APUSH Unit 5 Flashcards
Crittenden Compromise
Last ditch Congressional effort to appease the South by proposing a constitutional amendment to protect slavery south of the old Missouri Compromise line, but it ultimately failed.
Freeport Doctrine
Douglas’s attempt to reconcile his belief in popular sovereignty with the Dred Scott decision, he argued that territories could effectively forbid slavery by failing to enact slave codes.
House-Divided Speech
Famous address given by Lincoln as part of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates in which Lincoln made it clear he believed the country could not survive as half slave and half free.
Impending Crisis of the South
Book written by Hinton Helper, who used data and statistics to try and prove that slavery was actually hindering the South’s economy.
Lecompton Constitution
Proslavery state constitution written by Missourians who crossed the border into Kansas and was supported by President Buchanan, but was rejected by Congress and Kansas settlers.
Manifest Destiny
Belief that the United States was obligated by God to spread its “empire of liberty” across North America and was used as a justification for mid-nineteenth century expansionism.
Nueces River
Body of water Mexico insisted made the southern border of Texas while the Americans argued the border was farther south along the Rio Grande, which helped lead to the Mexican-American War.
New England Emigrant Aid Company
Organization founded by Northern abolitionists and Free-Soilers in order to pay for the transportation of antislavery settlers to Kansas.
Ostend Manifesto
Leaked secret proposal by diplomats under orders from President Franklin Pierce to try and buy Cuba from Spain, which angered antislavery members of Congress and ultimately failed.
Pottawatomie Creek
Proslavery farm settlement in Kansas that was attacked by radical abolitionist John Brown and his supporters in retaliation for proslavery forces attacking the free-soil town of Lawrence.
Rio Grande
Body of water the Americans insisted made the southern border of Texas while Mexico argued the border was farther north along the Nueces River, which helped lead to the Mexican-American War.
Roger Taney
Chief Justice of SCOTUS during Dred Scott v. Sandford and strong supporter of the South and slavery.
Sociology for the South
Book written by proslavery author George Fitzhugh, who questioned the principle of equal rights for “unequal men” and attacked the industrial wage system as worse worse than slavery.
Walker Expedition
Failed private attempt to build a proslavery Central American Empire, which included trying to take the Baja Peninsula from Mexico and Nicaragua.
