Section 2: Manifest Destiny, Slavery in the Territories, and the Compromise Era

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and people from the lecture notes on manifest destiny, territorial expansion, and the debates over slavery in new territories.

Manifest Destiny

19th-century belief that the United States should expand across North America from Atlantic to Pacific and spread democratic institutions.

Mexican-American War

War (1846–1848) between the United States and Mexico over Texas and other western lands; ended with U.S. victory and vast territorial gains.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1848 treaty ending the Mexican-American War; the U.S. acquired large territories in the Southwest, doubling the size of the nation.

Wilmot Proviso

1846 proposal to ban slavery in territories acquired from Mexico; failed to pass but intensified sectional tensions.

Free Soil Party

Antislavery political party formed to keep western lands free of slavery, drawing support from anti-slavery Democrats, Whigs, and others.

Free soil, free speech, free labor, free men

Slogan of the Free Soil Party advocating free soil and free opportunity, though not asserting racial equality.

Popular sovereignty

Principle that residents of a territory should decide by vote whether slavery would be legal there.

California Gold Rush

1848 discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill, triggering mass migration to California and rapid growth.

49ers

Gold-seekers who rushed to California in 1849 during the Gold Rush.

Compromise of 1850

Package of laws to resolve sectional conflicts: California free state; stronger Fugitive Slave Law; popular sovereignty in New Mexico and Utah; abolition of the slave trade in Washington, D.C.; Texas–New Mexico boundary resolution.

Fugitive Slave Law (1850)

Stricter federal law requiring the return of runaway slaves and penalizing those who aided escapes.

Slave trade in Washington, D.C.

Provision of the Compromise of 1850 that ended the slave trade in the nation’s capital, while slavery itself remained legal.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

Agreement that drew a line dividing free and slave territories in new U.S. lands, attempting to maintain sectional balance.

Henry Clay

Renowned statesman nicknamed The Great Compromiser for crafting key compromises like the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850.

John C. Calhoun

Southern senator from South Carolina and advocate for states’ rights and the expansion of slavery; opposed concessions that would weaken slavery in new territories.

Daniel Webster

Massachusetts senator who urged national unity and compromise, speaking for the American nation beyond sectional interests.

Stephen A. Douglas

Illinois senator nicknamed The Little Giant; championed and steered the Compromise of 1850 through Congress.

Millard Fillmore

Thirteenth president who supported the Compromise of 1850 after succeeding Zachary Taylor.

Zachary Taylor

Hero of the Mexican War and 12th president; advocated California’s admission as a free state and suggested popular sovereignty for other territories; died in office.

Republican Party

New political party emerging in the 1850s to oppose the expansion of slavery into western territories.