apush period 5 vocab

Fredrick Douglas

Former enslaved person who became a leading abolitionist, writer and speaker advocating for the end of slavery

Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe

Anti-slavery novel (1852) that galvanized Northern opposition to slavery and swayed public opinion

Mexican Cession

Territory ceded by Mexico to the US in 1848 after the Mexican-American War, including present-day California, Arizona and New Mexico

Compromise of 1850

Series of laws aimed at resolving sectional tensions, including the Fugitive Slave Act, California's admission as a free state, and popular sovereignty in some territories

Know-Nothing Party

Anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic political party active in the 1850s, opposing the growing influence of immigrants

Sumner-Brooks Incident

1856 event in which Congressman Preston Brooks beat Senator Charles Sumner with a cane after Sumner's anti-slavery speech

Lecompton Constitution

Pro-slavery constitution drafted in Kansas in 1857, rejected by Congress and Kansas voters

Dred Scott v. Sanford

1857 Supreme Court decision stating that African Americans could not be citizens and that Congress had no power to ban slavery in the territories

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Series of debates in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas over the expansion of slavery and other issues

Freeport Doctrine

Statement by Stephen Douglas during the Lincoln-Douglas Debates asserting that territories could exclude slavery by refusing to pass laws protecting it

Election of 1860

Presidential election in which Abraham Lincoln won, triggering the secession of Southern states and leading to the Civil War

Fort Sumter

Federal fort in South Carolina where the first slots of the Civil war were fired in 1861

Habeas Corpus

Legal principle that protects individuals from unwanted detention; suspended by Lincoln during the Civil War to suppress dissent

Border States

Slave states that remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War, including Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri

Confederate States of America

Union of 11 Southern states that seceded from the US in 1861, forming their own government during the Civil War

Bull Run

First major battle of the Civil War (1861), resulted in a Confederate victory and showed that the war would be longer and bloodier than expected

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

Confederate general is known for his tactical brilliance and heroism, especially during the First Battle of the Bull Run

Gettysburg

1863 battle and siege in Mississippi, giving the Union control of the Mississippi River and splitting the Confederate invasion

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln's 1863 speech dedicated to the Soldier's National Cemetery, emphasizing the principles of liberty and equality

Sherman's March to the Sea

1864 Union military campaign led by General William Tecumseh Sherman, which devastated the South, particularly Georgia

John Wilkes Booth

Actor and Confederate sympathizer who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln in 1865

Abolitionism

Movement aimed at ending slavery in the US, advocating for emancipation and equal rights for African Americans

William Lloyd Garrison

Prominent abolitionist and journalist, founder of The Liberator, a leading anti-slavery newspaper

Wilmot Proviso

Proposed in 1846, a law banning slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico although it was never passed

Free Soil Party

Political party (1848-1854) that opposed the expansion of slavery into western territories, advocating for free land and free labor

Stephen Douglas

Senator from Illinois, known for the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Lincoln-Douglas Debates; advocate for popular sovereignty in new territories

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854 law that allowed settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether to permit slavery, leading to violent conflict

Republican Party

Political party founded in 1854, opposing the expansion of slavery, and later supporting the Union during the Civil War

Bleeding Kansas

Period of violent conflict in Kansas (1854-1856) over whether the state would permit slavery, following the Kansas-Nebraska Act

John Brown

Radical abolitionist who led violent raids, including the 1859 Harpers Ferry raid, in an attempt to start an armed slave rebellion

Roger Taney

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who delivered the majority opinion in the Dred Scott decision

Abraham Lincoln

The 16th US president, leader during the Civil War, and emancipator of slaves through the Emancipation Proclamation

Harpers Ferry Raid

1859 attempt by John Brown to seize a federal arsenal in Virginia to incite a slave rebellion, leading to his capture and execution

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War

Anaconda Plan

Union strategy during the Civil War was to block Southern ports and control the Mississippi River, effectively "squeezing" the Confederacy

George McClellan

Union general early in the Civil War, known for his cautiousness and failure to decisively defeat Confederate forces

Robert E. Lee

General of the Confederate Army during the Civil War, widely respected for his military leadership

Antietam

1862 battle in Maryland, the bloodiest single day in US history, resulting in a tactical draw but strategic Union victory

Ulysses S. Grant

Union general who led the North to victory in the Civil War and later became the 18th US president

Emancipation Proclamation

Executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, freeing slaves in the Confederate-held territory

Vicksburg

1863 battle and siege in Mississippi, giving the Union control of the Mississippi River and splitting the Confederacy

Appomattox Courthouse

Location of the Confederate surrender to the Union forces under General Lee in 1865, effectively ending the Civil War