Union Expanded and Challenged (1835-1860)

Question 1

Manifest Destiny

Answer 1

concept that became popularized in the 1840s stating that it was the God-given mission of the U.S. to expand westward

Question 2

Mexican-American War

Answer 2

war over the possession of Texas which was claimed by both Mexico and the U.S. the settlement of the war ended with U.S. claiming northern Texas, New Mexico, and California.

Question 3

Compromise of 1850

Answer 3

temporarily ending tensions between North and South, allowing California to be a free state but strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act

Question 4

Fugitive Slave Act

Answer 4

part of the Compromise of 1850: set up to give special commissions to northern states if runaway slaves were caught. People were given more money if they found a runway than if they didn’t- so many AAs were sold back into slavery

Question 5

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Answer 5

compromise allowing settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to decide if they would enter the union as free states or slave states

Question 6

Dred-Scott case

Answer 6

Supreme Court ruling that slaves were property and not people and therefore they couldn’t seek a ruling from the court and that Congress couldn’t ban slavery in any territory

Question 7

Oregon Trail

Answer 7

trail that took settlers from the Ohio River Valley across the country to Oregon. Over 325,000 settlers moved west on this trail from 1842-1860.

Question 8

Oregon Treaty

Answer 8

The U.S. and Britain claimed this territory but in 1815 they agreed to jointly control it. In 1843 settlers of Oregon declared that they would become an independent republic.

Question 9

dark horse candidate

Answer 9

a candidate with little support before the beginning of the nomination process. James Polk was the first of these for president in 1844.

Question 10

Bear Flag Republic

Answer 10

This republic declared freedom from Mexico in 1846 and was a part of a larger American political and military strategy to take Texas and California from Mexico.

Question 11

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Answer 11

treaty ending the war with Mexico was ratified in the senate in 1848. For $15 million, the U.S. received Texas territory, New Mexico, and California.

Question 12

Wilmot Proviso

Answer 12

In the aftermath of the Mexico war, Wilmot proposed an amendment in 1846 that slavery should be prohibited in all newly gained territories. This never went into law, however, John C. Calhoun spoke out aggressively against it proposing that the federal government had no right to control slavery in the states.

Question 13

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

Answer 13

1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that depicted the horrors of Southern slavery. The book helped to fuel Abolitionist sentiments during the 1850s and 60s in the North

Question 14

Gadsden Purchase

Answer 14

strip of territory through Arizona and New Mexico that the U.S. purchased from Mexico in 1853. Pierce authorized this to secure a southern route of the transcontinental railroad.

Question 15

Know-Nothing Party

Answer 15

political party developed in the 1850s claiming that the other parties were corrupt and that immigrants were destroying the American economy via low wages and Catholic practices.

Question 16

nativist

Answer 16

they stated that immigration should be limited or banned since immigrants hurt the U.S. economically or democratically. These groups continued to form throughout U.S. history in response to immigration waves.

Question 17

Republican Party

Answer 17

formed in 1854 out of the death of the Whig party. They attracted members of the Free-Soil movement and those who disagreed with slavery. Lincoln was the first president of this party which later became the party of “big business” after the Gilded Age.

Question 18

Bleeding Kansas

Answer 18

the result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act where abolitionists and pro-slavery advocates moved to Kansas to control the vote. This encouraged violence within Kansas to kick the other group out.

Question 19

Freeport Doctrine

Answer 19

introduced by Stephen Douglas with the idea that a territory could still prevent slavery by electing officials who were opposed to it and by creating laws and regulations to essentially make slavery illegal.

Question 20

Confederate States of America

Answer 20

11 former states seceded from the Union after the election of 1865. Their one and only president, Jefferson Davis was unable to defeat the North due to the lack of industrialization and railroad access.