| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Wilmot Proviso | a plan that stated "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of (the) territory." |
| sectionalism | this happens when people favor the interests of one region over the interests of the country as a whole |
| popular sovereignty | this allowed voters in a territory to decide whether they wanted to ban or allow slavery |
| Free-Soil Party | this party supported the Wilmot Proviso and also chose Martin Van Buren as their candidate |
| Henry Clay | presented the Compromise of 1850 |
| Daniel Webster | opposed to the expansion of slavery but, wanted to preserve the Union |
| Compromise of 1850 | Henry Clay presented this and it became law in September of that year (California as a free state and the remaining land from the Mexican Cession was decided by popular sovereignty) |
| Fugitive State Act | this made it a federal crime to help runaway slaves |
| Anthony Burns | a fugitive slave from Boston that was arrested and jailed there. A group of abolitionists in the city tried to rescue Burns and killed a deputy marshal. He returned to slavery in Virginia. |
| Uncle Tom's Cabin | this powerful antislavery novel was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe |
| Harriet Beecher Stowe | she witnessed all of the cruel things people did to slaves so she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin |
| Franklin Pierce | candidate for the Democratic convention who promised to honor the Compromise of 1850 and enforce the Fugitive Slave Act |
| Stephen Douglas | supported building a railroad to the Pacific |
| Kansas-Nebraska Act | Douglas introduced this plan which would divide the rest of the Louisiana Purchase into two territories |
| Pottawatomie Massacre | John Brown led a group of seven men and they killed five pro-slavery men |
| Charles Sumner | Senator who gave a speech "The Crime Against Kansas." This critisized pro-slavery effors in Kansas and insulted Senator Andrew Pickens Butler. |
| Preston Brooks | relative of Butler that approached Sumner and beat him unconscious with a cane |
| Republican Party | this party opposed the spread of slavery in the west |
| James Buchanan | Democratic party chose him over Pierce and Douglas and he was not involved in the Kansas-Nebraska controversy. (won election) |
| John C. Fremont | Republican Party chose him but, he did not have a lot of political experience |
| Dred Scott | slave of an army surgeon from St. Louis, Missouri |
| Roger B. Taney | the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court |
| Dred Scott decision | Dred Scott's slave owner moved to Illionois for a short amount. Since his slave owner died, he wanted to become free (didn't win freedom) |
| Abraham Lincoln | Illinois lawyer that warned about the Court's future rulings (later became president) |
| Lincoln-Douglas debates | in these seven debates Lincoln made Douglas look bad |
| Freeport Doctrine | Douglas's response "It matters not" what the Supreme Court decides about slavery. |
| John Brown raid | in this they took over a federal arsenal and gave slaves weopens to kill there slave owners. This didn't work because there was no form of communication |
| John C. Breckinridge | the Southern Democrats backed this current vice president |
| Constitution Union Party | former Whigs decided to form this new political party that recognized "no political principles other than the Constitution of the country, the Union of the states, and the enforcement of the laws." |
| John Bell | the Constitution Union Party chose this person who was a slaveholder, but he had been against the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 |
| secession | the act of formally withdrawing from the Union |
| John J. Crittenden | Senator who proposed a series of constitutional amendments to satisfy the South |
| Confederate States of America | known as the Confederacy |
| Jefferson Davis | elected president of the Confederate States of America |
Combine with other sets
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