Slavery and Growing Tension Flashcards

Flashcards covering the key vocabulary and events related to slavery and rising tensions between 1844 and 1860.

Missouri Compromise of 1820

A previously agreed-upon solution to slavery, suggesting that it's line should simply be extended to the Pacific Ocean to determine where slavery could exist.

Free Soil Movement

A political movement composed of Northern Democrats and Whigs that opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories, aiming for opportunities for white people without competition from enslaved labor.

Abolitionists

Advocates who wanted to ban slavery everywhere, not only in newly acquired territories but also in the states where it had existed since time immemorial.

Popular Sovereignty

The concept that the people living in each territory should decide the slavery question for themselves.

Compromise of 1850

Proposed by Henry Clay to prevent the breakup of the Union.

Fugitive Slave Law

A stricter law passed as part of the Compromise of 1850, requiring the return of escaped enslaved people.

Wilmot Proviso

Proposed to ban slavery in the territories; passed in the House but was struck down in the Senate due to the balance between slave and free states.