Key Terms from Chapters 12-15

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Chapters 12 to 15, focusing on significant events, movements, and legislative changes related to slavery, civil rights, and Reconstruction.

Know-Nothing Party

A nativist political movement in the United States during the 1850s aimed at combating foreign influences and promoting traditional American ways.

Seneca Falls

The first women's rights convention held in July 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY, focused on women's social, civil, and religious rights.

Declaration of Sentiments

A document drafted at the Seneca Falls Convention advocating for women's rights, modeled after the Declaration of Independence.

William Lloyd Garrison

An American abolitionist and journalist known for founding the anti-slavery newspaper 'The Liberator'.

Frederick Douglass

An African American social reformer and abolitionist known for his powerful speeches and writings against slavery.

Task System

A labor system where slaves were assigned specific tasks and, once completed, were free for the rest of the day.

Gang System

A labor system where enslaved people worked in groups under constant supervision throughout the day.

Wilmot Proviso

A proposal to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico during the Mexican-American War.

Compromise of 1850

A set of laws intended to resolve disputes over slavery in newly acquired territories, including California's admission as a free state.

Fugitive Slave Act

Laws that mandated the return of escaped enslaved individuals to their owners, even from free states.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

An anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe that highlighted the moral issues of slavery.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Legislation that allowed the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide on slavery through popular sovereignty.

Popular sovereignty

The principle that residents of a territory have the right to decide by vote whether to allow slavery.

Republican Party

A political party founded in the 1850s to oppose the expansion of slavery into U.S. territories.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent conflicts that occurred in Kansas as pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions clashed over the issue of slavery.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

A Supreme Court case ruling that declared no black person could be a citizen of the U.S. and that Congress could not ban slavery in the territories.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

A series of debates focusing on the issue of slavery's expansion that brought Abraham Lincoln into the national spotlight.

John Brown’s Raid

An unsuccessful attack led by abolitionist John Brown to incite a slave rebellion by raiding an armory at Harpers Ferry.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order by President Lincoln that freed slaves in Confederate-held territory.

Gettysburg

A pivotal battle in the Civil War that is considered the turning point due to the Union's victory.

Vicksburg

The siege and capture of the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, which gave the Union control of the Mississippi River.

New York Draft Riots

A violent protest against conscription that turned into class and racial warfare in New York City.

Total War

A military strategy of waging war on civilians and not just the enemy's army to inflict psychological damage.

Appomattox Courthouse

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

Black Codes

Laws enacted in Southern states after the Civil War to restrict the rights and freedoms of African Americans.

13th Amendment

The constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in the United States.

14th Amendment

The amendment focused on citizenship and equal protection under the law for all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.

15th Amendment

The constitutional amendment that prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or past servitude.

Ku Klux Klan

A white supremacist group formed during Reconstruction that used violence and intimidation against African Americans.

Cruikshank v The US

A Supreme Court ruling that limited the federal government's ability to protect civil rights during Reconstruction.

Compromise of 1877

An unwritten deal that settled the 1876 election dispute in exchange for ending federal Reconstruction in the South.