Sectionalism & Civil War

15. Popular Sovereignty

The political equivalent of “let the group chat decide.” 📱 Basically the idea that the people in each territory should vote on whether to allow slavery. Sounds democratic… actually led to chaos (see: Kansas 😬).

16. Free Soil Party

Anti-slavery but not exactly abolitionist. Their vibe was: “Slavery is bad because it takes jobs from white farmers.”💀 They weren’t fighting for enslaved people — they just didn’t want slavery expanding into new territories.

17. Underground Railroad

A secret escape network where enslaved people moved in the shadows with help from brave “conductors” 🚂✨. Not a real railroad — more like a dangerous freedom trail leading north.

18. Harriet Tubman

THE conductor. The legend. The GOAT. 🐐
Escaped slavery, then risked her life again and again to lead others to freedom. Straight-up spy, scout, and superhero during the Civil War too.

19. Compromise of 1850

Henry Clay’s “please stop fighting” package deal 😭:

1. CA = free state

2. Everything else from the Mexican Cession = popular sovereignty

3. Stronger Fugitive Slave Law (made the North furious)
   Temporarily calmed things… but lowkey made everything worse.

20. Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

This law said: “If you’re enslaved and run North, we’re sending you back.”
Runaways couldn’t testify, didn’t get a trial, and anyone helping them could be fined or jailed. Basically the South said “Do our policing FOR us,” and the North said “Absolutely not.”

21. Franklin Pierce

The 1852 president who kinda… let the country burn 😭🔥. Weak leadership, avoided real solutions, and watched sectional tensions explode. Basically: “I was here but I didn’t help.”

22. Gadsden Purchase

The U.S. bought a lil slice of land from Mexico in 1853 to build a southern railroad 🚄. Super tiny compared to the Mexican Cession — but important for westward expansion.

23. Stephen Douglas

Illinois senator, king of “popular sovereignty will fix everything” 🙄.
Pushed the Kansas-Nebraska Act to get a railroad for Chicago — accidentally jumpstarted the Civil War. Oops.

24. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Douglas’ “brilliant” idea: split Nebraska Territory into Kansas + Nebraska and use popular sovereignty. This undid the Missouri Compromise and opened land to potential slavery. Result? Violence. Rage. NEW Republican Party. Basically chaos.exe.

25. Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s blockbuster anti-slavery novel.
300k copies in a year 😳 — convinced tons of Northerners that slavery = moral evil. Lincoln (allegedly) told her: “So you’re the little woman who started this big war.”

26. “Bleeding Kansas”

Kansas became The Purge but 1850s edition. 🔪
Pro-slavery + anti-slavery settlers literally fought in the streets. Homes burned, people murdered — the territory was a mini civil war BEFORE the Civil War.

27. Harpers Ferry Raid (1859)

John Brown said “peaceful change isn’t working, bet.”
He and his men raided a federal arsenal hoping to spark a massive slave revolt. It failed — he was captured and executed — but he became a Northern martyr.

28. “States’ Rights”

Southern politicians’ favorite phrase meaning:
“We want to ignore federal laws we dislike 🫠.”
Primarily used to defend slavery and later secession.

29. James Buchanan

President from 1856–1860, famous for… doing nothing 😐.
Watched the country collapse, said “not my problem,” then left Lincoln a flaming dumpster fire.

30. Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)

Supreme Court said:
• Black people aren’t citizens
• Enslaved people = property
• Congress can’t ban slavery ANYWHERE
This ruling basically nuked popular sovereignty + Missouri Compromise and made the national crisis 10× worse.

31. Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)

Illinois Senate debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas — HUGE national attention 👀.
Lincoln: “Slavery is morally wrong.”
Douglas: “Let people vote.”
Did Lincoln win the Senate seat? Nope. Did he become nationally famous? Absolutely.

32. Abraham Lincoln

Republican rising star who spoke out against slavery’s expansion. Lost his Senate race in 1858, but the debates made him a national figure — and set him up for 1860.

33. Election of 1860

A four-way political circus 🎪.
Lincoln (Republican) wins with ZERO Southern electoral votes. The South sees this as the final straw… and secession begins.

34. Confederate States of America

The “new country” Southern states created after seceding in 1860–1861.
President = Jefferson Davis.
Their whole vibe: “We’re leaving because slavery is endangered.”

35. Fort Sumter, South Carolina

Where the Civil War literally popped off 💥.
Lincoln sent food (NOT weapons) to the fort; the Confederacy fired first. Boom — war.

36. Border States

Slave states that didn’t secede: Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware.
Lincoln tried REALLY hard to keep them — suspended habeas corpus, used martial law. Losing them would’ve been catastrophic.

37. Strengths and Weaknesses of the North

Strengths: more people, more factories, more railroads, more $$$, strong navy.
Weaknesses: weak generals early on, public divisions, slower to find strong leadership.

38. Strengths and Weaknesses of the South

Strengths: fighting on home turf, better early generals (Lee!), high morale.
Weaknesses: fewer factories, fewer supplies, tiny navy, hoped too much for foreign aid.

39. Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederacy.
Serious, stubborn, not great at working with others. Tried to run a national government while yelling “states’ rights!” which… did not work well.

40. Battle of Bull Run (1st Manassas)

First major battle 🫣.
CONFEDERATE victory — but it made the South overconfident and made the North realize this war was NOT gonna be quick.

41. Battle of Antietam (1862)

Bloodiest single day in U.S. history 😳 — 23,000 casualties.
Union stopped Lee’s invasion of the North. Let Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Turning point.

42. Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln declared enslaved people in Confederate states free (not border states).
Purpose:
• Hurt the South’s war effort
• Encourage enslaved people to leave plantations
• Keep Britain from supporting the Confederacy

43. 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment

One of the first Black Union regiments ✊🏾.
Famous for bravery at Fort Wagner. Helped prove African American soldiers were absolutely essential to Union victory.

44. Gettysburg Address

Lincoln’s short but iconic speech after the Gettysburg battle.
Honored fallen soldiers and redefinded the war as a fight for a “new birth of freedom.”

45. Battle of Gettysburg (1863)

Three-day showdown in Pennsylvania.
Union victory. Lee’s “Pickett’s Charge” failed. South never invaded the North again. THE turning point.

46. Battle of Vicksburg (1863)

Grant’s siege on a Mississippi River fortress.
Vicksburg surrendered on July 4, giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi River. Major win.

47. Ulysses S. Grant

Union general who actually won battles 😂.
Took Vicksburg, then became head of the Union army. Relentless, strategic, and exactly what Lincoln needed.

48. Robert E. Lee

Confederacy’s top general — brilliant strategist but ultimately outnumbered.
Led major victories early on but defeated at Gettysburg, surrendering to Grant in 1865.

49. Sherman’s “March to the Sea”

Union General Sherman marched through Georgia burning railroads, crops, and supplies (“scorched earth”) 🔥.
Goal: break the South’s will to fight. It worked.

50. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Right after the Union won, Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater by John Wilkes Booth.
The nation was devastated — and Reconstruction instantly became way harder.