Key Concepts of Antebellum America and Social Movements

Mason-Dixon Line

1767 - The boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland, later symbolizing the division between North and South in the U.S., especially regarding slavery.

The "peculiar institution"

Antebellum Era, ~1830s-1860s - A euphemism for slavery, highlighting its uniqueness to the American South.

Second Middle Passage

19th century, ~1808-1865 - The forced migration of enslaved people within the U.S. from the Upper South to the Deep South.

Planter

A wealthy landowner in the South who owned a large number of enslaved people and extensive farmland.

Plantation

Large agricultural estates in the American South, relying on enslaved labor for crops like cotton, tobacco, and sugar.

Paternalism

A justification for slavery that presented enslavers as protective "fathers" to the people they enslaved, supposedly caring for them in exchange for obedience.

Proslavery argument

A set of beliefs asserting that slavery was beneficial for both white society and enslaved people.

The Amistad

1839 - A Spanish ship on which enslaved Africans revolted, leading to a significant U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled in their favor.

Denmark Vesey

1822 - A formerly enslaved man who allegedly led a failed slave rebellion in Charleston, South Carolina.

Nat Turner's rebellion

1831 - An uprising led by enslaved preacher Nat Turner in Virginia, resulting in the deaths of over 50 white people and harsher laws against enslaved people.

Utopian communities

19th century - Social experiments, like the Shakers and Brook Farm, aiming to create perfect societies through communal living and shared values.

Temperance movement

1820s-1850s - A social movement that advocated for reducing or banning alcohol consumption in the U.S.

Common schools

1830s-1850s - Public schools established to provide free, universal education, led by reformers like Horace Mann.

American Colonization Society

1816 - An organization that promoted the migration of free African Americans to Africa, establishing the colony of Liberia.

William Lloyd Garrison

1805-1879 - An influential abolitionist and editor of The Liberator, a leading anti-slavery newspaper.

Frederick Douglass

1818-1895 - An escaped enslaved person, author, and influential abolitionist speaker advocating for equal rights.

Birthright citizenship

14th Amendment, 1868 - The principle that anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen, regardless of parental nationality.

Seneca Falls / woman suffrage

1848 - The first women's rights convention in the U.S., marking the beginning of the organized fight for women's suffrage.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

1815-1902 - A leading women's rights activist who co-organized the Seneca Falls Convention and co-authored the Declaration of Sentiments.

Susan B. Anthony

1820-1906 - A key figure in the women's suffrage movement, known for her efforts in organizing and advocating for voting rights.

Declaration of Sentiments

1848 - A document asserting women's rights, modeled on the Declaration of Independence, presented at the Seneca Falls Convention.

Grimke Sisters

Sarah, 1792-1873, and Angelina, 1805-1879 - Southern-born abolitionists and early advocates for women's rights, known for their powerful writings and speeches against slavery.