5.6-5.11

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Proposed by Stephen Douglass of Illinois, this act paved the way for the Northern based transcontinental railroad, split the Nebraska territory into two states, and determined that each state would use popular sovereignty to decide slavery. Consequently, it repealed the Missouri Compromise

Bleeding Kansas

As a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, violence erupts, as pro and anti-slavery groups move into Nebraska to sway the vote. Multiple skirmishes between these two factions resulted in two different state legislatures being formed, and indirectly led to the Charles Sumner incident.

Republican Party

A split in the Whig party over tensions of slavery resulted in the formation of the Republican party by anti-slavery Whigs. They will soon call for an end to slavery’s expansion and gradual abolition. This strictly Northern party threatened the South’s existence

Dred Scott Decision

Ruled that African Americans (enslaved or free) weren't citizens and couldn't sue, that slaves were property that Congress they could not deprive anyone of without due process, and that Congress couldn't ban slavery in territories, effectively nullifying the Missouri Compromise

Lincoln-Douglass Debates

Illinois senatorial debates between Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Stephen Douglas, primarily focusing on slavery's expansion. While Douglas supported popular sovereignty, arguing that slavery could exist with slave codes in place, Lincoln argued against slavery’s expansion, challenging it as a moral issue

John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry

In October of 1859, Brown led an attack against the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, hoping to capture their weapons, arm slaves, and then rise in rebellion. He was later tried for treason and hanged, but his raid convinced the South that the North is using slave revolts to abolish slavery

Union Strategy during the Civil War

Use the US Navy to blockade the Southern Anaconda Plan, take control of the MS River, and raise/train an army of 500,000 to take Richmond, VA

Confederate Strategy during the Civil War

break the will of the Northern population, seek help from Britain or France, and dedicate themselves to the concept of “freedom”

Government policies w/o Congressional Approval

called for 75,000 army volunteers, authorized federal spending on war efforts, and suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus

Confiscation Acts of 1861 and 1862

Gave the Union Army power to seize enemy property used to wage war against the US, then freed peoples enslaved by individuals in rebellion against the US

Emancipation Proclamation

Didn’t end slavery, but removed uncertainty of freeing slaves in rebelling states, reinforcing the confiscation acts. ONLY freed slaves in rebelling states, not border slaveholding states.

Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan

called for full presidential pardons for anyone who took an oath of allegiance to the Union and accepted the emancipation of the slaves. After 10% of voters in the state made the oath, a new state constitution could be written that included the prohibition

13th Amendment

Formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude (except for crime punishment) nationwide

14th Amendment

granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the US and guaranteed equal protection and due process under the law for all citizens

15th Amendment

prohibited states from denying or abridging a citizen’s right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude

Sharecropping

An agricultural system where landowners let freedmen farm plots of land in exchange for a large share of the crop, creating a cycle of debt and dependence that replaced slavery but maintained white control over Black labor, binding them to the land through economic exploitation rather than legal chains.