Events Leading Up to the Civil War – Vocabulary Flashcards

A set of vocabulary-style flashcards covering key events and figures leading up to the Civil War, with concise definitions.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

A congressional agreement that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state to preserve the legislative balance, and established the 36°30′ latitude line for future territories (north = free, south = slave).

Underground Railroad (1830–1861)

A secret network of routes, safe houses, and conductors that helped enslaved people escape to free states or Canada, often illegally; Harriet Tubman was a notable guide.

Compromise of 1850

A set of laws intended to ease sectional tensions: California admitted as a free state, popular sovereignty in new territories, stronger Fugitive Slave Act; it aimed to balance free and slave interests but intensified conflict.

Fugitive Slave Act (1850)

Law requiring escaped enslaved people to be returned to their owners and punishing those who aided them, heightening Northern resentment and sectional tensions.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

A novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that exposed slavery’s brutality, inflaming abolitionist sentiment in the North and angering the South.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Law allowing settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to decide on slavery by popular sovereignty, leading to violent conflict (Bleeding Kansas) and increasing sectional tensions.

Ostend Manifesto (1854)

A secret U.S. plan to acquire Cuba from Spain to expand slavery, provoking anti-slavery opposition in the North and widening sectional divides.

Bleeding Kansas (1855–1856)

A series of violent confrontations between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in Kansas, signaling deep national divisions over slavery.

Brooks–Sumner Affair (1856)

Representative Preston Brooks assaulted Senator Charles Sumner with a cane on the Senate floor after a speech attacking slavery, highlighting rising national tensions.

Dred Scott (1857)

Supreme Court decision stating that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in U.S. territories, intensifying national conflict over slavery.

John Brown’s Raid (1859)

Abolitionist raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry intended to incite a slave uprising; heightened fear in the South and anger in the North, escalating tensions.

Lincoln’s Election / Secession of the South (1860)

Election of Abraham Lincoln, seen by the South as a threat to slavery; prompted Southern states to secede from the Union, setting the stage for Civil War.