Chapters 12–15 of The American Yawp

Flashcards covering key concepts from Chapters 12–15 of The American Yawp, focusing on Manifest Destiny, the Sectional Crisis, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century belief that the United States was divinely ordained to expand across the North American continent.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

A federal law signed by President Andrew Jackson that authorized the relocation of Native American tribes from the southeastern U.S. to lands west of the Mississippi River.

Trail of Tears

The forced migration of the Cherokee Nation and other tribes following the Indian Removal Act, resulting in widespread suffering and death.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

This treaty ended the Mexican-American War and resulted in the U.S. acquiring over 500,000 square miles of territory.

California Gold Rush (1848–1855)

A mass migration triggered by the discovery of gold, leading to significant population growth and economic development in California.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

A legislative agreement that aimed to maintain the balance between free and slave states by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.

Compromise of 1850

A package of laws attempting to resolve conflicts over slavery, including the admission of California as a free state and stronger Fugitive Slave Act.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Legislation that allowed settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to vote on the issue of slavery, leading to violent conflict between pro- and anti-slavery factions.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

A Supreme Court ruling that declared African Americans were not citizens and Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories.

Republican Party (1854)

A political party founded by anti-slavery Whigs, Democrats, and Free Soilers in opposition to the expansion of slavery.

Fort Sumter (1861)

A federal fort where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, marking the beginning of open warfare.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

An executive order by President Lincoln that declared freedom for slaves in Confederate states still in rebellion.

Battle of Gettysburg (1863)

A pivotal three-day battle in Pennsylvania that ended General Lee’s invasion of the North and resulted in a Union victory.

Gettysburg Address (1863)

A speech by Lincoln that framed the Civil War as a fight for a new birth of freedom and government of the people.

Appomattox Court House (1865)

The site where General Lee surrendered to General Grant, effectively ending the Civil War.

13th Amendment (1865)

A constitutional amendment that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime.

Freedmen's Bureau (1865–1872)

A federal agency established to aid formerly enslaved people and poor Southern whites during Reconstruction.

Black Codes

Laws passed in Southern states to restrict the rights of freed African Americans, maintaining white supremacy.

14th Amendment (1868)

An amendment granting citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S., including formerly enslaved people.

15th Amendment (1870)

An amendment prohibiting the denial of voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.