Compromise of 1850
-Author: Henry Clay
-Political agreement that allowed California to be admitted as a free state by allowing popular sovereignty in the territories and enacting a stricter fugitive slave law
-North gets:
California= Free State
Slave trade is not allowed in Washington, D.C
-South gets:
Slavery is allowed in Washington D.C
Strong Fugitive Slave Act: If slaves run away, northern states must help return them (abolitionists opposed)
Popular Soverignty
- Author: Stephen A Douglas
- When applying for statehood, states vote to be free or slave state (Ignores Missouri Compromise)
Secede
- To withdraw formally from a membership in a group or an organization
- Act of leaving the Union
Free Soil Party
- Antislavery political party of the mid-1800s
- Pledged a national platform of freedom
Wilmot Proviso
- Proposed by David Wilmot, but rejected
- 1846 bill that would have banned slavery in the territory won from Mexico in the Mexican War
Fugitive Slave Act
-Law that required all citizens to aid in apprehending runaway slaves
Personal Liberty Laws
-Laws enacted by northern states to oppose the Fugitive Slave Act by granting rights to escaped slaves and free blacks
Underground Railroad
-System that existed before the Civil War, in which black and white abolitionists helped escaped slaves travel to safe areas, especially Canada
Harriet Tubman
- Maryland-Born Fugitive Slave
- “Black Moses”
- Made 2 dozen trips to the South to guide slaves
Harriet Beecher Stowe
- Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
- Powerful story about slavery that spread compassion
- “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.” -Lincoln
John Brown
- New York abolitionist
- Carried out a midnight execution of slavers
Kansas-Nebraska Act
- Created by Stephen Douglas
- 1854 law that divided the Nebraska Territory into Kansas and Nebraska giving each territory the right to decide wether or not to allow slavery
Bleeding Kansas
-Term used to describe the 1854-1856 violence between proslavery and antislavery supporters in Kansas
Know-Nothings
- Political party of the mid-1800s, officially known as the American Party, that opposed immigration/immigrants, catholicism (thought catholics would hold allegiance to Pope, not gov.)
- Mad because immigrants would take away jobs (police, firemen)
- Political issue: More votes (immigrants control the votes in cities, elect immigrant mayors)
Dred Scott
-Missouri slave who sued for freedom
-Master took him to free territory of Illinois and Wisconsin for 4 years, so he wanted freedom
-Reached Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roger B. Taney
Court ruled against Scott
Roger B. Taney
- Chief Justice of Supreme Court during Dred Scott Case
- Ruled against Scott saying “Slaves are property, not people, and therefore, cannot sue”
- With slavery
Abraham Lincoln
- Northern Republican for Election of 1860
- Began political career at 25 when elected to be a Whig for state legislation in Illinois
- Argues for no further extension of slavery
- Real political career began when he opposed Kansas-Nebraska Act and Stephen A. Douglas
- Hated popular sovereignty
- Lost in senatorial election vs. Stephen Douglas by slim margin
Stephen A. Douglas
- Northern Democrat for Election of 1860
- “Little Giant”
- Supported the annexation of Texas, promoted popular sovereignty
- Won senatorial election against Lincoln by slim margin
Republican Party
-Political party established around keeping slavery without further extension
Harpers Ferry
- Town in Virginia (now West Virginia) where abolitionist John Brown raided the federal arsenal in 1859
- John Brown fails because Robert E Lee & Jeb Stewart are sent to deal with him, he kills all of his follows, and eventually gets death penalty
Jefferson Davis
- Mississippi Congressman who convinced Congress to adopt resolutions restricting federal control over slavery in the territories
- Also asserted that the Constitution prohibited Congress or any state from interfering slavery in the states that already existed
John C. Breckinridge
- Southern Democrat for Election of 1860
- Committed to expanding slavery into the territories
- Said Federal Gov should protect slavery
Confederate States of America
-Government of 11 southern states that seceded from the United States and fought against the Union of the Civili War
Crittenden Compromise
-1861 proposed constitutional amendment that attempted to prevent secession of the southern states by allowing slavery in al territories south of the Missouri Compromise line
