Causes of the Civil War Part 1 – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
Fugitive Slave Act
answer
One part of the Compromise of 1850, this law stated that escaped slaves must be returned to masters even if they were in the North, and set harsh punishments for those assisting runaway slaves.
question
Popular Sovereignty
answer
Let the people decide by State, on whether slavery should be allowed in territories through voting.
question
Dred Scott
answer
He was a slave who was taken to free territory. He sued for his freedom and the Supreme Court declared that slaves are property, not people.
question
South Carolina
answer
First state to secede/leave the Union in 1860.
question
Secessionists
answer
These people believed that since the states voluntarily joined the Union, they can also choose to leave.
question
Jefferson Davis
answer
President of the Confederate States of America, in the south 1861 - 1865.
question
Abraham Lincoln
answer
President of the U.S., 1861-1865
question
Cotton
answer
number 1 Cash Crop in the South in the 1800's.
question
Ft. Sumter
answer
April 12th, 1861- Confederate soldiers firing on this fort initiated the Civil War.
question
Give one reason why most southerners were upset about Lincoln's election in 1860.
answer
They thought Lincoln would abolish slavery, and Lincoln did not win a single southern state in the election, the south knew they had lost the balance of power.
question
List three long standing causes of the Civil War.
answer
Slavery, states rights, Sectionalism
question
Compromise of 1850
answer
Law passed that gave North and South part of what they wanted. California admitted as free state, slave trade abolished in DC, and new fugitive slave law passed; advocated by Henry Clay and Stephen A. Douglas
question
Underground railroad
answer
1830, Harriet Tubman, a system that helped enslaved African Americans follow a network of escape routes out of the South to freedom in the North, went all the way to Canada
question
Kansas-Nebraska Act
answer
1854 - Douglas: Created Nebraska (north) and Kansas (south) as states and gave the people in those territories the right to chose to be a free or slave state through popular sovereignty. North disliked the Act and Southerners loved it.
question
John Brown
answer
Abolitionist involved in violence in Kansas. In 1859, he led a raid of a government arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, with the intention of arming slaves and starting a revolt. He became a hero of the abolitionists in the Civil War. Brown was considered a matryr by some and a madman by others.
question
Election of 1860
answer
Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, won because the Democratic party in the South was split over slavery. As a result, the South no longer felt like it had a voice in politics and a 11 states seceded from the Union.
question
Harriet Beacher Stowe
answer
The author of the book Uncle Toms Cabin that persuaded people to want to end slavery.
question
Stephen Douglas
answer
The "Little Giant." He proposed the Kansas - Nebraska Act and the idea of popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery in the territories. He also had a series of famous debates when he defeated Abraham Lincoln for Senate in 1858 in Illinois.
question
Henry Clay
answer
Proposed the Compromise of 1850 to prevent conflict between North and South - the last of "great compromise" of his political career.
question
John Breckenridge
answer
Southern Democrat that received 72 electoral votes in the presidential election of 1860.
question
Charles Sumner
answer
Massachusetts Senator...beaten nearly to death on the floor of the U.S. Senate by Preston Brooks after speaking out against slavery.
question
Roger B. Taney
answer
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court when Dred Scott decision was made.
question
sectionalism
answer
People aligning themselves more with the region of the country they live in rather than the nation as a whole.
question
Martyr
answer
A person who dies for a cause or belief.
question
Republican Party
answer
Political party formed in 1854. Its main goal was to stop the spread of slavery.
question
List 3 ways the Dred Scott Decision impacted the nation:
answer
1 - Ruled slaves were property, not people with rights. 2 - Missouri Comp. unconstitutional = slavery spreads into territories. 3 - Free African Americans lose status 4 - Abolitionist setback
question
"Bleeding Kansas"
answer
(1856) a series of violent fights between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in Kansas who had moved to Kansas to try to influence the decision of whether or not Kansas would a slave state or a free state.
question
James Buchanan
answer
15th President of the U.S. - viewed by many as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history due to the fact that he failed to deal with secession of Southern States or the problems arising at Fort Sumter in early 1861.
question
Harper's Ferry
answer
John Brown's scheme to invade the South with armed slaves, backed by sponsoring, northern abolitionists; seized the federal arsenal; Brown and remnants were caught by Robert E. Lee and the US Marines; Brown was hanged
question
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
answer
Series of 1858 Senate debates...Lincoln forced Douglas to debate issue of slavery, Douglas supported popular sovereignty. Lincoln asserted that slavery should not spread to territories, Lincoln lost to Douglas, but emerged as strong Republican candidate.
