7th-Chapter 16: The Civil War

Fort Sumter

a federal outpost in Charleston, South Carolina, that was attacked by the Confederates, sparking the Civil War.

border states

slave states that lay between the North and the South and did not join the Confederacy during the Civil War

The Battles of Bull Run

first major battles of Civil War, resulting in a win for the Confederacy; these battles showed that the Civil War would not be easily won.

Battle of Antietam

A Union victory in the Civil War that marked the bloodiest single-day battle in U.S. military history

ironclads

a warship that is heavily armored with iron

emancipation

freeing of the slaves

Emancipation Proclamation

an order issued by President Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves in areas rebelling against the Union in 1863

contrabands

an escaped slave who joined the Union army during the Civil War.

habeas corpus

the constitutional protection against unlawful imprisonment

Gettysburg Address

a speech given by Abraham Lincoln in which he praised the bravery of Union soldiers and renewed his commitment to winning the Civil War.

total war

a type of war in which an army destroys its opponent's ability to fight by targeting civilian and economic as well as military resources

Appomattox Courthouse

the location where General Robert E. Lee was forced to surrender, thus ending the Civil War