history

• Industrial Revolution


  The time prior to the Civil War when people begin using machines to make goods
• Reform Era


  Time period before the Civil War where people focus on improving themselves and their environment as a way to secure a place in Heaven
• Temperance Movement


  Reform to get people to drink less alcohol and improve society
• Abolition of Slavery


  Reform to get people to get rid of slavery
• Domestic slave


  Slave who works in the house with the family
• Field hand


  Slave who works in the fields
• Skilled slave


  Slave who has been trained with a skill and can be hired out
• Underground Railroad


  System by which slaves would escape from the South into free land
• Passenger


  Runaway slave on the Underground Railroad
• Conductor


  Guide for the passengers
• Station/master


  Safe house and owner of the safe house where slaves hide
• Northwest Ordinance


  First law that dealt with slavery in the West - the weak US government banned slavery, but couldn't enforce the ban
• Missouri Compromise


  The compromise that begins the process of admitting states in pairs - also bans slavery north of the 36-30 line in the Louisiana Territory - US government is trying to keep an equal number of free and slave states
• Wilmot Proviso


  A bill that didn't become a law - this said that any land won from the war with Mexico would not allow slavery - while this bill was approved in the House of Representatives (where the free states had more representatives), but it did not get passed in the Senate where the free and slave states were equal = did not become a law
• Compromise of 1850


  A law (1850) that tried to make the North and the South happy - the North was happy because California could join the US as a free state and give the free states an advantage - it also banned the slave trade in DC - the South was happy because a stricter Fugitive Slave Law was passed and the new territories of Utah and New Mexico were created with no restrictions on slavery - the question of slavery would be decided there by the people who live in the territory using popular sovereignty
• Fugitive Slave Law


  Law that was part of the Compromise of 1850 and said it was illegal for slaves to run away - original law from 1793 said that anyone accusing someone of being a runaway slave needed proof of ownership, which many didn't have - fine was light for helping slaves escape - new law from 1850 said proof of ownership was no longer required, accused runaways couldn't speak at their own trials, judges were paid $10 to rule against runaway slaves and $5 to rule in their favor - law turned many people against slavery
• Popular sovereignty


  The idea that people have the authority or power - this was used in this time period when the government said the people in a territory would decide if slavery was allowed or banned
• Kansas-Nebraska Act


  The law that tried to make both the North and the South happy - the North was chosen to have a railroad heading to the west and this railroad would provide jobs, make land more valuable, and make travel easier - the South got something they wanted as well, which was the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to be open to slavery - these territories were north of the Missouri Compromise Line (36-30) and had been closed to slavery, but this deal nullified that earlier compromise and said that popular sovereignty would be used instead of the government ban
• Bleeding Kansas


  Nickname for Kansas in the 1850s because the pro and anti-slavery people attack each other so much - it's a mini-Civil War
• Secede


  To declare independence from or to break away from a large group - for example, the 13 colonies seceded from the British Empire
• Uncle Tom's Cabin


  The second most popular book of the 1800s (behind the Bible) - it turns people into abolitionists
• Industrial Revolution


  This change in how work was done centered around using machines - people were unskilled laborers and were seen as largely replaceable
• Potato Famine


  Disease strikes the potato crop in Ireland, causing one million Irish to immigrate to the US - they are largely unwelcome because they will work for lower wages than American workers and are Catholic, causing some to fear the irish will be more loyal to the Pope than the President
• Poor mill conditions


  Workers had many reasons to complain about their working conditions, including the hours, the pay, and their health - some would go on strike to try to improve conditions, but those were unsuccessful
• Reform Movements


  People begin to want to improve their communities and see areas that need to be reformed - people focus on the abolition of slavery, women's rights, temperance, education, or prison reform
• Expansion of slavery


  Who gets to decide if slavery heads west with the nation? Is this the right of the US government to ban it or should the people living in the territory/state be able to decide? Federal power vs. State's rights = Major issue leading to the Civil War.
• Election of 1860


  With many people running, the two top candidates are the two who don't want to compromise on slavery in the West. Lincoln is elected and his opinion is that slavery will not expand to the West.
• Slave rebellions


  Infrequently happen because the punishment is severe and people tell of the planned rebellion - they possibility of one creates an atmosphere of fear
• Samuel Slater


  Man who snuck out of Britain and brought the Industrial Revolution to the United States
• Frederick Douglass


  Escaped slave who encouraged others to fight back actively
• Harriet Tubman


  Most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad
• Abraham Lincoln


  Elected President in 1860 - his stance that slavery should not expand westward caused southern states to secede
• Dred Scott


  Slave who traveled to free land, then back to slave land - argued that being on free land made him a free person - sued for is freedom and lost - concern was that if he won, it could mean that every fugitive slave was free as soon as setting foot on free land
• Harriet Beecher Stowe


  Author of the book, Uncle Tom's Cabin - turned many people into abolitionists
• Charles Sumner


  Senator who was attacked in the Senate for criticizing the institution of slavery and the Congressmen who support it
• Henry Clay


  Congressman who creates the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850 as a way to keep the United States together
• Nat Turner


  Only many to lead a successful slave rebellion in the United States
• John Brown


  Abolitionist who attacks and kills pro-slavery men in Kansas and leads a failed slave rebellion on the arsenal at Harpers' Ferry, Virginia
• Stephen Douglas


  Congressman who created the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which nullified the Missouri Compromise