| Term | Definition |
|---|
| DEMOCRATS | Party in the 1800s that believed in: Liberty of the individual; States' rights; federal restraint in social and economic affairs |
| WHIGS | Party in the 1800s that believed in: Liberty important as well; Strong federal government |
| Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo | 1848 - Mexico gave up claims to Texas above the Rio Grande River.; Mexico gave the U. S. California and New Mexico; U.S. gave Mexico $15,000,000 and agreed to pay the claims of American citizens against Mexico (over $3,500,000). |
| Mexican Cession | Name given to land acquired as a result of the Mexican-American War? |
| Wilmot Proviso | WHEN: 1846; WHAT: President Polk submitted his Appropriations Bill of 1846 requesting Congress' approval of the $2 million indemnity to be paid to Mexico under the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo; A Pennsylvania representative attached a rider which would have barred slavery from the territory acquired; The SOUTH HATED THE IT and a new Appropriations Bill was introduced in 1847 without it. SIGNIFICANCE: It provoked one of the first debates on slavery at the federal level. Principles of the it became the core of the Free Soil, and later the Republican, Party. |
| Popular Sovereignty | WHEN: Election of 1848; WHO: Lewis Cass (Democrat); WHAT: The people of a territory should determine for themselves whether or not to permit slavery. |
| Zachary Taylor | WHO: "Hero of Buena Vista" - Ran for Whigs in 1848; WHAT: Not committed on slavery issue (owned slaves himself) in the Election of 1848 |
| Free Soil Party | WHEN: 1848 Election – Martin Van Buren; WHO: Industrialists, Democrats resentful of Polk just taking part of Oregon, northerners that wanted opportunity didn't want to share western lands with African-Americans, some "conscience Whigs" that were morally against slavery. WHAT: committed against the extension of slavery in the territories; advocated federal aid for internal improvements; urged free government homesteads (lands) for settlers |
| Election of 1848 | WHO:General Lewis Cass (Democrat); Zachary Taylor (Whig); Martin Van Buren (Free Soil) WHAT:Democrats and Whigs chose not to stir up the issue of slavery. Van Buren's votes throw the election to Zachary Taylor. FACT: Taylor got less than half of the popular vote! WHICH ELECTION? |
| Zachary Taylor | "Old Rough and Ready" – became hero in Mexican-American War" - No postage on nomination letter!" – WHY?; 2nd President to die in office! |
| California Gold Rush | WHEN: 1848 - RESULTS: Attracted thousands of settlers (49ers); Created the need for government in California; San Francisco turned into a "boom town"!; Brought up the issue of slavery in the territories - NAME FOR THIS EVENT? |
| Henry Clay, Daniel Webster (Whigs), Stephen Douglas (Democrat – Illinois) | THESE PEOPLE WERE FOR a compromise w/concessions for the South (During the heated debate to bring California in to the union) |
| John C. Calhoun – supported slavery; William "Higher Law" Seward – slavery went against a higher law (God) than the Constitution; Zachary Taylor – said he would not compromise with the South (influenced by Seward) | THESE PEOPLE WERE AGAINST a compromise w/concessions for the South (During the heated debate to bring California in to the union) |
| William Seward | WHO: Whig Senator from New York; WHAT: A strong anti-slaveryite - "Higher Law"; Christian legislators must obey God's moral law as well! Higher law than even the Constitution! |
| Compromise of 1850 | WHAT: California admitted as a free state; New Mexico and Utah Territories to be decided by popular sovereignty; Disputed territory between New Mexico and Texas goes to New Mexico, Texas gets 10 million for compensation; Abolition of slave trade in Washington D.C.; Tougher fugitive slave law passed |
| Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 | WHAT: "Bloodhound Bill"; slaves couldn't testify; denied a jury trial. EFFECT: Created a firestorm of opposition in the North; Some northern moderates became abolitionists; "personal liberty laws" – states denied local jails to federal officials (Example of northern "nullification") |
| Zachary Taylor | Who had this view on the California situation?: Prepared to veto any compromise; Influenced by others such as William Seward; Was mad at Texans wanting more land in New Mexico |
| Millard Fillmore | Nickname: "Last of the Whigs"; Established the first permanent library in the White House; He didn't meet Zachary Taylor until after the Election of 1848! |
| Millard Fillmore | WHAT: Became President in 1850 after the death of Zachary Taylor; Impressed with arguments for compromise; He thought it was the only way to avoid a war! MAJOR EVENTS: Signed the Compromise of 1850; Led to a short second "Era of Good Feelings"; Sent Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan to open up trade talks! RESULT: Cost him the Whig nomination in 1852 because he signed the Fugitive Slave Act! |
| Underground Railroad | 300 "passengers", "conductors"; Escape to Canada; Southern slave owners loathed it |
| Harriet Tubman | WHO: Moses; WHAT: Runaway slave from Maryland; Conductorof Underground Railroad; Civil War spy |
| Sojourner Truth | WHO: Abolitionist and women's rights speaker who traveled the country during the 1840s-1860s; "Ain't I a woman"? speech. IMPACT: She inspired people to support these issues and do something about them! FACT: She'd never heard of Lincoln before his nomination, but he said, "I had heard of you many times before that."-White House, 1864 |
| Harriet Beecher Stowe | WHEN: 1852; WHAT: Wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, portrayed the evils of the institution of slavery; sold over a million copies (10,000 in first week) in its first eight years and reached millions more through dramatic adaptations. Lincoln – "So this is the little lady who made this big war". EFFECT: aroused sympathy for runaway slaves; hardened many Northerners against the South's insistence upon continuing slavery |
| Election of 1852 | BETWEEN: Franklin Pierce (Democrat) and Winfield Scott; RESULTS: WHIG party splits over nomination Fillmore v. Scott; Antislavery North vs. Southern Whigs that disliked Winfield Scott; Doomed Whig Party - Democratic party united under Pierce! Leads to formation of sectional parties instead of national parties. VICTOR: Franklin Pierce (Democrat) |
| Winfield Scott | (Whig) – Hero of Mexican-American War; "Old Fuss and Feathers"; Opposed slavery; lost Election of 1852 to Franklin Pierce. |
| Franklin Pierce | "We Polked you in 1844; we'll Pierce you in ________"; He was called the "Fainting General" – he had passed out at the Battle of Contreras; Pro-southern northerner (Dough-Face); Supported the Compromise of 1850 |
| Franklin Pierce | Under MANIFEST DESTINY, these events occurred during this presidents term: William Walker; Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850); Commodore Mathew Perry (Treaty of Kanagawa, 1854); Ostend Manifesto |
| William Walker | In Nicaragua (1856), he led an expedition to conquer it and appointed himself president! He was later executed by the Honduran government! |
| Clayton-Bulwer Treaty | This was an agreement in which neither America or Britain would fortify or secure any canal in Central America (1850)? |
| Commodore Mathew Perry | After arriving with a fleet of warships, he gets Japan to sign the Treaty of Kanagawa (1854) opening some ports to America. Helps to end Japanese isolation |
| Ostend Manifesto | Cuba was coveted by the South. This was a top secret dispatch (1854) which urged Peirce's administration to offer $120 million for Cuba or to take it by force if Spain resisted. It angered people in the north! |
| Gadsen Purchase | WHEN: 1853; WHAT: U.S. purchased this for $10 million; WHY: It was part of the proposed southern transcontinental railroad route! |
| Transcontinental Railroad | The desire for this led to the Gadsen Purchase, Kansas-Nebraska Act, and "Bleeding Kansas" |
| Kansas Nebraska Act | (1854) Stephen Douglas proposed this in order to get a transcontinental railroad in the north. It included: The remaining portion of the Louisiana Territory was divided into 2 territories (where slavery was to be decided by popular sovereignty). It invalidated the Missouri Compromise line of 36'30 (made abolitionists upset) |
| Bleeding Kansas | WHEN: 1854-1860; WHO: proslavery forces v. antislavery forces; WHAT: Kansas-Nebraska Act led to a fight to get to Kansas and set up a government to decide the issue of slavery; Violence between both sides. |
| New England Emigrant Aid Company | WHO: antislavery organization; WHAT: Sent 2,000 people to populate Kansas to help vote against slavery; Many carried "Beecher's Bibles" (new breech-loading rifles) |
| "Border Ruffians" | WHAT: Proslavery people from Missouri that flooded into Kansas in order to help vote for slavery |
| Preston "bully" Brooks (South Carolina) | WHEN: 1856; WHAT: Charles Sumner (Mass.) denounced the South for crimes against Kansas and singled out South Carolina for extra abuse. He beat Sumner over the head with his cane, severely crippling him. Sumner was the first Republican martyr. SIGNIFICANCE: Showed that tension was becoming very serious. |
| Levi Strauss | He was a German immigrant who went on the gold rush in 1850. He turned denim (he was going to sell it for tents) into sturdy work clothes (Blue Jeans). |
| Slave songs | Slave owners pretended they were happy?? These helped start both jazz and the blues! |
| Herman Melville | He wrote Moby Dick (1851), which was famous for it's story about whaling (whale by-products were used for many things) - "Nantucket Sleigh Ride" |
| Republican Party | WHAT: Sprung up in the Midwest as a moral protest against slavery. Contained disgruntled: Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers, Know-Nothings, and people mad at the Kansas-Nebraska Act. |
| Election of 1856 | WHO: James Buchanan (Democrats), John C. Fremont – The Pathfinder (Republicans), Millard Fillmore ("Know-Nothing" American Party). WHAT: Democrats wanted popular sovereignty; Republicans wanted "free-soil". SIGNIFICANCE: Many northerners voted for Buchanan because they were afraid the South would secede and they would lose money; Republican party doesn't win but is strong; Helped put off the Civil War and strengthen the North. |
| Lecompton Constitution | WHEN: 1857; WHAT: People voted for Kansas statehood; Devised by the proslavery forces; You voted for the constitution with or without slavery. IT WAS REJECTED! - PROBLEM: if you voted against slavery the constitution allowed slave owners already there to keep their slaves. SIGNIFICANCE: New Democratic President James Buchanan was for it; Stephen Douglas (powerful northern Democrat) was against it and favored "popular sovereignty" (Democratic party starting to split between North and South!) |
| Dred Scott | WHEN: 1857; WHAT: He was a slave that sued for his freedom on the basis that he had been with his master in free territory for 5 years. VERDICT:Slaves weren't citizens, they were property so they didn't have rights; Decision invalidated the Missouri Compromise. EFFECT: Caused tension between North and South; Caused tension between northern and southern Democrats; Many in North didn't go along with the decision making the South mad! |
| Hinton R. Helper | WHEN: 1857; WHAT: He wrote The Impending Crisis of the South; Banned in the South; It stated that non-slaveholding whites were the hurt most by slavery |
| Panic of 1857 | WHAT: Economic crash caused by: inflation from the Gold Rush and overproduction to help countries in Europe. RESULT: Hurt the North especially; Brought out tariff argument again. |
| Abraham Lincoln | WHO: Born in a log cabin in Kentucky; WHAT:Great story teller; Married above himself (Todd Family); Became a trial lawyer; |
| Lincoln-Douglas Debates | WHEN: 1858; WHAT IS THIS? SIGNIFICANCE: Lincoln gained fame; Hurt Douglas later (because of his support for "popular sovereignty") in his bid for president by splitting the Democratic Party even more.Later was elected as a Whig politician to the Illinois legislature; The Kansas-Nebraska Act caused him to join the Republican Party; He ran against Stephen Douglas for the Senate. |
| Freeport Doctrine | WHO: Stephen Douglas; WHEN: During the Lincoln-Douglas debates.; WHAT WAS THIS CALLED?: Lincoln asked him what would happen if people didn't follow the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision. He supported the idea of "popular sovereignty" by saying that if the people voted down slavery it would stay down. |
| John Brown's Raid | WHEN: 1859; WHAT: Raided Harper's Ferry federal arsenal in Virginia; Wanted to get weapons to start a slave rebellion in the South; He was captured and put to death. SIGNIFICANCE: He was hung and became a martyr for the cause abolition; The South was mad and thought that everyone in the North was like him! |
| Election of 1860 | WHO: Abraham Lincoln (Republican), Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrats), John Breckinridge (Southern Democrats), John Bell (Constitutional Union Party). WHAT: Democratic Party split; SIGNIFICANCE: Lincoln won |
| Constitutional Union Party | It was formed to try to be conservative and keep the Union together before the Election of 1860 (John Bell was it's candidate) The "Do Nothings". |
| Why did Lincoln win the 1860 Election? | The Republican Party platform appealed to a lot of people: Free-Soilers (opposed extension of slavery); Northern Manufacturers (supported a high tariff); Immigrants (got to keep their rights); The Northwest (a Pacific railroad); The West (federally funded internal improvements); Farmers (free homesteads from federal land) - LOTS OF SUPPORT! |
| The Pony Express | Between April, 1860 and Nov., 1861. Delivered news and mail between St. Louis, MO and San Francisco, CA. Took 10 days. Replaced by the completion of the trans-continental telegraph line. |
| The American Women's Home | WHAT: Manual for the design of a "modern kitchen" to help women in the home. Built-in cabinets, ventilation, separate areas for sinks and stove. WHO: Catharine Esther Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe |
| "Pottawattamie Creek Massacre" | 5 proslavery members killed by John Brown and company in response to a raid on the Free-Soil city of Lawerence (part of "Bleeding Kansas"). |
| Lewis Cass | Democrat in the Election of 1848. Believed in popular sovereignty in regards to slavery in new territories? |
| David Wilmot | He brought up the issue of slavery by trying to get a bill passed that would've outlawed slavery in all territory acquired from the Mexican-American War (it was defeated)? |
| personal liberty laws | After the controversial Fugitive Act of 1850 was many states passed these in order to deny local jails to federal officials? - Example of northern "nullification" |
| "Know Nothing" Party | WHO: Started by the Order of the Star Spangled Banner in NY City, 1849; WHAT: Political Party that saw immigration and Catholic influence as threats. They answered questions from outsiders about their party by saying "I know nothing"! PROBLEM: First wave of immigration (tons of Germans and Irish). FACT: Millard Fillmore ran for this party in the Election of 1856 |
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