civil war

Northwest Ordinance

established a government for the Northwest Territory, set a three

Louisiana Purchase

a landmark 1803 land deal in which the United States acquired approximately 828,000 square miles of territory west of the Mississippi River from France for $15 million, doubling the size of the young republic

Mexican Cession (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo)

Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory—known as the Mexican Cession—adding over 525,000 square miles to the United States. This included present

Wilmot Proviso

a failed 1846 proposal in the U.S. Congress to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico during the Mexican American War

Compromise of 1850

a package of five separate U.S. laws passed in September 1850. Masterminded by Senator Henry Clay and guided through Congress by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, it admitted California as a free state, organized New Mexico and Utah under popular sovereignty, settled Texas boundaries, banned the D.C. slave trade, and passed a stricter Fugitive Slave Act

Pennsylvania Gradual Abolition Act

passed on March 1, 1780, was the first legislative act to end slavery in a U.S. state. It freed no one immediately; instead, it freed future children born to enslaved mothers after they turned 28, while requiring owners to register existing slaves

Three

Fifths Compromise

Cotton Gin

a mechanical device invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 and patented on March 14, 1794, that quickly separates raw cotton fibers from sticky seeds

American Colonization Society

“Necessary Evil”

described slavery as a "necessary evil", an institution they recognized as morally wrong and incompatible with the ideals of the American Revolution, yet believed they could not immediately abolish without risking economic collapse or violent racial conflict

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

required all citizens and law enforcement to assist in capturing escaped slaves

Kansas Nebraska Act

created Kansas and Nebraska, repealed the Missouri Compromise, and allowed settlers to decide on slavery via popular sovereignty, sparking intense national conflict

Popular Sovereignty

the political principle that a state and its government derive their legitimacy and authority from the consent of the people

Bleeding Kansas

a violent civil conflict in the Kansas Territory over whether the new state would allow or ban slavery

Dred Scott v. Sandford

enslaved and free Black people were not U.S. citizens and could not sue in federal court

Harper’s Ferry

, armed abolitionist attempt led by John Brown to seize the federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), and ignite a large

Crittenden Compromise

a last

Fort Sumter

the site where the first shots of the American Civil War were fired.

Anaconda Plan

the Union's initial military strategy in the American Civil War, proposed in May 1861 by General in Chief Winfield Scott. It aimed to defeat the Confederacy with minimal bloodshed by surrounding and constricting the South like an anaconda snake, rather than fighting a single massive battle

First Bull Run

he first major land battle of the American Civil War, fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia. The Confederate forces won the clash, routing Union troops and ending the North's hope for a quick 90 day victory

George B. McClellan

failed to pursue Lee, was very slow at taking action

Fort Donelson

Decisive Union victory. After senior Confederate commanders John Floyd and Gideon Pillow fled, General Buckner surrendered the fort unconditionally

Shiloh

a major American Civil War engagement fought on April 6 and 7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. Union forces under Major General Ulysses S. Grant and Don Carlos Buell defeated the Confederate Army of Mississippi, resulting in a tactical Union victory and over 23,000 total casualties

Contraband of War

a term used by the Union Army during the American Civil War to classify escaped enslaved people who reached Union lines

Confiscation Acts

a pair of laws passed by the U.S. Congress during the American Civil War, the Confiscation Act of 1861 and the Confiscation Act of 1862, designed to punish the Confederacy by seizing rebel property and emancipating enslaved people who were forced to labor for the Confederate war effort

Antietam

The Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, was fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and is the bloodiest single

Militia Act

a series of U.S. federal laws passed by Congress that established rules for organizing state militias, granted the president authority to call them into service, and eventually laid the foundation for the modern National Guard

Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. It warned Confederate states that if they did not stop fighting and return to the Union by January 1, 1863, all enslaved people in those rebellious areas would be declared forever free

54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment

one of the first official African

Port Hudson

a 48 day confrontation in Louisiana that gave the Union total control of the Mississippi River during the American Civil War

Ambrose Burnside

Reluctantly took command of the Army of the Potomac and ordered devastating frontal assaults on Marye's Heights, resulting in a crushing defeat

Conscription

the draft

“A rich man’s war, and a poor man’s fight.”

describes the widespread perception during the American Civil War that wealthy elites started a conflict driven by political and economic interests (such as slavery and secession), while working class and poor soldiers suffered the majority of the casualties and hardships

Richmond Bread Riots

when hundreds of starving, working class women and men marched through the Confederate capital. Led by figures like Mary Jackson and Minerva Meredith, the crowd protested severe food shortages, hyperinflation, and hoarding, looting downtown businesses and government storehouses before President Jefferson Davis threatened to open fire

Battle of Chancellorsville

major confederate win

War Democrats and Copperheads

Northern Democrats split into two main factions: War Democrats, who backed the military effort to save the Union, and Peace Democrats (derisively nicknamed Copperheads by Republicans and pro war Unionists), who opposed the war and pushed for an immediate negotiated peace

Clement L. Vallandigham

an Ohio Congressman and leader of the Copperheads, an anti

General Order 38

It declared that anyone committing acts for the benefit of the enemy would be tried as a spy or traitor and faced execution by Ambrose Burnside

Little Round Top

a rocky, strategic hill located south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that served as the critical anchor of the Union left flank during the Battle of Gettysburg

Gettysburg Address

Honoring fallen Union soldiers, redefining the Civil War as a test of human equality and self

William Tecumseh Sherman

(February 8, 1820 to February 14, 1891) was a prominent American Civil War general, businessman, and author. As a high ranking Union commander, he became famous, and controversial for his "total war" and scorched

Limited War vs Hard War vs Total War

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Nathan Bedford Forrest

a self

Detached Units vs Partisans vs Bushwackers

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Partisan Ranger Act

a law passed by the Confederate Congress on April 21, 1862, to authorize and encourage the recruitment of irregular guerrilla and partisan combatants during the American Civil War

General Order No. 11

two distinct Union Army directives: the 1862 order by Major General Ulysses S. Grant expelling Jewish people from his military district, and the 1863 order by Brigadier General Thomas Ewing Jr. depopulating rural counties in western Missouri

Centralia

Anderson’s force of roughly 80 to 400 guerrillas looted the town of Centralia, intercepted a passenger train, and pulled out several Union soldiers on leave, executing them in cold blood

Fort Pillow

About 1,500 Confederate troops attacked a Union garrison of roughly 550 to 600 men. Approximately half of the Union garrison comprised African American soldiers (U.S. Colored Troops, or USCT) alongside white Tennessee Unionists

Prisoner Exchange

Prisoner exchanges during the American Civil War shifted from informal battlefield releases early in the conflict to a formal system that eventually collapsed over the Confederacy’s refusal to treat Black Union soldiers as equal prisoners of war

Overland Campaign

a brutal six week series of American Civil War battles fought in Virginia from May 4 to June 24, 1864. Led by Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, the offensive aimed to destroy Lee’s army and capture the Confederate capital of Richmond

Cold Harbor

The Battle of Cold Harbor was a fierce American Civil War engagement fought from May 31 to June 12, 1864, near Mechanicsville, Virginia. General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate forces decisively repulsed a massive frontal assault by General Ulysses S. Grant’s Union army on June 3, resulting in roughly 17,332 total casualties

Shenandoah Valley Campaign

a series of American Civil War operations fought in Virginia’s strategic Shenandoah Valley between 1862 and 1865. The most famous phase was Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's masterclass 1862 Valley Campaign, which successfully diverted three Union armies from attacking Richmond

The Election of 1864

lincoln and Andrew Johnson

Andersonville

officially named Camp Sumter, was a notorious Confederate prisoner of war camp in southwestern Georgia that operated for 14 months during the American Civil War, from February 1864 to April 1865. Over 45,000 Union soldiers were imprisoned there, and nearly 13,000 died from disease, malnutrition, and exposure

Thirteenth Amendment

got rid of slavery

Hampton Roads Conference

a brief, unsuccessful peace meeting held on February 3, 1865, aboard the steamboat River Queen near Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads, Virginia. President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William H. Seward met with three Confederate representatives (Alexander H. Stephens, Robert M. T. Hunter, and John A. Campbell) for about four hours