Vocabulary List 7 Chapters 16 - 17
54th Massachusetts Regiment – Most famous African-American regiment during the Civil War. This northern unit faced a lot of discrimination and its most famous battle was the battle at Fort Wagner.
Appomattox – Location where Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant. arsenal – Place where guns are stored.
Battle of Bull Run – First battle of the Civil War. It proved that both sides soldiers were not ready to fight.
Battle of Gettysburg – Battle in Pennsylvania that was the turning point of the Civil War. Robert E. Lee was defeated and never again attempted to invade the North. border ruffians – People from Missouri who came and voted in Kansas during the vote whether slavery should be allowed in the territory. These slave owners came in conflict with people against slavery. border states – Slave states that remained in the Union during the Civil War.
Civil War – War between people of the same country. In the United States, the South fought the North from 1861-1865.
Compromise of 1850 – An attempt to end the issue of slavery in new territories. California was admitted as a free state, a stronger fugitive slave law was passed, and popular sovereignty would be used to settle the issue of slavery in the lands of the Mexican Cession.
Confederate States – The southern states that left the United States during the Civil War. draft – Law that requires people to enlist in the military.
Dred Scott v. Sandford – African American Dred Scott sued for his freedom. In 1857 the Supreme Court ruled that as an African American he was not a citizen and therefore could not sue. It also said that the government could not limit where a person brought their slaves.
Emancipation Proclamation – Lincoln’s declaration in 1863 that slaves in the Confederacy were free.
Free-Soil Party – Antislavery party founded in the United States in 1848 with the goal of keeping slavery out of the western states.
Fugitive Slave Act – 1850 law which required all citizens to help in the capture of runaway slaves.
Gettysburg Address – Speech made in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln after the Battle of Gettysburg. It said that the people who have died in the Civil War had died to preserve the United States democratic way of life. inflation – A rise in prices and a decrease in the value of money.
Kansas-Nebraska Act – 1854 law which established the Kansas and Nebraska territories and allowed for popular sovereignty to decide on the issue of slavery. martyr – Someone who is willing to die for a cause. Examples include John Brown before the Civil War and suicide bombers today.
Missouri Compromise – Agreement in 1819 proposed by Henry Clay attempting to keep the number of slave and free states the same. Missouri entered the United States as a slave state and Maine as a free state. A line was drawn in the land of the Missouri Compromise and slavery was to be allowed south of it and banned north of it.
Monitor vs. Merrimac – First battle of ironclad warships which started the end of wooden warships. popular sovereignty – The idea that a territory could vote whether or not to have slavery. Associated with the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Republican Party – Political party formed in 1854 with the goal of keeping slavery out of the western territories.
Richmond – Capital of the Confederate States of America. secession – Withdrawal from a group. The Confederate States seceded from the United States during the Civil War. states’ rights – The idea that states have the right to limit the power of the federal government. States said they didn’t have to follow laws they thought were unfair. total war – Style of warfare that targeted civilians as well as soldiers. Associated with Sherman’s march to Georgia. Designed to destroy civilian’s and soldiers will to fight.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. It showed the evils of slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act.
Wilmot Proviso – 1854 attempt to ban slavery in the lands won from Mexico after the Mexican War. It passed the House but not the Senate.