APUSH Unit 5 Vocab

cotton gin

A machine for cleaning the seeds from cotton fibers, invented by Eli Whitney in 1793

King Cotton

cotton and cotton-growing considered, in the pre-Civil War South, as a vital commodity, the major factor not only in the economy but also in politics.

Nat Turner

led a rebellion in Virginia, attacked several plantations and killed many white inhabitants, was captured and executed later, this strengthened the resolve of southerners to control their slaves

Manifest Destiny

idea that America had a God-given right to expand to the Pacific, partially racial in the sense that there was broad support for "superiority of the American race"

Oregon Country

disputed between US and Britain for years, Americans wanted US to gain a significant portion of the territory

54-40 or FIGHT!

In the election of 1844, Polk used this as a campaign slogan, implying that the he would declare war if Britain did not give the United States all the Oregon territory up to its northern boundary.

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

1842 between the US and the Brits, settled boundary disputes in the North West, fixed most borders between US and Canada, talked about slavery and excredition

Battle of the Alamo

all Texan defenders were killed, eventually Sam Houston's army would capture Mexican president and general Santa Anna

James K Polk

Democratic president in March 1845. wanted to settle the Oregon boundary dispute with Britain. wanted to acquire California. wanted to incorporate Texas into the union.

Henry Clay

A northern American politician. He developed the American System as well as negotiated numerous compromises.

California

Area where Polk wanted US to expand in the Southwest

Rio-Grande River

Texas' claim of the Texas-Mexico border

Nueces River

Mexico's claim of the Texas-Mexico border

spot resolutions

Congressman Abraham Lincoln supported a proposition to find the exact spot where American troops were fired upon, suspecting that they had illegally crossed into Mexican territory

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

stipulated that Mexico would cede remainder of American SW to US

Mexican Cession

1848. Awarded as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo after the Mexican American War. U.S. paid $15 million for 525,000 square miles. Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado

Sectionalism

an intense devotion or pride to one's section (region)

Missouri Compromise

an agreement in 1820 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States concerning the extension of slavery into new territories

Wilmot Proviso

prohibited slavery in the territory gained from Mexico, debated for years, never passed

49ers

People who rushed to california in 1849 for gold.

California Gold Rush

Traces of gold were found in California in 1848, word spread to the rest of the world, people flocked to California to find gold

The Compromise of 1850

Clay presented a bill that contained: admission of California as a free state, forming territorial governments without restrictions on slavery, eliminate the slave trade in DC but not slavery, a more effective fugitive slave law

Popular sovereignty

states deciding for themselves, usually when determining whether or not they should have slavery

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854 - Created Nebraska and Kansas as states and gave the people in those territories the right to chose to be a free or slave state through popular sovereignty.

Pottawatomie Massacre

John Brown, an abolitionist, organized with several followers to murder and mutilate 5 pro-slavery settlers

Bleeding Kansas

continued violence in Kansas between anti-slavery and pro-slavery forces

Dred Scott

American slave who sued his master for keeping him enslaved in a territory where slavery was banned under the missouri Compromise

Dred Scott Decision

Supreme Court ruling that declared slaves were not viewed as citizens but as property, immediate explosion of the sectional debate, southerners were elated by the court ruling, cleared the way for unlimited expansion of slavery in the territories, Northerners were stunned

Bleeding Kansas, the Lecompton Constitution

was designed to protect slavery in Kansas, by President Buchanan

John Brown

Abolitionist who was hanged after leading an unsuccessful raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia

Harpers Ferry

Federal arsenal in Virginia seized by abolitionist John Brown in 1859. Though Brown was later captured and executed, his raid alarmed Southerners who believed that Northerners shared in Brown's extremism.

Abraham Lincoln

16th President of the United States saved the Union during the Civil War and emancipated the slaves

South Carolina

First state to secede from the Union

secede

withdraw formally from membership in a federal union, an alliance, or a political or religious organization.

The Confederate States of America

the southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861, elected Jefferson Davis as President, Montgomery Alabama was made the Confederate capital, later moved to Richmond Virginia

Richmond

Capital of the Confederacy

Fort Sumter

Federal fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina; the confederate attack on the fort marked the start of the Civil War

North

Population was 3x as large

Superior industrial system

Superior manufacturing system

Superior transportation system

Existing government

Existing financial system

South

Fought a defensive war

Excellent generals

Committed to the war

writ of habeas corpus

A court order requiring jailers to explain to a judge why they are holding a prisoner in custody, suspended by Lincoln during Civil War

preserve the Union

Lincoln's main goal in fighting the Civil War.

Emancipation Proclamation

Issued by abraham lincoln on september 22, 1862 it declared that all slaves in the "states rebelling against the union" would be free

Anaconda Plan

Control the Mississippi River, cut Confederacy in two

Blockade Southern ports and prevent cotton trade

Capture Richmond (the Southern Capital)

Blockade

The use of troops or ships to prevent commercial traffic from entering or leaving a city or region

Antietam

bloodiest day in American history, over 26,000 casualties, convinced Europe to stay out of the war

Gettysburg

turning point of the war, three day battle which went back and forth, Union victorious on the final day, the South wouldn't fully recover from this loss

Vicksburg

last major Southern city on Mississippi River, under siege for several months, city eventually fell to the North, giving control of the river to the North, splitting Confederacy

Appomattox Courthouse

the Virginia town where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in 1865, ending the Civil War

National Bank Act

strengthened the nation's banking system and printed off paper money

greenbacks

Name for Union paper money not backed by gold or silver. Value would fluctuate depending on status of the war

Presidential Reconstruction

the time period when the President dominated the agenda and policies in regards to Reconstruction

Congressional Reconstruction

the time period when Congress dominated the agenda and policies in regards to Reconstruction

radical republicans

After the Civil War, a group that believed the South should be harshly punished and thought that Lincoln was sometimes too compassionate towards the South.

Wade-Davis Bill

would have made Congress responsible for Reconstruction, but Lincoln vetoed it

13th amendment

abolished slavery

impeach

To formally charge a public official with misconduct in office

14th amendment

Defines citizenship ("all persons born or naturalized")

15th amendment

Black Suffrage ("can't be prevented from voting based upon race, color, or previous condition of servitude")

Exodusters

Black people who went west, particularly to Kansas after the Civil War

Freedmen's Bureau

established to help former slaves adjust to emancipation, especially in education

40 acres and a mule

this slogan was created in 1864 and 1865 when the federal government settled nearly 10000 black families on abandoned plantation land often times receiving a single mule for their property. It was an attempt to give the black families a new start.

Carpetbaggers

A northerner who went to the South immediately after the Civil War; especially one who tried to gain political advantage or other advantages from the disorganized situation in southern states

Sharecropping

landowner provides worker with land, tools, seeds, at harvest time the worker returns portion of crop to landowner

Tenant farming

worker rents land from landowner for a fee, keeps all of their harvest

Ulysses S Grant

republican with no political experience, elected in 1868 following Andrew Johnson, his administrations were some of the most corrupt in American history, many of his political appointments were very dishonest

Compromise of 1877

Election was decided behind closed doors as party leaders decided Hayes, a republican, would become president if federal troops were ordered to leave the South (end of Reconstruction), both sides agreed to this