Antebellum
Agreement that brought Missouri into the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state; in addition, Congress banned slavery north of the 36˚20’ line of latitude.
Missouri Compromise
The 16th president of the United States, who preserved the Union during the U.S. Civil War and brought about the emancipation of slaves.
Abraham Lincoln
A U.S. Civil War Union Army leader known for his March in which he and his troops laid waste to Georgia and other Southern states.
William T. Sherman
Union strategy during the Civil War which incorporated a plan to blockade Southern ports and capture the Mississippi River that resembled a snake squeezing its prey to death.
Anaconda Plan
Plan of Andrew Johnson allow the South readmission into the Union if 10% of the population swore an oath of allegiance to the United States and ratified the 13th amendment, which officially ended slavery in the United States.
Presidential Reconstruction
Agreement between the North and South that allowed California to enter the union in exchange for the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act.
Compromise of 1850
Abraham Lincoln defeated three opponents to win the presidency; upon Lincoln’s election Southern states seceded from the Union.
Election of 1860
A series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864; a Union military campaign led by William T. Sherman from May 1864-September 1864 with the Atlanta as the ultimate objective; Sherman’s army marched from Chattanooga to Atlanta.
Atlanta Campaign
A naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The Union wanted to try and choke off resupply to the South, and to prevent the shipment of arms, ammunition and material to the Southern States.
Union Blockade
Period where Congress took responsibility for bringing the South back into the Union. Southern states were required to pass the 14th amendment in order to be
readmitted into the Union.
Congressional Reconstruction
Supreme Court ruling that declared slaves were not citizens of the United States.
Dred Scot Case
Southern States succeeded from the United States because Lincoln had promised to not allow this to spread to any new states.
Slavery
Union victory; this one day battle allowed Union forces to inch closer to the city in the Atlanta Campaign; was not the battle that allowed Union Troops to occupy the city.
Battle of Atlanta
Once this fort was destroyed, the North was able to effectively restrict ships from entering or leaving the Savannah River stopping Georgia's trade with the world outside the Confederacy.
Fort Pulaski
Period where the military took responsibly for
bringing the South back into the Union; the South was divided into military districts.
Military Reconstruction
Law that required runaway slaves to be returned to their masters if caught
anywhere in the United States.
Fugitive Slave Act (1850)
Document that declared all slaves in the rebellious states would be freed if the South did not return to the Union by January 1, 1863.
Emancipation Proclamation
Union military campaign led by William T. Sherman from November 15-December 25, 1864 with Savannah being the ultimate objective; more importantly Sherman used a “scorched earth” policy to end the South’s will to fight.
March to the Sea
(September 18-20, 1863) - Confederate victory; largest battle fought in Georgia;
led to the battle of Chattanooga.
Battle of Chickamauga
Federal agency created in 1865 to provide aid to former slaves (freedmen).
Freedmen’s Bureau
The act of separating from a nation or state and becoming independent; the withdrawal
of eleven southern states from the Union in 1860, leading to the Civil War.
Secession
Became president when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in April of 1865.
Andrew Johnson
All of the assets that are used or can be used by the enemy are targeted, such as food sources, transportation, communications, industrial resources, and even the people in the area; Sherman employed this policy during his March to the Sea campaign.
“Scorched Earth” Policy
Infamous Civil War prisoner-of-war camp in Macon County, Georgia where Over 13,000
Union soldiers died.
Andersonville
Farmers who agreed to work on a landowner’s property in exchange for land, farming equipment, and seed; sharecroppers were required to provide the land owner with a share of the crop.
Sharecropping