ily chatgpt

Mexican-American War

War between the U.S. and Mexico (1846–1848) that resulted in a U.S. victory and the acquisition of large amounts of Mexican territory, intensifying the debate over the expansion of slavery.

Wilmot Proviso

Proposed amendment that would have banned slavery in all territory acquired from Mexico; passed the House but failed in the Senate, highlighting sectional tensions.

Frederick Douglass

Former enslaved person who became a leading abolitionist, writer, and speaker; published The North Star and advocated for equality and civil rights.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Mexican Cession)

Treaty ending the Mexican-American War; Mexico ceded California and the Southwest to the U.S. and recognized the Rio Grande as the Texas border.

Texas Independence

Rebellion by American settlers against Mexican rule that led Texas to become an independent republic in 1836.

Fifty-Four Forty or Fight

Slogan used by James K. Polk advocating U.S. control of the entire Oregon Territory up to latitude 54°40′.

James K. Polk

11th president; strong supporter of Manifest Destiny who oversaw the annexation of Texas, the Oregon settlement, and victory in the Mexican-American War.

Gadsden Purchase

1853 agreement in which the U.S. purchased land from Mexico for railroad construction, completing continental expansion.

California Gold Rush

1849 discovery of gold that led to mass migration, rapid population growth, and pressure for California’s admission as a state.

Oregon Trail

Major route used by settlers traveling west to Oregon, California, and Utah in the 1840s.

Panic of 1857

Economic depression that hit the North harder than the South, strengthening Southern confidence in slavery-based agriculture.

Free-Soil Movement

Political movement opposing the expansion of slavery into western territories to protect opportunities for free white laborers.

Popular Sovereignty

Doctrine allowing settlers in a territory to vote on whether slavery would be permitted.

Compromise of 1850

Series of laws that admitted California as a free state, strengthened the Fugitive Slave Act, allowed popular sovereignty in new territories, and temporarily eased sectional tensions.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854 law that allowed popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska and repealed the Missouri Compromise, leading to violent conflict.

Fugitive Slave Law

Law requiring the return of escaped enslaved people and punishing those who helped them, increasing Northern resistance to slavery.

Underground Railroad

Network of secret routes and safe houses that helped enslaved people escape to freedom.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Antislavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that increased Northern opposition to slavery.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers following the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Gag Rule

Rule in Congress that prevented discussion of antislavery petitions.

Border Ruffians

Pro-slavery Missourians who crossed into Kansas to influence elections illegally.

Jayhawks

Anti-slavery settlers in Kansas who opposed pro-slavery forces.

Know-Nothing Party

Nativist political party opposed to immigration and Catholic influence.

Republican Party

Political party formed in the 1850s to oppose the expansion of slavery into western territories.

Henry Clay

Influential senator known as the “Great Compromiser”; helped craft major compromises to preserve the Union.

John C. Calhoun

Southern political leader who defended slavery as a “positive good” and promoted states’ rights.

Lecompton Constitution

Pro-slavery constitution proposed for Kansas that was rejected after controversy.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

1857 Supreme Court decision ruling that African Americans were not citizens and Congress could not ban slavery in the territories.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

1858 debates over slavery’s expansion that elevated Lincoln’s national profile.

John Brown’s Raid at Harpers Ferry

Attempted armed slave revolt that increased Southern fear of abolitionism.

Election of 1860

Election of Abraham Lincoln that led Southern states to secede from the Union.

Fort Sumter

Site of the first shots of the Civil War.

Suspension of Habeas Corpus

Lincoln’s wartime action allowing imprisonment without formal charges.

Anaconda Plan

Union strategy to blockade Southern ports and control the Mississippi River.

Confederate States of America

Government formed by Southern states that seceded from the Union.

First Battle of Bull Run

First major Civil War battle showing the war would be long and costly.

Battle of Antietam

Bloodiest single-day battle of the war; led to the Emancipation Proclamation.

Monitor vs. Merrimack

First battle between ironclad warships, changing naval warfare.

Trent Affair

Diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and Britain during the Civil War.

Cotton Diplomacy

Southern strategy to gain British support by restricting cotton exports.

Emancipation Proclamation

1863 executive order freeing enslaved people in Confederate-held territory.

Thirteenth Amendment

Abolished slavery in the United States.

Battle of Vicksburg

Union victory that gave control of the Mississippi River.

Battle of Gettysburg

Major Union victory and turning point of the Civil War.

Sherman’s March to the Sea

Total war campaign that destroyed Southern infrastructure and morale.

Draft Riots

Violent protests in New York City against military conscription.

Reconstruction

Period after the Civil War focused on rebuilding the South and integrating freedpeople.

Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan

Lenient plan requiring 10% loyalty oath for state readmission.

Wade-Davis Bill

Congressional Reconstruction plan with stricter requirements that Lincoln vetoed.

Freedmen’s Bureau

Agency assisting formerly enslaved people with education, jobs, and aid.

Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan

Lenient plan allowing Southern states to rejoin after meeting basic requirements.

Black Codes

Southern laws restricting the rights of African Americans after the Civil War.

Congressional Reconstruction

Radical Republican-led reconstruction with military oversight and civil rights protections.

Radical Republicans

Group in Congress advocating full rights for African Americans.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Law granting citizenship and equal rights to African Americans.

Fourteenth Amendment

Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law.

Reconstruction Acts of 1867

Placed Southern states under military rule and required ratification of the 14th Amendment.

Ulysses S. Grant

Union general and 18th president during Reconstruction.

Fifteenth Amendment

Protected voting rights regardless of race.

Civil Rights Act of 1875

Banned racial discrimination in public accommodations.

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Reconstruction.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved South during Reconstruction for political or economic gain.

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacist group using violence to suppress African American rights.

Sharecropping

Labor system trapping freedpeople in cycles of debt and poverty.

Panic of 1873

Economic depression that weakened support for Reconstruction.

Compromise of 1877

Agreement that ended Reconstruction by removing federal troops from the South.