HISTORY #2 Flashcards
Peculiar Institution
Used in the 19th century to refer to the system of slavery in the southern states of the US.
Perfect Equilibrium
- Balance of power
- Equal number of free/slave states
- South and North
Positive good
Argument in the 1830’s that the institution of slavery was a “positive good” because it maintained an elegant lifestyle for the white elite.
Gang labor system
A system where white drivers supervised gangs of black enslaved people.
Task system
A system where a enslaved person had a list of tasks to complete then they can do what they want after they’re done.
Benevolent masters
Slave owners who considered themselves committed to the happiness of their slaves.
Gag rule (1836-1844)
When anti-slavery wasn’t discussed in the House of Representatives. Wouldn’t become a subject in debate.
Internal slave trade
Possible: Millions of enslaved people were forcibly moved from the Upper South to the Lower South during the antebellum era
Planter Class
Whites that owned 20-50 slaves and 800 or more acres of land
Planter Class
Whites that owned 20-50 slaves and 800 or more acres of land.
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
An enslaved person that rebelled in 1831 and killed 55 whites. Mainly women and children. He and his crew (and more/200 blacks) were later held accountable/executed
Lower South
Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Sometimes called the ‘Deep South’.
Upper south
Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee Arkansas.
Slave codes
laws that controlled the lives of enslaved people and denied them basic human rights.
Underground Railroad
Network of people, both whites and free Blacks, who worked together to help runaways from slave-states.
Abolitionists
Anti-slavery activists that demanded an immediate end to slavery without compensation.
The Liberator
- Abolitionist newspaper
- Drew attention
- Negative and positive
- Result: Public debate between opponents and prononets of slavery
The North Star
Anti-slavery newspaper published by Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
American abolitionist and writer that escaped slavery and became a leading African American abolitionist, public speaker, and writer.
Second Great Awakening
A religious revival that swept the nation between 1790 and 1850.
American Anti-Slavery Society
Abolitionist society that advocated the immediate abolition of slavery. Soon there were 250,000 members by 1838.
