American Civil War Vocabulary

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key locations, strategies, and figures of the American Civil War as described in the lecture notes.

Fort Sumter

A federal sea fort in Charleston, South Carolina, where the opening shots of the American Civil War were fired in April 1861.

Civil War

A war fought between citizens of the same country (in U.S. history, the conflict from 1861-1865 between the Union/North and the Confederacy/South).

Confederacy

The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven Southern states that seceded from the United States in 1860-1861 to preserve slavery and states' rights.

Anaconda Plan

The Union's strategic military strategy designed to defeat the South by suffocating its economy through a naval blockade and controlling the Mississippi River.

Blockade

The use of naval ships to seal off a nation's ports or coastlines to prevent goods, supplies, or trade from entering or leaving.

"Scorched earth"

A military strategy of destroying everything useful to the enemy- such as crops, infrastructure, shelter, and supplies-while advancing or retreating.

Jefferson Davis

An American politician who served as the first and only President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln

The 16th President of the United States, who led the nation through the Civil War, preserved the Union, and issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

Robert E. Lee

The primary Confederate general who commanded the Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War.

Ulysses S. Grant

The commanding General of the Union Army who secured victory over the Confederacy and later became the 18th U.S. President.