Am Hist Unit 3 Vocab

Wilmot Proviso

Proposed, but rejected, 1846 bill that would have banned slavery in the territory won from Mexico in the Mexican American War

Popular Sovereignty

political policy that permitted the residents of federal territories to decide on whether to enter the union as free or slave states

Compromise of 1850

political agreement that allowed California to be admitted as a free state by allowing popular sovereignty in the territories and enacting a stricter fugitive slave law

Underground Railroad

system that existed before the Civil War, in which black and white abolitionists helped escaped slaves travel to safe areas, especially Canada

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854 law that divided the Nebraska Territory into Kansas and Nebraska giving each territory the right to decide whether or not to allow slavery

Bleeding Kansas

Term used to describe the 1854-1856 violence between proslavery and antislavery supporters in Kansas

Fort Sumter

federal fort located in Charleston, South Carolina, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired

Blockade

military tactic in which a navy prevents vessels from entering or leaving its enemy's ports

Anaconda Plan

three-step northern Civil War strategy to starve the South by blockading seaports and controlling the Mississippi River

Emancipation Proclamation

Decree by President Lincoln that freed enslaved people living in Confederate states still in rebellion

Battle of Bull Run

first large battle of the Civil War, proved that the Civil War would be a longer and more brutal conflict than either side originally anticipated

Battle of Antietam

1862 Civil War battle in which 23,000 troops were killed or wounded in one day. It was the bloodiest single day of fighting

Battle of Vicksburg

1863 battle which resulted in Union forces finally gaining control of the Mississippi River

Battle of Gettysburg

battle in 1863 in which Confederate troops were prevented from invading the North and which resulted in more than 50,000 casualties

Appomattox Court House

where Lee finally surrendered to Grant, ending the Civil War

Gettysburg Address

speech by President Lincoln in which he dedicated a national cemetery at Gettysburg and reaffirmed the ideas for which the Union was fighting

Conscription

drafting of citizens into military service

Total War

military strategy in which an army attacks not only enemy troops but the economic and civilian resources that support them. Best seen by Sherman's March

13th Amendment

1865 constitutional amendment that abolished slavery

Reconstruction

program implemented by the federal government between 1865 and 1877 to repair damage to the South caused by the Civil War and restore the southern states to the Union

14th Amendment

1868 constitutional amendment which defined citizenship and guaranteed citizens equal protection under the law

15th Amendment

1870 constitutional amendment that guaranteed voting rights regardless of race or previous condition of servitude

Compromise of 1877

agreement by which Rutherford B. Hayes won the 1876 presidential election and in exchange agreed to remove the remaining federal troops from the South

Ten Percent Plan

Lincoln's plan for reconstruction after the Civil War. Stated that a state could be reintegrated to the Union when 10% of its voters pledged their allegiance to the US, and recognized the freedom of formerly enslaved people

Presidential Plan for Reconstruction

Required former Confederate states to uphold the 13th Amendment and swear loyalty to the Union. Then they could re-write their state constitutions, hold elections, and begin sending representatives to Washington