SAQ/MCQ

Missouri Compromise

A federal law that defined boundaries for the expansion of slavery in new territories.

Dred Scott v Sandford

A Supreme Court decision ruling that the federal government had no authority to regulate slavery, making the Missouri Compromise null.

Tenth Amendment

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution used by pro-slavery Democrats to argue that states had the authority to regulate slavery.

Republican Party

Political party that emerged advocating restrictions on the expansion of slavery following the Dred Scott decision.

Fourteenth Amendment

Adopted in 1868, it granted full citizenship rights to African Americans.

Radical Republicans

Members of Congress who during Reconstruction passed legislation to abolish slavery and establish equal protection for all citizens.

Gag Rule

A rule prohibiting discussion of slavery in Congress.

Fugitive Slave Law

A law that mandated the return of runaway slaves to their owners.

Compromise of 1850

A package of five bills passed by Congress aimed at resolving tensions regarding slavery.

Bleeding Kansas

A series of violent political confrontations in the U.S. between 1854 and 1861, involving anti-slavery and pro-slavery elements.

Tariff of Abominations

A controversial tariff enacted in 1828 that led to the Nullification Crisis.

Hartford Convention

A series of meetings in 1814-1815 in which New England Federalists discussed their grievances against the ongoing War of 1812.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order issued by President Lincoln in 1863 that changed the war's goal to abolishing slavery.

Reconstruction

The period after the Civil War during which the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union.

Ku Klux Klan

A secret society formed after the Civil War that used terror to suppress African American voting rights.

Election of 1876

Controversial election leading to a compromise resulting in the end of Reconstruction.

Sectionalism

The division of the United States into different regions with distinct political, economic, and social systems, contributing to the Civil War.