UNIT 5 + 6 VOCAB

Fort Sumter

The site in South Carolina where Confederate forces fired the first shots of the Civil War in 1861

Border States

Slave states like Maryland and Kentucky that remained loyal to the Union due to political and military strategy

Writ of Habeas Corpus

Legal protection against unlawful imprisonment that Lincoln suspended during the Civil War to silence dissent

Homestead Act

A law granting 160 acres of free western land to settlers willing to live on and improve it for five years

Jefferson Davis

The president of the Confederate States who struggled to maintain unity and resources during the Civil War

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln’s 1863 decree freeing enslaved people in Confederate-controlled areas redefining the war’s purpose as one of liberation

Thirteenth Amendment

The 1865 constitutional amendment that formally abolished slavery throughout the United States

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln’s brief but powerful 1863 speech redefining the war as a struggle for equality liberty and national unity

Robert E. Lee

Confederate general who commanded the Army of Northern Virginia and eventually surrendered to Grant in 1865

Freedmen’s Bureau

A federal agency created in 1865 to aid formerly enslaved people by providing food education and legal support

Reconstruction Plans (list 3 and explain)

The differing strategies by Lincoln Johnson and Congress for rebuilding the South and reintegrating it into the Union

Black Codes

State laws passed after the Civil War that restricted the rights of African Americans and aimed to keep them in labor systems

Fourteenth Amendment

Granted citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. and guaranteed equal protection under the law

Reconstruction Act

1867 laws that divided the South into military districts and enforced Black male suffrage

Fifteenth Amendment

Guaranteed voting rights for African American men regardless of race or previous condition of servitude

Force Acts

Laws passed to suppress Ku Klux Klan violence and protect the voting rights of freedmen

New South

The vision of a post-Reconstruction South focused on industrialization and economic modernization

Radical Republicanism

Congressional movement pushing for full equality and harsh Reconstruction policies for the South

Sharecropping

A system in which freedmen farmed land owned by others in exchange for a share of crops often leading to debt

Amnesty Act

1872 law restoring political rights to most former Confederates and marking the end of Radical Reconstruction

Systemic Racism

Enduring social political and economic systems that maintain racial inequality

Internalized Racism

When marginalized groups adopt negative stereotypes or beliefs about their own race

White Privilege

The societal advantages white people experience due to systemic racial inequality

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

A violent slave uprising in Virginia in 1831 led by Nat Turner. The rebellion killed around 60 white people and terrified slaveholders across the South. It led to harsher slave codes

American Anti-Slavery Society

Founded in 1833 by William Lloyd Garrison and other abolitionists. It called for the immediate abolition of slavery and full equality for African Americans. Members used moral persuasion

Sojourner Truth

A former enslaved woman who became a powerful speaker for both the abolitionist and women’s rights movements. Known for her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech

American Colonization Society

Founded in 1817 with the goal of sending freed African Americans to Africa. It established the colony of Liberia on the west coast of Africa. The plan was supported by some abolitionists and some racist whites who opposed Black equality in the U.S.

The Liberator

An anti-slavery newspaper published by William Lloyd Garrison starting in 1831. It called for the immediate emancipation of all enslaved people and condemned gradual or compensated plans. The paper became one of the most influential voices of the abolitionist movement.

Gag Resolution

A rule adopted by the House of Representatives between 1836 and 1844 that automatically tabled (ignored) all anti-slavery petitions. It was pushed by pro-slavery congressmen to silence debate. Former president John Quincy Adams led the successful fight to repeal it.

Frederick Douglass

A formerly enslaved man who became one of the most famous abolitionist speakers and writers. His autobiography exposed the brutality of slavery

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the United States was destined by God to expand its territory across North America

California Bear Flag Republic

A short-lived independent republic declared by American settlers in California in 1846 during the Mexican-American War. The settlers raised a flag with a bear on it before the U.S. Army arrived and took control

Wilmot Proviso

A proposed law in 1846 by Congressman David Wilmot to ban slavery in any territory gained from Mexico. It passed the House but failed in the Senate. The debate over it deepened sectional tensions between the North and South and helped lead to the Civil War.

Free Soil Party

A political party formed in 1848 that opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories. Its slogan was “Free Soil

Compromise of 1850

A series of laws proposed by Henry Clay to ease tensions between the North and South after the Mexican-American War. It admitted California as a free state

Republican Party

A political party formed in 1854 by anti-slavery Whigs

Underground Railroad

A secret network of safe houses and escape routes used by enslaved people to flee to freedom in the North or Canada. Conductors like Harriet Tubman risked their lives to guide fugitives to safety.

Ostend Manifesto

A secret 1854 document written by American diplomats suggesting that the U.S. should buy Cuba from Spain

Seventh of March Speech

A famous 1850 speech by Senator Daniel Webster urging compromise between North and South to preserve the Union. He supported the Compromise of 1850 even though it included a harsh Fugitive Slave Law

Kansas-Nebraska Act

A law passed in 1854 that allowed settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to decide the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty. It effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise and led to violent conflict known as “Bleeding Kansas.”

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

A novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852 that portrayed the harsh realities of slavery. It strengthened Northern opposition to slavery and angered Southerners

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

A series of seven debates in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas during the Illinois Senate race. They focused on slavery’s expansion

Brooks-Sumner Incident

A violent event in 1856 when Congressman Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner with a cane after Sumner gave an anti-slavery speech. The attack shocked the North and symbolized the growing sectional tensions.

Bleeding Kansas

A period of violent conflict from 1854 to 1859 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas over whether the territory would allow slavery. It showed how popular sovereignty could lead to bloodshed.

Election of 1860

The presidential election where Abraham Lincoln

Stephen A. Douglas

An Illinois senator and leader of the Democratic Party who promoted popular sovereignty and authored the Kansas-Nebraska Act. He debated Abraham Lincoln in 1858 and ran against him in the 1860 presidential election.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

A 1857 Supreme Court case where an enslaved man

Crittenden Amendments

A last attempt in 1860 to prevent the Civil War. Proposed by Senator John Crittenden