APUSH Chapter 19: Drifting Toward Disunion

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1853 that highly influenced england's view on the American Deep South and slavery. a novel promoting abolition. intensified sectional conflict.

Hinton Helper

A Southern critic of slavery who authored “The Impending Crisis of the South,” arguing that slavery was detrimental to the South’s economic interests.

Impending Crisis of the South

Antislavery tract, written by white Southerner Hinton R. Helper, arguing that nonslaveholding whites actually suffered most in a slave economy.

New England Aid Company

Organization created to facilitate the migration of free laborers to Kansas in order to prevent the establishment of slavery in the territory.

Lecompton Constitution

Proposed Kansas constitution, whose ratification was unfairly rigged so as to guarantee slavery in the territory. Initially ratified by proslavery forces, it was later voted down when Congress required that the entire constitution be put up for a vote.

James Buchanan

The 15th President of the United States (1857-1861). He tried to maintain a balance between proslavery and antislavery factions, but his moderate views angered radicals in both North and South, and he was unable to forestall the secession of South Carolina on December 20, 1860.

Bleeding Kansas

A sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-Slavery elements that took place in Kansas-Nebraska Territory. The dispute further strained the relations of the North and South, making civil war imminent.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Supreme Court decision that extended federal protection to slavery by ruling that Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in any territory. Also declared that slaves, as property, were not citizens of the United States.

Panic of 1857

Economic downturn caused by overspeculation of western lands, railroads, gold in California, grain. Mostly affected northerners, who called for higher tariffs and free homesteads.

Tariff of 1857

Lowered duties on imports in response to a high Treasury surplus and pressure from Southern farmers. Was created in response to the financial crash of 1857, reduced duties to 20%, northerners angered about low tariff walls, yet another source of north-south tension.

Lincoln-Douglas debates

A series of seven debates in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas during their campaign for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois, focusing on issues like slavery and states’ rights.

Freeport Question

A significant question posed during the Lincoln-Douglas debates, which asked whether the people of a territory could exclude slavery before becoming a state.

Freeport Doctrine

A principle articulated by Stephen A. Douglas during the Lincoln-Douglas debates, asserting that territories could exclude slavery by not adopting laws to protect it, despite the Supreme Court's ruling in the Dred Scott case.

Harpers Ferry

A raid led by John Brown in 1859 aimed at inciting a slave rebellion by seizing the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

Constitutional Union Party

A political party formed in 1860, composed of former Whigs and Know-Nothings, that aimed to preserve the Union and avoid secession by promoting moderate policies.

Confederate States of America

A coalition of Southern states that seceded from the Union in 1861, forming their own government during the American Civil War.

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America, he led the South during the Civil War and was a former U.S. Senator from Mississippi.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

An American author and abolitionist, known for her novel 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' published in 1852, which depicted the harsh realities of slavery and contributed to the anti-slavery movement in the United States. Her work significantly influenced public perception of slavery, particularly in the North.

Henry Ward Beecher

An American clergyman, social reformer, and abolitionist who was a prominent advocate against slavery in the mid-19th century. He was also known for his efforts to promote the cause of abolition through his sermons, writings, and as a key figure in the fundraising for the New England Emigrant Aid Company, which supported anti-slavery settlers in Kansas.

Abraham Lincoln

The 16th President of the United States (1861-1865) who led the nation through the Civil War. He is known for his efforts to preserve the Union, his Emancipation Proclamation which declared the freedom of slaves in Confederate states, and his commitment to the principles of republicanism and democracy.

Charles Sumner

An American politician and Senator from Massachusetts known for his strong anti-slavery stance and vigorous advocacy for civil rights. He was a leading Radical Republican during the Reconstruction Era and is best remembered for his speech

Preston S. Brooks

A United States Congressman from South Carolina known for his pro-slavery stance and for his violent attack on Senator Charles Sumner in 1856, which intensified the national debate over slavery.

Dred Scott

An enslaved African American man who was the plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). The Court ruled that Scott, as a slave, could not sue for his freedom and that the federal government had no authority to regulate slavery in the territories, effectively invalidating the Missouri Compromise.

Roger B. Taney

The Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1836 to 1864, known for his controversial ruling in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, which declared that African Americans could not be citizens and that Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.

John Brown

An American abolitionist who believed in and advocated for armed insurrection as a means to overthrow the institution of slavery in the United States. He is best known for his raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, which aimed to initiate a slave revolt.

Stephen A. Douglas

An American politician from Illinois known for his debates with Abraham Lincoln during the 1858 Illinois Senate race. He was a key proponent of popular sovereignty, which determined whether a territory would be slave or free based on the vote of its residents.

John C. Breckinridge

A prominent politician and Confederate general from Kentucky who served as the 14th Vice President of the United States. He was a Southern Democrat candidate in the 1860 presidential election and later became a major general in the Confederate Army.

John Jordan Crittenden

A U.S. politician from Kentucky known for proposing the Crittenden Compromise in 1860, which aimed to prevent the secession of Southern states by proposing constitutional amendments to protect slavery in Southern states.