| A | B |
|---|
| Declaration of Independence | Document written by Jefferson, gives reasons for breaking with British & lists our rights |
| Electoral College | People who actually elect the President-the people for them |
| Constitution | Second plan of government, created federal system & strong national govt. |
| Federal system | Where power is divided between national & state governments |
| Bill of Rights | 1st 10 Amendments, outlines are basic rights & freedoms |
| Checks & Balances | System where each branch of govt. is equal & is able to control the other branches |
| Executive Branch | Carries out the laws |
| Legislative Branch | Writes the laws |
| Judicial Branch | Interprets the meaning of the laws & Constitution |
| James Madison | "Father of the Constitution", 4th President, author of some Federalist Papers |
| Republic | Government where people are represented by others whom they have elected. |
| Preamble | Beginning of the Constitution, lists the goals |
| Thomas Jefferson | 3rd President, leader of Democratic-Republicans, purchased Louisiana Territory |
| Louisiana Purchase | Land bought from France, doubled the size of the U.S. |
| Trailblazers | Mountain men who created paths across the west before Lewis & Clark |
| Oregon Trail | Main trail taken to the west through the South Pass |
| California Trail | Trail that broke off from Oregon Trail to go to San Francisco, used during Gold Rush |
| Santa Fe Trail | Trail that connected Mexican territory with the US so people could trade |
| Mormon Trail | Used by those going to Utah to practice their religion freely |
| Alamo | Fort attacked by Mexicans during beginning of Texas Revolution, everyone killed |
| Texas Revolution | When Texans revolted from Mexico to gain their independence |
| Lewis & Clark | Sent by Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Territory |
| Mexican-American War | Fought over the boundary of U.S. & Texas, U.S. won & took a lot of land |
| California Gold Rush | When thousands went looking for gold |
| 49'ers | Nickname to those going to California to look for gold |
| South Pass | 35 mile wide valley through the Rockies on Oregon Trail |
| Cash Crop | Crop grew specifically to make a profit, ex: Cotton, tobacco, sugarcane, rice, corn |
| Antebellum | Name given to the era before the Civil War, means "before the war" |
| Plantation | Large farms in the South that used slaves to grow cash crops |
| Abolition | The movement to end slavery in the U.S. for moral reasons |
| Frederick Douglass | Famous runaway slave who wrote & spoke out against slavery |
| Harriet Tubman | Conductor on the Underground Railroad, freed almost 300 slaves |
| Uncle Tom's Cabin | Book by Harriet Beecher Stowe about southern slavery |
| Underground Railroad | System of trails, paths, safe houses used to smuggle slaves to the North & Canada |
| Missouri Compromise | Agreement that limited slavery to the North, kept balance between slave & free states equal in Congress |
| Compromise of 1850 | California is allowed to become a free state, but also created new Fugitive Slave Act |
| Fugitive Slave Act | New federal law that forces Northerners to return runaway slaves |
| Dred Scott Decision | Supreme Court Decision that said blacks are not citizens & slave owners can take slaves anywhere in the U.S. |
| John Brown | Abolitionist who fought in Kansas & Virginia to free the slaves, believed God told him to |
| Harper's Ferry Raid | Attack by John Brown to get weapons to lead a slave revolt in the South |
| Kansas-Nebraska Act | Law created by Stephen Douglas to create new territories where the people would vote on slavery |
| Bleeding Kansas | The fight between abolitionists & pro-slavery people in Kansas |
| Bleeding Sumner | When Senator Brooks attacked Senator Sumner with a cane in Congress over a speech |
| Popular Sovereignty | Idea that people in a territory would vote on the issue of slavery |
| Stephen Douglas | Illinois Senator, passed Compromise of 1850, created KS-NE Act |
| Republican Party | New party focused on limiting the spread of slavery to the territories |
| Abraham Lincoln | 16th President, leader of Republicans, said nation couldn't be both free & slave |
| Lincoln-Douglas Debates | Famous debates to become Illinois Senator, debated the slave issue |
| Election of 1860 | When there was 4 candidates for President, nation divided over slavery, Lincoln won |
| Seccession | The act of breaking away or leaving the Union |
| Fort Sumter | Where Confederates attacked first in South Carolina, starting Civil War |
| Confederate States of America or Conferacy | Name given to the 11 states that seceded from the Union |
| Jefferson Davis | President of the Confederacy |
| Anaconda Plan | Union plan to surround the South, capture Richmond & Mississippi & control the Border States |
| Border States | Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, & Delaware-slave states that didn't leave Union |
| 1st Manassas (Bull Run) | 1st major battle between North & South, South won |
| Peninsula Campaign | When McClellan planned to ship his army to the peninsula & march to Richmond, Lee defeated him |
| 2nd Manassas (Bull Run) | Attempt by North to destroy Lee's army, Pope's army was trapped & destroyed |
| Pea Ridge | Battle in Arkansas/Missouri that protected Grant's right flank in the West allowing him to attack |
| Shiloh | 2-day battle where South tried to push Grant's army out of Tennessee, Union won |
| Antietam | Was a tie, but McClellan allowed Lee to escape back South, Union win |
| Fredericksburg | Lee controlled the high ground & had a stonewall to protect crops-slaughtered Union troops |
| Perryville/Stone River | Battles that protected Louisville, KY and push Confederates back into GA |
| Union | Nickname given to the states that didn't secede |
| General McClellan | Union general who was very cautious & couldn't beat Lee, Lincoln couldn't stand him |
| General Robert E. Lee | Confederate General who couldn't be beaten in Virginia |
| Emancipation Proclamation | Document that Lincoln issued to free the slaves in the South |
| Preamble | Beginning of Constitution, listed goals of document |
| Senate | House of Congress, 100 members, 2 per state |
| House of Representatives | House of Congress, 435 members, determined by state population |
| Veto | When President refuses to sign a bill into law |
| Supreme Court | Highest court in country, has 9 justices |
| David Walker | Free black abolitionist, wrote The Appeal, argued that blacks were human |
| William Lloyd Garrison | White abolitionist, was against Constitution, wrote The Liberator, |
| General William T. Sherman | Grant's favorite general, Marched through GA, SC, & NC, brought Total war to them |
| General Ulysses S. Grant | Was known as the butcher, Lee surrendered to him to end war |
| Contraband | Enemy property seized during war, slaves were considered this |
| Total War | Warfare where anything is possible, destroy people's will to fight |
| Gettysburg Address | Speech about redefining Dec. of Ind. by Lincoln |
| Jackson's Valley Campaign | Battles that tied down Union army in Shenandoah Valley so they could help McClellan against Lee |
| Fort Henry & Fort Donelson | Grant's 1st victories, opened up TN to invasion by the rivers |
| Vicksburg | Surrendered on 4th of July, gave control of MS River to Union |
| Chattanooga | Major Railroad center in TN, allowed Sherman to invasion GA |
| Overland Campaign | Bloody battles between Grant & Lee on way to Richmond, saw use of trenches |
| Burning of Atlanta | Sherman did this before Marching to the Sea, Lincoln made him wait until after the election |
| Sherman's March to the Sea | Total War, meant to teach Southerners a lesson & break their will to fight |
| Petersburg | Grant cut off the Railroad to Richmond by taking this city that was surrounded by trenches |
| Chancellorsville | Lee divided his army here & traps the Union army & won a great victory |
| Chickamagua | Only major victory in the West for the Confederates, Grant wasn't there |
| Jefferson Davis | President of the Confederacy, wasn't able to get Southern states to work together |
| General Thomas Jackson | Lee's favorite general, was killed by his own men at Chancellorsville |
| Election of 1864 | McClellan challenged Lincoln for the Presidency during this event |
| Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address | Speech by Lincoln that declared the war was over slavery & that the country must move on & rebuild |
| 13th Amendment | Ended slavery for all time with this Amendment |
| Radical Republicans | Group that believed in racial equality, wanted to punish the South & led by Thaddeus Stevens |
| Thaddeus Stevens | Leader of the Radical Republicans, main supporter of 13th Amendment in Congress |
| Reconstruction | Time period after Civil War where the country had to come back together & rebuild |
| Appomattox | Where Lee surrendered to Grant, ending the Civil War |
| John Wilkes Booth | He shot Lincoln, was an actor & Confederate supporter |
| Ford's Theater | Where Lincoln was shot in the head |
