APUSH Civil War & Reconstruction Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts related to the Civil War and Reconstruction period.

James K. Polk

Expansionist president who provoked the Mexican-American War.

Stephen W. Kearny

Captured New Mexico and helped take California.

John C. Frémont

Known as 'Pathfinder'; helped capture California in the Bear Flag Revolt.

Winfield Scott

Captured Mexico City; later created the Anaconda Plan.

Nicholas P. Trist

Negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo even after being recalled.

David Wilmot

Proposed Wilmot Proviso to ban slavery in Mexican Cession.

Fire-Eaters

Southern radicals pushing for secession.

Popular Sovereignty

Voters in territories decided whether to allow slavery.

Free Soil Party

Political party opposed to the spread of slavery, aiming to protect free labor.

California Gold Rush

Massive migration to California that expedited statehood.

Underground Railroad

Network helping enslaved persons escape to freedom.

Seventh of March Speech

Speech by Daniel Webster urging compromise to save the Union.

Compromise of 1850

Legislation that admitted California as a free state and included the Fugitive Slave Act.

Fugitive Slave Law

Law compelling Northerners to return escaped slaves.

Ostend Manifesto

Plan to acquire Cuba to expand slavery.

Opium War

Conflict forcing China to open trade with Britain.

Treaty of Wanghia

First trade treaty between the US and China.

Gadsden Purchase

Acquisition of land for a southern railroad.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Legislation that established popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska.

Henry Ward Beecher

Sent rifles to anti-slavery settlers during Bleeding Kansas.

James Buchanan

Supported the Lecompton Constitution in Kansas.

Charles Sumner

Senator beaten for his anti-slavery speech.

Preston Brooks

Caned Sumner in the Senate.

Roger B. Taney

Wrote the Dred Scott decision.

Stephen A. Douglas

Promoted the Kansas-Nebraska Act and proposed the Freeport Doctrine.

Abraham Lincoln

His election triggered Southern secession.

John Brown

Led a raid on Harpers Ferry to initiate an armed slave revolt.

John C. Breckinridge

Southern Democratic candidate for president.

John J. Crittenden

Attempted a last compromise to avoid Civil War.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

An influential anti-slavery novel.

Impending Crisis of the South

Book arguing that slavery harmed poor whites.

New England Emigrant Aid Company

Organization that sent anti-slavery settlers to Kansas.

Lecompton Constitution

Attempt to establish a pro-slavery constitution in Kansas.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent conflict over slavery in the Kansas territory.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Supreme Court case ruling Congress cannot ban slavery in territories.

Panic of 1857

Economic downturn that disproportionately affected the North.

Tariff of 1857

Legislation that lowered tariffs.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Series of debates that gained Lincoln national prominence.

Freeport Doctrine

Idea that territories could block slavery despite the Dred Scott decision.

Harpers Ferry

Site of John Brown's failed slave revolt.

Constitutional Union Party

Political party that aimed to preserve the Union.

Crittenden Amendments

Proposed amendments to protect slavery below the 36°30' line.

Confederate States

Government formed by the states that seceded from the Union.

Fort Sumter

Location of the first shots fired in the Civil War.

Frederick Douglass

Abolitionist who pressured Lincoln for emancipation.

Charles F. Adams

Prevented Britain from aiding the Confederacy.

Napoleon III

French leader who installed Maximilian in Mexico.

Maximilian

Puppet emperor of Mexico executed by Juarez.

Benito Juarez

Leader who defeated the French in Mexico.

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States.

Elizabeth Blackwell

First woman to earn a medical degree in the US.

Clara Barton

Nurse who founded the American Red Cross.

Sally Tompkins

Confederate nurse-captain known for her service.

Stonewall Jackson

Confederate general killed by friendly fire.

George McClellan

Over cautiously led Union general during the Civil War.

Robert E. Lee

Confederate general known for his leadership.

A. E. Burnside

Union general known for the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg.

George Pickett

Led Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg.

Ulysses Grant

Union general who accepted Lee's surrender.

William Sherman

Union general known for his destructive March to the Sea.

Clement Vallandigham

Leader of the Copperheads, anti-war Democrats.

John Wilkes Booth

Assassinated President Lincoln.

Bull Run

First major battle of the Civil War, indicating a long conflict ahead.

Peninsula Campaign

Failed attempt by McClellan to capture Richmond.

Fort Henry & Donelson

Grant's first significant victories.

Shiloh

One of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War.

Second Bull Run

Confederate victory that bolstered Southern morale.

Antietam

Bloodiest single-day battle in American history; led to the Emancipation Proclamation.

Fredericksburg

Major defeat for Union forces.

Gettysburg

Turning point of the Civil War.

Vicksburg

Union victory resulting in control of the Mississippi River.

Sherman’s March

Campaign of total war against the South.

Wilderness Campaign

Grant's strategy to wear down Lee's forces.

Appomattox

Site where Lee surrendered to Grant, effectively ending the Civil War.

Habeas Corpus Suspension

Legal principle of detaining individuals without trial during the Civil War.

Morrill Tariff

Legislation that raised tariffs to protect Northern industries.

Homestead Act

Provided free land to settlers in the West.

Land Grant Colleges

Colleges that received federal land for educational purposes.

Pacific Railroad Act

Legislation that funded the construction of the transcontinental railroad.

Greenbacks

Paper money issued during the Civil War.

National Banking System

Established a system of national banks and regulated currency.

NY Draft Riots

Violent riots in New York against the draft during the Civil War.

Trent Affair

Almost led to war with Britain during the Civil War.

Alabama

Confederate raider ship that damaged Union shipping.

Laird Rams

Warships that Britain refused to deliver to the Confederacy.

Dominion of Canada

Established partly due to tensions from the Civil War.

Merrimack & Monitor

First battle between ironclad warships.

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln's decree to free slaves in Confederate states.

Juneteenth

Celebration of the end of slavery in the United States.

Thirteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery.

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln's speech redefined the purpose of the war.

Oliver Howard

Led the Freedmen's Bureau post-Civil War.

Harriet Jacobs

Author who revealed the abuses of enslaved women.

Andrew Johnson

Opposed Reconstruction and was impeached.

Thaddeus Stevens

Leader of the Radical Republicans.

Hiram Revels

First Black senator in US history.

Blanche Bruce

First Black full-term senator.

Edwin Stanton

Secretary of War whose firing led to Johnson's impeachment.

Benjamin Wade

Senator who would have served as president if Johnson was removed.

William Seward

Negotiated the purchase of Alaska.