Glossary
10% Plan
President Lincoln's lenient Reconstruction plan, which proposed that a Southern state could be readmitted to the Union once 10% of its 1860 voters pledged loyalty to the U.S. and accepted the abolition of slavery.
Example:
Lincoln's 10% Plan aimed for a swift and forgiving reunification, but it was criticized by Radical Republicans who sought harsher terms for the South.
13th Amendment
Ratified in 1865, this amendment officially abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States, except as punishment for a crime.
Example:
The 13th Amendment legally ended the institution of slavery, fulfilling a primary goal of the Union during the Civil War.
14th Amendment
Ratified in 1868, this amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, including formerly enslaved people, and guaranteed equal protection of the laws.
Example:
The 14th Amendment was a cornerstone of Reconstruction, aiming to protect the civil rights of African Americans and prevent states from infringing upon them.
15th Amendment
Ratified in 1870, this amendment prohibited states from denying a citizen the right to vote based on 'race, color, or previous condition of servitude.'
Example:
The 15th Amendment was a significant step towards universal male suffrage, though Southern states later found ways to circumvent it through poll taxes and literacy tests.
Antietam
The bloodiest single-day battle in American history, fought in September 1862, which halted the Confederate invasion of Maryland and led to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
Example:
The Union victory at Antietam, though costly, provided Lincoln with the military leverage he needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, changing the war's purpose.
Appomattox Court House
The site in Virginia where Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the Civil War.
Example:
The dignified surrender at Appomattox Court House symbolized the end of the devastating conflict and the beginning of the long process of national reunification.
Black Codes
Restrictive laws passed by Southern states after the Civil War to control the labor and behavior of newly freed African Americans, effectively re-establishing conditions similar to slavery.
Example:
The Black Codes severely limited the rights of freedmen, preventing them from owning land, voting, or serving on juries, leading to outrage in the North.
Bleeding Kansas
A series of violent civil confrontations in the Kansas Territory (1854-1859) between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions, serving as a prelude to the Civil War.
Example:
The brutal clashes and massacres during Bleeding Kansas demonstrated that popular sovereignty was a dangerous and unworkable solution to the slavery debate.
Border Ruffians
Pro-slavery activists from Missouri who crossed into Kansas Territory in the 1850s to influence elections and intimidate anti-slavery settlers.
Example:
The Border Ruffians engaged in voter fraud and violence, attempting to ensure that Kansas would become a slave state, contributing to the chaos of Bleeding Kansas.
Carpetbaggers
A derogatory term used by white Southerners to describe Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War, often to participate in Reconstruction governments or economic ventures.
Example:
Southern resentment towards Carpetbaggers stemmed from the perception that they were opportunistic outsiders exploiting the defeated South for personal gain.
Compromise of 1850
A series of five legislative bills passed to address the issue of slavery in new territories and avert secession, temporarily easing tensions but ultimately failing to resolve the core conflict.
Example:
The Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state but included a stricter Fugitive Slave Act, which further inflamed Northern abolitionist sentiment.
Compromise of 1877
An unwritten deal that settled the intensely disputed 1876 presidential election, resulting in the withdrawal of federal troops from the South and effectively ending Reconstruction.
Example:
The Compromise of 1877 led to the collapse of Republican governments in the South and ushered in an era of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation.
Dred Scott Decision
The 1857 Supreme Court ruling that declared enslaved or formerly enslaved persons were not citizens and had no right to sue, and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in territories.
Example:
The Dred Scott Decision invalidated the Missouri Compromise and infuriated abolitionists, pushing the nation closer to civil war by denying the legal standing of African Americans.
Emancipation Proclamation
An executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declaring all enslaved people in Confederate-held territory to be free.
Example:
The Emancipation Proclamation transformed the Civil War into a moral crusade against slavery and discouraged European powers from supporting the Confederacy.
Fort Sumter
A federal fort in Charleston, South Carolina, whose bombardment by Confederate forces in April 1861 marked the official beginning of the American Civil War.
Example:
The attack on Fort Sumter galvanized both the Union and the Confederacy, leading to Lincoln's call for troops and the rapid escalation of the conflict.
Freedmen's Bureau
A federal agency established in 1865 to aid formerly enslaved people and poor whites in the South during Reconstruction, providing food, housing, medical care, and education.
Example:
The Freedmen's Bureau played a crucial role in establishing schools for African Americans and helping them negotiate labor contracts, despite facing significant opposition.
Fugitive Slave Act
A highly controversial component of the Compromise of 1850 that required all citizens, even in free states, to assist in the capture and return of escaped enslaved people.
Example:
The enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act in Northern cities led to public outrage and increased support for the Underground Railroad, as many refused to comply.
Gettysburg
A pivotal three-day battle in July 1863 in Pennsylvania, considered the turning point of the Civil War, where the Union decisively defeated the Confederate invasion of the North.
Example:
The Union triumph at Gettysburg crushed Confederate hopes of gaining foreign recognition and marked the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
An American abolitionist and author whose 1852 novel, *Uncle Tom's Cabin*, depicted the harsh realities of slavery and significantly fueled anti-slavery sentiment in the North.
Example:
Abraham Lincoln reportedly greeted Harriet Beecher Stowe by saying, 'So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war!'
John Brown
A radical abolitionist who believed in using violence to end slavery, most notably through his actions in Bleeding Kansas and his raid on Harpers Ferry.
Example:
John Brown's violent acts, though condemned by some, were seen by others as a righteous struggle against the evils of slavery, further polarizing the nation.
John Brown's Raid
An 1859 attempt by abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt by taking over a United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
Example:
John Brown's Raid terrified the South, confirming their fears of Northern aggression and leading to increased militarization and calls for secession.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
An 1854 law that repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed settlers in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide on the legality of slavery through popular sovereignty.
Example:
The Kansas-Nebraska Act ignited fierce opposition in the North because it opened up territories previously closed to slavery, leading directly to 'Bleeding Kansas'.
Ku Klux Klan
A white supremacist terrorist organization founded during Reconstruction that used violence and intimidation to suppress the rights of African Americans and restore white supremacy in the South.
Example:
The Ku Klux Klan's brutal acts of terror aimed to undermine Reconstruction efforts and prevent black citizens from exercising their newly gained freedoms.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
A series of seven debates in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas during their campaign for an Illinois Senate seat, primarily focusing on slavery.
Example:
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates brought Lincoln national prominence and clearly articulated the differing views on slavery's future, despite Lincoln losing the Senate race.
Manifest Destiny
The 19th-century belief that the United States was divinely ordained to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the North American continent.
Example:
The acquisition of the Oregon Territory was seen by many Americans as a fulfillment of Manifest Destiny, extending the nation's reach to the Pacific.
Mexican Cession
The large territory in the present-day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S. in 1848 as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
Example:
The Mexican Cession dramatically increased the size of the United States, but also intensified sectional tensions over whether slavery would be permitted in the new territories.
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; in the context of slavery, it allowed residents of a territory to decide whether to allow slavery.
Example:
Stephen Douglas championed popular sovereignty as a democratic solution to the slavery question in new territories, but it often led to violence, as seen in Bleeding Kansas.
Reconstruction Act of 1867
Legislation passed by the Radical Republican-controlled Congress that divided the South into five military districts and required Southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment and grant black men suffrage to rejoin the Union.
Example:
The Reconstruction Act of 1867 marked the beginning of Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction, imposing federal military oversight on the former Confederate states.
Republican Party
A political party formed in the 1850s, primarily in opposition to the expansion of slavery into Western territories.
Example:
Abraham Lincoln's election as the first Republican Party president in 1860, on an anti-slavery expansion platform, directly triggered the secession of Southern states.
Scalawags
A derogatory term used by former Confederates to describe white Southerners who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party after the Civil War.
Example:
Many Scalawags were poor white farmers who hoped Reconstruction would bring economic opportunities and break the power of the wealthy planter class.
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
The 1848 treaty that officially ended the Mexican-American War, forcing Mexico to cede vast territories to the United States.
Example:
Following the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, the U.S. gained California and New Mexico, sparking intense debates over the expansion of slavery into these new lands.
Uncle Tom's Cabin
An influential anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1852, that exposed the moral evils of slavery and galvanized public opinion against it.
Example:
Uncle Tom's Cabin became a bestseller and profoundly impacted the national debate over slavery, making it difficult for Northerners to ignore the institution's brutality.
Underground Railroad
A network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved African Americans to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies.
Example:
Harriet Tubman, known as 'Moses of her people,' bravely guided many to freedom along the Underground Railroad, risking her life with each journey.
Vicksburg
A crucial Union siege victory in July 1863 that gave the Union control of the Mississippi River, effectively splitting the Confederacy in two.
Example:
The fall of Vicksburg to Grant's forces, combined with the victory at Gettysburg, severely crippled the Confederacy's ability to wage war.
Wilmot Proviso
A failed 1846 proposal by David Wilmot to prohibit slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican-American War.
Example:
Even though the Wilmot Proviso never passed, it highlighted the growing divide between North and South over the future of slavery in the expanding nation.