APUSH Period 5 terms

terms

Manifest Destiny

A 19th-century belief that the United States was divinely ordained to expand across the North American continent. Rooted in ideas of white racial superiority and American exceptionalism, it encouraged westward migration and the spread of U.S. institutions. Significance: It served as an ideological justification for territorial expansion and intensified sectional tensions over slavery.

Annexation of Texas (1845)

Texas was admitted into the United States after it had declared independence from Mexico in 1836 and operated as an independent republic. The annexation angered Mexico and helped spark the Mexican–American War. Significance: It fueled the debate over slavery’s expansion and triggered a major international conflict with Mexico.

Oregon Territory / “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!”

This slogan represented American calls to claim all of Oregon Territory, which was jointly occupied with Britain. The dispute was resolved peacefully in 1846 with a treaty establishing the border at the 49th parallel. Significance: It demonstrated American willingness to compromise with foreign powers to avoid war while fulfilling Manifest Destiny.

Mexican–American War (1846–1848)

A conflict between the United States and Mexico over the annexation of Texas and territorial ambitions in the Southwest. The war ended with a decisive American victory and massive land acquisition. Significance: It transformed the U.S. into a continental power and deepened divisions over slavery in new territories.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

This treaty ended the Mexican–American War and transferred over 500,000 square miles of land (the Mexican Cession) to the U.S. in exchange for $15 million. It also established the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico. Significance: It fulfilled expansionist goals but provoked sectional conflict over the future of slavery.

Wilmot Proviso (1846)

A proposed amendment to a war funding bill that would have banned slavery in any territory gained from Mexico. Though it failed in the Senate, it passed repeatedly in the House and symbolized the growing North-South divide. Significance: It signaled the emergence of slavery as the central political issue in national debate.

California Gold Rush (1849)

The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill triggered a mass migration to California by prospectors known as “forty-niners.” This rapid population growth enabled California to quickly apply for statehood. Significance: It brought wealth and diversity to the West but also intensified the national debate over slavery’s expansion.

Free-Soil Movement

A political coalition that opposed the expansion of slavery into western territories, arguing it threatened free white labor. The Free-Soil Party emerged in the late 1840s and supported the Wilmot Proviso. Significance: It laid the ideological groundwork for the Republican Party and increased sectional polarization.

Popular Sovereignty

A political doctrine that allowed the residents of a territory to vote on whether to allow slavery. Championed by Stephen Douglas, it was intended as a democratic solution to sectional conflict. Significance: It ultimately failed to reduce tensions and instead sparked violent clashes like “Bleeding Kansas.”

Compromise of 1850

A legislative package aimed at resolving disputes over territory gained from the Mexican–American War, including California’s status and the slave trade in D.C. It included a stricter Fugitive Slave Law and popular sovereignty in the Utah and New Mexico territories. Significance: It temporarily eased sectional tensions but satisfied neither North nor South in the long term.

Fugitive Slave Act (1850)

Part of the Compromise of 1850, this law mandated that escaped slaves be returned to their owners even from free states and imposed penalties on those who aided runaways. It denied suspected fugitives the right to a jury trial and drew fierce Northern resistance. Significance: It radicalized many Northerners against slavery and intensified sectional divisions.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

A bestselling anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe that depicted the brutality of slavery and the moral struggle faced by its victims. The book galvanized Northern abolitionist sentiment and horrified Southern slaveholders. Significance: It shaped public opinion and helped transform slavery from a political to a moral issue.

Gadsden Purchase (1853)

A U.S. acquisition of land from Mexico in present-day southern Arizona and New Mexico, intended to facilitate a southern transcontinental railroad route. The land deal was relatively small but strategically important. This is significant because it completed the contiguous U.S. border and reflected continued American interest in expansion and infrastructure.

Ostend Manifesto (1854)

A secret proposal by U.S. diplomats to purchase or seize Cuba from Spain for expansion, especially to add another slave state. It was leaked and condemned in the North. This is significant because it exposed the South’s ongoing interest in expanding slavery beyond U.S. borders and provoked Northern outrage.

Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854)

Sponsored by Stephen Douglas, this act repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska. It led to a violent struggle between pro- and anti-slavery forces in Kansas. Significance: It shattered national party alignments and directly contributed to the formation of the Republican Party.

“Bleeding Kansas”

A period of violent conflict in the Kansas Territory between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers following the Kansas–Nebraska Act. Armed clashes and political fraud plagued the territory as each side tried to control the government. Significance: It demonstrated that popular sovereignty could not peacefully resolve the slavery issue and foreshadowed civil war.

Caning of Charles Sumner (1856)

After giving a fiery anti-slavery speech, Senator Charles Sumner was brutally beaten with a cane by Representative Preston Brooks on the Senate floor. The incident shocked the North and was celebrated in the South. Significance: It reflected the extreme breakdown of civil discourse and rising sectional violence.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

In this Supreme Court case, the Court ruled that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories. The decision invalidated the Missouri Compromise and outraged Northerners. Significance: It deepened sectional divisions and strengthened the Republican Party’s resolve to limit slavery.

Lincoln–Douglas Debates (1858)

A series of public debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas during the Illinois Senate race that focused on slavery and popular sovereignty. Douglas defended local control, while Lincoln warned of slavery’s expansion. Significance: The debates raised Lincoln’s national profile and sharpened party divisions over slavery.

Stephen Douglas

A prominent Democratic senator from Illinois who championed the idea of popular sovereignty and authored the Kansas–Nebraska Act. He debated Lincoln in 1858 and remained a key figure in the escalating sectional crisis. This is significant because his policies inadvertently fueled violent conflict and deepened national divisions over slavery.

Freeport Doctrine

Stephen Douglas’s statement during the Lincoln–Douglas Debates that slavery could be excluded from territories by local legislation, despite the Dred Scott ruling. It cost him support in the South. This is significant because it showed the deepening rift within the Democratic Party and weakened the national consensus.

John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry (1859)

Radical abolitionist John Brown led a failed attempt to incite a slave revolt by seizing a federal arsenal in Virginia. Brown was captured and executed, becoming a martyr in the North and a terrorist in the South. Significance: The raid terrified Southerners and made civil war seem inevitable.

Election of 1860

Abraham Lincoln won the presidency with no Southern electoral votes, running on a platform that opposed the spread of slavery. His election prompted the immediate secession of several Southern states. Significance: It marked the final breakdown of national unity and directly triggered the Civil War.