Sectionalism and Slavery: 1820-1860

This set of flashcards covers key vocabulary and concepts related to sectionalism, slavery, and political conflicts in the United States between 1820 and 1860.

Sectionalism

Placing the interests of a region above the interests of the nation.

King Cotton

A term that describes the dominance of cotton production and the economy in the South.

Missouri Compromise

A 1820 agreement that allowed Missouri to enter as a slave state and Maine as a free state.

Tariff

A tax imposed on imported goods, which divided the North and South in the 1830s.

Nullification

The act of canceling a federal law that a state finds unconstitutional.

Nat Turner Rebellion

An 1831 slave rebellion led by Nat Turner, resulting in heightened fears of slave insurrections.

Mexican Cession

Land ceded to the United States by Mexico in 1848, raising questions about slavery.

Wilmot Proviso

An unsuccessful 1846 proposal to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico.

Free Soil Party

A political party formed in 1848 to oppose the extension of slavery into the territories.

Compromise of 1850

A series of laws aimed at resolving conflicts between free and slave states.

Fugitive Slave Law

A law that required the return of runaway slaves to their owners, part of the Compromise of 1850.

Abolitionism

The movement to end slavery.

Underground Railroad

A network of secret routes and safe houses used to help enslaved people escape to freedom.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

An anti-slavery novel published in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

A law passed in 1854 that allowed residents of the territories to decide about slavery through popular sovereignty.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that the authority of the government is created and sustained by the consent of its people.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

An 1857 Supreme Court case that ruled that African Americans were not citizens and Congress could not restrict slavery.

Bleeding Kansas

A series of violent confrontations in 1856 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in Kansas.

John Brown

A radical abolitionist who led an unsuccessful raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859.

Election of 1860

The presidential election that resulted in the election of Abraham Lincoln and heightened tensions leading to the Civil War.

Secession

The act of withdrawing from an organization or alliance, especially the withdrawal of Southern states from the Union.

Virginia Slave Codes

Laws set in place to govern the lives of enslaved people in Virginia before the Civil War.

Civil War

A conflict between Northern and Southern states of the U.S. that lasted from 1861 to 1865.

Henry Clay

A key political figure known as 'The Great Compromiser,' pivotal in negotiating the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850.

Daniel Webster

A statesman who supported the Compromise of 1850 and argued against the extension of slavery.

John C. Calhoun

A Southern politician who opposed the Compromise of 1850 and argued for states' rights.

Republican Party

Political party formed in the mid-1850s that opposed the expansion of slavery.

Free-Soil movement

A political movement dedicated to preventing the expansion of slavery into the western territories.

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century doctrine that the expansion of the United States throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable.

Abraham Lincoln

The 16th President of the United States, who led the country during the Civil War.

Stephen Douglas

Democratic senator who advocated for popular sovereignty and debated Lincoln in 1858.

Southern Democrats

The faction of the Democratic Party that supported slavery and state's rights.

Northern Democrats

The faction of the Democratic Party that generally opposed the expansion of slavery.

Civil Disobedience

The active refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of an authority.

Electoral vote

The votes cast by electors in the Electoral College, which determines the outcome of presidential elections.

Radical Republicans

A faction of the Republican Party during the Civil War that advocated for the abolition of slavery.