AP US History Unit 5 Review

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts from AP US History Unit 5 (1844-1877), focusing on manifest destiny, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century doctrine that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable.

Homestead Act

A law passed in 1862 that provided settlers 160 acres of public land in exchange for a small fee and the requirement to live on and improve the land for five years.

Mexican-American War

A conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848, resulting in significant territorial gains for the U.S.

Wilmot Proviso

A proposal to ban slavery in all territory acquired from Mexico, which passed in the House but failed in the Senate.

Compromise of 1850

A series of laws aimed at resolving tensions related to slavery, including admitting California as a free state and enacting a stricter Fugitive Slave Act.

Fugitive Slave Act

Part of the Compromise of 1850 that required the return of runaway slaves to their owners, angering many in the North.

Bleeding Kansas

A term describing the violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in Kansas during the mid-1850s.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 that freed slaves in the Confederate states.

Reconstruction

The period following the Civil War during which the United States attempted to address the issues of the South and the integration of freed slaves into society.

Jim Crow laws

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States after Reconstruction until the Civil Rights Movement.

14th Amendment

An amendment granting citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born in the U.S. ratified in 1868.

15th Amendment

An amendment granting African American men the right to vote, ratified in 1870.