Chapter 19

Homestead Act of 1860

Passed in 1862, it gave 160 acres of public land to any settler who would farm the land for five years. The settler would only have to pay a registration fee of $25.

James Buchanan

The 15th President of the United States (1857-1861). He tried to maintain a balance between pro-slavery 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. Won against Fillmore and Fremont.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

(1811-1896) American author and daughter of Lyman Beecher, she was an abolitionist and author of the famous antislavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Confederate States of America

(1860) A group of eleven Southern states that seceded from the Union, beginning with South Carolina, The Confederacy was led by Jefferson Davis; He eventually attacked the federally controlled Fort Sumter on April 12th 1861, marking the first battle of the Civil War. The Confederacy struggled economically during the war, lagging behind the Union's industrialization. Montgomery, AL was the capitol. Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia.

John Brown

(FP) , Well-known abolitionist. used violence to stop slavery immediately, involved in the Pottawatomie Massacre, he ws tried, convicted of treason and hung... he became a martyr.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

(Harriet Beechers Stone) powerful novel that make american aware of the harsh and inhumane conditions of slavery and put the country on the road to civil war,

Pottawatomie

(May 24, 1856) the slaughter of 5 pro-slavery men in Kansas by John Brown and his followers, in reaction to the Sack of Lawrence; as a result of this event, Kansas collapsed into a civil war and over 200 citizens were killed as pro and antislavery advocates attacked each other

Robert E. Lee

A General for the confederates, fought many battles. One of his main plans towards the end of the civil war was to wait for a new president to come into office to make peace with. Fought Peninsular Campaign, 2nd battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville (with Jackson), and Gettysburg., American soldier, he refused Lincoln's offer to head the Union army and agreed to lead Confederate forces. He successfully led several major battles until his defeat at Gettysburg, and he surrendered to the Union's commander General Grant at Appomattox Courthouse.

Dred Scott decision

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.

Beecher's Bible

A New Haven abolitionist minister called Sharp's rifles a greater moral force than the Bible in keeping slavery out of Kansas. This helped increase the tension as Kansas became an armed camp.

Panic of 1857

A notable sudden collapse in the economy caused by over speculation in railroads and lands, false banking practices, and a break in the flow of European capital to American investments as a result of the Crimean War. Since it did not effect the South as bad as the North, they gained a sense of superiority.

Know-Nothing Party

A party which pushed for political action against these newcomers. They displayed the feelings of America regarding newcomers that were different and therefore, the double standard of the country. Millard Fillmore as candidate for election of 1856.

Bleeding Kansas

A sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-Slavery elements that took place in Kansas-Nebraska Territory. The dispute further strained the relations of the North and South, making civil war imminent.

New England Emigrant Aid Company

An anti-slavery organization that sent thousands of people to Kansas to forestall the South and make a profit. Southerners were angered based on the understanding of the Kansas-Nebraska Act that Kansas would be a slave state and Nebraska free, but virtually no slaves lived in either state.

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.

Constitutional Union party

In 1860 former Whigs who joined the Know-Nothings, who opposed Lincoln and Douglas, started a new party and nominated John Bell who was opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Lecompton constitution., "Do nothings" "Old Gentlemen's" consisted mostly of Whigs and Know-Nothings; met in Baltimore and nominated John Bell from Tennessee as candidate for presidency-the slogan for this candidate was "The Union, the Constitution, and the Enforcement of the laws."

Election of 1856

In this presidential election, Democrat James Buchanan defeated Republican candidate John C. Fremont. He won the general election by denouncing the abolitionists, promising not to allow any interference with the Compromise of 1850, and supporting the principle of noninterference by Congress with slavery in the territories.

Tariff of 1857

This new tariff responded to southern pressure. It reduced rates to their lowest since 1812. (James Buchanan). This is important because it postpones the Civil War for a little while. Reduced 20% on goods.

Lecompton Constitution

supported the existence of slavery in the proposed state and protected rights of slaveholders. It was rejected by Kansas, making Kansas an eventual free state. People weren't allowed to vote for or against the Constitution as a whole, but for the cont either "with slavery" or "without slavery". If voted against, one of the remaining provisions of Const would protect the slave owners in Kansas. Left Kansas as slave state

Helper's Impending Crisis of the South

written by North Carolinian Hinton R. Helper, alleged to prove that indirectly the non-slaveholding whites were the ones who suffered most from the millstone of slavery.

Republican Platform of 1860

1. No slavery in new territories 2. Higher tariffs 3. Open immigration policy 4. Transcontinental railroad through US 5. Using federal money to improve internally and make roads to the west 6. Free houses to settlers in the West

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

1858 Senate Debate, Lincoln forced Douglas to debate issue of slavery, Douglas supported popular sovereignty, Lincoln asserted that slavery should not spread to territories, Lincoln emerged as strong Republican candidate

Crittenden Compromise

1860 - attempt to prevent Civil War by Senator Crittenden - offered a Constitutional amendment recognizing slavery in the territories south of the 36º30' line, noninterference by Congress with existing slavery, and compensation to the owners of fugitive slaves - defeated by Republicans

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. Douglas, Breckinridge, and Bell

Justice Roger B. Taney

Marylander Supreme Court Justice who ruled on the Dred Scott case., Decided 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 U.S. Mo. Compromise was unconstitutional.

John Bell

Presidential candidate of the Constitutional Union Party. He drew votes away from the Democrats, helping Lincoln win., A wealthy slaveowner from Tennessee who served in both the House and the Senate, he ran for U.S. President against Lincoln, Breckinridge, and Douglas in 1860 with the Constitutional Union Party on a moderate pro-slavery platform.

Crittenden Amendments

Proposed legislation in 1860; final attempt to appease the South; new states north of the 36° 30' line could choose to be slave or free, southern states would always be slave; killed by Lincoln., These amendements to the Constitution were designed to appease the south by prohibiting slavery north of 36, 30' but allowed protection south of this line. It also allowed future states to enter with or without slavery regardless of their position north or south.

Charles Sumner

Radical Republican against the slave power who insults Andrew Butler and subsequently gets caned by Preston Brooks, A leader of the Radical republicans along with Thaddeus Stevens. He was from Massachusetts and was in the senate. His two main goals were breaking the power of wealthy planters and ensuring that freedmen could vote

John Brown at Harpers Ferry

Scheme was to invade the South secretly with a handful of followers, call upon the slaves to rise, give the slaves weapons, and establish a black free state as a sanctuary. Because many of his supporters failed to show up, he was caught and sent to death by hanging. Known as 'martyr' for the abolitionist cause. Captured by Robert E. Lee

John C. Breckinridge

The South's pro-slavery Democratic candidate in the election of 1860. Completed the split of the Democratic Party by being nominated.

Bully Brooks

a congressman that whacked an extreme abolitionist with a cane, knocking him out because of his speech that directly denounced his uncle as well as other confederates

Dred Scott v. Stanford

an 1856 Supreme Court case in which a slave; Dred Scott, sued unsuccessfully for his freedom because he had been taken to live in territories where slavery was illegal

John C. Fremont

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., A captain and an explorer who was in California with several dozen well-armed men when the Mexican War broke out. He helped to overthrow the Mexican rule in 1846 by collaborating with Americans who had tried to raise the banner of the California Bear Republic. Fremont helped to take California from the inside. His VP was Lincoln. Known as the "Pathfinder".