Manifest Destiny, Sectional Conflict, and the Lead-up to the Civil War

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering mid-nineteenth-century U.S. territorial expansion, political compromises, key historical figures, and escalating sectional tensions over slavery.

Manifest Destiny

An idea rooted in newfound nationalism holding that the United States had a divine duty to extend its influence, civilization, and power across North America and beyond, resulting in indigenous displacement and the annexation of Texas.

James K. Polk

A dark horse presidential candidate elected in 1844 and protege of Andrew Jackson who served one term, oversaw the Annexation of Texas, established the Oregon Treaty, and initiated the Mexican-American War.

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

A self-appointed dictator who abolished Mexico's federal system in 1834, attacked the Alamo, and was captured at the Battle of the San Jacinto River, where he was forced to sign treaties recognizing Texas's independence.

Zachary Taylor

A military general who led troops beyond the Rio Grande, won the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847, won the presidential election of 1848, and whose death prompted the signing of the Compromise of 1850.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The treaty that officially ended the Mexican-American War, ceded 55 percent of Mexico's land to the U.S., recognized the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas, and granted 15 million dollars to Mexico.

Mexican Cession

The transfer of 55 percent of Mexico's territory to the U.S. under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo for 15 million dollars, adding California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

Wilmot Proviso

A legislative proposal banning slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico during the Mexican-American War, which passed the House but was defeated twice in the Senate.

Gadsden Purchase

A strip of land purchased from Mexico by President Pierce for 10 million dollars to add to New Mexico and Arizona, providing a route for a railroad in the region.

Walker Expedition

A filibustering campaign in which William Walker seized power in Nicaragua to create a proslavery Central American empire before being invaded by Central American nations and executed by Honduran authorities.

Ostend Manifesto

A leaked, secretly negotiated agreement in Ostend, Belgium orchestrated under President Pierce to acquire Cuba from Spain, which caused significant outrage among Northern antislavery members of Congress.

Free Soil Party

A short-lived political party active from 1848 to 1854 that advocated for a free white West without labor competition, which dissolved following the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and merged into the Republican Party.

Compromise of 1850

A compromise resolving tensions from the Mexican Cession by admitting California as a state, applying popular sovereignty to California and New Mexico, resolving Texas border disputes, ending the slave trade in D.C., and passing a stricter fugitive slave act.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that the people could determine the power of the government; applied in the Compromise of 1850 regarding slavery in western territories and contributed to the formation of the Republican Party.

Know-Nothing Party

The first major nativist third party in the United States, which secured over 100 congressional seats by channeling cultural and economic anxiety regarding immigration and labor away from slavery before partially merging into the Republican Party.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, an internationally read antislavery novel written in response to the Fugitive Slave Act that depicted the horrors of slavery and intensified sectional tensions.

George Fitzhugh

An American social theorist and defender of slavery who rejected revolutionary ideals and argued that Northern manufacturing systems were crueler than Southern slavery, where masters cared for their human property.

Hinton R. Helper

A Southern author who wrote Impending Crisis of the South, arguing that slavery economically disadvantaged poor whites and hindered Southern development relative to the North, with the work later used as Republican Party literature.