviso was defeated in the Senate, but it injected the slavery debate into national politics.

In September 1847, an American army under General Winfield Scott captured the Mexican capital in the Battle for Mexico City. Several months later, Mexican and American negotiators agreed to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, under which Mexico agreed to recognize the Rio Grande as Texas's southern border and to cede Alta California and New Mexico. The Missouri Compromise had settled the issue of the geographic reach of slavery within the Louisiana Purchase territories by prohibiting slavery in states north of 36°30′ latitude, and Polk sought to extend this line into the newly acquired territory. However, the divisive issue of slavery blocked any such legislation. As his term came to a close, Polk signed the lone territorial bill passed by Congress, which established the Territory of Oregon and banned slavery in it. Polk declined to seek re-election in the 1848 presidential election, and the 1848 election was won by the Whig ticket of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore.

Prophetically, Ralph Waldo Emerson quipped that "Mexico will poison us", referring to the ensuing divisions around whether the newly conquered lands would be slave or free. As of the 1848 election of Taylor, the issue was not yet apparent. Taylor was both a Whig and a slaveholder; though Whigs were increasingly anti-slavery, Taylor's slaveholding had reassured the South, and he won handily. Taylor made a key electoral promise that he would not veto any congressional resolution on slavery. Much to the horror of Southerners, however, Taylor indicated that true to his promise, he would not even veto the Wilmot Proviso if it were passed. Tensions accelerated quickly into the fall of 1849. Midterm elections worsened matters, as the Free Soil Party had gained 12 seats, which gave them a king-maker position in the closely divided House: 105 Whigs to 112 Democrats. After three weeks and 62 ballots, the House could not elect a speaker; the main issue was slavery in the new territories. The tumult of that period was severe, with a loaded revolver drawn on the floor of Congress, several fistfights between Northerners and Southerners, and then Senator Jefferson Davis challenging an Illinois congressman to a duel. Southern congressmen increasingly bandied around the idea of secession. Finally, the House adopted a resolution that allowed a speaker to be elected with a plurality, and elected Howell Cobb on the 63rd ballot. As James McPherson puts it: "It was an inauspicious start to the 1850's."

Three major types of issues were addressed by the Compromise of 1850: a variety of boundary issues, the status of territory issues, and the issue of slavery. While capable of analytical distinction, the boundary and territory issues were included in the overarching issue of slavery. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery interests were each concerned with both the amount of land on which slavery was permitted and with the number of States in the slave or free camps. Since Texas was a slave state, not only the residents of that state but also both camps on a national scale had an interest in the size of Texas.

The independent Republic of Texas won the decisive Battle of San Jacinto (April 21, 1836) against Mexico and captured Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. He signed the Treaties of Velasco, which recognized the Rio Grande as the boundary of the Republic of Texas. The treaties were then repudiated by the government of Mexico, which insisted that Mexico remained sovereign over Texas since Santa Anna had signed the treaty under coercion, and promised to reclaim the lost territories. To the extent that there was a de facto recognition, Mexico treated the Nueces River as its northern boundary control. A vast, largely-unsettled area lay between the two rivers. Neither Mexico nor the Republic of Texas had the military strength to assert its territorial claim. On December 29, 1845, the Republic of Texas was annexed to the United States and became the 28th state. Texas was staunchly committed to slavery, with its constitution making it illegal for the legislature to free slaves.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo made no mention of the claims of the Republic of Texas; Mexico simply agreed to a Mexico-United States border south of both the "Mexican Cession" and the Republic of Texas claims. After the end of the Mexican-American War, Texas continued to claim a large stretch of disputed land that it had never effectively controlled in present-day eastern New Mexico. New Mexico had long prohibited slavery, a fact that affected the debate over its territorial status, but many New Mexican leaders opposed joining Texas primarily because Texas's capital lay hundreds of miles away and because Texas and New Mexico had a history of conflict dating back to the 1841 Santa Fe Expedition. Outside of Texas, many Southern leaders supported Texas's claims to New Mexico to secure as much territory as possible for the expansion of slavery.

Another issue that would affect the compromise was Texas's debt; it had approximately $10 million in debt left over from its time as an independent nation, and that debt would become a factor in the debates over the territories.

California was part of the Mexican Cession. After the Mexican War, California was essentially run by military governors. President James K. Polk tried to get Congress to establish a territorial government in California officially, but the increasingly sectional debates prevented that. The South wanted to extend slave territory to Southern California and to the Pacific Coast, but the North did not. The issue of whether it would be free or slave may well have gone undecided for years, as it had already after the end of the Mexican American war, if not for the finding of natural riches.

Near the end of Polk's term in 1848, incredible news reached Washington: gold had been discovered in California. So began the California Gold Rush, which transformed California from a sleepy and almost forgotten land into a burgeoning hub with a population bigger than Delaware or Florida. The mostly lawless land found itself in desperate need of governance. Californians wanted to be made into a territory or state promptly. In response to growing demand for a better more representative government, a Constitutional Convention was held in 1849. The delegates unanimously outlawed slavery. They had no interest in extending the Missouri Compromise Line through California and splitting the state; the lightly populated southern half never had slavery and was heavily Hispanic. The issue of California would play a central role in the exhausting 1849 speaker dispute.

Aside from the disposition of the territories, other issues had risen to prominence during the Taylor years. The Washington, D.C. slave trade angered many in the North, who viewed the presence of slavery in the capital as a blemish on the nation. Disputes around fugitive slaves had grown since 1830 in part due to improving means of transportation, as the enslaved used roads, railroads, and ships to escape. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 had granted jurisdiction to all state and federal judges over cases regarding fugitive slaves, but several Northern states, dissatisfied by the lack of due process in these cases, had passed personal liberty laws that made it more difficult to return alleged fugitive slaves to the South. Congress also faced the issue of Utah, which like California and New Mexico, had been ceded by Mexico. Utah was inhabited largely by Mormons, whose practice of polygamy was unpopular in the United States.

When Taylor took office, the issue of slavery in the Mexican Cession remained unresolved. While a Southern slaveowner himself, Taylor believed that slavery was economically infeasible in the Mexican Cession, and as such he opposed slavery in those territories as a needless source of controversy. In Taylor's view, the best way forward was to admit California as a state rather than a federal territory, as it would leave the slavery question out of Congress's hands. The timing for statehood was in Taylor's favor, as the Gold Rush was well underway at the time of his inauguration, and California's population was exploding. In October 1849, a California constitutional convention unanimously agreed to join the Union-and to ban slavery within their borders. In his December 1849 State of the Union report, Taylor endorsed California's and New Mexico's applications for statehood, and recommended that Congress approve them as written and "should abstain from the introduction of those exciting topics of a sectional character".

The problem of what to do with the territories became the leading issue in Congress. So began the most famous debates in the history of Congress. At the head were the three titans of Congress: Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun. All had been born during the American Revolution, and had carried the torch of the Founding Fathers. This represented their last and greatest act in politics. The nationalist Clay and Webster sought compromise, while Southern sectionalist Calhoun warned of imminent disaster. The triumvirate would be broken before long as Calhoun would die of tuberculosis. In March, shortly before his death, his final speech was delivered by his friend the Virginia Senator James M. Mason, as the blanket-wrapped Calhoun sat nearby, too weak to do it himself. He provided a prescient warning that the South perceived the balance between North and South as broken, and that any further imbalance might lead to war. The situation was severe.

Other players included a variety of rising politicians who would play key roles in the Civil War, such as the staunch anti-slavery William H. Seward and Salmon P. Chase, who would be in Lincoln's cabinet; the future president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis; and rival to Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas.

On January 29, 1850, Senator Henry Clay introduced a plan which combined the major subjects under discussion. His legislative package of eight bills included the admission of California as a free state, the cession by Texas of some of its northern and western territorial claims in return for debt relief, the establishment of New Mexico and Utah territories, a ban on the importation of slaves into the District of Columbia for sale, and a more stringent fugitive slave law. Clay had originally favored voting on each of his proposals separately, but Senator Henry S. Foote of Mississippi convinced him to combine the proposals regarding California's admission and the disposition of Texas's borders into one bill. Clay hoped that this combination of measures would convince congressmen from both North and South to support the overall package of laws even if they objected to specific provisions. Clay's proposal attracted the support of some Northern Democrats and Southern Whigs, but it lacked the backing necessary to win passage, and debate over the bill continued. Seven months of agonizing politicking lay ahead.

President Taylor opposed the compromise and continued to call for immediate statehood for both California and New Mexico. Senator Calhoun and some other Southern leaders argued that the compromise was biased against the South because it would lead to the creation of new free states. Most Northern Whigs, led by William Henry Seward, who delivered his famous "Higher Law" speech during the controversy, opposed the Compromise as well because it would apply the Wilmot Proviso to the western territories and because of the pressing of ordinary citizens into duty on slave-hunting patrols. That provision was inserted by Democratic Virginia Senator James M. Mason to entice border-state Whigs, who faced the greatest danger of losing slaves as fugitives but were lukewarm on general sectional issues related to the South on Texas's land claims.

On April 17, a "Committee of Thirteen" agreed on the border of Texas as part of Clay's plan. The dimensions were later changed. That same day, during debates on the measures in the Senate, Vice President Fillmore and Senator Benton verbally sparred, with Fillmore charging that the Missourian was "out of order." During the heated debates, Compromise floor leader Henry S. Foote of Mississippi drew a pistol on Benton.

In early June, nine slaveholding Southern states sent delegates to the Nashville Convention to determine their course of action if the compromise passed. While some delegates preached secession, the moderates ruled and proposed a series of compromises, including extending the dividing line designated by the Missouri Compromise of 1820 to the Pacific Coast.

Taylor died in July 1850, and was succeeded by Vice President Fillmore, who had privately come to support Clay's proposal. The various bills were initially combined into one "omnibus" bill. Despite Clay's efforts, it failed in a crucial vote on July 31, opposed by southern Democrats and by northern Whigs. He announced on the Senate floor the next day that he intended to pass each part of the bill. The 73-year-old Clay, however, was physically exhausted as the effects of tuberculosis, which would eventually kill him, began to take their toll. Clay left the Senate to recuperate in Newport, Rhode Island, and Senator Stephen A. Douglas took the lead in attempting to pass Clay's proposals through the Senate.

Fillmore, anxious to find a quick solution to the conflict in Texas over the border with New Mexico, which threatened to become an armed conflict between Texas militia and the federal soldiers, reversed the administration's position late in July and threw its support to the compromise measures. At the same time, Fillmore denied Texas's claims to New Mexico, asserting that the United States had promised to protect the territorial integrity of New Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Fillmore's forceful response helped convince Texas's U.S. Senators, Sam Houston and Thomas Jefferson Rusk, to support Stephen Douglas's compromise. With their support, a Senate bill providing for a final settlement of Texas's borders won passage days after Fillmore delivered his message. Under the terms of the bill, the U.S. would assume Texas's debts, while Texas's northern border was set at the 36° 30' parallel north (the Missouri Compromise line) and much of its western border followed the 103rd meridian. The bill attracted the support of a bipartisan coalition of Whigs and Democrats from both sections, though most opposition to the bill came from the South. The Senate quickly moved onto the other major issues, passing bills that provided for the admission of California, the organization of New Mexico Territory, and the establishment of a new fugitive slave law.

The debate then moved to the House of Representatives, where Fillmore, Senator Daniel Webster, Douglas, Congressman Linn Boyd, and Speaker of the House Howell Cobb took the lead in convincing members to support the compromise bills that had been passed in the Senate. The Senate's proposed settlement of the Texas-New Mexico boundary faced intense opposition from many Southerners, as well as from some Northerners who believed that Texas did not deserve monetary compensation. After a series of close votes that nearly delayed consideration of the issue, the House voted to approve a Texas bill similar to that which had been passed by the Senate. Following that vote, the House and the Senate quickly agreed on each of the major issues, including the banning of the slave trade in Washington. The president quickly signed each bill into law save for the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850; he ultimately signed that law as well after Attorney General Crittenden assured him that the law was constitutional. Though some in Texas still favored sending a military expedition into New Mexico, in November 1850 the state legislature voted to accept the compromise.

The general solution that was adopted by the Compromise of 1850 was to transfer a considerable part of the territory claimed by Texas state to the federal government; to organize two new territories formally, the Territory of New Mexico and the Territory of Utah, which expressly would be allowed to locally determine whether they would become slave or free territories, to add another free state to the Union (California), to adopt a severe measure to recover slaves who had escaped to a free state or free territory (the Fugitive Slave Law); and to abolish the slave trade in the District of Columbia. A key provision of each of the laws respectively organizing the Territory of New Mexico and the Territory of Utah was that slavery would be decided by local option, called popular sovereignty. That was an important repudiation of the idea behind the failure to prohibit slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico. However, the admission of California as a free state meant that Southerners were giving up their goal of a coast-to-coast belt of slave states.

Texas was allowed to keep the following portions of the disputed land: south of the 32nd parallel and south of the 36°30' parallel north and east of the 103rd meridian west. The rest of the disputed land was transferred to the Federal Government. The United States Constitution (Article IV, Section 3) does not permit Congress unilaterally to reduce the territory of any state, so the first part of the Compromise of 1850 had to take the form of an offer to the Texas State Legislature, rather than a unilateral enactment. This ratified the bargain and, in due course, the transfer of a broad swath of land from the state of Texas to the federal government was accomplished. In return for giving up this land, the United States assumed the debts of Texas.

From the Mexican Cession, the New Mexico Territory received most of the present-day state of Arizona, most of the western part of the present-day state of New Mexico, and the southern tip of present-day Nevada (south of the 37th parallel). The territory also received most of present-day eastern New Mexico, a portion of present-day Colorado (east of the crest of the Rocky Mountains, west of the 103rd meridian, and south of the 38th parallel); all of this land had been claimed by Texas.

From the Mexican Cession, the Utah Territory received present-day Utah, most of present-day Nevada (everything north of the 37th parallel), a major part of present-day Colorado (everything west of the crest of the Rocky Mountains), and a small part of present-day Wyoming. That included the newly-founded colony at Salt Lake, of Brigham Young. The Utah Territory also received some land that had been claimed by Texas; this land is now part of present-day Colorado that is east of the crest of the Rocky Mountains.

Perhaps the most important part of the Compromise received the least attention during debates. Enacted September 18, 1850, it is informally known as the Fugitive Slave Law, or the Fugitive Slave Act. It bolstered the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. The new version of the Fugitive Slave Law now required federal judicial officials in all states and federal territories, including free states, to assist with the return of escaped slaves to their masters in slave states. Any federal marshal or other official who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave was liable to a fine of $1,000 (equivalent to $31,108 in 2020). Law enforcement everywhere in the US now had a duty to arrest anyone suspected of being a fugitive slave on no more evidence than a claimant's sworn testimony of ownership. Suspected slaves could neither ask for a jury trial nor testify on their own behalf. Also, aiding a runaway slave by providing food or shelter was now a crime nationwide, punished by six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. Officers capturing a fugitive slave were entitled to a fee for their work, and this expense was to be paid by the Federal Government.

The law was so completely pro-slavery as to prohibit the admission of the testimony of a person accused of being an escaped slave into evidence at the judicial hearing to determine the status of the accused escaped slave. Thus, if free Blacks were claimed to be escaped slaves, they could not resist their return to slavery (or enslavement for the first time) by truthfully telling their actual history. Furthermore, the federal commissioners overseeing the hearings were paid $5 for ruling a person was free, but were paid $10 for determining they were a slave, thus providing a financial incentive to always rule in favor of slavery regardless of the evidence. The law further exacerbated the problem of free Blacks being kidnapped and sold as slaves.

The Fugitive Slave Act was essential to meet Southern demands. In terms of public opinion in the North, the critical provision was that ordinary citizens were required to aid slave catchers, and made it a crime to assist a fugitive. Many Northerners deeply resented these requirements. Resentment towards the Act further heightened tensions between the North and South, which were then inflamed further by abolitionists such as Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, stressed the horrors of recapturing escaped slaves and outraged Southerners.

A statute enacted as part of the compromise prohibited the slave trade in Washington, D.C., but not slave ownership. Southerners in Congress, alarmed and outraged, were unanimous in opposing the provision, seen as a concession to the abolitionists and a bad precedent, but they were outvoted. However, Washington's residents could still easily buy and sell slaves in the nearby states of Virginia and Maryland.

Passage of the Compromise of 1850, as it came to be known, caused celebration in Washington and elsewhere, with crowds shouting, "The Union is saved!" Fillmore himself described the Compromise of 1850 as a "final settlement" of sectional issues, though the future of slavery in New Mexico and Utah remained unclear. The admission of new states, or the organization of territories in the remaining unorganized portion of the Louisiana Purchase, could also potentially reopen the polarizing debate over slavery. Not all accepted the Compromise of 1850; a South Carolina newspaper wrote, "the Rubicon is passed ... and the Southern States are now vassals in this Confederacy." Many Northerners, meanwhile, were displeased by the Fugitive Slave Act. The debate over slavery in the territories would be re-opened in 1854 through the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

In hindsight, the Compromise merely postponed the American Civil War for a decade, contrary to the expectations of many at the time, who felt the issue of slavery had finally been settled. During that decade, the Whig Party completely broke down, to be replaced with the new Republican Party dominant in the North, while Democrats reigned in the South.

Others argue that the Compromise only made more obvious the pre-existing sectional divisions, and laid the groundwork for future conflict. They view the Fugitive Slave Law as helping to polarize the US, as shown in the enormous reaction to Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Law aroused feelings of bitterness in the North. Furthermore, the Compromise of 1850 led to a breakdown in the spirit of compromise in the Antebellum period. The Compromise exemplifies that spirit, but the deaths of influential senators who worked on the compromise, primarily Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, contributed to the feeling of increasing disparity between the North and South.

The delay of hostilities for ten years allowed the Northern states to continue to industrialize. The Southern states, largely based on slave labor and cash crop production, lacked the ability to industrialize heavily.

According to historian Mark Stegmaier, "The Fugitive Slave Act, the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia, the admission of California as a free state, and even the application of the formula of popular sovereignty to the territories were all less important than the least remembered component of the Compromise of 1850-the statute by which Texas relinquished its claims to much of New Mexico in return for federal assumption of the debts."

Proposals in 1846 to 1850 on the division of the Southwest included the following (some of which are not mutually exclusive):

The Wilmot Proviso banning slavery in any new territory to be acquired from Mexico, not including Texas, which had been annexed the previous year. It passed the House in August 1846 and February 1847 but not the Senate. Later, an effort failed to attach the proviso to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

The Extension of the Missouri Compromise line was proposed by failed amendments to the Wilmot Proviso by William W. Wick and then Stephen Douglas to extend the Missouri Compromise line (36°30' parallel north) west to the Pacific (south of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California) to allow the possibility of slavery in most of present-day New Mexico and Arizona, and southern California. That line was again proposed by the Nashville Convention of June 1850.

Popular sovereignty, developed by Lewis Cass and Stephen Douglas as the position of the Democratic Party, was to let the residents of each territory decide by vote whether to allow slavery. It was implemented in the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, giving rise to the violence of the "Bleeding Kansas" period.

William L. Yancey's "Alabama Platform", endorsed by the Alabama and the Georgia legislatures and by Democratic state conventions in Florida and Virginia, called for no restrictions on slavery in the territories by the federal government or territorial governments before statehood, opposition to any candidates supporting either the Wilmot Proviso or popular sovereignty, and federal legislation to overrule Mexican anti-slavery laws.

Two free states were proposed by Zachary Taylor, who served as President from March 1849 to July 1850. As President, he proposed that the entire area become two free states, called California and New Mexico but much larger than the ones today. None of the area would be left as an unorganized or organized territory, which would avoid the question of slavery in the territories.

Changing Texas's borders was proposed by Senator Thomas Hart Benton in December 1849 or January 1850. Texas's western and northern boundaries would be the 102nd meridian west and the 34th parallel north.

Two southern states were proposed by Senator John Bell, with the assent of Texas, in February 1850. New Mexico would get all Texas land north of the 34th parallel north, including today's Texas Panhandle, while the area to the south, including the southeastern part of today's New Mexico, would be divided at the Colorado River of Texas into two Southern states, balancing the admission of California and New Mexico as free states.

The first draft of the compromise of 1850 had Texas's northwestern boundary be a straight, diagonal line from the Rio Grande 20 miles north of El Paso to the Red River (Mississippi watershed) at the 100th meridian west, the southwestern corner of today's Oklahoma.

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Johannsen, Robert W. Stephen A. Douglas (1973) ISBN 0195016203

Knupfer, Peter B. "Compromise and Statesmanship: Henry Clay's Union." in Knupfer, The Union As It Is: Constitutional Unionism and Sectional Compromise, 1787-1861 (1991), pp. 119-57.

Maizlish, Stephen E. (2018). A Strife of Tongues: The Compromise of 1850 and the Ideological Foundations of the American Civil War. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0813941196.

Morrison, Michael A. Slavery and the American West: The Eclipse of Manifest Destiny and the Coming of the Civil War (1997) ISBN 0807823198

Rhodes, James Ford. History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850, vol. i. (1896). complegte text online

Russel, Robert R. (1956). "What Was the Compromise of 1850?". The Journal of Southern History. Southern Historical Association. 22 (3): 292-309. doi:10.2307/2954547. ISSN 0022-4642. JSTOR 2954547.

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The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican-American War. It also set Texas's western and northern borders and included provisions addressing fugitive slaves and the slave trade.

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Created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska while repealing the Missouri Compromise.

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The principle that all power in a nation is dervied from the people.

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Mandated the capture and return of escaped slaves to their owners.

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Loyalty to a region or section of the country, rather than the whole country.

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The withdrawal of eleven Southern states from the Union.

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Twenty Northern states and the federal government that fought the Confederacy during the Civil War.

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Eleven Southern states that seceeded and fought the Union during the Civil War.

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Abolished slavery and indentured servitude throughout the United States.

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Guaranteed citizenship to all born and naturalized in the United States and guaranteed equal protection under the law.

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Prohibits states from denying the right to vote based on race or ethnicity.

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An economic system where production is privately owned and operated for profit.

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A US entrepreneur who built his wealth from railroads and shipping, creating a transportation empire. He was criticized as being a robber baron.

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A philanthropist who became the richest man in the world through his control of the steel industry

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A philanthropist who revolutionized the petroleum industry. He is considered the richest American in history.

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A philanthropist who focused his contributions on the arts, sciences, and religion.

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Wealthy business leaders. Included Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Henry Ford.

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A term used for monopolists during the Gilded Age who built their fortunes through ruthless business tactics and the mistreatment of workers.

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An organization of workers who negotiate for better wages and workplace health.

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The movement of people into a new region or country who seek work or better living conditions.

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A period of history from the 1870s to the 1890s, categorized by industrial economic growth.

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A theory that applies Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest to human society.

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An essay by Andrew Carnegie arguing that wealth should be used for good social causes.

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Finding and publicizing scandalous information about famous people in an underhanded way.

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The movement that ultimately led to the passing of the 19th Amendment and gave women the right to vote.

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An era from 1920 to 1933 where the United States banned the production and sale of alcohol.

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An ideology that advocated for a foreign policy that opposed involvement with political affairs in other countries.

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Extending a nation's power and influence over other countries, normally through expansionism.

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A United States Navy officer who was considered to be the most important American strategist of the 19th century.

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The United States' policy that aimed to give all nations equal access to trade with China and prevent any country from taking complete control of Chinese trade.

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The idea that a country should maintain a strong, large military and be prepared to use it aggressively. This was a main cause of World War 1.

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A strong feeling of pride and loyalty toward one's country, leading to a belief in national superiority.

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An international organization created after World War I to prevent future wars by promoting collective security.

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The 1919 peace document that formally ended World War I and imposed severe economic and territorial penalties on Germany.

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The movement of five million African Americans out of the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West

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A secret communication from the German Foreign Office that proposed a military contract between Germany and Mexico if the United States entered World War 1.

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Borrowing money from a broker to purchase more securities than you could with only your own cash, which amplifies both potential returns and losses.

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Tax imposed by a national government on imports of goods and is paid by the importer.

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Relief, Recovery, and Reform programs during the Great Depression were used to combat the economic crisis.

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A military strategy used by Allied forces during World War II to advance across the Pacific, allowing them to isolate and weaken Japanese strongholds.

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The genocide of Europeans Jewish people during WWII. 6 million were killed between 1941 and 1945.

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Engage with a Holocaust survivor and hear stories of resilience and courage.

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Bring Holocaust education right into your school with our online Eyewitness to History program

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On September 27, a remembrance ceremony was held to commemorate the Babi Yar Massacre and honor all victims and survivors of the Holocaust.

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On September 29 a remembrance ceremony was held to commemorate the Babi Yar Massacre and honor all victims and survivors of the Holocaust.

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Join the Mizel Museum on March 28, 2023 at the Sie FilmCenter for this incredible story of heroism and resilience among Jewish partisans: Four Winters.

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A series of photographic portraits of local Holocaust survivors by DU photographer Wayne Armstrong

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copy Created with Sketch. icon-close Combined Shape Path Created with Sketch. Fill 4 Combined Shape Combined Shape Group Combined Shape Created with Sketch. Path Combined Shape Combined Shape Combined Shape Created with Sketch. Path Created with Sketch. Shape Combined Shape icon_hours phone link Combined Shape Group 15 Group 14 Path Engage with a Holocaust survivor and hear stories of resilience and courage.

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After WWII, many international organizations were established, the United Nations for peace, the IMF & World Bank for economic stability, and military alliances like NATO.

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Establishing the Post-War International Order, 1944–1961

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This collection, curated in association with the National Archives (UK), provides an unparalleled insight into the political, economic, and military foundations of the post-war international order.

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Global organization of 193 member states, founded in 1945 to maintain international peace, security, and cooperation.

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Post-World War II international monetary agreement that established a system of fixed exchange rates, creating the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

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Political and military alliance of 32 countries from North America and Europe. It was founded in 1949 to safeguard the freedom and security of all its members through political and military means.

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The symbolic and physical division of Europe after WWII, separating the Soviet-controlled communist East from the democratic West.

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Military alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states as a counterweight to NATO.

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U.S. Cold War strategy to prevent the global spread of communism from the Soviet Union and its allies.

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Cold War belief that if one country fell to communism, its neighbors would quickly follow, like a line of toppling dominoes, justifying U.S. intervention to contain its spread, especially in Southeast Asia.

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Muslim Intellectual Network for Empowerment (MINE)

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The Domino Theory: Cold War, Fallen Nations, New Order

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Countries do not fall like dominoes; they maneuver like players on a chessboard — (Henry Kissinger, 1994)

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Military doctrine where two opposing nuclear-armed powers, knowing a first strike would guarantee their own catastrophic retaliation, are deterred from attacking.

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The 20th century saw the world plunged into war twice in the space of 20 years. The advancement in weaponised warfare rapidly changed the way conflicts play out. At the start of the First World War humanity began using the aeroplane as a weapon and by the end of the Second World War, the Atom Bomb had been dropped on civilians in two cities.

The progression of nuclear technology and weapons of mass destruction has picked up the pace, and on many occasions the world has seemed close to a Third World War, but it is yet to develop. The reality is if we are thrown into a full-scale nuclear war, then life as we know it will cease to exist.

The idea of mutually assured destruction was first implemented in the Defence manifesto of John F Kennedys' government. It was a major part of Robert McNamara, JFK's Secretary of Defence, speech on defence policy in 1962. It is a theory of flexible nuclear response, and one which helped to justify the USA stockpiling nuclear weapons on the assumption that the Soviet Union was doing the same.

With this, they could assure they would have enough weapons to defend against a Soviet attack which, in 1962, was expected to come at any moment.

In October 1962 The Cuban Missile Crisis had the world days away from a nuclear war. If the Soviet Union had launched its missiles from the island of Cuba, the US would retaliate and by using the MAD theory would assume they had the same amount of weapons to send back over to Russia.

The most powerful world leaders throughout history have had the power to wipe millions of people off the face of the earth with the touch of a button. It is an idea which has been threatened to make other nations backdown, but at the end of the day there is no use of pushing the button. As soon as one leader does this, then dozens of nations will do the same. What will be left of the planet afterwards will not be worth ruling over as it will be the charred remains of a society gone horribly wrong.

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The 20th century saw the world plunged into war twice in the space of 20 years. The advancement in weaponised warfare rapidly changed the way conflicts play out. At the start of the First World War humanity began using the aeroplane as a weapon and by the end of the Second World War, the Atom Bomb had been dropped on civilians in two cities.

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In August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Threats of nuclear warfare continued into the Cold War.

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The Soviet Union and the US fought for superiority in the development and accumulation of nuclear weapons during the Cold War.

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President Dwight D. Eisenhower tried to tone down the rhetoric over the success of the launch, while he streamed federal funds into the U.S. space program to prevent being left behind.

After a series of mishaps and failures, the United States successfully launched its first satellite into space on January 31, 1958, and the Space Race continued as both countries researched new technology to create more powerful weapons and surveillance technologies.

Throughout the 1950s, the United States became convinced that the Soviet Union had better missile capability that, if launched, could not be defended against. This theory, known as the Missile Gap, was eventually disproved by the CIA but not before causing grave concern to U.S. officials.

Many politicians used the Missile Gap as a talking point in the 1960 presidential election. Yet, in fact, U.S. missile power was superior to that of the Soviet Union at the time. Over the next three decades, however, both countries grew their arsenals to well over 10,000 warheads.

The Cold War arms race came to a tipping point in 1962 after the John F. Kennedy administration's failed attempt to overthrow Cuba's premier Fidel Castro, and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev implemented a secret agreement to place Soviet warheads in Cuba to deter future coup attempts.

After U.S. intelligence observed missile bases under construction in Cuba, they enforced a blockade on the country and demanded the Soviet Union demolish the bases and remove any nuclear weapons. The tense Cuban Missile Crisis standoff ensued and came to a head as Kennedy and Khrushchev exchanged letters and made demands.

The crisis ended peacefully; however, both sides and the American public had fearfully braced for nuclear war and began to question the need for weapons that guaranteed "mutually assured destruction."

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Arms Race: Definition, Cold War & Nuclear Arms | HISTORY

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An arms race occurs when countries increase their military resources to gain superiority over one another, such as the U.S. and Soviet Union in the Cold War.

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A set of domestic programs in the 1960s aimed to end poverty, reduce crime, eliminate racial injustice, and improve education and the environment through major legislation, including Medicare and the landmark Civil Rights Acts.

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In September 1965, Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act. It declared "the arts and humanities belong to all the people of the United States" and that culture is a concern of the government, not just private citizens.

To help battle worsening water pollution, Johnson signed the Water Quality Act in 1965 to help set national water quality standards. Also signed in 1965, the Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act formed the first vehicle emissions standards.

Furthermore, Johnson's administration passed laws to protect wildlife and rivers and form a network of scenic trails among historic landmarks.

On the consumer protection front, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Child Safety Act were created to develop consumer product safety rules to make sure products were safe for both children and adults.

The Immigration and Naturalization Act was passed in October 1965. It ended immigration nationality quotas, although it focused on reuniting families and still placed limits on immigrants per country and total immigration.

Not every American citizen or politician was satisfied with the results of Johnson's Great Society agenda. And some resented what they saw as government handouts and felt the government should butt out of Americans' lives altogether.

In 1968, President Richard M. Nixon set out to undo or revamp much of the Great Society's legislation. He and other Republicans still wanted to help the poor and the needy, but wanted to cut the red tape and reduce costs. Nixon wasn't completely successful, however, and the political infighting for social reform has been raging ever since.

Despite Johnson's Great Society having a lasting impact on almost all future political and social agendas, his success was overshadowed by the Vietnam War. He was forced to divert funds from the War on Poverty to the War in Vietnam.

And despite the enormous amount of legislation passed by his administration, Johnson is seldom remembered as a champion of the underprivileged and at-risk. Instead, he's arguably better known as the commander-in-chief who forced America into an unwinnable war that resulted in over 58,000 American military fatalities.

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Great Society - Programs, Definition & LBJ | HISTORY

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The Great Society was an expansive set of programs and legislation launched by President Lyndon B. Johnson to address issues of poverty, crime and inequality.

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a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools violated the Constitution.

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NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

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A child born to a Black mother in a state like Mississippi... has exactly the same rights as a white baby born to the wealthiest person in the United States. It's not true, but I challenge anyone to say it is not a goal worth working for.

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Brown v. Board of Education Celebrating the 67th Anniversary of LDF's Seminal Case May 17, 1954 marks a defining moment in the history of the United States. On that day, the Supreme Court declared the doctrine of "separate but equal" unconstitutional and handed LDF the most celebrated victory in its storied history.

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The free-market, supply-side economic policies of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, focused on stimulating growth through significant tax cuts, reduced government spending (especially social programs), deregulation, and increased defense spending

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Someone who supports liberalism, a political philosophy emphasizing individual rights, liberty, equality, consent of the governed, and limited government.

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Becca Rothfeld speaks with Samuel Moyn about his book Liberalism Against Itself and why liberalism is in crisis.

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Someone who supports the political and social philosophy that favors preserving traditional institutions, customs, and values and resists sudden or radical change.

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The U.K. Conservative party’s new leader is the first Black woman to lead a major British party

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Kemi Badenoch is a self-proclaimed enemy of wokeness, and has suggested that maternity pay in the U.K. is “excessive.”

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Conservative Christian political movement founded by Jerry Falwell in 1979, uniting evangelical Protestants, Catholics, and Jews to influence politics around "pro-family," "pro-life," and "pro-morals" values

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Moral Majority, American political organization that was founded in 1979 by Jerry Falwell, a religious leader and televangelist, to advance conservative social values. Although it disbanded in 1989, the Moral Majority helped to establish the religious right as a force in American politics.

The Moral Majority was formed in response to the social and cultural transformations that occurred in the United States in the 1960s and '70s. Christian fundamentalists were alarmed by a number of developments that, in their view, threatened to undermine the country's traditional moral values. These included the civil rights movement, the women's movement, the gay rights movement, the relatively permissive sexual morality prevalent among young people, and the teaching of evolution. Furthermore, they opposed the U.S. Supreme Court rulings that banned institutionally initiated group prayer and Bible reading in public schools (School District of Abington Township v. Schempp) and that affirmed the legal right to abortion ().

Against this backdrop, Falwell established the Moral Majority, which he described as pro-family and pro-American. It advanced conservative social values, notably opposing abortion, pornography, the ERA, and gay rights. In addition, the organization supported increased defense spending, a strong anti-communist foreign policy, and continued American support for Israel. The organization energized the religious right-though some opposed its inclusion of Catholics, Mormons, and Jews-and it quickly grew to several million members. The Moral Majority's activities included voter registration, lobbying, and fund-raising. Its impact on American politics was almost immediate as it was credited with helping Republican Ronald Reagan win the presidential election in 1980.

The Moral Majority remained a political force during the first half of the 1980s, working at both the state and national levels. However, near the end of the decade, the organization faced internal difficulties and dwindling support. In 1987 Falwell resigned as president, and around this time several prominent evangelists became embroiled in scandal. Differences within the movement were apparent when Falwell backed George H.W. Bush rather than Pat Robertson, another televangelist, in the 1988 presidential campaign. In addition, the group saw its fund-raising dramatically decrease. In 1989 the Moral Majority was dissolved. Although Falwell declared that the organization had accomplished its mission, he admitted that a number of "problems" persisted, such as abortion. However, the Moral Majority was credited with making a lasting contribution to American politics by establishing the religious right as an influential political player.

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Moral Majority | Definition, History, Mission, & Facts

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Moral Majority, American political organization that was founded in 1979 by Jerry Falwell, a televangelist, to advance conservative social values. It notably opposed abortion, the ERA, and gay rights. Although it disbanded in 1989, the group helped to establish the religious right as a force in American politics.

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The theory that tax cuts and benefits for the wealthy and corporations stimulate investment, job creation, and overall economic growth, eventually benefiting everyone as wealth "trickles down".

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Trickle down economics is a term used to describe the belief that if high-income earners gain an increase in salary, then everyone in the economy will benefit as their increased income and wealth filter through to all sections in society.

How the trickle-down effect may work in theory

If the richest gain an increase in wealth, then

They will spend a proportion of this extra wealth.

The extra wealth will cause an increased demand for goods and services, causing higher employment and a rise in wages.

The higher wages will also cause a multiplier effect, e.g. if more chauffeurs are employed by the rich, the chauffeur will gain increased income and, in turn, they will increase spending in local businesses.

A cut in taxes increases the incentive to work. Lower income tax encourages people to work longer. Lower corporation tax encourages business to invest, creating wealth.

Alternatively, the wealthy may invest their increased wealth. If the wealth is invested in new businesses, it will create new jobs and increase the incomes of those employed.

Higher spending and investment will stimulate economic activity leading to a rise in tax revenues (higher income tax, higher VAT).

Higher tax revenues can fund public programmes such as healthcare, education and welfare payments to the poor.

Trickle-down effect and tax cuts

An important element of the trickle-down effect is with regard to income tax cuts for the top-income earners. It is argued that cutting income tax for the rich will not just benefit high-earners, but also everyone. The argument is as follows:

1. If high-income earners see an increase in disposable income, they will increase their spending and this creates additional demand in the economy. This higher level of aggregate demand creates jobs and higher wages for all workers.

2. Alternatively, increased profits for firms may be reinvested into expanding output. This again leads to higher growth, wages and incomes for all.

3. Lower income taxes increase the incentive to for people to work leading to higher productivity and economic growth.

4. The Laffer curve suggests cutting tax can even cause an increase in tax revenues as the lower tax rates are offset by higher growth.

A study by NBER June 1997 Engen and Skinner conclude that:

"cutting marginal tax rates across the board by 5 percentage points and cutting average tax rates by 2.5 percentage points would increase the growth rate of U.S. GDP by 0.3 percentage points per year."

Video on Trickle-down economics

Criticisms of trickle-down economics

I have a joke about trickle-down economics. Only 99% of you will get it.

Many economists are sceptical of the belief in 'the trickle-down' effect. One reason, the wealthy have a higher marginal propensity to save, and also n recent years, wealth has been saved in off-shore accounts to avoid paying tax. Therefore, when the wealthy gain extra income, only a small percentage may filter through to low-income workers.

Also, some studies suggest that increased income inequality can lead to this inequality being solidified through educational opportunities, wealth accumulation and the growth of monopoly/monopsony power. Furthermore, increased inequality may lead to lower rates of economic growth.

Tax cuts have no clear impact on growth. In The Economic Consequences of Major Tax Cuts for the Rich (2020), by David Hope and Julian Limberg, the authors found tax cuts for the rich, had no statistical effect on economic growth. They looked particularly at the 1980s in UK and US, where significant taxes were cut.

"The results also show that economic performance, as measured by real GDP per capita and the unemployment rate, is not significantly affected by major tax cuts for the rich. The estimated effects for these variables are statistically indistinguishable from zero." ( LSE)

A report by the IMF (2015) found increasing income share of the poor increased economic growth, but increasing income share of the rich, led to lower growth.

"We find that increasing the income share of the poor and the middle class actually increases growth while a rising income share of the top 20 percent results in lower growth."

Real GDP and Median wages in the US

In the US, real GDP has grown faster than median wages since the early 1980s. In the 1980s, taxes were cut for high earners and there was a significant increase in inequality. Proponents of the Reagan tax cuts and supply-side economics argue it was worth it because everyone benefitted from rising GDP. However, the median wage, (which is the wage the middle-income earners actually receive has increased slower than real GDP, suggested not all the gains of the top 1% have trickled down to average workers.

Inequality and lower growth. A recent report by the OECD found that since the start of the credit crisis in 2008, inequality has widened in many countries; however, this inequality has led to lower rates of economic growth not higher.

This graph from an OECD report suggests that inequality is responsible for lower GDP. The OECD estimates that the UK economy would have been more than 20% bigger had the gap between rich and poor not widened since the 1980s.

High-income earners have a high marginal propensity to save. Therefore, the increased disposable income from a tax cut does not filter into other sections of the economy because it is saved not spent. If it is spent it may go on imports, which are a withdrawal from economy.

Higher incomes may be used to accumulate wealth; this wealth accumulation leads to further capital gains and income from assets - leading to even higher levels of income and wealth inequality. The economist Thomas Piketty argues that, unchecked, inequality can grow because the wealthy can keep re-investing their dividends and profit.

Higher GDP doesn't address the fundamental inequality of capitalist society. Even if tax cuts did lead to higher economic growth, higher output does not necessarily lead to higher real incomes for all. Low-income workers may be left behind in certain types of economic growth. The UK recovery 2011-14 has been notable for low real income growth.

Budget deficit. Cutting taxes in the US led to an increase in the budget deficit. (from 2.7% of GDP in 1980 to 6% of GDP in 1983) Although this provides a temporary fiscal boost, a budget deficit creates problems for the future economy (possibility of higher interest rates, higher taxes in the future)

Wrong target. If you want to reduce relative poverty, it makes sense to target income tax cuts and benefits at those who need it. Cutting taxes for the rich, in the hope some may trickle down to the poorest is a very inefficient way of working.

Cutting taxes does not necessarily increase incentives to work (both the substitution and income effect are at work and may cancel each other out).

It was hoped cutting income tax would encourage people to work overtime and work more hours. But in practice, this didn't occur.

The wealthy can invest the extra wealth in assets, such as housing. However, this pushes up house prices, increasing the cost of living for lower-income groups.

Ronald Reagan and the trickle-down effect

Ronald Reagan was closely associated with the trickle-down effect in the 1980s. This is because, during his presidential term, he cut income tax for the high earners. He did not sell this policy on the grounds that 'there will be a trickle-down effect.' However, opponents often claimed that there was a limited trickle-down effect with median wages growing very slowly - compared to wages for the top 1% of income earners.

Top 1% gained an increased share of income, bottom 80% saw drop in income share. No trickle-down effect.

Does higher company profit trickle down to the rest of society?

Higher profit can trickle down to everyone in society.

If profit is invested, new jobs are created.

If profit is saved in bonds and shares, it can help finance personal pensions.

Corporation tax means % is paid to the government for funding social spending.

Bill Gates and other billionaire philanthropists have given much of his wealth away to charity.

However, it depends on how profit is used.

In the past decade, US corporation profit has increased significantly, but this has not trickled down into higher real median incomes. Cash reserves of many IT firms have risen significantly.

Note this figure for corporate profit is nominal (it does not include inflation. Inflation has averaged in the region of 2-3% a year since 1990)

This shows nominal corporate profit (CP) after tax and nominal weekly wages ( LES)
Related

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Trickle down economics is a term used to describe the belief that if high-income earners gain an increase in salary, then everyone in the economy will benefit as their increased income and wealth filter through to all sections in society. If the richest gain an increase in wealth, then They will spend a proportion of this extra wealth.

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Involves a central bank managing the money supply and interest rates to control inflation, promote maximum employment, and stabilize the economy.

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Monetary Policy: Importance, Drawbacks, and Implementation

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Monetary policy is used as a powerful mechanism to regulate the macroeconomic variables such as inflation and unemployment in the economy.