Expansion & Empire (Disunion)
What was the idea that the U.S. had a mission from God to expand westward?
Manifest Destiny
Which nearby island did Southerners hope to add as a new slaveholding territory?
Cuba
Which 1854 act let people in new territories vote on slavery?
The Kansas–Nebraska Act
What 1860 event triggered Southern secession?
Lincoln’s election
What was Lincoln’s stated goal at the beginning of the Civil War?
To preserve the Union
Which war (1846–1848) under President Polk expanded U.S. territory and reopened debates over slavery in new lands?
The Mexican–American War
What 1854 document written by U.S. diplomats argued that America could seize Cuba if Spain refused to sell it?
The Ostend Manifesto
What was Lincoln’s policy on slavery’s expansion?
Abraham Lincoln was firmly and consistently opposed to the expansion of slavery into new U.S. territories. He believed this restriction was essential to putting slavery on a path toward "ultimate extinction," while not interfering with it in the states where it already existed.
What failed plan tried to protect slavery by extending the Missouri line?
The Crittenden Compromise
What 1863 order freed enslaved people in rebelling Confederate states and gave the war a new moral purpose?
The Emancipation Proclamation
Which war raised the question, “Will slavery expand into new territories?”
The Mexican–American War
What name was given to private adventurers—like William Walker and Narciso López—who launched illegal invasions to expand U.S. influence?
Filibusters
What was the South’s fear if slavery couldn’t expand?
That slavery would “wither and die.”
What April 1861 event marked the official start of the Civil War?
The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter
What 1863 speech redefined the war as a test of democracy and equality for all?
The Gettysburg Address