Unit 5 Review Definitions/Terms

Flashcards covering key terms and definitions from Unit 5 on historical American events surrounding slavery, civil rights, and significant court cases.

Missouri Compromise

A legislative agreement that aimed to balance slave and non-slave states, prohibiting slavery north of the 36° 30' N latitude, except in Missouri.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Legislation that repealed the Missouri Compromise and introduced popular sovereignty, allowing residents of Kansas and Nebraska to vote on the legality of slavery.

Bleeding Kansas

A term describing the violent conflict between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in Kansas as a result of the popular sovereignty decision.

Scott v. Sandford

A Supreme Court case in which Dred Scott claimed his freedom after living in a non-slave area, highlighting the tensions over slavery.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that the authority of government is created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of political power.

Secession

The act of withdrawing from a political union, particularly by Southern states from the Union prior to the Civil War.

Amendment 13

The constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in the United States.

Amendment 14

The constitutional amendment granting citizenship rights and equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.

Amendment 15

The constitutional amendment that prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Amendment 24

The amendment that prohibits the imposition of poll taxes in federal elections.

Reconstruction

The period following the Civil War (1865-1877) focused on reintegrating Southern states into the Union and rebuilding the Southern economy.

Plessy v. Ferguson

A Supreme Court case establishing the 'separate but equal' doctrine, allowing racial segregation as long as the facilities were equal.

Brown v. Board of Education

The landmark Supreme Court case that ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning the 'separate but equal' precedent.

Ku Klux Klan

A hate group that emerged in the post-Civil War era that used violence and intimidation to suppress the rights of African Americans.

Freedmen's Bureau

A government agency established in 1865 to assist formerly enslaved individuals by providing food, shelter, education, and legal aid.

Lynching

A form of extrajudicial punishment, often resulting in the public murder of individuals, particularly African Americans.

Segregation

The enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community, or establishment.

De Facto Segregation

Racial segregation that occurs in practice, even if not mandated by law.

De Jure Segregation

Segregation that is enforced by law.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws in the United States that enforced racial segregation.

Grandfather Clause

A legal mechanism that allowed individuals to vote only if their grandfathers had voted before, disenfranchising many African Americans.

Literacy Tests

Examinations that were used to disenfranchise African Americans by testing their reading and writing skills.

Emmitt Till

A fourteen-year-old African American boy who was lynched in 1955 after being falsely accused of offending a white woman.

Charles Houston

An African American lawyer who played a crucial role in fighting against segregation and the Jim Crow laws.

Poll Tax

A fee that must be paid before one may vote, historically used to restrict voting rights for African Americans.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Landmark legislation that prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

An act that aimed to eliminate barriers to voting for African Americans, including discriminatory practices.

March to Selma

A pivotal protest that highlighted voting rights issues and led directly to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

A year-long protest against segregated seating on public buses initiated by Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat.

Sit-Ins

Nonviolent protests where African Americans would sit in segregated restaurants and demand service.

Freedom Rides

A series of political protests against segregation in the 1960s by groups of interracial riders using public buses.

Birmingham Campaign

A movement organized by Martin Luther King Jr. to challenge segregation in Birmingham, Alabama, through peaceful protests.