Emancipation & Reconstruction
This executive order, issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, declared all slaves in Confederate-held territory to be free.
Emancipation Proclamation
This Union general served as the commander of the Army of the Potomac and later became the 18th President of the United States.
Ulysses S. Grant
This term refers to Southern Democrats who opposed Reconstruction and sought to regain political power in the South through violence, intimidation and voter suppression.
Redeemers
This belief, popular in the 19th century, asserted that the United States was destined to expand across the North American continent from coast to coast.
Manifest Destiny
This economic system, prevalent in the Southern states, relied heavily on slave labor and contributed to sectional tensions leading up to the Civil War.
This amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery in the United States.
13th Amendment
This Confederate general, known for his daring tactics and nickname, was mortally wounded by friendly fire at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
This congressional committee, established in 1867, investigated Southern state governments and played a key role in exposing corruption and violence during Reconstruction.
Joint Committee on Reconstruction
This treaty, signed in 1848, ended the Mexican-American War and ceded vast territories from Mexico to the United States, including present-day California, New Mexico & Arizona.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This 1854 legislation intensified sectional conflict by allowing settlers in two specific territories to determine whether they would allow slavery within their borders - attributing said territories' names to the law.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This piece of legislation, passed in 1867, divided the former Confederate states in military districts and required them to adopt new constitutions granting African American men the right to vote.
Reconstruction Act of 1867
This abolitionist and Union recruiter famously led a raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in 1859, in an attempt to instigate a slave rebellion.
John Brown
This legislation, passed by Congress in 1866 over President Johnson's veto, provided legal protection to African Americans and empowered the federal government to intervene in Southern states to protect their rights.
Civil Rights Act of 1866
This future president, known for his role in the Mexican-American War, led American forces to victory in several key battles, including the Battle of Buena Vista.
Zachary Taylor
This Supreme Court decision, handed down in 1857, ruled that African Americans, whether free or enslaved, were not citizens and could not sue in federal court.
Dred Scott v. Sandford
This agency, established in 1865, provided assistance to newly freed African Americans by providing food, housing, medical aid and education.
The Freedmen's Bureau
This Confederate president, known for his states' rights principles, struggled to maintain unity and support for the Confederate cause throughout the Civil War.
Jefferson Davis
This Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, including former slaves.
14th Amendment
This controversial idea, suggested that slavery not be allowed into new territories acquired through the Mexican-American War.
Wilmot's Proviso
This political party, founded in the 1850's, opposed the expansion of slavery into the Western territories and played a significant role in the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.
Republican Party
This term refers to the laws enacted by Southern states in the late 19th century to enforce racial segregation and restrict the rights of African Americans.
Jim Crow Laws
This Union nurse, known as the "Angel of the Battlefield," founded the American Red Cross and played a crucial role in providing medical care during the Civil War.
Clara Barton
This Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1870, prohibited the denial of voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
15th Amendment
This event, occurring in 1846, marked the beginning of the Mexican-American War when Mexican and American troops clashed along the disputed Texas-Mexico border.
The Thornton Affair (Thornton Skirmish)
This event, which occurred in April 1861, marked the beginning of the Civil War when confederate forces attacked a Union fort in South Carolina.