APUSH UNIT 5 REVIEW 1844-1877

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century doctrine that American expansion across the continent was justified and inevitable.

California Gold Rush

A mass migration of thousands of settlers to California in search of gold, significantly contributing to the westward expansion.

James K. Polk

U.S. President (1845-1849) who advocated for the annexation of Texas and the acquisition of Oregon.

Mexican-American War

A war (1846-1848) between the United States and Mexico, sparked by the annexation of Texas and territorial disputes.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The 1848 treaty that ended the Mexican-American War and established the Rio Grande as the U.S.-Mexico border.

Wilmot Proviso

An unsuccessful proposal to ban slavery in territories acquired from Mexico.

Compromise of 1850

A set of laws aimed at balancing free and slave states, including the admission of California as a free state.

Abolitionists

Individuals who advocated for the end of slavery, often facing strong opposition.

Dred Scott Decision

A Supreme Court ruling (1857) that stated African Americans were not citizens and therefore could not sue in federal court.

Secession

The act of withdrawing from an organization or political entity, notably performed by Southern states from the Union.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order by President Lincoln in 1862 that freed enslaved people in rebel states.

Reconstruction Era

The period after the Civil War (1865-1877) focused on rebuilding the South and integrating freed slaves into society.

Black Codes

Laws passed in the South after the Civil War to restrict the freedoms of African Americans.

15th Amendment

An amendment to the U.S. Constitution that granted African American men the right to vote.

Compromise of 1877

The agreement that resolved the 1876 presidential election dispute, effectively ending Reconstruction.

Sharecropping

A system where former slaves rented land and paid with a share of their crops, often leading to a cycle of debt.

Regular Quadrilateral

A regular quadrilateral is a four-sided polygon (quadrilateral) where all sides and angles are equal, specifically a square.