leading into Civil War

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

book that described the horrors of slavery

Popular Sovereignty

let people decide if state would be free or slave

Arsenal

a storage place for weapons

Abraham Lincoln

lost the Senate Race in 1857-but became known- won the 1860 election

Martyr

a person who dies for a cause

South Carolina

first state to Secede after the 1860 election

Abolitionist

people that wanted to abolish slavery

Missouri Compromise

admitted Missouri as a slave state, and Maine as a free state and established the 36’30 line

Compromise of 1850

allowed California to enter as a free state, and divided much of land in the west into 2 territories

Dred Scott

slave that sued for his freedom

Kansas-Nebraska act

introduced the idea of popular sovereignty

Roger Taney

Supreme Court Justice that ruled in the Dred Scott decision, which showed the horrors of slavery

State rights

Southern states used this concept as a reason for seceding (leaving the United States)

Fort Sumter

location of the first shots of the Civil War

Illinois

location of a Senate race between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas

Secede

to leave or withdraw

Underground railroad

a network of safe houses, and individuals who assisted runaways slaves

Fugitive Slave Act

required citizens to return runaway slaves

Confederate States of America

name of the Southern States that seceded