Unit 1: The Origins of the Civil War, 1820-1861

Free state/slave state

"free states" are states where slavery is not legal "slave states" are states where slavery is legal

Compromise of 1850

(1) California admitted as free state, (2) territorial status and popular sovereignty of Utah and New Mexico, (3) resolution of Texas-New Mexico boundaries, (4) federal assumption of Texas debt, (5) slave trade abolished in DC, and (6) new fugitive slave law; advocated by Henry Clay and Stephen A. Douglas

Frederick Douglass

(1817-1895) American abolitionist and writer, he escaped slavery and became a leading African American spokesman and writer. He published his biography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and founded the abolitionist newspaper, the North Star.

Tallmadge Amendment

Sought to forbid the further introduction of slaves into Missouri and mandated that all children of slave parents born in the state after its admission should be free at the age of 25; failed to pass the Senate.

Fire-eaters, 1850-1861

Southern proslavery extremists who wanted secession from the Union. Fire-eaters organized secession conventions in several southern states in 1850 but backed down because of a lack of support and the promise of moderate southern backing for secession if Congress tried to outlaw slavery in the future.

Abraham Lincoln

16th president of the United States; helped preserve the United States by leading the defeat of the secessionist Confederacy; an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery

Manifest Destiny

1800s belief that Americans had the right to spread across the continent

Crittenden Compromise

A last-ditch effort to resolve the secession crisis by compromise. It proposed to bar the government from intervening in the states' decision of slavery, to restore the Missouri Compromise, and to guarantee protection of slavery below the line. Lincoln and Congress rejected the proposal

Party System

A period in which the names of the major political parties, their supporters, and the issues dividing them remain relatively stable.

Confederate States of America (CSA)

A self-proclaimed nation from 1861-1865 of eleven slave-holding and seceding states (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia).

Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)

A series of seven debates for US Senate in Illinois between Lincoln (R) and Senator Douglas (D). The debates previewed the issues that Lincoln would face in the aftermath of his victory in the 1860 presidential election. The main issue discussed in all seven debates was slavery as it related to popular sovereignty in the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Lecompton Constitution and the Dred Scott decision. Douglas won election, but Lincoln's fine showing made him a national figure and helped him win Republican nomination in 1860

Caning of Senator Sumner (1856)

After attacking the Democrats- most notably, Senator Butler, Charles Sumner was caned by Butler's nephew in the Senate chamber, further increasing tensions between the north and the south

Missouri Compromise (1820)

Allowed Missouri to enter the union as a slave state, Maine to enter the union as a free state, prohibited slavery north of latitude 36˚ 30' within the Louisiana Territory (1820)

Whig Party (1833-1856)

An American political party formed in the 1830s to oppose President Andrew Jackson and the Democrats, stood for protective tariffs, national banking, and federal aid for internal improvements; members were mixed in opinion on the issue of slavery

Boston Slave Riot

An angry mob of abolitionists tried to free captured slave Anthony Burns and failed and killed a guard in the process, leading to martial law in Boston. The struggle furthered anti-slavery sentiment throughout the North.

The Liberator

Antislavery newspaper published by William Lloyd Garrison, who called for the immediate emancipation of all slaves.

Balance of Power in Congress

There were an equal number of slave states and free states in the US Congress before 1850, and this was known as the "balance of power." Bringing new states into the Union could disrupt this balance

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

Treaty that ended the Mexican War, granting the U.S. control of Texas, New Mexico, and CA in exchange for $15 million

American Civil War (1861-1865)

War between the "North" (the Union) and the "South" (the Confederacy). The nationalists of the Union proclaimed loyalty to the U.S. Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States, who advocated for states' rights to expand slavery

Mexican Cession

historical name for the region of the present day southwestern United States that was ceded to the U.S. by Mexico in 1848 under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo following the Mexican-American War. this massive land grab was significant because the question of extending slavery into newly acquired territories had become the leading national political issue.

Popular Sovereignty

in US history: the idea that people in a territory have the right to vote on the issue of slavery

Free Soil Party (1848-1854)

minor but influential political party in the pre-Civil War period of American history that opposed the extension of slavery into the western territories. Associated with Wilmot Proviso

Money Power

nickname given to the Whigs and Republicans by Southern Democrats; it implied that these people wanted to increase federal power in order to enrich themselves

Republican Party (1854)

organized in 1854 by antislavery Whigs, Democrats, and Free Soilers in response to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act; opposed the expansion of slavery into the territories

veto power

presidential power to stop a bill from becoming a law by rejecting it

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

stronger than previous laws, it allowed government officials to arrest any person accused of being a runaway slave; northerners required to help capture runaways if requested, suspects had no right to trial. This act aroused considerable opposition in the Northern states

Emancipation

the fact or process of being set free from legal, social, or political restrictions; liberation.

U.S. Supreme Court

the highest court of the United States; it sits at the top of the federal court system and has the power of judicial review- it can declare whether or not laws are constitutional

States' Rights

the idea that states should have all powers that the Constitution does not give to the federal government or forbid to the states

Slave Power Conspiracy

the idea that the South was engaged in a conspiracy to extend slavery throughout the nation and thus to destroy the openness of northern capitalism and replace it with the closed, aristocratic system of the south, and the only solution was to fight the spread of slavery and extend the nation's democratic ideals to all sections of the country.

Liberty Party

third political party; party's main platform was bringing an end to slavery by political and legal means. The party was originally part of the American Anti-slavery however; they split because they believed there was a more practical way to end slavery than a moral crusade

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

Conflict between the US and Mexico that after the US annexation of Texas, which Mexico still considered its own. As victor, the US aqcuired vast new territories from Mexico through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Created the Northwest Territory (area north of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvania), established conditions for self-government and statehood, included a Bill of Rights, and permanently prohibited slavery

Sectionalism

Different parts of the country developing unique and separate cultures and economies (as the North, South and West). This can lead to conflict.

Wilmot Proviso

Dispute over whether any Mexican territory that America won during the Mexican War should be free or a slave territory. A representative named David Wilmot introduced an amendment stating that any territory acquired from Mexico would be free. This amendment passed the House twice, but failed to ever pass in Senate. The "Wilmot Proviso", as it became known as, became a symbol of how intense dispute over slavery was in the U.S.

Henry Clay

Distinguished senator from Kentucky, known as "The Great Compromiser." Outlined the Compromise of 1850 with five main points. Died before it was passed however.

Fort Sumter

Federal fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina; the confederate attack on the fort marked the start of the Civil War

Secession

Formal withdrawal of states or regions from a nation

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.

The Jerry Rescue (1851)

In the "Jerry Rescue," abolitionists in Syracuse, New York broke into the city's police station and freed William "Jerry" Henry. Henry had escaped from slavery and had been working as a barrel-maker. The federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required "good citizens" to assist in the return of those who had fled "ownership" by another. These abolitionists refused to obey what they viewed as an inhumane law.

Harper's Ferry Raid (1859)

Incident in which John Brown with about 20 men occupied a federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry; his plan was to arm slaves and support slave insurrections; the raid failed and Brown was hanged for treason, but became a martyr for antislavery and set off a panic among slave owners

Mason-Dixon Line

Originally drawn by surveyors to resolve the boundaries between Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia in the 1760s, it came to symbolize the North-South divide over slavery.

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America

William Lloyd Garrison

Prominent American abolitionist, journalist and social reformer. Editor of radical abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator", and one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Proposed by Senator Douglas (Illinois) and advocated popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska territories (vote by people of territory whether they would be slave or free state). Douglas wanted it to facilitate the building of the transcontinental railroad on a central route through Illinois, thus benefitting his state economically. K/A Act passed but backfired terribly as extremes of both sides of slavery debate flooded into Kansas. Votes on constitutions were plagued with fraud and "Bleeding Kansas" begins as violence erupts between pro/anti-slavery groups.

Stephen Douglas

Senator from Illinois who ran for president against Abraham Lincoln. Wrote the Kansas-Nebreaska Act and the Freeport Doctrine

Dred Scott Decision

The decision made in the Supreme Court Case, Dred Scott vs. Sanford A Missouri slave sued for his freedom, claiming that his four year stay in the northern portion of the Louisiana Territory made free land by the Missouri Compromise had made him a free man. The U.S, Supreme Court decided he couldn't sue in federal court because he was property, not a citizen.

abolitionism

The movement to end (abolish) slavery. Participants ranged from moderate to radical and often could not agree on a method to abolish slavery

Election of 1860

Lincoln, the Republican candidate, won because the Democratic party was split over slavery. As a result, the South no longer felt like it has a voice in politics and a number of states seceded from the Union.

Wide Awake Movement

The Wide Awakes were a youth organization and later a paramilitary organization cultivated by the Republican Party during the 1860 presidential election in the United States. Using popular social events, an ethos of competitive fraternity, and even promotional comic books, the organization introduced many to political participation and proclaimed itself as the newfound voice of younger voters.

Escape of William Parker (1851)

William Parker, an escaped former slave from Maryland, was an anti-slavery activist and a principal character in the events of September 11, 1851 in Christiana, Pennsylvania. The Christiana Riot or Incident resulted in the death of a Maryland slaveowner and the involvement of the US Marines. It brought the attention of the country to the perils and challenges of attempting to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

Know-Nothings

a nickname for the American Party; anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic

Corwin Amendment (1861)

a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that was never adopted. It would shield "domestic institutions" of the states from the federal constitutional amendment process and from abolition or interference by Congress.

Bleeding Kansas

a series of violent fights between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in Kansas who had moved to Kansas to try to influence the decision of whether or not Kansas would a slave state or a free state

Underground Railroad

a system of secret routes used by escaping slaves to reach freedom in the North, in Canada, or in Mexico