Protest, Resistance, and Violence (1850s)

Vocabulary flashcards covering the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Northern resistance, the Underground Railroad, Uncle Tom's Cabin, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the violence of Bleeding Kansas and Congress.

Dred Scott decision

An 1857 Supreme Court ruling led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney that denied African Americans citizenship, declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, and held that Fifth Amendment property protections barred the federal government from banning slavery in territories.

Lecompton Constitution

A proposed proslavery state constitution for Kansas endorsed by President James Buchanan despite being repeatedly rejected by the territory's Free-Soil majority.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

A series of seven 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign discussions focused on territorial slavery, contrasting the moral containment of the institution with the doctrine of popular sovereignty.

Freeport Doctrine

Stephen A. Douglas's argument that territorial settlers could effectively exclude slavery prior to statehood simply by electing local officials who refused to enact or enforce slave codes.

Harpers Ferry raid

An 1859 assault led by abolitionist John Brown on a federal arsenal in Virginia to initiate an armed slave insurrection, ending in his capture, execution, and Northern martyrdom.

Election of 1860

The presidential contest won by Abraham Lincoln without Southern electoral votes, triggering the secession of South Carolina and six other Deep South states to form the Confederacy.