American History Alan Brinkley | Chapter 13 "The Impending Crisis" Key Terms/People/Places/Events Flashcards
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| 4775789201 | Abraham Lincoln | 16th President of the United States saved the Union during the Civil War and emancipated the slaves. | 0 | |
| 4775789202 | Compromise of 1850 | A policy assembled by Henry Clay that included admittance of California as a free state, formation of territorial govt's from land gained from Mexico w/out slavery restrictions, the abolition of slave trade in DC, and a new and more effective fugitive slave law. Political victory of bargaining and self-interest, and ended up being very politically motivated by a new generation of American politicians; was proposed to settle the dispute of Slave or free state for future Western states, but complicated slave versus free issue leading up to the Civil war. | 1 | |
| 4775789203 | Dred Scott decision | Missouri slave appealed to the federal courts about his freedom, leading to Congress's ruling that they had no power to act on the issue, based on the 5th amendment. Confirmed a "power boundary" of Congress, didn't challenge the right of an individual slave state to prohibit slavery, but infuriated Northerners and pushed the country a bit more towards civil war. | 2 | |
| 4775789204 | "Forty-niners" | People who went to California looking for Gold (They left in 1849) | 3 | |
| 4775789205 | Free-Soil Party | Formed by the combination of the Liberty Party and antislavery Whigs and democrats, that opposed the extension of slavery into western territories. Its emergence as an important political force showed the inability of existing parties to contain political issues stirred by slavery. | 4 | |
| 4775789206 | Gadsden Purchase | purchase of land from mexico in 1853 that established the present U.S.-mexico boundary | 5 | |
| 4775789207 | General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna | Mexican general who seized power after the collapse of the Mexican republic in 1835 | 6 | |
| 4775789208 | Harpers Ferry | Town holding a military arsenal, which was taken by John Brown and his group of followers, hoping to raise a slave insurrection, but was stopped, tried, and hanged. Shocked Southerners and showed many of them that they could not join the Union safely, pitted the North against the South in the South's mind, and added to the deepening conflict. | 7 | |
| 4775789209 | James K. Polk | President known for promoting Manifest Destiny. | 8 | |
| 4775789210 | John Brown | A radical antislavery advocate who attempted to raise a slave insurrection in Harpers Ferry, which was unsuccessful. Upset Southerners multiple times(once in Kansas, once in Virginia), adding to the conflict leading to the Civil war. | 9 | |
| 4775789211 | Kansas-Nebraska Act | a law that allowed voters in Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether to allow slavery | 10 | |
| 4775789212 | Manifest Destiny | Popular American ideal, consisting of the belief that any land in America they could take was given to them by Providence and God. Drove Westward (and general) expansion of the American territory, justified racist and intolerant nature of expansion in many American's minds, deeply affected the American attitude in art, literature, daily lie, and politics. | 11 | |
| 4775789213 | Oregon Trail | a 2,000-mile trail stretching through the Great Plains from western Missouri to the Oregon Territory | 12 | |
| 4775789214 | Popular sovereignty | A belief that ultimate power resides in the people. | 13 | |
| 4775789215 | Sam Houston | Former Tennessee governor whose victory at San Jacinto in 1836 won Texas its independence | 14 | |
| 4775789216 | Stephen A. Douglas | Democratic senator from Illinois, a strong advocate of infrastructure and economic development. Wanted to strengthen the North, pushing for its improvement, and in this way (if unknowingly) encouraging sectional division and ultimately, Civil war. | 15 | |
| 4775789217 | Stephen F. Austin | led Americans in establishing a colony in Texas | 16 | |
| 4775789218 | Tejanos | Spanish settlers who lived in what is now southern Texas | 17 | |
| 4775789219 | The Alamo | 1836 Santa Anna's army defeats Texans at this battle 187 Texans killed | 18 | |
| 4775789220 | Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo | 1848 treaty ending the Mexican-American War | 19 | |
| 4775789221 | Wilmot Proviso | A proposed amendment to the appropriation bill prohibiting slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico; passed in the House but failed in the Senate. Was repeatedly called up and voted on for years, caused southerners to create more elaborate arguments justifying slavery, inspired further ethical consideration of slavery; another repetitive abolitionist influence that quickened the start of the Civil war. | 20 | |
| 4775789222 | Winfield Scott | Military hero of the Mexican War who became the Whigs' last presidential candidate in 1852 | 21 | |
| 4775789223 | "Young America" | 22 | ||
| 4775789224 | Zachary Taylor | Whig president who nearly destroyed the Compromise of 1850 before he died in office | 23 |
