Untitled Flashcards Set

Wilmot Proviso

1846 proposal that outlawed slavery in any territory gained from the War with Mexico

James Polk

11th President of the United States from Tennessee; committed to westward expansion; led the country during the Mexican War; U.S. annexed Texas and took over Oregon during his administration

Zachary Taylor

(1849-1850), Whig president who was a Southern slave holder, and war hero (Mexican-American War). He died during his term and his Vice President was Millard Fillmore. Won the election of 1848

Lewis Cass

Democratic senator who proposed popular sovereignty to settle the slavery question in the territories; he lost the presidential election in 1848 against Zachary Taylor

Martin Van Buren

Third Party candidate in the Election of 1848. Founder of the Free Soil Party.

Henry Clay

United States politician responsible for the Missouri Compromise between free and slave states as well as the Compromise of 1850.

Stephen Douglas

A moderate, who introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 and popularized the idea of popular sovereignty. Finalized the passage of the Compromise of 1850.

John Brown

Abolitionist who was hanged after leading an unsuccessful raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (1800-1858)

Frederick Douglas

(1817-1895) American abolitionist and writer, he escaped slavery and became a leading African American spokesman and writer. He published his biography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

Harriet Tubman

United States abolitionist born a slave on a plantation in Maryland and became a famous conductor on the Underground Railroad leading other slaves to freedom in the North (1820-1913)

James Buchanan

The 15th President of the United States (1857-1861). He tried to maintain a balance between proslavery and antislavery factions. His efforts led to increased conflict in Kansas. He pressured SCOTUS to make a decision about Dred Scott

Harriet Beecher Stowe

(1811-1896) American author and daughter of Lyman Beecher, she was an abolitionist and author of the famous antislavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Grimke Sisters

were 19th-century American Quakers, educators and writers who were early advocates of abolitionism and women's rights.

William Lloyd Garrison

1805-1879. Prominent American abolitionist, journalist and social reformer. Editor of radical abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator", and one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Roger Taney

He was Chief Justice for the Dred Scott case.

Abraham Lincoln

A Republican representative from Illinois who challenged incumbent Stephen Douglas to a debate over an IL senate seat. Although he ultimately lost, he became a more prominent figure in the Republican party.

Free Soil Party

Formed in 1847 - 1848, dedicated to opposing slavery in newly acquired territories such as Oregon and ceded Mexican territory.

Popular Sovereignty

The concept that the people of a territory should decide on the issue of slavery (whether to be free or slave) rather than the federal government.

36-30 line

As a part of the Missouri Compromise, this line was drawn in the Louisiana Territory, which divided the North and South. Land north of this line were to be free states and land south of it would be slave.

Primary Election

Nominating election held to choose party candidates who will run in the general election. The first primary election in the US picked Jackson to run as a Democrat.

Abolitionism

Movement to end slavery immediately and without question. Considered extreme by even some anti-slavery advocates.

Compromise of 1850

(1) California admitted as free state, (2) territorial status and popular sovereignty of Utah and New Mexico, (3) resolution of Texas-New Mexico boundaries and federal assumption of Texas debt, (5) slave trade abolished in DC, and (6) new fugitive slave law; advocated by Henry Clay and Stephen A. Douglas

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

allowed government officials to arrest any person accused of being a runaway slave; all that was needed to take away someone's freedoms was word of a white person; northerners required to help capture runaways if requested, suspects had no right to trial

Priggs v Pennsylvannia

A SCOTUS case that challenged a state law banning individuals from returning fugitive slaves to their masters. SCOTUS ultimately decided that this state law violated federal law, solidifying the supremacy clause.

Bleeding Kansas

A sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-Slavery elements that took place in Kansas-Nebraska Territory. The dispute further strained the relations of the North and South, making civil war imminent.

Harper's Ferry Raid

Occurred in October of 1859. John Brown of Kansas attempted to create a major revolt among the slaves. He wanted to ride down the river and provide the slaves with arms from the North, but he failed to get the slaves organized. Brown was captured. The effects of Harper's Ferry Raid were as such: the South saw the act as one of treason and were encouraged to separate from the North, and Brown became a martyr to the northern abolitionist cause.

Know-Nothing Party

Political party of the 1850s that was anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant

Nativism

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

5th Amendment

Life, liberty, and property which cannot be revoked without due process of the law

Lecompton Constitution

supported the existence of slavery in the proposed state and protected rights of slaveholders. It was rejected by Kansas, making Kansas an eventual free state. Included four pro-slavery provisions

Uncle Tom's Cabin

written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1853 that highly influenced Northerner's view on the American Deep South and slavery. a novel promoting abolition. intensified sectional conflict.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

1857 Supreme Court decision that stated that slaves were not citizens; that living in a free state or territory, even for many years, did not free slaves; and declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional