Unit 4: From Crisis to Reconstruction
Term
Definition
Stephen Douglas
He was an Illinois statesman that ran against Lincoln in the
1860 Election. Known for his call on “popular sovereignty” for
the issue of slavery. He is also known for the Kansas and
Nebraska Act which repealed the Missouri Compromise and
created a larger debate for the extension of slavery.
Popular sovereignty
Created by Stephen Douglas in the mid­1800s. Said that it is
in the people’s power to choose whether or not they would
want slavery in their state.
Wilmot Proviso
a bill that prohibited the extension of slavery in the Mexican
Cession
Free Soil Party
Against the expansion of slavery. Believed that slavery should
stay in the states where they were in, and should not expand
towards Oregon or towards the Mexican Cession. They
feared labor competition from slaves.
Compromise of 1850
It was proposed by Henry Clay. It put into order the Fugitive
Slave act, and banned the slave trade in D.C. It also made
California into a free state. However, it instigated popular
sovereignty in the Mexican cession.
Fugitive Slave Law
part of the Compromise of 1850, it allowed whites to capture
blacks and bring them back to their slave owners. It also
prevented anyone from helping any runaway slaves.
Scenario: “You are a slave,” said the white male.
“No I am not, I have bought my freedom from my master,”
said the black male.
“No you have not, we are now bringing you back to slavery,”
shouted the white male.
“But I am a free man!”
“No you are not!”
Kansas Nebraska Act
This was proposed by Stephen Douglas. It created Kansas
and Nebraska and allowed popular sovereignty to decide
whether there would be slavery or not in the state. It also
repealed the Missouri Compromise.
Bleeding Kansas
1856, it was between pro­slavery and free­soilers who fought
against each other. One side wanted slavery, and the other
did not, leading to their chaotic conflict. This event was
caused by the Stephen Douglas’s Kansas Nebraska Act.
Sharecropping
African Americans traded a portion of their crops for a right to
work a piece of land. However, it led African Americans to
debt, and it resembled past­slavery conditions.
Emancipation Proclamation
1862, it declared that slaves in the confederacy were free
and that the Government would liberate or free and slaves
living/residing in “states in rebellion,” aka the Confederacy.
However, it did not include slaves that lived in the border
states.
(Note that Lincoln could not legally abolish slavery)
Also strengthened morale, that the civil war was indeed a
fight against slavery.
Reconstruction
the purpose was to readmit the Southern states back into the
Union. It would also rebuild and reconstruct the damaged
South. It would also try to integrate the newly freedmen into
American society.
Ten Percent Plan
It was proposed by Lincoln. Said that only 10% of the voters
of the election of 1860 to swear the oath of allegiance . It also
said that the SOuth must accept the 13th amendment. After
adhering to these conditions, the south can reorganize their
state governments and reapply to the Union once again.
Lincoln’s plan was meant to reinstate the Southern states in
a quicker way. Lincoln wanted them to be readmitted to the
Union as quickly as possible.
Freedmen’s Bureau
1865, it was by Radical Republicans who wanted to help
former slaves who were adjusting to their new freedoms. It
would help the freed slaves get clothes, land, money, and
jobs. It also protected the freedmen from racial prejudice that
was present in the South.
Thirteenth Amendment
It abolished slavery in the U.S.; however, it allowed for slavery
to be a punishment against crime.
Fourteenth Amendment
This amendment gave the freedmen citizenship. It also got
rid of the 3/5s compromise (because slavery was no longer
practiced, so it the compromise really shouldn’t exist
anymore). It also withheld positions in government from any
former confederate official.
Fifteenth Amendment
Prohibited the denial of suffrage (the right to vote) to anyone
based on color, race, or their previous condition of servitude.
Everyone who was male could vote.
Secession
In December 1860, South Carolina secedes from the Union.
Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas
follows. They create the COnfederate State of America.
Greenbackers
Wanted to stick with the greenbacks, paper money that
caused inflation.
Ku Klux Klan
This group was focused on murdering and threatening
Freedmen who exercised their votes like voting. Threatened
any African American who practiced their new found
freedoms.
Jim Crow Laws
written to separate Blacks from White society. This is why
African Americans had unequal opportunities compared to
whites.
John Brown’s raid
1859; Brown tried to invade Harper’s Ferry to start a slave
rebellion from the weapons they had collected. However,
they failed. Robert E.Lee captured Brown who later died. It
also increased Southern Fears of northern hostility.
Sectional division
During Polk’s presidency (1844­48), Texas was annexed
(1845) and the Oregon Treaty with Great Britain occurred as
well (1846). And in 1848, the Mexican American War
occurred, which was ended by the Treaty of
GUadalupe­Hidalgo that same year. Northerners’ reacted to
the war and new gained land in fear that the new states
acquired in the West states would be SLAVE states. They
feared for more “slave representations” in government.
Andrew Johnson
President after Lincoln died. Put into action his
reconstruction plan which required that the Confederate
states would have to be governed by a provisional military
government until they have been readmitted to the Union;
required that all citizens swear to the Oath of Allegiance; and
banned Southern elites from participating in the new
government; lastly, it repeald secession and the practice of
slavery.
Crittenden Plan
A compromise that extended the MIssouri Compromise line
throughout the Pacific. It was the Union’s last effort to lessen
the tension between the North and the South. It would allow
slavery in the South and would prevent Congress from
regulating the slave trade there; in other words, the plan
would allow further division in the topic of slavery in the
States.
James Buchanan
He enforced the Fugitive slave act, and he was against
abolitionist activities in the South and the West territories.
However, sectional difference and intellectual differences
become too irreconcilable to diffuse.
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Occurred in 1857. Scott sued for being a slave in a free
state. The supreme court answered him saying that slaves
are property, that they are not citizens, therefore they had no
right to sue in the first place.
The south favored this decision while the north did not.
The northerners also believed that the “slave power” was
dominating government.
Black Codes
1865­1866, President Johnson agreed to this. Said that the
Whites had power over Blacks in SOuthern Legislation. It
also took out the Freedmen’s Bureau, and the First Civil
Rights Act in 1866.