APUSH VOCAB P5

John Tyler

  a Virginian Whig who served as William Henry Harrison's Vice President until his death in 1841 in which he succeeded him and became President.

Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842)

 a treaty resolving several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies, particularly a dispute over the location of the Maine-New Brunswick border. Also banned the slave trade (on the ocean)

Manifest Destiny

- the nineteenth century idea that Americans were destined to expand into the West and cultivate and civilize the country from coast to coast.

Lewis Cass

 father of popular sovereignty. democratic senator who proposed popular sovereignty to settle the slavery question in the territories; he lost the presidential election in 1848 against zachary taylor but continued to advocate his solution to the slavery issue throughout the 1850s.

Sam Houston

  prominent American soldier and politician, best known for his role in leading Texas to independence from Mexico and serving as the first President of the Republic of Texas.

Mexican-American War

President Polk declared war on Mexico over the dispute of land in Texas. At the end, American ended up with 55% of Mexico's land. 

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

an agreement between the United States and Mexico that ended the Mexican-American War and transferred territory to the U.S.

Oregon Fever

the mass migration of settlers to the Oregon Territory during the 1840s, driven by the promise of fertile land and economic opportunity.

49th Parallel:

 the line of latitude dividing the United States' and Great Britain's portions of the Oregon Territory after 1846.

Franciscan Missions

Spanish Franciscan missions were religious outposts established by Franciscan friars in the New World during the 16th to 18th centuries, aimed at converting Indigenous peoples to Christianity and promoting Spanish colonial interests.

Annexation of Texas

 a series of events that led to Texas joining the United States as the 28th state in the Union on December 29, 1845. The annexation of Texas was a direct cause of the Mexican-American War and contributed to the growing section divide over slavery that led to the Civil War in 1861.

Annexation of California

 The process by which the United States acquired California from Mexico following the Mexican-American War, leading to its admission as a state in 1850.

Bear Flag Republic

 A short-lived, unrecognized independent state declared by American settlers in California in 1846 before its annexation by the U.S.

John C. Fremont

 A U.S. Army officer and explorer who played a key role in the American conquest of California during the Mexican-American War and became the first Republican presidential candidate in 1856.

James K. Polk

 The 11th U.S. President, responsible for the annexation of Texas, the Oregon Trail expansion, and the Mexican-American War that led to the acquisition of much of the Southwest.

Winfield Scott

- A U.S. Army general who led American forces to victory in the Mexican-American War, including the decisive capture of Mexico City.

Zachary Taylor

 A U.S. general who became a hero during the Mexican-American War and the 12th President of the United States.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

 The 1848 treaty that ended the Mexican-American War, ceding vast territories to the U.S., including California, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Wilmot Proviso

A proposed amendment to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico, which heightened tensions between the North and South.

Mexican Cession

 The land ceded to the U.S. by Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, including present-day California, Nevada, and parts of several other states.

Matthew C. Perry

 A U.S. naval officer who opened Japan to trade through the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854.

Gadsden Purchase

 A 1854 agreement in which the U.S. purchased land from Mexico, establishing the southern border of the U.S. and enabling the construction of a southern transcontinental railroad.

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

 An 1850 agreement between the U.S. and Britain to jointly build and control a canal across Central America, later replaced by the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty.

Popular Sovereignty

The doctrine that settlers in a territory should decide for themselves whether to permit slavery, a key issue in the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Secession

 The act of a state withdrawing from the Union, a key factor in the outbreak of the Civil War.

Free-Soil Party

A political party formed in 1848 that opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories, advocating instead for free land and free labor.

California Gold Rush

The massive migration to California in 1849 after gold was discovered, significantly impacting the state's economy and its eventual admission as a free state.

Compromise of 1850

 A series of laws passed to resolve disputes over slavery, including the admission of California as a free state and the implementation of a stricter Fugitive Slave Law.

The Great Debate

 A series of debates in 1850 over the proposed Compromise of 1850, where figures like Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun argued about the future of slavery in the territories.

Stephen A. Douglas

 A U.S. senator who proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act and was a key figure in debates over popular sovereignty and slavery.

Nativism

The political policy of favoring native-born Americans over immigrants, which led to the rise of the Know-Nothing Party in the 1850s.

Fugitive Slave Law

 Part of the Compromise of 1850, this law required citizens to assist in the capture of runaway slaves, leading to increased tensions between North and South.

Underground Railroad

 A network of secret routes and safe houses used by slaves to escape to free states and Canada.

Harriet Tubman

 An escaped slave who became a leading conductor on the Underground Railroad, helping hundreds of slaves to freedom.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

 - An anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1852, that galvanized abolitionist sentiment in the North.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

 The author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which helped raise awareness about the horrors of slavery.

Franklin Pierce

 The 14th President of the U.S. whose administration supported the expansion of slavery and signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

 The 1854 law that allowed settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether to allow slavery, leading to violent conflict known as "Bleeding Kansas."

“Bleeding Kansas

 A period of violent conflict in Kansas between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Sumner-Brooks Incident

A violent attack in 1856 where Representative Preston Brooks beat Senator Charles Sumner on the Senate floor after Sumner's anti-slavery speech.

Know-Nothing Party

 A political party in the 1850s that opposed immigration and Catholic influence, and sought to limit the rights of immigrants.

Republican Party

- A political party founded in 1854, primarily to oppose the expansion of slavery into the territories, and later a key force in the Civil War and Reconstruction.

John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry

In 1859 attempt by abolitionist John Brown to start a slave revolt by seizing a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

James Buchanan

 The 15th President of the U.S., whose inability to address the sectional crisis contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.

Dred Scott vs. Sanford (1857)

 A Supreme Court case in which it was ruled that African Americans could not be citizens and that the federal government had no power to ban slavery in the territories.

Lecompton Constitution

 A pro-slavery constitution for Kansas created in 1857, which was rejected by Congress and the majority of Kansas settlers.

Panic of 1857

A financial panic caused by over-speculation and the failure of banks, exacerbating sectional tensions as the South remained economically stable while the North suffered.

Abraham Lincoln

The 16th President of the U.S., who led the nation during the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

A series of debates in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas over the expansion of slavery, which brought Lincoln to national prominence.

Freeport Doctrine

 - The idea, presented by Stephen Douglas during the Lincoln-Douglas debates, that territories could effectively exclude slavery by not passing laws to protect it.

Fort Sumter

The site of the first battle of the Civil War in April 1861, where Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military garrison in South Carolina.

Border States

 Slave states that remained in the Union during the Civil War, including Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri.

Jefferson Davis

The president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.

Civil War

The conflict between the Northern states (Union) and Southern states (Confederacy) from 1861 to 1865, primarily over slavery and states' rights.

Ulysses S. Grant

The Union general who led the U.S. Army to victory in the Civil War and later became the 18th President.

Battle of Bull Run

The first major battle of the Civil War, fought in 1861, which resulted in a Confederate victory and shattered Northern hopes of a quick end to the war.

“Anaconda Strategy”

- The Union's Civil War strategy to blockade Southern ports and control the Mississippi River to squeeze the Confederacy into submission.

Robert E. Lee

 The Confederate general who commanded the Army of Northern Virginia and became a symbol of the South’s fight for independence.

Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

A Confederate general known for his skilled tactics and key victories, particularly at the Battle of Bull Run.

Emancipation Proclamation

The executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 that declared the freedom of slaves in Confederate-held territories.

Gettysburg Address

- Abraham Lincoln's 1863 speech dedicating the battlefield at Gettysburg as a cemetery and emphasizing the fight for equality and national unity.

Vicksburg

- A decisive Civil War battle in 1863, resulting in the Union's capture of the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy in two.

March to the Sea

 General William Tecumseh Sherman’s 1864 destructive campaign through Georgia, aimed at crippling the Confederate economy and morale.

Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse

 The April 1865 surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the Civil War.

Homestead Act

 A law passed in 1862 that provided free land to settlers willing to farm it for five years, encouraging westward expansion.

Pacific Railway Act

A 1862 law that provided land and resources to build the First Transcontinental Railroad, connecting the East and West coasts.

Thirteenth Amendment

The 1865 amendment to the U.S. Constitution that abolished slavery throughout the United States.

Fourteenth Amendment

 The 1868 amendment that granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all people born or naturalized in the U.S.

Fifteenth Amendment

The 1870 amendment that granted African American men the right to vote.

Radical Republicans

A faction within the Republican Party during and after the Civil War that sought to protect the rights of African Americans and enforce harsh Reconstruction policies.

Freedmen’s Bureau

A federal agency established in 1865 to assist former slaves and poor whites in the South with food, housing, education, and employment.

Reconstruction

The period following the Civil War, during which the Southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union.

John Wilkes Booth

 The assassin of President Abraham Lincoln in April 1865.

Andrew Johnson

 The 17th President of the U.S. who succeeded Lincoln and oversaw the early stages of Reconstruction.

Black Codes

- Laws passed in the South during Reconstruction to limit the rights of African Americans and keep them in a subordinate position.

Sharecropping

 A system where farmers, often former slaves, rented land and paid the landowner with a portion of their crops, which often led to cycles of debt and poverty.

Thaddeus Stevens

 A Radical Republican leader in Congress who advocated for harsh Reconstruction measures and the protection of African American rights.

Carpetbaggers

 Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War to take advantage of the economic opportunities created by Reconstruction.

Scalawags

White Southerners who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party during the post-Civil War period.

Horace Greeley

 A journalist and politician who founded the Republican Party and was a key figure in advocating for the abolition of slavery and Reconstruction.

Ku Klux Klan

A white supremacist hate group formed in the South during Reconstruction, using violence and intimidation to suppress African American rights.

Compromise of 1877

 The agreement that resolved the contested 1876 presidential election, effectively ending Reconstruction by withdrawing federal troops from the South.