APUSH Period 5 (1844–1877) Study Set

Flashcards covering key terminology, events, and concepts from APUSH Period 5 (1844–1877) related to westward expansion, slavery, and the Civil War.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that the United States was destined to expand westward to the Pacific Ocean.

Stephen F. Austin

Led American settlement in Texas; helped promote westward migration.

Sam Houston

Leader of Texas independence; later became president of the Republic of Texas.

James K. Polk

President who strongly supported westward expansion and oversaw the Mexican–American War.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Ended the Mexican–American War; Mexico ceded large territories to the U.S.

Wilmot Proviso

Proposed ban on slavery in territories gained from Mexico (never passed).

Compromise of 1850

A series of laws aimed at resolving sectional tensions over slavery.

Popular Sovereignty

Let settlers vote on whether to allow slavery.

Know-Nothing Party

Political party based on nativist beliefs.

Underground Railroad

Network that helped enslaved people escape.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Ruled that enslaved people were not citizens and Congress could not ban slavery.

Anaconda Plan

Union strategy to blockade the South and control rivers.

Emancipation Proclamation

Freed enslaved people in Confederate states.

Freedmen’s Bureau

Helped formerly enslaved people with education and aid.

Ku Klux Klan

Used violence and intimidation to suppress Black voters.

Sharecropping

Economic system that trapped African Americans in poverty.