I Lose, You Lose
In 1820, the compromise named for this state included drawing a line from its southern border westward, making slavery forbidden north of the line, and allowable south of it.
What is Missouri?
Who is James K. Polk?
This key 1861 battle (one of only a few fought that year) resulted in a humiliating Union retreat and prompted serious re-evaluations of how long the war was likely to last.
What is First Bull Run (or First Manassas)?
This invention facilitated the removal of cotton seeds, and made large-scale cotton production possible.
What is the cotton gin?
Major Robert Anderson was put in the unenviable position of having to defend this location off the coast of South Carolina. His decisive actions made him a national hero in the north.
What is Fort Sumter?
This controversial piece of the Compromise of 1850 included this law, which northern states complained turned them into unwilling slave catchers.
What is the Fugitive Slave Act? (or Law)
Who is Zachary Taylor?
This evocative name was given to Winfield Scott's master plan to defeat the South. Ultimately successful, it was initially unpopular because it anticipated a lengthy war.
What is "Cotton is King"?
This man became a zealot for the abolitionist cause, traveling to Kansas as a free soiler, and later plotting his own raid on the national arsenal at Harper's Ferry.
Who is John Brown?
This "Little Giant" from Illinois was a prominent Democratic politician, rival of Abraham Lincoln, and the author of the patched-together Compromise of 1850.
Who is Stephen Douglas?
The Election of 1860 was hotly contested to the point that this many candidates received at least some electoral votes.
What is four?
Southerners largely believed that they would have no trouble defeating the Union because they believed this about Northern men.
What is they were not good fighters?
This country was deeply reliant on the American cotton industry for its own industrial purposes, a fact which pro-slavery advocates repeatedly pointed out.
What is England?
This western explorer, guide, and namesake for a Nebraska town became the first Republican candidate for President in 1856.
Who is John C. Fremont?
What is popular sovereignty?
His inaction as the nation slid into massive crisis has repeatedly earned him rankings as the worst-ever US president.
Who is James Buchanan?
This important but oft-overlooked military position is responsible for outfitting and supplying troops. In the Union, the role was capably filled for much of the war by Montgomery Meigs.
What is Quartermaster?
Children born in enslavement would be enslaved if their mothers were, a principle called this.
What is "Follow the condition of the mother"?
Roger B. Taney, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, wrote an extremely controversial judgment in a case regarding which man's claim to freedom?
Who is Dred Scott?
The many failed compromises that did not adequately reconcile pro- and anti-slavery forces ultimately killed off this once-prominent political party. Many of its former members joined the new Republican party.
What are the Whigs?
This one-term president was elevated to the presidency when the previous president died. Later, in 1856, he ran for president on the "Know Nothing" ticket- and got 20% of the national vote.
Who is Millard Fillmore?
One challenge that the Union faced early on was the deep corruption and profound incompetence of Simon Cameron. What critical position did Cameron unfortunately hold?
As demand for enslaved labor grew in the South thanks to cotton's profitability, so too did white enslavers' fears about slave uprisings. An 1831 rebellion by this man seemed to confirm these fears.
This woman was a prolific diarist throughout the war, and her marriage to a prominent South Carolinian gave her insight to how the war played out in elite Confederate circles.
Who is Mary Chesnut?