chapter 16

popular sovereignty

Popular sovereignty, or the sovereignty of the peoples' rule, is part of the seven principles, that the authority of a state and its government is created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives (Rule by the People), who are the source of all political power.

preston brooks

Preston Smith Brooks was an American politician and Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving from 1853 until his resignation in July 1856 and again from August 1856 until his death.

border ruffians

The Border Ruffians were pro- slavery activists from the slave state of Missouri, who in 1854 to 1860 crossed the state border into Kansas Territory, to force the acceptance of slavery there. The name was applied by Free-State settlers in Kansas and abolitionists throughout the North.

fugitive slave act

The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. ... Abolitionists nicknamed it the "Bloodhound Law" for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves.

abe lincoln

16th President of the United States; saved the Union during the American Civil War and emancipated the slaves; was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865) Synonyms: Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln, President Lincoln Example of: attorney, lawyer

kansas nebraska act

The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´.

lincoln douglas debates

The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate

underground railroad

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to mid-19th century, and used by African-American slaves to escape into free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause.

election of 1860

The United States Presidential Election of 1860 was the nineteenth quadrennial presidential election to select the President and Vice President of the United States. The election was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1860. ... The election of Lincoln served as the primary catalyst of the American Civil War.

john calhoun

The leading southern politician of the early nineteenth century; he served as vice president under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson and then was elected senator from South Carolina. Calhoun championed slavery and states' rights.

roger taney

United States jurist who served as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court; remembered for his ruling that slaves and their descendants have no rights as citizens (1777-1864) Synonyms: Roger Brooke Taney, Taney Example of: chief justice.

arsenal

a collection of weapons and military equipment stored by a country, person, or group.

abolitionist

a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery.

martyr

a person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs.

civil war

a war between citizens of the same country.

harriet beecher stowe

as an American abolitionist and author. She came from the Beecher family, a famous religious family, and is best known for her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), which depicts the harsh conditions for enslaved African Americans.

fugitive

fleeing, run away

states rights

the rights and powers held by individual US states rather than by the federal government.

antebellum

time period in the south before civil war

secede

to leave the union

willam L garrison

was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. ... He was one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, and promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United States.

harriet tubman

was an American abolitionist. ... During the Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the United States Army.

jefferson davis

was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. ... He was the 23rd United States Secretary of War, serving under U.S. President Franklin Pierce from 1853 to 1857.

Pres. Franklin Pierce

was the 14th President of the United States (1853-57), a northern Democrat who saw the abolitionist movement as a fundamental threat to the unity of the nation. ... He took part in the Mexican-American War as a brigadier general in the Army.

henry clay

A Whig political leader of the early nineteenth century known for his efforts to keep the United States one nation despite sharp controversy among Americans over slavery. Clay represented Kentucky, first in the House of Representatives and then in the Senate.

stephen A douglas

A political leader of the nineteenth century, known for twice running against Abraham Lincoln — for a seat in the Senate from Illinois in 1858, which he won, and for the presidency in 1860, which he lost.

james polk

A political leader of the nineteenth century; Polk, a Democrat, was president from 1845 to 1849. An ardent believer in manifest destiny, he led the United States into the Mexican War. In his presidency, the United States acquired Texas and California and large territories in between.

compromise of 1850

A set of laws, passed in the midst of fierce wrangling between groups favoring slavery and groups opposing it, that attempted to give something to both sides. ... Part of the Compromise included the Fugitive Slave Act, which proved highly unpopular in the North.

free soil party/republican party

A single-issue party, its main purpose was to oppose the expansion of slavery into the Western territories, arguing that free men on free soil constituted a morally and economically superior system to slavery.

bleeding kansas

Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War was a series of violent confrontations in the United States between 1854 and 1861 which emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas

fort sumter

Fort Sumter is defined as the location in Charleston, South Carolina where the first battle of the Civil War began on April 12, 1861. An example of Fort Sumter is the historical site where visitors can learn about the role of the Confederate troops in the Civil War.

harpers ferry

Harpers Ferry is a town in West Virginia. Paths wind through Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, which has 19th-century buildings, a Civil War Museum and John Brown's Fort, a key site in an 1859 abolitionist raid. The location where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet, known as The Point, offers views of Maryland and Virginia. The Appalachian Trail Visitor Center has exhibits on the long-distance hiking trail.

Charles sumner

In 1856, a South Carolina Congressman, Democrat Preston Brooks, nearly killed Sumner on the Senate floor two days after Sumner delivered an intensely anti-slavery speech called "The Crime Against Kansas."

missouri compromise

In an effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. ... In 1854, the Missouri Compromise was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

John Brown

An abolitionist of the nineteenth century who sought to free the slaves by military force. After leading several attacks in Kansas, he planned to start an uprising among the slaves. In 1859, he and a small band of followers took over a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, in Virginia.

dred scott

Dred Scott decision definition. A controversial ruling made by the Supreme Court in 1857, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. Dred Scott, a slave, sought to be declared a free man on the basis that he had lived for a time in a "free" territory with his master.

dred scott decision

Dred Scott was an enslaved African American man in the United States who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom and that of his wife and their two daughters in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857, popularly known as the "Dred Scott Decision".