time period 5 apush

King Cotton

The Southern economy depended on cotton exports and slave labor, making slavery central to its society and tying it to Britain’s textile industry.

Planter Aristocracy

Wealthy plantation owners who dominated Southern politics and society, creating an unequal class system and slowing industrial and educational progress.

White Majority / “Poor Whites”

Non-slaveholding farmers who supported slavery in hopes of rising socially and economically one day; helped preserve the slave system.

Free Blacks

African Americans who were not enslaved, mainly in the North and Upper South; still faced discrimination and limited rights.

Cotton Kingdom Expansion

The spread of cotton cultivation westward into new territories, increasing demand for slave labor and heightening sectional tensions.

American Colonization Society

Organization that wanted to send freed African Americans to Africa (Liberia); showed Northern racism and doubts about racial equality.

William Lloyd Garrison / The Liberator

Abolitionist who demanded immediate emancipation through his newspaper The Liberator, inspiring the abolition movement.

Frederick Douglass

Former slave and leading abolitionist who spoke and wrote against slavery; became the most influential Black reformer of his time.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion (1831)

Slave uprising in Virginia that killed around 60 whites; led to stricter slave codes and increased fear of revolt in the South.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that the U.S. was destined by God to expand across North America; justified westward expansion and conflict over slavery in new territories.

Texas Annexation (1845)

Texas joined the U.S. after breaking away from Mexico; angered Mexico and helped spark the Mexican-American War.

Oregon Trail / “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight”

Slogan demanding full U.S. control of Oregon; settled peacefully with Britain at the 49th parallel, avoiding war.

Mexican-American War (1846–1848)

War fought between the U.S. and Mexico over Texas and California; ended with Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, expanding U.S. territory and reigniting slavery debates.

Wilmot Proviso

Proposal to ban slavery in land gained from Mexico; failed but revealed deep sectional divisions over slavery.

Compromise of 1850

Henry Clay’s plan admitting California as a free state and creating a stronger Fugitive Slave Law; temporarily eased tension but angered abolitionists.

Fugitive Slave Law (1850)

Required citizens to help capture escaped slaves and denied them jury trials; outraged Northerners and grew abolitionist support.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel showing the cruelty of slavery; strengthened Northern opposition and shocked the South.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Law allowing settlers to decide slavery by popular sovereignty; repealed the Missouri Compromise and led to “Bleeding Kansas.”

Bleeding Kansas (1855–1856)

Violent clashes between pro- and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas; previewed the Civil War and deepened sectional division.

Dred Scott Decision (1857)

Supreme Court ruling saying slaves were property and Congress couldn’t ban slavery in the territories; outraged Northerners.

Harper’s Ferry Raid (1859)

John Brown’s failed attempt to start a slave revolt in Virginia; made him a martyr in the North and terrified the South.

Crittenden Compromise (1860)

Proposal to extend the Missouri Compromise line west to protect slavery; rejected by Lincoln and failed to stop secession.

Secession of South Carolina (1860)

First state to secede after Lincoln’s election; inspired other Southern states to follow, starting the Confederacy.

Fort Sumter (1861)

Federal fort in South Carolina where the first shots of the Civil War were fired; united the North to fight against secession.

Border States

Slave states (MD, DE, KY, MO, WV) that stayed in the Union; crucial for resources and location in the war’s outcome.

Abraham Lincoln (Habeas Corpus)

Lincoln suspended habeas corpus to arrest Confederate sympathizers; expanded presidential power during war.

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America; struggled to unite the South under a central government.

Robert E. Lee

Confederate general of the Army of Northern Virginia; skillful leader whose tactics prolonged the war.

Draft Riots (1863)

Violent protests in Northern cities, especially New York, against the Union draft; revealed class and racial tensions.

Copperheads

Northern Democrats who opposed the Civil War and wanted peace; showed division in the North and led Lincoln to restrict dissent.

National Banking Act (1863)

Created a national banking system and a stable currency; increased federal control of the economy.

Homestead Act (1862)

Offered free land to settlers who improved it for five years; encouraged Western migration and settlement.

Clara Barton

Union nurse and founder of the American Red Cross; improved wartime medical care and expanded women’s public roles.

Bull Run (1861)

First major Civil War battle; Confederate victory showed the war would be long and difficult.

Antietam (1862)

Bloodiest single day of the war; Union halted Lee’s invasion, allowing Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Freed slaves in Confederate areas; changed the war’s goal to ending slavery and kept Europe from aiding the South.

Gettysburg (1863)

Major Union victory in Pennsylvania; turning point of the war that ended Lee’s northern invasion.

Sherman’s March (1864)

Union campaign of total war through Georgia; destroyed Southern morale and resources.

Appomattox Courthouse (1865)

Site where Lee surrendered to Grant; ended the Civil War.

10% Plan (1863)

Lincoln’s plan letting states rejoin when 10% of voters swore loyalty; aimed for leniency but angered Radicals.

Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)

Federal agency helping freed slaves with education and relief; faced Southern resistance.

Andrew Johnson

Lincoln’s successor; clashed with Congress over lenient Reconstruction policies allowing ex-Confederates back to power.

Whitewashed Rebels

Former Confederates who regained political roles under Johnson’s plan; angered Northerners and undermined Reconstruction.

14th Amendment (Civil Rights Bill of 1866)

Gave citizenship and equal protection to all born in the U.S.; strengthened rights of freedpeople.

Midterm Election of 1866

Congressional race where Radical Republicans won large majorities; gave them control of Reconstruction.

Radical Republicans (Thaddeus Stevens)

Congressional group seeking equality and harsh Reconstruction for the South; led major Reconstruction laws.

Reconstruction Act of 1867

Divided the South into military districts and required states to grant Black suffrage; began Radical Reconstruction.

Union League

Organization that taught freedmen about politics and encouraged voting; gave African Americans a strong political voice.

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party; seen as traitors by other Southerners.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved South after the war for opportunity or reform; some exploited, others helped rebuild.

15th Amendment (1870)

Gave African American men the right to vote; expanded democracy though often undermined later.

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacist group using violence to stop Black voting and Republican rule; weakened Reconstruction governments.

Force Acts (1870–1871)

Federal laws to stop KKK terrorism and protect voting rights; expanded federal power in the South.

Tenure of Office Act / Johnson’s Impeachment (Edwin Stanton)

Law barring presidents from removing officials without Senate approval; Johnson violated it, leading to his impeachment.

Seward’s Folly (1867)

U.S. purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million; initially mocked but later valued for resources.