APUSH: Unit 5 (1844–1877)

Manifest Destiny – Belief that Americans were destined to expand westward across the continent.
Mexican-American War – 1846–1848 war over U.S. annexation of Texas; resulted in U.S. acquiring Southwest territory.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – Ended the Mexican-American War; U.S. gained California and the Southwest (Mexican Cession).
Wilmot Proviso – Proposal to ban slavery in land gained from Mexico; failed but intensified sectional conflict.
Free-Soil Party – Political party opposing the expansion of slavery into western territories.
California Gold Rush – Mass migration to California after gold was discovered in 1848; spurred rapid statehood.
Compromise of 1850 – Clay’s proposal to ease sectional tensions: California entered as free state, new Fugitive Slave Law, popular sovereignty in territories.
Fugitive Slave Act – Law requiring return of runaway slaves; angered Northerners and increased abolitionist support.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe; swayed public opinion in the North.
Kansas-Nebraska Act – Allowed popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska; repealed Missouri Compromise.
Bleeding Kansas – Violent clashes in Kansas between pro- and anti-slavery forces after Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Dred Scott v. Sandford – 1857 Supreme Court ruling that slaves were property and could not sue; nullified Missouri Compromise.
Republican Party – Founded in 1854; opposed expansion of slavery into territories.
Abraham Lincoln – 16th U.S. president; led Union in Civil War and issued Emancipation Proclamation.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates – 1858 Senate debates focused on slavery; boosted Lincoln’s national profile.
John Brown’s Raid – Failed attempt to start slave uprising at Harpers Ferry; increased Southern fears of Northern aggression.
Election of 1860 – Lincoln won without Southern votes; led to secession of Southern states.
Confederate States of America – Government formed by seceded Southern states; led by Jefferson Davis.
Fort Sumter – First battle of the Civil War; Confederate attack prompted Lincoln to call for troops.
Anaconda Plan – Union strategy to blockade the South and control the Mississippi River.
Battle of Antietam – Bloodiest single day in U.S. history; led to Emancipation Proclamation.
Emancipation Proclamation – 1863 order freeing slaves in Confederate territory; shifted war goals to include abolition.
Gettysburg Address – Lincoln’s speech redefining the Civil War as a struggle for equality and national unity.
13th Amendment – Abolished slavery in the United States.
14th Amendment – Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all born in the U.S., including former slaves.
15th Amendment – Prohibited denying the right to vote based on race or previous servitude.
Radical Republicans – Congressional leaders who wanted harsh Reconstruction and full rights for freedmen.
Reconstruction Acts – Divided South into military districts; required states to ratify 14th Amendment and protect Black voting rights.
Freedmen’s Bureau – Government agency providing aid, education, and legal help to former slaves.
Black Codes – Southern laws restricting rights of African Americans after the Civil War.
Sharecropping – Farming system where freedmen worked land for a share of the crop; often led to debt and poverty.
Ku Klux Klan – White supremacist group that used violence to suppress Black political power.
Compromise of 1877 – Ended Reconstruction; Hayes became president, and federal troops withdrew from the South.