1860s Flashcards
Pemberton Mill
A large factory in Massachusetts which collapsed in 1860, leading to 145 deaths and an outcry for reform.
1860 Wiyot Massacre
Wiyot Indians were slaughtered for control of Indian Island in Eureka, California.
Cooper Union speech
An important speech delivered by Lincoln in 1860, many believe it is responsible for making him president.
Paiute War
An Indian war in Utah which began under Buchanan, fought in 1860.
Constitutional Union Party
A centrist party which wanted to avoid the slavery issue altogether to preserve the union, they nominated John Bell in 1860.
PS Lady Elgin
A steamship which crashed in 1860 and lead to immediate regulation of maritime laws, including running lights.
United States presidential election, 1860
Lincoln running as a Republican narrowly defeats pro-slavery Southern Democrat John Breckinridge. He also defeats centrist John Bell from the Constitutional Union Party and pro-public sovereignty candidate, Democrat Stephen Douglas.
Crittenden Compromise
A last ditch effort to end the secessionist crisis of 1860 which was a constitutional amendment to not interfere with slavery.
Wide Awakes
A paramilitary campaign organization of young men associated with the Republican Party which arose around the 1860 election.
Cynthia Ann Parker
A young girl kidnapped by a Comanche war band in 1836, she was eventually “rescued” by Texas Rangers and used as anti-Indian propaganda but couldn’t adjust to life in a white society and died in melancholia.
Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union
A proclamation announced before Lincoln’s inauguration that South Carolina is leaving the Union, beginning the Civil War.
Jefferson Davis
Ruled as President of the Confederate States of America during the entire Civil War (1861-1865). Regarded as a weak president, too focussed on detail, unpopular, and responsible for devaluing the Confederate dollar.
Confederate States Constitution
The constitution of the Confederacy, it was very similar to the American constitution except that it emphasized states rights and slavery.
Battle of Fort Sumter
(1861) South Carolina, site of first battle of the Civil War.
Robert E. Lee
Commanded the Confederate Army
Ex parte Merryman
(1861) The federal court ruled that Lincoln had exceeded his authority in suspending the writ of habeas corpus. Lincoln ignored Justice Roger Taney’s ruling, arguing that the constitution allowed this suspension in a time of rebellion.
Camp Jackson Affair
An early civil war riot which broke out in Missouri in 1861.
What was the capital of the Confederated States of America?
Richmond, Virginia.
First Battle of Bull Run
1861- A.K.A. the First Manassas to the Confederates, it was a Confederate victory which showed both sides that the war would be much longer and bloodier than expected.
Crittenden-Johnson Resolution
An 1861 Civil War resolution which stated that the war was being fought to restore the Union as it was under the Constitution, and not the abolition of slavery. Its significance was that it was passed in order to keep the slave border states from leaving the Union and joining the Confederacy.
Revenue Act of 1861
Created first U.S. income tax statute to pay for the Civil War.
George B. McClellan
An unpopular Union general who was blamed for many of the North’s early failures in the Civil War, until he was asked by Lincoln to step down following Antietam.
Trent Affair
1861- A ship carrying Confederate ambassadors going to England to try and work out an alliance was attacked by Union ships which captured everyone on board, including some Englishmen. England was outraged at this and threatened war, but Lincoln issued an apology.
Gatling gun
A rapid-fire weapon invented and first used during the Civil War.
USS Monitor
The first ironclad warship used by the US Navy. Invented during the Civil War in 1861, it changed naval history all over the world.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
Written by Julia Ward Howe in 1861, became a battle song for Union soldiers.
Battle of Hampton Roads
1862- Naval battle where the Confederate Virginia was able to slightly damage the Union Merrimack, but the battle concluded as a stalemate. wooden ships became obsolete after these two ironclads met.
Battle of Shiloh
1862- A Civil War battle in Tennessee in which the Union army gained greater control over the Mississippi River valley
Great Locomotive Chase
1862- Union spies in the South commandeered a train car and in the process damaged vital railway and telegraph lines.
Pacific Railroad Act
The first of these was signed by Lincoln in 1862 to build a transcontinental railroad.
The Dakota War
1862- Uprising under Lincoln’s presidency caused by Indian aggravation about the United States constantly violating its own treaties, the end result was that it scattered and destroyed Native Americans in Minnesota.
John Pope
Union general with brief but successful career in the Western Theater, but he is best known for his defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run in the East, after which he was replaced by McClellan.
Battle of Antietam
1862- Civil War battle in which the North succeeded in halting Lee’s Confederate forces in Maryland. Was the bloodiest day in American history with 25,000 casualties
The Allegheny Arsenal
1862- A Union arsenal which exploded mysteriously prior to the Battle of Antietam, killing 74 teenage girls who were volunteering for the Army. The tragedy was quickly overshadowed by Antietam.
The Emancipation Proclamation
1862- Document written by Abraham Lincoln following the Battle of Antietam which freed the slaves in the states that were in rebellion. This added the reason why the war was fought from preserving the Union to freeing the slaves. Didn’t free slaves in border states which supported the Union.