Civil War Vocab

Secession

When Southern states decided to leave the United States because they didn't agree with the government.

Confederate States of America

The country formed by the Southern states that seceded from the Union.

Union

The Northern states that stayed part of the United States and fought to keep it together.

Abraham Lincoln

The president during this time period who led the Union and worked to end slavery.

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln's announcement that freed slaves in the states that were rebelling.

Fort Sumter

The fort in South Carolina where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln's speech honoring soldiers and promoting unity.

Anaconda Plan

The Union's strategy to block and squeeze the South.

13th Amendment

The law that officially abolished slavery in the United States.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

A court ruling that said slaves were property, not citizens.

Civil War

The war between the North and South over slavery and states' rights.

Sectionalism

Loyalty to one part of the country rather than the whole.

The Battle of Gettysburg

Turning point where the Union stopped the Confederate invasion of the North.

Battle of Antietam

The bloodiest single-day battle of the war that gave the Union an advantage.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

A law that let states decide on slavery, causing conflict.

Blockade

When the Union blocked Southern ports to stop trade.

Abolitionist

A person who wanted to end slavery.

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America.

Ulysses S Grant

The Union general who helped win the war and later became president.

States Rights

The idea that states could make their own laws, including rules about slavery.