Unit 5- Manifest Destiny and the Civil War Flashcards
Manifest Destiny
The idea that the US was destined “by God” to spread westward.
- US would expand its size
- Added new territory and eliminated Native Americans
Mexican American War
- War with Mexico over disputed territory
- US WINS! (Gains territory in the American Southwest)
Wilmot Proviso
Wilmot argued to make all new territory after Mexican American War “Free Territory”
- Favored poor white workers not opposed to slavery
Compromise of 1850
Compromise over slavery
- California becomes a free State
- Southerners get Fugitive Slave Act
California Gold Rush (49ers)
People flocked to California to find gold
- Led to California becoming a state
Oregon Trail
People moved west in Covered Wagons to start new lives in Oregon Territory
Free Soil Movement
Movement of people to make all new states new land “Free Land” opposed to slavery
Slavery as a Positive Good
Southern intellectual arguments supporting slavery
- Argued that Slavery was better for Negros than being free (clothing, housing, food, etc.)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Book published by Harriet Beecher Stowe
- Exposed the horrors of Slavery
- Increased calls for abolition
John Brown’s Raid
John Brown raided the military armory
- Goal was to give weapons to slaves and lead an armed slave revolt
Underground Railroad
Network of abolitionists that helped runaway slaves flee to the north
Fugitive Slave Act
Law required Northern States to return runaway slaves to their Masters in the South
Abolition Movement
Movement to end Slavery
- Led by Frederick Douglas and William Lloyd Garrison
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Act that allowed new territories (Kansas and Nebraska) to vote if they wanted Slavery or not
- Led to Violence because both groups were fighting for control
Bleeding Kansas
Mini war between Pro-slavery advocates and Free Soilers in Kansas over the decision of Slavery in Kansas.
Dred Scott Decision (Dred Scott v. Sandford)
Supreme Court case that ruled that Slaves could not sue for citizenship because they are considered property (even in a free state)
- increased tensions between North and South
Republican Party
Political Party that combined the Free Soil Party with the Whig Party
- Became popular in the 1850s (anti-slavery platform)
Abraham Lincoln
16th President (Republican)
- Election led to the Civil War
- Anti-Slavery
Election of 1860
- Abraham Lincoln is elected President
- Southern States secede as a result - afraid Lincoln would end slavery
Civil War
War between the South (Confederate States) and the United States (North)
- North wins the Civil War
Emancipation Proclamation
Law ending slavery in slave states (many had seceded)
- Strengthened the Northern effort during the war
Reconstruction
Time period of massive change after the Civil War (1865-1877)
- New Laws and protection for African Americans
- Education
- Etc.
Radical Republicans
- Republican Congressmen from the North that wanted to punish the South for the Civil War
- Sent the military to enforce new laws and protect former slaves
13th Amendment
Ended Slavery (Free)
14th Amendment
Created Citizenship protections for Former Slaves (Citizens)
15th Amendment
Gave Black men the right to vote (Vote)
Reconstruction Act of 1867
Law the created guidelines for and financed reconstruction
- Freedmen’s Bureau
- Military Occupation
- Created guidelines for southern states to follow
Freedmen’s Bureau
Organization that helped former slaves find housing, jobs, etc.
- Created education opportunities (HBCUs)
Carpetbaggers
Northerners who moved to the south to aid African Americans or to profit from reconstruction
Scalawags
Southerners who helped African Americans during Reconstruction
Sharecropping
Contracts (by former slave owners) that employed former slaves on plantations.
- often abused labor
- a legal form of slavery (was difficult to get out of)
Black codes
Laws passed in Southern states that limited the freedoms and opportunities for African Americans
Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
Organization that developed during reconstruction to abuse or intimidate former slaves
Jim Crow Laws (era)
Laws that enforced segregation, happened after reconstruction ended (no more military protection)
Plessy v. Ferguson
Supreme Court case said Segregation is LEGAL
- “Separate but equal”
Compromise of 1877
- Officially ended Reconstruction
- Hayes wins the Presidency (Republican)
- Government has to pull the military out of the South and allow southern states to govern themselves.
