APUSH: Unit 5 (1844–1877)

Manifest Destiny

Belief that Americans were destined to expand westward across the continent.

Mexican-American War

1846–1848 war over U.S. annexation of Texas; resulted in U.S. acquiring Southwest territory.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Ended the Mexican-American War; U.S. gained California and the Southwest (Mexican Cession).

Wilmot Proviso

Proposal to ban slavery in land gained from Mexico; failed but intensified sectional conflict.

Free-Soil Party

Political party opposing the expansion of slavery into western territories.

California Gold Rush

Mass migration to California after gold was discovered in 1848; spurred rapid statehood.

Compromise of 1850

Clay’s proposal to ease sectional tensions: California entered as free state, new Fugitive Slave Law, popular sovereignty in territories.

Fugitive Slave Act

Law requiring return of runaway slaves; angered Northerners and increased abolitionist support.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe; swayed public opinion in the North.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Allowed popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska; repealed Missouri Compromise.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent clashes in Kansas between pro- and anti-slavery forces after Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

1857 Supreme Court ruling that slaves were property and could not sue; nullified Missouri Compromise.

Republican Party

Founded in 1854; opposed expansion of slavery into territories.

Abraham Lincoln

16th U.S. president; led Union in Civil War and issued Emancipation Proclamation.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

1858 Senate debates focused on slavery; boosted Lincoln’s national profile.

John Brown’s Raid

Failed attempt to start slave uprising at Harpers Ferry; increased Southern fears of Northern aggression.

Election of 1860

Lincoln won without Southern votes; led to secession of Southern states.

Confederate States of America

Government formed by seceded Southern states; led by Jefferson Davis.

Fort Sumter

First battle of the Civil War; Confederate attack prompted Lincoln to call for troops.

Anaconda Plan

Union strategy to blockade the South and control the Mississippi River.

Battle of Antietam

Bloodiest single day in U.S. history; led to Emancipation Proclamation.

Emancipation Proclamation

1863 order freeing slaves in Confederate territory; shifted war goals to include abolition.

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln’s speech redefining the Civil War as a struggle for equality and national unity.

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery in the United States.

14th Amendment

Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all born in the U.S., including former slaves.

15th Amendment

Prohibited denying the right to vote based on race or previous servitude.

Radical Republicans

Congressional leaders who wanted harsh Reconstruction and full rights for freedmen.

Reconstruction Acts

Divided South into military districts; required states to ratify 14th Amendment and protect Black voting rights.

Freedmen’s Bureau

Government agency providing aid, education, and legal help to former slaves.

Black Codes

Southern laws restricting rights of African Americans after the Civil War.

Sharecropping

Farming system where freedmen worked land for a share of the crop; often led to debt and poverty.

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacist group that used violence to suppress Black political power.

Compromise of 1877

Ended Reconstruction; Hayes became president, and federal troops withdrew from the South.