Manifest Destiny & Mexican American War
What slogan expressed the American desire to expand to the Pacific Ocean?
“Manifest Destiny” which is the belief that the U.S. was destined to expand westward to the Pacific.
What law required citizens to assist in the return of escaped enslaved people?
The Fugitive Slave Act required citizens to help catch runaway enslaved people and penalized those who aided escape.
Who won the election of 1860?
Abraham Lincoln won the presidency in 1860
What was the purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people in Confederate states and shifted the war’s focus to ending slavery.
What compromise ended Reconstruction?
The Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction when Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the presidency in exchange for withdrawing federal troops from the South
What treaty ended the Mexican-American War?
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the war and gave the U.S. land including California and the Southwest.
Who proposed the Compromise of 1850?
Henry Clay proposed the Compromise of 1850
Why did Southern states begin to secede after the 1860 election?
Southern states feared Lincoln would abolish slavery, so they seceded to protect their way of life
What was the Freedmen’s Bureau and what did it do?
The Freedmen’s Bureau helped formerly enslaved people by providing food, education, and legal support
What group used violence to suppress Black civil rights during Reconstruction?
The Ku Klux Klan used terror and violence to intimidate Black citizens and suppress voting.
What was the main territorial result of the Mexican-American War?
The U.S. gained the Mexican Cession (California, Nevada, Utah, parts of several other states)
Name one cause of the breakdown of compromise between North and South?
One major cause was the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which overturned the Missouri Compromise and allowed popular sovereignty.
What was the first state to secede from the Union?
South Carolina was the first state to secede in December 1860.
Name one major change the federal government made to promote Reconstruction in the South.
The Military Reconstruction Acts divided the South into districts and required new constitutions that guaranteed Black suffrage.
What was the “Lost Cause” narrative?
The “Lost Cause” myth romanticized the Confederacy, portraying the war as a noble fight for states’ rights and minimizing slavery’s role.
What law reignited the slavery debate in the new territories after the war?
The Wilmot Proviso proposed banning slavery in land won from Mexico, creating sectional tensions that had happened in the past.
How did “Bleeding Kansas” represent a failure of compromise?
“Bleeding Kansas” showed how popular sovereignty led to violent conflict between pro- and anti-slavery settlers.
What did the Crittenden Compromise attempt to do?
The Crittenden Compromise tried to prevent secession by protecting slavery in southern territories, but it failed
What were Black Codes?
Black Codes were laws that restricted the rights of freed Black Americans in the South.
Why did Reconstruction ultimately fail?
Reconstruction failed due to Southern resistance, Northern fatigue, economic issues, and Supreme Court decisions that weakened protections for African Americans
How did the Mexican-American War contribute to rising tensions leading to the Civil War?
The war expanded U.S. territory and intensified debates over whether new states would allow slavery, fueling sectionalism
Explain how the Compromise of 1850 tried to appease both the North and the South, and why it failed long-term?
The Compromise of 1850 gave the North California as a free state and banned the slave trade in D.C., but gave the South a stronger Fugitive Slave Law. It temporarily delayed conflict but didn’t resolve slavery issues.
Analyze the impact of the 1860 election on the political divisions in the U.S
Lincoln’s win with no Southern electoral votes highlighted deep divisions. His stance against the spread of slavery was unacceptable to many Southerners
Compare Presidential Reconstruction and Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction
Presidential Reconstruction (Johnson’s plan) was lenient to the South, while Congressional Reconstruction (Radical Republicans) imposed stricter requirements and protected Black civil rights.
How did the Supreme Court limit the success of Reconstruction?
The Supreme Court limited Reconstruction by weakening the 14th and 15th Amendments (e.g., in U.S. v. Cruikshank and the Civil Rights Cases), allowing discrimination to continue.