People
Who was the US president during the Civil War?
Abraham Lincoln
Why is the Battle of Fort Sumter important?
It is the first battle of the Civil War
What are the years of the Civil War?
1861-1865
What is Manifest Destiny?
The idea that the US was meant to occupy the North American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific
What are the two big issues that led the Southern states to secede?
Slavery and states rights
Who was the president of the Confederate States of America?
Jefferson Davis
What two battles in 1863 are considered the turning point of the Civil War?
Gettysburg and Vicksburg
What year was the start of the California gold rush?
1849
What is the idea of popular sovereignty as expressed in the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
The people in the states get to decide whether the state will be free or slave
What caused Bleeding Kansas?
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Who was the "lame duck" president who let the Southern states secede?
James Buchanan
What are the Lincoln-Douglas debates and why are they important?
Illinois senatorial race in 1854. Put Lincoln and his position on slavery/preserving the Union into national spotlight and helped him become Republican presidential candidate in 1860.
When was Texas an independent republic?
1836-1845
What is the position of the abolitionists?
That slavery should be abolished in the US immediately and completely
1. What was the immediate cause of the Mexican-American War? 2. What was the broader cause?
1. Polk sending Taylor with troops into the disputed TX territory between the US and MX
2. The US annexing TX and wanting to gain the NM and CA territories
Who was the president of Manifest Destiny?
James K. Polk
Case: Dred Scott claimed he was free because he lived in a free state with his master
Decision: Dred Scott was a slave and therefore property, regardless of where he lived. US Constitution never intended to grant citizenship to nonwhite people.
When was the Mexican-American War?
1846-1848
What was the Republican position on slavery?
They wanted to stop the spread of slavery into new territories; didn't necessarily want to abolish it in the states where it already existed
What did the Emancipation Proclamation say? What was its effect?
It freed all slaves in the rebelling states by executive order but did not free slaves in loyal border states. It did not actually effect the lives of slaves but it did change the focus of the war to abolishing slavery rather than just preserving the Union
Who was Roger Taney and what is he remembered for?
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who decided the Dred Scott case.
What were the 5 parts of the Compromise of 1850?
1. Northern/western borders of TX set
2. NM and UT territories would decide on slavery via popular sovereignty
3. CA would enter as a free state
4. Slavery but not slave trade allowed in D.C.
5. Stronger federal Fugitive Slave Act
What date did South Carolina secede?
December 20, 1860
What was Lincoln's position on slavery and the United States?
He thought slavery was a moral evil BUT was not an abolitionist. He was focused on preserving the Union which was his responsibility as president. He thought the best chance of eventually ending slavery was by preserving the Union. He said he wouldn't abolish slavery in the states where it already existed, but he did want to stop his spread.
He thought the US could not continue half slave and half free; it would have to be all one or the other long-term.
How does the Mexican-American War lead to the Civil War? (Name the general reason and two specific Acts/laws)
The North and South became more divided on whether the new territory gained from the MX-US War would be slave or free. Compromise of 1850 and Kansas-Nebraska Act.