APUSH Term Sheet 6

Compromise of 1850

Proposed by Henry Clay and promoted by Stephen A. Douglas, this plan was intended to reconcile the North and South on the issue of slavery. Douglas broke this into pieces to ensure passage and give Northerners and Southerners the ability to vote against the parts they did not like. To appeal to the North, California would be admitted as a free state, New Mexico and Utah would decide using popular sovereignty, and the slave trade in the District of Columbia would end. To appeal to the South, a tough Fugitive Slave Act was passed as well to stop slaves from escaping. A federal payment of $10 million was also made to Texas for lost New Mexico territory. This did little to relieve underlying regional differences and only aggravated political dissent.

Fourteenth Amendment

A constitutional amendment giving full rights of citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States, except for American Indians. No state could deny them life, liberty, or property without due process of law. It was ratified in 1868.

Morrill Land Grant Act

Also known as the Land-Grant College Act, this was passed in 1862 with the main sponsor and namesake being a senator from Vermont. This gave federal land to each state (excluding those who seceded) to sell or otherwise use to raise funds to establish a public university, which was required to provide education in engineering and agriculture and to train military officers. This is an example of efforts made in the 1800s to expand educational opportunities.

"Ten-Percent Plan"

Also known as the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, this plan for Reconstruction was established by President Lincoln in December 1863. He believed that seceded states should be restored to the Union quickly and easily. The plan allowed Southerners other than high-ranking confederate officers/military leaders to take an oath promising future loyalty to the union and an end to slavery. When 10% of those registered to vote in 1860 would take the oath, a loyal state government could be formed. Radical Republicans saw this as took lenient and tried making stricter terms, but Lincoln blocked them. Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee established new governments under this.

John Brown

As a radical abolitionist, this man and his sons killed 5 pro-slavery settlers in Kansas in 1856 as part of the "Pottawomie Massacre." He was supported by some abolitionists in the North who wanted a nationwide revolution. He led followers to seize a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, VA in 1859 to try starting the rebellion. However, he was arrested and hanged.

Freeport Doctrine

As part of a campaign for Senate in 1858, this speech was delivered by Stephen A. Douglas during one of his debates against Lincoln. In response to Lincoln asking Douglas how the people of a territory could exclude slavery in light of the Dred Scott ruling, Douglas stated his belief that a territory could exclude slavery by writing local laws or regulations that made slavery impossible to enforce. Douglas said that slavery needed the protection of "local police regulations," and in any territory, anti-slavery citizens could elect representatives that would prevent the introduction of slavery. This guaranteed Douglas as a part of the Senate, drew national attention to the Illinois Senate race, and made Lincoln grow in popularity as an up-and-coming Republican force.

James Buchanan

As the 15th President of the US, he was in office during the Dred Scott decision. He backed the Lecompton Constitution. While in office after Lincoln was elected, he denied the legal right of states to secede but believed that the federal government could not prevent this by law. Before leaving office, he appointed Northerners to federal posts and prepared Fort Sumter with reinforcements.

Thaddeus Stephens

Even at an old age, this Pennsylvania Congressman was a leader of the Radical Republicans along with Charles Sumner. He was also a compelling spokesman for abolition and an uncompromising advocate of equal rights for African Americans even before the war.

Confederate States of America

Formed in February 1861, this political entity formed by the seceding states of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The first state to secede was South Carolina, who did so in response to the rise of Lincoln. Later, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined. Jefferson Davis was elected as president, and a constitution was adopted that permitted slavery rights and the "sovereign and independent character" of states.

First Bull Run (Manassas)

Fought in July 1861, this was the first major battle of the Civil War. It took place not far from Washington D.C. at a creek. The ill-prepared Union troops were commanded by McDowell and stayed mostly on the offensive until Thomas J. Jackson's troops stalled the Unions advance. This battle gave Jackson his nickname "Stonewall." Under intense cannon fire, Union troops panicked and retreated toward Washington. The battle gave the Confederacy confidence for a short war. Northerners pledged to never have such an embarrassing defeat again.

Charles Sumner

He was an abolitionist senator whose speech attacking on the South and Senator Andrew Butler provoked a physical assault by Preston Brooks that severely injured him. This is known as "Bleeding [insert last name]." He also eventually became a leader of the Radical Republicans with Thaddeus Stephens. His main goals were breaking the power of wealthy planters and ensuring that freedmen could vote.

Abraham Lincoln

He was the 16th President of the US. He won national regard and an eventual Republican presidential nomination with his debates with Douglas. He formed and led a Northern army to defend the Union against secessionists. He suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War, which was upheld by Congress, and issued the Emancipation Proclamation to free many slaves in the Confederacy. He gave the Gettysburg Address, developed the 10% Plan for Reconstruction, and was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Introduced by Stephen A. Douglas in 1854, this was made to organize the area west of Missouri and Iowa. The act aimed to facilitate the creation of a transcontinental railroad that ran west from Chicago. It called for two territories to be created and the issue of slavery there to be decided by popular sovereignty. The act revoked the Missouri Compromise by allowing everything above 36°30' latitude to be free. One of the state's status was impacted by fighting between pro- and anti-slavery groups in the area ("Bleeding ******"). All in all, it became a source of tension for the North and South.

"total war"

Invented by Sherman and Grant, this is a war waged with little regard for the welfare of troops on either side or for enemy civilians. The objective is to destroy both the human and economic resources of the enemy to break the South's mental capacity to fight. This term can be used to describe William Tecumseh Sherman's 1864 March to the Sea through Georgia and into the Carolinas.

Stephen Douglas

Known as the "Little Giant," this senator from Illinois was an expansionist, supporter of the Mexican War, and promoter of popular sovereignty. He broke the Compromise of 1850 into smaller, more acceptable pieces of legislation and got it passed using allies in Congress. He also introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 and participated in several debates against Lincoln during a Senate campaign in 1858.

Election of 1864

Lincoln was nominated for the Union Party to run with Southern Democrat Andrew Johnson as a vice presidential candidate to please the South. He was fired at from two directions: Radical Republicans nominated John C. Fremont, and Democrats chose George McClellan. Lincoln was re-elected due to two victories: Sherman's shelling of Atlanta and Philip Sheridan's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley harmed the South, boosted support for Lincoln, and defused McClellan's argument that Lincoln was incompetent. The Radical Republican platform and Fremont's candidacy disappeared before election day, and Lincoln won a large majority in the Electoral College. Whatta guy.

Gettysburg

The northernmost advance of the Confederacy and northernmost battle of the Civil War, this battle is considered by many historians to be the turning point of the Civil War. General Lee invaded Pennsylvania from Virginia while being pursued by General George Meade of the Union. On the third day, Lee ordered a major assault on the middle of the Union position. Over 13,000 men led by George E. Pickett tried to take Meade's hills when J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry attacked from the east.Lee was defeated and then retreated to Virginia. This was the bloodiest, most decisive battle of the war. The battle took place from July 1st through July 3rd 1863.

Copperheads

This derogatory term refers to people in the North who supported and sympathized with the South during the Civil War. They were so upset by the heavy casualties that they were determined to stop the war even at the cost of letting slavery continue. They met with Democrats at the Democratic National Convention in 1864.

Border States

These were four slave states that stayed in the Union due to the assurances that the war was being fought to preserve the Union rather than end slavery. These four states were Missouri, Delaware, Kentucky, and Maryland. Maryland was the key state for the North to keep in the Union. If it had joined the confederacy, the capital, DC, would have been surrounded by the Confederacy. They were excluded in the Emancipation Proclamation.

Black Codes

These were restrictions set by Southern states on former slaves. They were designed to replicate the conditions of slavery in the post-Civil War South. Various codes prohibited meetings without a white person present, whereas others established segregated public facilities. These led to Radical Republican opposition and exclusion of Southern representation in Congress. These restrictions hinted at African Americans not truly being free for quite some time.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

This 1857 Supreme Court case involved a slave who was taken by his master from Missouri (slave state) to Illinois (free state). After the slave returned to Missouri, he sued for freedom fro himself and his family and used the fact that he resided in a free state as his argument. Judge Taney ruled that Scott was not a citizen and could not bring forth a suit. He also ruled the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional because Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories because slaves were considered property. The decision applied to all African Americans and regarded them as inferiors without rights. This decision angered the anti-slavery forces in the North, who thought about seceding the North or impeaching the Supreme Court.

Thirteenth Amendment

This Amendment was made to forbid slavery, making slavery and involuntary servitude both illegal. It could only be used as a punishment for crime. This Amendment was ratified in 1865, after the war was over. The South had to ratify it to be readmitted to the Union.

James C. Fremont

This American military officer explored and mapped much of the American West and Northwest. He later became the first candidate of the Republican party for the office of president and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery. However, he was unsuccessful in the Election of 1856 and lost to James Buchanan.

John Wilkes Booth

This American stage actor assassinated Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865. He did this because he saw it as an effort to help the South, and after shooting Lincoln, he shouted, "Sic semper tyrannis!" This means, "Thus always to tyrants!" and is the motto for the state of Virginia and the city of Allentown.

Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson

This Confederate general was Lee's chief lieutenant and premier cavalry officer. He commanded troops at both battles of Bull Run. He was later mortally wounded by his own soldiers at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863.

Merrimac

This Confederate ironclad vessel was redesigned from a captured Union ship and renamed the "Virginia." It was upgraded in an effort to try clearing Virginia's coastline of Union blockaders and protect their capital from invasion. In March 1862, it shelled with the Union ironclad for five hours until it withdrew and made its way back to Norfolk, VA. It was badly damaged. never went out again.

Vicksburg

This Confederate-held city on the Mississippi would secure the Anaconda Plan by giving the Union the Mississippi River. After many naval victories by David G. Farragut, he sailed up the river in hopes of capturing this city. The Confederates realized the seriousness of the situation and regrouped to invade Kentucky. Union forces under Rosecrans stopped Confederate general Bragg's force and did not pursue when they retreated. Back in Mississippi, Grant's troops fought long and hard until the city was laid siege to.

Franklin Pierce

This Democrat from New Hampshire became the 14th President of the US. Despite Northern concerns regarding slavery spreading, he supported Manifest Destiny. He also signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, opened Canada to greater trade, and sent Commodore Matthew C. Perry to Japan to open it to diplomacy and commerce with the Treaty of Kanagawa. His diplomats failed to purchase Cuba from Spain and led to the Ostend Manifesto drafts.

Andrew Johnson

This Democratic Senator from Tennessee ran with Abraham Lincoln to please the South in the Election of 1864. After Lincoln was assassinated, he became the 17th President of the United States. He also violated the Tenure of Office Act and was the first of the three presidents to be impeached. He also was worse than John Adams; that's a big insult coming from me.

Matthew Brady

This Irish-American photographer was the first to document the American Civil War with photography. He was the greatest 19th century historical photographer.

Ulysses S. Grant

This US general became the general in chief of the Union army in 1864 following the Vicksburg campaign. Years after the war, he became the eighteenth President of the United States. He was involved in the Credit Mobilier scandal and was president in some of the last days of Reconstruction.

William T. Sherman

This Union general captured Atlanta in 1864. He is known for his "march to the sea" when he marched troops through Georgia and into the Carolinas in a military campaign. He and his troops engaged in "total war" by destroying everything in their path.

George McClellan

This Union general was tapped by Lincoln to organize the Army of the Potomac. He was a skillful organizer, but his downfall would be his slow and indecisive manner as a field commander. He eventually was removed from his position due to delaying the army for two months and replaced Winfield Scott as general in chief of Union forces.

Monitor

This Union ironclad vessel was built after the Union found out about Confederate efforts to protect the capital of the CSA. It was low-decked and had a revolving gun turret. In March 1862, it shelled with the Confederate ironclad for five hours until both were badly damaged.

Robert E. Lee

This Virginian had a distinguished career in the US Army. When the Civil War began, he then decided to resign to assume command of the Confederate Army in Virginia. He had opposed secession but did not believe the Union should be held together by force. Even though the Confederacy lost, this man is known as one of the best generals of the history of the United States.

Chancellorsville

This Virginian town was the site of a battle in May 1863. After Union troops led by Hooker maneuvered Lee into a corner, Stonewall Jackson viciously attacked. Hooker resigned, and Lincoln replaced him with George E. Meade. This battle was a devastating loss for the Union, with troops much larger than the Confederacy in the battle. However, the loss would truly be for the Confederacy due to the loss of Stonewall Jackson to friendly fire.

Pacific Railroad Act

This act was passed by Congress in 1862 and made the first transcontinental rail line possible. Congress provided the Union Pacific and Central Pacific companies not only with sizable loans but also with 10 square miles of the public domain for every mile of track laid, an amount that was doubled in a subsequent act in 1864. This would revolutionize trade and travel in the US.

Antietam

This battle was the bloodiest single day of the Civil War, resulting in more casualties than the Mexican War and War of 1812 combined. It took place at a creek in Sharpsburg in September 1862 when Lee's forces invaded Maryland. Union soldiers found out about Lee's troops plans and could have had a huge advantage, but McClellan waited too long to send troops that Lee found out about the leaked plans. Lee reunited some of his forces near a creek where they took place in a battle with the Army of the Potomac. Even though it could have been more easily obtained, this was the first victory for the Union. This battle resulted in George McClellan's official firing and replacement with Ambrose E. Burnside.

Credit Mobilier

This company was created to build the Union Pacific Railroad. It was also involved in a scandal in 1872-1873 when it was uncovered that the company sold cheap shares to key members of Congress who approved federal grants for railroad construction. Congress then voted itself a 50% pay raise and repealed this after a widespread public protest broke out.

Compromise of 1876

This compromise came after a disputed presidential election between Hayes and Tilden. Tilden won the popular vote, but neither candidate won the electoral vote due to the fact that the electoral votes in three states were in dispute. The Democrats allowed to give Hayes the presidency. In exchange, Hayes promised to show consideration for Southern interests, end Reconstruction, aid Southern industrialization, and withdraw the remaining forces in the South. The settlement left freed African Americans in the South without support from Republicans, but this ultimately led to the end of Reconstruction.

Fifteenth Amendment

This constitutional amendment gave African American men the right to vote. It was passed in 1870 and stated that no state could deny the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This amendment did not allow women to vote.

Election of 1860

This election was a leading cause of the Civil War. The main issues were slavery and sectionalism. Republican Lincoln believed in the free soil movement, and the major planks of his campaign were the containment of slavery and development of the transcontinental railroad. Lincoln won because the Democratic party was split over Douglas and several strong candidates due to the issue of slavery. As a result, the South no longer felt like it has a voice in politics. Beginning with South Carolina, a number of states seceded from the Union.

Carpetbaggers

This is a derogatory Southern name for Northerners who went to the South immediately after the Civil War, especially those who tried to gain political advantage or other advantages from the disorganized situation in southern states. Many tried educating Southerners by creating Northern-based institutions. They ended up being targets for the Ku Klux Klan.

Fugitive Slave Law

This is a law requiring return of escaped slaves to their owners. A strict one was passed as part of the Compromise of 1850 to reinvigorate enforcement of guidelines established in the 1793 version so that Northerners would not ignore it. It created federal commissioners who could pursue fugitive slaves in all states and pay $10 for every returned slave. Northern African-Americans were denied portions of legal due process if caught. Some Northern states passed personal liberty laws to contradict the act. It led to some small riots in the North and increased tension between the North and South.

Nativism

This is a policy of favoring native-born inhabitants of a country over immigrants. The belief came into existence in the Northeastern US due to the large influx of German, Irish, etc. immigrants in the early 1800s. These xenophobic beliefs led to the eventual Know-Nothing Party. This is an example of how immigration to the US would lead to growth and conflicts.

Jefferson Davis

This man was a Secretary of War. He resigned his seat in the Senate for Mississippi after the state called for secession. He then won the hearts of seceding Southerners and was unanimously elected to serve as President of the Confederate States of America in 1861. He continued to be president throughout the Civil War.

John J. Crittenden

This man was a senator from Kentucky. He made an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the Civil War by proposing a series of constitutional amendments in December of 1860. They would protect slavery south of the Missouri Compromise line of 36°30'. Unfortunately, the war was inevitable, and his efforts did not work.

Republican Party

This political party formed in 1854, in response to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. It was composed of a coalition of Free-Soilers, anti-slavery Whigs (whose party disintegrated), and Democrats. The party's unifying principle was that slavery should not be banned from all the nation's territories and not permitted to spread any further to established states. Their first presidential candidate was John C. Fremont in the Election of 1856, and their first successful candidate was Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

March to the Sea

This refers to the route taken by William Tecumseh Sherman's troops through Georgia in 1864. Sherman destroyed anything and everything in his path, hoping to demoralize the South and break their psychological ability to fight. Sherman's army sought to eliminate civilian support of Southern troops. This started with the capturing and burning of Atlanta in September 1864. Sherman led troops to Savannah and then to both South and North Carolina.

Ku Klux Klan

This secret organization was formed in 1866 and led by a former Confederate general. Most members were small-scale farmers and workers, but the leaders were often prominent within their own communities. Their major goal was the restore white supremacy by inflicting fear upon freedmen. Members draped themselves in white as they set out to intimidate Radical Republicans and African Americans.

Sharecropping

This slowly emerged across much of the South as an alternative both to land redistribution and to wage labor on the plantations. The system would allow an individual to sign a contract with a landowner to rent land as home and farm. They would also need to provide a share of the harvest as rent to the landowner. This allowed plantation owners to transition from slavery to something similar that was not slavery but would still benefit them.

"Bleeding Kansas"

This term describes the civil disorders that occurred in Kansas after the U.S. Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. The act allowed the residents of the territory of Kansas to use popular sovereignty to vote on whether slavery would be allowed there. Both pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces pushed for settlers to emigrate here in an attempt to swing the balance of political power regarding those for or against slavery. There were even rival state legislatures and state constitutions. A steady stream of killings, robberies, and other forms of violence between the two factions continued right up to the outbreak of the Civil War. Some events include the "Sack of Lawrence" and John Brown's "Pottawomie Massacre."

Ex Parte Milligan (1866)

This was a Civil War Era Supreme Court decision. In 1864, the Union Army arrested 5 men in Indiana for plotting to steal weapons and free Confederate soldiers who became prisoners-of-war. A military court sentenced for them to die, but Lincoln's removal of habeas corpus made them appeal for release. In response to the threat of Southern sympathizers (Copperheads) undermining war efforts in the North, Lincoln issued orders to put certain civilian areas in the North under military control and imposing martial law. The Court stressed that Indiana was not under attack and (insert name in the term) was not a prisoner-of-war or connected to the Confederate Army. The government could have charged him with treason and given him a fair trial, but he was released; the Court ruled that the application of military tribunals to citizens when civilian courts are still operating is unconstitutional

Anaconda Plan

This was a Civil War strategy organized by Northern General Winfield Scott to crush the Southern Rebellion. It called for a naval blockade to shut out European supplies and exports, a campaign to take the Mississippi River to split the South, and the targeting of Southern cities in hopes that Southern pro-Unionists would rise up to overthrow the secession. Both the blockade and the taking of the Mississippi ended up successful. This is an example of the Union's leadership, tactics, and moral allowing it to overcome the Confederacy and home field advantage.

Radical Reconstruction

This was a Reconstruction strategy that was based on severely punishing South for causing war. It was handled by Congress, whose Radical Republicans rejected the readmission of states under the "Ten-Percent Plan." On the first day of the 39th Congress, moderate Republicans joined Radicals to exclude newly elected Southern congressmen. Citing Article I Section 5 of the Constitution, Republicans set up a Joint Committee on Reconstruction to evaluate qualifications of excluded southerners and determine if the states should have representation. In the meantime, the former Confederate states had no representation in Congress. An example of a plan for Reconstruction was the Wade-Davis Bill. This differed greatly to the lenient policies made by Lincoln and Johnson. Congressmen also extended the citizenship to African Americans with the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

Peninsular Campaign

This was a bold Union plan to capture Richmond, Virginia created by George McClellan. Expecting to surprise the Confederates by attacking Richmond from the south, he transported the Army of the Potomac by ship to Ft. Monroe. The army marched cautiously up the peninsula between the York and James Rivers. This resulted in a battle at Seven Pines where both sides claimed victory, McClellan's progress was halted, and Johnston was wounded seriously. The campaign ended when Lee split his forces and attacked from all sides and forced McClellan into the defensive. McClellan's indecisiveness caused a loss of the campaign and the battle.

Lecompton Constitution

This was a constitution for the proposed state of Kansas that pro-slavery settlers wrote in 1857. If this would be adopted, it would guarantee that slavery would be legal in a future state of Kansas. Free-Soilers boycotted the constitutional convention for this because the document would not leave Kansas a free territory. President Buchanan supported the constitution, but Congress voted against it when it was found out that it was illegally voted for. When the constitution was taken back to Kansas for voting, Free-Soilers participated, and it was turned down. Kansas remained a territory.

Scalawags

This was a derogatory term used to describe Southerners working for or supporting the federal government during Reconstruction. This includes Unionists from the South who opposed secession and others who had hope in Republicans for economic recovery. They ended up being targets of the Ku Klux Klan.

Popular Sovereignty

This was a doctrine regarding the status of slavery in the territories. It established that the settlers would determine if the territory would be a free or slave state. This was first put forward by General Lewis Cass as a part of his campaign in the Election of 1848. This doctrine was also promoted by Stephen A. Douglas. This was meant to be the solution to the looming slavery question caused by manifest destiny.

Fort Sumter

This was a fort at the mouth of the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. It was the scene of the opening engagement of the Civil War on April 1861. Lincoln responded to a report that supplies there were running low by peacefully sending unarmed ships with food and supplies. Governor Francis Pickens did not know what to do: if the supplies were accepted, he would lose face, but firing at unarmed ships would be dishonorable. President Davis ordered P.G.T. Beauregard to demand the evacuation of the fort. While supply ships were on their way, Beauregard called for Anderson to surrender, and when Anderson rejected the ultimatum, shore batteries opened fire on the fortress.

Freedmen's Bureau

This was an agency established in 1865 and supported by Congress. It provided food, clothing, and education for freed slaves. Ex-slave states were divided into districts that were managed by assistant commissioners. Despite its benefits, the bureau failed to establish the freed slaves as land owners. It organized the African American vote for the Republican Party, creating great hostility toward it in the South.

Ostend Manifesto

This was drafted in 1854 by foreign ministers James Buchanan, John Mason, and Pierre Soule after Soule was unable to purchase Cuba from Spain. It suggested that if Spain refused to sell Cuba, the US might be justified to forcefully take it. Abolitionists felt betrayed by this because they saw it as a plot to extend slavery into new lands. The South supported it because they feared that Cuba would become a free "black republic." This event added more tension between the North and South.

Tenure of Office Act

This was enacted in 1866 by Radical Republicans in Congress. It forbade the president from removing civil officers without senatorial consent. This was created to prevent the president from removing members if they disagreed with their policies, but it was really directed to stop President Johnson from removing Radical Republican Edwin Stanton from his cabinet. Johnson did so regardless, and he became the first president to be impeached.

Emancipation Proclamation

This was issued by President Lincoln and made effective January 1st, 1863. It declared that slavery would be abolished in states "in rebellion" but not those loyal to the Union. Slaves were freed in areas under rebel control, exempting conquered areas of the South. Lincoln received criticism for not abolishing slavery everywhere, but the president could not afford to alienate the loyal border states or commit any manpower to enforce emancipation in areas captured by the Confederacy. It led to slaves in the South leaving their plantations and increased morale in the North. This was also partly designed to keep the British from siding with the South.

Wade-Davis Bill

This was proposed in 1864 as a part of Congressional Reconstruction by two senators. It required that 50% of a state's male voters needed to take a loyalty oath to be readmitted into the Union. It demanded stronger efforts on behalf of states to emancipate slaves. Lincoln gave the bill a pocket veto in favor for his "Ten-Percent Plan." This bill shows how Congress was not in favor of the lenient plans of the Executive Branch for quick re-entry into the Union.

Presidential Reconstruction

This was the first phase of Reconstruction overseen first by Lincoln and then by Johnson. It rested on the premise that the South had not actually succeeded but they had launched an insurrection, and the president had the authority to execute the law in this situation. Lincoln's "Ten-Percent Plan" was the first established plan for executive reconstruction and was very lenient. Johnson's reconstruction plan was also lenient and based on the same system of granting amnesty. This differed greatly to opinions of Radical Republicans in Congress.

Appotomax

This was the location of the meeting of General Robert E. Lee and General Ulysses S. Grant to discuss terms of peace. They met at the court house after Lee left a note at Petersburg to surrender in April 1865. Grant was generous with these terms. He allowed officers and men from the Confederacy to go home and guaranteed them immunity from prosecution for treason and became the model for surrender. Grant also sent food to the starving Confederates and let them keep their horses. This would end the Civil War.

Conscription

This word refers to the compulsory enlistment for state service, typically into the armed forces. It was enforced in a law passed by Congress in 1863. The law established a draft that made all single men 20-45 years old and married men 20-35 years old eligible for service. Because it allowed the wealthy to escape this by hiring a substitute or paying a fee of $300 to the government, many troops became full of farmers and urban workers (many of which were immigrants). This made workers fear that emancipated slaves would pour into the job market and lower value of labor.

Know-Nothing Party

Tracing back to secret Northeastern nativist groups in the 1830s, this was a political movement that supported Americans and their ideals over the influence of immigrants and drew power from people who were not satisfied with local leadership. It was influenced by Catholic immigrants from Germany and Ireland. The party was suspicious of anti-Americans and feared the Pope's influence. The growing movement was split by the slavery issue and caused most members to become part of the Republican Party.

Free-Soil Party

While trying to avoid being radical, this party was firm on their belief that slavery should not be extended into the Mexican Cession as well as new territories. The party wanted whites to settle with financial independence and without competition from slavery. It was created in 1848 and drew in anti-slavery Whigs as well as former Liberty Party members. They also supported national improvement programs and promoted revenue-raising small tariffs. Party member Van Buren was defeated by Taylor for presidency in 1848, and the party was taken over by mostly Republicans in 1854.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Written by abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, this novel was published in 1852. The novel portrayed the darkest inhumanities and immoral nature of southern slavery in the first American novel with central characters being African Americans. It sold 300,000 copies in its first year and later became adapted into an extremely popular play. The novel caused the public to rethink their opinions on how ethical slavery was and led Free-Soilers and "conscience Whigs" to renew abolitionist efforts. Overall, the novel caused a large increase of anti-slavery support.