Paper 3 Topic 8: The U.S. Civil War (1840–1877)

IB History Exam for IB HOTA

Cotton Gin

A machine invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 that quickly separated cotton fibers from seeds, making cotton production much faster and increasing the demand for enslaved labor.

“King Cotton”

A phrase used to describe how important cotton was to the Southern economy and how it dominated U.S. exports before the Civil War.

Chattel slavery

A system in which enslaved people were treated as property that could be bought, sold, and inherited.

Abolitionism

The movement to end slavery completely in the United States.

Abolitionists

People who actively worked to end slavery (examples include Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and William Lloyd Garrison).

William Lloyd Garrison

A leading abolitionist who published The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper, and called for immediate emancipation.

Underground Railroad

A secret network of safe houses and routes that helped enslaved people escape to free states or Canada.

Harriet Tubman

A famous conductor on the Underground Railroad who led many enslaved people to freedom.

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

An anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852 that helped inspire Northern opposition to slavery.

Slave Codes

Laws that restricted the rights and movements of enslaved people to maintain control over them.

Sectionalism

Loyalty to one’s own region (North, South, or West) rather than the country as a whole.

States’ rights

The belief that individual states have the right to make their own laws, especially about slavery, without interference from the federal government.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the United States was destined by God to expand westward across the continent.

Nullification Crisis (1832–1833)

A conflict between South Carolina and the federal government over whether states could ignore (nullify) federal laws they didn’t agree with.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

An agreement that allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state while banning slavery north of latitude 36°30′.

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

A war between the U.S. and Mexico that resulted in the U.S. gaining large territories in the West, reigniting debates about slavery’s expansion.

Compromise of 1850

A set of laws meant to balance free and slave states; it included admitting California as a free state and passing a stricter Fugitive Slave Law.

Fugitive Slave Act (1850)

A law requiring citizens to help capture escaped enslaved people and return them to their owners.

Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854)

Allowed settlers in those territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery (“popular sovereignty”), leading to violence.

“Bleeding Kansas”

Violent conflicts between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas after the Kansas–Nebraska Act.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

A Supreme Court case that ruled African Americans were not citizens and that Congress couldn’t ban slavery in the territories.

Lincoln–Douglas Debates (1858)

A series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas over slavery and its expansion into new territories.

Election of 1860

The presidential election that Abraham Lincoln won, causing many Southern states to secede.

Secession

The act of Southern states leaving the Union to form their own country.

Confederate States of America

The government formed by the Southern states that seceded from the Union in 1861, leading to the Civil War.