Quizlet US History: Antebellum

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  1. 1848: Election year, Democrat Lewis Cass v. Whig Zachary Taylor (no experience) v. Free Soil Van Buren. Taylor wins
  2. 1852: Election Year, Democratic Franklin Pierce v. Whig Winfield Scott
  3. 1856: Election year: James Buchanan (untainted by compromise) v. Fremont (Republican war hero) v. Milliard Fillmore (Know-nothing)
  4. 1860: Election year: Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrat) v. John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat) v. Abraham Lincoln (Republican) v. John Bill (Constitutional Union); South threaten to secede if Lincoln is elected
  5. Abolitionists: These were Hinton Helper, Beecher Stowe, Tubman, Dwight Weld, William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass (plural)
  6. Bleeding Kansas: Term referring to bloodshed over popular sovereignty in a particular western territory
  7. California Gold Rush: Trigger by discovery at Sutter's Mill, leads to mass migration to California
  8. Charles Sumner: Radical Republican against the slave power who insults Andrew Butler and subsequently gets caned by Preston Brooks
  9. Compromise of 1850: Forestalled the Civil War by instating the Fugitive Slave Act , banning slave trade in DC, admitting California as a free state, splitting up the Texas territory, and instating popular sovereignty in the Mexican Cession
  10. Confederate States of America: When the states seceded, they formed this country
  11. Crittenden Amendments: Last ditch attempt to restore status quo at thirty-six thirty, too little too late
  12. Daniel Webster: Senator who, originally pro-North, supported the Compromise of 1850 and subsequently lost favor from his constituency
  13. Dred Scott Decision: Landmark court decision that ruled that slaves were property and antislavery laws were unconstitutional
  14. Fort Sumner: Site of the first open hostilities of the civil war, no casualties
  15. Freeport Doctrine: Idea authored by Stephen Douglas that claimed slavery could only exist when popular sovereignty said so
  16. Fugitive Slave Act: Stringent set of laws that allows Southern slave-catchers to pursue slaves into the north.
  17. Henry Clay: Whig senator who helped make the Compromise of 1850
  18. Impending Crisis: By Hinton Helper, this book argued that slavery was harmful to whites who did not own slaves
  19. James Buchanan: Antebellum president who claimed that secession was illegal but going to war was also illegal, indecisive
  20. Jefferson Davis: President of the Confederate States of America
  21. John Calhoun: Staunchly pro-slavery vice-president, engineering the Compromise of 1850 and helping further split the nations
  22. Kansas-Nebraska Act: Creates the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and opens the slave issue to popular sovereignty
  23. Know-Nothing Party: Anti-foreign political party that didn't do much. One of the first nativist "American" parties.
  24. Lecompton Constitution: Pro-slave constitution that got voted in for Kansas after anti-slavery people boycotted the election
  25. Lincoln-Douglas Debates: Set of debates between Lincoln and Douglas that leads to the Freeport Doctrine and Douglas's win of the Senate position in Illinois
  26. Ostend Manifesto: Southerners meet with Spain on sail of Cuba, Northern senators don't want it due to slave potential
  27. Panic of 1857: Economic downturn caused by overspeculation of western lands, railroads, gold in California, grain. Mostly affected northerners, who called for higher tariffs and free homesteads
  28. Personal Liberty Laws: Bills enacted by northerners in response to the injustices of the Fugitive Slave Act
  29. Pottawamie Creek: Site of anti-slavery kills of 5 pro-slavery men lead by John Brown
  30. Preston Brooks: Responsible for beating radical republican Charles Sumner with his cane
  31. Raid at Harper's Ferry: Pre-Civil War skirmish in which John Brown attempts to incite a slave uprising by seizing arms. Due to lack of communication, nothing happens, and Brown is hanged (and martyred)
  32. Republican Party: Political party that believed in the non-expansion of slavery and comprised of Whigs, Northern Democrats, and Free-Soilers, in defiance to the Slave Powers
  33. Sack of Lawrence: Pro-slavery sack of anti-slavery town
  34. Shawnee Mission: Name of pro-slavery government in Kansas
  35. South Carolina: First state to secede from the Union
  36. Stephen Douglas: Senator from Illinois, author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Freeport Doctrine, argues in favor of popular sovereignty
  37. Topeka: Name of anti-slavery government in Kansas
  38. Uncle Tom's Cabin: Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, it helped stirred northern abolitionist sentiment
  39. Underground Railroad: Clandestine network of abolitionists who aided the escape of slaves
  40. William Seward: Senator and Secretary of State who believed in a "higher law" above the constitution and was staunchly anti-slavery
  41. Wilmot Proviso: Amendment by northern democrat that forbade slavery in the Mexican Cession
  42. Zachary Taylor: President. Former war hero during Mexican war,