Unit 5 Apush terms

Cotton Kingdom

Southern economy dominated by cotton after the cotton gin; created deep dependence on slavery.

Southern trade & industry

South remained mostly agricultural; limited industrialization vs. North.

Southern society & culture

Hierarchical society with planters at top; emphasis on honor, tradition, and slavery.

Gradation of white society

Planter elite → small slaveholders → yeoman farmers → poor whites.

Slavery as a "peculiar institution"

Southern term for slavery; used to justify its uniqueness and necessity.

Mind of the South

Pro-slavery ideology emphasizing racial hierarchy, honor, and states' rights.

John Tyler's presidency & the Whig Party

Expelled from Whig Party; pushed for Texas annexation.

Aroostook War / Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842)

Settled Maine-Canada boundary dispute.

"Third War with England"

Series of tensions (Caroline Affair, border issues) but no real war.

Texas: British interest / annexation / statehood

Britain courted Texas; U.S. annexed in 1845 → sparked tensions with Mexico.

Oregon Fever / American claims to Oregon

Mass migration west; U.S.-Britain joint occupation ended with 49th parallel compromise.

Election of 1844

Polk (Democrat) wins on expansionist platform (Texas + Oregon).

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

Polk's goals as president: Expand U.S. territory: Texas, Oregon, California.

Points of friction with Mexico

Dispute over Texas border (Nueces River vs. Rio Grande).

Causes / Spot Resolutions

Polk claimed Mexico "shed blood on American soil"; Lincoln demanded proof.

Key figures: Santa Anna, Fremont, Zachary Taylor, Winfield Scott, Nicholas Trist

Military/political leaders in Mexico and the U.S. during the war.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

U.S. gains Mexican Cession; Mexico recognizes Texas and Rio Grande border.

Opposition to treaty

Some wanted more land; others opposed expansion of slavery.

Outcomes

Huge land gains reignited slavery debates.

Wilmot Proviso (1846)

Proposed ban on slavery in Mexican Cession (failed but inflamed tension).

Sectionalism

Loyalty to region over nation — North vs. South divide.

"Fire-eaters"

Radical pro-slavery Southerners advocating secession.

Abolitionists

Anti-slavery activists (Garrison, Douglass, etc.).

Popular sovereignty

Let settlers vote on slavery in new territories.

Free Soil Party (1848)

Anti-expansion of slavery; "Free soil, free labor, free men."

California Gold Rush (1849)

Rapid population growth → pressures for statehood → Compromise of 1850.

Compromise of 1850 (provisions)

CA free state; stronger Fugitive Slave Law; popular sovereignty in UT/NM; slave trade banned in D.C.

Underground Railroad / Harriet Tubman

Network helping enslaved people escape; Tubman = key conductor.

Fugitive Slave Law (1850)

Required Northerners to assist in recapture; angered North.

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) / Harriet Beecher Stowe

Anti-slavery novel that galvanized Northern opinion.

Secession

Withdrawal of states from the Union (would occur in 1860-61).

Ostend Manifesto (1854)

Secret plan to buy Cuba; seen as pro-slavery plot.

Gadsden Purchase (1853)

Land bought from Mexico for railroad route.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Repealed Missouri Compromise; allowed popular sovereignty → chaos.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent conflict over slavery in Kansas.

Lecompton Constitution

Pro-slavery Kansas constitution rejected by Congress.

Dred Scott Decision (1857)

Supreme Court ruled African Americans not citizens; Congress can't ban slavery in territories.

Panic of 1857

Economic downturn; hit Northern economy hardest, intensified sectional blame.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)

Senate race debates; Douglas → popular sovereignty; Lincoln → free soil moral opposition.

Freeport Doctrine

Douglas claimed settlers could exclude slavery despite Dred Scott by not enforcing it.

John Brown at Harpers Ferry (1859)

Attempted slave uprising; executed; martyr to abolitionists, threat to South.

Election of 1860

Lincoln wins; South sees threat → secession begins.

Crittenden Compromise

Failed attempt to extend Missouri Compromise line west to prevent war.

Fort Sumter (1861)

First shots of Civil War.

Border States (importance)

Slave states that stayed in Union (KY, MD, MO, DE); strategic for resources & geography.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Freed slaves in Confederate territory; made war about slavery.

Gettysburg / Vicksburg (Turning Point, 1863)

Major Union victories; turning point of war.

Sherman's March to the Sea (1864)

Total war strategy through Georgia to break Southern will.

Appomattox Court House (1865)

Lee surrenders to Grant; war effectively ends.

Copperheads

Northern Democrats who opposed the war.

13th Amendment (1865)

Abolished slavery nationwide.

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln's speech redefining war as fight for equality and national unity.