United States History A Unit 2 Civil War

Missouri Compromise

An 1820 agreement allowing Missouri to enter as a slave state and Maine as a free state, and banned slavery north of latitude 36°30’.

Compromise of 1850

A set of laws admitting California as a free state, enacting a stricter Fugitive Slave Act, ending the slave trade in Washington D.C., and using popular sovereignty to decide slavery in new territories.

Fugitive Slave Act

A law that required citizens to assist in the recovery of runaway slaves and imposed penalties on anyone who aided escaped slaves.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

An 1852 anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that exposed the harsh realities of slavery and boosted abolitionist support.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

An 1854 law allowing new territories to decide for themselves on slavery, effectively undoing the Missouri Compromise.

Dred Scott Decision

An 1857 Supreme Court ruling declaring that African Americans could not be U.S. citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in the territories.

Secession

The act of states leaving the United States; began with South Carolina in December 1860 after Lincoln's election.

Crittenden Compromise

A failed 1860 proposal to resolve secession by protecting slavery below the 36°30’ line and compensating slaveholders.

Confederate States of America

The nation formed in 1861 by 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union.

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.

Fort Sumter

A U.S. fort in South Carolina where the first shots of the Civil War were fired in April 1861.

Anaconda Plan

The Union’s strategy to blockade Southern ports and gain control of the Mississippi River to squeeze the Confederacy.

Attrition

A military strategy aimed at wearing down the enemy over time rather than winning quick battles.

Border States

Slave states (Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, and later West Virginia) that did not secede from the Union.

Ironclad

Warships covered with protective iron plates, first used in battle in the Civil War.

Emancipation Proclamation

President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 order freeing slaves in Confederate states.

54th Massachusetts Regiment

One of the first official African American units in the Union Army, known for its bravery at Fort Wagner.

Sharecropping

A system where freed slaves and poor whites rented land from landowners and paid with part of their crops, often leading to cycles of debt.

Draft Riots

Violent protests in the North (especially New York City in 1863) against the Union military draft and the ability of the wealthy to avoid service.

Greenbacks

The first paper money issued by the U.S. government during the Civil War.

Copperheads

Northern Democrats who opposed the Civil War and were sympathetic to the South.

Habeas Corpus

A legal rule requiring government to bring a prisoner before a judge and charge them with a crime; suspended by Lincoln and Davis during the war.

Battle of Gettysburg

A major 1863 battle, considered the turning point of the Civil War, where Union forces repelled Lee’s invasion of the North.

Siege of Vicksburg

A lengthy 1863 battle in which the Union gained control of the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy.

Total War

A strategy of waging war against both civilian and military resources, used by General Sherman in his “March to the Sea.”

Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech (1863) emphasizing union, liberty, equality, and a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Lincoln’s 10% Plan

A Reconstruction plan that would allow Southern states to rejoin the Union if 10% of voters swore allegiance to the U.S.

Black Codes

Laws passed by Southern states after the Civil War to restrict the freedoms of African Americans.

Radical Republicans

Members of Congress who wanted to ensure equal rights for freed slaves and harsh Reconstruction policies for Southern states.

Reconstruction Acts

1867 laws dividing the South into military districts and requiring Southern states to grant voting rights to Black men.

Impeachment

The process of accusing a government official (like President Johnson) of unlawful activity; Johnson was impeached but not removed.

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery throughout the United States.

14th Amendment

Guaranteed citizenship and equal protection under the law to all born in the United States.

15th Amendment

Prohibited denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Freedmen’s Bureau

A federal agency created in 1865 to help formerly enslaved people adjust to freedom by providing education, food, jobs, and legal aid.

Union League

Organizations that promoted Black political activity and supported the Republican Party during Reconstruction.

Carpetbaggers

Derogatory term for Northerners who moved South after the Civil War, often accused of seeking personal gain.

Scalawags

White Southerners who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party.

Ku Klux Klan

A white supremacist organization created to undermine Reconstruction and intimidate African Americans and their allies.

Compromise of 1877

Political deal that ended Reconstruction, withdrew federal troops from the South, and allowed Democrats to regain power.

Jim Crow laws

State and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the South after Reconstruction.

Disenfranchisement

The process of denying a person or group the right to vote, commonly used against African Americans after Reconstruction.

Nadir

The period from about 1890–1920, considered the lowest point for African American civil rights due to segregation and discrimination.