Nat Turner's Rebellion, 1831
largest slave rebellion led in pre-war South. Hundreds of women and children were killed as Nat Turner and several rebellious slaves fought their way to freedom in Virginia. Was put down, hanged, and flayed.
American Colonization Society (1817)
an organization founded in 1817 by antislavery reformers that called for gradual emancipation and the removal of freed blacks to Africa.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin
this woman wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852. The novel gained fast notoriety in the North and scorn in the South. In essence, her novel galvanized more Northerners to believe that slavery was morally wrong, while Southerners grew in their convictions to pr
William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator
most conspicious and most vilified of the abolitionists, published "The Liberator" in Boston, helped found the American Anti-Slavery Society; favored Northern secession and renounced politics
American Anti-slavery Society
abolitionist society founded by William Loyd Garrison, who advocated the immediate abolition of slavery; by 1838, the organization had more than 250,000 members across 1,350 chapters
Frederick Douglass
born a slave but escaped to the North and became a prominent black abolitionist; gifted orator, writer, and editor; published "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Sojourner Truth
this woman, along with Harriet Tubman, helped fugitive slaves flee slave states or the United States through an elaborate network called the Underground Railroad.
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
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848
peace treaty that ended the Mexican-American war. Mexico gave up claims to Texas n. of Rio Grande and gave up California and New Mexico
Wilmot Proviso
brought slavery into mainstream national politics by proposing that slavery be banned in all territory acquired from Mexico. approved by the House and rejected by the Senate
Free Soil Party Platform
political party active in the 1848 and 1852, main aim was to keep slavery out of Western territories. Members didn't call for abolition. Wasn't successful in national elections, but was an antislavery rallying point
Underground Railroad/Harriet Tubman
a secret cooperative network that aided fugitive slaves in reaching sanctuary in the free states or in Canada in the years before the abolition of slavery in the United States
Breakdown of the Compromise of 1850
the four-step compromise which admitted California as a free state, allowed the residents of the New Mexico and Utah territories to decide the slavery issue for themselves, ended the slave trade in the District of Columbia, and passed a new fugitive slave
Fugitive Slave Law, 1850
part of the Compromise of 1850 that required the authorities in the North to assist southern slave catchers and return runaway slaves to their owners.
Treaty of Wanghia w/ China, 1844
Signed by the U.S. and China, it assured the United States the same trading concessions granted to other powers, greatly expanding America's trade with the Chinese.
Treaty of Kanagawa w/ Japan, 1854
Ended Japan's two-hundred year period of economic isolation, establishing an American consulate in Japan and securing American coaling rights in Japanese ports.
Gadsden Purchase, 1853
allowed for the acquisition of southern Arizona and some of New Mexico in order to build a Southern transcontinental railroad
Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854/Stephen Douglas
law passed in 1854 creating the Kansas and Nebraska territories but leaving the question of slavery open to residents, thereby repealing the Missouri Compromise.
LeCompton Constitution, 1857
proslavery draft written in 1857 by Kansas territorial delegates elected under questionable circumstances; it was rejected by two governors, supported by President Buchanan, and decisively defeated by Congress.
Bleeding Kansas, 1856
a sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-Slavery elements that took place in Kansas Territory where new proslavery and antislavery constitutions competed.The dispute further strained the relations of the North and South, making civil w
Brook-Sumner Affair, 1856
Preston Brooks entered the senate and beat Charles Sumner unconscious with his cane for his antislavery speech
Dred Scott v. Stanford, 1857
The Supreme Court under Chief Justice Taney made a ruling on this 1857 case that said the 36�30' provision of the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and that all African Americans were not citizens, making them ineligible to sue in federal court. Th
Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1858/Freeport Doctrine
series of debates in the 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign during which Douglas and Lincoln staked out their differing opinions on the issue of slavery.
John Brown's Raid, 1859
New England abolitionist John Brown's ill-fated attempt to free Virginia's slaves with a raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, VA, in 1859.
Crittenden Amendments
designed to appease South; said slavery was prohibited north of the 36 degree 30' line; south of that slavery was given federal protection; President Lincoln rejected these amendments. Last ditch attempt to restore status quo at thirty-six thirty
North's Advantages going into the War
3/4th of nations wealth
higher population
more intricate rail system
more industry
South's Advantages going into the War
Defensive front
"Just" cause
Great military commanders
Emancipation Proclamation (1862)
freed slaves in active rebellion places so they would run away and be taken away as contraband
strengthened the moral cause
anti slavery support in France and GB
freed no slaves
allowed states to rejoin the Union while still keeping slaves
changed the pur
Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan vs. Johnson's Ten Percent + Plan
Lincoln wanted postwar policy to act from the viewpoint that the Confederate states had never left the Union, wanting to avoid radical restructuring of Southern social and economic life
Radical Republicans
Radicals in congress who pushed for a severe punishment to the South
Wade-Davis Bill
former confederate states were to be ruled by a military government
50% of the electorate had to swear and allegiance to the US
a state convention would then convene and rid the ordinance of secession and abolish slavery
pocket-vetoed by Lincoln
Reconstruction Acts, 1867
created military districts out of the rebel states
new state constitutions had to be formed in accord with the Constitution
states had to accept black suffrage and ratify the 14th amendment
Black Codes
passed by southern states legislatures
limited social, political ,and economic opportunities of blacks
had to work in conditions that closely resembled slavery
most slaves became sharecroppers
Freedmen's Bureau.
federal agency initiated by Lincoln that provided provisions, clothing, and fuel for refugees, freedmen, and their families
Ku Klux Klan
secret domestic terrorist organizations in the US, usually the South. first section began in 1866 as a response to the Southern Civil War defeat
Civil Rights Act, 1866
pronounced all African Americans to be US citizens, repudiated Dred Scott decision, attempted to provide legal shield against Black Codes, feared the bill would be repealed in Democratic Congress
Thirteenth Amendment
amendment ratified in 1865 that abolished slavery
Fourteenth Amendment
gave a broader definition of citizenship, overruled Dred Scott case
speaks of due process and equal protection
Fifteenth Amendment
amendment that prohibits government from using a citizen's race, color, or previous slave status as a voting qualification
Scalawags vs. Carpetbagger
Scalawags were southerns who supported the Northern cause and Republicans during the war while carpetbaggers were Northers who came down to exploit the south