American Slavery, 1607–1865 Practice Flashcards

A set of 61 vocabulary flashcards based on the lecture notes 'American Slavery, 1607–1865', covering key dates, figures, and legislative acts.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

An executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln that went into effect on New Year’s Day $1863$, proclaiming all slaves in Confederate-held territory to be free.

Harry Washington

A man enslaved by George Washington who escaped in $1775$ to join Lord Dunmore’s British army, representing Black Americans who waged a personal war of independence.

South Carolina's Radicalism

Extreme political defiance led by John C. Calhoun and Fire-Eaters, known for the Nullification Crisis and being the first state to secede.

Haitian Revolution (1804)

The largest and most successful slave revolt in world history led by Toussaint Louverture, resulting in the creation of the free Black nation of Haiti in $1804$.

The Grimké Sisters

Sarah and Angelina Grimké, daughters of a wealthy South Carolina slaveholder, who became leading abolitionists and women’s rights activists.

The Gold Rush (1849–1850)

A massive migration of roughly $300,000$ forty-niners to California that brought hundreds of enslaved African Americans into the territory for mining.

Pro-Slavery Attitudes towards the West

The belief held by Southern slaveholders like Robert Toombs that slavery must expand or perish to maintain political power and combat soil exhaustion.

Secession Movement (1860–1861)

The formal withdrawal of $11$ Southern states from the Union following the election of Abraham Lincoln, driven by anxieties over slave property and political power.

Southern Code of Honor

An unwritten code where a white man’s reputation depended on defending his name through violence, dueling, or rough-and-tumbling.

Adaptability of Slavery

The proven capacity for forced labor to be used for mining, domestic work, and agriculture in arid western regions beyond traditional plantations.

The Republican Party (1854)

An anti-slavery party organized in $1854$ specifically to stop the westward expansion of slavery, with Abraham Lincoln as its first President.

The Missouri Compromise (1820)

An $1820$ law that banned slavery north of the $36^\circ 30'$ line, which was later repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act in $1854$.

Causes of Mexican-American War (1846–1848)

A war initiated by President James K. Polk following a deliberate border dispute in Texas to seize California and New Mexico.

Women's Rights Movement Origins

A movement for suffrage and equality born out of the abolitionist movement, formally beginning at the Seneca Falls Convention.

State Secession (Civil War)

The formal withdrawal of Southern states from the U.S. to protect slavery, forcing the federal government to use military power to preserve the Union.

Relation of Haitian Revolution to Louisiana Purchase

The French defeat in Haiti prompted Napoleon to sell the Louisiana Territory to the U.S., doubling the size of the Empire of Liberty.

Dred Scott Decision (1857)

A Supreme Court ruling that Black people were not citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in any territory.

Mudsill Thesis

James Henry Hammond's argument that every society needs a mudsill (slaves) to perform menial tasks so the upper class can advance civilization.

Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)

A violent revolt in Virginia that killed approximately $60$ white people, leading to laws banning slave literacy and independent Black preaching.

Native Americans and Slavery

A complex relationship where Native people both owned Black slaves and were themselves enslaved, affecting an estimated $2.5$ to $5\text{ million}$ Indians.

The Texas Revolution (1836)

A rebellion by Anglo-Texan settlers against Santa Anna's Mexican government, largely fought to preserve slavery after Mexico abolished it.

Sherman's Special Field Order No. 15

An order setting aside abandoned coastal land in SC and GA for freed slaves, often remembered as 40 acres and a mule.

Slave Codes in Western Territories

Laws passed in the $1850\text{s}$ in Utah and New Mexico to legalize and protect Black slavery, serving as symbolic victories for slaveholders.

Southern Paranoia

The intense fear among slaveholders that Northerners were plotting bloody slave revolts and the destruction of the Southern economy.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

A violent uprising in Jamestown that convinced elites to replace white indentured servants with enslaved African labor to prevent cross-racial rebellions.

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

A draconian law requiring Northerners to help catch runaway slaves, radicalizing anti-slavery sentiment and violating Northern states' rights.

Collapse of Slavery in the US

The result of military necessity, the flight of hundreds of thousands of slaves, and the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War.

Enslaved People's Perception of the Revolution

The view that the American Revolution was an opportunity for a personal war of independence using the language of equality to petition for freedom.

Gag Rule

Resolutions in the House of Representatives from $1836$ to $1844$ that banned all Congressional discussion of anti-slavery petitions.

Revolutionary Wave of Manumissions

A period following the American Revolution that triggered emancipations in the North and voluntary freeing of slaves in the Upper South.

Slavery in California (Numerical)

Between $500$ and $1,500$ slaves were carried into California for gold mining between $1849$ and the early $1850\text{s}$.

Anti-Slavery vs. Abolitionist

Anti-slavery sought to limit the expansion of the system; Abolitionists demanded the immediate, total end to the institution everywhere.

Contraband of War

The status of enslaved people who fled to Union lines, acting as a military liability for the South and an asset for the North.

John C. Frémont

The first Republican presidential candidate in $1856$ whose success showed Southerners that a Northern anti-slavery majority was inevitable.

States' Rights Hypocrisy (Federal Power)

Southern slaveholders demanded strong federal intervention to override Northern state laws via the Fugitive Slave Act despite invoking States' Rights locally.

Slavery as a Positive Good

An ideological shift led by John C. Calhoun asserting that slavery was a beneficial institution for both races rather than a necessary evil.

The Nullification Crisis (1832)

A conflict where South Carolina attempted to void federal tariffs, establishing the doctrine of state sovereignty used later in secession.

Slavery and Cotton Interrelation

The system where slave-produced cotton was the primary U.S. export and a essential raw material for the global industrial revolution.

Economic Influence of Slavery

Slavery was the primary driver of the U.S. economy and the most valuable form of property, worth approximately $\$3\text{ billion}$.

Plantation Hierarchy (Women)

A system where Plantation Mistresses managed household labor while Mammy figures were responsible for raising the master's children.

Outcome of U.S.-Mexico War

The acquisition of vast territory that reopened the explosive debate over slavery's expansion and led to the Compromise of $1850$.

Black Soldiers in the Union Army

Approximately $200,000$ former slaves and free Black men who served in the military, helping to decide the war's outcome.

Transcontinental Railroad Debate

A fierce Congressional fight over whether the first rail line would run through Chicago or a Southern port to gain commercial control of the West.

Seneca Falls Convention (1848)

The first formal convention for women’s rights in the U.S., organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.

Slave Property Security

The priority of Southerners to protect the institution of slavery over their stated principle of state sovereignty.

James Henry Hammond

A South Carolina Senator who popularized the phrase Cotton is King and developed the pro-slavery mudsill theory.

Decisive Union Victories (1863–1864)

Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Sherman's March, which severed the Confederacy and broke Lee's ability to invade the North.

William Walker

A pro-slavery adventurer who led unauthorized filibuster military invasions of foreign nations like Nicaragua.

Political Channel for Ambitious Women

Abolitionism, where women learned the skills of writing, organizing, and petitioning when barred from voting or office.

Theory of Gradual Extinction

The Republican plan to stop the westward expansion of slavery to set it on a path toward eventual death.

Slave Economics in the 1850s

A period when slave prices rose dramatically, making ownership more concentrated among the elite and fueling the push for expansion.

Asian Markets Access

The commercial goal of controlling the Transcontinental Railroad to utilize California's ports for trade with Asia.

Radicalization of the North

The effect of the Fugitive Slave Act on Northern sentiment, making Northerners feel their own states' rights were being violated.

Abraham Lincoln's Pledge

The commitment to stop the westward expansion of slavery, which triggered the secession of South Carolina.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Legislation that repealed the Missouri Compromise and left the status of slavery to popular sovereignty, causing violence in Bleeding Kansas.

Fort Pillow Massacre (1864)

The brutal massacre of surrendered Black Union troops by Confederate forces under Nathan Bedford Forrest.

U.S. Constitution Proslavery Protections

Constitutional elements including the $3/5\text{ths}$ Compromise, the Fugitive Slave Clause, and the $20$-year protection of the international slave trade.

Fort Sumter (1861)

The opening bombardment of the Civil War in South Carolina that forced the Upper South states like VA, TN, NC, and AR to secede.

North-South Culture Divide

The divergence between Northern societies with slaves moving toward free labor and Southern slave societies dependent on bondage.

Cornerstone Speech

A proclamation by Alexander Stephens that the Confederacy was built on the idea that Black people were naturally fit for slavery.

Abolitionist Campaign Tools

The use of newspapers, escape networks, and literature by figures like Garrison, Douglass, Tubman, and Stowe to destroy slavery.