American Civil War & Slavery: Key Events, Laws, and Figures

Wilmot Proviso

Proposed banning slavery in territories gained from the Mexican-American War; intensified sectional conflict

Compromise of 1850

Series of laws attempting to calm tensions over slavery, including a stronger Fugitive Slave Act

Fugitive Slave Act

Required escaped slaves to be returned to owners, angering Northerners

Underground Railroad

Secret network helping enslaved people escape to freedom

Harriet Tubman

Famous conductor of the Underground Railroad

Popular Sovereignty

Idea that settlers vote on slavery in a territory

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Allowed popular sovereignty; repealed the Missouri Compromise

Stephen Douglas

Illinois senator; supporter of popular sovereignty

Bleeding Kansas

Violent clashes between pro- and anti-slavery settlers

Caning of Charles Sumner

Violent attack on an abolitionist senator that symbolized political breakdown

Birth of the Republican Party

Formed to stop the spread of slavery into the territories

Election of 1856

Democrat James Buchanan elected; Republicans show growing strength

Dred Scott Decision

Supreme Court ruled slaves were property and Congress could not ban slavery

Roger B. Taney

Chief Justice who wrote the Dred Scott decision

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Debates over slavery and popular sovereignty

House Divided Speech

Lincoln's warning that the nation could not survive half slave and half free

John Brown

Radical abolitionist who used violence to oppose slavery

The Raid on Harpers Ferry

John Brown's failed attempt to start a slave revolt

Election of 1860

Lincoln's victory convinced Southern states to secede

Abraham Lincoln

16th president; led the Union during the Civil War

Secession

Southern states leaving the Union

Confederate States of America

Government formed by seceding states

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederacy

Habeas Corpus

Right protecting against unlawful imprisonment; suspended by Lincoln

Battle of Fort Sumter

Confederate attack that started the Civil War

Border States

Slave states that stayed in the Union (MD, MO, KY, DE)

Union Advantages

Industry, population, navy

Confederate Advantages

Home-field advantage, strong generals

Robert E. Lee

Top Confederate general

First Battle of Bull Run

First major battle; proved the war would not be short

Thomas Stonewall Jackson

Confederate general known for strong defense

Anaconda Plan

Union plan to blockade Southern ports and control the Mississippi River

Ironclads

Armored ships that changed naval warfare

Ulysses S. Grant

Union general who won key victories

Battle of Shiloh

Bloody battle showing the war would be long and costly

Battle of Antietam

Bloodiest single day of the war; led to Emancipation Proclamation

Emancipation Proclamation

Freed slaves in Confederate-held territory

Battle of Fredericksburg

Major Confederate victory

Battle of Vicksburg

Union gained control of the Mississippi River

David Farragut

Union naval commander who helped secure Southern ports

Battle of Gettysburg

Turning point of the war; Lee's last major offensive

Pickett's Charge

Failed Confederate assault at Gettysburg

New York Draft Riots

Violent protests against the military draft

Total War

Strategy targeting civilian infrastructure and morale

Sherman's March to the Sea

Union campaign destroying Southern resources

War of Attrition

Grant's strategy of wearing down Confederate forces

Surrender at Appomattox

Lee surrendered to Grant, ending the war

Assassination of Lincoln

Lincoln was killed shortly after the war ended