America's Long Road to Civil War

These flashcards cover key concepts and details from the lecture on the history of slavery in America leading up to the Civil War.

What was the primary dispute that led to the Civil War?

The core conflict was centered on the institution of slavery, specifically its expansion into new territories and its fundamental role in the Southern economy and social order.

What economic necessity drove the shift from indentured servitude to slavery in colonial America?

The cultivation of labor-intensive staple crops, such as tobacco, rice, and indigo, required a permanent and reliable labor force that indentured servitude could no longer provide as English economic conditions improved.

What was an indentured servant in colonial America?

A person, typically a poor European, who signed a legal contract to work without pay for a set number of years (usually 4 to 7) in exchange for passage to the New World, food, and shelter.

Why did the South become heavily reliant on slaves by the 1660s?

The economies of Virginia and Maryland shifted toward slavery as life expectancy in the colonies increased, making a lifetime investment in an enslaved person more profitable than a short-term contract with an indentured servant.

What was the Mason-Dixon Line?

A boundary surveyed between 1763 and 1767 to settle a border dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland; it eventually came to symbolize the cultural and political divide between free and slave states.

What did the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 accomplish regarding civil rights?

It established a process for admitting new states to the Union and explicitly prohibited slavery within the Northwest Territory, setting a precedent for future federal control over the expansion of slavery.

What was the Missouri Compromise of 1820?

A federal statute that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, while establishing the 36^{\circ} 30' latitude line as the boundary between free and slave territory within the Louisiana Purchase.

What were the key components of the Compromise of 1850?

It admitted California as a free state, left the status of slavery in Utah and New Mexico to popular sovereignty, abolished the slave trade in Washington D.C., and enacted a more stringent Fugitive Slave Act.

How did the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 escalate tensions?

It required citizens to assist in the capture of runaway slaves and denied accused runaways the right to a jury trial, which outraged many Northerners and increased the visibility of slavery's brutality.

What was the outcome of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854?

It repealed the Missouri Compromise line and allowed settlers in those territories to determine the status of slavery through popular sovereignty, leading to violent clashes known as 'Bleeding Kansas'.

What sparked the creation of the Republican Party?

The party emerged in 1854 as a direct response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, uniting former Whigs, Free Boilers, and anti-slavery Democrats who opposed the expansion of slavery into Western territories.

What were the constitutional implications of the Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) decision?

The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans were not citizens and had no standing to sue, and that Congress lacked the power to prohibit slavery in any federal territory, effectively declaring the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

What was the impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'?

Published in 1852, this novel humanized the suffering of enslaved people for a mass Northern audience, significantly strengthening the abolitionist movement and widening the emotional gap between North and South.

What was 'Bleeding Kansas' (1854$-1861$$)?

A period of guerrilla warfare between pro-slavery and anti-slavery 'Free-Staters' in the Kansas Territory, serving as a violent ideological precursor to the Civil War.

What did Abraham Lincoln mean by 'A house divided against itself cannot stand'?

Delivered in 1858, this speech argued that the U.S. government could not remain split between slave and free systems indefinitely; eventually, it would have to become all one thing or all the other.

What was the role of the Underground Railroad?

A clandestine network of safe houses and routes managed by 'conductors' like Harriet Tubman that assisted enslaved individuals in escaping to the free North, Canada, or Mexico.

How did Eli Whitney's cotton gin (1793) affect the Southern economy?

It automated the removal of seeds from short-staple cotton, making the crop immensely profitable and leading to a massive increase in the demand for enslaved labor across the Deep South.

What was the significance of John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859?

An attempt by a radical abolitionist to seize federal arms and ignite a slave revolt; while the raid failed, Brown's execution made him a martyr in the North and a figure of terror in the South.

What was the direct consequence of the Election of 1860?

The victory of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln without a single Southern electoral vote convinced Southern leaders that their interests were no longer represented, leading to South Carolina's secession in December 1860.