Chapter 16 APUSH Terms

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a powerful anti-slavery novel that fueled abolitionist sentiment before the Civil War.

Cotton Kingdom

Term describing the South’s economy based on cotton production and slave labor in the 19th century.

The Liberator

Abolitionist newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison that demanded immediate emancipation of slaves.

William Lloyd Garrison

Radical abolitionist who published The Liberator and co-founded the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Mulattoes

People of mixed white and African ancestry, often occupying a distinct social class in the antebellum South.

American Anti-Slavery Society

Organization founded in 1833 by Garrison and others to advocate for the immediate abolition of slavery.

Denmark Vesey

Free Black man who planned a major slave revolt in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1822; the plot was discovered and he was executed.

Liberty Party

Small political party formed in the 1840s that sought to end slavery through political and legal means.

Lane Rebels

Group of students from Lane Theological Seminary who left in protest over bans on anti-slavery debates and became active abolitionists.

David Walker

Free Black author of Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, urging enslaved people to fight for their freedom.

Gag Resolution

Congressional rule in the 1830s that automatically tabled anti-slavery petitions without discussion.

Cotton Gin

Machine invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 that revolutionized cotton production and increased the demand for slave labor.

Nat Turner

Enslaved preacher who led a violent slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831, intensifying Southern fears of uprisings.

Planter Aristocracy

Wealthy Southern elite who owned large plantations and dominated politics, economy, and society.

Plantation System

Agricultural system in the South relying on large farms and enslaved labor to grow cash crops like cotton and tobacco.

Sojourner Truth

Former enslaved woman and abolitionist who advocated for both women’s rights and the end of slavery.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that exposed the cruelties of slavery and increased Northern opposition to it.

“Black Belt”

Region in the Deep South known for its rich soil and high concentration of enslaved African Americans.

Theodore Dwight Weld

Influential abolitionist who wrote American Slavery As It Is, a powerful exposé of slavery’s brutality.

Wendell Phillips

Prominent abolitionist and orator known as “abolition’s golden trumpet” for his eloquent speeches against slavery.

Frederick Douglass

Former enslaved man who became a leading abolitionist, orator, and writer of The North Star.

Elijah P. Lovejoy

Abolitionist newspaper editor murdered by a mob, becoming a martyr for the anti-slavery cause.

Oligarchy

Political system where power is held by a small, elite group; used to describe the dominance of wealthy Southern planters.

Abolitionism

Movement dedicated to ending slavery in the United States.

“Positive Good”

Southern pro-slavery argument claiming that slavery was beneficial for both enslaved people and society.