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The American Civil War

Terms in this set (72)

Stephen Douglas
Politician from Illinois who ran against Lincoln for a place in the senate, and later for president. He produced the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Freeport Doctrine. He believed in popular sovereignty. He ran for president in 1860. Supported the Union. Died of typhoid fever.
Free-Soil Party
Political party against the expansion of slavery in the new territory. NO NEW SLAVE STATES. **Not to be confused with the Radical Republicans who were against slavery everywhere.**
Fugitive Slave Law
Law declaring that citizens and local governments must assist in the capture of runaway slaves. It states that anyone who assists the runaways will be prosecuted. Heavily favored by the south and opposed by the north during the Compromise of 1850. Offered large rewards for returning slaves. Let to the enslavement of several free black men, women, and children.
Underground Railroad
A network of secret routes and safe houses aiding slaves in their escape to free-states. Ends in Canada. Total of 11,000 slaves freed.
Harriet Tubman
Born Araminta Ross. Important black abolitionist and conductor on the Underground Railroad. She alone freed 300 slaves. Union scout and spy. First female to lead an armed expedition. Recruited men for Harper's Ferry Raid.
Compromise of 1850
Northern: ends the slave trade in Washington, DC, declares California a free state. Southern: Fugitive Slave Law, popular sovereignty. Western: Mexican borders defined. Clay represented the west. Calhoun represented the south. Webster represented the north. GREAT TRIUMVIRATE.
Ostend Manifesto
Proposed that the United States should purchase Cuba from Spain; implied that the U.S would declare war if Spain refused. Soule, Buchannon, Mason and Polk.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Created by Stephen Douglas, allowed the citizens to determine whether the state should be slave-holding or free. Follows the idea of popular sovereignty.
John Brown
Abolitionist who led the failed attack on Harper's Ferry. Attacked those who wanted slavery during the Bleeding Kansas Crisis. Favored violent protest instead of peaceful protest.
Charles Sumner
Senator and lawyer from Massachusetts who opposed slavery. Civil rights activist. Attacked by Brooks on the congress floor. Delivered the speech "The Crime of Kansas". He was part of the Free-Soil Party.
Dred Scott
Dred Scott sued for his freedom after his master took him into a free state and died. Scott lost the case, and the court ruled that all slaves are property. This allowed slave owners to take their slaves into free territory and violated the Missouri Compromise.
Abraham Lincoln
President of the United States / Union. He was the 16th President; he served throughout the war. He was a lawyer from Illinois. Born in Kentucky. Died in Ford's Theater watching "Our American Cousin" when shot by John Wilkes Booth. Died only days before the end of the war. He was a catalyst for the Southern secession.
Bleeding Kansas
A result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Those who were for slavery and those who were against it turned to violence in order to get a majority vote for their side, as required by popular sovereignty.
Draft Riots
Middle and lower class men were angry that the rich could pay $300 ("The $300 Men") and avoid the draft to war. Occurred in New York City.
Conscription
Draft. Involuntary enrollment into the military.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Both men ran for senator, and the major issue discussed was slavery in new territory. Lincoln proposed "No New Slave States". Douglas proposed popular sovereignty. Douglas won the position.
Harper's Ferry Raid
A failed raid led by abolitionist John Brown and his sons. They attempted to capture an armory and assumed slaves would come to help. They didn't receive backup and the revolt failed.
William Seward
Secretary of State and Lincoln's most trusted adviser. Dominant figure in the Republican Party. Negotiated the purchase of Alaska.
Edwin M. Stanton
Lincoln's Secretary of War. Opposed Johnson's policies but wouldn't leave claiming protection under the Tenure of Office.
Robert E. Lee
Confederate general from Virginia who surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. Had the chance to serve the Union. Had a horse named Traveler. Had a chicken named Nelly.
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
Confederate general.
Ulysses Simpson Grant
Union general close to Lincoln that negotiated terms of surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. Later went on to be the president.
Jefferson Davis
President of the Confederate States. Was a Mexican War hero. Secretary of War under Pierce.
George B. McClellan
Union general. Ran against Lincoln for President in 1864. Too slow so he was fired and replaced by Burnside.
William Tecumseh Sherman
Union general who led a march to the sea that divided the south.
Merrimack
Also known as the Virginia. A Confederate ironclad ship that fought at the Battle of Hampton Roads.
Monitor
A Union ironclad ship that fought at the Battle of Hampton Roads.
13th Amendment
Banned slavery in the United States.
Border States
Slave-holding states that joined the Union. Includes Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and West Virginia.
Fort Sumter
Location where the first shots of the war were fired. Lincoln cut off supply lines for the confederacy and waited for them to act first. **Not the first battle!**
King Cotton, King Wheat, King Corn
Cotton was the main crop that fueled the southern economy. Southern politicians thought it would gain them European support but it didn't. Europeans got cotton elsewhere. Wheat and corn were major crops in the north.
Habeus Corpus
Legal right to be seen before a judge and jury upon report of imprisonment. Suspended by Lincoln, jailing leaders in order to keep the border states in the union.
John Wilkes Booth
Man who killed Abraham Lincoln. An actor. Confederate sympathizer who opposed abolitionism.
Appomattox Courthouse
The final battle of the war. Where the Confederacy surrenders. Lee and Grant negotiate terms of surrender.
Andrew Johnson
Lincoln's Vice President who took office after the assassination. He was impeached after violating the Tenure of Office Act but never convicted. A major drunk and racist.
Clement L. Vallandigham
Governor of Ohio who lead the Copperhead faction. Arrested for not supporting Union. Inspired Edward Everett Hale to write "A Man Without a Country".
"March to the Sea"
Also known as the Savannah Campaign. Sherman led the Union on a march through the south in an attempt to capture Savannah and Atlanta. They also aimed to frighten citizens out of supporting the Confederacy.
Battle of Vicksburg
Divided the south and gave the Union full access to the Mississippi River. Led by Grant.
Battle of Gettysburg
Bloodiest battle of the war. Technically no one won, but because the Union kept the Confederacy out of the north they considered it a victory.
Emancipation Proclamation
Document produced by Lincoln freeing slaves in the Confederate states. Didn't really free anyone.
Antietam
Bloodiest one-day battle of the war.
Battle of Bull Run
First battle of the war. Also known as the Battle of Manassas. Confederate victory.
C.S.S. Hunley
Submarine used by the Confederacy. Fought the Housatanic. Sank with soldiers on board. Also known as the "Fish Boat".
15th Amendment
Gave black men the right to vote.
Tenure in Office Act
An act created to prevent Johnson from removing Lincoln's cabinet and creating his own. Says it is illegal for a new president to remove another's cabinet during the term.
Thaddeus Stevens
Leader of the Radical Republican faction. Lawyer who tried Johnson's impeachment in the House. He had a mixed lover. Defended slaves in court.
Freedman's Bureau
Bureau created to offer resources such as food, jobs, land, and medical care to poor whites and freed slaves in the south after the war.
Wade-Davis Bill
A bill written by two Radical Republicans proposed for a strict Reconstruction that was vetoed by Lincoln.
Sharecropping / Tenant Farmers
Land owners allow people to use a plot of land in return for a portion of the crops and/or profit. Used by many freed slaves who needed employment.
Black Codes
Codes restricting the rights of the black population, preventing them from holding positions of power and higher-paying jobs. Designed to keep them in the lower labor force.
Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
A white supremacist group that harassed and killed people of color.
Carpetbaggers
Northerners who travel south to benefit from Reconstruction.
Redeemers
People who believed in returning the south to the way it was before the war.
Scalawags
Southern whites who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party.
Compromise of 1877 / Hayes-Tilden Compromise
Settled the dispute of the 1876 election, making Hayes president and ending Reconstruction.
Jim Crow Laws
Enforced segregation and stated it was legal because it was "separate but equal".
Copperheads
Northerners who sympathized with the south and were against the war. They wanted a peaceful resolution.
Sojourner Truth
Born Isabella Baumfree. An escaped slave, feminist and abolitionist who gave speeches. Escaped with her daughter in 1826. Known for "Ain't I A Woman" speech.
John C. Calhoun
Andrew Jackson´s vice president; South Carolinian Senator; Secretary of War under James Monroe; wrote the South Carolina Exposition and Protest
Henry Clay
Western representative in the Compromise of 1850; created the American System; helped Adams through the corrupt bargain to keep Jackson from office
Roger B. Taney
Supreme Court Justice who ruled that slaves were property; he was appointed by Jackson
American / ¨Know-Nothing Party¨
Anti-catholic, anti-immigrant Nativists
Freeport Doctrine
Stephen Douglas´s idea that new territories should have popular sovereignty to choose whether or not they want to be a free or slave state.
Five Civilized Tribes
Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Seminole
National Bank Act
Created a national banking system to float war loans and resolve post-war financial crisis, established greenback currency
Grandfather Clause
Used to prevent black men from voting; ¨If your grandfather could vote, you can. If he couldn´t, you can´t.¨
Literacy Test
Reading tests used to keep the uneducated and the black men from voting
1864 Election
Lincoln beat McClellan
Anaconda Plan
1. Capture Richmond
2. Capture Mississippi River
3. Use river to divide the south
4. Naval blockade
Poll Tax
A required payment for voting; used to keep black men and poor whites from voting
New Technology in War
Rifle, minnie ball, submarine, iron clad warships, telegraph, etc.
Zachary Taylor
12th president, Mexican War hero, fought in the War of 1812
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