US History Freedom & Protest Terms #1

Kansas-Nebraska Act

This 1854 law allowed voters in these territories to choose whether or not to allow slavery which led to violence

Dred Scott decision

This Supreme Court ruling declared enslaved people were not viewed as citizens but as property and could be taken anywhere

Abraham Lincoln

President of the United States during the Civil War who helped preserve the United States by leading the defeat of the Confederacy and ending slavery

Confederate States of America

Name of the Southern states that broke away from the United States in 1861 and wanted slavery to continue

Robert E. Lee

He was the head of all of the Confederate troops during the Civil War

Battle of Gettysburg

This marked a turning point in the Civil War because after the South lost 1/3 of its troops here (and did not have as big of a military as the North anyway), it was only a matter of time for the South to surrender

Cotton gin

Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, this invention caused the demand for enslaved people to dramatically increase

Harriet Tubman

Former enslaved person who was the most famous "conductor" along the Underground Railroad, helping other enslaved people escape to the North

Frederick Douglass

As a runaway slave, this person was able to explain to people how bad slavery was in his public speeches

Compromise of 1850

This agreement admitted California as a free state and included the Fugitive Slave Act requiring Northerners to return runaway slaves

Uncle Tom's Cabin

This novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe influenced many Northerners to advocate for the abolition of slavery due to its vivid portrayal of slavery and was banned in the South

French & Indian War

This led to a British and colonial victory and then the British passing more taxes/acts on the colonists to help pay for this

Stamp Act

This 1765 law taxed printed goods, including playing cards and newspapers

Navigation Acts

Laws passed by the British in the 1660s to control colonial trade

Boston Massacre

This occurred in 1770 in which British troops fired on and killed American colonists and led to many colonists getting more angry with British control

Carlisle Schools

A system of Indian boarding schools established in the late 19th century to assimilate Native American children into white American culture.

Trail of Tears

The forced relocation of Native American tribes, like the Cherokee, from their ancestral lands, primarily during the 1830s, resulting in significant suffering and death.

Battle of Wounded Knee

Sparked by fears around the Ghost Dance, this massacre occurred in 1890 when U.S. troops killed hundreds of Lakota Sioux, marking a tragic end to the era of Indian Wars

Battle of Little Bighorn

A 1876 conflict between the U.S. Army and a coalition of Native American tribes as a way to resist losing land and being pushed onto a reservation; the significant victory for the Native Americans led to many more troops being sent to the region, and eventually resulted in every tribe being forced onto reservation lands.

Sons of Liberty

A group of American colonists formed in the 1760s to oppose British taxation and influence, known for organized protests like the Boston Tea Party, and aggressive tactics like tarring and feathering tax collectors

Declaration of Independence 

A document adopted on July 4, 1776, declaring the American colonies' separation from British rule, outlining grievances against the king and asserting the colonies' right to self-governance.