The Road to Secession and the Election of Abraham Lincoln

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and concepts related to the causes of the Civil War and the political climate leading up to Lincoln's election.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

An anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that helped stir abolitionist sentiment in the North.

Bleeding Kansas

The term refers to the violent clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in the Kansas Territory after the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

An 1856 Supreme Court case in which the court ruled against Dred Scott, declaring that the federal government had no authority to regulate slavery in U.S. territories.

Election of 1860

The presidential election in which Abraham Lincoln was elected, leading to the secession of Southern states.

Secession

The act of Southern states withdrawing from the Union following Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860.

The Impending Crisis of the South

A work by Hinton R. Helper, asserting that non-slaveholding Southern whites were the primary victims of the slavery system.

The Lecompton Constitution

A proposed constitution for Kansas that was rejected by free-soil Kansans and the U.S. House of Representatives due to its pro-slavery stance.

The Panic of 1857

An economic downturn that impacted the North more severely than the South, leading to a belief in Southern economic superiority.

John Brown’s Raid

An 1859 raid led by John Brown on the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, aiming to incite an armed slave revolt.

States’ Rights

A justification used by Confederate states during secession, despite evidence that the defense of slavery was the primary motivation.