APUSH Unit 5: Key Events and Legislation (1844–1877)

What time period does APUSH Unit 5 cover?

1844-1877

What was Manifest Destiny?

The belief that the U.S. should expand across North America.

What was the annexation of Texas?

The U.S. adding Texas as a state in 1845.

What caused the Mexican-American War?

Disputes over Texas border and expansion.

What was the result of the Mexican-American War?

U.S. gained large western territories.

What was the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

The treaty ending the Mexican-American War in 1848.

What land did the U.S. gain from Mexico?

California and the Southwest.

What was the Wilmot Proviso?

A proposal to ban slavery in new territories.

Why did the Wilmot Proviso matter?

It increased sectional tensions.

What was the Compromise of 1850?

A set of laws balancing free and slave states.

What were key parts of the Compromise of 1850?

California free, stricter Fugitive Slave Act, popular sovereignty.

What was the Fugitive Slave Act?

A law requiring return of escaped enslaved people.

Why was the Fugitive Slave Act controversial?

It angered many in the North.

What was popular sovereignty?

Letting territories decide on slavery.

What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

A law allowing popular sovereignty in new territories.

What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act lead to?

Violent conflict known as Bleeding Kansas.

What was Bleeding Kansas?

Violence between pro- and anti-slavery settlers.

What was the Republican Party?

A political party formed to oppose slavery expansion.

Who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin?

Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Why was Uncle Tom's Cabin important?

It increased anti-slavery sentiment.

What was the Dred Scott decision?

A Supreme Court ruling denying citizenship to African Americans.

What did the Dred Scott decision declare?

Congress could not ban slavery in territories.

What was John Brown's Raid?

An attempt to start a slave rebellion in 1859.

What did John Brown's Raid show?

Growing extremism over slavery.

What was the election of 1860?

Election of Abraham Lincoln.

Why did Southern states secede?

Fear that slavery would be abolished.

What was the Civil War?

A war between the Union (North) and Confederacy (South).

What was the main cause of the Civil War?

Conflict over slavery and states' rights.

What advantages did the North have?

Industry, population, and resources.

What advantages did the South have?

Military leadership and fighting on home ground.

What was the Emancipation Proclamation?

A document freeing enslaved people in Confederate states.

What impact did the Emancipation Proclamation have?

It made the war about ending slavery.

What was the turning point of the Civil War?

The Battle of Gettysburg.

What was another key turning point?

The fall of Vicksburg.

What was Sherman's March to the Sea?

A campaign destroying Southern infrastructure.

What ended the Civil War?

Confederate surrender in 1865.

What happened to Abraham Lincoln?

He was assassinated.

What was Reconstruction?

The period of rebuilding the South after the war.

What were the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments?

Ended slavery, granted citizenship, and voting rights to Black men.

What was the Freedmen's Bureau?

An agency helping formerly enslaved people.

What were Black Codes?

Laws restricting the rights of African Americans.

What were sharecropping and tenant farming?

Systems where farmers worked land for a share of crops.

Why was sharecropping problematic?

It kept many in poverty and debt.

What was Radical Reconstruction?

A period of strict federal control over the South.

What did Radical Republicans want?

Full rights for African Americans.

What was the Ku Klux Klan?

A group using violence to oppose Black rights.

What was the Compromise of 1877?

An agreement ending Reconstruction.

What was the result of the Compromise of 1877?

Federal troops left the South, ending Reconstruction.

What was the overall impact of Reconstruction?

Some gains for African Americans, but many rights were later restricted.