Compromise of 1850
Slavery becomes outlawed in Washington D.C., California is admitted as a free state, and Utah and New Mexico will determine whether slavery is allowed through popular sovereignty. Also, the Fugitive Slave Law is passed.
Compromise of 1850
honest frontiersman from IL; the "rail-splitter" officially joined politics after the KS-NE act; challenged Douglas for the IL senate seat and although he put up a good fight, lost; won the election of 1860 as 1st successful Republican
-president thru civil war
Abraham Lincoln
organized in 1854 by antislavery Whigs, Democrats, and Free Soilers in response to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act; nominated John C. Frémont for president in 1856 and Abraham Lincoln in 1860
Republican Party
Secession winter was the winter of 1860-1861, when 7 southern states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas) seceded in rapid succession.
Secession Winter
A fort in SE South Carolina, guarding Charleston Harbour. Its capture by Confederate forces (1861) was the first action of the Civil War.
Fort Sumter
notion that the sovereign people of a given territory should decide whether to allow slavery. Seemingly a compromise, it was largely opposed by Northern abolitionists who feared it would promote the spread of slavery to the territories.
Popular Sovereignty
Whig slave holder. general that was a military leader in mexican-american war and 12th president of the united states. sent by president polk to lead the american army against mexico at rio grande, but defeated.
Zachary Taylor
aka the American Party; major political force from 1854-1855; objective: to extend period of naturalization, undercut immigrant voting strengths, and keep aliens in their place
Know-Nothing Party
Lincoln represented the Republicans. Stephen Douglas represented Northern Democrats, and John Breckinridge represented Southern Democrats. John Bell represented the Constitutional Party who wanted to heal the split between the North and South. Lincoln was not on the ballot in most southern states. It was primarily a sectional election (north v. south). Lincoln received the most popular votes (40%) and won the election with the electoral vote.
Election of 1860
first major battle of the war that happened outside of Washington; people went with picnic baskets to watch the South come out victorious against the North; frenzied retreat proved the war would be longer than everyone thought
Bull Run / Manassas
these laws provided for the return of escaped slaves to their owners. The North was lax about enforcing the 1793 law, which irritated the South to no end. The 1850 law was tougher and was aimed at eliminating the underground railroad.
Fugitive Slave Act of 1852
Senator from Illinois who ran for president against Abraham Lincoln. Wrote the Kansas-Nebreaska Act and the Freeport Doctrine
Stephen Douglas
was against slavery in the new territories. They also advocated federal aid for internal improvements and urged free government homesteads for settlers.
Free Soil Party
Stated that exclusion of slavery in a territory (where it was legal) could be determined by the refusal of the voters to enact any laws that would protect slave property. Stated by Stephen Douglass during the Lincoln-Douglass debates, eventually led to his loss in the 1860 presidential election
Freeport Doctrine
After victory of Antietam Lincoln announces on the first of 1863 all slaves in the rebelling states would be free. AIM: injure confederacy, threaten its property, heighten its dread, hurt its morale.
Emancipation Proclamation
a compromise law in 1854 that suspended the Missouri Compromise and left it to voters in Kansas and Nebraska to determine whether they would be slave or free states. the law exacerbated sectional tensions when voters can to blows over the question of slavery in Kansas. It was very controversial, supported by President Pierce and not supported by Douglass
Kansas-Nebraska Act
For popular sovereignty. the 15th president of the united states (1857-1861). he tried to maintain a balance between proslavery and antislavery factions, but his moderate views angered radicals in both north and south, and he was unable to forestall the secession of south carolina on december 20, 1860.
James Buchanan
1856 - Charles Sumner gave a two day speech on the Senate floor. He denounced the South for crimes against Kansas and singled out Senator Andrew Brooks of South Carolina for extra abuse. Brooks beat Sumner over the head with his cane, severely crippling him.
Sumner-Brooks Incident
A series of seven debates. The two argued the important issues of the day like popular sovereignty, the Lecompton Constitution and the Dred Scott decision. One of the two won these debates, but the other's position in these debates helped him win in the 1860 presidential election.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
were a series of violent disturbances in New York City that were the culmination of discontent with new laws passed by Congress to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War
NYC Draft Riots
A sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-Slavery elements that took place in Kansas-Nebraska Territory. The dispute further strained the relations of the North and South, making civil war imminent.
Bleeding Kansas
The General of the Confederate troops; he was prosperous in many battles; was defeated at Antietam in 1862 when he retreated across the Potomac; this halt of Lee's troops justified Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation; he was defeated at Gettysburg by General Mead's Union troops; surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
Robert E. Lee
Democrats who opposed the civil war
Copperheads
Famous speech by Lincoln before the Civil War about the economy. "This country cannot be half slave and half free...."
"A House Divided"
Civil War battle in Penn. that ended in Union victory, spelling doom for the Confederacy, which never again managed to invade the North.Site of General George Pickett's daring but doomed charge on the Northern lines.
Battle of Gettysburg