U.S. History practice flashcards

Practice flashcards covering U.S. history from the early 1850s to World War I, including Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, and the Progressive Era.

Mexican Cession territory issue

The question of whether slavery would be allowed in vast new territory, threatening the balance established by the Missouri Compromise.

Zachary Taylor's fate

He died in $1850$ while in office.

Millard Fillmore

The Vice President who became president after Zachary Taylor died in $1850$.

Compromise of $1850$ - Point $1$

California admitted as a free state.

Compromise of $1850$ - Point $2$

Utah Territory organized with popular sovereignty.

Compromise of $1850$ - Point $3$

New Mexico Territory organized with popular sovereignty.

Compromise of $1850$ - Point $4$

Slave trade ended in Washington D.C.

Compromise of $1850$ - Point $5$

Fugitive Slave Act strengthened.

Fugitive Slave Act of $1850$

Required escaped enslaved people to be returned to enslavers.

Northern resistance to Fugitive Slave Act

Included the underground railroad, personal liberty laws, and refusal to cooperate with slave catchers.

Popular Sovereignty

Citizens vote on an issue, such as whether to allow slavery in a territory.

Election of $1852$ winner

Franklin Pierce (Democrat).

Kansas-Nebraska act

Created Kansas and Nebraska territories and allowed popular sovereignty.

Missouri Compromise line repeal

The Kansas-Nebraska act repealed the line by allowing slavery north of $36^{\circ}30'$.

Border ruffians

Pro-slavery Missourians who crossed into Kansas to vote illegally.

Groups in Kansas before the slavery vote

Pro-slavery settlers and Anti-slavery settlers.

Kansas vote controversy

Characterized by widespread vote fraud and intimidation.

Bleeding Kansas

Period of violent fighting between pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups.

Lincoln-Douglas debates

Debates over slavery’s expansion into western territories.

Charles Sumner

Abolitionist senator caned on the Senate floor by Preston Brooks.

Preston Brooks

The man who hurt Senator Charles Sumner.

John Brown's motivation

He believed his religious call from God was to destroy slavery.

Pottawatomie Massacre

Event where Brown and his followers killed $5$ pro-slavery settlers in Kansas.

John Brown's Missouri Raid ($1858$)

Event where John Brown freed enslaved people and helped them escape.

Harper’s Ferry

Site where Brown seized a federal arsenal to start a slave uprising; he was captured and $10$ of his men were killed.

Importance of Harper’s Ferry

It increased sectional tensions before the Civil War.

Northern reaction to John Brown

Some viewed him as a martyr.

Southern reaction to John Brown

Saw him as a terrorist.

Election of $1856$ winner

James Buchanan.

Political parties in the Election of $1856$

Democrats, Republicans, and Know-Nothings.

Dred Scott Case facts

An enslaved man sued for freedom after living in free territory.

Dred Scott ruling - Citizenship

African Americans were not citizens.

Dred Scott ruling - Legal standing

Scott could not sue.

Dred Scott ruling - Congressional power

Congress could not ban slavery in territories.

Importance of Dred Scott decision

It made slavery legal in all territories and increased tensions.

Whigs core stance

Strong federal government and economic development.

Democrats core stance ($1850s$)

States’ rights and popular sovereignty.

Republicans core stance

Opposed expansion of slavery.

Know Nothings core stance

Anti-immigrant and Anti-catholic.

Free Soil Party core stance

Opposed expansion of slavery and supported free labor.

House Divided Speech message

Lincoln argued the nation could not remain half slave and half free.

Election of $1860$ outcome

Lincoln won without Southern electoral votes.

Confederate States of America

The Southern states that seceded from the Union.

West Virginia's status

Known as "Secession from Within" because it split from Virginia to remain loyal to the Union.

Confederate government structure

Similar to U.S. government but emphasized states’ rights.

Anaconda Plan goals

Blockade southern ports, control the Mississippi river, and squeeze the Confederacy economically.

Southern foreign policy goal

Trying to gain support from Britain and France.

Union military advantage - Population

The North had a larger population than the South.

Union military advantage - Industry

The North had more factories.

Union military advantage - Logistics

The North had more railroads.

Union military advantage - Maritime

The North had a strong navy.

Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus

Lincoln allowed arrests without immediate trial.

Battle of Fort Sumter

The $1st$ battle of the war; a confederate victory.

Battle of Bull Run significance

A Confederate victory that showed the war would be long and difficult.

Battle of Antietam outcome

A Union victory that led to the Emancipation Proclamation.

Battle of Gettysburg significance

A Union victory and the turning point in the war.

Rifled Muskets

New technology that changed the lives of people fighting in the Civil War.

Ironclads

Armored naval vessels used during the Civil War.

Telegraph in the Civil War

Technology used for rapid communication during the conflict.

Railroads in the Civil War

Used for moving troops and supplies quickly.

Civil War diseases

Included Dysentery, Typhoid, and Pneumonia.

Ambulance systems

New medical treatment organization that helped survival rates for injured soldiers.

On site hospitals

Field medical facilities that improved survival rates during the war.

War photography

Showed real images of war to the public, changing their view of the conflict.

Civil War Women's Roles - Nursing

Women served as nurses on the battlefield.

Civil War Women's Roles - Intelligence

Women served as spies during the war.

Civil War Women's Roles - Industry

Women worked as factory workers while men were at war.

Anaconda Plan Southern impact

It hurt Southern trade and the economy.

Prisoner of war camp conditions

Overcrowded, unsanitary, and had high death rates.

Lincoln’s original view on slavery

He wanted to preserve the Union above all else and did not have a strict stance against it.

Emancipation Proclamation belief change

Showed a shift making the war about slavery rather than just reuniting the Union.

Slave states excluded from the Emancipation Proclamation

The Border states: Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware.

Union Army recruitment

Organization that newly freed enslaved people could join.

MA $54th$

One of the first African American Union regiments.

Gettysburg Address

Speech where Lincoln honored fallen soldiers and stated the war was about preserving democracy and equality.

Sherman’s March to the Sea

A march from Atlanta to Savannah, destroying railroads, farms, and supplies to weaken the South.

Appomattox Court House

The location where the surrender of Lee happened.

John Wilkes Booth

The man who killed Abraham Lincoln.

Ford’s Theatre

The site of Lincoln's assassination.

Lincoln’s $10\%$ Plan

A state could rejoin the Union when $10\%$ of voters swore loyalty.

$13th$ Amendment

Abolished slavery in the United States.

Freedman’s Bureau

Federal agency providing food, education, medical care, and legal assistance to formerly enslaved people.

$40$ Acres and a Mule

The largely unfulfilled promise of land to formerly enslaved people.

Johnson’s Presidential Reconstruction

Easy readmission for Southern states if they swore loyalty and ratified the $13th$ Amendment.

Radical Reconstruction plan

Put Southern states under military control and required stronger protections for African Americans.

Civil Rights Act of $1866$

Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to African Americans.

$14th$ Amendment

Granted citizenship to all people born in the U.S. and guaranteed equal protection.

$15th$ Amendment

Prohibited denying voting rights based on race.

Military Rule in the South

Division of the South into military districts supervised by Union troops.

Black Codes

Southern laws designed to restrict the rights of African Americans.

Sharecropping

System where farmers rented land and paid with a share of crops, often trapping them in debt.

Convict leasing system

States leased prisoners, often African Americans, to private businesses for labor.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws enforcing racial segregation.

Southern voting limits - Poll taxes

Fees required to vote used to limit African American suffrage.

Southern voting limits - Literacy tests

Unfair tests used to prevent African Americans from voting.

Southern voting limits - Grandfather clauses

Allowed people to vote only if their ancestors had voted, excluding former slaves.

Election of $1876$

A disputed election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden.

Compromise of $1877$

Democrats accepted Hayes as president; federal troops were withdrawn from the South, ending Reconstruction.

Treaty of Fort Laramie ($1868$)

Recognized Sioux control over the Black Hills and surrounding lands.

Reality of life for cowboys

Long hours, dangerous work, low pay, and harsh conditions.