Juliana Meyers & Nicole Meisner

APUSH Ch. 12-16 (Test 4) Study Guide

Important Terms/Individuals
Webster-Ashburton Treaty:
Under presidency of John Tyler
Daniel Webster with Lord Ashburton
Settled border dispute between Maine and New Brunswick, Canada
Immigration: Characteristics of Irish & German Immigrants/Where they settled:
Germans Settled in Mid West
Characterized by distinct communities
had immigrants of all different occupations could do this
Irish: 1840s
Came after Great Potato Famine in Ireland
Settled in NE cities
Got jobs in factories replacing lowell mill girls
Nativism:
anti-immigrant hostility
The Order of the Star Spangled Banner Know-Nothings
threatened by immigrants - would replace their jobs
Protestant nativists vs. Catholic immigrants
Know-Nothings:
Formally known as The order of the Star Spangled Banner *nativist party
Unified by fears of national conspiracies
Vulnerable to sectional conflict due to slavery
Torn apart by Kansas-Nebraska Act
major factor in the decline of the Whig Party
Manifest Destiny - sectionalism:
myth of west as a land of romance and adventure
Belief that the U.S. was destined to spread from sea to shining sea
The idea that the region or state where you were from meant more than your identity as a
citizen of the United States (opposite of nationalism).
Whigs opposed during MX War
sectionalism Mexican Cession: Divides U.S. over conflict of slavery
Louisiana Purchase- breaks into conflict of slavery MO Compromise
As U.S. expands, sectionalism increases, and issue of slavery becomes more
predominant
Mexican War:

 Causes: Mexico owed 2 million to u.s., issue over texas independence, bitterness over
the Alamo
Lincolns Spot Resolution: We should know where the first drop of blood was before
declaring war
Whigs: Nervous about expansion and sectional conflict
dropped spot resolutions and supported war due to fear of ended up like the
Federalists at the Hartford Convention
Results:
Polk restored independent treasury
new territories brought into the Union which forced explosive issue of
SLAVERY to the center of national politics
new territories would upset north and south balance of power
sectional conflict increased
MO Compromise line questioned
Under Polks Presidency
Zachary Taylor seen as war hero
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)
basically forced on Mexico
Ceded U.S. Texas with Rio Grande Boundary
U.S. assumed claims of American citizens against Mexican government- 15
million
James K. Polk:
Dark-Horse- Annexation of Texas split Democrats, Van Buren and Cass blocked out
each others nomination and Polk was picked
Supported annexation of Texas
Wanted to divide Oregon at the 49th parallel with Britain- negotiation successful
Mexican-American War
Lincolns Spot Resolution:
In congress as Whig
BEFORE they voted on war, they should be certain where the first blood was shed
Mexican Cession:
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo(1848)- ceded U.S. Texas and Rio Grande boundary
Caused sectional conflict
Territory to be free or slave?
Over the 36 30 line, questioned MO Compromise line which was deemed sacred
Wilmot Proviso- popular sovereignty, territories should have the right to decide
whether or not they were free or slave
never passed
Compromise of 1850:
Created because of the crisis over California wanting to enter the Union as a free state

 Three key parts: 1. CA comes in as a free state; 2. Utah and New Mexico territories given
popular sovereignty; 3. Stronger Fugitive Slave Law passed; 4. Slave trade outlawed in
Washington, D.C.
Devised by Henry Clay
Split up in Congress and passed in separate bills by Stephen Douglas
most outrageous part to northerners = fugitive slave act
no trial, took word of slave catchers
Fugitive Slave Act:
Law passed in 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850
stated that if a slave escapes into a free state, the owner of the slave could go
across state line to claim that slave if they had a legal document proving that the
slave was theirs..
The part of the Compromise that really aggravated the North.
Didnt allow a slave a trial/jury and judge was bribed to rule in favor of the owner
uncomfortable truth for northerners slavery is a national problem and not just souths peculiar institution
Caning of Charles Sumner:
Sumner hit over head in congress
Over the issue of the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Slave or free territory?
Showed how much had deteriorated in the Union
Dred Scott Case:
Supreme Court case from 1857
decided US Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in federal territories and
slaves, as private property, could not be taken away without due process.
Essentially, slaves would remain slaves even in non-slave states and slaves could
not sue because they were not citizens!
Slaves had no right to sue because they werent considered citizens
Undermined the NorthWest Ordinance and all of the acts limiting slavery
Slaves werent free because they were in free territory
showed that Congress couldnt limit the expansion of slavery
Popular Sovereignty:
The idea that people in a state or territory would be given the power to vote and decide
for themselves whether or not they wanted to keep slavery legal or outlaw it.
Given to the territories of Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, and Nebraska in the years leading
to the Civil War in various national compromises over slavery
First proposed by Lewis Cass in Wilmot Proviso over Mexican Cession Issue
Stephen Douglas:
Illinois Democrat
chopped Henry Clays omnibus bill into separate measures to get it through congress

 *Compromise of 1850
drafted the *KS-NE Act
debated with Abraham Lincoln who challenged his KS-NE Act.
said states could refuse to enact laws that protected slaves as property
this stiffened southern opposition to his presidential ambitions
solidified sectional split in Democratic party & made lincoln famous/infamous
Kansas-Nebraska Act:
origins: farm families wanting to est. homesteads west of MO and IA
Nebraska Bill- to organize NE
goal- to promote settlement of the west and the transcontinental RR
would increase the importance of the West and balance power between the north
and south
sources of potential conflict some southerners advocated a rival RR
NE, part of the Louisiana Purchase and north of 36/30 line, was barred from
slavery
to get southern support ignored MO Comp settlers decide slavery in territories
rendered MO Comp void + split territory into NE and KS maybe slavery
could be extended now!!!
shattered the second party system and caused new sectional strife
wrecked Whig Party divided had to follow Comp of 1850 to survive
Conscience Whigs- antislavery
Bleeding Kansas:
KS became battleground b/t proslavery and antislavery forces
cause:
Border ruffians crossed into KS to vote illegally in the first territorial legislature
cloud of fraud hung over proslavery legislature in Lecompton
events:
sack of Lawrence - free-staters took up arms in Lawrence
John Brown - led men to Pottawatomie Creek killing Lecompton associates
Republicans needed something to rouse fears of slave power
their salvation- Bleeding Kansas
united party around free soil, intensified anti-slavery sentiment and boosted Republican
fortunes
**proved popular sovereigntys failure in Kansas
clinched Rep argument of slaveocracy existence
further divided the Democratic Party
Crittenden Compromise:
John J. Crittenden of KY

 last ditch effort to save the Union after Lincolns election

rejected by Lincoln and Reps
bc the expansion of MO Comp line called for abandonment of free soil
**could have meant more slave states
it was a surrender not a comp; Reps would have been giving in
Emancipation Proclamation:
declared slaves forever free in areas of rebellion
BEFORE Lincoln hesitated bc he didnt want to disrupt northern Unity
limited practical impact exempted Union slave states and the Confed ones under Union control
restated what Confiscation Act already did
brilliance Lincoln pacified northern conservatives by making it an executive military
measure
issued it himself stole initiative from Radicals, dramatic mobilization
pushed border states toward emancipation
increased slave incentives to escape
effect on cotton diplomacy:
end of southern hopes to get British recognition
***changed Union goal of war to a war against slavery
Lincolns Goal in 1861:
to preserve the Union
official stance of Rep Party: against extension of slavery
Carpetbaggers:
northern and antislavery; sought wealth and power
former Union soldiers who wanted to buy new Rep southern land
Scalawags:
southerners who sought to profit from Republican rule
poor and ignorant whites
Black codes:
replaced pre-war slave codes
restrictions on freedmen behavior
no mixed marriage, segregation of public places, etc.
revealed what southern home rule would have been like if south had won the war
**to guarantee stable black labor force in the south
Joint Committee of Reconstruction formed to dismantle codes
Radical Republicans:
Especially anti-slavery members of the Republican party
pushed for harsh punishment of the South

 wanted to protect black rights after the war

led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner
Sharecropping:
division of plantations into small tenancies, owner gets half of crops
both owners and tenants suffered if crop failed
preserved presence of the southern planter elite
freedmen initially liked it better bc it meant small step toward independence
*******encouraged cycle of debt and dependency
Freedmens Bureau:
greatest success- school system establishment
government agency created during Reconstruction to provide basic necessities to refugees
in the South (food, clothing, shelter, education, health care...)
13th Amendment:
abolished slavery throughout the United States
14th Amendment:
defined citizenship and extended it to black Americans
15th Amendment:
helped with Republican voting
protected black suffrage in southern states
to enfranchise northern and border state blacks
loopholes:
southerners said omissions allowed for loopholes
didnt guarantee office holding rights or bar voting restrictions for blacks
women angry first time the word male was explicitly written
didnt give them right to vote
Reconstruction Acts of 1867:
Radical Republicans werent accepting about Johnsons plans
invalidated state govts under Lincoln and Johnsons plans
divided south into 5 military districts
voters could elect legislatures that would draw up new state constitutions
ex-confederacy had to accept the 14th amendment
Why more radical?
enfranchised blacks, disenfranchised ex-Confeds
delayed state admissions long enough to est. Republican governments
Thaddeus Stevens:
most radical of the Radical Republicans
40 Acres & a Mule
wanted to take away large Confed. estates and distribute land to freedmen
give them 40 acres and a mule

 to crush planter aristocracy and give rise to yeomen

Election of 1860:
4 candidates
Lincoln, a Republican, elected
Democratic majority in Congress
no candidate received majority of popular vote
after Lincolns election south seceded