Expansion, Sectionalism, & Manifest Destiny

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lectures on Expansion, Sectionalism, & Manifest Destiny.

Gag Resolution

Congressional rule that automatically tabled abolitionist petitions to avoid slavery debates.

William Henry Harrison

Whig president elected in 1840; first president to die in office after one month.

Webster–Ashburton Treaty

Settled U.S.–British border disputes between Maine and Canada.

Texas

Independent republic after 1836; annexed by the U.S. in 1845.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that the U.S. was destined to expand westward across North America.

Santa Anna

Mexican general and president; led forces during Texas Revolution.

Goliad and the Alamo

Texas defeats by Mexican forces that became rallying cries for Texan independence.

Battle of San Jacinto

Decisive Texas victory that secured independence from Mexico.

James K. Polk

Expansionist Democratic president; oversaw Mexican-American War.

John Tyler

President after Harrison’s death; annexed Texas without congressional approval.

Liberty Party

Early antislavery political party that pushed abolition into national politics.

Wilmot Proviso

Proposed ban on slavery in territory gained from Mexico.

Oregon Trail

Main route settlers used to migrate west to Oregon, California, and Utah.

Oregon Treaty

Set U.S.–British boundary at the 49th parallel.

Walker Tariff

Lowered tariff rates, pleasing southern Democrats.

Mexican-American War

War over disputed Texas border; U.S. victory expanded territory.

Conscience Whigs

Northern Whigs opposed to slavery expansion.

Spot Resolution

Lincoln’s demand Polk show the exact 'spot' where Mexico attacked.

Abraham Lincoln

Illinois lawyer, Republican leader, and later president during the Civil War.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Ended Mexican-American War; Mexico ceded Southwest to the U.S.

Free Soil Party

Political party opposing expansion of slavery into western territories.

Popular Sovereignty

Let settlers vote on whether slavery would be allowed in a territory.

Zachary Taylor

Mexican War hero elected president in 1848.

Stephen A. Douglas

Senator who promoted popular sovereignty.

California Gold Rush

Massive migration west after gold discovery.

Clayton–Bulwer Treaty

U.S. and Britain agreed neither would control a Central American canal.

Ostend Manifesto

Secret proposal suggesting the U.S. seize Cuba if Spain refused to sell it.

Compromise of 1850

Series of laws admitting California free and using popular sovereignty elsewhere.

Fugitive Slave Law

Required escaped slaves to be returned.

Young America

Cultural movement emphasizing progress, nationalism, and expansion.

Black Belt

Southern region with fertile soil and high enslaved populations.

Mason–Dixon Line

Symbolic divider between free and slave states.

Underground Railroad

Network that helped enslaved people escape to free states or Canada.

Gadsden Purchase

U.S. bought land from Mexico for a southern railroad route.

Treaty of Wanghia

Gave U.S. trading rights in China similar to Britain’s.

Treaty of Kanagawa

Opened Japan to U.S. trade after Perry’s naval mission.

New England Emigrant Aid Company

Sent antislavery settlers to Kansas.

Henry Ward Beecher

Abolitionist minister who supported antislavery violence.

Lecompton Constitution

Pro-slavery constitution proposed for Kansas; rejected.

Kansas–Nebraska Act

Repealed Missouri Compromise; allowed popular sovereignty.

Republican Party

Anti-slavery-expansion party formed from Whigs, Free Soilers, and Democrats.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent conflict over slavery in Kansas.

Pottawatomie Massacre

John Brown-led killing of pro-slavery settlers.

Charles Sumner

Senator beaten in Congress after anti-slavery speech.

Preston Brooks

Congressman who attacked Sumner with a cane.

The Impending Crisis of the South

Book by Hinton Helper arguing slavery harmed non-slaveholding whites.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Supreme Court ruled slaves weren’t citizens.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Novel exposing slavery’s brutality by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Roger Taney

Chief Justice who wrote the Dred Scott decision.

Panic of 1857

Economic depression that hurt the North more than the South.

Lincoln–Douglas Debates

Illinois Senate debates over slavery expansion.

Harpers Ferry

John Brown’s failed raid to start a slave revolt.

Election of 1860

Lincoln elected; Southern states began seceding.

Constitutional Union Party

Sought to preserve the Union without addressing slavery.

Civil War

Conflict from 1861 to 1865 between Union and Confederate states.

Confederate States of America

Southern states that seceded from the Union.

Fort Sumter

First battle of the Civil War.

Emancipation Proclamation

Freed slaves in Confederate-held territory.

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln’s speech redefining the war as a fight for equality.

Thirteenth Amendment

Abolished slavery nationwide.

Sherman’s March

Total war campaign destroying Southern infrastructure.

Harriet Tubman

Abolitionist and Union spy.

Franklin Pierce

Pro-southern president before the Civil War.

William Walker

Filibuster who tried to establish slave states in Central America.

Matthew Perry

Opened Japan to U.S. trade.

Border States

Slave states that stayed in the Union.

Billy Yank

Union soldier nickname.

Johnny Reb

Confederate soldier nickname.

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederacy.

Writ of Habeas Corpus

Right to challenge imprisonment; suspended by Lincoln.

New York City Draft Riots

Violent protests against the Civil War draft.

Greenbacks

Paper money issued by the Union.

Morrill Tariff Act

Raised tariffs to protect Northern industry.

National Banking System

Created uniform national currency.

Homestead Act

Gave free land to settlers.

Elizabeth Blackwell

First female doctor in the U.S.

Clara Barton

Civil War nurse; founded Red Cross.

First Bull Run

First major Civil War battle; Confederate victory.

Peninsula Campaign

Failed Union attempt to capture Richmond.

George McClellan

Overly cautious Union general.

Merrimack and Monitor

First ironclad ship battle.

Antietam

Bloodiest single-day battle; allowed Emancipation Proclamation.

Stonewall Jackson

Skilled Confederate general.

Robert E. Lee

Commander of Confederate army.

Ulysses S. Grant

Union general who accepted Lee’s surrender.

Vicksburg

Union victory splitting the Confederacy.

Copperheads

Northern Democrats opposing the war.

Clement Vallandigham

Leader of the Copperheads.

Union Party

Coalition supporting Lincoln in 1864 election.

Appomattox

Site of Lee’s surrender.

John Wilkes Booth

Assassinated Lincoln.

William Seward

Secretary of State attacked the same night as Lincoln.

Andrew Johnson

Became president after Lincoln; lenient toward South.

Freedmen’s Bureau

Federal agency aiding formerly enslaved people.

Sharecropping

Labor system trapping freedmen in debt.

Black Codes

Southern laws restricting African American freedom.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Granted citizenship and equal protection.

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery.

14th Amendment

Granted citizenship and equal protection.

15th Amendment

Prohibited voting discrimination based on race.