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civil war

Important Abolitionists:

  1. Frederick Douglass - An escaped slave who became a leading voice for abolition and equality.

  2. Harriet Beecher Stowe - Author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

  3. Sojourner Truth - Former slave who became an advocate for abolition and women's rights.

  4. William Lloyd Garrison - Publisher of the abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator."

Uncle Tom’s Cabin:

  • Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe

  • Content: A novel that depicted the harsh realities of slavery.

  • Importance: It galvanized the abolitionist movement and increased tensions leading up to the Civil War.

The Underground Railroad:

  • A network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved people to escape to free states.

  • Harriet Tubman: One of the most famous "conductors" who helped hundreds of slaves escape.

Dred Scott Case:

  • Explanation: Dred Scott was an enslaved man who sued for his freedom.

  • Importance: The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans could not be citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories, which intensified sectional conflict.

John Brown and Harpers Ferry:

  • John Brown: An abolitionist who believed in using violence to end slavery.

  • Harpers Ferry (1859): John Brown led a raid on the federal armory to incite a slave rebellion; it ultimately failed, and he was captured and executed.

Slavery Compromises:

  1. Missouri Compromise (1820): Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state; prohibited slavery north of the 36°30′ latitude.

  2. Compromise of 1850: Included the Fugitive Slave Act and admitted California as a free state.

  3. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854): Allowed settlers in those territories to decide on slavery through popular sovereignty, leading to violent conflict ("Bleeding Kansas").

Fugitive Slave Act (1850):

  • Required that escaped slaves be returned to their owners even if they were found in free states.

Popular Sovereignty:

  • The idea that the residents of a territory should decide whether to permit slavery.

Bleeding Kansas:

  • A series of violent clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in Kansas following the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Differences Between North & South Before the Civil War:

  • North: Industrial, more urban, economy based on manufacturing.

  • South: Agrarian, more rural, economy based on agriculture and slavery.

Election of 1860:

  • Winner: Abraham Lincoln

  • Southern Reaction: Led to the secession of Southern states, as they feared Lincoln would abolish slavery.

Secession:

  • The act of Southern states leaving the Union, which led to the Civil War.

Civil War

Key Figures:

  1. Robert E. Lee: Confederate general.

  2. Ulysses S. Grant: Union general who later became President.

  3. Abraham Lincoln: President during the Civil War.

  4. Jefferson Davis: President of the Confederate States of America.

Significant Battles:

  1. Bull Run (First Battle): The first major battle, resulting in a Confederate victory.

  2. Antietam: The bloodiest single-day battle, leading to a tactical draw but strategic Union victory.

  3. Gettysburg: Turning point battle with a Union victory.

  4. Vicksburg: Union gained control of the Mississippi River.

  5. Appomattox: Lee surrendered to Grant, effectively ending the war.

Emancipation Proclamation:

  • What It Did: Declared all slaves in Confederate states to be free.

  • Significance: Changed the war's focus to include the abolition of slavery as a Union goal.

Reconstruction

Radical Republicans:

  • A faction within the Republican Party that pushed for harsh policies against the former Confederate states and more protections for freed slaves.

President Andrew Johnson:

  • Clashed with Radical Republicans over Reconstruction policies and was impeached but not removed from office.

Reconstruction Amendments:

  1. 13th Amendment: Abolished slavery.

  2. 14th Amendment: Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law.

  3. 15th Amendment: Granted African American men the right to vote.