Key Concepts in Civil War, Abolition, and 19th Century Politics

Herrenvolk Democracy

Only a specific racial group has voting rights; yeoman farmers, though nonslaveholding, supported this idea because they shared the same racial ideology (1861-1865).

Yeoman Farmers

Independent landowning farmers who didn't own slaves but aligned with Herrenvolk democracy due to shared racial beliefs.

Battle of Gettysburg

Union victory July 1-3, 1863; major turning point in the Civil War.

Battle of Vicksburg

Union victory under Ulysses S. Grant in 1863 giving control of the Mississippi River; turning point occurring within a day of Gettysburg.

American Colonization Society

Founded 1816 to promote emigration of free Blacks to Africa; led to creation of Liberia.

James Monroe

5th U.S. president who supported the ACS during his presidency (1817-1825).

Virginia Slavery Debate

1831 debate in Virginia legislature about abolition; ultimately failed.

Nat Turner

Enslaved preacher who led a major rebellion in 1831, inspiring the debate.

American Anti-Slavery Society

Abolitionist group calling for immediate emancipation.

William L. Garrison

Abolitionist who founded the AASS in 1833.

Republican Party

Founded in the 1850s opposing the Democrats and expansion of slavery.

David Wilmot

PA politician who helped establish the early Republican Party; known for the Wilmot Proviso.

Moral Suasion Technique

Persuading slaveholders and Northerners through moral arguments to end slavery (1830s).

Immediate Abolitionism

Radical abolitionism calling for immediate end of slavery; began with moral suasion but grew more urgent.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that the U.S. was destined to expand across North America (term coined 1845).

James K. Polk

11th president; strong believer in Manifest Destiny and oversaw major territorial expansion (1844-1848).

"Positive Good" Argument

Proslavery ideology claiming slavery benefited both enslaved people and owners (1830s).

Eli Whitney

Inventor of the cotton gin (1793), which expanded cotton production and strengthened proslavery arguments.

"Burned-Over District"

Region of NY heavily influenced by intense religious revivals during the Second Great Awakening (starting 1824).

Charles Finney

Presbyterian minister and key revival leader associated with the Burned-Over District.

Popular Sovereignty

Idea that settlers in a territory decide the status of slavery themselves (1850s).

Stephen Douglas

Illinois senator associated with popular sovereignty; key figure in the 1850s.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent clashes between pro- and antislavery groups in Kansas (1856).

John Brown

Abolitionist who used armed resistance in Bleeding Kansas.

Emancipation Proclamation

Declared slaves in Confederate control free; prelim. Sept 22, 1862, effective Jan 1, 1863.

Battle of Antietam

Bloodiest single-day battle (Sept 17, 1862); Union's strategic victory that allowed Lincoln to issue the Proclamation.

Southern Rights Argument

States' rights argument defending secession and slavery.

John C. Calhoun

Political theorist who shaped pro-slavery and states' rights ideology (1830s).

Seneca Falls Convention

First women's rights convention held in 1848.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Key organizer of the Seneca Falls Convention and major women's rights leader.

Trail of Tears

Forced Cherokee removal (1838-1839); at least 4,500 of 18,000 died.

John Marshall

Chief Justice who ruled in favor of Cherokee sovereignty; ignored by President Jackson.

Fourteenth Amendment

Granted citizenship to formerly enslaved people (1868).

Andrew Johnson

17th president who opposed the Fourteenth Amendment.

Dred Scott Case

Dred Scott sued for freedom but lost in 1857 ruling denying Black citizenship.

Roger Taney

Chief Justice who authored the Dred Scott decision.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854 law allowing popular sovereignty in KS and NE regarding slavery.

Whig Party

Party founded in 1834; collapsed in 1854 partly due to division over the Kansas-Nebraska Act.