Chapter 18 - Renewing the Sectional Struggle, 1848-1854 Flashcards
Mexican Cession
Region of modern day southwestern US that Mexico ceded to the US in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Includes Nevada, California, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado.
Fire-eaters
group of pro-slavery southern democrats who were in favor of the Confederate States of America. They were strong advocates of secession after Lincoln was elected.
Underground Railroad
secret system of freeing slaves from their owners. People had secret houses in which they would hide slaves and take care of them until they continued their journey of escaping.
Harriet Tubman
Famously known for her work in the Underground railroad. She was also an abolitionist.
Henry Clay
“The Great Compromiser.” Famous for the Missouri Compromise, the Nullification Crisis Compromise, and the Compromise of 1850
John C. Calhoun
“Great Nullifier” He wanted to leave slavery alone, return runaway slaves, give the south its rights as a minority, and restore the political balance.
Was the VP for Andrew Jackson, and led the fight for the states’ rights movement in the decades before the Civil War.
Daniel Webster
Upheld Clay’s compromise measures and urged all reasonable concessions to the south, including a stricter fugitive-slave law. He concluded that compromise, concessions, and sweet reasonableness were the only solutions to the debate over slavery. This helped turn the North toward compromise.
William H. Seward
Spokesman for northern radicals. He was antislavery. Appealed to the law of god, higher than the constitution.
Higher Law
Law of God. Man must obey the law of god and have God’s moral law. This was the law that Seward followed in his fight against slavery.
Compromise of 1850
North: California is admitted as a free state. Texas loses boundary dispute with New Mexico. South: no slavery restrictions in Utah or New Mexico territories.Texas gets $10 million, fugitive slave law is passed.
William Walker
organized several private military expeditions into Latin America, with the intention of establishing English-speaking colonies under his own personal control. This was an effort to establish more slave states to rebalance power in the Congress.
Commodore Matthew C. Perry
Commodore Matthew Perry went to Japan to open trade between it and the U.S. In 1853, his armed squadron anchored in Tokyo Bay, where the Japanese were so impressed that they signed the Treaty of Kanagania in 1854, which opened Japanese ports to American trade.
Treaty of Wanghia
peace treaty between China and the United States. Established fair taxes on trade. First formal diplomatic agreement signed on July 3, 1844
Caleb Cushing
A Massachusetts lawyer who was sent by President Tyler to secure a comparable concessions for the United States. He had for warships that arrived in southern China bearing gifts that included a weathervane in a pair of six shooters. This was all in hopes of getting the Chinese to sign the Treaty of wanghia.
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen A. Douglas - A moderate, who introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 and popularized the idea of popular sovereignty. It contradicted the Missouri compromise of 1820 which at forbidden slavery in the proposed Nebraska territory.
