Civil War & Reconstruction Flashcards

Judicial review: the Supreme Court's authority to declare federal laws unconstitutional. Decision written by Chief Justice John Marshall.

Jefferson's purchase of 828,000 square miles from France for $15 million. Doubled the size of the United States and tested the limits of strict constitutional construction.

Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, and banned slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of 36°30′. Temporarily resolved the slavery expansion question.

US foreign policy declaration warning European powers against further colonization or interference in the Western Hemisphere. Established America's claim to regional dominance.

Jackson-era law authorizing the forced relocation of Native nations east of the Mississippi to Indian Territory (modern Oklahoma). Resulted in the Trail of Tears (1838).

South Carolina, led by John C. Calhoun, declared federal tariffs null within the state. Jackson threatened military force; Henry Clay brokered a compromise tariff. Foreshadowed sectional conflict.

Early-19th-century transformation driven by canals (Erie, 1825), railroads, the telegraph, and factory production. Shifted the economy from household production toward wage labor and national markets.

Religious revival movement of the early 1800s emphasizing personal salvation and moral reform. Fueled antebellum reform movements including abolitionism, temperance, and women's rights.

First women's rights convention in the United States, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Produced the Declaration of Sentiments calling for women's suffrage and legal equality.

Five laws by Henry Clay and Stephen Douglas: California admitted free, popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico, Texas border settled, slave trade ended in DC, and a strengthened Fugitive Slave Act.

Repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing popular sovereignty in territories north of 36°30′. Triggered 'Bleeding Kansas' and led to the formation of the Republican Party.

Supreme Court ruled that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress had no power to ban slavery in the territories. Inflamed sectional tensions and pushed the country toward war.

Lincoln won the presidency without carrying a single southern state. South Carolina seceded within weeks, followed by six other states forming the Confederacy before Lincoln took office.

Bloodiest single day in American history. Union strategic victory gave Lincoln the political opening to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Declared enslaved people in Confederate-held territory free. It did not free enslaved people in border states, but it transformed the war into a fight against slavery and discouraged European recognition of the Confederacy.

Union victory halted Lee's invasion of the North and inflicted casualties the Confederacy could not replace. Combined with Vicksburg the same week, it marked the strategic shift toward Union dominance.

13th (1865) abolished slavery; 14th (1868) granted citizenship and equal protection; 15th (1870) prohibited denying voting rights based on race.

Lincoln's 10 percent plan: lenient, focused on reunion. Johnson's plan: even more lenient, allowed former Confederates to return to power. Radical plan: military occupation, civil rights enforcement, disenfranchisement of ex-Confederates.

Federal agency (1865-1872) that provided food, education, legal aid, and labor contract supervision for formerly enslaved people. Established schools that became foundations for HBCUs.

Southern state laws after the Civil War restricting the rights of formerly enslaved people. Mandated labor contracts, restricted movement, and enabled forced labor through vagrancy laws.

Post-Civil War labor system where landless farmers (often formerly enslaved) worked land in exchange for a share of the crop. Trapped many families in cyclical debt to landowners and merchants.

The Compromise of 1877 resolved the disputed Hayes-Tilden election by giving Hayes the presidency in exchange for withdrawing federal troops from the South. Ended federal protection of Black political rights.

Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), Dred Scott (1857), John Brown's raid (1859).