Road to secession
This 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe novel intensified northern abolitionism and heightened sectional tensions by humanizing the cruelities of enslaved people.
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The turning points of the war took place at these two locations:
Gettysburg and Vicksburg
The first state to secede from the Union did so following this event:
Lincoln's election victory of 1860
In April 1865, Robert E. Lee officially surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant at this Virginia location.
Appomattox Courthouse
This term describes the crucial group of slave states that chose not to secede and remained part of the Union.
This 1854 act overturned the Missouri Compromise by introducing popular sovereignty to the territories leading to violence and chaos
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This September 1862 battle in Maryland remains the bloodiest single day in American history and gave Lincoln the "victory" he needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
Antietam
This executive order, taking effect on January 1, 1863, reframed the purpose of the war, prevented European intervention, and freed enslaved people only in areas of rebellion.
Emancipation proclamation
Ratified in late 1865, this Reconstruction amendment formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the entire United States.
13th
What was cotton diplomacy?
The South's strategy to cut off cotton exports to England in an attempt to get them to join the war
In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled in this case that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress had no power to ban slavery in U.S. territories.
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Explain the three aspects of the North's Anaconda Plan
-- Capture the Mississippi
--Take the Confederate capital of Richmond
-- Blockade the Southern Ports
This was the faction of Northern Democrats who vehemently opposed the war and advocated for an immediate peace settlement with the Confederacy.
Copperheads
Abraham Lincoln delivered this famous speech in March 1865, urging "malice toward none" and "charity for all":
2nd inaugural address
Explain how Sherman used total war against the South and the impact it had on the war:
--Expedited the end of the war's end
What was the most contentious aspect of the Compromise of 1850. Explain.
Fugitive Slave Act
This massive 1862 Union offensive aimed to capture Richmond by bypassing northern Virginia and moving troops via the Chesapeake Bay, but it ultimately failed due to General McClellan's over-caution
Peninsula Campaign
Lincoln used his executive authority to suspend this constitutional right, which protects citizens against illegal imprisonment, in order to suppress dissent in border states like Maryland.
Habeas Corpus
Explain two aspects of the Gettysburg address and why it was significant:
-- re-emphasized the meaning of the war to ending slavery
-- to honor the fallen soldiers
-- to redefine the purpose of the war to the foundational ideals of liberty/equality
Explain why the war was so deadly compared to previous 19th century wars:
This 1846 legislative proposal to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico never passed the Senate, but it transformed American politics by shifting the national debate from party lines to strictly sectional ones.
Wilmot Proviso
How was Grant's strategy different than previous Union Generals that preceded him?
He relied on number superiority and engaged the Southern forces even if it meant high casualties for the North
Explain how Lincoln expanded the role of the Executive during his Presidency (3)
-- suspending habeas corpus
-- issuing executive orders
-- pushing legislation through while Congress was in recess
Which amendment reversed the Dred Scott decision?
14th: granted birthright citizenship to people born in the U.S.
This 1861 diplomatic crisis involved the Union navy seizing two Confederate diplomats from a British ship, nearly dragging Great Britain into the Civil War on the side of the South.
Trent Affair