| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| 13th Amendment | Constitutional amendment that abolished slavery throughout the United States. |
| 14th Amendment | Constitutional amendment that granted citizenship and equal protection under the laws to formerly enslaved people and other African Americans. |
| 15th Amendment | Constitutional amendment that granted African American men the right to vote regardless of race or previous condition of servitude. |
| citizenship | The legal and political status of belonging to a nation, including rights and responsibilities debated during the Gilded Age. |
| Congress | The legislative branch of the federal government, consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives. |
| enslaved people | Individuals held in bondage and forced to labor without freedom or compensation. |
| equal protection under the laws | Constitutional guarantee that all citizens receive the same legal protections and treatment regardless of race or other characteristics. |
| federal government | The central national government of the United States with authority over the states. |
| moderate Republicans | Republican faction during Reconstruction that favored a less aggressive approach to Reconstruction and greater leniency toward the South. |
| presidency | The executive office and authority of the President of the United States. |
| race relations | The social, political, and economic interactions and dynamics between different racial groups in society. |
| radical Republicans | Republican faction during Reconstruction that advocated for more aggressive federal intervention in the South and stronger protections for African American rights. |
| Reconstruction | The period from 1865 to 1877 following the Civil War during which the federal government worked to rebuild the South and integrate formerly enslaved people into society. |
| voting rights | The legal right of citizens to participate in elections and vote for candidates and policies. |
| women's rights movement | Social and political movement advocating for equal rights and opportunities for women, including suffrage and legal protections. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| sectional conflict | Political and social tensions between different regions of the United States, particularly between the North and South, driven by competing interests and values. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| 14th Amendment | Constitutional amendment that granted citizenship and equal protection under the laws to formerly enslaved people and other African Americans. |
| 15th Amendment | Constitutional amendment that granted African American men the right to vote regardless of race or previous condition of servitude. |
| African American rights | The legal and social protections and freedoms sought by and guaranteed to African Americans, including voting rights, equal protection, and freedom from discrimination. |
| land ownership | The possession and control of property, which former slaves sought as a means to economic independence and self-sufficiency after emancipation. |
| plantation owners | Southern landowners who controlled large agricultural estates and maintained economic power over land and labor after the Civil War. |
| Reconstruction | The period from 1865 to 1877 following the Civil War during which the federal government worked to rebuild the South and integrate formerly enslaved people into society. |
| segregation | The forced separation of people based on race, enforced through laws and social practices, particularly in the American South. |
| self-sufficiency | The ability to meet one's own needs without depending on external resources or support. |
| sharecropping | An exploitative agricultural system in which former slaves and poor whites worked land owned by others in exchange for a share of the crop, often leaving them in debt and without true economic independence. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| American values | Core principles and beliefs that define American society, such as democracy, liberty, equality, and national unity. |
| Civil War | The armed conflict between the Union and Confederate states (1861-1865) that resulted from Southern secession. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| American institutions | The political, social, and economic systems of the United States that expansionists believed were superior and should be extended westward. |
| economic development | Growth and expansion of economic activity and prosperity in western regions through investment and resource extraction. |
| economic opportunities | Prospects for financial gain and prosperity that motivated settlers to migrate westward, including farming, mining, and trade. |
| Manifest Destiny | The 19th-century belief that American expansion across North America to the Pacific Ocean was justified and inevitable. |
| mineral resources | Valuable natural deposits such as gold, silver, and other minerals found in western territories that attracted economic development. |
| natural resources | Materials and assets provided by nature, such as land, water, minerals, and forests, that have economic or survival value. |
| religious refuge | Safe haven for religious groups seeking freedom to practice their faith, which motivated some westward migration. |
| trade | Commercial exchange of goods, a key area of conflict between colonial interests and British imperial policy. |
| violent conflict | Armed confrontations and warfare resulting from competition over western lands and resources. |
| western transportation | Infrastructure and systems for moving goods and people across western territories, including railroads and roads. |
| westward expansion | The movement of British colonists into the interior regions of North America, particularly west of the Appalachian Mountains. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| American Indians | The indigenous peoples of North America who had established societies, economies, and political systems before European contact. |
| diplomatic negotiations | Formal discussions and agreements between European and Native American leaders to resolve conflicts and establish terms of interaction. |
| economic self-sufficiency | The ability of a group or community to meet its own economic needs independently, which was altered for Mexican Americans and American Indians following U.S. territorial acquisition. |
| Mexican-American War | A conflict between the United States and Mexico (1846-1848) that resulted in significant territorial gains for the United States in the West. |
| Mexicans | People of Mexican descent living in territories acquired by the United States, whose economic and cultural circumstances were significantly altered by U.S. government policies. |
| slavery | The institution of forced labor in which people were held as property and exploited for economic gain in the British colonies. |
| territorial expansion | The process of acquiring and incorporating new lands into a nation's control, particularly through military victory or diplomatic negotiation. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Compromise of 1850 | A series of legislative measures designed to resolve disputes over slavery in territories acquired from Mexico and to maintain sectional balance. |
| federal policy | Laws and decisions made by the national government in response to sectional conflicts and territorial issues. |
| Mexican Cession | The territory acquired by the United States from Mexico following the Mexican-American War, which became the subject of intense debate over slavery expansion. |
| regional attitudes | Distinct beliefs and positions held by different geographic areas regarding social, economic, and political issues. |
| slavery extension | The debate and contests over whether slavery would be permitted in newly acquired western territories, a major political conflict of the period. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| abolitionists | Activists who opposed slavery on moral grounds and worked to end the institution entirely. |
| anti-Catholic | Opposition to or discrimination against Roman Catholicism and its followers, particularly prevalent in 19th-century America against Irish and German immigrants. |
| enslaved labor | Labor performed by people who are held in bondage and forced to work without compensation or freedom. |
| ethnic communities | Neighborhoods or settlements where people of the same national origin or cultural background lived together, often preserving their native languages and customs. |
| free labor | Labor performed by workers who are paid wages and are free to leave their employment, as opposed to enslaved labor. |
| free-soil movement | A political movement that opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories and states, arguing that slavery was incompatible with free labor. |
| immigration | The process of people moving into a country or region with the intention to settle permanently. |
| manufacturing | The production of goods in factories using industrial methods, which became a major driver of economic growth in the Northern United States. |
| nativism | A political movement that favors native-born citizens over immigrants and seeks to restrict immigration and immigrant rights. |
| racial doctrines | Theories and beliefs used to justify racial hierarchies and the enslavement of African Americans based on claims of racial superiority. |
| states' rights | The principle that individual states retain sovereignty and the right to govern themselves on matters not delegated to the federal government. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Dred Scott decision | An 1857 Supreme Court ruling that denied citizenship to enslaved and formerly enslaved people and invalidated the Missouri Compromise, escalating tensions over slavery. |
| Kansas-Nebraska Act | An 1854 law that allowed territories to decide the slavery question through popular sovereignty, intensifying sectional conflict over slavery's expansion. |
| nativism | A political movement that favors native-born citizens over immigrants and seeks to restrict immigration and immigrant rights. |
| Republican Party | A political party that emerged in the North in the 1850s, largely in opposition to slavery expansion in the territories. |
| Second Party System | The political era dominated by the Democratic and Whig parties that ended in the 1850s due to sectional divisions over slavery and nativism. |
| sectional parties | Political parties organized around regional interests and divisions, particularly the Republican Party's emergence as a northern party opposed to slavery expansion. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Civil War | The armed conflict between the Union and Confederate states (1861-1865) that resulted from Southern secession. |
| free-soil platform | The Republican Party's political position opposing the expansion of slavery into new territories and states. |
| secession | The act of withdrawing from the Union, as Southern states did following Lincoln's election in 1860. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| greater resources | The Union's superior access to raw materials, industrial capacity, manpower, and supplies compared to the Confederacy. |
| home front opposition | Civilian resistance and dissent within the Union and Confederacy against the war effort and government policies during the Civil War. |
| key victories | Significant military battles and engagements that turned the tide of the war in favor of the Union. |
| leadership and strategy | Military command decisions and tactical planning that improved over the course of the war, contributing to Union success. |
| military initiative | The strategic advantage gained by taking aggressive action and making bold military decisions, which the Confederacy demonstrated early in the war. |
| mobilized economies | The process by which the Union and Confederacy organized and directed their economic resources and production toward supporting the war effort. |
| Union victory | The successful outcome of the Northern states in the Civil War, achieved through superior resources, improved military leadership, and strategic advantages. |
| wartime destruction of the South's infrastructure | The systematic damage to Southern factories, railroads, farms, and other economic facilities during the war that weakened the Confederacy's ability to sustain the conflict. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Confederacy | The alliance of Southern states that seceded from the Union and fought against the North during the Civil War. |
| diplomatic support | Official recognition and alliance from foreign nations; European powers were less likely to support the Confederacy after the Emancipation Proclamation. |
| Emancipation Proclamation | An executive order issued by President Lincoln that declared slaves in Confederate states to be free, reframing the Civil War's purpose from preserving the Union to ending slavery. |
| Gettysburg Address | A speech delivered by Lincoln that reframed the Civil War as a struggle for democracy and the fulfillment of America's founding ideals of equality. |
| Union Army | The military forces of the North during the Civil War, which included African American soldiers who enlisted after the Emancipation Proclamation. |