APUSh 5.5-5.8 terms

Panic of 1857

Def: Financial crisis triggered by declining international economy, affecting Northern banks.

Significance: Deepened North-South economic rift, bolstering Southern confidence in secession.

Irish Immigration

Def: Mass migration of Irish due to Great Famine (1845-1852).

Significance: Provided labor force for U.S. industries; sparked anti-immigrant sentiment.

Tammany Hall

Def: New York City’s powerful Democratic political machine, led by 'Boss' Tweed.

Significance: Played key role in urban politics, often using corruption.

Fugitive Slave Laws

Def: Laws requiring return of escaped slaves from free states.

Significance: Intensified North-South tensions; fueled abolitionist activism in North.

Harriet Tubman

Def: Escaped slave, leading abolitionist, and conductor on Underground Railroad.

Significance: Rescued hundreds, symbolizing resistance and challenging slavery.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Def: Anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1852.

Significance: Changed public opinion in the North, fueling anti-slavery sentiment.

Bleeding Kansas

Def: Violent confrontations between pro- and anti-slavery forces in Kansas (1854-1859).

Significance: Previewed Civil War conflict over slavery’s expansion.

Lecompton Constitution

Def: Proposed Kansas constitution favoring slavery, backed by pro-slavery forces.

Significance: Rejected by Congress; showing disagreements over slavery.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Def: 1854 law allowing popular sovereignty to decide slavery in territories.

Significance: Nullified Missouri Compromise, sparking violent conflict in Kansas.

Know-Nothing Party

Def: Nativist political party opposing immigration, especially Catholic immigrants.

Significance: Showed widespread nativism, influencing immigration policies.

Republican Party

Def: Political party founded in 1854 to oppose slavery’s expansion.

Significance: Lincoln’s election as Republican triggered Southern secession.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Def: Supreme Court decision ruling African Americans not citizens, affirming slavery.

Significance: Deeply divided nation, nullified legislative restrictions on slavery.

House-divided speech

Def: Lincoln’s 1858 speech stating the nation couldn’t endure half slave, half free.

Significance: Emphasized inevitability of conflict over slavery’s future.

Sumner-Brooks incident

Def: Senator Brooks attacked Sumner in Senate after anti-slavery speech.

Significance: Showed extreme sectional animosity over slavery debates.

John Brown

Def: Radical abolitionist leading violent anti-slavery raids in Kansas and Virginia.

Significance: Made martyr by North; worsened North-South tensions.

Fort Sumter

Def: Federal fort in Charleston; first shots of Civil War fired here.

Significance: Sparked official start of Civil War in 1861.

Jefferson Davis

Def: President of the Confederate States during 1860s

Significance: Led South through Civil War; faced challenges uniting Confederacy.

Bull Run

Def: First major Civil War battle, Confederate victory in Virginia (1861).

Significance: Showed North war would be prolonged and difficult. Also marked first major battle

Anaconda Plan

Def: Union strategy to blockade South, control Mississippi, squeeze resources.

Significance: Aimed to economically weaken South and cut supply lines.

Robert E. Lee

Def: Confederate general, led Army of Northern Virginia in key battles.

Significance: Skilled tactician; symbol of Southern resistance and pride.

Antietam

Def: 1862 Civil War battle, bloodiest single day in U.S. history.

Significance: Union victory; enabled Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

Gettysburg

Def: 1863 battle, major Union victory halting Lee’s Northern advance.

Significance: Turning point in Civil War, weakened Confederate forces.