Chapter 19: US History Vocab

Fort Sumner

South Carolina location where Confederate forces fired the first shots of the Civil War in April of 1861, after Union forces attempted to provision the fort.

Border States

Five slave states—Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia—that did not secede during the Civil War. To keep the states in the Union, Abraham Lincoln insisted that the war was not about abolishing slavery but rather protecting the Union.

West Virginia

Mountainous region that broke away from Virginia in 1861 to form its own state after Virginia seceded from the Union. Most of the residents of West Virginia were independent farmers and miners who did not own slaves and thus opposed the Confederate cause.

Trent affair

Diplomatic row that threatened to bring the British into the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy, after a Union warship stopped a British steamer and arrested two Confederate diplomats on board.

Alabama

British–built and manned Confederate warship that raided Union shipping during the Civil War. One of many built by the British for the Confederacy, despite Union protests.

Laird rams

Two well–armed ironclad warships constructed for the Confederacy by a British firm. Seeking to avoid war with the United States, the British government purchased the two ships for its Royal Navy instead.

Dominion of Canada

Unified Canadian government created by Britain to bolster Canadians against potential attacks or overtures from the United States.

writ of habeas corpus

Petition requiring law enforcement officers to present detained individuals before the court to examine the legality of the arrest. Protects individuals from arbitrary state action. Suspended by Lincoln during the Civil War.

New York draft riots

Uprising, mostly of working–class Irish Americans, in protest of the draft. Rioters were particularly incensed by the ability of the rich to hire substitutes or purchase exemptions.

Morrill Tariff Act

Increased duties back up to 1846 levels to raise revenue for the Civil War.

Greenbacks

Paper currency issued by the Union Treasury during the Civil War. Inadequately supported by gold, greenbacks fluctuated in value throughout the war, reaching a low of 39 cents on the dollar.

National Banking System

Network of member banks that could issue currency against purchased government bonds. Created during the Civil War to establish a stable national currency and stimulate the sale of war bonds.

Homestead Act

A federal law that sold settlers 160 acres of land for about $30 if they lived on it for five years and improved it by, for instance, building a house on it. The act helped make land accessible to hundreds of thousands of westward–moving settlers, but many people also found disappointment when their land was infertile or they saw speculators grabbing up the best land.

Pacific Railroad Act

Helped fund the construction of the Union Pacific transcontinental railroad with the use of land grants and government bonds.

U.S Sanitary Commission

Government agency founded with the help of Elizabeth Blackwell that trained nurses, collected medical supplies, and equipped hospitals in an effort to help the Union army. The commission helped professionalize nursing and gave many women the confidence and organizational skills to propel the women’s movement in the postwar years.

Charles Francis Adams

(1807–1886) Whig politician and foreign minister to Great Britain during the Civil War. Adams intervened in 1863 to prevent a British firm from selling Laird rams to the Confederacy.

Napoleon III

(1808–1873) Nephew of Napoleon I and president of the Second Republic of France, Napoleon III declared himself emperor of the French in 1852. Hoping to capitalize on America’s preoccupation with the Civil War, he sent a French army to occupy Mexico in 1863, installing Austrian archduke Maximilian as emperor of Mexico. Under threat from a newly unified United States, he withdrew his support for his puppet in 1867.

Maximillian

(1832–1867) Archduke of Austria who in 1864 was installed by Napoleon III as emperor of Mexico. The well–intentioned but hapless Maximilian saw his government collapse in 1867 when the French withdrew their support under pressure from the United States.

Jefferson Davis

(1808–1889) U.S. senator from Mississippi and president of the Confederate States of America. A West Point graduate, Davis staunchly defended slavery and Southern rights throughout his career, but he initially opposed secession in 1860. As president of the Confederacy, Davis faced the formidable task of overcoming Southern localism in directing his war effort. After the war, Davis was briefly imprisoned but was pardoned by Andrew Johnson in 1868.

Elizabeth Blackwell

(1821–1910) America’s first female physician, Blackwell helped organize the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War to aid the Union war effort by training nurses, collecting medical supplies, and equipping hospitals.

Clara Barton

(1821–1912) Massachusetts–born teacher and philanthropist who served as a nurse with the Union army during the Civil War. After the war, she became involved with the newly formed International Red Cross, serving as the first president of the American branch from 1882 to 1904.

Sally Tompkins

(1833–1916) Southern woman who established an infirmary for wounded Confederate soldiers in Richmond, Virginia. When Confederate hospitals were brought under military control, Jefferson Davis commissioned Tompkins as an officer with the rank of captain, making her the first female military officer in American history.