1.

Manifest Destiny - The idea that white Americans were divinely

ordained to settle the entire continent of North America; inspired a
variety of measures designed to remove or destroy the native
population.
2. Gold Rush - The rush of people to California after gold was
discovered; led to significant industrial and agricultural development
and helped shape the future of California.
3. Mexican-American War - An invasion of Mexico by the United States
from 1846 to 1848; halved the size of Mexico and greatly increased
the territory of the United States.
4. Mexican Cession - Ended the war between the United States and
Mexico; led to the statehood of California and rising tensions that
resulted in the American Civil War.
5. Wilmot Proviso - Proposal in the 1840s to prohibit the extension of
slavery into the territories; the proposal was unsuccessful and
brought the U.S. closer to the Civil War.
6. Gadsden Purchase - Bought territory from Mexico in present-day
Southern Arizona and Southern New Mexico; provided the land
necessary for a southern transcontinental railroad.
7. Free-Soil Party - A party that denounced that expansion of slavery;
led to the rise of the Republican party that would win the Presidential
Election in 1860.
8. Popular Sovereignty - The belief that the government should be
based on the consent of the people; the belief encouraged territories,
rather than Congress, to determine whether to permit or prohibit
slavery.
9. Compromise of 1850 - California admitted as a free state and the
slave trade was abolished in D.C. in exchange for the passing of the
Fugitive Slave Act; this created tensions between the North and
South because now states could vote on popularity if they wanted to
be a free or slave state.
10. Fugitive Slave Law - A law that made it so escaped slaves
could be recaptured and be sold back into slavery; made slavery
more permanent.
11. Uncle Tom’s Cabin - A book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe,
and showed the brutality of slavery; was wildly successful and
showed everyone how awful slavery truly was.
12. Nativism - A policy of protecting the interests of native-born or
established inhabitants against those of immigrants; presented a fear
in people because they felt like the immigrants would take over their
culture.
13. “Bleeding Kansas” - A skirmish in Kansas that basically was
because of Pro- slavery people and anti - slavery people and whether
or not Kansas should become a free or slave state; significantly
shaped American politics and contributed to the coming of the Civil
War.
14. Kansas-Nebraska Act - Nullified the Missouri Compromise and
allowed settlers of the western territories to decide on slavery; led to
“Bleeding Kansas,” and caused both pro-slavery and anti-slavery
activists to flood into the territories in order to sway the vote.
15. Know-Nothing Party - A group of people who tried to combat
foreign influences and to uphold and promote traditional American
ways; encouraged discrimination and eventually merged into the
Republican Party.
16. Dred Scott vs. Sandford - A court decision that basically said
that slaves were property and not a US citizen and therefore had no
rights; first time that the US supreme court actually took a stand on
slavery, and also contributed to the Civil War.
17. Lincoln- Douglas Debates - A series of seven debates between
the Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas and the Republican
Challenger Abraham Lincoln during the 1858 Illinois senatorial
campaign; propelled Lincoln's political career into the national
spotlight.
18. Harper’s Ferry - A raid by John Brown against Harper Ferry, a
national arsenal, whose intent was to steal guns and arm slaves and
cause a slave revolt; the revolt scared southerners and was one of
the final straws for the South and secession.
19. Secession - South left the Union; Caused/Played a role in the
beginning of the Civil War.
20. Border States - States that border the south but are part of the
union; they were vital economic forces and transportation links, and
the army could strengthen either side.
21. Fort Sumter - South Carolina location where Confederate forces
fired the first shots of the Civil War; major catalyst of the civil war.
22. Battle of Antietam - The battle ended the Confederate invasion
of Maryland in 1862 and resulted in a Union victory; major turning
point of the war.
23. Battle of Vicksburg - The Union troops captured Vicksburg,
Mississippi, an important Confederate river city;T the Confederate
surrender there ensured Union control of the Mississippi River and
cleaved the South in two;
24. Battle of Gettysburg - A large battle between Union and
confederacy at Gettysburg; union victory was a much needed
25. Appomattox Courthouse - Marks the beginning of the country's
transition to peace and reunification following four years of Civil War;
where the surrender of the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee To
Ulysses S. Grant took place on April 9, 1865.
26. Greenbacks - The first national currency of the United States;
retired and replaced by legal tender.
27. Morrill Tariff Act - It was a protective tariff that increased duties
5-10%; allowed each state to sell up to 30,000 acres of land and use
the funds to establish colleges.
28. Homestead Act - Permitted any citizen or prospective citizen to
claim 160 acres of public land and to purchase it for a small fee after
living on it for five years; accelerated the settlement of the western
territory.
29. Habeas Corpus -An order requiring that a prisoner be brought
before a court at a specified time and place in order to determine the
legality of the imprisonment; an important instrument to safeguard
individual freedom against arbitrary executive power.
30. Copperheads - Vocal group of Democrats in the Northern
United States who opposed the American Civil War, wanting an
immediate peace settlement with the Confederates; opposed the
 American Civil War, wanting an immediate peace settlement with the
Confederates.
31. 13th Amendment - Ended slavery; Helped give the union a
purpose.
32. 14th Amendment - Anybody born in the US is a citizen; gave
more power to African Americans.
33. 15th Amendment - Gave all male citizens the right to vote;
increased power for republicans.
34. Civil Rights Act of 1866 - Declared all persons born in the
United States to be citizens, "without distinction of race or color, or
previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude."; the first
United States federal law to define US citizenship and affirmed that
all citizens were equally protected by the law.
35. Civil Rights Act of 1875 - The bill guaranteed all citizens,
regardless of color, access to accommodations, theaters, public
schools, churches, and cemeteries; Ensure people weren't
discriminated against in public areas because whites still weren't
accepting African Americans as equals.
36. Thomas Nast - An influential caricaturist and political cartoonist
in the late 1800’s; used his public platform to advocate for Black
voting rights and against corruption in politics.
37. Wade-Davis Bill - A bill proposing a framework for
Reconstruction and the re-admittance of the Confederate states to
the Union; the bill was a response to Lincoln’s 10% plan which
resulted in Lincoln vetoing the bill.
38. Freedmen’s Bureau - Provided food, shelter, clothing, medical
services, and land to Southerners and African Americans; provided
assistance to tens of thousands of formerly enslaved people and
impoverished whites in the Southern states.
39. Radical Republicans - Senators and congressmen who, strictly
identifying the Civil War with the abolitionist cause, sought swift
emancipation of slaves and punishment for rebels; responsible for the
13th, 14th, 15th Amendments and Civil Rights Act of 1866
40. Reconstruction Acts - Strict conditions imposed on former
Confederate states in order to reenter the Union, had to ratify 14th
 Amendment, and grant suffrage to African American men; angered
many Southern states.
41. Tenure of Office Act - Passed in 1867, prohibited the President
from dismissing any cabinet member or other federal office holder
whose appointment had required the consent of the senate unless
the senate agreed; very controversial.
42. Impeachment - To accuse a public official of misconduct in
office; House of Representatives impeached Andrew Johnson for
removing a cabinet member.
43. Scalawags - Derogatory name to refer to southern whites who
supported Reconstruction; took advantage of Reconstruction Laws
and policies.
44. Carpetbaggers -Term used by southerners to refer to
Northerners who moved to the southern states after the Civil War;
viewed as trying to take advantage of the weakened south and
targeted by the KKK.
45. Compromise of 1877 - Deal meant to settle the disputes over
the 1876 presidential election; pulled the last troops out of the South
effectively ending the Reconstruction Era
46. Ku Klux Klan - White supremacist group formed in the south
during the Reconstruction Era, often consisting of former
Confederates; acted like a terrorist group targeting African Americans
and any who supported racial equality.
47. Black Codes - Laws passed by southern states that limited the
rights of black people; continued segregation in the south and
curtailed the power of black voters
48. Sharecropping - A system by which southern whites, usually
former masters, would manipulate African Americans, usually former
slaves, into a very disfavorable contract; used to practically continue
slavery as African Americans ended up making no money or even
going in debt to the white landowners.