Independence for Texas, Mexican-American War, Abolitionist Movement

Missouri Compromise

An agreement passed in 1820 that allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state while Maine entered as a free state, maintaining the balance of power between free and slave states.

Compromise of 1850

A series of laws aimed at resolving territorial and slavery disputes following the Mexican-American War, including the admission of California as a free state.

California Gold Rush

A mass migration of people to California in the late 1840s and early 1850s, driven by the discovery of gold, which significantly impacted westward expansion and the economy.

How did the California Gold Rush raise questions about the expansion of slavery?

The California Gold Rush led to a surge of settlers in the region, prompting debates over whether California should be admitted as a free or slave state, thus intensifying sectional tensions and complicating the issue of slavery's expansion in the United States.

What social, economic, and political issues were abolitionists responding to?

Abolitionists were responding to the moral injustices of slavery, economic exploitation of enslaved individuals, and the political efforts to maintain the institution of slavery in the face of growing opposition and calls for reform.

Fugitive Slave Acts

Laws that provided for the capture and return of runaway enslaved people.

John Brown

Abolitionist known for his radical actions against slavery, including the raid on Harpers Ferry.

Fredrick Douglass

A prominent abolitionist, orator, and writer who escaped from slavery and became a leading advocate for the rights of African Americans and women's suffrage.

Harriet Tubman

A prominent abolitionist and former enslaved person who led numerous enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad.

Dred Scott Case

A landmark Supreme Court case in 1857 that ruled African Americans were not citizens and had no standing to sue in federal court, and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories.

Kanas-Nebraska Act

A law passed in 1854 that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, allowing settlers to decide on the legality of slavery through popular sovereignty, which led to violent conflicts known as "Bleeding Kansas."

Bleeding Kansas

A series of violent confrontations in the mid-1850s between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the Kansas Territory, resulting from the Kansas-Nebraska Act.