11.3.1–11.3.2: The Election of 1860 and Prelude to the Civil War (Vocabulary)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, people, and events from the lecture about the Election of 1860 and pre-Civil War tensions.

Election of 1860

The U.S. presidential race with four major candidates (Lincoln—Republican; Douglas—Northern Democrat; Breckinridge—Southern Democrat; Bell—Constitutional Union) that led to secession and the Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln

Republican candidate in 1860; viewed as a moderate who would stop the expansion of slavery into new territories but not interfere with slavery where it already existed; won the presidency, barred on Southern ballots.

Stephen A. Douglas

Northern Democratic candidate in 1860; champion of popular sovereignty and author of the Freeport Doctrine.

Freeport Doctrine

Douglas’s claim that territories could keep slavery out by not enforcing slave laws, undermining the Dred Scott ruling.

Dred Scott decision

Supreme Court ruling stating enslaved people are property, not citizens; Congress cannot ban slavery in territories; slaves’ status follows the owner.

Popular sovereignty

Idea that residents of a territory should decide slavery’s status there through vote.

Republican Party

Party formed in Chicago in the 1850s by Free-Soilers, abolitionists, and anti-slavery groups; opposed expansion of slavery; Lincoln as its leading candidate in 1860.

Democratic split (Northern vs Southern)

Division of the Democratic Party in 1860 into Northern Democrats (Douglas) and Southern Democrats (Breckenridge) over slavery expansion.

John C. Breckinridge

Southern Democrat candidate in 1860 who supported expanding slavery into new territories.

John Bell

Candidate of the Constitutional Union Party in 1860; sought to preserve the Union and avoid sectional conflict.

Constitutional Union Party

Moderate party formed to keep the Union together, focusing on the Constitution rather than slavery issues.

American Party (Know-Nothing Party)

Nativist party opposed to immigration, especially Irish and German Catholics.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent clashes in Kansas between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions during the 1850s.

Sack of Lawrence

Pro-slavery attack on the anti-slavery town of Lawrence, Kansas, during Bleeding Kansas.

John Brown

Abolitionist who led violent actions in Kansas and the Harpers Ferry raid; a martyr-like figure for abolition.

Potawatomi Creek massacre

John Brown’s raid-related massacre in Kansas against pro-slavery factions.

Harpers Ferry

John Brown’s 1859 raid on a federal arsenal in Virginia, intended to incite a slave revolt; Brown was captured and executed.

Underground Railroad

Secret network of safe houses and routes aiding enslaved people to freedom in the North or Canada.

Harriet Tubman

A foremost abolitionist and conductor on the Underground Railroad who helped many escape to freedom.

Frederick Douglass

Former enslaved person and abolitionist who gave speeches and wrote about slavery.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854 law proposed by Stephen Douglas that allowed new territories to decide slavery by popular sovereignty, repealing the Missouri Compromise.

Wilmot Proviso

1846 proposal to ban slavery in the Mexican Cession; it failed, heightening sectional tensions.

Fugitive Slave Act (1850)

Part of the Compromise of 1850; required return of escaped slaves and denied them jury trials; intensified North–South tensions.

Personal Liberty Laws

Northern state laws designed to counter the Fugitive Slave Act by protecting accused fugitives’ rights.