A period in 1849 when massive numbers of people migrated to California in search of gold, leading to rapid population growth and development.

A war fought from 1846-1848, resulting in the US acquiring vast new territories from Mexico.

A series of laws passed in 1850 that attempted to resolve disputes over slavery in new territories, but ultimately failed.

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.

A Supreme Court ruling in 1857 that slaves were not citizens and had no right to sue, increasing tensions over slavery.

Abraham Lincoln's victory led to Southern states seceding and the start of the Civil War.

The U.S. acquisition of land from Mexico in 1853 that included parts of present-day Arizona and New Mexico.

The United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867, expanding US territory to the far Northwest.

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.

Sparked rapid population growth and development in the West.

The Know-Nothing Party was nativist, opposing immigration, while the Free-Soil Party opposed the expansion of slavery.

The North was industrializing and had diverse economy, while the South relied on agriculture and slave labor.

Irish immigrants often fled famine, while German immigrants sought economic opportunities and political freedom.

Both aimed to address slavery in new territories, but the Compromise used a package deal, while Kansas-Nebraska used popular sovereignty.

The Gold Rush rapidly populated the West, while Manifest Destiny provided the ideological justification for expansion.

The North largely opposed slavery, while the South defended it as essential to their economy and way of life.

The North had a diverse, industrial-based economy, while the South relied heavily on agriculture, particularly cotton, and slave labor.

Both increased sectionalism by inflaming tensions over slavery; Dred Scott by denying citizenship to slaves and Kansas-Nebraska by leading to violence over the slavery issue.

The Free-Soil Party sought to prevent the expansion of slavery into new territories, while abolitionists aimed to abolish slavery completely.

Immigration primarily benefited the North by providing a labor force for industrialization, while the South relied more on slave labor.

The belief that the US was destined to expand across the North American continent.

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.

Loyalty to the interests of one's own region or section of the country, rather than to the nation as a whole.

The policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants.

A slogan used by southerners to support secession from the United States by arguing cotton was a crucial resource.

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.

A nativist political party in the United States active in the mid-1850s, opposing immigrants and Catholics.

The belief that the United States is unique and holds a special place among nations.

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.

The 1853 treaty in which the United States bought a strip of land from Mexico, now part of Arizona and New Mexico.