Unit 4

Popular Sovereignty

The notion that the sovereign people of a given territory should decide whether to allow slavery.

Fugitive Slave Law (1850)

Passed as part of the Compromise of 1850, it set high penalties for anyone who aided escaped slaves and compelled all law enforcement officers to participate in retrieving runaways.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe's widely read novel that dramatized the horrors of slavery which caused many to join the abolitionist movement.

New York Draft Riots

Uprisings during the Civil War (1863), mostly of working-class Irish-Americans, in protest of the draft. Rioters were particularly incensed by the ability of the rich to hire substitutes or purchase exemptions.

Emancipation Proclamation

1863. Declared all slaves in rebelling states to be free but did not affect slavery in non-rebelling Border States.

Sherman's March to the Sea

1864-1865. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's destructive march through Georgia. An early instance of "total war", purposely targeting infrastructure and civilian property to diminish morale and undercut the Confederate War effort.

Freedmans' Bureau

1865-1872. Created to aid newly emancipated slaves by providing food, clothing, medical care, education, and legal support.

Black Codes

1865-1866. Laws passed throughout the South to restrict the rights of emancipated blacks.

Sharecropping

An agricultural system that emerged after the Civil War in which black and white farmers rented land and residences from a plantation owner in exchange for giving him a certain "share" of each year's crop.

Hayes-Tilden Election

The South conceded to let Hayes win the presidency because he agreed to pull out the troops. - Election 1876 - sacrificed reconstruction ideals of the Republican party

Compromise of 1850

Admitted California as a free state, opened New Mexico and Utah to popular sovereignty, ended the slave trade (but not slavery itself) in Washington D.C., and introduced a more stringent fugitive slave law. Widely opposed in both the North and South, it did little to settle the escalating dispute over slavery.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854. Proposed that the issue of slavery be decided by popular sovereignty in the Kansas and Nebraska territories, thus revoking the 1820 Missouri Compromise. Introduced by Stephen Douglass in an effort to bring Nebraska into the Union and pave the way for a northern transcontinental railroad.

Homestead Act

1862. A federal law that gave settlers 160 acres of land for about $30 if they lived on it for five years and improved it by, for instance, building a house on it. The act helped make land accessible to hundreds of thousands of westward-moving settlers.

Gettysburg Address

1863. Abraham Lincoln's oft-quoted speech, delivered at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg battlefield. In the address, Lincoln framed the war as a means to uphold the values of liberty.

10% Reconstruction Plan

1863. Introduced by President Lincoln, it proposed that a state be readmitted to the Union once 10 percent of its voters had pledged loyalty to the United States and promised to honor emancipation of slaves.

Radical Republicans

Most liberal part of the Republican Party. Desired political, economic, and social equality for African Americans. Wanted harsh punishment for the South after the Civil War.

Election of Lincoln

Angered many people in the south who owned slaves because he wanted to end slavery. Won the election of 1860 but did not win the popular vote. South Carolina was happy at the outcome of the election because now it had a reason to secede.11 states in the south seceded and made themselves the Confederacy after the election.

Abolitionist Movement

The movement to end the practice of slavery within the entirety of the United States.

Anaconda Plan

Union war plan by Winfield Scott, called for blockade of southern coast, capture of Richmond, capture of the Mississippi River, and to take an army through heart of south.

Wilmot Proviso

(1846) Proposal to prohibit slavery in any land acquired in the Mexican War. Never passed by both houses of Congress but helped fan the flame of sectional tension.

Free-Soil Party

(1848) Political party dedicated to stopping the expansion of slavery into new territories.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

(1848) The Mexican government gave up the area of Texas and offered to sell the provinces of California and New Mexico as a result of its defeat in the Mexican-American War.

Gadsden Purchase

(1853) Agreement w/ Mexico that gave the US parts of present-day New Mexico & Arizona in exchange for $10 million; all but completed the continental expansion envisioned by those who believed in Manifest Destiny.

Bleeding Kansas

(1856-1861) A sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-Slavery elements that took place in Kansas-Nebraska Territory. The dispute further strained the relations of the North and South, making civil war imminent.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

(1857) Supreme Court case that decided US Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in federal territories and slaves, as private property, could not be taken away without due process. Invalidated the Missouri Compromise.

John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry

(1859) John Brown led a raid on Harper's Ferry. He hoped to start a rebellion against slaveholders by arming enslaved African Americans. Brown was quickly defeated by citizens and federal troops. Brown became a villain to southerners who now thought northerners would use violence to end slavery as well as a martyr to some northerners who saw Brown as someone who sacrificed himself for the ideal of freedom for all.

Election of 1860

(1860) The United States presidential election of 1860 set the stage for the American Civil War. Hardly more than a month following Lincoln's victory came declarations of secession by South Carolina and other states, which were rejected as illegal by outgoing President James Buchanan and President-elect Lincoln.

Civil Rights Act of 1867

(1867) Banned discrimination in public accommodations, prohibited discrimination in any federally assisted program, outlawed discrimination in most employment; enlarged federal powers to protect voting rights and to speed school desegregation.

Thirteenth Amendment

(1865) The constitutional amendment ratified after the Civil War that forbade slavery and involuntary servitude.

Fourteenth Amendment

(1868) Provided equal protection of the law to freed slaves. Representation for any state that withheld voting from African Americans would be reduced.

Fifteenth Amendment

(1870) Prohibited any state from denying citizens the right to vote on the grounds of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Manifest Destiny

A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.

Texas Annexation

1845. Originally refused in 1837, as the U.S. Government believed that the annexation would lead to war with Mexico. Texas remained a sovereign nation. Annexed via a joint resolution through Congress, supported by President-elect Polk, and approved in 1845. Land from the Republic of Texas later became parts of NM, CO, OK, KS, and WY.

"Fifty-Four Forty or Fight"

The phrase used in James K Polk's 1844 presidential election dealing with the Oregon Territory. Polk's campaign used the phrase as a rallying cry for the United States to obtain all of Oregon Territory, including land claimed by the English, up through Northern Canada.

Mexican American War

It stemmed from the annexation of the Republic of Texas by the U.S. in 1845 and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (the Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (the U.S. claim). 1846 - 1848. President Polk declared war on Mexico over the dispute of land in Texas. At the end, American ended up with 55% of Mexico's land, called the Mexican Cession.

Stephen A. Douglas

Senator from Illinois who ran for president against Abraham Lincoln and was a leading voice in the debates over slavery and its expansion before the Civil War. Wrote the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Freeport Doctrine. Influential in the compromise of 1850

Abraham Lincoln

16th President of the United States saved the Union during the Civil War and emancipated the slaves; was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865)

secession

Formal withdrawal of states or regions from a nation

habeas corpus

Petition requiring law enforcement officers to present detained individuals before the court to examine the legality of the arrest. Protects individuals from arbitrary state action. Suspended by Lincoln during the Civil War.

Robert E. Lee

Confederate general who had opposed secession but did not believe the Union should be held together by force. Military genius whose aggressiveness made him a fearsome opponent throughout the Civil War.

Battle of Gettysburg

A large battle in the American Civil War, took place in southern Pennsylvania from July 1 to July 3, 1863. Union General George G. Meade led an army of about 90,000 men to victory against General Robert E. Lee's Confederate army of about 75,000. Proved to be a significant turning point in the war because of the loss of about 1/3 of Lee's army.

Ulysses S. Grant

An American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869-1877). He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War.

William Tecumseh Sherman

Union General who destroyed South during "march to the sea" from Atlanta to Savannah; example of total war and "scorched-earth" military tactics.

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

He was a confederate general who was known for his fearlessness in leading rapid marches, bold flanking movements, and furious assaults. He earned his nickname at the battle of first bull run for standing courageously against union fire. During the battle of Chancellorsville his own men accidently mortally wounded him.

martial law

Rule by the army instead of the elected government (such as in the South as a result of the Military Reconstruction Act)

Radical Reconstruction

Name given to the period when Congress, which was controlled by Republicans, took over Reconstruction efforts. When southerners balked at some of the more moderate reforms proposed, more radical republicans started to gain more power and pass more legislation.

Military Reconstruction Act

1867. Divided the South into five districts and placed them under military rule; required Southern States to ratify the 14th amendment; guaranteed freedmen the right to vote in convention to write new state constitutions

carpetbagger

A northerner who went to the South immediately after the Civil War; especially one who tried to gain political advantage or other advantages from the disorganized situation in southern states (as viewed from the southern perspective).

scalawag

A derogatory term for southerners who were working with the North to buy up land from desperate southerners; sometimes used in a general way by southerners criticizing other southerners who had northern sympathies.

James K. Polk

Democratic president after John Tyler who was best known for policies that promoted Manifest Destiny and expansionism.

John C. Fremont

An American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office of President of the United States (1856), and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery.

Bear Flag Revolt

(1846) a revolt that took place during the Mexican-American War when 500 Americans (Anglos) in Mexican California took the city of Sonoma, CA in the spirit of Manifest Destiny and declared California to be an independent nation.

Liberty Party

A former political party in the United States; formed in 1839 to oppose the practice of slavery; merged with the Free Soil Party in 1848.

John C. Calhoun

Senator who argued for states' rights for the South. He asked for slavery to be left alone, slaves to be returned to the South, and state balance to be kept intact.

William H. Seward

Congressman of the "Young Guard" who fiercely opposed slavery and argued that Americans should follow a "higher law" (God's law) over the Constitution when it came to the issue of slavery.

The Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman

Secret system of safe houses along a route that led many slaves to freedom in the North and eventually Canada.Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad

Charles Sumner

Senator who spoke out for black freedom and racial equality post-Civil War. Publicly beaten by Preston Brooks for speaking out against the violence in Kansas, an event that marked increasing tensions between the North and South prior to the Civil War.

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America prior to and during the Civil War.

self-determination

The ability of a people/government to determine their own course or future using their own free will.

Lecompton Constitution

Supported the existence of slavery in the proposed state and protected rights of slaveholders. It was rejected by Kansas, making Kansas an eventual free state (and was a factor in spurring violence there).

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Lincoln challenged Stephen Douglas to debates during the senatorial race of 1858 which became a public referendum on the issue of slavery.

Border States

Southern states that never chose secession and joined the Confederacy during the Civil War (Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Deleware).

Andrew Johnson

17th President of the United States, A Southerner form Tennessee, as V.P. when Lincoln was killed, he became president. He opposed radical Republicans who passed Reconstruction Acts over his veto. The first U.S. president to be impeached, he survived the Senate removal by only one vote. Andrew Johnson implemented a plan of Reconstruction that gave the white South a free hand in regulating the transition from slavery to freedom and offered no role to blacks in the politics of the South

George B. McClellan

First commander of the Army of the Potomac; well-known for being a master at training an army; was replaced several times by President Lincoln during the Civil War because of his timidness and sometimes outright refusal to send his army into battle.

Copperheads

Nickname for Northerners who were pro-Confederacy.

First Battle of Bull Run (Battle of Manassas)

(July 1861) first major conflict of the Civil War. Southern victory led to overconfidence.

Thaddeus Stevens

Radical Republican congressman from Pennsylvania who defended runaway slaves in court for free and insisted on being buried in a black cemetery; hated white Southerners. Leading figure on the Joint Committee on Reconstruction and for the social equality of African Americans.

Wade-Davis Bill

Bill pushed by Congress in 1864 that required 50 percent of a state's voters take the oath of allegiance and demanded stronger safe-guards for emancipation than proposed in Lincoln's 10 percent plan. Pocket-vetoed by Lincoln.

"Seward's Folly"

Refers to the United States' Secretary of State William Seward's decision to purchase the Alaskan territory from Russia in 1867. At the time, Seward's decision to buy the land was regarded as a terrible one by many critics in the United States.

Matthew Perry and Japan

(1794-1858) In 1854, he negotiated the Treaty of Kanagawa, which was the first step in starting a political and commercial relationship between the United States and Japan.

Treaty of Wanghia

The first diplomatic agreement between China and America in history, signed on July 3, 1844. Since America signed as a nation interested in trade instead of colonization, it was rewarded with extraordinary amount of trading power.

Death of the Whig Party

The Whig Party grew unpopular after John Quincy Adams's presidency and the Election of 1828. The party also did little to prevent slavery and its extension into the territories. After the Election of 1844 the Whig Party started to lose support. The rise of other parties like the Free-Soil Party and the Republican Party gave Whig supporters other options.

The election of 1856

The 1856 United States presidential election was the 18th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 1856. In a three-way election, Democrat James Buchanan defeated Republican nominee John C. Frémont, and Know Nothing nominee Millard Fillmore.

Nativists

Americans who feared that immigrants would take jobs and impose their Roman Catholic beliefs on society

The panic of 1857

was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph by Samuel F. Morse in 1844, the Panic was the first financial crisis to spread rapidly throughout the United States.

Crittenden Compromise

was an unsuccessful proposal to permanently enshrine slavery in the United States Constitution, and thereby make it unconstitutional for future congresses to end slavery. It was introduced by United States Senator John J. Crittenden (Constitutional Unionist of Kentucky) on December 18, 1860.

Reasons for secession

South feared that their rights as a slaveholding minority were being threatened, and were alarmed at the growing power of the Republicans, plus, they believed that they would be unopposed despite what the Northerners claimed; also hoped to develop its own banking and shipping

Europe's View of the Civil War

Perhaps the largest reason was the institution of slavery, which was illegal in Britain and France. Especially after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, clearly stating that the war would be fought to abolish slavery and restore the Union, Europe stayed out of the American conflict.

Oregon Territory

Split between U.S. and Great Britain, the U.S. had finally achieved its goal of Manifest Destiny. The rich farmlands of Oregon drew thousands of settlers. The land was free to those who could make it the Oregon Territory

Winfield Scott

"Old Fuss and Feathers," whose conquest of Mexico City brought U.S. victory in the Mexican War

Zachary Taylor

(1849-1850), Whig president who was a Southern slave holder, and war hero (Mexican-American War). Won the 1848 election. Surprisingly did not address the issue of slavery at all on his platform. He died during his term and his Vice President was Millard Fillmore.

Battle of Antietam

Civil War battle in which the North suceedeed in halting Lee's Confederate forces in Maryland. Was the bloodiest battle of the war resulting in 25,000 casualties

Battle of Shiloh

Confederate forces suprised union troops & drove them across the Tennesee river; union got backup and won the battle but it was one of the most bloody battles in the civil war

African Americans in the war

By the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 black men (10% of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army and another 19,000 served in the Navy. ... Black carpenters, chaplains, cooks, guards, laborers, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots, surgeons, and teamsters also contributed to the war cause.

Union Party (1864)

A coalition party of pro-war Democrats and Republicans formed during the 1864 election to defeat anti-war Northern Democrats.

Reconstruction

the period after the Civil War in the United States when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union

Conscription during the civil war

that produces the first wartime draft of U.S. citizens in American history. The act called for registration of all males between the ages of 20 and 45, including aliens with the intention of becoming citizens, by April 1.

Civil war - What states were on what side?

Abraham Lincoln was their President. The Confederacy included the states of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Jefferson Davis was their President

Advantages and Disadvantages of the North and South in the Civil War

Despite the North's greater population, however, the South had an army almost equal in size during the first year of the war. The North had an enormous industrial advantage as well. At the beginning of the war, the Confederacy had only one-ninth the industrial capacity of the Union. But that statistic was misleading. The Union also had an industrial economy, where- as the Confederacy had an economy based on agriculture. The Union had most of the natural resources, like coal, iron, and gold, and also a well-developed rail system.

Native Americans in the Civil War

Approximately 20,000 Native Americans served in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War, participating in battles such as Pea Ridge, Second Manassas, Antietam, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and in Federal assaults on Petersburg.

Foreigners in the civil war

One in every four members of the Union armed forces was an immigrant, some 543,000 of the more than 2 million Union soldiers by recent estimates. Another 18% had at least one foreign-born parent. Together, immigrants and the sons of immigrants made up about 43% of the U.S. armed forces. Foreign enlistment in the American Civil War largely favored the Union, which was far more successful in attracting international volunteers. Nonetheless, thousands of immigrants and mercenaries served with the Confederacy.

Social Causes of the Civil War

People were socially divided bc one side wanted to abolish slavery and others wanted to keep it

poltical causes of the civil war

include the slow collapse of the Whig Party, the founding of the Republican Party, and, most important, the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln as president. Religious opposition to slavery increased, supported by ministers and abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison.

Civil War (1861-1865)

total war; Union is perpetual v. liberty before Union; began w/ bombardment of Fort Sumter; Lee surrendered at Appotomax; 600k casualties; legacy expanded federal power and destroyed agrarian south

Economic & Social results of the civil War

After the war, the villages, cities and towns in the South were utterly destroyed. Furthermore, the Confederate bonds and currencies became worthless. All the banks in the South collapsed, and there was an economic depression in the South with deepened inequalities between the North and South.

Economic results of the civil war

After the Civil War, sharecropping and tenant farming took the place of slavery and the plantation system in the South. Sharecropping and tenant farming were systems in which white landlords (often former plantation slaveowners) entered into contracts with impoverished farm laborers to work their lands. The Union's industrial and economic capacity soared during the war as the North continued its rapid industrialization to suppress the rebellion. In the South, a smaller industrial base, fewer rail lines, and an agricultural economy based upon slave labor made mobilization of resources more difficult.

Fort Sumter

Federal fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina; the confederate attack on the fort marked the start of the Civil War

Emergence of Republican Party

In 1854, the Republican Party emerged to combat the expansion of slavery into American territories after the passing of the Kansas–Nebraska Act. The early Republican Party consisted of northern Protestants, factory workers, professionals, businessmen, prosperous farmers, and after the Civil War, former black slaves.

Ostend Manifesto

A document written in 1854 that described the rationale for the United States to purchase Cuba from Spain while implying that the U.S. should declare war if Spain refused.

Pottawatomie Massacre

1856- John Brown, 5 of his sons, and 3 other associates murdered 5 pro-slavery men at 3 different cabins along the banks of Pottawatomie Creek. This marked the beginning of the “Bleeding Kansas” period.