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Definition
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first direct tax imposed on the 13 American colonies by the Parliament of Great Britain. It required the colonists to pay a tax on all printed materials including newspapers, legal documents, magazines, and playing...
Definition
Homestead Act - Settling the American West
The Homestead Act was a policy enacted by the United States government on 20 May 1862 to encourage westward expansion. Passed during the American Civil War (1861-1865), the act offered 160 acres (65 ha) of public domain land to any citizen...
Definition
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act of 1764, also known as the American Revenue Act, was legislation passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on 5 April 1764 to crack down on molasses smuggling in the American colonies and to raise revenue to pay for the colonies'...
Definition
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 - Northern Resistance and Tubman's Rescue of Charles Nalle
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 (1850-1864) was part of the Compromise of 1850, drafted to diffuse tensions between Southern 'slave states' and Northern 'free states.' The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 already allowed slaveholders to reclaim...
Definition
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts, also known as the Coercive Acts, were five laws passed by the Parliament of Great Britain in 1774 to punish the Thirteen Colonies of British North America for the Boston Tea Party. Though the acts primarily targeted...
Definition
American Civil War - The Birthpangs of the United States
The American Civil War (1861-1865) was the pivotal event in United States history and the largest armed conflict in the Western world following the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1815) and prior to the beginning of the First World War (1914...
Definition
Sherman's March to the Sea - The Destruction of Georgia
Sherman's March to the Sea (15 November to 21 December 1864) was a significant military campaign in the American Civil War (1861-1865). Hoping to cripple the Confederacy's ability to make war, as well as to crush its will to keep fighting...
Definition
Battle of Philippi (Philippi Races) - The First Organized Land Battle of the American Civil War
The Battle of Philippi (3 June 1861) was the first organized land engagement of the American Civil War, fought in Philippi, Virginia (present-day West Virginia) over a month before the more widely recognized First Battle of Bull Run (Battle...
Definition
J. E. B. Stuart - The Cavalier of the Confederacy
James Ewell Brown Stuart (1833-1864), better known by his initials as J. E. B. Stuart, was a Confederate cavalry general during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Known for his flashy style of dressing and his daring raids behind Union lines...
Definition
Webster-Hayne Debate
The Webster-Hayne debate was a series of back-and-forth speeches between Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina in January 1830. What started as a debate over the sale of western lands blossomed...