All Flashcards
Who was Dred Scott?
An enslaved African American man who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case.
Who was Abraham Lincoln?
The 16th President of the United States whose election led to the secession of Southern states.
Define Manifest Destiny.
The belief that the US was destined to expand across the North American continent.
What is popular sovereignty?
The principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives, who are the source of all political power.
Define sectionalism.
Loyalty to the interests of one's own region or section of the country, rather than to the nation as a whole.
What is nativism?
The policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants.
Define 'King Cotton'.
A slogan used by southerners to support secession from the United States by arguing cotton was a crucial resource.
What was the Free-Soil Party?
A short-lived political party in the United States active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, opposing the expansion of slavery into new territories.
What was the Know-Nothing Party?
A nativist political party in the United States active in the mid-1850s, opposing immigrants and Catholics.
What is American exceptionalism?
The belief that the United States is unique and holds a special place among nations.
Define popular sovereignty.
The doctrine that sovereign power is vested in the people and that those chosen to govern, as trustees of such power, must exercise it in conformity with the general will.
What is the Gadsden Purchase?
The 1853 treaty in which the United States bought a strip of land from Mexico, now part of Arizona and New Mexico.
What was the California Gold Rush?
A period in 1849 when massive numbers of people migrated to California in search of gold, leading to rapid population growth and development.
What was the Mexican-American War?
A war fought from 1846-1848, resulting in the US acquiring vast new territories from Mexico.
What was the Compromise of 1850?
A series of laws passed in 1850 that attempted to resolve disputes over slavery in new territories, but ultimately failed.
What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
A law passed in 1854 that allowed residents of Kansas and Nebraska to decide on the issue of slavery through popular sovereignty, leading to violence.
What was the Dred Scott decision?
A Supreme Court ruling in 1857 that slaves were not citizens and had no right to sue, increasing tensions over slavery.
What happened in the Election of 1860?
Abraham Lincoln's victory led to Southern states seceding and the start of the Civil War.
What was the Gadsden Purchase?
The U.S. acquisition of land from Mexico in 1853 that included parts of present-day Arizona and New Mexico.
Describe the Purchase of Alaska.
The United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867, expanding US territory to the far Northwest.
What was Bleeding Kansas?
A series of violent political confrontations in the United States between 1854 and 1861 involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffians", mostly in the Kansas Territory.
What was the impact of the California Gold Rush?
Sparked rapid population growth and development in the West.