UNIT 4
People
Santa Anna: Mexican general and president; defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto in the Texas Revolution (1836).
Joseph Smith: Founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; introduced the Mormon faith.
Brigham Young: Successor to Joseph Smith; led the Mormon migration to Utah.
John Tyler: 10th U.S. president; supported Texas annexation.
James K. Polk: 11th U.S. president; championed Manifest Destiny and oversaw the Mexican-American War.
John O’Sullivan: Journalist who coined the term "Manifest Destiny."
Zachary Taylor: U.S. general in the Mexican-American War and later 12th U.S. president.
John C. Fremont: Explorer, military leader, and early Republican politician.
Winfield Scott: U.S. general in the Mexican-American War and Civil War strategist.
David Wilmot: Congressman known for the Wilmot Proviso, opposing slavery's expansion.
Henry Clay: "Great Compromiser"; instrumental in the Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1850.
James Buchanan: 15th U.S. president; in office during Southern secession.
Stephen Douglas: Senator; debated Lincoln and promoted the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Franklin Pierce: 14th U.S. president; supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Harriet Beecher Stowe: Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, influencing anti-slavery sentiment.
Abraham Lincoln: 16th U.S. president; led the Union during the Civil War.
John Brown: Abolitionist known for the Harper’s Ferry raid.
John Crittenden: Proposed the Crittenden Compromise to prevent secession.
Jefferson Davis: President of the Confederate States of America.
Robert E. Lee: Confederate general; key military leader.
Stonewall Jackson: Confederate general known for his leadership and tactics.
Ulysses S. Grant: Union general and later 18th U.S. president.
George B. McClellan: Union general; ran against Lincoln in the 1864 election.
Nathan Bedford Forrest: Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader.
William Tecumseh Sherman: Union general known for his "March to the Sea."
John Wilkes Booth: Assassinated Abraham Lincoln.
Andrew Johnson: 17th U.S. president; succeeded Lincoln and oversaw early Reconstruction.
Edwin Stanton: Secretary of War under Lincoln; central in Johnson’s impeachment.
Rutherford B. Hayes: 19th U.S. president; ended Reconstruction through the Compromise of 1877.
Samuel Tilden: Democrat in the disputed 1876 presidential election.
Places
Territorial Expansion and Migration
Oregon Territory: Acquired through the Oregon Treaty of 1846 with Britain, it symbolized westward expansion and the concept of Manifest Destiny.
Republic of Texas: Independent nation from 1836 to 1845 before being annexed by the U.S., a key event leading to the Mexican-American War.
Mexico: The U.S.-Mexico War (1846–1848) led to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, adding vast territories to the U.S. (e.g., California, Arizona, New Mexico).
San Jacinto: The 1836 battle where Texian forces defeated Mexico, securing Texas' independence.
Santa Fe Trail: A key commercial route linking Missouri to Santa Fe, fostering trade and migration.
Mormon Trail: Used by Mormon pioneers migrating to escape persecution, leading to settlement in Utah.
Great Salt Lake/Utah: Area where the Mormons established their community, becoming Utah Territory.
Deseret: Proposed Mormon state in the West; much of it became Utah Territory.
Puget Sound: Vital for trade and settlement in the Pacific Northwest.
Boundary and River Disputes
Nueces River: Mexico claimed this as the southern border of Texas, a dispute that led to the Mexican-American War.
Rio Grande River: The U.S. claimed this as Texas' southern border, sparking the boundary conflict with Mexico.
Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas
Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory: Created by the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), allowing popular sovereignty to decide slavery, igniting violent conflicts.
Lecompton, KS: A pro-slavery stronghold during the "Bleeding Kansas" conflict.
Secession and Civil War
South Carolina: First state to secede from the Union in December 1860 after Lincoln's election.
First Wave of Seceding States: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.
States that seceded after Ft. Sumter: Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined after the war began in April 1861.
Border Slave States not Seceding: Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware; these states remained in the Union but had slavery.
Manassas (Bull Run): Site of two major Civil War battles, marking the war's early and pivotal clashes.
Shiloh: Key Union victory in Tennessee in 1862, highlighting the war's brutal nature.
Civil War Theaters and Battles
Theaters of War: Divided into Eastern, Western, and Trans-Mississippi, defining the geographic focus of battles.
New Orleans: Captured by Union forces in 1862, securing control of the Mississippi River.
Gettysburg: The war's turning point, a Union victory in Pennsylvania (1863) that halted Confederate invasion.
Appomattox Courthouse, VA: Site of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender in April 1865, effectively ending the Civil War.
Ford Theater: Location of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865.
Reconstruction Era
Military Districts: Created during Reconstruction to enforce federal laws and protect freedpeople's rights in the South.
Confederate States of America: Seceding Southern states during the Civil War.
Things
Manifest Destiny: Belief in U.S. expansion across the continent.
Mexican-American War: War resulting in U.S. territorial expansion (1846-1848).
Wilmot Proviso: Proposed banning slavery in territory acquired from Mexico.
Compromise of 1850: Addressed slavery and territorial issues.
Kansas-Nebraska Act: Allowed popular sovereignty to determine slavery’s legality.
Dred Scott Case: Supreme Court decision denying African American citizenship.
Emancipation Proclamation: Freed slaves in Confederate territories.
Reconstruction: Post-Civil War era of rebuilding and integrating the South.
13th, 14th, & 15th Amendments: Abolished slavery, granted citizenship, and voting rights.
Jim Crow Laws: Enforced racial segregation post-Reconstruction.