Unit 5 Vocab (1844-1877) Flashcards
Manifest Destiny
The idea that the destiny of the US was to overspread and dominate the continent, with free settlement for their multiplying population - coined by John L. O’Sullivan
Californios
The elite Mexican ranchers of California who had huge lang grants and controlled society - many American agents intermarried into these families
“Fifty-four forty or fight”
James K. Polk’s presidential slogan, it meant that the US should ignore British claims and occupy the entire territory of Oregon, all the way to Alaska - declared his support for expansion
Conscience Whigs
Whigs who used conscious arguments and opposed slavery on moral grounds - accused Polk of waging a war of conquest in Mexico to expand the South and they refused the support the war
Wilmot Proviso
A proposition to congress, created by David Wilmot in 1846, to ban slavery in any territories gained from the Mexican war - it wasn’t accepted
Free-soil Movement
The movement that slavery was an aristocratic institution that was a great threat to the ordinary masses - thousands of northerners joined it to oppose slavery
Squatter Sovereignty
The idea that Congress would allow the settlers of territories to determine their states as free of slave - originally proposed by Senator Lewis Cass
Forty-niners: The term for the people (mostly men) who came seeking wealth in 1849 during the Gold Rush in California
Forty-niners
The term for the people (mostly men) who came seeking wealth in 1849 during the Gold Rush in California
Compromise of 1850
A plan by Henry Clay and Daniel Webster to solve the California crisis, it won the passage of 5 separate laws - 1) A new, harsher Fugitive Slave Act that gave more support to slavecatchers, 2) California was admitted as a free state, 3) Resolved Texas/New Mexico boundary dispute in favor of New Mexico, 4) Abolished slave trade in District of Columbia, 5) Organized rest of conquered lands into territories and invoked popular sovereignty - these laws were intended to placate the North and the South and create a long-lasting compromise
Personal Liberty Laws
Laws that guaranteed all residents the right to a jury trial - in response to new Fugitive Slave Act, it deterred slavecatchers
Gadsden Purchase
A treaty that gave the US a small slice of Mexican land, now part of Arizona and New Mexico - opened the way for a southern transcontinental railroad
“Slavery follows the flag”
An idea by John C. Calhoun that Congress didn’t have authority to stop planters from taking their slaves into new territories since it was their property - won support in Deep South
Ostend Manifesto
A petition organized by Secretary of State William L. Marcy that urged Pierce to seize Cuba
Kansas-Nebraska Act
A proposal by Stephen A. Douglas to destroy Indian Territory and open the land to settlement - so the US could build a transcontinental railroad through it. Formed 2 territories, Kansas and Nebraska, and organized on popular sovereignty
American, or Know-Nothing Party
A new party which had origins in anti-immigration and anti-Catholic movements - wanted to mobilize Protestants against the “alien menace” - wanted to prohibit immigration, and institute literacy tests for voting - northern members were antislavery
“Bleeding Kansas”
A term used to label Kansas in 1856, as the pro and anti slavery citizens clashed repeatedly and fought a guerilla war with each other
Dred Scott v. Sandford
case where Dred Scott, a slave, proclaimed his freedom after having lived in a free state. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where they declared that blacks couldn’t be citizens, so they didn’t have the right to sue. Also, that Congress couldn’t prevent slaveowners from moving slaves into free states. (Thus made Missouri Compromise/Northwest Ordinance invalid), and that Congress couldn’t prohibit slavery in any territories - only once the state adopted an antislavery Constitution could that happen - very controversial proslavery decision
Freeport Doctrine
The idea by Douglas that a territories resident could exclude slavery by not adopting laws to protect it - didn’t please either pro or anti slave advocates
Crittenden Compromise
A proposed compromise to end secession by Senator John J. Crittenden - had 2 parts: 1) A constitutional amendment to protect slavery in states where it already existed; 2) Westward expansion of the Missouri Compromise line. IT was rejected - there would be no compromise
Total War
Tee term for when a side devotes ALL of their resources - political, economic, cultural - to win the war. Also tried to win at all costs, and destroy all of the enemies resources - burn crop fields and towns, target cities, etc.
Draft (conscription)
Forced military service, usually for young men - first one was during the Civil War
Habeas Corpus
Legal instruments used to protect people from arbitrary arrest - Lincoln suspended this during the Civil War, so he could keep people in jail without a trial
King cotton
The leading American export and a crucial staple of the economy - term was used to show the power cotton had
Greenbacks
The term for the paper money issued in the Legal Tender Act - it was printed on green paper, and the public was forced to accept it. First national paper currency, but it was slightly inflated as Congress printed $150 million to pay for war
“Contrabands”
The term created by Benjamin Butler for the escaped slaves who used the wartime chaos to flee the South - the North was legally supposed to return them, but they didn’t. Soon thousands were camping with the Union armies for protection
Radical Republicans
Members of the party who had bitterly opposed “Slave Power” since the 1850s - argued for emancipation, and eventually pressured Lincoln to make the Emancipation Proclamation
Emancipation Proclamation
By Lincoln, it legally abolished slavery in all states that remained out of the Union by January 1, 1863. The Proclamation was politically astute - it didn’t end slavery in border states that were a part of the Union, so they would continue supporting the war. Thus, it didn’t actually free a single slave, but had pushed slavery to the “edge of the Niagara”, where it would soon be swept off the brink
Scorched-Earth Campaign
The practice of destroying grain, barns, and other resources useful to the enemy - practiced by the North, and changed the previous norms of warfare which had treated civilians as noncombatants. Turned the enemy land into a “scorched Earth”
War and Peace Democrats
The splitting of the Democrat Party - war Democrats vowed to continue fighting till the end of the war, and Peace Democrats advocated for an armistice and a convention to negotiate peace
“Hard war”
The philosophy that ALL the people of one nation are enemies of the other when they are at war with each other
March to the Sea
Sherman’s march across the South towards the sea, where his army consumed or demolished everything in their path, and generally caused havoc. Huge success, demoralized the South a LOT - burned Atlanta and Columbia. Total war
Ten Percent Plan
A potential plan offered by Lincoln during wartime that would allow each rebellious state to return to the Union after 10% of their voters had taken a loyalty oath, and they had accepted the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery. But even amid defeat, Confederates rejected this plan
Another proposition for how to allow CSA states to reenter the Union, although harsher - it required an oath of allegiance by a majority of voters, new governments of people who had never taken up arms, and disenfranchisement of CSA leaders. But Lincoln defeated it with a pocket veto
Wade-Davis Bill
Black Codes
Laws enacted during Reconstruction that aimed to restore slavery in all but name - designed to force new freemen back to plantation labor
Freedmen’s Bureau
Established in March 1865 by Congress to aid displaced blacks and other war refugees - in early 1866, Congress extended the bureau and gave them real funding. One of the only successful institutions of Reconstruction, it aided many
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Declared formerly enslaved people to be citizens and granted them equal protection and rights of contract, with full access to the courts - provoked bitter conflict
Fourteenth
1868, declared that anyone born in the US was a citizen, and no state could abridge the privileges granted to US citizens - declared when peoples essential rights were at stake, national citizenship took priority
Reconstruction Act of 1867
Divided the South into 5 military districts - to rejoin the Union, they had to grant vote to freedmen and take it away from ex-Confederates, and ratify 14th Amendment to guarantee black suffrage
Fifteenth Amendment
February 1869, it protected male citizens’ right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous servitude. Despite that, it still left room for a poll tax and literacy requirements
American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA)
One organization formed after the rift in women’s’ movements, it was the majority - this group reconciled themselves to disappointment, and remain loyal to Republicans with hopes that after REconstruction it would be womens’ turn
National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA)
A new group led by Stanton and Anthony, they saw that once Reconstruction was over womens’ suffrage was unlikely in near future - focused EXCLUSIVELY on womens’ rights
Minor v. Happersett
1875, ruled that suffrage rights were NOT inherent in citizenship - women were citizens but states could deny them the right to vote if they wished
Sharecropping
The new system of cotton agriculture, where freedmen worked as renters, exchanging labor for use of land, house, and implements, typically turned over half their crop. Effective but unequal relationship
Union League
Late 1960s, black and white Republicans joined forces in a secret fraternal association. Formed in border states, became a powerful political face as it spread through Confederacy - grassroots Radical Republicanism
Scalawags
The term for southern whites who supported Reconstruction - created by ex-Confederates
Carpet-baggers
Another term, this one was used to describe northern whites as self-seeking interlopers in southern society, looking for personal gain
Convict Leasing
The system where Southern Reconstruction governments hired out prisoners for labor in the race for economic development - horrid conditions, and rife with corruption
Civil Rights Act of 1875
Required “full and equal” access to jury service and to transportation and public accommodations, irrespective of race
Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company
A private bank founded in 1865 that had worked closely with Freedmen’s Bureau - associated with party of Lincoln, and thousands of African Americans brought their savings to their nearest branch - but it failed in June 1874
Classical Liberalism
The ideas of free trade, small government, low property taxes, and limitation of voting rights to men of education and power
Laissez Faire
The liberal response to the massive increase of federal power - argued that the government should “let alone” business and economy
Crédit Mobilier
A sham corporation set up by shareholders in Union Pacific Railroad to secure government grants at enormous profits - protected it from investigation by giving gifts of stock to powerful members of Congress
“Redemption”
The term for the force ex-Confederates used to terrorize Republicans and blacks, often taking lives - called themselves “Redemptioners”
Ku Klux Klan
A white supremacist group formed in late 1865 or early 1866, they unleashed a murderous campaign of terror - burned freemens schools, beat teachers, attacked Republican gatherings, and murdered political opponents and African Americans
Enforcement Laws
Designed to protect freedmen’s rights, these laws authorized federal prosecutions, military intervention and martial law to suppress terrorist activity
Slaughter-house cases
A group of decisions beginning in early 1873 by the Supreme Court that began to undercut the power of the 14th Amendment
US v. Cruikshank
1876, the justices argued the 14th Amendment only offered a few trivial federal protections to citizens - if private groups violated former slaves right to vote, it wasn’t federal jurisdiction - could only act if the STATE violated rights. Said federal government could do nothing against Ku Klux Klan and other groups forcing blacks to not vote
Civil Rights Cases
1883, the court struck down Civil Rights Act of 1875, paving the way for other legislation that would legalize segregation
Transcontinental Railroad
The term for a single railroad that goes across the entire country - first one was finished on May 10, 1869 by the Union and Central Pacific companies
Protective Tariff
A tariff on manufactured goods that helped promote American manufacturing, because it made products from other countries more expensive so people would buy American versions
Treaty of Kanagawa
An 1854 treaty by Commodore Matthew Perry that allowed US ships to refuel at 2 Japanese ports - led to Japan opening borders to trade by 1858
Burlingame Treaty
A treaty in 1868 by William Seward with China that guaranteed the rights of US missionaries in China and set terms for the emigration of Chinese laborers
Munn v. Illinois
1877, the Supreme Court affirmed that states could regulate key businesses that were “clothed in public interest”. But they feared too many regulations would impede business, so they interpreted the “due process” clause of the 14th Amendment as shielding corporations from excessive regulation
Gold Standard
The idea that paper notes could be backed in gold held in the bank’s vaults. A new standard monetary value, the US switched over in the 70s and 80s, which limited the nations money supply
Crime of 1873
A critics term for the 1873 law that switched the US to the gold standard - sharply limited the nations money supply
Homestead Act
1862, it gave 160 acres of federal land for free to any applicants who occupied and improved the property - Republicans hoped it would help build up the interior West
Morrill Act
A federal act that set aside 140 million federal acres that states could sell to raise money for public universities
Land-grant Colleges
The term for the colleges created by the Morrill Act - the goal of them was to broaden educational opportunities and foster technical and scientific expertise
Comstock Lode
A huge silver load found in Nevada in 1859, it built the boomtown Virginia City and caused many to move there to work as miners
Long Drive
When ranchers from Texas hired cowboys to herd cattle hundreds of miles north to the new rail lines that extended into Kansas, where those same cattle were worth SIGNIFICANTLY more
“Rain follows the plow”
The idea by Americans that settlement in the arid Great Plains was increasing rainfall. Some attributed it to soil cultivation, and others credited God. There were many proposed explanations, but nobody complained about the wet cycle from 1878 to 1886
Exodusters
The term African Americans who emigrated to Kansas from the South called themselves. They did this to escape poverty and violence, with most carrying little more than the clothes on their backs and their faith in God
Yellowstone National Park
The first national park - railroad tourism and lobbying was a strong motive in creating it. But the process had lots of complications - nobody knew what a national park was or how to operate it
US Fisheries Commission
1871, it was created to stem the decline in wild fish. By the 1930s, it merged with other federal wildlife bureaus to form the US Fish and Wildlife Service
Sand Creek Massacre
Cheyenne chief Black Kettle was told to settle along the banks of Sand Creek until a treaty could be signed. But Chivington’s Colorado militia attacked the camp while most men were hunting, slaughtering more than 100 women and children. It led the northern plains to EXPLODE in conflict
Fetterman Massacre
December 1866, 1,500 Sioux warriors executed a perfect ambush, luring Captain William Fetterman and 80 soldiers and wiping them out completely. The Sioux succeeded in closing the Bozeman trail, a private road that served as a major route into Montana
Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock
1903, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress could make whatever Indian policies they wanted, ignoring all existing treaties
Dawes Severalty Act
1882, it was the most sweeping effort to assimilate Indians - divided tribal lands, hoping to force Indians into individual homesteads, and Dawes hoped that landownership would encourage assimilation. But it was a complete disaster, and played perfectly into the hands of those who wanted native land, outraging Dawes
Battle of Little Bighorn
Lieutenant Colonel Custer had led 210 men in an ill-considered assault on a native camp, and the assault force was killed to the last man. Long after the war was over, it was romanticized as Custer’s “last stand” and the Battle of Little Bighorn, justifying the US Armies attacked against Native Americans
Ghost Dance Movement
Late 1880s and early 90s, it fostered native hopes that they could resurrect the bison and call a great storm to drive whites back across the Atlantic, through sacred dancers. The US was fearful of this, like most native movements, and they persecuted the Ghost Dancers
Wounded Knee
1890, a group of Lakota Sioux Ghost Dancers left their reservation and were pursued by the US army. On december 29, the army caught up with them and killed 150-310. It could’ve been avoided, and stands as a final indictment of decades of relentless US expansion, white ignorance and greed, chaotic and conflicting policies, and bloody mistakes
