Causes of the Civil War
What was the Missouri Compromise?
An 1820 agreement that allowed Missouri to enter the US as a slave state and Maine as a free state, while creating the 36 30' line to stop the future expansion of slavery into the Louisiana Territory.
Who was Abraham Lincoln?
The president of the United States, who led the Union during the Civil War, issued the Emancipation Proclamation and opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories.
What was Fort Sumter?
A federal fort in South Carolina where Confederate forces fired the first shots of the Civil War in April 1861, officially beginning the conflict.
What was Reconstruction?
Reconstruction was the period after the Civil War when the United States worked to rebuild the South and reintegrate formerly Confederate states into the Union while addressing the rights of formerly enslaved people.
What was abolitionism?
Abolitionism was the movement to end slavery in the United States.
What was the Mexican-American War's impact on sectional tensions?
The war added large Western territories to the United States, sparking more debates over weather slavery would expand into the new lands and leading to conflicts such as the Wilmot Proviso.
Who was Frederick Douglass?
A formerly enslaved abolitionist, writer, and speaker who fought for the immediate abolition of slavery and advised Lincoln during the Civil War.
What was the Battle of Antietam?
The bloodiest single-day battle in American history, fought in 1862, which allowed Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
What was the significance of the 13th Amendment?
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, except as punishment for a crime.
What was the significance of the Underground Railroad?
The Underground Railroad was a secret network that helped enslaved people escape to free states and Canada, showing growing resistance to slavery.
What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
A law passed in 1854 that repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to decide the issue of slavery through popular sovereignty, leading to violent conflict known as "Bleeding Kansas."
Who was Ulysses S. Grant?
The commanding Union general whose victories at Vicksburg and Appomattox helped secure Union victory in the Civil War, before later becoming president during the Civil War.
What was the Battle of Gettysburg?
A major Union victory in 1863 that stopped General Lee's invasion of the North and is considered a turning point of the Civil War. It also helped the Union gain support from foreign nations such as Great Britain and France, because the Union proved that they had potential.
What was the purpose of the Freedman's Bureau?
The Freedman's Bureau helped formerly enslaved people and poor Southerners by providing food, education, medical care, and legal assistance after the Civil War.
Harriet Tubman was a formerly enslaved woman who became a leading conductor on the Underground Railroad and helped many enslaved people escape to freedom.
What was the Compromise of 1850?
A series of laws designed to reduce sectional conflict by admitting California as a free state, allowing popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico, ending the slave trade in Washington D.C., and creating a stricter Fugitive Slave Act.
Who was Robert E. Lee?
The commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia who led major Southern victories before surrendering to Grant at Appomattox Court House in 1865.
What was Sherman's March to the Sea?
A military campaign led by William Tecumseh Sherman in which Union forces destroyed Southern infrastructure, farms, and railroads to weaken the Confederacy's ability to continue fighting.
The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States and guaranteed equal protection under the law.
What was the significance of Uncle Tom's Cabin?
Uncle Tom's Cabin exposed the cruelty of slavery to many Northern readers and increased anti-slavery sentiment before the Civil War.
Explain the significance of the Dred Scott decision on the national debate over slavery.
The decision ruled Congress could not ban slavery in territories, strengthened Southern pro-slavery arguments, and convinced many Northerners that slavery would continue expanding westward.
Who was John C. Calhoun?
A Southern politician from South Carolina who strongly defended slavery, supported states' rights, and argued that states could nullify federal laws they viewed as unconstitutional.
What was the Siege of Vicksburg?
A major Union victory in 1863 led by Ulysses S. Grant that gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in two.
What was the significance of the Compromise of 1877?
The Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction by removing federal troops from the South, allowing Southern Democrats to regain control and leading to the rise of Jim Crow laws and increased discrimination against African Americans.
What was the significance of the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision?
The Dred Scott decision ruled that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in the territories, increasing sectional tensions between the North and South.