1
The withdrawal of a group or state from a larger entity, especially a political union like a country
Secession
The 16th President of the United States who led the country during the American Civil War and is best known for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln
A collection of 11 Southern states that seceded from the United States and fought against the Union in the Civil War
Confederate States of America
The President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.
Jefferson Davis
A state formed during the Civil War when it broke away from Virginia and became a separate state in the Union.
West Virginia
The period in the history of the United States before the Civil War, typically referring to the Southern state
Antebellum
A person hired to manage and direct the work of slaves on a plantation.
Overseer
A system of labor used on plantations where enslaved individuals work in groups under the supervision of an overseer.
Gang System
A system of labor where enslaved individuals were assigned specific tasks to complete each day after which they had free time.
Task System
A federal fort in Charleston, South Carolina, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired in 1861.
Fort Sumter
A novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe that depicted the harsh realities of slavery and helped to fuel the abolitionist movement.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
American politician known for his debates with Abraham Lincoln and his support for popular sovereignty in relation to slavery.
Stephen Douglas
A law passed in 1854 that allowed the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The 15th President of the United States who served in the years leading up to the Civil War.
James Buchanan
Religious songs created by enslaved African Americans that often contained coded messages as well as provided hope and strength.
Spirituals
An African American woman who escaped from slavery and became a leading abolitionist known for her work as a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad.
Harriet Tubman
A prominent African American abolitionist, writer, and speaker who escaped from slavery and became a leader of the abolitionist movement.
Frederick Douglass
The congressman who physically assaulted Senator Charles Sumner on the Senate floor in 1856
Preston Brooks
A senator from Massachusetts and leading abolitionist who was severely beaten on the floor of the Senate for his anti-slavery views
Charles Sumner
An abolitionist who believed in using armed insurrection to overthrow the institution of slavery in the United States. He led the raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859
John Brown
A politician who served as the Vice President of the United States and later as a Confederate general during the Civil War
John C. Breckinridge
The Vice President of the Confederate States of America and a strong supporter of slavery.
Alexander Stephens
An enslaved man who sued for his freedom in a famous Supreme Court case that ruled African Americans were not citizens
Dred Scott
An abolitionist who published the newspaper "The Liberator" and was known for his radical views on ending slavery.
William Lloyd Garrison
American politician who ran for president in 1860 as the candidate of the Constitutional Union Party.
John Bell