Untitled Flashcards Set

Annexation of Texas

The process by which Texas was added to the United States, initiated by Sam Houston's declaration of independence from Mexico and sought by President John Tyler.

Aroostook War

Conflict between rival lumbermen on the Maine-Canadian border, resolved by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The 1848 treaty that ended the Mexican-American War; Mexico recognized the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas and ceded California and New Mexico to the U.S.

Oregon Fever

The mass migration of Americans to the Oregon Territory in the 1840s, fueled by successful farming in the Willamette Valley.

Fugitive Slave Laws

Laws that allowed Southern slave owners to capture escaped slaves in the North without a right to trial.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

A novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe depicting the realities of slavery, which stirred anti-slavery sentiments in the North and Europe.

Bleeding Kansas

A series of violent conflicts between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas during the 1850s.

Dred Scott decision

The 1857 Supreme Court ruling stating that slaves were not citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in federal territories.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 freeing slaves in the Confederate states.

Reconstruction Acts of 1867

Laws passed by Congress that divided the South into military districts and required states to draft new constitutions guaranteeing black male suffrage.