Harriet Beecher Stowe
(1811-1896) American author and daughter of Lyman Beecher, she was an abolitionist and author of the famous antislavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
John Brown
(1800-1859) anti-slavery advocate who believed that God had called upon him to abolish slavery. Devoted over 20 years to fighting slavery- he and his followers (his sons and others) killed five men in the pro slavery settlement of Pottawatomie Creek. Triggered dozens of incidents throughout Kansas some 200 people were killed- tried, convicted and executed
James Buchanan
The 15th President of the United States (1857-1861)- tried to maintain a balance between pro-slavery and antislavery factions- his moderate views angered radicals in both North and South, and he was unable to forestall the secession of South Carolina on December 20, 1860.
Charles Sumner
A leader of the Radical republicans along with Thaddeus Stevens. He was from Massachusetts and was in the senate. His two main goals were breaking the power of wealthy planters and ensuring that freedmen could vote.
John C. Fremont
American military officer, explorer- the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office of President of the United States-the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery.
Dred Scott
A black slave, had lived with his master for 5 years in Illinois and Wisconsin Territory. Backed by interested abolitionists, he sued for freedom on the basis of his long residence on free soil. The ruling on the case was that slaves were not citizens and therefore had no rights or protections under the Constitution.
Roger Taney
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case. He stated that Scott was not a free man and that his case was unconstitutional.
Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865) Sixteenth president of the United States, he promoted equal rights for African Americans in the famed Lincoln- Douglas debates. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation and set in motion the Civil War- he was determined to preserve the Union- assassinated in 1865.
Jefferson Davis
Virginia statesman and politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history from 1861 to 1865
John Crittenden
A Senator from Kentucky who made a last effort to save the Union by introducing a bill to extend the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific, and he proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would guarantee forever the right to hold slaves in states south of the compromise line.
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1853 that highly influenced England's view on the American Deep South and slavery. A novel promoting abolition, it intensified sectional conflict.
The Impending Crisis of the South
A book written by Hinton Helper. Helper hated both slavery and blacks and used this book to try to prove that non-slave owning whites were the ones who suffered the most from slavery. The non-aristocrat from N.C. had to go to the North to find a publisher that would publish his book.
New England Immigrant Aid Society
Was a transportation company in Boston, Massachusetts, created to transport immigrants to the Kansas Territory to shift the balance of power so that Kansas would enter the United States as a free state rather than a slave state.
Pottawatomie Creek Massacre
In reaction to the sacking of Lawrence by pro-slavery forces, John Brown and a band of abolitionist settlers killed five pro-slavery settlers north of Pottawatomie Creek in Franklin County, Kansas
"Bleeding Kansas"
A sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-Slavery elements that took place in Kansas-Nebraska Territory. The dispute further strained the relations of the North and South, making civil war imminent.
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Supreme Court case that decided US Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in federal territories and slaves, as private property, could not be taken away without due process - basically slaves would remain slaves in non-slave states and slaves could not sue because they were not citizens
Panic of 1857
Began with the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance Company and spread to the urban east. The depression affected the industrial east and the wheat belt more than the South.
Lincoln-Douglas debates
1858 Senate Debate, Lincoln forced Douglas to debate issue of slavery, Douglas supported popular sovereignty, Lincoln asserted that slavery should not spread to territories, Lincoln emerged as strong Republican candidate.
Freeport Doctrine
Doctrine developed by Stephen Douglas that said the exclusion of slavery in a territory could be determined by the refusal of the voters to enact any laws that would protect slave property. It was unpopular with Southerners, and thus cost him the election.
Harpers Ferry raid
October of 1859- John Brown attempted to create a major revolt among the slaves. He wanted to ride down the river and provide the slaves with arms from the North, but he failed to get the slaves organized. Brown was captured. The effects of this were as such: the South saw the act as one of treason and were encouraged to separate from the North, and Brown became a martyr to the northern abolitionist cause.
"Beecher's Bibles"
Deadly rifles paid for by New England abolitionists and brought to Kansas by antislavery pioneers.
Crittenden Compromise
1860 - attempt to prevent Civil War by Senator Crittenden - offered a Constitutional amendment recognizing slavery in the territories south of the 36º30' line, noninterference by Congress with existing slavery, and compensation to the owners of fugitive slaves - defeated by Republicans
Constitutional Union Party
Also known as the "do-nothings" or "Old Gentlemen's" party-1860 election; it was a middle of the road group that feared for the Union- consisted mostly of Whigs and Know-Nothings, met in Baltimore and nominated John Bell of Tennessee as candidate for presidency-the slogan for this candidate was "The Union, the Constitution, and the Enforcement of the laws."
Confederate States of America
(1860) Eight Southern states that seceded from the Union-beginning with South Carolina- The Confederacy was led by Jefferson Davis; He eventually attacked the federally controlled Fort Sumter on April 12th 1861, marking the first battle of the Civil War.
Henry Ward Beecher
Theologically liberal American Congregationalist clergyman & reformer, & author- elder sisters was Harriet Beecher Stowe. Advocate of women's suffrage and temperance, against slavery- bought guns to support Bleeding Kansas
Preston Brooks
A hot tempered Congressman of South Carolina took vengeance in his own hands. He beat Sumner with a cane until he was restrained by other Senators. He later resigned from his position, but was soon reelected.
Stephen A. Douglas
An Illinois Senator who ran against Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election on a popular sovereignty platform for slavery- authored the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise and heightened the slavery debate
Lewis Cass
Democratic senator who proposed popular sovereignty to settle the slavery question in the territories; he lost the presidential election in 1848 against Zachary Taylor but continued to advocate his solution to the slavery issue throughout the 1850s.
Stephen A. Douglas
An Illinois Senator who ran against Lincoln, Bell, and Breckenridge in the 1860 presidential election on a popular sovereignty platform for slavery, He also authored the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise and heightened the slavery debate
Franklin Pierce
Democrat (1853-1857), Candidate from the North who could please the South. His success in securing the Gadsden Purchase was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the Ostend Manifesto, the Kansas Nebraska Act and "Bleeding Kansas." Passions over slavery had been further inflamed, and the North and South were more irreconcilable than before. He succeeded only in splitting the country further apart.
Zachary Taylor
(1849-1850), Whig president who was a Southern slave holder, and war hero (Mexican-American War). Won the 1848 election. Surprisingly did not address the issue of slavery at all on his platform. He died during his term and his Vice President was Millard Fillmore.
John C. Calhoun
(1830s-40s) Leader of the Fugitive Slave Law, which forced the cooperation of Northern states in returning escaped slaves to the south. He also argued on the floor of the senate that slavery was needed in the south. He argued on the grounds that society is supposed to have an upper ruling class that enjoys the profit of a working lower class.
Winfield Scott
Whig candidate in 1852; an impressive figure though one whose personality and support of the Compromise of 1850 repelled the masses. Southerners did not accept his loyalty to the fugitive slave law, and northerners deplored his support of the same law. He lost to Pierce.
Martin Van Buren
Presidential Candidate for the Free Soil Party in 1848
Daniel Webster
supported Clay's proposals and called for an end to the bitter sectionalism that was dividing the nation. Argued for Clays compromise in order to preserve the Union
Matthew C. Perry
U.S. Naval officer who opened trade with Japan
Harriet Tubman
American abolitionist. Born a slave on a Maryland plantation, she escaped to the North in 1849 and became the most renowned conductor on the Underground Railroad, leading more than 300 slaves to freedom.
William H. Seward
secretary of state under lincoln and johnson - set the precedent for increased american participation in the western hemisphere - engineered purchase of alaska and invoked the monroe doctrine to force france out of mexico
James Gadsden
A prominent South Carolina railroad man, appointed minister to Mexico. He negotiated a treaty in 1853 which ceded to the United States the Gadsden Purchase area for 10 million dollars.
Henry Clay
Distinguished senator from Kentucky, who ran for president five times until his death in 1852. He was a strong supporter of the American System, a war hawk for the War of 1812, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and known as "The Great Compromiser." Outlined the Compromise of 1850 with five main points. Died before it was passed however.
Millard Fillmore
(1850-1853) The Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850. California becomes a free state, territories chose popular sovereignty, Uncle Tom's Cabin. He helped pass the Compromise of 1850 by gaining the support of Northern Whigs for the compromise.
William Walker
A proslavery American adventurer from the South, he led an expedition to seize control on Nicaragua in 1855. He wanted to petition for annexation it as a new slave state but failed when several Latin American countries sent troops to oust him before the offer was made.
popular sovereignty
Notion that the people of a territory should determine if they want to be a slave state or a free state.
filibustering
Referring to adventurers who conduct a private war against a foreign country.
Free Soil party
Formed in 1847 - 1848, dedicated to opposing slavery in newly acquired territories such as Oregon and ceded Mexican territory.
Fugitive Slave Law
Enacted by Congress in 1793 and 1850, these laws provided for the return of escaped slaves to their owners. The North was lax about enforcing the 1793 law, with irritated the South no end. The 1850 law was tougher and was aimed at eliminating the underground railroad.
"personal liberty laws"
pre-Civil War laws passed by Northern state governments to counteract the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Acts and to protect escaped slaves and free blacks settled in the North, by giving them the right to a jury trial.
Underground Railroad
A system that helped enslaved African Americans follow a network of escape routes out of the South to freedom in the North
Compromise of 1850
(1) California admitted as free state, (2) territorial status and popular sovereignty of Utah and New Mexico, (3) resolution of Texas-New Mexico boundaries, (4) federal assumption of Texas debt, (5) slave trade abolished in DC, and (6) new fugitive slave law; advocated by Henry Clay and Stephen A. Douglas
"fire eaters"
refers to a group of extremist pro-slavery politicians from the South who urged the separation of southern states into a new nation, which became known as the Confederate States of America.
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
1850 - Treaty between U.S. and Great Britain agreeing that neither country would try to obtain exclusive rights to a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Abrogated by the U.S. in 1881.
Ostend Manifesto
A declaration (1854) issued from Ostend, Belgium, by the U.S. ministers to England, France, and Spain, stating that the U.S. would be justified in seizing Cuba if Spain did not sell it to the U.S.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
1854 - Created Nebraska and Kansas as states and gave the people in those territories the right to chose to be a free or slave state through popular sovereignty.
Gadsden Purchase
Agreement w/ Mexico that gave the US parts of present-day New Mexico & Arizona in exchange for $10 million; all but completed the continental expansion envisioned by those who believed in Manifest Destiny.
Treaty of Wanghia
The first diplomatic agreement between China and America in history, signed on July 3, 1844. Since America signed as a nation interested in trade instead of colonization, it was rewarded with extraordinary amount of trading power.
California gold rush
1849 (San Francisco 49ers) Gold discovered in California attracted a rush of people all over the country and world to San Francisco; arrival of the Chinese; increased pressure on fed gov. to establish a stable gov. in CA
Seventh of March Speech
This was a famous speech given by Daniel Webster when he was trying to work out the Compromise of 1850. In it, he fought for compromise. He asked for a stricter fugitive slave law and said that there was no need to legislate slavery in the territories because the land was not fit for it. His speech became widely printed and read, and it increased the popularity of Union and compromise.
Opium War
War between Britain and the Qing Empire that was, in the British view, occasioned by the Qing government's refusal to permit the importation of opium into its territories; the victorious British imposed the one-sided Treaty of Nanking on China.
Caleb Cushing
Opens up commerce in China and negotiated Treaty of Wanghia, first formal agreement between China and US, and granted US trading rights, also states that Americans will be tried in American courts, not chinese
As a result of the introduction of the cotton gin, slavery was
reinvigorated
Members of the planter aristocracy dominated
politics and society in the South
All of the following were true of the American cotton economy under Cotton Kingdom except
quick profits from cotton drew planters to its economic enterprise
Plantation agriculture was wasteful largely because
its excessive cultivation of cotton despoiled the good earth
Plantation mistresses commanded a sizeable household staff of mostly
female slaves
Plantation agriculture was
economically unstable and wasteful
The plantation system of the Cotton South was increasingly
monopolistic
All of the following were weaknesses of the slave plantation system except
that its land continued to remain in the hands of small farmers
German and Irish immigration to the South was discouraged by
competition with slave labor
As their main crop, southern subsistence farmers raised
corn
Most white southerners were
subsidence farmers
All told, only about 1⁄4 of white southerners
owned slaves or belonged to a slaveholding family
"We must get rid of slavery or we must get rid of freedom" -
Ralph Waldo Emerson
By the mid-nineteenth century, most slaves
lived on large plantations
Most slaves in the South were owned by
plantation owners
The majority of southern whites owned no slaves because
they could not afford the purchase price
The most pro-Union of the white southerners were
people with northern economic interests
Some southern slaves gained their freedom as a result of
purchasing their way out of slavery
The great increase of the slave population in the first half of the nineteenth century was largely due to
natural reproduction
Northern attitudes toward free blacks can best be described as
liking the individual but despising the race
For free blacks living in the North
discrimination was common
The profitable southern slave system hobbled the economic development of
the region as a whole
Regarding work assignments, slaves were
generally spared dangerous work
Perhaps the slave's greatest horror, and the theme of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, was the
enforced separation of slave families
By 1860, slaves were concentrated in the
"black belt" located in the Deep South states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana
As a substitute for the wage-incentive system, slaveowners most often used
the whip as a motivator
By 1860, life for slaves was most difficult in
the newer states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana
Forced separation of spouses, parents, and children was most common on
small plantations and in the upper South
Most slaves were raised in
stable two-parent households
One way slaves did not fight the system was by
refusing to get an education
As a result of white southerners' brutal treatment of their slaves and their fear of potential slave rebellions,
the South developed a theory of biological racial superiority
In the pre-Civil War South, the most uncommon and least successful form of slave resistance was
armed insurrection
John Quincy Adams, Nat Turner, David Walker, Denmark Vesey, and Gabriel. What doesn't belong?
John Quincy Adams
The idea of transporting blacks back to Africa was supported by
the black leader Martin Delaney
Match each abolitionist below with his publication.
William Lloyd Garrison - The Liberator Theodore Dwight Weld - American Slavery as It Is Frederick Douglass - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass David Walker - The Appeal
Know the following in chronological order:
American Colonization Society (1816), American Anti-Slavery Society (1833), Liberty party (1840)
William Lloyd Garrison pledged his dedication to
the immediate abolition of slavery in the South
Match each abolitionist below with his role in the movement.
Wendell Phillips - abolitionist golden trumpet Frederick Douglass - black abolitionist Elijah P. Lovejoy - abolitionist martyr William Lloyd Garrison - abolitionist newspaper publisher
Many abolitionists turned to political action in 1840 when
they backed the presidential candidate of the Liberty Party
The voice of white southern abolitionism fell silent at the beginning of the
1830s
In arguing for the continuation of slavery after 1830, southerners placed themselves
in opposition to much of the rest of the Western world
Those in the North who opposed the abolitionists believed that
these opponents of slavery were creating disorder in America
Conclusions made my Ulrich B. Phillips were that:
slaves were racially inferior, slavery was a dying economic institution, planters treated their slaves with kindly paternalism, and that salves were passive by nature, and did not abhor slavery
The South became the Cotton Kingdom in the early nineteenth century because of:
Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin, the new profitability of short-staple cotton, and the opening of rich river bottomlands in the Gulf Coast states
Cotton became important to the prosperity of the North as well as the South because;
northern merchants handled the shipping of southern cotton and that cotton accounted for about half the value of all United States exports after 1840
The pre-Civil War South was characterized by;
a well-developed martial spirit, the lack of free, tax-supported public education, a widening gap between rich and poor, a ruling planter aristocracy, a growing hostility to free speech and a free press
Even those who did not own slaves in the pre-Civil War South supported that institution because
they dreamed of one day owning slaves themselves presumed themselves racially superior to black slaves
Before the Civil War, free blacks were often the mulatto offspring of white fathers and black mothers, were often
forbidden basic civil rights, were disliked in the North as well as the South
Slaves were regarded primarily as
financial investments by their owners, the primary form of wealth in the South, and profitable for their owners
The slave culture was characterized by a hybrid religion of
Christianity and African elements, widespread illiteracy, and subtle forms of resistance
After 1830, the abolitionist movement took a new, more energetic tone, encouraged by
the success of the British having slavery abolished in the British West Indies, and the religious spirit of the Second Great Awakening
The South's "positive good" argument for slavery claimed that
slavery was supported by the Bible, and the Constitution, slavery converted the barbaric Africans to Christianity, slaves were treated as members of the family, and they were better off than most northern wage earners
After 1830, most people in the North held that the Constitution
sanctioned slavery and were alarmed by the radical abolitionists