Untitled Flashcards Set

3/5 Clause

A constitutional provision that allowed Southern states to count 3/5 of their enslaved population for legislative representation, giving them disproportional influence.

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century belief that the expansion of the United States across the American continents was both justified and inevitable.

Mexican-American War

A conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848, resulting in significant territorial gains for the U.S.

Comanche

A Native American tribe that played a significant role in the historical landscape of the Plains and impacted settlement patterns.

49ers

Gold seekers who flocked to California in 1849 during the Gold Rush.

Oregon Trail

A historic east-to-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon.

Ranchero System

A land grant system established by Mexico to encourage settlement in California, where individuals were given large tracts of land.

Empresarios

Individuals who were granted land in Texas by the Mexican government, often to attract settlers.

Wilmot Proviso

An unsuccessful proposal to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico during the Mexican War.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people.

Free Soil Party

A political party that emerged in the 1840s advocating against the expansion of slavery into the territories.

Fugitive Slave Act

A law passed as part of the Compromise of 1850 that required the return of escaped enslaved people to their enslavers.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order issued by President Lincoln in 1862, declaring the freedom of all enslaved people in Confederate-held territory.

Total War

A military strategy that involves striking both enemy combatants and civilian infrastructure to diminish the enemy's capacity to wage war.

Reconstruction

The period following the Civil War during which the U.S. worked to reintegrate the Southern states and define the new rights of freed slaves.

13th Amendment

An amendment to the U.S. Constitution adopted in 1865 that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.

14th Amendment

An amendment that grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. and prohibits states from denying any person the equal protection of the laws.

15th Amendment

An amendment that prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on 'race, color, or previous condition of servitude.'

Black Codes

Laws passed in Southern states after the Civil War to restrict the rights of freed slaves.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War, often perceived as opportunists.

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party.

Ku Klux Klan

A secret society formed in the South after the Civil War that aimed to suppress black civil rights.

Panic of 1873

A financial crisis that triggered a severe economic depression in Europe and North America.

Total War

A military strategy that involves targeting not just the enemy's forces but also their economic resources and civilian infrastructure.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

A landmark legislation that defined citizenship and affirmed that all citizens are equally protected by the law.

Freedmen's Bureau

An agency created in 1865 to aid freed slaves in their transition to freedom, focusing on education, labor contracts, and healthcare.

The Great Triumvirate

Refers to the three prominent political leaders—Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun—who dominated American politics in the decades leading up to the Civil War.

Radical Republicans

A faction within the Republican Party that advocated for the immediate emancipation of slaves and equal rights for freedmen during Reconstruction.

Appomattox Courthouse

The site where General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865, effectively ending the Civil War.

Compromise of 1850

A package of five bills passed in 1850 to stave off sectional strife, addressing the status of territories acquired in the Mexican-American War and including provisions on slavery.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

An 1857 Supreme Court case ruling that declared African Americans were not citizens and that Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories.

Secession

The act of withdrawing formally from a federation or body, particularly the withdrawal of Southern states from the Union leading up to the Civil War.

Civil Rights Movement

A struggle for social justice in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s aimed at ending racial discrimination and securing equal rights.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws enacted in the Southern United States that enforced racial segregation and disenfranchised black voters from the late 19th century until the Civil Rights Movement.

New Deal

A series of programs and policies instituted during the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt aimed at economic recovery and social reform.

Social Gospel Movement

A religious movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries focused on addressing social issues like poverty and inequality through social reform.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

A tragic industrial disaster in 1911 that killed 146 garment workers, leading to significant reforms in labor laws and workplace safety.

20th Amendment

An amendment to the U.S. Constitution that changed the inauguration date of the president and Congress to January 20 and January 3, respectively.

Watergate Scandal

A political scandal involving a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and subsequent cover-up efforts by the Nixon administration, leading to President Nixon's resignation in 1974.