APUSH chapters 16-19 vocab
John Tyler
"His Accidency", 10th President
William Henry Harrison
"Old Tippecanoe", 9th President, "log cabins and hard cider"
James K. Polk
"Young Hickory", 11th president, Napoleon of the Stump, five point plan
Gadsden Purchase (1853)
$10 million for a sliver of land below the border
peculiar institution
A euphemism for slavery and the economic ramifications of it in the American South. The term aimed to explain away the seeming contradiction of legalized slavery in a country whose Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal". It was one of the key causes of the Civil War.
Liberty party (1840)
A former political party in the United States; formed in 1839 to oppose the practice of slavery; merged with the Free Soil Party in 1848
Sen. Preston Brooks (1856)
A hot tempered Congressman of South Carolina took vengeance in his own hands. He beat Sumner with a cane until he was restrained by other Senators. He later resigned from his position, but was soon reelected.
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
Act that split Nebraska Territory into two states and made one slave and one free
Whig
American Political Party that emerged as a reaction to Andrew Jackson, favored increased tariffs, renewed National Bank, and nationalist policies
The Liberator
An anti-slavery newspaper written by William Lloyd Garrison. It drew attention to abolition, both positive and negative, causing a war of words between supporters of slavery and those opposed.
New England Emigrant Aid Company
Antislavery organization in the North that sent out thousands of pioneers to the Kansas-Nebraska territory to thwart the Southerners and abolitionize the West.
Roger B. Taney
As chief justice, he wrote the important decision in the Dred Scott case, upholding police power of states and asserting the principle of social responsibility of private property. He was Southern and upheld the fugitive slave laws.
Harper's Ferry (1859)
Brown aimed to create an armed slave rebellion and establish black free state; Brown executed and became martyr in the North
Treaty of Wanghia (1844)
Caleb Cushing, first agreement between the US and China, provided the US all trading terms any other nation's had, and provided for trying Americans in China
Henry Clay
Candidate not chosen by the Whigs
Dred Scott Decision (1857)
Chief Justice Roger Taney led a pro-slavery Supreme Court to uphold the extreme southern position on slavery; his ruling held that Scott was not a citizen (nor were any African Americans), that slavery was protected by the Fifth Amendment and could expand into all territories, and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.
Bleeding Kansas (1856-1861)
Civil war in Kansas over the issue of slavery in the territory, fought intermittently until 1861, when it merged with the wider national Civil War.
Dred Scott Case
Controversial Supreme Court ruling that blacks had no civil or human rights and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories.
General Lewis Cass
Democratic candidate, hero of the War of 1812, but pompous and not very well liked
Know-Nothing Party
Developed from the order of the Star Spangled Banner and was made up of nativists. This party was organized due to its secretiveness and in 1865 nominated the ex-president Fillmore. These super-patriots were antiforeign and anti-Catholic and adopted the slogan "American's must rule America!" Remaining members of the Whig party also backed Fillmore for President.
"Freeport Doctrine"
Doctrine developed by Stephen Douglas that said the exclusion of slavery in a territory could be determined by the refusal of the voters to enact any laws that would protect slave property. It was unpopular with Southerners, and thus cost him the election.
Harper's Ferry (1859)
Federal arsenal in Virginia seized by abolitionist John Brown in 1859. Though Brown was later captured and executed, his raid alarmed Southerners who believed that Northerners shared in Brown's extremism.
Constitutional Union party (1860)
Formed by moderate Whigs and Know-Nothings in an effort to elect a compromise candidate and avert a sectional crisis.
American Anti-Slavery Society (1833)
Founded in 1833 by William Lloyd Garrison and other abolitionists. Garrison burned the Constitution as a proslavery document. Argued for "no Union with slaveholders" until they repented for their sins by freeing their slaves.
Election of 1860
Four way race for the presidency that resulted in the election of a sectional minority president.
American Anti-Slavery Society (1833)
Garrisonian abolitionist organization, founded in 1833, that included the eloquent Wendell Phillips among its leaders
Conscience Whigs
Group that opposed slavery based upon moral issues
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
Harriet Beecher Stowe's widely read novel that dramatized the horrors of slavery. It heightened Northern support for abolition and escalated the sectional conflict.
"positive good"
In the South, George Fizhugh established the philosophy that slavery was "positive good." It was believed that slavery benefited slaves by providing them with food, shelter, and often Christian religion. Also, Fitzhugh argued that free laborers in northern factories were not treated any better than slaves.
Pottawatomie Creek (1856)
John Brown and his sons slaughtered five men as a response to the election fraud in Lawrence and the caning of Sumner in Congress
Fugitive Slave Law
Law that the South promoted that would make life harder for escaped slaves
personal liberty laws
Laws created by abolition-minded states that denied local jails to federal officials
fillibustering expeditions
Led attacks on Cuba and outrages the South
Daniel Webster
Man who gave the Seventh of March Speech
Commodore Matthew C. Perry
Military commander who forced Japan to open its doors to the Western world
Constitutional Union Party (1860)
Newly formed middle-of-the-road party of elderly politicians that sought compromise in 1860,but carried only three border states.
Compromise of 1850
One of the compromises Millard Fillmore signed that tilted slightly towards the North; California becomes free state, Utah and New Mexico become popularly sovereign
American Colonization Society (1817)
Organization founded in 1817 to send blacks back to Africa
Free Soil Party
Party formed by northern abolitionists who distrusted the Democrats and Whigs
Lecompton Constitution (1857)
Proposed Kansas constitution, whose ratification was unfairly rigged so as to guarantee slavery in the territory. Initially ratified by proslavery forces, it was later voted down when Congress required that the entire constitution be put up for a vote.
Beecher's Bibles
Rifles paid for by New England abolitionists and brought to Kansas by anti-slavery pioneers.
Daniel Webster
Secretary of State, Whig, Only member of Tyler Cabinet to not resign, negotiating treaty with Britain over Maine's boundary
Stephen Douglas
Senator who supports Henry Clay in his urgings to the North to partially yield to the Fugitive Slave Law
Crittenden compromise attempt
Series of compromises in 1860 - 61 intended to forestall the American Civil War. Sen. John J. Crittenden proposed constitutional amendments that would reenact provisions of the Missouri Compromise and extend them to the western territories, indemnify owners of fugitive slaves whose return was prevented by antislavery elements in the North, allow a form of popular sovereignty in the territories, and protect slavery in the District of Columbia. The plan was rejected by president-elect Abraham Lincoln and narrowly defeated in the Senate.
fire-eaters
Southern extremists who threatened to secede from the Union
Gag Resolution (1836)
Strict rule passed by prosouthern Congressmen in 1836 to prohibit all discussion of slavery in the House of Representatives
Dred Scott v. Stanford (1857)
Supreme Court decision that extended federal protection to slavery by ruling that Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in any territory. Also declared that slaves, as property, were not citizens of the United States.
Millard Fillmore
Taylor's VP, replacement, signed compromise measures
'Bleeding Kansas"
Term that described the prairie territory where a small-scale civil war erupted in 1856.
James Buchanan (Dem.)
The 15th President of the United States (1857-1861). He tried to maintain a balance between proslavery and antislavery factions, but his moderate views angered radicals in both North and South, and he was unable to forestall the secession of South Carolina on December 20, 1860.
John Slidell
The American envoy sent to Mexico to purchase territory for $25 million
popularity sovereignty
The idea that the territories/states should determine whether or not to allow slavery in their boundaries
54 40
The line of latitude in Oregon desired by Democrats as the extent of northern Manifest Destiny
Brooks-Sumner Attack (1856)
The name given to the incident in Congress when Preston S. Brooks of South Carolina savagely beat Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts after Sumner had made a speech that spoke out against supporters of slavery in a derisive way. Sumner was repeatedly beaten on the head until the cane broke and thus suffered various neurological damages
dark horse
The term for a surprise candidate who seems to emerge from nowhere to become the nominee?
Manifest Destiny
The widespread American belief that God had ordained the Untied States to occupy all the territory of North America
Tariff of 1857
This new tariff responded to souther pressure. It reduced rates to their lowest since 1812. (James Buchanan)
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850)
Treaty that ends tensions between Britain and America over Nicaragua
Lecompton Constitution
Tricky pro slavery document designed to bring Kansas into the Union but blocked by Stephen A. Douglas.
Liberia
West African republic founded in 1822 by freed blacks from the United States; Succesfully started on the West Africa coast by the American Coloniation Society
Liberty Party
What third party in 1844 received enough votes in New York to direct the election to James K. Polk?
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848)
What treaty ended the Mexican War and granted vast territories to the United States?
Lone Star Republic
What was the name for Texas when it was an independent country?
Caroline
What was the name of the American steamer sunk by the British on the Niagara River in 1837?
Aroostook War (1838)
What was the name of the conflict that erupted in Maine over timber rights between lumberjacks from Canada?
Mesabi Iron Ore Range
What was the surprise benefit of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in Minnesota?
Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842)
What was the treaty that ended the Aroostook War?
Oregon Country
Where was the territory jointy occupied by the British and the US under the Treaty of 1818?
Zachary Taylor
Whig candidate, hero of Buena Vista
Henry Clay
Who was the Whig candidate for president in the election of 1844?
Free Soil Party
Wilmot Proviso, no territory slavery, federal aid for internal improvements, government homesteads for settlers; attracted industrialists resentful of Polk's lowering the protective tariff, northern racists who did not wish to share land with blacks, Democrats who felt that democratic party was ruled by a southern majority, conscience Whigs
Treaty of 1848
With Colombia, guaranteed American right of transit across the isthmus for Washington's neutrality
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1853 that highly influenced england's view on the American Deep South and slavery. a novel promoting abolition. intensified sectional conflict.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, a book about a slave who is treated badly, in 1852. The book persuaded more people, particularly Northerners, to become anti-slavery.
Hinton Helper (1857)
a Southern critic of slavery during the 1850s who wrote a book entitled The Impending Crisis of The South The book put forth the notion that slavery hurt the economic prospects of non-slaveholders, and was an impediment to the growth of the entire region of the South.
Panic of 1857
a financial panic in the United States caused from the declining international economy and overexpansion of the domestic economy. Beginning in September of 1857, the financial downturn did not last long, however a proper recovery was not seen until the American Civil War.[1] After the failure of Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company, the financial panic quickly spread as business began to fail, the railroad industry experienced financial declines and hundreds of workers were laid off.
mulatto population
a population created from white masters forcing themselves upon female slaves
Pottawatomie Creek Massacre
a retaliation attack by John Brown and his followers for the Southern attack on free-soil Lawrence, Kansas. "Old Brown" of Osawatomie claimed to be acting out of God's will and mutilated five bodies that are presumed to be those of proslaveryites
Harriet Tubman
a runaway slave from MA, she rescued more than 300 slaves
Underground Railroad
a virtual freedom train consisting of a chain of antislavery homes, runaway slaves, and abolitionists
John Brown
abolitionist who was hanged after leading an unsuccessful raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (1800-1858)
John C. Fremont (Rep.)
an American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office of President of the United States, and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery.
Jefferson Davis
an American statesman and politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history from 1861 to 1865
Zachary Taylor
defeated Santa Anna at Buena Vista, rich southerner with slaves, Whig President 1848
Ostend Manifesto (1854)
offered $120 million for Cuba, then US would attempt to seek Cuba. Never presented.
Republican Party
sectionalised part - goal to eliminate the expansion of slavery.
William Seward
senator from NY, came out against concession - referred to a law higher than the Constitution
Kansas-Nebraska Scheme (1854)
sliced Nebraska into two territories, status to be settled by popular sovereignty - contradicted the Missouri Compromise. From Stephen Douglas
Nicholas Trist
the American who negotiated the treaty that ended the Mexican War and granted vast territories to the United States
Wilmot Proviso (1846)
the controversial amendment that passed the House of Representatives but failed in the Senate that stipulated that slavery should be forbidden in the Mexican Cession?
Harper's Ferry Raid
the last stand of John Brown. Was intended to be the beginning of a slave uprising that would eventually establish a free state for blacks. However, the slaves in the immediate area did not respond when Brown and his men seized control of the federal armory
Sutter's Mill
the location at which gold was found in 1848
South Carolina secession (December 1860)
1st state to secede, starts secession movement, argues in the election of 1860 "why be part of nation where we are irrelevant"
The Impending Crisis of the South
A book by a southern writer that argued that slavery especially oppressed poor whites.
Freeport Doctrine
A concept first espoused by Douglas in his debate with Lincoln at Freeport, Illinois. The idea was basically that no matter how the Supreme Court ruled, slavery would stay down if the people voted it down
Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858)
1858 Senate Debate, Lincoln forced Douglas to debate issue of slavery, Douglas supported pop-sovereignty, Lincoln asserted that slavery should not spread to territories, Lincoln emerged as strong Republican candidate
Abraham Lincoln
16th President of the United States saved the Union during the Civil War and emancipated the slaves; was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865)