5.2 Sectionalism & Drifting Toward Disunion

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A political party formed in 1848 that opposed the expansion of slavery into western territories, arguing that free men on free soil was morally and economically superior to slavery.

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Free Soil Party

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The idea that people living in a territory should decide whether slavery would be allowed there, rather than Congress making the decision.

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Popular Sovereignty

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A secret network of routes and safe houses used by enslaved people to escape to free states or Canada, often with help from abolitionists.

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The Underground Railroad

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A set of laws aimed at easing tensions between free and slave states: admitted California as a free state, allowed popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico, and included a stricter Fugitive Slave Act.

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Compromise of 1850

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A law requiring citizens to help capture runaway enslaved people and denying alleged fugitives the right to a jury trial, angering Northern abolitionists.

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Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

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A secret proposal suggesting the U.S. should buy or take Cuba from Spain to expand slavery, which caused outrage when leaked.

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Ostend Manifesto

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An 1854 land purchase from Mexico that added territory in present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, intended for a southern transcontinental railroad.

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Gadsden Purchase

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An 1854 law that allowed popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska territories, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise and leading to violent conflict.

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Kansas-Nebraska Act

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An 1852 anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that increased Northern opposition to slavery and angered the South.

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Uncle Tom’s Cabin

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Founded in 1854, a political party that opposed the expansion of slavery into western territories and attracted former Whigs, Free Soilers, and anti-slavery Democrats.

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Republican Party