Regional Tensions: Immigration, Slavery, and Abolitionism

Flashcards about regional tensions, immigration, slavery, and abolitionist movements in America before the Civil War.

Cultural Enclaves

Ethnic communities where immigrants maintained their cultural customs, languages, and religions.

Nativism

A policy of protecting the interests of native-born people against those of immigrants.

Know-Nothing Party

A political party formed around opposition to immigration. The movement aimed to limit immigrants’ cultural and political influence.

North Economic Engine

Free wage laborers in manufacturing jobs (factories)

South Economic Engine

Enslaved labor on agricultural plantations

The Liberator

William Lloyd Garrison’s influential abolitionist newspaper.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel depicting the dehumanization and brutality of slavery.

Underground Railroad

A network of trails and safehouses helping enslaved people escape to the North.

John Brown

A radical abolitionist who advocated for a slave uprising.

Raid on Harper’s Ferry (1859)

Brown’s plan to seize the federal arsenal, distribute weapons to enslaved people, and ignite a rebellion. The raid failed, and Brown was captured and hanged.