US History Unit 4

54th Massachusetts Regiment

First and most famous African American unit in the Civil War

Total War

Strategy aiming to destroy the enemy’s will to fight -General Sherman’s approach during his march to the sea

13th Amendment

Abolished Slavery in the United States

War Bonds

Sold to people to finance the war -purchase a 25 dollar bond and then turn it in years later and it would gain interest

National Currency

Currency issued by a central government

Nursing

Medical care and support for the sick and injured -started attending on the field of battle during the Civil War

Republican

Member/supporter of the Republican Party -party that was more associated with anti-slavery

Copperhead

Northern Democrats who opposed the Civil War

Abolitionists

Advocates for the abolition of slavery

Homestead Act

Law granting free land to settlers in the West

Border States

Slave states that remained in the Union during the Civil War -Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland

Transcontinental Railroad

Railway connecting the East and West caosts of the US

Anaconda Plan

Union strategy to blockade and divide the Confederacy in an attempt to try to squeeze the life out of the Confederacy

Emancipation Proclamation

Decree by Lincoln freeing slaves in Confederate states, but not the border states

Death Toll

Total number of deaths in a specific period or event -600,000 estimated during the Civil War

Dog Tags

Identification tags worn by military personnel

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America

William Tecumseh Sherman

Union general known for Sherman’s March to the Sea

Robert E. Lee

Confederate General who led the Army of Northern Virginia

William Carney

First African American Medal of Honor recipient

Alexander Stephens

Vice President of the Confederate States of America

Robert Gould Shaw

Colonel of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment

Abraham Lincoln

16th President of the US

Clara Barton

Nurse during the Civil War -Founder of the American Red Cross

Andrew Johnson

Abraham Lincoln’s Vice President and the 17th President of the US

John Wilkes Booth

Assassin of President Abraham Lincoln

Ulysses S. Grant

Union general and 18th President of the US

Frederick Douglas

Prominent African American abolitionist, writer, and advisor to President Lincoln

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Election of 1860

Presidential election of Abraham Lincoln -leading to secession of Southern States

Draft Riots

Violent protests against conscription during the Civil War -most famously in New York

Fort Sumter

Site of the first battle of the Civil War -ends in Union surrender

Mississippi River

Major waterway crucial for transportation during the war

Battle of Bull Run

First major battle of the Civil War -confederate victory- many spectators watched because they believed it would be the only battle in the war

Legal Tender Act of 1862

Law authorizing the issuance of paper money throughout the country

Battle of Antietam

Bloodiest single-day battle in American history

Morrill Tariff Act

Increased tariffs to fund the war effort

Battle of Gettysburg

Turing point of the Civil War -bloodiest battle of the war. Takes place in Pennsylvania -Union Victory.

Sherman’s March to the Sea

Destructive Union campaign through Georgia

Battle of Vicksburg

Union victory, securing control of the Mississippi River

Surrender at Appomattox

Lee’s surrender to Grant, effectively ending the Civil war

Battle of Shiloh

Bloody battle in Tennessee in 1862 -Confederate Victory

Election of 1864

Re-election of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War

Battle for Atlanta

Series of battle leading to the fall of Atlanta -Union Victory

Lincoln’s Assassination

Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865

Democrats

Political party that was more invested in keeping slavery in the states and spreading it into the territories

Lewis and Clark Expedition

First government funded exploration of the American West

Manifest Destiny

Belief in the US expansion from coast to coast

Allotments

Individual land parcels owned privately, not collectively

Wagon Trains

Groups of covered wagons traveling together westward

Oregon Country

Region explored and settled during westward expansion

Texas Independence

Texas’ separation from Mexico in 1836

Mexican-American War

Conflict over Texas and Territorial disputes, 1846-1848

Gold Rush

Mass migration to California for gold in 1849

49 ers

Gold seekers who flocked to California in 1849

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 law limiting Chinese immigration to the US

Wilmot Proviso

Proposal to ban slavery in new territories acquired

Free Soil Party

Political party opposing the expansion of slavery

Popular Sovereignty

Idea that territories decide on slavery themselves

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Compromise of 1850

Series of laws addressing slavery and territorial issues

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Allowed territories to decide on slavery via popular sovereignty

Bleeding Kansas

Violence over slavery in Kansas territory, 1854-1859

John Brown

Abolitionist who led violent anti-slavery actions

Secession

Withdrawal of Southern States from the Union

Confederacy

Government formed by seceded southern states

Dred Scott

US slave who sued for liberty after living in a non-slave state

Scott v. Sanford Ruling

Congress had no authority to ban slavery in a territory. A slave was considered a piece of property.

Nativism

A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones

Know Nothing Party

Anti-immigrant party that believes that people born in the US but of European ancestry should benefit first in society

Pottawatomie Massacre

Abolitionist John Brown and his men killed 5 pro-slavery men in Kansas; response to Sack of Lawrence

Fugitive Slave Act

A law that made it a crime to help runaway slaves; allowed for the arrest of escaped slaves in areas where slavery was illegal and required their return to slaveholders.

Election of 1848

Zachary Taylor-winner, ran as a Whig and Martin Van Buren wan for the Free Soil Party -which made slavery an issue. Zachary Taylor became president, died in office, making his vice president Millard Fillmote president

Annexation of Texas

Texas decides to secede from Mexico and attempts to declare its independence, which eventually leads to our adoption of the land as a state, although it was feared that it would cause conflict with Mexico leading to war. Southern States in support of this as Texas brought slaves with it, meaning it would increase agricultural profits.

Alamo

a mission and fort in San Antonio, Texas, where Mexican forces massacred rebellious Texans in 1836.

Oregon trail

Trail from independence, Missouri to Oregon used by many pioneers during the 1840s

Overland Trails

Includes Oregon Trail, Mormon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, California Trail; method of westward migration

Whig Party

An American political party formed in the 1830s to oppose President Andrew Jackson and the Democrats, stood for protective tariffs, national banking, and federal aid for internal improvements

Indian Removal Act

A congressional act that authorized the removal of Native Americans who lived east of the Mississippi River -1830