Term
Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854
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Definition
–Legislation introduced by Stephen Douglas to organize the area west of Missouri and Iowa
–One goal was to facilitate the building of a transcontinental railroad that ran west from Chicago
–Called for two territories to be created (Kansas and Nebraska) and the issue of slavery to be decided by popular sovereignty
–Nebraska became a free territory
•Kansas’ status was impacted by fighting between pro- and anto-slavery groups who moved to the area; the conflict was termed “Bleeding Kansas |
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Term
| Creation of Lincoln’s Republican Party, 1854 |
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Definition
–The Democratic Party divided along North-South lines
–The Whig Party disintegrated, with its members either joining the Know-Nothings or the newly-created Republican Party
–The Republican Party’s unifying principle was that slavery should be banned from all the nation’s territories and not permitted to spread any further to established states |
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Term
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Definition
–Northern Romantic era poet
–Wrote a volume of poems, Leaves of Grass (1855)
–Celebrated the importance of individualism and is considered the poet of American democracy |
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Term
| James Buchanan, 1857-1861 |
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Definition
–Fifteenth President
–Presided over the country when the Dred Scott decision was announced
–Backed the Lecompton Constitution to appease the South
–Buchanan, still acting as president after Lincoln’s election, denied the legal right of states to secede but believed that the federal government could not legally prevent them
–Before leaving office, Buchanan appointed Northerners to federal posts and helped to prepare Fort Sumter with reinforcements |
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Term
Causes of the Panic of 1857
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Definition
–Failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co. in New York
–Overspeculation in railroads and lands
–Decrease in flow of European capital for United States investments because of Europe’s own wars
–Surplus of wheat hurt Northern farmers
–Panic spread to Europe, South America, and the Far East
–The Panic fueled sectional tensions as Northerners blamed it on the low tariff policies of the Southern-dominated Congress |
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Term
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857
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Definition
–Supreme Court case involving a slave, Scott, who was taken by his master from Missouri, a slave state, to Illinois, a free state
–After Scott had been returned to Missouri, he sued for freedom for himself and his family, stating that by residing in a free state he had ended his slavery
–President Buchanan meant for the case’s decision to serve as the basis for the slavery issue
–Pro-Southern Judge Taney ruled that Scott did not have the right of citizenship, which he would need to be able to bring forth a suit
–Ruled further that the Missouri Compromise itself was unconstitutional because Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in the territories, as slaves were property
–The Scott decision would apply to all African-Americans, who were regarded as inferior and, therefore, without rights |
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Term
| Lecompton Constitution, 1857 |
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Definition
–Document submitted by pro-slavery leaders in territorial Kansas that put no restrictions on slavery
–Free-soilers boycotted the constitutional convention in Lecompton because the document would not leave Kansas a free territory
–Though President Buchanan supported the constitution as the basis for Kansas’ statehood, Congress voted against it
–The constitution was turned down and Kansas remained a territory |
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Term
Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1858
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Definition
–Came out of the Illinois senatorial campaign between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln
–Slavery was a major issue in the debates, as Douglas maintained that popular sovereignty was supported by the basic elements of democracy
–Douglas’ “Freeport Doctrine”—despite the Dred Scott case, slavery could be prevented by the refusal of the people living in a territory to pass laws favorable to slavery
–Lincoln had a moral opposition to slavery’s spread and demanded constitutional protection where it existed
–Lincoln lost the Senate election to Douglas, but he stepped into the national limelight |
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Term
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Definition
–Brown and his sons killed five pro-slavery settlers in Kansas in an incident known as the “Pottawatamie Creek Massacre”
–He was supported by some Northern abolitionists to start a countrywide revolution
–He led followers to seize a federal arsenal at Herpers Ferry, Virginia, hoping to start the rebellion (1859)
–Brown was arrested and hanged
–Brown was often referred to as “God’s Angry Man” |
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Term
| Transportation from 1860-1900 |
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Definition
–Railroad transportation provided opportunities for movement of goods and people to the West and raw materials to the East
–Affected population movements
–Made Chicago one of the most populous cities in the nation by 1900 |
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Term
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Definition
–Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln
–Major plank of his campaign—containment of slavery and encouragement of transcontinental rail
–The Democratic vote was split between Douglas and several other strong candidates
–Lincoln won the election, and after his inauguration, the South seceded |
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Term
| Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865 |
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Definition
–Sixteenth President
–The Lincoln-Douglas Debates won him high national regard and, eventually, the Republican nomination for president
–Produced and led a Northern army to defend the Union against the secessionists
–Suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War, which was upheld by Congress
–Issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves within the Confederacy
–Developed the “10% Plan” for Reconstruction
–Gave the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, which began “Four score and seven years ago…”
–Assassinated while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington; the assassin, John Wilkes Booth, believed he was assisting the Southern cause |
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Term
Secession, Began in December of 1860
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Definition
–Response to the election of Abraham Lincoln, who sought to contain slavery
–South Carolina voted to secede on December 20, 1860
–Over the next two months Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas seceded
–These states declared themselves the Confederate States of America and elected Jefferson Davis as president, adopting a constitution that permitted slavery rights and the sovereignty of states |
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Term
Civil War Conscription, 1860s
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Definition
–Congress passed a federal conscription law in 1863
–Rioting in the North took place, notably in New York City, when drafted individuals were permitted to avoid service by hiring a substitute or paying $300
–The Confederacy’s short supply of manpower meant an earlier draft, beginning in 1862
–Southerners could also hire substitutes or purchase an exemption |
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Term
| Civil War Advantages for the South, 1860s |
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Definition
–Only needed to resist being conquered
–Vast in land size
–Troops would fight in their familiar home territory
–Highly qualified senior officers including Robert E. Lee, Joseph Johnston, Albert Sidney Johnston, and Stonewall Jackson
–Inspired to protect their familiar institutions and culture |
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Term
| Civil War Advantages for the North, 1860’s |
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Definition
–Greater population
–Better railroad lines and more established trade routes than the South
–More wealth
–Were able to use the moral issue of fighting slavery as motivation |
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Term
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Definition
–Civil War strategy planned by Northern General Winfield Scott to crush the Southern rebellion
–Called for a naval blockade to shut out European supplies and exports, a campaign to take the Mississippi River and, thereby, split the South, and a targeting of Southern cities in hopes that pro-Unionists would rise up in the South and overthrow the secession
–Both the blockade and the taking of the Mississippi were successful |
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Term
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Definition
–Granted 160 acres of government land to any person who would farm it for at least five years
–The government helped to settle the West with this provision
–This “free soil” proposal became law when the Southern Democrats were not part of Congress |
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Term
| Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862 |
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Definition
–General George McClellan attempted to defeat Lee and shorten the war, but failed
–McClellan had discovered detailed plans for Lee’s entire operation but ignored the opportunity because of overcautiousness
–Lee’s army was forced to retreat to Virginia after a bloody battle at Antietam
–McClellan’s failure to pursue Lee led Lincoln to remove him from command |
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Term
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Definition
•Thirteenth Amendment (1865)- Abolished slavery in the US
•Fourteenth Amendment (1868)- African Americans became citizens and no state could deny life, liberty, or property without due process of the law
•Fifteenth Amendment (1870)- No state could deny the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous conditions of servitude |
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Term
Emancipation Proclamation, Effective January 1, 1863
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Definition
–Declared all slaves to be free in areas under rebel control, thus exempting conquered areas of the South
–Lincoln was criticized for not abolishing slavery everywhere
–Led to slaves in the South leaving their plantations
–Increased morale in the North
–Partly designed to keep England from joining the war on the side of the South
–Changed perception of the war from a conflict to preserve the Union to a war to end slavery |
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Term
| Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863 |
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Definition
–Lee invaded Pennsylvania from Virginia, pursued by Northern General Meade
–Lee was defeated and retreated to Virginia
–The bloodiest, most decisive battle of the Civil War
–Farthest northern advance of the Confederacy |
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Term
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Definition
–Ironclads were Civil War ships protected from the cannon fire by iron plates bolted over the sloping wooden sides
–Confederates outfitted an old wooden warship, the Merrimack, with iron railroad rails and renamed it the Virginia; it achieved devastating results
–The Union’s Monitor fought the Merrimack to a standstill |
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Term
Lincoln’s “10% Plan”, 1863
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Definition
–Lincoln believed that seceded states should be restored to the Union quickly and easily, with “malice toward none, with charity for all.”
–Lincoln’s “10% Plan” allowed Southerners, excluding high-ranking confederate officers and military leaders, to take an oath promising future loyalty to the Union and an end to the slavery
–When 10 percent of those registered to vote in 1860 took the oath, a loyal state government could be formed
–This plan was not accepted by Congress |
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Term
Sherman’s March to the Sea, 1864
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Definition
–General William Tecumseh Sherman led Union troops through Georgia
–Sherman and the Union Commander, Ulysses S. Grant, believed in a “total war” that would break the South’s psychological capacity to fight; Sherman’s army sought to eliminate civilian support of Southern troops
–Sherman captured and burned Atlanta in September of 1864
–The purposes of destroying Georgia was to lower Southern morale and diminish supplies
–Sherman led troops to Savannah, then on to South and North Carolina |
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Term
Northern Election of 1864
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Definition
–Lincoln ran against General McClellan, who claimed that the war was a failure and called for a peace settlement
–Lincoln ran on the ticket of national unity with Andrew Johnson, a loyalist from Tennessee
–Shermans taking of Atlanta helped Lincoln win the election
–Those sympathetic to the Southern cause were labeled “Copperheads” |
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Term
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Definition
–A proposal to reunite the country by Senators Wade and Davis
–Required that 50 percent of a state’s white male voters take a loyalty oath to be readmitted to the Union
–Demanded stronger efforts on behalf of states to emancipate slaves
–Lincoln “pocket-vetoed” the bill in favor of his “10% plan” |
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Term
Conclusion of the Civil War, April 9, 1865
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Definition
–With his forces surrounded, General Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia
–Lee’s surrender caused the remaining Confederate soldiers to lay down their arms
–By the end of the conflict, the country had sustained over 600, 000 casualties |
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Term
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Definition
–Congressional support agency providing food, clothing, and education for free slaves
–Ex-slaves were divided into districts that were managed by assistant commissioners
–Despite its benefits, the Bureau failed to establish the freed slaves as landowners
–It organized the African-American vote for the Republican Party, creating great animosity toward the Bureau in the South |
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Term
| Radical Republicans, 1860s |
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Definition
–Faction of the Republican Party that believed the Civil War was meant to stop slavery and emancipate all slaves
–Believed Congress should control Reconstruction and not the president
–Rejected the reentry of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana into the Union, despite their qualification under the “10% Plan”
–They wanted the rebellious South to be dealt with in a harsher manner
–Ben Wade and Thad Stevens were among their members |
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Term
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Definition
•Restrictions by Southern states on former slaves
•Designed to replicate the conditions of slavery in the post-Civil War South
•Various codes prohibited meetings without white present, while others established segregated public facilities
•Led to Radical Republican opposition and exclusion of Southern representation in Congress |
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Term
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Definition
•Laws separating whites and African Americans in public facilities and restricting their legal guarantees, such as the right to vote
•Often part of state statutes
•Support for these laws was provided in the Plessy v. Ferguson case, demonstrating the limits of the Fourteenth Amendment
•Name of the laws are said to be derived from a character in a minstrel song |
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Term
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Definition
•The son of a slave and a white man
•Taught at Hampton Institute and in 1881, helped organize a school for African-Americans in Tuskegee, Alabama
•The Tuskegee Institute emphasized industrial training to help African-Americans gather wealth and become influential in society
•Claimed that it was a mistake for blacks to push for social equality before they had become economically equal
•His ideas were denounced by some leaders in the African-American community
•Lectured throughout the US and Europe and wrote various pieces, including his autobiography, Up From Slavery |
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Term
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Definition
•The son of a slave and a white man
•Taught at Hampton Institute and in 1881, helped organize a school for African-Americans in Tuskegee, Alabama
•The Tuskegee Institute emphasized industrial training to help African-Americans gather wealth and become influential in society
•Claimed that it was a mistake for blacks to push for social equality before they had become economically equal
•His ideas were denounced by some leaders in the African-American community
•Lectured throughout the US and Europe and wrote various pieces, including his autobiography, Up From Slavery |
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Term
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Definition
•Seventeenth President
•Vice President who took over presidency after Lincoln’s assassination
•He initially followed Lincoln’s policies but gradually became more conservative, giving amnesty to former Confederate officials and opposing legislation that dealt with former slaves
•His veto of the Civil Rights Act was overridden by Congress, which decreased his political sway
•Johnson’s opposition to the Radical republicans and his violation of the Tenure of Office Act led to his impeachment by the House
•The Senate was organized as a court to hear the impeachment charges, but it came one vote short of the constitutional two-thirds required for removal |
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Term
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Definition
•Derisive title of Secretary of State William Seward’s decision to purchase Alaska for $7.2 million from Russia
•Congress agreed to the purchase, as Russia had been pro-North during the Civil War
•Most members thought the purchase to be foolhardy since the land was in such a remote location
•Russia was willing to sell Alaska because Russia was overextended abroad and feared the loss of Alaska in a future war. |
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