Paeth APUSH Unit 5 (1844-1877)

Plain Folk

most common southerners, who were modest yeoman farmers. They owned few slaves or none at all. They either farmed for subsistence farming or grew cotton or other crops. These people were not part of the planter class and likely would never become part of it.

Peculiar Institution

a term for the southern system slavery that described its uniqueness in the fact that southern viewed it as special. In some ways, blacks had their own culture within slavery, and on the other, there was a unique bond between the enslaved blacks and white ‘masters’.

Slave Codes

special laws in southern states designed to control enslaved peoples, limit their ability to congregate, move, and restricted most freedoms.

Paternalism

the idea that slave owners acted in a fatherly or motherly role to enslaved people. In another sense, it was a view that African Americans were a lesser class than whites in the south.

Underground Railroad

system where many enslaved people escaped for freedom to the north. Conductors on this system, took enslaved persons from safe house to safe house on the long journey to freedom in the north or Canada.

Harriet Tubman

Escaped slave and leader on the Underground Railroad who helped dozens of people to their freedom.

Hudson River School

group of painters who incorporated nationalism and influence of European romanticism into their paintings, showing the beauty of American nature in landscapes.

Transcendentalism

movement of New England writers and philosophers who embraced a theory of the individual that rested on peoples’ reason, or ability to grasp beauty and truth.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

a transcendentalist leader in Massachusetts who left being a minister to devote his life to transcendentalism. He became a lecturer. He wrote his “Nature” essay and later “Self-Reliance”.

Henry David Thoreau

a transcendentalist who wrote about resisting conforming to societal norms. He lived alone near Walden Pond and wrote his book Walden. He later believed in civil disobedience, or protesting unjust laws by breaking them.

Mormons/Brigham Young

religious group or the leader who brought them West. They believed Adam Smith was spoken to by God. This group was run out of New York and later the Midwest because of their views that men could have multiple wives.

Temperance

antebellum reform movement focused on abstaining from alcohol. It was influence by the Second Great Awakening and the Market Revolution, where it was feared men would leave their wives and children in need as they drank life away.

Horace Mann

school reformer and educational leader in Massachusetts who pushed for public education, the education of teachers, lengthened the school year, and helped organize curriculum. 

Normal Schools

a precursor to teaching schools, these were two years schools to prepare teachers to teach.

Dorothea Dix

reformer who began a national movement to change the treatment of the mentally ill.

Seneca Falls Convention

1848 New York meeting of women and men to organize and push for women’s rights in the United States. It was the first meeting of its kind.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton/Lucretia Mott/Susan B. Anthony

Leaders at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and early women’s rights and suffrage leaders.

Declaration of Sentiments

introductory speech at Seneca Falls Convention which laid out grievances against men and the government. It’s structure was much like the Declaration of Independence.

American Colonization Society

early abolitionist group which sought to buy enslaved peoples’ freedom and send them to the colony of Liberia in Western Africa.

William Lloyd Garrison

ardent and fiery abolitionist who started the newspaper The Liberator. He was more extreme and impatient. than prior abolitionists

Abolition

belief that slavery should be outlawed.

Frederick Douglass

escaped slave and abolitionist whose written and spoken words inspired abolitionists in the US and in Europe. He is very well known for his speech “What to the slave is the Fourth of July?”

Free-Soil/Free-Soilers

political organizers or belief that any new territories should be settled as non-slave areas in the US. This group largely was before the Republican party.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe which showed more of a human side to slavery and rallied many who were previously indifferent to slavery, against it.

Manifest Destiny

belief that it was God’s plan and America’s fate to spread the North American continent

Alamo

Battle that became a battle cry for Texans in their war for independence from Mexico.  This locations’ inhabitants made their last stand, dying to the last man, against a stronger Mexican army.

Oregon Trail

trail that many settlers took to the American northwest. It passed through various lands inhabited by natives and through the Rocky Mountains. This was a dangerous pass. It was also a popular PC game in the early 1990s. Many of your teachers may have played it.

James K. Polk

President of US, elected in 1844.  He was a strong proponent of Manifest Destiny and sought to take Texas and the Oregon territory.

“54° 40’ or Fight!”

slogan for James K. Polk’s 1844 election campaign that meant he wanted all of the disputed Oregon territory from Britain/Canada.

Mexican American War

war between the US and its southern neighbor that was sparked by the US annexation of Texas. It took place between 1846-1848.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

treaty that ended the Mexican American War. It ceded Texas and much of the current US southwest from Mexico to the US. It also allowed Mexicans in this area to become citizens of the US.

Mexican Cession

land given up by Mexico from the Mexican American War. It was significant because it was the largest land addition to the US since the Louisiana Purchase.

Wilmot Proviso

1846 proposed amendment to a war spending bill by a northern congressman. In hit, he proposed outlawing slavery in any lands won from the Mexican American War. It passed the House of Representatives, but did not pass the Senate and failed. It did further increase sectional tensions around the future of slavery.

Popular Sovereignty

idea during the antebellum period of westward expansion that people of a territory should vote to determine if the territory would become a free or slave state.  It was championed by Senator Stephen Douglas, a Democrat from Illinois.

49ers/Gold Rush

term for people or the movement of people that headed to California to make it rich off precious metals in the ground.

Stephen Douglas

Democratic Senator from Illinois who came up with Kansas Nebraska Act. He is famous too for his 1856 debates for Senate against Abraham Lincoln across Illinois. He was a champion of popular sovereignty and the transcontinental railroad. He ran for president in 1860, losing to Lincoln.

Compromise of 1850

settlement which came about as California was being debated for statehood after the Mexican American War.  It included many parts, including the outlawing of the slave trade in Washington DC, a stronger Fugitive Slave Act, California as a free state, and Utah and New Mexico to be determined by popular sovereignty.   

Fugitive Slave Act

part of the Compromise of 1850 which made northern states help return escaped enslaved peoples or risk being punished themselves. The south liked this law a lot. Some northern states sought to nullify it. Many in the north despised it because it made them part of the system of slavery.

Kansas Nebraska Act

1854 law that divided up part of the Missouri Compromise and Louisiana Purchase to allow for popular sovereignty in two new territories in the west.  It was the idea of Stephen Douglas and caused violence and immense tension.

Republican Party

a party of the Third Party System that was made up of former Whigs, anti slavery Democrats, and Free Soilers. Their main platform in the mid 1850s was to stop the spread of slavery to new territories.

“Bleeding Kansas”

term for the violence that took place in a western state after the Kansas Nebraska Act. It was caused by pro slavery Border Ruffians crossing the border as well as anti slavery settlers trying to influence elections in a particular state. It is often thought of as the start of the American Civil War, well before any battles took place. It is estimated in this event that over 50 died.

John Brown

abolitionist from the north who, with his sons, murdered five pro slavery settlers during Bleeding Kansas. He was lauded as a hero by many in the north and feared in the south for these actions. Later, he would raid a federal arsenal in Virginia with his sons and others, ultimately being captured and sentenced to death. He was largely seen as a martyr to abolitionists and feared by southerners who saw him as an operative of the Republican party.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

1857 US Supreme Court case in which an enslaved man sued for his freedom on the basis that he was brough to free states during his enslavement.  Roger Taney, the Chief Justice, and the majority of the court argued that he was property and could not sue, that slaves were property, that blacks were not citizens, and that people were entitled to their property and therefore people could bring their slaves anywhere, including the Louisiana Purchase.  This made the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional and opened the possibility for slavery anywhere in the United States.

Lecompton Constitution

pro slavery constitution for Kansas. It was written around the same time that an antislavery constitution was written and illustrated the division in Kansas.

Abraham Lincoln

former Whig US Representative from Illinois, loser in an 1856 Senate race against Stephen Douglas, early member of the Republican party, and winner of the 1860 presidential election. He led the US through the American Civil War.

Election of 1860

presidential election which saw a split Democratic ticket with Stephen Douglas as a Northern Democrat and John C. Breckinridge as a Southern Democrat. John C. Bell ran as the Constitutional Union Party candidate, and Abraham Lincoln as the Republican. Lincoln won without winning a single southern state.

Secede/Secession

the idea or practice where a state would leave a country. An example would be one of the 11 southern states which left the Union during the Civil War.

Civil War

war between the Union and Confederacy from 1861 through 1865.

Confederate States of America (Confederacy)

group of 11 states which left the United States to form a new government and fought against the Union during the American Civil War. It was led by President Jefferson Davis from Mississippi.

Crittenden Compromise

a failed, last minute compromise to try to avoid the Civil War. It was proposed by a Kentucky Senator and included several proposals such as the current line of slavery in the US, guaranteeing the southern right to slavery, and outlawing slavery in DC. It was ultimately struck down by Republicans who sought to stop the spread of slavery.

Fort Sumter

first battle of the Civil War in South Carolina, where the Confederates tried to block the Union resupply of this fort in Charleston Harbor.

Border States

slave states that stayed with the Union during the Civil War.  They included Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware. 

Union

northern states and border states that fought to preserve the United States of America and thought no state had the right to secede.

Homestead Act

1862 law passed by the Republican led Congress to sell western lands to citizens for a small fee in exchange for living there for a set period of time and cultivating the land. It encouraged Westward Expansion.

Transcontinental Railroad/Pacific Railway Act

law or project that Congress and Lincoln signed into law in 1862. It was a large infrastructure project, partially funded by the US government.

Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg)

1862 Battle in Maryland which gave the Union a needed victory after many losses early in the war. It helped enable Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation because he could do so after a Union victory, as to not make the proclamation look like a desperate effort in a losing war.

Emancipation Proclamation

1862 declaration by Abraham Lincoln that all enslaved peoples in areas of rebellion would be set free.  It was aimed to weaken the Confederacy by depriving it of labor and encouraged black men, both free and newly freed to join the Union Army.

13th Amendment

Amendment to the US Constitution, passed before the end Civil War, which permanently ended slavery in the United States.

Ulysses S. Grant

Lincoln’s top Union general during the Civil War. He was known for his aggressiveness and for using his superior numbers to wear down the Confederate army. He was an Illinois man.

Robert E. Lee

The Confederacy’s top general during the Civil War, from Virginia.  He was known for his outstanding military tactics and used his smaller army relatively effectively against a stronger Union army.

Anaconda Plan

Plan proposed by Union general Winfield Scott to surround and cut the Confederacy in two by creating a blockade around the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, along the Mississippi River, and the border between the Union and Confederacy.

King Cotton Diplomacy

Confederate hope to deprive England and France of Southern cotton. Their goal was to make their want for cotton motivate the two countries to join the war on the Confederate side. It backfired on the Confederacy because both countries got cotton from Egypt and India and because of the Emancipation Proclamation.

First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)

1861 first large battle of the Civil War.  Early in the battle, the Union was winning, but Stonewall Jackson led the South to victory.  It demonstrated to both sides tha the war would not be quick or easy for either side. 

Siege of Vicksburg

summer 1863 battle along the Mississippi River where General Grant surrounded and forced the surrender of a Confederate city and fort. This gave the Union army and navy control of the Mississippi River and cut the Confederacy in two.

Battle of Gettysburg

1863 turning point of the war.  It was a decisive battle where Union troops under General Meade defeated General Lee’s army when he marched them north into Pennsylvania.  After this point, Lee could never invade the north again. 

Gettysburg Address

1863 speech by Abraham Lincoln which called for Americans to remember the war dead, finish the war victoriously, and to issue in a new birth of freedom.

Freedmen

millions of formerly enslaved peoples freed after the Civil War through the 13th Amendment.

Freedmen’s Bureau

government funded organization to help newly freed blacks and poor whites through education and assistance in buying land. 

Reconstruction

the process of reuniting the country after the Civil War and reintegrating seceded states and giving Freedmen rights, opportunities and protection.

Radical Republicans

group of Republicans who sought to punish the former Confederacy and wanted to do more to help Freedmen after the Civil War.

10% Plan

President Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction. It was considered lenient, and he wanted it that way to quickly heal the nation. He made and started using this plan during the war to try to bring Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee back into the Union.

Wade Davis Bill

Congress’s first plan for Reconstruction in July 1864, before the end of the War. It called for a provisional governor of each state, a majority white males to pledge allegiance to the union, each state would set up a new constitution, each state would abolish slavery and disenfranchise Confederate leaders. Lincoln pocket vetoed this Bill before it could become a law.

Andrew Johnson

17th president after Lincoln was assassinated. He was more of a common man, from Tennessee originally and a Democrat. His view on Reconstruction was that it was more Restoration. He was insecure and felt only white men could rule the south. He offered amnesty for those who would take an oath of allegiance, and wealthy southerners had to personally appeal to this man.

Black Codes

laws in Southern states that gave whites control over former slaves. They included laws against vagrancy and could punish blacks by forcing them to do labor. It was aimed to tie blacks to the land for cheap labor and not let them leave easily.

14th Amendment

this Reconstruction period Amendment to the US Constitution defined citizenship and the rights associated with it. It also barred some former Confederates from public office.

Reconstruction Act of 1867

the Radical Republican plan for Reconstruction.  States were put into five military districts, each ruled by a military commander.  Then, qualified people would register to vote for elected conventions to make new state constitutions, which had to allow for black male suffrage.  They would then elect state governments with the oversight of the US government.  They would then have to ratify the 14^th Amendment to be considered for statehood.

15th Amendment

Amendment which would forbit states and US governments from denying suffrage on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Impeachment

the process of accusing a government official like the President or a federal judge, of a high crime or misdemeanor.

Scalawags

a derogatory term in the South for a Southern Republican.

Carpetbaggers

a derogatory term for a Northerner who came South to help with Reconstruction. They were usually Republicans.

Sharecropping

system of farming where someone would work another person’s land in exchange for part of the harvest to keep for themselves or to sell. It was taken up by poor blacks and whites after the Civil War and often created a system of perpetual debt.

Seward’s Folly

term for US purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7M.

Ku Klux Klan

terrorist organization who intimidated blacks and white Republicans from voting during Reconstruction and after.  This group was started by former Confederates to support Democrats.

Compromise of 1877

agreement that determined the Election of 1876 between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel Tilden.  In return for the election going to Hayes, Republicans agreed to end the military occupation of the South and essentially ending Reconstruction.

Redeemers

Democrats who took back offices after Reconstruction ended in 1877. They represented not only the planter class, but a new merchant and businessman class with political power in the New South.

Booker T. Washington

a former slave who founded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He was educated at Hampton Institute and argued that blacks should self improve through education, particularly to get jobs in the trades and agriculture. He argued blacks should adopt traits of middle class whites.

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896 Supreme Court Case which said that separate but equal accommodations were okay and did not violate black equal rights. This set the precedent for segregation.

Jim Crow Laws

state laws designed to segregate schools and prevent black votes. It stripped blacks of social, economic, and political gains made in Reconstruction.

Lynching

mob killing of someone, particularly of African Americans in the South during the Jim Crow era. It was meant to intimidate blacks to prevent them from voting, or for revenge for accused and often non existent crimes.

Ida B. Wells

black journalist who launched an anti lynching movement by publishing articles after a lynching in Memphis, Tennessee. She pushed unsuccessfully for a new law, but did bright attention and gained support for her cause.