APUSH Period 5 nmemonics

Manumission

Freedom by Law:

• The act of enslavers freeing enslaved people, often through wills or individual decisions.
  Tip: Think manu = hand → freedom handed over.

American Colonization society

Free Blacks, Africa Plan:

• An organization promoting the relocation of free Black Americans to Africa (Liberia).
  Tip: Think solution that avoided ending slavery.

Missourri Compromise (1820)

36°30′ Line Truce:

• Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state while banning slavery north of 36°30′.
  Tip: Think line temporarily calms slavery debate.

Manifest DEstinity

God-Said-Go-West:

• The belief that the U.S. was destined to expand westward across the continent.
  Tip: Think expansion is America’s mission.

Fifty Four Forty or Fight

All-of-Oregon Slogan:

• A slogan demanding U.S. control of Oregon up to latitude 54°40′.
  Tip: Think fight Britain for all of Oregon.

Stephen Austin

Father of Texas:

• Led American settlers into Texas and promoted U.S. settlement.
  Tip: Think American settlers in Texas.

Santa Anna

Mexican Strongman:

• President of Mexico who opposed Texan independence.
  Tip: Think Mexico vs. Texas leader.

The Alamo (1836)

Last-Stand Battle:

• A battle where Texan forces were defeated, becoming a symbol of resistance.
  Tip: Think “Remember the Alamo!”.

Mexican American War (1846-1848)

Expansion-by-War:

• A war fought after U.S. annexation of Texas that resulted in major territorial gains.
  Tip: Think war to fulfill Manifest Destiny.

Wilmot Proviso (1846)

No-Slavery-in-New-Land:

• A proposal to ban slavery in territories gained from Mexico.
  Tip: Think never passed, but sparks conflict.

Free soil Party

Free Land, Free Labor:

• A political party opposing the expansion of slavery into western territories.
  Tip: Think slavery stops spreading.

Zachary Taylor

War-Hero President:

• A Mexican War hero elected president who opposed the expansion of slavery.
  Tip: Think general turned president.

Stephen Douglas

Compromise Crafter:

• A senator who promoted popular sovereignty to resolve slavery disputes.
  Tip: Think let the people vote.

Compromise of 1850

Five-Part Patch Job:

• A series of laws attempting to balance free and slave states.
  Tip: Think temporary peace, bigger problems later.

Fugitive Slave Act (1850)

Catch-and-Return Law:

• A law requiring the return of escaped enslaved people, angering the North.
  Tip: Think slavery follows fugitives north.

Harriet Beecher Stowe- Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Novel That Shook the Nation:

• An antislavery novel that exposed the cruelty of slavery.
  Tip: Think book changes public opinion.

Personal Liberty Laws

States Fight Back:

• Northern laws that resisted enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act.
  Tip: Think states protect fugitives.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Repeals the Line:

• Created territories using popular sovereignty, repealing the Missouri Compromise.
  Tip: Think slavery debate explodes again.

Popular Sovereignty

People Decide Slavery:

• The idea that settlers vote on whether to allow slavery.
  Tip: Think democracy with dangerous consequences.

Bleeding Kansas

Ballots Turn to Bullets:

• Violent conflict between pro- and antislavery settlers.
  Tip: Think civil war in Kansas.

Dred Scott v Sandford (1857)

No Rights for Slaves:

• A Supreme Court ruling stating enslaved people were not citizens and Congress could not ban slavery.
  Tip: Think Court makes sectional tensions worse.

Republician Party

Stop-Slavery-Spread Party:

• A political party formed to oppose the expansion of slavery.
  Tip: Think new party, new conflict.

Know Nothing Party

Immigrants Out Party:

• A nativist party opposing immigration and Catholic influence.
  Tip: Think anti-immigrant politics.

Abraham Lincoln

Union-Saving Leader:

• A Republican president elected in 1860 who opposed slavery’s expansion.
  Tip: Think election triggers secession.

Lincoln Douglas Debates (1858)

Slavery-on-the-Spot Debates:

• Debates over slavery expansion that elevated Lincoln nationally.
  Tip: Think moral vs. popular sovereignty.

John Brown

Violence Against Slavery:

• An abolitionist who led a raid on Harpers Ferry.
  Tip: Think abolition turns violent.

Election of 1860

Breaking-Point Election:

• Lincoln’s election that led Southern states to secede.
  Tip: Think final straw before Civil War.

Secession

States Storm Out:

• The act of Southern states leaving the Union after Lincoln’s election.
  Tip: Think walking out of the United States.

Jefferson Davis

Confederate Commander-in-Chief:

• President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.
  Tip: Think leader of the South.

Crittenden Compromise

Last-Ditch Peace Plan:

• A failed attempt to prevent secession by protecting slavery where it already existed.
  Tip: Think final effort to save the Union.

Fort Sumter (1861)

War’s First Shot:

• The Confederate attack that began the Civil War.
  Tip: Think the war officially starts here.

Border States

Slavery but Union:

• Slave states that remained loyal to the Union.
  Tip: Think neutral but crucial.

Bull Run/Manassas (1861)

Reality-Check Battle:

• The first major battle of the Civil War showing the war would be long and costly.
  Tip: Think no quick victory.

George McClellan

Cautious Union General:

• A skilled organizer who was overly hesitant to attack Confederate forces.
  Tip: Think great planner, slow fighter.

Robert E. Lee

Confederacy’s Top General:

• The most respected Confederate military commander.
  Tip: Think brilliant Southern strategist.

Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

Unbreakable General:

• A Confederate general known for his discipline and toughness in battle.
  Tip: Think stands firm like a wall.

Antitam/Sharpsburg (1862)

Bloodiest Day Battle:

• The deadliest single day of the war and a Union strategic victory.
  Tip: Think gives Lincoln cover to free slaves.

Conscription

Forced Military Service:

• A draft requiring men to serve in the military.
  Tip: Think fight even if you don’t want to.

NYC Draft Riots (1863)

Draft Turns Violent:

• Violent protests against conscription, especially by working-class immigrants.
  Tip: Think draft anger explodes.

Emancipation Proclimation (1863)

Freedom as War Strategy:

• An order freeing enslaved people in Confederate states.
  Tip: Think changes war’s purpose.

Gettysburg

High-Water Mark:

• A decisive Union victory ending Lee’s invasion of the North.
  Tip: Think South never fully recovers.

Vicksburg

Mississippi Split Victory:

• A Union victory that gave control of the Mississippi River.
  Tip: Think cuts Confederacy in two.

Ulysses S Grant

Relentless Union General:

• A Union commander who used constant pressure to defeat Confederate forces.
  Tip: Think never stops attacking.

54th Massachuttes Infatry Regimegnt

Black Soldiers Prove Valor:

• One of the first African American regiments to fight for the Union.
  Tip: Think African American bravery in combat.

William Tecumseh Sherman

March-to-the-Sea General:

• A Union general who led a destructive campaign through the South.
  Tip: Think war on resources.

Total War

War on Everything:

• A strategy targeting civilian resources to break the enemy’s will.
  Tip: Think destroy ability to fight.

Unconditional Surrender

No-Negotiation End:

• A demand that the enemy surrender without terms.
  Tip: Think complete defeat.

Appotomax Court House, Virginia (1865)

War Officially Ends:

• The site where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant.
  Tip: Think Civil War ends here.

Lincoln’s 10 percent plan (1863)

Ten Percent = Take Them Back:

• A lenient plan allowing Southern states to rejoin the Union once 10% of voters swore loyalty.
  Tip: Think easy forgiveness.

Wade Davis Bill (1864)

Hardline Loyalty Test:

• A strict congressional plan requiring a majority to swear loyalty before readmission.
  Tip: Think Congress wants tougher rules.

Pocket Veto

Ignore It Till It Dies:

• When a president kills a bill by not signing it before Congress adjourns.
  Tip: Think bill disappears quietly.

John Wilkes Booth (1865)

Actor Turned Assassin:

• The man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln.
  Tip: Think theater + tragedy.

Andrew Johnson

Southern Democrat President:

• Lincoln’s successor who favored lenient Reconstruction for the South.
  Tip: Think clashes with Congress.

Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan

Pardon the South:

• Allowed Southern states to rejoin quickly with few protections for freedmen.
  Tip: Think too forgiving.

13th Admendement

Slavery Ends—Forever:

• Abolished slavery throughout the United States.
  Tip: Think freedom becomes law.

Black Codes

Slavery by Another Name:

• Southern laws restricting the rights of freed African Americans.
  Tip: Think freedom limited.

Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)

From Slavery to Survival:

• Provided food, education, and aid to formerly enslaved people.
  Tip: Think government help for freedmen.

14th admendement

Citizenship + Equality:

• Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law.
  Tip: Think defines American citizenship.

Waving the Bloody Shirt

Remember the War!

• A political tactic reminding voters of Democratic ties to the Confederacy.
  Tip: Think emotional war memories.

Radical Republicans

Rebuild the South—Forcefully:

• A group in Congress demanding strong protections for African Americans.
  Tip: Think tough Reconstruction.

Charles Sumner

Equality Advocate Senator:

• A Radical Republican leader who fought for Black civil rights.
  Tip: Think moral voice of Reconstruction.

Thaddeus Stevens

Congressional Powerhouse:

• A Radical Republican leader pushing punishment for the South.
  Tip: Think strong federal control.

Reconstruction Act of 1867

South Under Military Rule:

• Divided the South into military districts to enforce new laws.
  Tip: Think Congress takes charge.

Tenure of Office Act/Impeachement of Andrew Johnson (1868)

President vs. Congress:

• Limited Johnson’s power to fire officials, leading to his impeachment.
  Tip: Think Johnson nearly removed.

15th admendemnt

Vote Without Color:

• Protected voting rights regardless of race.
  Tip: Think Black male suffrage.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners Move South:

• Northern Republicans who moved South during Reconstruction.
  Tip: Think suitcases full of opportunity.

Scalawags

Southern Republicans:

• White Southerners who supported Reconstruction.
  Tip: Think South helping Reconstruction.

Sharecropping

Work for a Share:

• A farming system where tenants paid rent with crops.
  Tip: Think keeps farmers poor.

Crop lein/Debt Patronage

Trapped by Debt:

• A credit system that kept farmers tied to landowners through debt.
  Tip: Think owe forever.

Redeemers/Redemption

Restore White Control:

• Southern Democrats who regained political power after Reconstruction.
  Tip: Think old South returns.

Ku Klux Klan (1866)

Terror to Control:

• A white supremacist group using violence to suppress Black voters.
  Tip: Think fear as a weapon.

Nathan Bedford Forrest

KKK’s First Leader:

• A former Confederate general and early KKK leader.
  Tip: Think Confederate roots of terror.

Rutherford B. Hayes

President by Compromise:

• Republican who became president after the disputed 1876 election.
  Tip: Think wins after a deal.

Samuel Tilden

Popular Vote Loser:

• Democrat who won the popular vote but lost the presidency.
  Tip: Think votes ≠ presidency.

Compromise of 1877

Reconstruction Ends:

• An agreement that removed federal troops from the South.
  Tip: Think freedom protections collapse.