Civil War, Enslavement, and Abolition

Flashcards on the Civil War, enslavement, and abolition.

Civil War

Deadliest war in American history (1861-1865) between the North (Union) and South (Confederacy), triggered by 11 southern slave states wanting to secede.

Secede

To leave or withdraw from a political union or organization.

Abolish

To put an end to.

Abolitionist

A person who wanted to end slavery in the United States.

Missouri Compromise of 1820

Maintained balance in Congress by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, prohibiting slavery in the Louisiana Purchase territory north of a specific parallel.

The Union

The Northern States during the Civil War that fought against the Confederacy.

The Confederacy

The southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861. They fought against the Union in the Civil War.

Underground Railroad

A system of secret routes used by escaping enslaved people to reach freedom in the North or in Canada.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Declared all slaves in rebelling states to be free but did not affect slavery in non-rebelling Border States. Encouraged Southern slaves to flee to Union lines.

Emancipate

To set free.

Juneteenth

June 19th, 1865 - the date celebrated as the anniversary of Emancipation Day for enslaved people in Texas.

13th Amendment

Amendment passed in 1865 that declared slavery was completely illegal.

Gettysburg Address

A 3-minute speech by Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

16th president of the United States; helped preserve the United States by leading the defeat of the secessionist Confederacy; an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery (but not against slavery itself).

Fort Sumter

The first shots of the Civil War were fired at this fort in South Carolina.

Frederick Douglass

American abolitionist and writer, who escaped slavery and became a leading African American spokesman and writer; published his biography and founded the abolitionist newspaper, the North Star.

Popular Sovereignty

A government in which the people rule by their own consent.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Passed in 1854, it created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, allowing residents to decide on the issue of slavery through popular sovereignty.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups in Kansas as both sides sought to influence the vote on slavery after the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Compromise of 1850

Addressed issues related to the status of new territories acquired from Mexico, including California's admission as a free state, popular sovereignty in New Mexico and Utah, and the Fugitive Slave Act.