APUSH Unit 5, Period 5 Vocabulary

expansionism

Policy advocating territorial growth, especially during the 19th century, often linked to the belief that a nation is destined to extend its control across new areas.

migration/immigration

The movement of people from one location to another, either within a country or from abroad. This often occurred due to economic opportunities or political reasons.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the nation had a divine mission to spread across the entire continent, from the East Coast to the West Coast, often used to justify territorial acquisition.

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

A conflict between the U.S. and Mexico that was sparked by disputes over territory, leading to the U.S. gaining vast lands in the Southwest.

ethnic communities

Groups formed by people with shared cultural, national, or racial backgrounds, often arising through migration and influencing the cultural landscape of cities.

nativism

Movement prioritizing the interests of native-born inhabitants over those of immigrants, often expressing opposition to new waves of foreign arrivals.

Civil War (1861-1865)

A bloody conflict between the Northern and Southern regions, primarily over slavery and the balance of power, resulting in the South's defeat and the abolition of slavery.

sectionalism

The growing divide between regions of the country, especially over economic practices and social issues, such as the practice of human enslavement.

free labor manufacturing

Economic system where workers are paid wages for their labor, contrasting with systems that rely on coerced labor, such as in agriculture.

abolitionists

People who campaigned for the end of the practice of enslaving individuals, often through writing, speaking, and organizing resistance to the institution.

states' rights

The political concept that individual political entities should have the authority to govern themselves with minimal interference from a central government.

secession

Formal withdrawal of a state from a larger political union, often occurring when members of a group no longer feel represented by central authority.

Compromise of 1850

Legislation designed to balance the interests of free and slave states by regulating the status of territories acquired after a war and addressing the legality of the practice of enslavement.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Legislation that allowed territories to decide whether to permit human enslavement, effectively invalidating previous agreements that had limited its expansion.

Dred Scott decision (1857)

A landmark Supreme Court ruling that denied African Americans citizenship and stated that the federal government could not regulate enslavement in territories.

Republican Party

A political party formed in the mid-1850s, initially focused on opposing the spread of human enslavement into new territories and advocating for free labor.

Abraham Lincoln

16th president of the United States who led the nation through the Civil War, issuing orders to end the practice of enslavement and working to preserve the Union.

Mexican Cession

Lands ceded by Mexico to the U.S. following a war, including regions that would later become several Western states, fueling debates over the expansion of enslavement.

Radical Republicans

Political faction that advocated for immediate freedom and equal rights for former enslaved individuals and for harsher penalties against the South following its rebellion.

Gettysburg Address (1863)

A speech by President Lincoln dedicating a cemetery for fallen soldiers, emphasizing the war as a fight for equality and the nation's enduring principles.

free soil platform

A political stance advocating for the prevention of the expansion of human enslavement into newly acquired or unorganized territories.

Reconstruction (1865-1877)

The period after the Civil War in which the Southern states were reintegrated into the Union and efforts were made to rebuild the Southern economy and extend rights to formerly enslaved people.

Confederacy

A group of Southern states that seceded from the Union in 1860-1861, fighting to maintain human enslavement and states' rights during the Civil War.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

An executive order by President Lincoln declaring the freedom of individuals enslaved in rebellious territories, marking a turning point in the Civil War.

13th Amendment (1865)

The constitutional amendment that permanently abolished the institution of human enslavement throughout the United States.

sharecropping system

A post-war agricultural system where landless farmers, often former slaves, worked the land in exchange for a portion of the crops they produced, often leading to economic dependency.

radical v. moderate Republicans

Within the Republican Party, the one group sought full civil rights for freedmen and a transformative approach to the South, while the other favored reintegration with less drastic changes.

14th Amendment

granted citizenship and equal protection to all people born or naturalized in the U.S., including formerly enslaved individuals.

women's movement

A social and political movement advocating for equal rights for women, particularly focusing on suffrage, legal rights, and access to education and employment.

Election of 1860

The presidential race in which Abraham Lincoln, running on an anti-slavery platform, was elected, leading to the secession of Southern states and the start of the Civil War.

15th Amendment

protected the right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.It was ratified in 1870, ensuring that African American men could not be denied the right to vote.