Unit 8 Vocabulary

Question 1

compromise

Answer 1

agreement in which both sides give something and get something

Question 2

John C. Calhoun

Answer 2

pro-slavery senator who represented southern economic and political interests, worked to defend slavery and the power of state governments, and said “Union, next to Liberty, most dear”

Question 3

abomination

Answer 3

something that is completely outrageous and intolerable

Question 4

Henry Clay

Answer 4

anti-slavery senator and supporter of tariffs and a strong federal government, represented western economic and political interests, and developed the MO Compromise in 1820 to keep the balance between slave and free states

Question 5

John Brown’s raid

Answer 5

white abolitionist who launched a violent, but unsuccessful slave revolt in VA; southerners feared future slave revolts; seen as a hero in the north and a martyr for the abolitionist movement; the violence showed that the question of slavery probably would not be settled peacefully

Question 6

secede

Answer 6

to withdraw or break away from a group

Question 7

“King Cotton”

Answer 7

name given to the most profitable agricultural product grown on southern plantations; helped by the cotton gin, the economic success of this product led to an increase in the demand for slave labor

Question 8

“peculiar institution”

Answer 8

legal way that people describe slavery in the 1800s, knowing it was not ethical; the word slavery was deemed “improper” and was actually banned in certain areas

Question 9

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

Answer 9

led a violent slave revolt in VA in 1831 and as a result of this event, the southerners passed stricter laws to tightly control the activities of both enslaved and free blacks

Question 10

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Answer 10

landmark Supreme Court opinion in which a slave sued for his freedom and was denied that freedom because he did not have the rights of citizens to sue in court

Question 11

states’ rights

Answer 11

political idea that states should control all issues/ laws in a state not specifically given to the federal government, and was used by Southern states to argue that they had the right to nullify (ignore) federal laws they did not agree with, such as possible bans on slavery

Question 12

Compromise of 1850

Answer 12

Henry Clay’s plan to deal with the slavery issue in which California would be admitted as a free state and a stricter Fugitive Slave Act would be added requiring escaped slaves be returned to the South

Question 13

sectionalism

Answer 13

economic, political, and social differences that exist between and can push apart different regions

Question 14

secession

Answer 14

condition of withdrawing or breaking away

Question 15

Election of 1860

Answer 15

candidate ran on a political platform to limit the spread of slavery and won the election; Abraham Lincoln was a sentar from Illinois and first candidate for the Republican Party; 7 Southern states immediately seceded; Civil War was imminent

Question 16

Daniel Webster

Answer 16

anti-slavery senator who represented northern economic and political interests, who was a supporter of a strong federal government and said “Liberty, Union, now and forever, one and inseparable”

Question 17

slave codes

Answer 17

laws in southern states that controlled enslaved people

Question 18

Underground Railroad

Answer 18

network of safe hiding places along a route to freedom in the North for enslaved people

Question 19

factory system

Answer 19

brought manufacturing steps together in one place increase efficiency

Question 20

nullification

Answer 20

legally rejecting a law