chp 18/19

Wilmot Proviso

Proposed banning slavery in land gained from Mexico (1846).

Compromise of 1850

Laws balancing free/slave states; included stricter Fugitive Slave Act.

Popular sovereignty

People in a territory vote on slavery.

John Brown

Radical abolitionist who used violence against slavery.

Pottawatomie Massacre

John Brown killed pro-slavery settlers in Kansas (1856).

Harriet Tubman

Escaped slave who led others to freedom on Underground Railroad.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Allowed Kansas/Nebraska to decide slavery by popular sovereignty (1854).

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Anti-slavery novel that increased Northern opposition to slavery. (written by Harriet Beecher Stowe)

personal liberty laws

Northern laws protecting escaped slaves from capture.

Underground Railroad

Secret network helping enslaved people escape North.

Fugitive Slave Act

Required return of escaped slaves to owners (1850).

Bleeding Kansas

Violent conflict over slavery in Kansas territory.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

debates about slavery expansion in territories.

Harper's Ferry

John Brown’s failed raid on federal arsenal (1859).

Free-Soil Party

Opposed spread of slavery into territories.

Know Nothing Party

Nativist political party opposing immigrants/Catholics.

nativism

Favoring native-born Americans over immigrants.

Whig Party 1850s

Political party that collapsed over slavery divisions.

James Buchanan

President before Lincoln; failed to stop secession.

Republican party

Anti-slavery expansion party formed in 1850s

secession

Southern states leaving the Union.

Dred Scott

Supreme Court case saying slaves weren’t citizens (1857).

Roger B. Taney

Chief Justice who decided Dred Scott.

Lecompton Constitution

Pro-slavery Kansas constitution proposal.

Freeport Doctrine

Douglas said territories could block slavery despite Dred Scott.

Stephen A. Douglas

Senator supporting popular sovereignty

Abraham Lincoln

Republican president elected in 1860; led Union in Civil War.

Election of 1860

Lincoln elected; Southern states began seceding

Confederacy

Southern states that formed Confederate States of America.