Sectionalism Flashcards
Missouri compromise
Was a law that tried to address growing sectional tensions over the issue of slavery. By passing the law, which president James Monroe signed, the US congress admitted Missouri to the Union as a state that allowed slavery, and Maine as a free state. It also banned slavery from the remaining Louisiana purchase lands located north of the 36 degree 30’ parallel (the south border of Missouri). The Missouri compromise would remain in force for just over 30 years before it was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854.
Compromise of 1850
During a time of sectional tension in the US - a time of great debate between slavery and freedom - some members of congress worked out a compromise after the Mexican American War. The question is: the territory acquired during the War - Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah - would it be slave or free? Sen. Henry Clay of Kentucky orchestrated a compromise. There were 4 parts: 1. California would be a free state; 2. Utah/New Mexico would be decided by popular sovereignty (let people vote); 3. A tighter Fugitive slave act passed (slave runaway to the North and Northerners assist runaway they could be fined and/or imprisoned; 4. The domestic slave trade would end in D.C.
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
In 1854, senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois proposed a bill to organize the territory of Nebraska, a vast area of land that would become Kansas, Nebraska, Montana and the Dekotas. Known as the Kansas-Nebraska act, the controversial bill raised the possibility that slavery could be extended into territories where it had once been banned. It’s passage intensified the bitter debate over slavery in the United States, which would later explode into the civil war.
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas describes the period of repeated outbreaks of violent guerrilla warfare between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces following the creation of the new territory of Kansas in 1854. In all, some 55 people were killed between 1855-1859. The struggle intensified the ongoing debate over the future of slavery in the United States and served as a key precursor to the civil war.
Dred Scott v. Standford (1857
Was a decade-long fight for freedom by a black enslaved man named Dred Scott. The case persisted through several courts and ultimately reached the US Supreme Court. In 1857, the nations top court ruled that living in a free state and territory did not entitle Dred Scott to his freedom because, as an enslaved man, he was not a citizen, but essentially another persons property. The courts decision increased abolitionists, gave momentum to the anti-slavery movement and served as a stepping stone to the civil war.
John Browns raid at Harpers ferry
US military arsenal at Harper ferry was the target of an assault by an armed band of abolitionists led by John Brown. The raid was intended to be the first stage in an elaborate plan to establish an independent stronghold of freed slaves in the mountains of Maryland and Virginia.
Fugitive slave clause
Were a pair of federal laws that allowed the capture and return of runaway enslaved people within the territory of the United States
Popular sovereignty
A controversial political doctrine according to which the people of federal territories should decide for themselves whether their territories would enter the union as free or slave states. It’s enemies, especially in New England, called it “squatter sovereignty”
Manifest destiny
A phrase coined in 1845, is the idea that the United States is destined-by God, it’s advocates believed- to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent. The philosophy drove 19th-century US territorial expansion and was used to justify the forced removal of Native Americans and other groups from their homes. The rapid expansion of the United States intensified the issue of slavery as new states were added to the Union, leading to the outbreak of the civil war
Roger B. Taney
Fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, remembered principally for the Dred Scott decision. He was the first Roman Catholic to serve on Supreme Court. Chief justice Roger B. Taney delivered the Dred Scott decision, asserting that congress had no constitutional power to deprive persons of their property rights in slaves in the territories. Southerners were delighted, but the decision created a furor in the north.
Henry clay
Was appointed Secretary of State by president John Quincy Adams on march 7, 1825. Clay entered his duties on the same day and served until march 2, 1829. Famous as the “great pacificator” for his contributions to domestic policy, he emphasized economic development in his diplomacy
Free soil
Was a minor but influential political party in the pre-civil war period of American history that opposed the extension of slavery into the western territories
