Causes & Terms
This machine made cotton processing faster and increased demand for enslaved labor.
Cotton gin.
This 1820 agreement admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.
Missouri Compromise.
The political party that wanted to stop the spread of slavery into new territories (short name).
Free Soil Party.
She wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin and influenced Northern public opinion against slavery.
Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Term for loyalty to a region (North vs. South) that increased tensions before the Civil War.
Sectionalism.
The time period before the Civil War (roughly late 1700s–1861) is called this.
Antebellum period.
The 1854 law that allowed territories to use popular sovereignty and led to violent conflict in Kansas.
Kansas-Nebraska Act.
The first state to secede from the Union after Lincoln's election.
South Carolina.
Formerly enslaved man who became a powerful abolitionist, writer, and speaker.
Frederick Douglass.
What effect did the cotton gin have on the institution of slavery? (one sentence)
It made cotton profitable and expanded demand for enslaved labor.
Name the secret network of routes and safe houses that helped enslaved people escape.
Underground Railroad.
This 1850 law made it easier for escaped enslaved people to be returned to their owners, angering the North.
Fugitive Slave Law (Compromise of 1850).
This Illinois series of debates brought national attention to Abraham Lincoln and the issue of slavery’s expansion.
Lincoln–Douglas Debates.
Leader of the Underground Railroad who helped many enslaved people escape.
Harriet Tubman.
Name the violent events in Kansas between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers.
"Bleeding Kansas."
The idea that settlers in a territory should vote to decide whether slavery is allowed.
Popular sovereignty.
Name the 1859 raid led by a radical abolitionist that attempted to start an armed slave rebellion at a federal arsenal.
John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry.
The compromise that admitted California as a free state and included a stricter fugitive slave law.
Compromise of 1850.
Radical abolitionist who led the Harpers Ferry raid.
John Brown.
How did Uncle Tom’s Cabin affect Northern attitudes toward slavery? (one sentence)
It increased anti-slavery sentiment in the North by exposing slavery’s cruelty.
The forced migration of enslaved people within the United States, especially to the Deep South, after the international slave trade ended.
Second Middle Passage.
This 1857 Supreme Court decision declared that enslaved people were not citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in the territories.
Dred Scott v. Sandford.
Explain briefly how the Dred Scott decision increased sectional tensions (one- or two-sentence answer).
It outraged Northerners, strengthened Southern positions, and declared Congress could not prohibit slavery in territories, making political compromise harder.
Southern leader who became president of the Confederate States of America.
Jefferson Davis.
Describe how the election of 1860 led to Southern secession (two sentences).
Lincoln’s election showed the South it had lost influence in national politics; several Southern states seceded, starting with South Carolina.