PERIODS 4-5 APUSH

John Tyler

10th president (1841–1845) who assumed office after W.H. Harrison’s death; a states’ rights Southerner who vetoed Whig economic plans (national bank, internal improvements), leading to his isolation and the collapse of Whig support.

Webster–Ashburton Treaty (1842)

Agreement between US (Daniel Webster) and Britain (Lord Ashburton) that settled the Maine–Canada boundary and reduced tensions with Britain, prioritizing trade stability and avoiding war despite US territorial concessions.

Republic of Texas

Independent nation (1836–1845) formed after Texan victory over Mexico; populated largely by US settlers and slaveholders, its annexation raised sectional conflict over slavery and relations with Mexico.

The Alamo

1836 siege in San Antonio where Texan defenders were killed by Mexican forces under Santa Anna; a military loss but powerful propaganda symbol that fueled Texan resistance and nationalism.

Davy Crockett

Frontiersman, former congressman, and folk hero who died at the Alamo; his death was mythologized to promote American expansion and frontier masculinity.

Santa Anna

Mexican general and president who crushed the Alamo but was defeated by Sam Houston at San Jacinto; his leadership failures contributed to Mexican losses in Texas and later the Mexican–American War.

Sam Houston

Leader of the Texan army and first president of the Republic of Texas; used strategic retreat to defeat Santa Anna at San Jacinto, securing Texan independence.

Manifest Destiny

19th-century belief that the US was divinely destined to expand westward across North America; used to justify territorial expansion, Native removal, and war with Mexico.

John L. O’Sullivan

Journalist who coined the term Manifest Destiny in 1845, arguing that US expansion was God-ordained and essential to spreading democracy and liberty.

Oregon Trail

Major overland route from Missouri to Oregon used by settlers in the 1840s; symbolized westward migration, family settlement, and the hardships of frontier life.

Election of 1844

Presidential election in which expansion dominated politics; Democrat James K. Polk defeated Henry Clay by supporting Texas annexation and Oregon expansion.

James K. Polk

11th president and strong expansionist who achieved all major goals in one term: lowered tariffs, restored independent treasury, annexed Texas, gained Oregon, and won the Mexican Cession.

Liberty Party

Antislavery third party whose candidate, James G. Birney, split the Whig vote in New York in 1844, helping Polk win the presidency.

49th Parallel

Latitude line established as the US–British boundary in the Oregon Treaty (1846), avoiding war with Britain and securing US access to the Pacific Northwest.

Zachary Taylor

US general who won key victories in northern Mexico (Palo Alto, Buena Vista); became a national hero and later president despite limited political experience.

Winfield Scott

Senior US general who led the successful amphibious invasion of Mexico, captured Veracruz, and marched to Mexico City; his campaign was praised as militarily brilliant.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

Treaty ending the Mexican–American War; Mexico ceded California and New Mexico to the US in exchange for $15 million, dramatically expanding US territory.

Wilmot Proviso

1846 proposal to ban slavery in all territory gained from Mexico; never passed but intensified sectional conflict by framing expansion as a slavery issue.

Popular Sovereignty

Doctrine allowing settlers in a territory to vote on slavery; promoted by Stephen Douglas as a compromise but ultimately deepened sectional tensions.

Election of 1848

Election in which Zachary Taylor (Whig) defeated Lewis Cass (Dem.) and Martin Van Buren (Free Soil); revealed growing political divisions over slavery.

Free Soil Party

Antislavery party formed in 1848 that opposed expansion of slavery into western territories, arguing it harmed free white labor.

Gold Rush (1848–1855)

Mass migration to California after gold discovery; accelerated statehood, economic growth, and intensified debates over slavery in new territories.

Compromise of 1850

Series of laws admitting California as free, strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act, allowing popular sovereignty in Utah/New Mexico, and ending the slave trade in DC; temporarily eased sectional tensions but heightened Northern resistance to slavery.

Second Great Migration

Large-scale movement of enslaved people from the Upper South to the Deep South (1820–1860) driven by cotton expansion, breaking up families and entrenching slavery as a southern economic system.

Nat Turner

Enslaved preacher who led a violent slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831; the revolt terrified white Southerners and led to harsher slave codes and suppression of Black education.

Denmark Vesey

Free Black carpenter who planned a major slave uprising in Charleston (1822); although the revolt was uncovered, it intensified Southern fears of rebellion and resistance.

Anthracite

Hard coal mined primarily in Pennsylvania that fueled northern industrial growth by powering factories, railroads, and urban heating, accelerating regional economic differences.

Springfield Arsenal / Enfield Rifle Factory

Centers of interchangeable-parts manufacturing that demonstrated northern industrial efficiency and mass production, contributing to the North’s military and economic strength.

Nativism

Anti-immigrant sentiment targeting Irish and German Catholics, fueled by fears that immigrants threatened jobs, wages, and Protestant culture in rapidly growing northern cities.

“Urban Problems”

Issues such as overcrowding, poor sanitation, crime, labor exploitation, and disease that emerged from rapid urbanization and industrialization in northern cities.

Horace Greeley

Editor of the New York Tribune who promoted reform causes, free labor ideology, westward settlement, and abolition, shaping northern public opinion.

National Trades Union

Early federation of labor unions formed in the 1830s to advocate for shorter workdays and better wages; collapsed during the Panic of 1837 but set precedents for labor activism.

Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842)

Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that legalized labor unions and strikes, strengthening the labor movement by rejecting the idea that unions were criminal conspiracies.

Panic of 1857

Economic downturn caused by over-speculation, declining grain prices, and railroad failures; hit the industrial North hardest and reinforced Southern confidence in slavery.

Sailing Packets

Fast, regularly scheduled sailing ships that improved transatlantic trade and immigration by making overseas travel more predictable and efficient.

Whaling

Major New England industry that provided oil for lighting and lubrication, connecting the North to global trade networks before being replaced by petroleum.

Clipper Ships

Fast, sleek sailing vessels used for long-distance trade, especially with China and California; symbolized American commercial expansion and maritime innovation.

Steamships

Steam-powered vessels that revolutionized river and ocean transport, lowering costs, increasing speed, and boosting national and international commerce.

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O)

First major American railroad, linking eastern cities to western markets; symbolized transportation revolution and regional economic integration.

John Deere

Inventor of the steel plow, which allowed farmers to cultivate tough Midwestern soil efficiently, boosting agricultural productivity and westward settlement.

Land-Grant Railroads

Railroads subsidized by federal land grants, encouraging private investment while accelerating western development and market integration.

Horse-Drawn Reaper

Invented by Cyrus McCormick, this machine dramatically increased farm productivity, freeing labor for industrial work and strengthening the northern economy.

Crimean War

European conflict (1853–1856) that disrupted grain supplies, temporarily boosting American exports and masking deeper economic weaknesses before the Panic of 1857.

Ableman v. Booth (1859)

Supreme Court case ruling that states could not nullify federal law, specifically the Fugitive Slave Act; strengthened federal authority and angered antislavery Northerners and states’ rights advocates alike.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

1852 antislavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that depicted the moral horrors of slavery, mobilized Northern public opinion, and deepened sectional resentment in the South.

Uncle Tom

Fictional enslaved man whose Christian morality and suffering symbolized the human cost of slavery; later distorted into a stereotype, but originally a figure of dignity and moral resistance.

“Young America”

Mid-19th-century cultural movement celebrating nationalism, progress, expansion, and technological innovation; supported Manifest Destiny and democratic optimism.

William Walker

American filibuster who led unauthorized military expeditions in Latin America, briefly ruling Nicaragua and attempting to expand slavery; symbolized aggressive expansionism.

Filibusters

Private American adventurers who launched illegal military expeditions to foreign countries, often aiming to expand slavery and US influence in the Caribbean and Central America.

George Bickley

Leader of the Knights of the Golden Circle, a secret pro-slavery organization that sought to expand slave territory into Mexico and the Caribbean.

Matthew Perry

US naval officer who opened Japan to American trade in 1854 using gunboat diplomacy, expanding US commercial and strategic influence in the Pacific.

Stephen A. Douglas

Illinois senator who promoted popular sovereignty and authored the Kansas–Nebraska Act; sought compromise but instead intensified sectional conflict.

James Buchanan

15th president who believed slavery was protected by law and failed to confront secession; his inaction deepened the national crisis.

Lewis Cass

Democratic politician who advocated popular sovereignty as a solution to the slavery question; lost the Election of 1848.

Winfield Scott

Veteran general and Whig presidential candidate in 1852; later proposed the Anaconda Plan at the start of the Civil War.

Franklin Pierce

14th president whose support of the Kansas–Nebraska Act and enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act alienated Northerners and worsened sectional divisions.

Cotton Whigs

Southern Whigs who supported slavery and economic ties to cotton production, often clashing with Northern Whigs over sectional priorities.

Conscience Whigs

Antislavery Whigs who opposed the expansion of slavery and eventually helped form the Republican Party.

Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854)

Law that repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska, leading directly to violent conflict known as Bleeding Kansas.

Jefferson Davis

US senator and secretary of war before becoming president of the Confederacy; strong advocate of states’ rights and slavery.

Gadsden Purchase (1853)

US purchase of land from Mexico intended for a southern railroad route; increased sectional tensions by favoring Southern expansion.

Know-Nothing Party

Nativist political party opposed to Catholic immigration; reflected social instability and fractured national politics in the 1850s.

Bleeding Kansas

Period of violent conflict between pro-slavery and antislavery settlers following the Kansas–Nebraska Act, proving popular sovereignty unworkable.

New England Emigrant Aid Society

Organization that funded antislavery settlers moving to Kansas, helping ensure a free-state majority and intensifying sectional conflict.

Border Ruffians

Pro-slavery Missourians who illegally crossed into Kansas to influence elections through intimidation and violence.

John Brown

Radical abolitionist who used violence to oppose slavery, including the Pottawatomie Massacre and the raid on Harpers Ferry.

Charles Sumner

Massachusetts senator and abolitionist who was brutally caned on the Senate floor after delivering an antislavery speech, symbolizing sectional breakdown.

Preston Brooks

South Carolina congressman who attacked Charles Sumner with a cane, becoming a Southern hero and Northern symbol of slaveholder aggression.

Andrew Butler

Pro-slavery senator mocked in Sumner’s speech; Brooks attacked Sumner claiming to defend Butler’s honor.

John C. Frémont

First Republican presidential candidate (1856) who opposed the expansion of slavery, signaling the rise of a sectional political party.

Millard Fillmore

13th president who supported the Compromise of 1850 and later ran as a Know-Nothing candidate in 1856.

Dred Scott

Enslaved man whose Supreme Court case ruled that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in territories.

Roger B. Taney

Chief Justice who authored the Dred Scott decision, intensifying sectional conflict by nationalizing slavery.

Benjamin Curtis

Supreme Court justice who dissented in Dred Scott, arguing that African Americans could be citizens and Congress could regulate slavery.

Lecompton Constitution

Pro-slavery constitution for Kansas supported by Buchanan but rejected by voters, exposing Democratic Party divisions.

Abraham Lincoln

Illinois lawyer and Republican leader who opposed slavery’s expansion; elected president in 1860, triggering Southern secession.

Lincoln–Douglas Debates

1858 debates focusing on slavery’s expansion, popular sovereignty, and democracy; raised Lincoln to national prominence.

Freeport Doctrine

Douglas’s claim that settlers could effectively exclude slavery by refusing to pass laws protecting it, alienating Southern Democrats.

Fire-Eaters

Radical Southern secessionists who argued that slavery must be protected through disunion if necessary.

“House Divided” Speech

Lincoln’s speech warning that the nation could not survive permanently half slave and half free, framing the moral stakes of slavery.

Harpers Ferry

1859 raid by John Brown aiming to spark a slave uprising; failed militarily but shocked the nation and intensified sectional fear.

Election of 1860

Four-way presidential election that split along sectional lines; Lincoln’s victory led Southern states to secede.

John C. Breckinridge

Southern Democratic candidate in 1860 who supported federal protection of slavery in territories.

John Bell / Constitutional Union Party

Party and candidate in 1860 who sought to preserve the Union by avoiding the slavery issue altogether.

The Secession Crisis

Period following Lincoln’s election when Southern states left the Union, citing threats to slavery and states’ rights.

Crittenden Compromise

Failed last-ditch proposal to extend the Missouri Compromise line and protect slavery constitutionally, rejected by Republicans.

William Seward

Lincoln’s secretary of state who skillfully prevented European recognition of the Confederacy, especially Britain and France, through diplomacy and restraint.

Salmon Chase

Secretary of the Treasury who financed the Union war effort through taxes, bonds, and paper money (greenbacks), stabilizing the northern economy.

Fort Sumter

Federal fort in Charleston Harbor fired upon by Confederate forces in April 1861; the attack marked the official start of the Civil War.

Strengths of the Union

Larger population, greater industrial capacity, extensive railroad network, established government, and strong navy gave the North major structural advantages.

Strengths of the Confederacy

Defensive war strategy, strong military leadership, home-field advantage, and motivation to protect slavery and independence bolstered Southern resistance.

Weaknesses of the Union

Lack of early military leadership, political divisions, civilian opposition to the draft, and the challenge of conquering vast Southern territory.

Weaknesses of the Confederacy

Smaller population, limited industry, poor transportation infrastructure, inflation, and reliance on slavery and cotton exports.

“Cotton Is King”

Southern belief that Britain and France would support the Confederacy to protect cotton supplies; this strategy failed due to alternative sources and moral opposition to slavery.

Jefferson Davis (Confederate President)

President of the Confederacy who struggled with states’ rights conflicts, weak central authority, and internal dissent despite military experience.

Bull Run / First Manassas

First major battle of the Civil War (1861); Confederate victory shattered Northern hopes for a quick war and demonstrated the conflict would be long and costly.

“Stonewall” Jackson

Confederate general whose steadfast defense at Bull Run earned his nickname; became one of the South’s most effective battlefield commanders.

Shenandoah Valley

Strategic agricultural region supplying the Confederacy and serving as a key invasion route; Jackson’s Valley Campaign tied down Union forces.

Anaconda Plan

Union strategy proposed by Winfield Scott to blockade Southern ports and control the Mississippi River, gradually strangling the Confederacy’s economy.

George McClellan

Union general known for organizational skill but extreme caution; repeatedly failed to capitalize on opportunities to defeat Lee.