AP U.S History (ch.18)
Republican Party
Political party that appeared in the 1850s. Opposed to the extension of slavery to the territories and opposed to polygamy ("the twin relics of barbarism"). Favored federal aid for internal improvements. John C. Frémont was the first Republican candidate for President (1856). Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican elected President (1860).
Ostend Manifesto
Recommendation made by a group of Southern diplomats who met in Ostend, Belgium that the U.S. should try to purchase Cuba for the creation of another slave state. They recommended spending up to $100 million to purchase Cuba from Spain.
Stephen A. Douglas
"The Little Giant." Illinois Senator who proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in order to make it possible for a trans-continental railroad to go to Chicago. Northern Democratic candidate for President in 1860.
Fugitive Slave Act
(1850) Part of the Compromise of 1850. Runaway slaves were not allowed to testify in their own behalf. No trial by jury for fugitive slaves. Judges in runaway slave trials were paid $5 for an acquittal and $10 for a conviction. People who helped runaway slaves could be fined of jailed. Runaway slaves, even in free states, were still considered property.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
(1854) Proposed by Stephen A. Douglas. Allowed Kansas and Nebraska Territories to be organized and stipulated that they would be open to slavery if enough of the residents supported slavery (popular sovereignty). Allowed the land in Kansas and Nebraska to be surveyed for the purpose of railroad construction. Pushed the country closer to civil war. Led to armed conflict in Kansas.
Underground Railroad
A network of people and homes/safe houses that was used to help slaves escape. Many Quakers were involved in this network. Former slave Harriet Tubman, "The Black Moses," is the most famous of the "conductors" from the Underground Railroad.
Millard Fillmore
Became President in 1850 when Taylor died. Helped work-out the Compromise of 1850.
William Walker
An American who took over Nicaragua in the early 1850s and tried to get the U.S. to annex Nicaragua in order to make it a slave state.
Liberty Party
Anti-slavery and anti-Texas Party.
Franklin Pierce
Elected President in 1852. Northern Democrat who had pro-Southern attitudes. Supported the Compromise of 1850, especially the Fugitive Slave Act. Supported possible purchase of Cuba in order to make another slave state but dropped his support after public outcry against the Ostend Manifesto. Supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
William H. Seward
New York Senator who opposed slavery. Talked about a "higher law." Republican who was one of Lincoln's rivals for the 1860 nomination. Chosen by Lincoln to serve as Secretary of State. Facilitated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.
Free-Soil Party
Organized by anti-slavery men in the North: Democrats who were resentful of Polk's action regarding Mexico and some conscience Whigs. Opposed extension of slavery to the territories. Advocated federal aid for internal improvements. Foreshadowed the formation of the Republican Party.
Forty-niners
People who went to the California Gold Rush in 1849.
Gadsden Purchase
Piece of territory in what is now the southern edge of Arizona and New Mexico that the U.S. bought from Mexico in 1853 for $10 million in order to build a railroad there.
Compromise of 1850
Signed by President Fillmore. Admitted California as a free state. Popular sovereignty regarding slavery in New Mexico Territory and Utah Territory. Prohibited slave trade in D.C. New Fugitive Slave Act. Adjusted border between New Mexico and Texas.
