US history exam 4

American Party

also called the Know-Nothing Party, a political party that emerged in 1856 with an anti-immigration platform

Bleeding Kansas

a reference to the violent clashes in Kansas between Free-Soilers and slavery supporters

border ruffians

proslavery Missourians who crossed the border into Kansas to influence the legislature

Compromise of 1850

five laws passed by Congress to resolve issues stemming from the Mexican Cession and the sectional crisis

Dred Scott v. Sandford

an 1857 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that blacks could not be citizens and Congress had no jurisdiction to impede the expansion of slavery

Fire-Eaters

radical southern secessionists

Free-Soil Party

a political party committed to ensuring that white laborers would not have to compete with unpaid slaves in newly acquired territories

Freeport Doctrine

a doctrine that emerged during the Lincoln-Douglas debates in which Douglas reaffirmed his commitment to popular sovereignty, including the right to halt the spread of slavery despite the 1857 Dred Scott decision

Harpers Ferry

the site of a federal arsenal in Virginia, where John Brown staged an ill-fated effort to end slavery by instigating a mass uprising among slaves

miscegenation

race-mixing through sexual relations or marriage

popular sovereignty

the principle of letting the people residing in a territory decide whether or not to permit slavery based on majority rule

Republican Party

an antislavery political party formed in 1854 in response to Stephen Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska Act

Underground Railroad

a network of free blacks and northern whites who helped slaves escape bondage through a series of designated routes and safe houses

What was President Zachary Taylor’s top priority as president?

preserving the Union

Which of the following was not a component of the Compromise of 1850?

the admission of Kansas as a free state

Why did many in the North resist the Fugitive Slave Act?

They opposed being required to help capture and return escaped slaves and feared free Blacks could be wrongfully seized.

Which of the following was a focus of the new Republican Party?

halting the spread of slavery

Border ruffians helped to ________.

elect a proslavery legislature in Kansas

How did the “Bleeding Kansas” incident change the face of antislavery advocacy?

It convinced many Northerners that slavery supporters would use violence to expand slavery, increasing antislavery sentiment and support for the Republican Party.

On what grounds did Dred Scott sue for freedom?

the fact that he had lived in free states

Which of the following was not a result of the Lincoln-Douglas debates?

Lincoln successfully defended the principle of popular sovereignty.

What are the main points of the Dred Scott decision?

Blacks could not be U.S. citizens, and Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.

Why did John Brown attack the armory at Harpers Ferry?

to seize weapons to distribute to slaves for a massive uprising

Which of the following did not contribute to Lincoln’s victory in the election of 1860?

the defeat of the Whig party

What were southerners’ and northerners’ views of John Brown?

Many Northerners viewed him as a martyr or hero against slavery, while most Southerners saw him as a dangerous fanatic and terrorist.

Army of the Potomac

the Union fighting force operating outside Washington, DC

Army of the West

the Union fighting force operating in Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Mississippi River Valley

Confederacy

the new nation formed by the seceding southern states, also known as the Confederate States of America (CSA)

contrabands

slaves who escaped to the Union army’s lines

Copperheads

Democrats who opposed Lincoln in the 1864 election

Crittenden Compromise

a compromise suggested by Kentucky senator John Crittenden that would restore the 36°30′ line from the Missouri Compromise and extend it to the Pacific Ocean, allowing slavery to expand into the southwestern territories

Emancipation Proclamation

signed on January 1, 1863, the document with which President Lincoln transformed the Civil War into a struggle to end slavery

Fort Sumter

a fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, where the Union garrison came under siege by Confederate forces on April 12, 1861, beginning the Civil War

general in chief

the commander of army land forces

Gettysburg Address

a speech by Abraham Lincoln dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863

greenbacks

paper money the United States began to issue during the Civil War

habeas corpus

the right of those arrested to be brought before a judge or court to determine whether there is cause to hold the prisoner

Sherman’s March to the Sea

the scorched-earth campaign employed in Georgia by Union general William Tecumseh Sherman

total war

a state of war in which the government makes no distinction between military and civilian targets and mobilizes all resources, extending its reach into all areas of citizens’ lives

Which of the following does not represent a goal of the Confederate States of America?

to ensure that the international slave trade would be allowed to continue

Which was not a provision of the Crittenden Compromise?

that the Five Civilized Tribes would be admitted into the Confederacy

Why did the states of the Deep South secede from the Union sooner than the states of the Upper South and the border states?

They were more dependent on slavery and viewed Lincoln’s election as a direct threat to the institution.

All the following were strengths of the Union except ________.

the ability to fight defensively, rather than offensively

All the following were strengths of the Confederacy except ________.

a strong navy

What military successes and defeats did the Union experience in 1862?

The Union captured New Orleans and gained control of much of the Mississippi Valley, but suffered major defeats in the Peninsular Campaign and at Second Bull Run.

Which of the following did the North not do to mobilize for war?

form a military alliance with Great Britain

Why is 1863 considered a turning point in the Civil War?

The Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, along with the Emancipation Proclamation, shifted momentum decisively in favor of the Union.

Which of the following is not a reason why many people opposed Lincoln’s reelection in 1864?

He had replaced General George B. McClellan.

What was General Sherman’s objective on his March to the Sea?

to destroy military and civilian resources wherever possible

black codes

laws some southern states designed to maintain white supremacy by keeping freed people impoverished and in debt

carpetbagger

a term used for northerners working in the South during Reconstruction; it implied that these were opportunists who came south for economic or political gain

Compromise of 1877

the agreement between Republicans and Democrats after the contested election of 1876, in which Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the presidency in exchange for withdrawing the last federal troops from the South