APUSH Period 5

Flashcards with key vocabulary of the Civil War

Manifest Destiny

Belief that Americans had a divine right to expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific, coined by John O'Sullivan in 1845.

American Exceptionalism

The idea that the U.S. had a special mission to spread democracy and civilization.

California Gold Rush (1848–1855)

Discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill led to massive migration by "Forty-Niners."

Homestead Act (1862)

Promised 160 acres of land to settlers willing to farm it.

James K. Polk (President 1845–1849)

Strong supporter of Manifest Destiny who oversaw the Annexation of Texas (1845), the Oregon Territory agreement with Britain (1846), and the Mexican-American War (1846–48).

John O’Sullivan

Newspaper editor who popularized the term "Manifest Destiny."

Brigham Young

Led Mormons westward; settled in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Johann Sutter

Owner of land where gold was discovered, sparking the Gold Rush.

Commodore Matthew Perry

Opened Japan to U.S. trade via the Kanagawa Treaty (1854).

Mexican-American War (1846–1848)

Conflict sparked by the annexation of Texas, border disputes, and Polk's expansionist policies; resulted in the U.S. gaining much of the Southwest.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

Ended the Mexican-American War; Mexico ceded California, New Mexico, and the rest of the Mexican Cession to the U.S.

Gadsden Purchase (1854)

U.S. bought a small strip of land in southern AZ/NM from Mexico for $10 million to build a southern transcontinental railroad.

Wilmot Proviso (1846)

Proposed to ban slavery in any territory gained from the Mexican-American War; passed in the House but failed in the Senate.

Popular Sovereignty

The idea that settlers in each territory should vote on whether to allow slavery; promoted by Senator Lewis Cass and later Stephen Douglas.

Compromise of 1850

Proposed by Henry Clay to ease tensions after California applied for statehood; included admitting California as a free state, popular sovereignty in Utah & New Mexico, a ban on the slave trade in D.C., and a strengthened Fugitive Slave Law.

Fugitive Slave Act

Part of the Compromise of 1850, required citizens to help return escaped slaves, angered Northerners.

Know-Nothing Party (American Party)

A nativist political party formed to limit immigration, restrict immigrants’ rights to vote, and oppose Catholic political influence.

Free Soil Movement

Sought to prevent the expansion of slavery into western territories to promote free labor competition.

William Lloyd Garrison

Published The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper.

Frederick Douglass

Former slave, eloquent speaker and writer, prominent abolitionist.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) to humanize slavery for Northern readers, enraging Southerners.

Harriet Tubman

Key "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved people escape.

Harpers Ferry Raid (1859)

John Brown's attempt to start a slave revolt by raiding a federal armory; deepened fear and distrust between Northerners and Southerners.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Proposed by Stephen Douglas; divided part of the Louisiana Purchase into Kansas and Nebraska and allowed popular sovereignty, repealing the Missouri Compromise.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent clashes over slavery in Kansas between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Supreme Court case ruling that African Americans are not citizens, Congress cannot ban slavery in any U.S. territory, and slaves are property.

Republican Party (1854)

Coalition of abolitionists, Free Soilers, Conscience Whigs, and some Know-Nothings; platform to stop the spread of slavery.

Violence in Congress: The Caning of Charles Sumner

Senator Charles Sumner (Massachusetts) gave the “Crime Against Kansas” speech, condemning pro-slavery violence and mocking Senator Andrew Butler, was beaten with a cane on the Senate floor (1856).

Election of 1860

Abraham Lincoln's victory led to Southern secession and the Civil War due to deep divisions over slavery and political power.

Confederate States of America (CSA)

New nation formed by seceding Southern states; constitution guaranteed perpetual slavery.

Alexander Stephens

Confederate Vice President. Slavery and white supremacy were the cornerstone of the Confederacy.

Fort Sumter

Confederate forces attacked the Union-held fort in South Carolina, marking the beginning of the Civil War.

Anaconda Plan

Union strategy: naval blockade, control the Mississippi River, and capture Richmond.

Robert E. Lee

Commander of the Confederate Army; respected tactician.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Freed enslaved people in Confederate states only; changed the moral purpose of the war to ending slavery.

Sherman’s March to the Sea (1864)

Captured and burned Atlanta; destroyed crops, railroads, infrastructure, aiming to break the South’s will and ability to fight.

Appomattox Courthouse (April 9, 1865)

General Lee surrenders to Grant, marking the official end of the Civil War.

Battle of Gettysburg

Major Union win; turning point in the East.

Sharecropping

System tying workers to land with debt.

Black Codes

Laws restricting Black freedom and enforcing racial hierarchy.

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacist group using violence to suppress Black rights.

Compromise of 1877

Ended Reconstruction in exchange for Hayes’ presidency.

Jim Crow laws

Post-Reconstruction state laws enforcing segregation.