| A | B |
|---|
| popular sovereignty | settlers in a territory would be given the chance to vote on issues like slavery. Similar to the idea of Self-Determination. |
| General Zachary Taylor | Won the election of 1848. A war hero, he focused on neutrality rather than taking a stand on anything...especially slavery. |
| gag rule | Voted in by mostly Southern senators, this rule banned even the mention of slavery in Congress. The idea was that not talking about it would keep the political parties unified for tha sake of the nation. |
| Mexican War | Won by the US and resulted in renwed controversy of extending slavery, split the Whig and Democrat party over slavery issue, cession of Mexican lands to the US, and rush of US settler into California. |
| Wilmot Proviso | Proposal that asked that slavery NOT be accepted anywhere in the lands from Mexican Cession. It did NOT pass. |
| Free Soilers | Platform: opposition to slavery in the territories, free government homesteads for settlers, federal aid for internal improvements, supported the Wilmot Proviso. Hated slavery only because it took jobs away from free white workers. . |
| Forty-Niners | Fortune seekers who flooded California pursuing gold. So many arrived that California population quickly hit the required count to apply for statehood. |
| California Constitution | Urged on by President Taylor, California applied for statehood bypassing territory stage. Ca. upset the 15-15 balance in the Senate by coming in as a FREE STATE. |
| 1850 | South is in a strong position economically AND politically. |
| Self-purchase | Took place when a slave would purchase their own freedom. The most common way to freedom. |
| Underground Railroad | a secret route from "station to station" that led many slaves to the North and eventually to Canada. |
| Harriet Tubman | most well-known "conductor" of the "railroad." She snuck back into the South 19 times and led some 300+ slaves to freedom. |
| Senatorial Giants | The last of the American Revolution Founding Fathers: Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster. |
| Seventh of March Speech | Given by Daniel Webster, he urged the North to compromise on the issue. He felt that the lands of the Mexican Cession were too dry to grow cotton and therefore wouldn't need slavery anyway. Abolitionists considered him a traitor after the speech. |
| John C. Calhoun Compromise | argued for states' rights (the same argument as in the tariff crisis of the 1830's). He wanted slavery to be left alone, the runaway slaves to be returned to the South, and state balance kept intact. |
| Young Guard | New politicians more interested in purifying the nation than in preserving it. |
| William H. Seward | argued that, when it came to slavery, Americans must follow a "higher law" (God's law), above the Constitution. |
| Utah and New Mexico Territories | Under the Compromise of 1850, these territories would decided the issue of slavery through popular sovereignty. |
| Fugitive Slave Law | Concession to the South, it provided for more enforcement and money to bring slaves back to the South. THe MOST threatening item in the Compromise for the North. |
| Whig Party Split | Slavery was the issue that broke apart the Whigs |
| William Walker | Expansionsist who went to Nicaragua and declared himself president for a short time until he was kicked out. |
| Commodore Matthew Perry | Under US direction forced Japan to open trade with the US. |
| Cuba | First expansionists tried to buy it then they attempted to seize it using Manifest Destiny as a Justification. |
| Transcontinental Railroad | Not only important for transportation, it was deemed vital to connect the East with the West Territories or risk losing Pacific Coast territories who might want to go on their own. |
| Stephen A. Douglas | "Little Giant". Best known for his debates with Lincoln and his proposal that popular sovereignty decided the question of slavery in the Kansas-Nebraska territories which horrified some because using popular sovereingty would REPEAL Missouri Compromise. . |
