Vocabulary Vault
To formally withdraw or break away from a country.
secede
He served as the President of the United States (the Union) throughout the war.
Abraham Lincoln
This novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe described the evils of slavery and increased tensions between the North and South.
"Uncle Tom's Cabin"
This site in South Carolina is where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.
Fort Sumter
This was the official name of the states that remained loyal to the United States.
Union
The term for a person who is killed or injured during a war.
casualty
This man was the President of the Confederate States of America.
Jefferson Davis
This Supreme Court case ruled that Black Americans were not citizens and were considered property.
Dred Scott v. Sandford
This 1863 battle is considered the "turning point" because it was the last time the South invaded the North.
Battle of Gettysburg
While the North was the Union, the states that left to form their own country were known as this.
Confederacy
This 12-year period following the war was marked by significant change and often violence.
Reconstruction Era
He was a prominent Union General who later became a U.S. President.
Ulysses S. Grant
Putting the interests of your own region above the interests of the entire nation.
sectionalism
At the start of the war, this side had the advantage of more factories and an advanced railroad system.
The Union, The North
This term was used to describe a person who supported the Union
Federal
The process of being set free from legal, social, or political restrictions.
emancipation
This Confederate General led the Army of Northern Virginia.
Who was Robert E. Lee
This group in the North owned manufacturing businesses and held significant political power.
Northern Elite
This was one of the few major military advantages held by the Confederacy.
fighting on familiar "home" territory
This term was used to describe anyone who supported the Confederacy.
Rebel
This term refers to the "before the civil war" time period in American history.
Antebellum
This actor and Confederate sympathizer was responsible for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
John Wilkes Booth
Southern states began to secede immediately following this political event.
Election of 1860
Lincoln stated this was his primary goal at the very beginning of the conflict.
preserving the Union
In a battle or war, this is the specific act of giving up or admitting defeat.
surrender