Final Exam Review

Prof. Hamilton Fall2024

Peculiar Institution

A unique economic and social system specific to the South, representing the most profitable slave system in the modern world, characterized by its distinctive approach to slavery and labor.

Cotton Kingdom/white gold

The economic backbone of the Southern states where cotton was considered supremely valuable, driving the industrial revolution and transforming agricultural production through slave labor.

Upper South/Deep South

Two distinct regional variations within the Southern states. Upper South featured a more diverse economy with larger cities and manufacturing, while Deep South was primarily agricultural with tightly controlled slave populations.

Plain Folk of the Old South

Ordinary Southern whites who were pushed to marginal lands, less educated, living in a subsistence economy, and culturally aligned with white supremacist ideologies despite not typically owning slaves.

Slavocracy/Planter class

An aristocratic elite that monopolized the best agricultural lands, controlled the economic and social structures, and represented a small but powerful minority of Southern society.

Paternalist ethos/code of honor/Brooks

A complex social ideology where plantation owners viewed themselves as benevolent caretakers of slaves, maintaining a heightened sense of masculinity and responding aggressively to perceived challenges to personal or familial honor.

Slave law codes/Celia

Harsh legal regulations controlling slave populations, including restrictions on movement, education, and social gatherings, exemplified by the brutal treatment of enslaved individuals like Celia, who was executed after defending herself from sexual assault.

Slave labor/task labor/gang labor

Different systems of forced labor in the South, including gang labor with strict supervision in cotton fields, and task labor (particularly in rice cultivation) which allowed some limited autonomy after completing assigned work.

Slave family/Gender roles

A system where slave families had no legal protection, marriages were informal, and children could be sold away, fundamentally disrupting traditional family structures and gender expectations.

Threat of sale/coercion

A primary method of control where slaves could be separated from family members and sold, creating constant psychological pressure and maintaining the system of slavery through fear and economic manipulation.

Slave religion/gospel of freedom

A spiritual practice that provided hope and resistance, using biblical narratives of liberation and seeing Jesus as a savior who cared for the oppressed, offering psychological and cultural resilience.

Underground railroad/runaways/Harriet Tubman

A clandestine network helping slaves escape to freedom, involving secret routes, safe houses, and courageous conductors like Harriet Tubman who risked their lives to help enslaved people reach free territories.

Slave resistance

Various methods of opposing slavery, including sabotage, work slowdowns, cultural preservation, and creating community networks that maintained dignity and hope under oppressive conditions.

Slave revolts/Gabriel/Nat Turner

Organized rebellions against the slave system, including attempts by Gabriel and Nat Turner to challenge slavery through armed uprising, which were ultimately suppressed but created significant fear among slaveholders.

Proslavery argument

Sophisticated rhetorical and pseudo-scientific justifications for slavery, including claims of racial hierarchy, economic necessity, and the supposed civilizing influence of the plantation system.

Colonization/Abolitionism

Two competing approaches to addressing slavery - colonization advocated for sending freed slaves to Africa, while abolitionism demanded immediate and complete emancipation of all enslaved people.

Frederick Douglas/black abolitionism

A prominent African American leader who combined intellectual critique, personal testimony, and political activism to challenge the institution of slavery and advocate for full citizenship rights.

William Lloyd Garrison/The Liberator

A radical abolitionist who published an influential newspaper declaring slavery as inherently evil, advocating for immediate and uncompromising emancipation, often at great personal risk.

Lovejoy

An abolitionist journalist murdered for his anti-slavery publications, becoming a martyr for the abolitionist movement and symbolizing the dangerous landscape of anti-slavery activism.

Reform Impulse

A distinctive American characteristic of believing in collective action to improve society, manifesting in various social movements aimed at moral and structural transformation.

Shakers

A unique religious community practicing celibacy, separating men and women, believing in spiritual equality and that God has both feminine and masculine aspects, requiring adoption or conversion to maintain their population.

Horace Mann/Common School

An educational reformer who championed the idea that every American has a right to foundational education, believing that integrated schools could break down class barriers and provide disadvantaged children better opportunities.

Dorothea Dix

A pioneering social reformer who transformed the treatment of mental patients, advocating for more humane conditions in asylums and bringing significant improvements to mental health care.

Temperance

A social movement advocating for the abolition of alcohol, motivated not just by concerns about drunkenness, but also by protecting women and families from economic and domestic violence.

Ralph Waldo Emerson/The Free Individual

A transcendentalist philosopher who redefined freedom as the right of individuals to develop their talents, achieve self-fulfillment, and maintain personal independence.

Thoreau/Walden

A philosopher and writer who critiqued the market revolution, advocating for simplicity, connection to nature, and the importance of individual conscience over societal norms.

Era of Good Feelings

A period in American history characterized by reduced partisan tensions and a temporary absence of strong competing political parties, following the War of 1812.

American System

A economic development strategy supporting American manufacturing, a national bank, and internal improvements like roads, canals, and railroads.

Panic of 1819

An economic crisis where speculative land purchases, borrowed money, and market fluctuations led to widespread bankruptcies, farm losses, and economic depression.

Missouri Compromise/Tallmadge

A political agreement in 1820 that balanced slave and free states by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, establishing a geographical line for slavery's expansion.

Monroe Doctrine

A foreign policy principle declaring the Western Hemisphere as America's domain, warning European powers against colonization and establishing a stance of non-interference in European affairs.

John Quincy Adams/Election of 1824/Andrew Jackson

A controversial presidential election where John Quincy Adams became president through a congressional decision, despite Andrew Jackson winning the popular vote, leading to claims of a 'corrupt bargain'.

Whigs and Democrats

Two emerging political parties with distinct ideologies - Whigs supporting strong government involvement in economic development, Democrats advocating for limited government and representing 'the common man'.

Martin Van Buren/Party System/spoils system

A political operative who developed the modern two-party system, introducing national and state conventions, and implementing the spoils system of giving government jobs to political supporters.

Andrew and Rachel Jackson/Peggy Eaton

A complex personal and political drama involving Jackson's support for socially marginalized women and the social conflicts within his administration.

Tariff of Abominations/Nullification

A controversial tariff that protected Northern manufacturers but was seen as economically harmful to the South, leading to a states' rights crisis and threats of nullification.

Force Act/South Carolina/Calhoun

A legislative measure allowing the federal government to use military force to collect tariffs, highlighting the tension between federal authority and states' rights.

Great Triumvirate

A group of influential senators (Webster, Clay, Calhoun) who, despite different regional interests, worked to mediate compromises and promote political progress.

Indian Removal Act 1830

A policy forcibly relocating Native American tribes from their lands in the Southern states, resulting in the devastating Cherokee Trail of Tears.

Five Civilized Tribes

Native American nations that had developed institutions parallel to white American society, yet were still subjected to forced relocation.

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia/Worcester v. Georgia/Marshall Court

Landmark Supreme Court cases addressing Native American rights, establishing legal principles about tribal sovereignty, though ultimately not enforced by the executive branch.

Cherokee Trail of Tears

A forced relocation of Cherokee people from their ancestral lands, involving a brutal march where many died from exposure, hunger, and disease during their forced migration to Oklahoma.

2nd Bank of America

A congressionally chartered, for-profit institution responsible for the country's fiscal health, managing paper money and state bank regulations.

Biddle/Bank War

A conflict between President Andrew Jackson and Nicholas Biddle, the bank's president, over the bank's renewal and its perceived political power.

Pet banks/Panic of 1837

State banks favored by the Jackson administration that received federal deposits, leading to excessive money printing and a speculative economic bubble that ultimately burst.

Martin Van Buren

A president who inherited economic instability from Jackson, struggled to stabilize the economy, and faced significant political challenges during the Panic of 1837.

Depression 1837-1843

A prolonged economic downturn characterized by widespread job losses, business failures, and significant economic hardship across the United States.

William Henry Harrison/Tyler/'his accidency'

A presidential succession marked by Harrison's quick death and Tyler's unexpected presidency, creating political tensions within the Whig Party.

Manifest Destiny/O'Sullivan

A cultural belief that White Anglo-Saxon Protestants had a God-given mission to spread liberty across the continent, coined by journalist O'Sullivan and supporting westward expansion.

Texas Revolt/Santa Anna/Remember the Alamo

A rebellion of American settlers in Texas against Mexican control, culminating in the famous Battle of the Alamo and eventual independence under Sam Houston.

Republic of Texas/Texas annexation

The independent nation of Texas transitioning to become part of the United States, creating significant political tension due to slavery concerns.

Election of 1844/Polk

A pivotal presidential election that brought James K. Polk to power, focused on territorial expansion and annexation of new lands.

California/Oregon/Texas

Key territories acquired through expansion, representing the fulfillment of Manifest Destiny and significant geographical growth of the United States.

Mexican War/Zachary Taylor

A conflict resulting in massive territorial acquisition, criticized by some as an unjust war of aggression against a weaker nation.

Civil Disobedience/Thoreau

A philosophical approach to resistance against unjust government actions, exemplified by Thoreau's refusal to pay taxes supporting the Mexican War.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo/Mexican Cession/the dose of arsenic

A peace treaty ending the Mexican-American War, resulting in massive land transfers and raising critical questions about slavery's expansion.

Gold Rush/Sutter's Mill/California

The discovery of gold in California that attracted people from around the world, embodying the 'Go West, get rich' mentality of American opportunity.

Commodore Perry/Japan

A diplomatic mission that forced Japan to open to Western trade, ending centuries of isolation and triggering rapid modernization.

Wilmot Proviso

A proposed amendment to ban slavery in territories acquired from Mexico, sparking significant political debate about slavery's expansion.

Free Soil Party

A political party championing abolition and opposing slavery's expansion, supporting free homesteads for Western settlement.

Compromise of 1850/Fugitive Slave Law

A complex political agreement that admitted California as a free state, implemented a highly punitive fugitive slave law, and attempted to temporarily resolve slavery expansion tensions.

Stephen Douglas/popular sovereignty

A Democratic leader who proposed letting territories decide their slave status through local voting, a concept that ultimately increased national tensions.

Kansas-Nebraska Act/Bleeding Kansas

A law that replaced the Missouri Compromise, allowing territories to decide slavery status through popular sovereignty, leading to violent conflicts between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers.

Harriett Beecher Stowe/Uncle Tom's Cabin

A serialized novel that humanized enslaved people, dramatically shifting public opinion by making the wrongs of slavery personal and emotionally impactful.

Republican/Whig/Democrat

Emerging political parties representing different ideological approaches to governance, expansion, and slavery during a period of intense political transformation.

Northern v. Southern Economy/Know-Nothings/Fillmore

A period of stark economic and social differences between Northern and Southern states, with nativist political movements emerging alongside these tensions.

Election of 1856/Buchanan

A presidential election marked by significant political controversy, with Buchanan chosen partly due to his distance from the Bleeding Kansas conflicts.

Dred Scott Decision/Chief Justice Taney

A Supreme Court ruling that declared African Americans had no citizenship rights and that Congress could not limit slavery's expansion, representing a low point in judicial treatment of racial issues.

Abraham Lincoln/Lincoln Douglas Debate

A series of political debates that crystallized opposing views on slavery's expansion, with Lincoln arguing against slavery's spread while not initially advocating for full abolition.

John Brown/Harper's Ferry

A radical abolitionist who attempted to initiate a slave revolt, whose trial and execution made him a martyr for the anti-slavery movement.

Election of 1860/Secession crisis

A pivotal election that triggered the Southern states' decision to secede from the Union, fundamentally challenging the nation's political unity.

Cotton Kingdom Border States

A group of slave states that remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War, representing a complex political and economic boundary.

Crittenden Compromise

A last-minute attempt to prevent civil war by proposing constitutional amendments to protect slavery where it already existed.

Fort Sumter

The site of the first military engagement of the Civil War, where Confederate forces attacked a Union fort, marking the conflict's official beginning.

The Confederacy/Jefferson Davis

The political entity formed by Southern states that seceded from the Union, with Jefferson Davis as its president.

The First Modern War/Technology/mass mobilization of resources

The Civil War as a technological turning point, utilizing railroads, telegraphs, new weapons, and unprecedented national resource mobilization to wage war.

Matthew Brady/photography

A pioneering war photographer who documented the Civil War, creating the first widespread visual record of a conflict and influencing public perception.

Rifle/trenches

New military technology that dramatically changed warfare, with grooved rifle barrels providing unprecedented accuracy and defensive trench warfare becoming a critical strategy.

Monitor/Merrimac

Ironclad naval ships that revolutionized maritime warfare, representing a significant technological advancement in military naval capabilities.

War in the East/War in the West

Two distinct military theaters of the Civil War, with the Eastern front centered around Washington D.C. and Richmond, and the Western front focused on the Mississippi Valley.

Robert E. Lee

The Confederate military leader who chose to fight for Virginia, known for his defensive warfare tactics and strategic military leadership.

Contraband

A term used for escaped slaves who sought refuge with Union forces, eventually becoming eligible for military service and freedom.

Army of the Potomac

The primary Union Army in the Eastern Theater, initially struggling but eventually becoming a critical force in the Civil War.

First Battle of Bull Run

An early Civil War battle that shattered romantic notions of war, with Confederate victory surprising spectators and politicians who expected a quick conflict.

Antietam

The bloodiest single day in American military history, a critical battle that allowed Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Fredericksburg

A devastating Union defeat where massive casualties were inflicted as Union troops repeatedly failed to take Confederate positions.

Fort Henry/Ulysses Grant

A significant Union victory in the Western Theater, showcasing Grant's military capabilities and opening crucial river routes.

Farragut/New Orleans

A naval campaign that captured a critical Southern port, dealing a significant blow to the Confederacy's economic and military capabilities.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order that symbolically freed slaves in Confederate territories, though with limited immediate practical effect, representing a crucial moral and political turning point.

Black troops/Mass. 54th

African American soldiers who enlisted in the Union Army, with the Massachusetts 54th becoming a legendary regiment symbolizing black military contribution.

Gettysburg/Vicksburg

Two critical battles that marked the war's turning point, with Union victories that effectively ended Confederate hopes of winning the war.

Grant/The 'butcher of men'/war of attrition

A military strategy of overwhelming the Confederacy through massive, sustained military pressure, accepting high casualties to ultimately defeat the Southern army.

Thirteenth Amendment

A constitutional amendment that officially abolished slavery across the United States, a critical legal culmination of the Civil War.

Sherman's march through Georgia

A destructive military campaign aimed at breaking the South's war-making capacity by destroying infrastructure and economic resources.

Richmond April 4/Appomattox April 9

The fall of the Confederate capital and Lee's surrender, marking the effective end of the Civil War.

Speech of April 11/Ford's Theatre

Lincoln's final public address discussing reconstruction, followed by his assassination, which dramatically altered the post-war reconciliation process.