Events Leading to Civil War

Mexican-American War

100

The annexation of this state caused tension between the U.S. and Mexico

Texas

200

He led Mexican forces against the United States

Santa Anna

300

He was President when war was declared on Mexico

Polk

400

This treaty ended the Mexican-American War

Guadalupe Hidalgo

500

This tiny strip of land, in what is now Arizona and New Mexico, was bought from Mexico in 1853, shortly after the war was over

Gadsden Purchase

Congressional Actions

100

The Compromise of 1850 brought this free state into the U.S.

California

200

Henry Clay earned this nickname for his role in the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850

the Great Compromiser

300

This piece of legislation divided the remaining Louisiana Purchase into two territories in 1854

Kansas-Nebraska Act

400

This law made it a federal crime to provide assistance to people trying to escape enslavement in the south

Fugitive Slave Act

500

In this landmark SCOTUS case, Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled that Congress' previous attempts to outlaw slavery, such as the Missouri Compromise, were unconstitutional

Dred Scott case (Scott v. Sandford)

Ideas & Attitudes

100

Coined by John O'Sullivan, it was the idea that America had a right to expand from coast to coast

Manifest Destiny

200

Americans who settled in Texas had a different perspective about this practice than the Mexican government, who wanted it gone

Slavery

300

This refers to the idea of letting the voters of a particular place decide on issues, such as whether to be a slave or free state, directly

Popular sovereignty

400

He had an idea for a machine that caused cotton production--and enslaved labor--to increase drastically in the U.S.

Eli Whitney

500

This U.S. state got the idea to secede after Lincoln was elected in 1860 (we need the first one, please)

South Carolina

Vocabulary

100

Abstaining from drinking alcohol

Temperance

200

Someone fleeing or escaping something

Fugitive

300

Someone who advocates for the ending of slavery

Abolitionist

400

The idea that a state can cancel a federal law that they think is unconstitutional

Nullification

500

To withdraw (as in, from a country)

Secede

Miscellaneous

100

He massacred pro-slavery settlers during the time period known as Bleeding Kansas

John Brown

200

He was beaten--almost to death--for his remarks about slavery

Charles Sumner

300

Andrew Jackson signed this law into effect, which led to the forced relocation of thousands of Native Americans to reservations in the west

Indian Removal Act

400

A famous rallying cry from the Texas War for Independence: "Remember the _____!"

Alamo

500

A raid on a federal arsenal at this place did not go as planned--no enslaved people were freed, and the ringleader was tried and hanged

Harpers Ferry, Virginia