Apush Unit 5 Key Events and Concepts of Manifest Destiny and Civil War

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the U.S. was destined to expand from coast to coast.

John O'Sullivan

Coined the term Manifest Destiny, which justified westward expansion and fueled sectional tensions.

James K. Polk

Significant for supporting expansion, annexing Texas, settling the Oregon border ('54°40′ or Fight'), and leading the U.S. into the Mexican-American War.

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

Caused by a border dispute over Texas (Nueces River vs. Rio Grande) and Polk's desire for California, sparked by U.S. troops clashing in disputed territory.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Ended the Mexican-American War; Mexico ceded the Southwest (Mexican Cession) and the U.S. gained California, Arizona, New Mexico, and more.

Gadsden Purchase (1854)

Land bought from Mexico to build a southern railroad; it was the final piece of continental U.S. territory.

Wilmot Proviso

Proposed banning slavery in the Mexican Cession; failed but showed growing North-South sectionalism.

Free-Soilers

A political group opposing the expansion of slavery into new territories, believing slavery hurt white labor.

Compromise of 1850

Included California as a free state, a stricter Fugitive Slave Law, popular sovereignty in Utah/New Mexico, and ended the slave trade in D.C.; temporarily eased tensions.

Popular Sovereignty

Letting territories vote on slavery; used in the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which led to violence.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Allowed popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska; repealed the Missouri Compromise line, leading to 'Bleeding Kansas.'

Republican Party

Founded in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, uniting former Whigs, Free-Soilers, and anti-slavery Democrats against slavery's expansion.

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel that increased Northern support for abolition and angered Southerners who called it propaganda.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Ruled that African Americans were not citizens and Congress couldn't ban slavery in territories; overturned the Missouri Compromise and deepened divisions.

John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry

Brown attempted to start a slave rebellion by seizing a federal arsenal; failed but scared the South and made Brown a martyr in the North.

Key regional differences between North and South

North: industrial, favored tariffs, opposed slavery. South: agricultural, favored states' rights, supported slavery. Differences led to growing tensions.

Causes of the Civil War

Slavery expansion, states' rights, economic differences, and the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 (without any Southern support).

Reasons for Southern states' secession

After Lincoln's election, they feared slavery would be abolished. South Carolina was first to leave, forming the Confederacy.

Advantages of the Union

Larger population, industry, railroads, navy.

Advantages of the Confederacy

Better generals, home advantage, fighting for survival.

Key battles of the Civil War

Fort Sumter (start), Antietam (bloodiest day, led to Emancipation), Gettysburg (turning point), Atlanta (Sherman's March), Appomattox (Lee's surrender).

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Freed slaves in Confederate states, redefined war goals to include ending slavery. Gained moral support and prevented foreign aid to the South.

How Lincoln kept border states in the Union

Used martial law, suspended habeas corpus, and emphasized war was to preserve the Union—not initially about slavery.

Gettysburg Address (1863)

Lincoln's speech reframing the war as a fight for democracy and equality. Helped boost Northern morale.

Total war

Strategy of destroying civilian and military resources to weaken the enemy's will. Used by Sherman during his March to the Sea.

After Lincoln's assassination

Andrew Johnson became president; Reconstruction became more complicated with less Northern unity.

Major Reconstruction plans

Lincoln: lenient (10% Plan); Johnson: lenient but racist; Radical Republicans: harsher, aimed at protecting freedmen.

Successes of Reconstruction

Freedmen's Bureau, Civil Rights Act of 1866, 13th (abolished slavery), 14th (citizenship), 15th (voting rights) Amendments. First Black politicians like Hiram Revels.

Failures of Reconstruction

Rise of KKK, Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, sharecropping, and voter suppression. Federal troops eventually withdrawn.

Compromise of 1877

Ended Reconstruction. Hayes became president; in return, federal troops were removed from the South, leading to the end of protections for African Americans.

• Abraham Lincoln:

• Stephen Douglas:

• Ulysses S. Grant:

• Robert E. Lee:

• Andrew Johnson:

• Frederick Douglass:

• Abraham Lincoln: President during Civil War

• Stephen Douglas: Kansas-Nebraska Act, debates with Lincoln

• Ulysses S. Grant: Union general → President

• Robert E. Lee: Confederate general

• Andrew Johnson: President after Lincoln, impeached

• Frederick Douglass: Abolitionist leader

• 13th:

• 14th:

• 15th:

• 13th: Abolished slavery

• 14th: Citizenship & equal protection

• 15th: Black male suffrage