Henretta Ch. 12

Wilmot Proviso (1846)

proposal to prohibit expansion of slavery into territory acquired from Mexican-American War

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

agreement officially ending Mexican-American War; US acquired Texas and westward up to Oregon (including CA0

slave power

perceived political and economic power held by slaveholders; fears northerners

Free Soil Movement

A political movement that opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories; argued free men on free soil

Lewis Cass

Democratic senator who proposed the idea of popular sovereignty in response to the question about slavery in new territories

John Sutter

Swiss pioneer of California who triggered a gold rush to his region of California after finding gold at his sawmill

49ers

People who rushed to California in 1849 for gold

Foreign Miner's Tax

discriminatory tax in CA that targeted non-US citizen miners and charged a large tax to mine, excluding foreigners (especially Chinese immigrants) from participating in the industry; caused by nativism

squatters

Western migrants who set up illegal farms on unoccupied land

Compromise of 1850

group of five laws passed in an attempt to ease tensions over slavery in western territories (CA free state, popular sovereignty in UT and NM, stricter Fugitive Slave Act

popular sovereignty

political doctrine stating that the people residing in a territory would determine the status of slavery in the territory

Fugitive Slave Act

A law that made it a crime to help runaway slaves; required return of slaves to owners and allowed for the arrest of escaped slaves in areas where slavery was illegal

Uncle Tom's Cabin

anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that portrayed the horrors of slavery, influencing public opinion against slavery in North

personal liberty laws

laws passed by northern states in response to the Fugitive Slave Act; designed to protect free blacks, freedmen, and fugitive slaves by rendering the Fugitive Slave Act useless (essentially nullification)

Franklin Pierce

elected president in 1852 election; pro-southern northerner who supported Compromise of 1850 and Fugitive Slave Act

Treaty of Kanagawa

treaty between Japan and the US that opened up two Japanese ports; ended Japan's isolation

Ostend Manifesto

document drafted by southern diplomats in Belgium which advocated for the US to acquire Cuba (even by force) to expand slave territory

Irish Potato Famine

period of mass starvation caused by a blight that destroyed potato crops in Ireland, causing mass immigration into the US

chain migration

pattern of migration that develops when migrants move along and through kinship links

nativism

A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones

Know Nothing Party (American Party)

political party against immigration and Catholics (especially Irish); demonstrated nativism; known for secretive nature

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

law that allowed for popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska territories; created Kansas and Nebraska territories

Horace Greeley

American newspaper editor who founded the Republican party

Republican Party

political party founded in the 1850s in opposition against the expansion of slavery

The Crime Against Kansas

speech delivered by Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner; criticized "Bleeding Kansas" and expansion of slavery into the territory

Charles Sumner

prominent Senator from Massachusetts and anti-slavery activist; known for speeches such as "Crime Against Kansas" and being assaulted with a cane by a pro-slavery Congressman

James Buchanan

15th president of US (1857-1861); tried to maintain proslavery and antislavery balance but angered radicals on both sides; could not prevent secession of SC

Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)

Supreme Court case that ruled enslaved people were not citizens and could not sue; denied Dred Scott freedom after living in a free territory

Chief Justice Roger Taney

Chief Justice known for Dred Scott decision where he ruled slaves had no legal rights and were not citizens

Abraham Lincoln

16th president of the United States; led the United States through the Civil War; outspoken against slavery

Lincoln-Douglass Debates

Seven debates between Lincoln and Douglass before election of 1860 - mostly over issues of slavery

John Brown

abolitionist who believed violence was necessary to overthrow slavery; hung after failed raid on Harpers Ferry, escalating slavery tensions

Harper's Ferry

Federal arsenal in Virginia seized by abolitionist John Brown in 1859. Though Brown was later captured and executed, his raid alarmed Southerners who believed that Northerners shared in Brown's extremism.

secession fever

widespread public sentiment in South leading up to Civil War; advocate secession due to fear of abolition of slavery

Crittenden Compromise

failed proposal to prevent Civil War by guaranteeing protection of slavery in existing slave states while limiting its expansion into new territories

Fort Sumter

Federal fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina; the confederate attack on the fort marked the start of the Civil War

Robert E. Lee

Commander of the Confederate Army

Jefferson Davis

An American statesman and politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history from 1861 to 1865

Alexander Stephens

Georgia Congressman who supported the Georgia Platform in 1850 and fought against secession in 1861 but eventually became the Vice President of the Confederate States of America.

Cornerstone speech

a speech delivered by Confederate Vice President, Alexander Stephens in Savannah, Georgia on March 21, 1861. It laid out the Confederate causes for the American Civil War, and defended slavery.

Pottawatomie Massacre

Abolitionist John Brown and his men killed 5 pro-slavery men in Kansas by cutting off their heads; attempt to strike fear into proslavery advocates