Period 5

John Tyler

10th President of the United States (1841-1845); annexed Texas.

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

Resolved border disputes between the U.S. and British Canada, particularly Maine.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that the U.S. was destined to expand across the North American continent.

Lewis Cass

U.S. Senator and advocate for popular sovereignty to decide slavery in territories.

Sam Houston

Leader of Texas independence; first president of the Republic of Texas.

Mexican-American War

(1846-1848) War between the U.S. and Mexico over territory.

Oregon Fever

Mass migration to Oregon in the 1840s, fueled by Manifest Destiny.

49th Parallel

Boundary line dividing U.S. and British Canada in the Oregon Treaty (1846).

Franciscan Missions

Religious outposts in California by Spanish Franciscans to convert Native Americans.

Annexation of Texas

The U.S. incorporation of Texas in 1845, leading to tensions with Mexico.

Annexation of California - Bear Flag Republic

Short-lived independent California before U.S. annexation in 1846.

John C. Fremont

Explorer and military officer who contributed to U.S. expansion in California.

James K. Polk

11th U.S. President; champion of Manifest Destiny, annexed Texas, and oversaw the Mexican-American War.

Winfield Scott

U.S. general in the Mexican-American War; captured Mexico City.

Zachary Taylor

U.S. general and later president; led key victories in the Mexican-American War.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Ended the Mexican-American War; ceded vast territories to the U.S.

Wilmot Proviso

Proposal to ban slavery in territories acquired from Mexico.

Mexican Cession

Land ceded by Mexico to the U.S. in 1848, including California and the Southwest.

Matthew C. Perry

Naval officer who opened Japan to trade with the U.S. in 1854.

Gadsden Purchase

1854 acquisition of land from Mexico to facilitate a southern transcontinental railroad.

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

1850 agreement between the U.S. and Britain to avoid conflict over Central American canals.

Popular Sovereignty

Policy allowing territories to decide on slavery by vote.

Secession

Withdrawal of Southern states from the Union, leading to the Civil War.

Free-Soil Party

Political party opposing the expansion of slavery into western territories.

California Gold Rush

Mass migration to California after the 1848 gold discovery.

Compromise of 1850

Laws addressing slavery and territorial disputes; included the Fugitive Slave Act.

The Great Debate

Congressional debate over the Compromise of 1850.

Stephen A. Douglas

Senator who championed popular sovereignty and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Nativism

Anti-immigrant sentiment; associated with the Know-Nothing Party.

Fugitive Slave Law

Required citizens to assist in the capture of runaway slaves.

Underground Railroad

Network aiding escaped slaves to freedom.

Harriet Tubman

Escaped slave and prominent Underground Railroad conductor.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that fueled abolitionist sentiment.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Franklin Pierce

14th U.S. President; signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Allowed popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska; repealed the Missouri Compromise.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent conflicts in Kansas over slavery.

Sumner-Brooks Incident

Violent attack on Senator Charles Sumner by Representative Preston Brooks.

Know-Nothing Party

Anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic political party.

Republican Party

Founded in the 1850s to oppose slavery's expansion.

John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry

Failed abolitionist uprising to incite a slave rebellion.

James Buchanan

15th U.S. President; failed to prevent secession.

Dred Scott vs. Sanford (1857)

Supreme Court ruling that African Americans were not citizens.

Lecompton Constitution

Pro-slavery Kansas constitution rejected by Congress.

Panic of 1857

Economic downturn that heightened sectional tensions.

Abraham Lincoln

16th U.S. President; led the nation during the Civil War.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Series of debates on slavery between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas.

Freeport Doctrine

Douglas's stance that territories could exclude slavery despite the Dred Scott decision.

Fort Sumter

Site of the first Civil War battle in 1861.

Border States

Slave states that stayed in the Union.

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States during the Civil War.

Civil War

(1861-1865) Conflict between the Union and Confederacy over slavery and states' rights.

Ulysses S. Grant

Union general and 18th U.S. President; led Union to victory.

Battle of Bull Run

First major battle of the Civil War.

Anaconda Strategy

Union strategy to blockade Southern ports and control the Mississippi River.

Robert E. Lee

Confederate general; led Southern forces during the Civil War.

Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

Confederate general known for his tactical prowess.

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln’s declaration freeing slaves in Confederate territories.

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln’s speech emphasizing national unity and equality.

Battle of Vicksburg

Union victory that secured control of the Mississippi River.

Battle of Gettysburg

Turning point in the Civil War; Union victory.

March to the Sea

General Sherman’s destructive campaign through Georgia.

Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse

Confederate surrender, ending the Civil War.

Homestead Act

Granted free land to settlers to encourage western expansion.

Pacific Railway Act

Legislation promoting construction of the transcontinental railroad.

Thirteenth Amendment

Abolished slavery.

Fourteenth Amendment

Granted citizenship to all born or naturalized in the U.S.

Fifteenth Amendment

Guaranteed voting rights regardless of race.

Radical Republicans

Advocated strong Reconstruction policies and rights for freedmen.

Freedmen’s Bureau

Federal agency aiding freed slaves during Reconstruction.

Reconstruction

Post-Civil War period of rebuilding and reintegrating the South.

John Wilkes Booth

Assassinated President Lincoln.

Andrew Johnson

17th U.S. President; impeached for opposing Radical Reconstruction.

Black Codes

Laws restricting freedmen’s rights in the South.

Sharecropping

Agricultural system where freedmen worked land for a share of the crop.

Thaddeus Stevens

Radical Republican leader in Congress.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved South during Reconstruction.

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Reconstruction.

Horace Greeley

Editor and Liberal Republican presidential candidate in 1872.

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacist group opposing Reconstruction and Black rights.

Compromise of 1877

Ended Reconstruction; removed federal troops from the South.