APUSH CH18 Vocab Quiz

Uncle Tom's Cabin

A novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe published in 1852 that showed the cruelty of slavery. Significance: Increased opposition to slavery in the North.

The Impending Crisis of the South

A book by Hinton Rowan Helper arguing that slavery hurt the South's economy, especially nonslaveholding whites. Significance: Increased sectional tensions.

New England Emigrant Aid Company

An organization that helped antislavery settlers move to Kansas. Significance: Helped Kansas become a battleground over slavery.

Lecompton Constitution

A proposed Kansas constitution that protected slavery. Significance: Divided Democrats and increased conflict over slavery.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent fighting between proslavery and antislavery settlers in Kansas during the 1850s. Significance: Showed that popular sovereignty could lead to violence.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

A Supreme Court case in 1857 ruling that Black people were not U.S. citizens and Congress could not ban slavery in federal territories. Significance: Increased Northern opposition to slavery and weakened the Missouri Compromise.

Panic of 1857

A financial crisis that caused bank failures, unemployment, and economic hardship. Significance: Increased sectional tensions because the North and South blamed different economic systems.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

A series of seven debates in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas over slavery's expansion. Significance: Made Lincoln nationally known and highlighted divisions over slavery.

Freeport Doctrine

Stephen Douglas's argument that territories could effectively exclude slavery by refusing to pass laws protecting it. Significance: Increased conflict between Douglas and Southern Democrats.

Harpers Ferry

John Brown's 1859 raid on a federal arsenal in Virginia to obtain weapons for an attempt to end slavery. Significance: Increased Southern fears of abolitionist attacks.

Constitutional Union Party

A political party formed in 1860 that tried to avoid secession by supporting the Constitution and the Union while avoiding the slavery debate. Significance: Showed efforts to compromise as the nation divided.

Crittenden Amendments

A proposed set of constitutional amendments by John J. Crittenden in 1860 that would protect slavery where it already existed and extend the Missouri Compromise line. Significance: Failed to prevent Southern secession.

Confederate States of America

The government formed by Southern states that seceded from the United States beginning in 1860. Significance: Its formation led to the Civil War.

Fort Sumter

A U.S. military fort in South Carolina attacked by Confederate forces in April 1861. Significance: Began the Civil War.

Stowe

Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel opposing slavery. Significance: Helped increase antislavery feeling in the North.

Buchanan

U.S. president from 1857 to 1861 who struggled to address the growing conflict over slavery and secession. Significance: His presidency ended as Southern states began leaving the Union.

Sumner

Massachusetts senator and outspoken opponent of slavery who was attacked by Preston S. Brooks in 1856. Significance: His beating intensified sectional tensions.

Brooks

South Carolina congressman who beat Charles Sumner with a cane in the Senate chamber in 1856. Significance: Became a symbol of growing political violence over slavery.

Scott

An enslaved man who sued for his freedom after living in free territory. Significance: His case led to the Supreme Court's controversial Dred Scott decision.

Taney

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who wrote the majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford. Significance: Ruled that Black people were not citizens and Congress could not prohibit slavery in federal territories.

Douglas

Illinois senator who supported popular sovereignty to decide whether territories would allow slavery. Significance: His debates with Lincoln exposed national divisions over slavery.

Lincoln

Republican candidate elected president in 1860 who opposed the expansion of slavery into federal territories. Significance: His election prompted Southern states to secede.

Brown

Abolitionist who led a raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859 to try to spark a revolt against slavery. Significance: Increased Southern fears of abolitionism and deepened sectional conflict.

Breckinridge

Southern Democratic candidate for president in 1860 who supported the protection of slavery in the territories. Significance: His candidacy reflected the split in the Democratic Party before the Civil War.