AICE PRE CIVIL WAR VOCABULARY LIST

War of 1812 - conflict between the United States and Great Britain (British restrictions on American trade and impressment of American sailors)

Treaty of Ghent - signed on December 24, 1814, in Ghent, Belgium, officially ended the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain

Hartford Convention - secret meeting of New England Federalist Party delegates held in Hartford, Connecticut, from December 15, 1814, to January 5, 1815, during the War of 1812

Era of Good Feelings - period in United States history, roughly from 1815 to 1825, characterized by a sense of national unity and optimism following the War of 1812

American System - economic plan promoted by Henry Clay in the early 19th century, aimed at strengthening the U.S. economy by uniting the nation's agricultural, commercial, and industrial sectors

Missouri Compromise - series of laws enacted in 1820 and 1821 by the U.S. Congress that addressed the issue of slavery in newly acquired territories

Corrupt Bargain - disputed event in the 1824 U.S. presidential election where John Quincy Adams was elected president by the House of Representatives, despite Andrew Jackson winning the most popular and electoral votes

Nullification Crisis - conflict between the United States federal government and the state of South Carolina in 1832-1833, stemming from South Carolina's attempt to nullify, or void, two tariffs passed by Congress

Indian Removal Act - signed into law on May 28, 1830, by President Andrew Jackson, authorized the U.S. government to negotiate treaties that would exchange Native American land east of the Mississippi River for land in the West, specifically in present-day Oklahoma

Bank War - political struggle in the United States between 1832 and 1836 concerning the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States (BUS)

Kansas-Nebraska Act - allowed residents of the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery, a concept known as "popular sovereignty"

Bleeding Kansas - violent clashes that occurred in Kansas Territory between 1854 and 1861, primarily over the issue of whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free state or a slave state

Dred Scott Decision - landmark 1857 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that declared that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, were not and could not be citizens of the United States

Lincoln-Douglas Debates - historical series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in 1858

Election of 1860 - United States presidential election was a pivotal election, known for its extreme sectionalism and the subsequent secession of Southern states, leading directly to the American Civil War

Secession - action of withdrawing formally from membership of a federation or body, especially a political state

Emancipation Proclamation - executive order issued by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War, declared the freedom of slaves in Confederate territory still in rebellion against the Union

13th Amendment - abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime

Compromise of 1850 - series of laws passed by the U.S. Congress in an attempt to resolve the issue of slavery in newly acquired territories after the Mexican-American War and to prevent the potential secession of the Southern states

Fugitive Slave Act - two federal laws, enacted in 1793 and 1850, that aimed to ensure the return of escaped enslaved people to their owners

Market Revolution - occurred primarily in the United States during the 19th century, refers to a period of significant economic transformation characterized by the shift from a subsistence economy to a national market-based economy

Industrialization - process of transforming the economy of a nation or region from a focus on agriculture to a reliance on manufacturing

Cotton Gin - machine for separating cotton from its seeds

Erie Canal - historic, 363-mile long, man-made waterway in New York that connects Lake Erie to the Hudson River, and ultimately to the Atlantic Ocean

Lowell Mills - series of textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, that operated during the Industrial Revolution

Tariff of Abominations - protect northern industries from foreign competition by making imported goods more expensive

Panic of 1837 - severe economic depression in the United States, beginning in the spring of 1837 and lasting until the mid-1840s

Internal Improvements - government-funded projects, primarily focused on developing transportation infrastructure like roads, canals, and railroads

Railroads - track or set of tracks made of steel rails along which passenger and freight trains run

Slave Economy - situations where individuals are exploited for their labor, often without adequate compensation or control over their work, resembling the conditions of slavery

Second Great Awakening - Protestant religious revival movement in the United States, beginning in the late 18th century and lasting for several decades

Abolitionist Movement - global political movement focused on ending the practice of slavery

Women’s Rights Movement - global campaign to secure equal rights and opportunities for women and girls

Temperance Movement - social and political campaign primarily focused on reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption in the 19th and early 20th centuries